Blizzard is celebrating its 30th anniversary this February. While the company is promising more surprises at this year’s free BlizzCon Online, Blizzard is getting the festivities started early with a series of Celebration packs with in-game goods for all Blizzard games like Overwatch and Hearthstone, as well as offering an exclusive Arthas Helm of Domination replica. The helm measures almost 17-inches tall when placed on its stand and will be available beginning February 19 in the online BlizzardGear store. Check out the gallery below to see images: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=warcraft-arthas-helm-of-domination-blizzard-replica&captions=true"] As part of the Celebration Collection, there are three different “Packs” of in-game goods that are available now in the Blizzard Shop. The more premium packs will include all the goods in the previous packs, but with added bonuses. The first is the Essentials Pack which comes with:

• a Moon-Touched Netherwhelp pet in World of Warcraft
• Tracer’s OSV-03 Rogue mount with Tracer Hero in Heroes of the Storm
• 30th Anniversary Overwatch player icon and spray plus five loot boxes
• StarCraft 2 and StarCraft: Remastered portraits
• 10 Madness at the Darkmoon Faire card packs in Hearthstone
• A pet and portrait in Diablo 3

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=blizzard-30th-anniversary-digital-rewards&captions=true"] The next tier, Heroic Pack, comes with everything in the Essentials Pack plus:

• Snowstorm mount in World of Warcraft
• Raynhardt Legendary skin in Overwatch
• Random Madness at the Darkmoon Faire Legendary card
• Diablo 3 wings

And finally, the Epic Pack includes everything in the other packs, plus:

• 30 days of World of Warcraft game time
• 5 Golden Madness at the Darkmoon Faire card packs in Hearthstone
• 3 Golden Loot Boxes in Overwatch
• Diablo 3 Transmog Items

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/01/diablo-4-reveal-trailer"] Purchasing any of the three Celebration Packs will also nab you a 15% discount code for the Blizzard Gear Store, which is usually stocked with new items during BlizzCon. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented Blizzard from hosting a live BlizzCon last year. Instead, Blizzard will host a completely digital BlizzCon later this month and you can watch the entire opening ceremony right here on IGN. Blizzard typically reserves its biggest announcements for BlizzCon, so expect game news, reveals, and more. As a reminder, Blizzard currently has several projects in development, including Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4. Expect new updates on those when IGN covers BlizzCon Online later this month. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Update: Paramount+ has officially greenlit a Frasier revival series, with star Kelsey Grammer set to return. The new series is written by Chris Harris (How I Met Your Mother) and Joe Cristalli (Life in Pieces). Harris and Cristalli will also executive produce the series alongside Grammer and Grammnet Productions' Tom Russo and Jordan McMahon. "Having spent over 20 years of my creative life on the Paramount lot, both producing shows and performing in several, I'd like to congratulate Paramount+ on its entry into the streaming world," said Grammer in a statement. "I gleefully anticipate sharing the next chapter in the continuing journey of Dr. Frasier Crane." The original story is below: [poilib element="accentDivider"] Dr. Frasier Crane may soon be making house calls again. TV Line reports a revival of the critically acclaimed sitcom Frasier is currently in development at Paramount+. While it sounds as though the new series is in the early stages of development and hasn't yet been given an official greenlight, star Kelsey Grammer is said to be attached. Production could begin as early as this summer, once Grammer finishes filming his upcoming ABC sitcom with costar Alec Baldwin. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=12-cancelled-tv-shows-wed-love-to-see-revived&captions=true"] TV Line's sources note Paramount is also hoping to bring back costars David Hyde Pierce, Jane Leeves and Peri Gilpin "in some capacity." Unfortunately, with the passing of John Maloney in 2018, the revival will have to write out his character, Martin Crane. Word of a possible Frasier revival first surfaced in 2018. At the time, Deadline reported the new series would be set somewhere other than Seattle, paving the way for a new supporting cast. It's unclear whether that's still the plan with the current incarnation of the series. But with Frasier making IGN's list of cancelled shows that deserve revivals, we're just glad to see progress on the new series. Frasier itself is a spinoff of the NBC sitcom Cheers. In both shows Grammer played Dr. Frasier Crane, a psychiatrist who hosts a call-in radio show. Grammer won four Emmys for his portrayal, as did Pierce, who played Frasier's younger brother, Niles Crane. The show aired for 11 seasons from 1993 to 2004 on NBC. If you're wondering why the revival series is in the works at Paramount+ rather than NBCUniversal's own Peacock, Paramount holds the rights to Frasier. Paramount+ launches on March 4. This new streaming service is essentially a rebranding of the current CBS All Access service, and will "feature content from ViacomCBS’ leading portfolio of broadcast, news, sports and entertainment brands." Paramount+ is also scheduled to launch in international markets in 2021, beginning with Australia, Latin America, and the Nordics. The service will launch alongside the streaming debut of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/07/25/kelsey-grammer-eyeing-frasier-reboot"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Update 2/5: In addition to the two films in the works and a limited series TV show also being fast-tracked, another project around the GameStop stock moves has been revealed. Deadline reports that Console Wars director Jonah Tulis is working on a documentary around the events that saw GameStop and AMC stocks soar. No release date or filming plans have been announced, but the documentary joins the several projects around Hollywood aiming to capture the story of users on the r/WallStreetBets subreddit who shocked Wall Street earlier this year. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Update 2/1: As if two different GameStop stock movies weren't enough, Deadline is reporting a limited series TV series is also in the works from industry newcomer Pinky Promise. Tentatively titled, "To The Moon," the limited series is being fast-tracked through the development and will cover the r/WallStreetBets drama. This is the third project on the Wall Street news to go into development with the two others being films. The first is a film from MGM based on a book proposal by the author of The Social Network's inspiration, and the other movie will be from Netflix starring Noah Centineo written by the writer of The Hurt Locker. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Original Story: Soon after MGM announced a GameStop stock movie from the author of the book The Social Network was based on, Netflix is coming in with its own GameStop stock movie. Deadline reports that Netflix is talking with The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty writer Mark Boal to write a movie based on the big financial conundrum. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before star Noah Centineo is also attached to play a major role in the film. Centineo will also be seen in the upcoming Black Adam movie starring Dwayne Johnson as the character Atom Smasher. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=gamestop-in-the-news-timeline&captions=true"] Netflix also tapped NYU professor Scott Galloway to serve as a consultant on the script. Galloway has been tweeting about the GameStop stock situation from his personal Twitter account. MGM already announced it acquired the film rights for a book proposal from New York Times author Ben Mezrich titled The Antisocial Network. Mezrich pitched the book proposal sometime last week and MGM bought the film rights on Friday. Mezrich is re-teaming with MGM’s Michael DeLuca who worked with him to adapt Mezrich’s book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal, into the movie The Social Network directed by David Fincher. GameStop’s stock prices have surged in the past weeks from around $3 a share in 2020 to over 1,700% as short-sellers face the subreddit r/WallStreetBets in the financial sector. Other underperforming stocks like AMC and BlackBerry have surged as well on the backs of day traders from Reddit. The story of GameStop stock has rattled Wall Street and finance observers and has been called by the media a David vs. Goliath story. And given this intense interest, authors and filmmakers are moving in fast to capitalize on what is certainly one of the biggest and strangest news stories in 2021. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

WandaVision has officially kicked off Phase 4 of the MCU, and the next big Marvel project isn't far behind. Ahead of the March premiere of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Topps has given fans their first looks at the new costumes for two key characters, Baron Zemo and John Walker. The reveals come as part of Topps' Marvel Collect! app, which is adding a set of new digital trading cards featuring concept art from the Disney+ series. Get a look at Zemo and Walker, along with the updated costumes for the titular superheroes, in the slideshow gallery below: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-falcon-and-the-winter-soldier-new-mcu-costumes-revealed&captions=true"] These cards will be added to the Marvel Collect! app once per week, beginning with Zemo on February 1. Topps is also teasing a future "Who Will Wield the Shield?" trading card wave that digs even deeper into the characters and plot points of the series and tackles that all-important question - who will replace Steve Rogers as Captain America? This isn't the only unexpected preview of the new series we've gotten lately. A leaked action figure may have revealed a major Falcon and the Winter Soldier plot point. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier stars Anthony Mackie as Falcon, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes and Daniel Brühl as Zemo. Wyatt Russell makes his MCU debut as John Walker, a patriotic hero better known as US Agent in the comics. Though his trading card calls into question whether he'll actually be using that codename in the show. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/11/marvels-falcon-and-the-winter-soldier-official-trailer-1"] For more, check out what to expect from the MCU in 2021, as well as the cast and characters from The Falcon and The Winter Soldier revealed so far. And if you have Disney+, be sure to read our review of WandaVision's season premiere. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Elon Musk claims one of his companies has implanted a device into a monkey’s brain, and hopes to make it play “mind pong” with another cyborg monkey. The billionaire, who owns a variety of science-based companies, discussed the augmented monkey in a speech hosted on private social app Clubhouse, according to Sky News. During the talk, he revealed that his brain-machine interface company, Neuralink, has “a monkey with a wireless implant in their skull with tiny wires". Neuralink is using the monkey as a test subject for its technology, something it previously did with two pigs. The ultimate aim of the company is to create a brain-computer interface, with current trials focused on potentially using the technology to treat people with brain and spinal injuries. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/03/28/elon-musk-wants-to-put-a-chip-in-your-brain-ign-daily-fix"] As part of these tests, Musk wants to make the monkey play video games in its own mind. “One of the things we're trying to figure out is whether we can have the monkeys playing mind pong with each other?,” he said. “That would be pretty cool." The device itself is made up of more than 3,000 electrodes that are capable of monitoring around 1,000 neurons. This is attached to threads slimmer than a hair, the so called “tiny wires” Musk spoke about. Animal welfare within the realm of science is, naturally, a concern for many groups, but Musk claimed that “You can't see where the implant is and he's a happy monkey." He claims that an inspector from the US Department of Agriculture said that the Neuralink laboratory was “the nicest monkey facility” they had examined. In less absurd news, Musk’s other company, Tesla, has produced a car fitted with a gaming PC that can play The Witcher 3. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Netflix has announced an all-new animated Sonic the Hedgehog series, Sonic Prime, set to premiere worldwide in 2022. The animated adventure will consist of 24 episodes, which will follow Sonic on a "high-octane adventure where the fate of a strange new multiverse rests in his gloved hands." Whilst that might sound like a familiar premise, Netflix notes that the series is "more than a race to save the universe," as the Blue Blur ultimately finds himself on "a journey of self-discovery and redemption." Sonic Prime will be a collaboration between SEGA and Wild Brain Studio, as the two companies are jointly handling production, distribution, and licensing of the series, alongside Ben 10 creators Man of Action Entertainment, who will be serving as showrunners and executive producers on the project, which was accidentally teased towards the end of last year. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/08/sonic-the-hedgehog-official-movie-easter-eggs-breakdown"] "Sonic is a beloved character and holds a special place in everyone's heart including my own," Netflix's Director of Original Animation, Dominique Bazay, said in a statement following the announcement. "I spent many hours with the blue blur as a kid and it's a privilege to be able to bring this character everyone knows and loves on a brand new adventure with Netflix -- one that a generation of loyal fans and brand new fans around the world can enjoy." The series based on the beloved video game — which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year — is said to build upon the momentum that was generated for the iconic character following the release of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie last year, with an all-new adventure that aims to "match the scale and scope of the epic adventures synonymous with the Sonic franchise." "Sonic the Hedgehog is a global entertainment icon that has captivated audiences since its video game debut in 1991," added SEGA's Ivo Gerscovich. "With over 1.14 billion game units sold and downloaded to date, an exciting feature film, a robust licensing program, and more, SEGA's iconic hedgehog continues to surprise and delight audiences worldwide. We're thrilled to partner with WildBrain, Man of Action Entertainment, and Netflix to speed into this new, animated chapter in the Sonic franchise." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-video-game-movie-in-development-almost&captions=true"] "This premium franchise is ideally suited to WildBrain's capabilities and it's already inspiring great things from our talented creative teams," WildBrain President Josh Scherba said in his statement. "We've witnessed first-hand the enduring popularity of this brand from the strong and steady global demand for our library of legacy Sonic series. We look forward now to bringing fresh and exciting Sonic content to fans both new and old." In addition to Netflix's Sonic Prime, coming in 2022, a sequel to the Sonic the Hedgehog movie is in the works, with Jeff Fowler, who helmed the 2020 film, reportedly returning to direct the SEGA Sonic-oriented project from a script by Pat Casey and Josh Miller. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is currently scheduled to race into theaters on April 8, 2022. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

MLB The Show 21, the latest instalment of the PlayStation-exclusive baseball series from Sony first-party developer San Diego Studio, has been announced for both PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Launching on April 20, it will be available across both generations, with PS4/Xbox One versions retailing at $59.99 USD/£59.99 GBP and the next-gen versions at $69.99 USB/£69.99 GBP. The advent of a new platform for the game also means cross-platform play and cross progression has been introduced, meaning MLB The Show 21 players can carry progression between both PlayStation and Xbox platforms, as well as play multiplayer with all players on both console families. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/01/mlb-the-show-21-announcement-with-fernando-tatis-jr-trailer"] Further new features will be revealed as part of a series of six Feature Premiere streams, starting in March. Another reveal will be held on February 3, which will show off the Collector’s Edition of the game. While you’ll have to wait until then to find out what is inside the more premium edition, the PlayStation Blog does suggest that only the Collector’s Edition will feature a free next-gen upgrade. “There will be no standard edition upgrade path from current gen to next gen,” says the article from Ramone Russell, game designer at developer San Diego Studio. “If you are interested in having access to the game on both current and next gen platforms, please wait for more info about the collector’s edition.” While the regular edition is the only one to be shown so far, the artwork does show off this year’s cover athlete: Fernando “El Nino” Tatis Jr. This won’t come as a surprise to some fans, as the cover - as well as the Xbox version - was leaked last week. To see how the series has fared recently, take a look at our MLB The Show 20 review. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

10-15% of all PS5s sold in the US are estimated to have been resold, earning huge profit for scalpers, according to a new report. Data engineer Michael Driscoll posted the latest in a series of reports on the scalping market, this time focused on PS5. The report scraped data for thousands of listings on eBay and StockX, up until January 16. Among other things, Driscoll included only listings that had actually sold, excluded any listing using terms commonly included in scam listings, excluded listings from low feedback accounts, and removed all results that sold for less than the recommended retail price. Driscoll was left with a figure of 157,000 PS5s sold at retail price or higher on eBay and StockX – 7.06% of of the 2.067 million PS5s VGChartz estimates were sold in the US up until January 16. Driscoll then looked into active listings on services such as OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist, coming to the conclusion that a likely 10-15% of PS5s have been resold in the US. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/ps5-scalpers-used-a-loophole-to-buy-stock-before-it-was-live-in-the-uk-ign-news"] Driscoll's report makes for very interesting reading beyond the headline figures. On eBay and StockX, the most recent estimated average price for a digital edition PS5 is $799 (twice its recommended price), while a disc edition is $849 (1.7 times recommend price). Driscoll estimates that scalpers have made $43.2 million in profit during that time, with eBay, PayPal, and StockX making a combined $15.9 million as a result of the resales. While we can't be completely sure of the figures involved (Sony has yet to release its own official data for launch) the report puts the scale of PS5 reselling into perspective, especially with scalping becoming a major talking point in the launch window of PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and new Nvidia and AMD graphics cards. Supply shortages and widespread use of automated bots have led to price inflation and repeated disappointment for normal customers. Some UK politicians are even calling on the practice to be made illegal as a result. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Nintendo’s latest earning reports show that Pokémon Sword & Shield have sold over 20 million units, making it the best selling Pokémon game since Gold & Silver, and the first game since that generation to pass 20 million copies sold. As noted by Serbeii, Pokémon Sword & Shield has now sold 20.35 million units, with 1.3 million of those being sold in the past 3 months (Q3 2020). Those figures put it as the first Pokémon game to achieve more than 20 million copies since Gold & Silver, which sold 23.73 million copies following its launch in 1999. It’s also the third best selling Pokémon game of all time, behind Gold & Silver and Red/Green/Blue. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/13/pokemon-sword-and-pokemon-shield-review"] Since Gold & Silver, Pokémon’s sales have remained largely consistent - at least as far as the initial game launched in a generation - but all have sold within the 15-17 million region. The huge popularity of Sword & Shield marks a landmark game for the series, then. No doubt such figures are in part thanks to the mass popularity of the Nintendo Switch itself, which has now eclipsed sales of the Nintendo 3DS. As well as being the third best-selling Pokémon game, Sword & Shield is the 5th best selling game on Switch. It is surpassed only by Breath of the Wild (21.45m), Super Smash bros. Ultimate (22.85m), Animal Crossing: New Horizons (31.18m) and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (33.41m). We’ve got more news from Nintendo’s latest reports: Nintendo Switch Lite is about to overtake Wii U’s lifetime sales, and there are no plans for a new Switch model anytime soon. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

A team of fans is working on not one, but two versions of a Shenmue 1+2 remake mod, which will transfer the contents of Sega’s Shenmue 2018 rerelease into Unreal Engine 4 and add a variety of enhancements. Announced in a post on the Shenmue Dojo forums, the Shenmue Dragon and Phoenix Collection is an “engine replacement mod”, designed with the idea of bringing the gameplay of the 2018 Shenmue 1+2 release in line with the more modern Shenmue 3. It takes all the models, textures, animations, and gameplay from the 2018 rerelease and transfers them to Unreal Engine 4, the engine used for Shemue 3. This will allow for the addition of ray tracing and physically based rendering of materials for a more realistic look. The engine change has also allowed the team to stitch the whole game world together as a seamless map, rather than separate areas divided by loading screens. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/08/21/the-first-16-minutes-of-shenmue-remastered-gameplay"] Importantly, the team is producing two distinct versions of this Shenmue 1+2 mod; the Dragon Edition and the Phoenix Edition. The Dragon Edition is a “1:1 port” that is, as close as the team can make it, a straight engine replacement for the 2018 rerelease. Aside froim Unreal Engine 4 enhancements, this is planned to be the original games “warts and all''. The Phoenix Edition, on the other hand, is a “full UE4 reimagining of the games''. Like the Dragon Edition, it will be a full transfer of the game to Unreal Engine 4, but with new features designed to modernise the experience. The team has yet to finalise what those features are, but cite a new stamina system as one of the more major changes in mind, as well as smaller changes such as new cassettes in the Tomato Store. As with almost all modding projects, there is no release date set. But progress is currently further down the line than just plans; the team have the assets ported to Unreal Engine 4 and are able to take in-engine screenshots. Of course, being a mod, this is a non-profit project from fans with no intention of being sold. Presumably, when complete the mod will require players to own the Shenmue 1+2 rerelease for it to work. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/08/22/the-first-19-minutes-of-shenmue-2-remastered-gameplay"] In a way, this project is similar to the official Shenmue remake that was cancelled. That remake was based on the original assets and looked similar to the original versions, but would have featured improved rendering and details. The 2018 rerelease of Shenmue 1+2 was sadly buggy, but was still well received by fans. Less well received was the long awaited Shenmue 3, which we said was mediocre in our review from 2019. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.