Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski is reportedly adapting George R.R. Martin's Sandkings novelette for a new Netflix movie. Verbinski revealed the news during an interview with Collider, as he opened up about his future projects and plans. Whilst in conversation, Verbinski revealed that he's currently working on a project for Netflix that will serve as an adaptation of Martin's 1979 sci-fi horror tale, which he referred to as a "brilliant little twisted short story" that he loves. The screenplay will be written by original Utopia creator Dennis Kelly, who will adapt the story from Martin's Sandkings novelette. The original story, set in the fictional Thousand Worlds universe, follows the adventures of Simon Kress, a wealthy resident of the planet Baldur who loves to collect dangerous, exotic animals, and purchases a terrarium to house four colonies of these creatures called sandkings. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/28/new-to-netflix-for-march-2021"] The sandkings grow larger in size to fill whatever space they are contained within, with their expanding appetites becoming one of the catalysts behind their coordinated battles as they fight for food from their owner. The colossal creatures eventually break out of Simon's terrarium prison and take over his house as their hunger starts to intensify, along with Simon's despair and desperation. According to the outlet, John Baldecchi is producing the upcoming Netflix feature under his Digital Riot Media banner, which is also the company behind the Happy Death Day horror-comedy franchise. Baldecchi has a string of high-profile projects and box office hits to his name, including Verbinski's 2001 feature The Mexican, starring Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt. This is not the first time that Sandkings has received the live-action adaptation treatment. The story was previously adapted in 1995 as a TV movie starring Beau Bridges that ultimately served as the first episode of The Outer Limits relaunch, and it was also turned into a graphic novel in 1987 by DC Comics, with writer Doug Moench helming the project, together with artists Pat Broderick and Neal McPheeters. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=game-of-thrones-which-dead-tv-characters-are-still-alive-in-winds-of-winter&captions=true"] Sandkings is the latest George RR Martin adaptation to be brought to the screen. It comes shortly after the announcement that Resident Evil filmmaker Paul W.S. Anderson is gearing up to direct In the Lost Lands, a fantasy-adventure movie that will be led by Milla Jovovich, Anderson's wife and star of the previous Resident Evil movies, and Dave Bautista, from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. Meanwhile, Martin is still apparently in the thick of writing his Winds of Winter book, the sixth installment of his fantasy A Song of Ice and Fire series that was adapted into HBO's Game of Thrones. He hopes to finish writing the long-awaited novel this year, though he also admits that he has "hundreds of more pages to write to bring the novel to a satisfactory conclusion." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Sony is announcing multiple PSVR games today, with a new reveal coming each half an hour. For all your convenient virtual reality needs, we’ve rounded up every PSVR announcement so far right here. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/03/doom-3-vr-edition-announce-teaser-trailer"]

Doom 3: VR Edition

Releasing March 29, Doom 3: VR Edition is, well, exactly what it sounds like. It’s the survival horror-ish Doom game from 2004, including its expansion packs, given a VR makeover. That means peeking around corners, angling shots with flashlight-mounted weapons, and using a 180-degree quick-turn system to take on any Hell demons who have got the drop on you from behind. UI HUD elements have been placed on a new wrist-mounted display for immersion. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/03/song-in-the-smoke-announce-trailer"]

Song in the Smoke

From 17-BIT comes Song in the Smoke, a VR survival game coming later this year. The game appears fairly traditional by survival standards, but it is the VR elements that look to enhance those mechanics. You’ll need to use your actual hands to take meat from a killed animal, bring food to your mouth, manually use tools to create tonics, and bring a knife to a piece of wood to carve it. The game has an early-human look to it, with bows, clubs, and basic campfires, but there also seems to be a supernatural element, too. This should make venturing out at night, when the game’s most valuable rewards will be made available, all the more scary. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/03/fracked-teaser-trailer"]

Fracked

Fracked is a first person shooter set inside a mountain fracking facility that’s been taken over by “interdimensional maniacs”. It’s designed to be an over-the-top action game with skiing, shooting, climbing, base jumping, and ziplining, while also having a satirical story campaign to progress through. Developer nDreams describes it as close to “If Paul Verhoeven made a VR game”, which sounds pretty rad. While created for PS4, it will also feature PS5 enhancements, with improved frame rates, loading times, and resolution. It launches this summer, exclusive to PlayStation VR. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/03/i-expect-you-to-die-2-the-spy-and-the-liar-extended-announcement-trailer"]

I Expect You To Die 2: The Spy and The Liar

A sequel to VR's popular espionage puzzle game, I Expect You To Die 2 is a Bond/Mission Impossible riffing adventure with a sense of humour. You'll be using all sorts of fun gadgets and gizmos to foil the enemy's plans for world domination when it releases later this year.

Zenith

From Ramen VR, Zenith is a JRPG and anime-influenced MMO built for virtual reality. It has a colourful open world in which players can climb any surface, and features fantasy real-time combat with swords, bows, and magic. World bosses, public events, and dungeons will all be available for multiplayer parties, as well as a guild system. While the game features traditional classes, they're not restrictive: mages can tank and DPS roles can heal, meaning you can work as a team or solo no matter what class you choose. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/09/25/after-the-fall-state-of-play-trailer"]

After the Fall

After the Fall is a new FPS co-op VR game from Arizona Sunshine creators, Vertigo Games. Set in an alternate 1980s LA, players must shoot their way through a frozen, chaotic wasteland full of undead creatures. Called "Snowbreed," these frozen undead are described as "not unlike a pack of wolves." And you better believe there are different enemy types including towering brutes that can "instantly flatten you." More PSVR games are still to be announced. We'll update this story as they happen.  [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

With Nvidia rolling out its RTX 3060 earlier last week, it was inevitable AMD would answer in kind with a midrange graphics card of its own – and now we have it. AMD just introduced the Radeon RX 6700 XT, a new mid-range graphics card that aims to deliver 1080p and 1440p gaming at high-refresh rates. It features 40 compute units, 12GB of DDR6 video memory, 2,424MHz Game Clock and 96MB Infinity Cache. Comparatively, its direct competitor, the Nvidia RTX 3060 features 3584 Cuda Cores, native 1,320MHz base and 1,777 boost clocks, and 12GB of DDR6 video memory. The Radeon RX 6700 XT also features dual axial fans with a zero RPM mode for cool and quiet running. Around back you'll find both DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.1 ports, so this GPU is capable of outputting a 4K signal at up to 120 fps. AMD promises its card will run games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Cyberpunk 2077 at higher frame rates than the Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti and even the Nvidia RTX 3070. The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT will be available on March 18th for $479. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com Kevin Lee is IGN's Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam

Probably the best sign for the Outriders demo is that many people started playing it last week... and still are. Even putting aside the fact that, per our own reviewer, it's already feeling like a "viscerally fun" looter-shooter, the game's burgeoning community is delighted with the sheer scope of People Can Fly's early sample of the game. The demo comprises the entire introduction to the game, along with early main missions, a boss fight, and four side missions. It allows you to try out all four classes, play in solo or 3-player co-op and, in perhaps People Can Fly's smartest move, offers a taste of its looting as well as its shooting. That final point is what's keeping fans of the demo coming back far beyond the demo's roughly three-hour length – farming for legendaries is just as addictive in a demo as in a regular looter-shooter, it turns out. A brief look at the Outriders subreddit will show you how well that decision has gone down. As I write, popular post topics include: "Can game Demos like this become mainstream?", and "Shoutout to PCF. Thank you for an amazing demo", as well as others wondering if the demo will break records for the level of engagement it's seeing. Many are showing off the sheer number of hard-to-find Legendary weapons they've picked up along the way, swapping in-depth tips for specific weapons, and discussing their planned builds a month in advance of the game's actual release. Twitter's seeing a similar reaction, too.

i had zero expectations of @Outriders (largely bc the marketing to date had left w me no clear sense of the game’s identity or style) but damn did the demo get its hooks into me.

multiple satisfying progression loops kept me entertained and the value of crossplay is huge for me — Jacqui Collins (@jacquicollins_) February 28, 2021

In part, much of this discussion comes down to the fact that demo progress will be retained for those who eventually pick up the full game, another smart move from People Can Fly – but the randomness of the loot and the replayability of the demo are also giving players more than a taste of the possibilities the game will offer if they decide to carry on with it. That this isn't labelled as a beta, and doesn't come with in-built expiry date or play limit, definitely helps too. That's not to say there aren't reservations being expressed. Many have pointed out performance issues, audio sync problems, wonky animations, and physics glitches, and the game's tendency to use miniature cutscenes to disguise loading and keep co-op parties together has rankled as well – but the size, scope, and overall generousness of the demo feel almost universally popular.

@Outriders hours of farming and finally got these bad boys !! Loving the demo guys !! pic.twitter.com/SIqnfCG2tk

— DevilDogGaming (SEC) (@DevilDog1977) March 3, 2021

Given that this demo seemingly came as a makeweight for those disappointed in a delay, it feels as though People Can Fly stumbled into a perfect marketing strategy for its game – in a landscape increasingly dotted with looter-shooters, each vying for swathes of players' time, what better way to sell potential players on the concept than to... just let them try out a slice of it for as long as they'd like? It's a confident, transparent approach I (and seemingly many others) would love to see more games of this sort take. The full version of Outriders arrives on April 1 – but I'll likely be playing the demo for a fair bit more of that time before it arrives. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/02/outriders-review-in-progress-demo-impressions"] [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.

Doom 3 is being ported to PSVR, with Doom 3: VR Edition launching for PS4 (and backwards compatible on PS5) on March 29. The game was revealed on the PlayStation Blog as part of a "full day of new game announcements" for PlayStation VR. Check out a trailer below: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/03/doom-3-vr-edition-announce-teaser-trailer"] Doom 3: VR Edition will feature Doom 3 and its expansion packs Resurrection of Evil and The Lost Mission, and it appears to function similarly to Skyrim VR, in that it's a virtual reality port of the full game. The game will launch on PlayStation 4 on March 29, but it's also backwards compatible on PlayStation 5 if you have the PSVR Camera Adapter. The release mentions how the game will feature new textures, shaders and sound effects across "over 15 hours of heart-stopping action." VR-exclusive enhancements include "angling your shots with flashlight-mounted weapons using motion controls, 180-degree quick-turn functionality to catch demons sneaking up from behind and an immersive wrist-mounted display to track your health, armor and ammo." Bethesda previously released Doom VFR, a VR experience based on Doom 2016. PS VR Spotlight will continue throughout the day, with five more PS VR game announcements expected, all of which will be launching later this year. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Zynga has acquired Torchlight developer Echtra Games, with the studio now working on an unannounced cross-platform RPG. Zynga – the social game behemoth behind FarmVille and Words with Friends – says it acquired Echtra to strengthen its cross-platform development capabilities. In a press release, it was also revealed that Echtra is currently working on an unannounced cross-platform role-playing game. It's not clear whether the new game will be a Torchlight sequel, or a brand new game for the studio. "The Echtra Games team strengthens Zynga’s cross-platform play future by adding talented developers with extensive cross-platform play experience as well as proprietary cross-platform development tools and technologies that have been built on top of the Unreal Engine," the release reads. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/17/star-wars-hunters-nintendo-switch-teaser-trailer"] This game will be made in partnership with another Zynga studio, NaturalMotion, whose animation middleware Euphoria can be seen in games like Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto V. NaturalMotion is also partnering with Zynga's newest studio in Austin to create a squad-based, online arena multiplayer Star Wars game, Star Wars: Hunters. Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau said: “Max [Schaefer] and his team at Echtra Games are responsible for some of the most legendary game properties ever created, and they are experts in the action RPG genre and cross-platform development. I’m excited to welcome the Echtra Games team into the Zynga family. This acquisition will be instrumental in growing our iconic licenses and brands from mobile to PCs and consoles, while helping to further expand Zynga’s total addressable market.” Here's a 2020 interview with Echtra Games' Max Schaefer and Matt Uelmen, who previously worked on Diablo II before they developed the Torchlight series. We reviewed Torchlight 3 in early access, scoring it a 6 and calling it a "decent action-RPG." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

WandaVision's Matt Shakman has reaffirmed that Wanda Maximoff's journey is far from over, with more of her story to be revealed in Marvel's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In an interview with TVLine, Shakman, who directed all nine episodes of WandaVision's first season, explained how the upcoming finale aims to deliver a gratifying conclusion to Wanda's storyline in the MCU sitcom whilst also not revealing every detail of her "very rich life," as the character's journey will continue in the Doctor Strange sequel, which started filming in November with Sam Raimi at the helm. "We were trying to tell a complete story in terms of the narrative around Westview, N.J., and we hope that there's some resolution to that story, and that it is satisfying and also surprising for the fans," Shakman said. "But Wanda will continue into Doctor Strange [in the Multiverse of Madness], and there's a lot more to her story to be told, so this is only one part of a very complicated and very rich life." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/11/wandavisions-mcu-timeline"] With the finale of WandaVision looming, it's becoming clear that the show is setting up a much bigger emphasis on the magical and supernatural sides of the MCU in Phase 4, which might also end up factoring into the multiverse. Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige previously indicated that the multiverse will be a running theme in the MCU, with connections present "before and after" Doctor Strange 2. The events of WandaVision are expected to lead into Multiverse of Madness, and the plot of that movie will also connect to the new Spidey sequel, now officially titled Spider-Man: No Way Home. Scarlet Witch star Elizabeth Olsen is currently in London filming the Doctor Strange sequel alongside Benedict Cumberbatch's Stephen Strange, as well as Chiwetel Ejiofor's Mordo and Benedict Wong's Wong. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-cinematic-universe-every-upcoming-movie-and-tv-show&captions=true"] The Doctor Strange sequel is scheduled to be released on March 25, 2022, but there's a lot of MCU to come before that. After the credits roll on the WandaVision finale, many will turn their attention to The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, coming up on March 19. There's also Black Widow, Loki, Shang-Chi, What If...?, Eternals, and the third Spider-Man movie starring Tom Holland. For more on Marvel Studios' upcoming slate of projects and releases, read our breakdown of the biggest and most noteworthy developments in the MCU, on Disney+, and in comics this year. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Ultima Online creator Richard Garriott, known to fans as Lord British, recently travelled to the bottom of the ocean, becoming the only person to have travelled to space, the Mariana Trench and both poles. The Mirror has an interview with Garriott, including selfies and footage he took at the deepest point on earth. Garriott is more of an explorer these days, but in the games industry, he's known as the mastermind behind the influential Ultima series of RPGs. He later went on to found Origin Systems, responsible for publishing games like System Shock and Wing Commander. Not satisfied with his exploration of virtual worlds, Garriott has taken up real-world exploration in recent years. In 1998, he trekked to the South Pole, paid $30 million to become one of the first private citizen astronauts in 2008, and reached the North Pole in 2018. After travelling into the Mariana Trench this week, The Explorers Club named him "the first explorer to have reached both the North and South Poles, orbited the Earth, and reached the deepest point in the oceans." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/03/29/how-ultima-online-changed-rpgs-forever-and-the-future-of-rpgs-ign-unfiltered-17-episode-3"] In his latest mission, after a four-hour dive down around 7 miles, Garriott collected specimens, planted a geocache, made a sci-fi short, and more. In the Mirror article, Garriott talks about spotting "nice little four or five-inch long translucent black worms," while at the bottom of the world. He also saw a siphonophore on the way back up, a colonial Hyrdozoan organism, which he said "looked like a large squid." The remaining question is: where will he travel next? We spoke to Garriott in 2019 as part of IGN Unfiltered, discussing his huge contributions to gaming, his exploration of the wreck of the Titanic, and what it's like to popp in space. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Sony has patented technology that would allow players to turn household objects, and even fruit into PlayStation controllers. Players would use a camera to scan objects for the system to detect, which could then be used for specific in-game functions. As reported by GamesIndustry.Biz, a recent Sony patent was filed for the innovation, identifying that game peripherals can be seen as too complicated and expensive for some users and reasoning that, "It would be desirable if a user could use an inexpensive, simple and non-electronic device as a video game peripheral." Their potential solution? Turning readily-available objects into peripherals for games. As long as an object is "non-luminous" and "passive", Sony is suggesting that it could be used as a controller. The figures in the patent show a banana and a pair of oranges as an example of potential peripherals. The patent says that a user could hold the object in front of a camera, which could interpret the object in order to impose inputs on it and make it usable in-game. The copy also talks about how the technology could generate "an augmented reality image of a non-luminous passive controller," and then detect changes in the pose of the object to adapt to a player's hand movements and generate superimposed virtual inputs, mentioning a "finger detector." In the figure shown below, you can see the X and Triangle buttons overlaid on a banana, as an example of this idea in action: "FIG. 8 illustrates schematically an example of how the non-luminous object may appear to the user when one or more virtual buttons have been superimposed on top of the user's view of the object," the patent reads. The copy suggests that an image of the banana with virtual buttons could be seen via a head-mounted device, an image "overlaid on top of a transparent display through which the user looks" or a video shown on the same screen the player is looking at. So once the banana has been mapped, you'll be able to see where you should push with your fingers for inputs. Other implementations include using motion to steer by using two oranges like a steering wheel, changing viewpoint with a household peripheral via generated axes, and even inputting "a 'pause' command" by putting a cup onto a saucer while both objects are being detected by the technology. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/17/sony-patents-robotic-companion-that-can-sense-your-feelings"] Home engineers have previously used fruit to play games – for instance, playing Overwatch using a whole bunch of bananas – but that's primarily been through using the fruit's electricity conduction to generate commands. This is a more in-depth, and potentially flexible, process. In other PlayStation patent news, we recently reported on a piece of technology that would allow spectators to mess with players in VR. Back in April of 2020, a patent was discovered for a robotic gaming companion that reacts to your emotions. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Superman & Lois has been renewed for season 2 within hours of the second episode premiering. The decision to renew the series so early was driven by the premiere of Superman & Lois, which contributed to The CW's highest-rated night in primetime since January 29, 2019, when new episodes of The Flash and Roswell, New Mexico aired. Superman & Lois also had the best single-day viewership numbers for a new program on The CW's streaming platform. "The phenomenal multiplatform debut of Superman & Lois, which delivered for us in a big way on both a linear and streaming basis, is a testament to the creativity, hard work and dedication of the talented people who worked tirelessly in front of and behind the camera, especially in this challenging environment," said Mark Pedowitz, CEO of The CW Network, in a press release. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=superman-lois-pilot-gallery&captions=true"] Superman & Lois is a spin-off of the other Arrowverse shows with Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch reprising their roles of Kal-El / Superman and Lois Lane respectively. The show revolves around Kal-El returning to Smallville with Lois and their two teenage sons. If you're an Arrowverse fan who's confused as to how Superman & Lois have teenage sons, well, so are we. Tulloch celebrated the season 2 renewal on Instagram by posting a picture of her in costume with the caption, "Cheer up, Lois! SEASON TWO!" Superman & Lois is the seventh show in the Arrowverse to air on The CW and the sixth currently on air, although Supergirl and Black Lightning are coming to an end. A spin-off of Black Lightning is on the way. Black Lightning season 4, The Flash season 7, and Batwoman season 2 are currently airing on The CW. These shows aren't in the same universe as the other DC shows on HBO Max, including Harley Quinn, Young Justice, and Doom Patrol. Here's a list of every upcoming DC movie, TV show, video game, and big comic event. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/11/snyder-cut-suicide-squad-gotham-knights-what-to-expect-from-dc-in-2021"] In IGN's review of the Superman & Lois premiere, we said the show is, "far more entertaining than its fairly generic title might suggest." In other DC news, Zack Snyder has confirmed the length of the new cut of Justice League, and the voice and casting director of Batman Beyond told fans to campaign for a reboot if they want it. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN who enjoyed the first episode of Superman & Lois and is looking forward to episode 2.