Laura Miele loves working with people who make games -- a love that began to be cultivated around 25 years ago, when she got her start at former EA subsidiary and Command & Conquer creator Westwood Studios.

"Those years working directly with developers forever shaped my understanding of the complexities and sophistication of game development, as well as my appreciation and admiration of game developers," Miele says. Now, she's the chief studios officer for EA, where she works with over 6,000 game developers across the company. Miele tells us she sees EA's internal studios as the "gravitational center" of the company, with the focus of her job being to empower those developers to make the things they want to make, all the while responding to the wants and needs of EA's game communities and fans. "In terms of our game development philosophy, our players are always our north star," Miele says. "As I started this current role, I wanted to strip away some of the preconceived notions about what games we should be investing in and really start listening to players and incorporating their voice into our development process. Since then, we have announced a slate of games that players asked for: a new Skate, College Football, a Command & Conquer remaster, the Mass Effect Trilogy and we developed free content in Battlefront 2 for several years to turn the perception of that game completely around." [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=I%20wanted%20to%20strip%20away%20some%20of%20the%20preconceived%20notions%20about%20what%20games%20we%20should%20be%20investing%20in"] Miele repeatedly emphasizes the importance of keeping players involved in the ongoing development processes of all EA's games, citing as examples EA releasing the Command & Conquer source code, and the recent announcement of a new Skate game by a new EA studio called Full Circle. "We call it Full Circle for a reason -- we want our players’ experience with EA to come full circle. Our players deserve to be part of the process." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/02/07/why-there-are-no-titans-in-apex-legends"] Miele points out that responding to what players are asking for is very rarely something that can happen instantly, pointing to annual franchises like Madden and FIFA which iterate more slowly over each new installment. Major changes to how games like that work, she says, often don't happen until a few years after they're first brought up, simply due to how challenging development of annual installments can be. "We have recently added advanced innovation teams that are heavily focused on tech development and dedicated to long-term game development," Miele says of Madden and FIFA. "These teams explore innovation initiatives that players will get to experience in two to three years." And Miele also wants to make it clear that being player-focused doesn't mean "making everyone happy 100% of the time." Our conversation with her occurred just ahead of the announcement that BioWare would end development on Anthem, a game that BioWare strove to overhaul over the course of a year in response to player feedback. Miele says that ultimately the studio needed to allocate its time and resources to franchises like Mass Effect and Dragon Age, and that the COVID-19 pandemic made it especially difficult to make the game into what players wanted. In contrast, Miele points to Star Wars: Battlefront 2, where EA DICE was able to take the time to turn the game around from its original form, which players were unhappy with. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=I%20don%E2%80%99t%20believe%20in%20directing%20or%20telling%20games%20teams%20what%20to%20create"] "When I first took this studios leadership role, players were incredibly unhappy with this game," Miele recalls. "We had made commitments to deliver content to the community, but we didn’t have team members assigned to deliver on these promises. We quickly pulled together a great team of people from our studios in Vancouver, Montreal and Stockholm to immediately get to work on fulfilling our promises. We created free content for players because it was the right thing to do and I felt we owed it to our community of players. "We didn’t expect any accolades or pats on the back for this work, but we actually saw a significant sentiment turn around from players and the game was re-reviewed at much higher scores. Players still love to play Battlefront 2 and I feel we are moving past its history. To hear fan feedback and see players loving this game is deeply gratifying." Another franchise where players may not necessarily feel they've gotten everything they wanted lately is Titanfall. Though Titanfall has a dedicated community of fans, right now, developer Respawn currently appears to be focused on the battle royale taking place in that universe, Apex Legends, rather than on a new main series game. That doesn't necessarily mean it's the end of Titanfall proper, though. Miele confirms that Respawn is fully in control of what happens to the franchise in the future, who will make the decision based on, once again, what players want. "Apex takes place in the Titanfall world and the Respawn team is incredibly proud of that legacy and brand," she says. "That team will determine what the future holds for Apex and Titanfall. I don’t believe in directing or telling games teams what to create, it has to come from the player community, and the inspiration and motivation of developers." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/19/ea-play-2020-reactions-new-skate-game-star-wars-squadrons-more"] So ultimately, what does it mean when EA and its studios say they will listen to its players? Ultimately, EA proper does have the final say on decisions regarding what games get made or updated or ended, Miele acknowledges -- they're all in business together, after all. "There is a lot of creative autonomy within Electronic Arts but there are certain values and principles we have as a company that we just couldn’t allow to be compromised." But there's an overarching understanding across the company, she says, that teams should have the creative license to receive, listen to, and accept or reject feedback from players. The studios are, after all, the creators and entertainers making the art in the first place. As for how the studios actually collect that feedback, Miele points to a number of areas. One of those is social media, which she says played a key role in making Skate 4 happen. "With Skate for example, we knew that every time we posted on Instagram that the first comment no matter what we posted would be #skate4," she says. "But we only want to revisit a series if we’re confident we can build an experience that moves the franchise forward in a contemporary way. " Other sources of feedback include actual game telemetry that shows the developers how players are interacting with the games and what problems they are having as they play, customer support feedback, and the game's community teams. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=We%20knew%20that%20every%20time%20we%20posted%20on%20Instagram%20that%20the%20first%20comment%20no%20matter%20what%20we%20posted%20would%20be%20%23skate4"] "One of the things I did in the first 100 days of my role as head of studios was to spend time with our community leaders for some of our biggest franchises," Miele says. "I asked them to give me their best advice on how we can have a better connection to our players. The biggest theme was - please listen to us about the content players are asking for which resulted in us green lighting Skate, College Football, Command &Conquer and additional content for Battlefront II. "We take all of these inputs and that gives us a sense of what players are loving and not liking- our studio leaders then work with the game teams to determine how we prioritize and address direct player feedback." Ultimately, Miele says, everything is about balance -- EA will step in and make decisions as needed, developers are given agency to make the things they want to make, and players -- hopefully -- eventually feel their needs and wants are met.

"It’s about working to understand what a player’s motivations are and working to meet those," Miele says. "While at the same time recognizing our game teams are tremendously talented at their craft and will determine where the story and game go."

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Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

If you've been trying to fill that X-Files-shaped hole in your life, NBC might just have you covered with their new sci-fi series Debris. And to help you gauge whether this series is right for you, IGN can exclusively debut a lengthy clip from the first episode. Check out the video player above or embedded below to watch the full first 12 minutes of Debris Episode 1: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/24/nbcs-debris-series-premiere-exclusive-clip"] Debris is created, written and co-executive produced by JH Wyman (Fringe) through Legendary Television and Universal Television. The series is set in a world where a mysterious alien spacecraft has exploded in Earth's atmosphere, showering the world in broken shards of highly advanced technology. Naturally, every government and criminal organization in the world would like a piece of that extraterrestrial pie. That's where CIA operative Bryan Beneventi (Jonathan Tucker) and MI6 agent Finola Jones (Riann Steele) come in. This unlikely duo have been tasked with working together to safeguard the alien wreckage. But is the debris a boon to mankind or a weapon just waiting to fall into the wrong hands? Debris also stars Norbert Leo Butz as Beneventi's CIA handler Craig Maddox, Anjali Jay as Jones' MI6 handler Priya Ferris and Scroobius Pip as Anson Ash. The series will premiere on Monday, March 1 at 10pm ET. Let us know in the comments if you think Debris is shaping up to be the next X-Files or Fringe. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-tv-show-cancelled-or-announced-to-be-ending-in-2021&captions=true"] The X-Files ended its long run on Fox in 2018, with the network reviving the series for two additional seasons after it originally concluded in 2002. Here are IGN's picks for the best standalone X-Files episodes. There's no sign of an X-Files reboot yet, but there is an animated comedy spinoff in the works. Debris may be fictional, but Earth's atmosphere being clogged with debris is a very real problem. In December we learned the European Space Agency is sending a giant claw into orbit to clean up that mess. [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.

Wrestling icon Paul Wight AKA The Big Show has signed a new deal that will transition him from the WWE to competitor All Elite Wrestling.

Wight will join AEW both as a wrestler in the ring and a commentator on AEW’s new show AEW Dark: Elevation.

“It’s been amazing to watch what AEW has built in just a couple of years,” Wight said. “AEW Dark is an incredible platform to hone the skills of up-and-coming wrestlers, but I also love that established AEW talent can build out their personalities and showcase themselves in new ways on Dark. It’s no exaggeration when they say that AEW is boundless.”

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Wight’s new role will also focus in some capacity on mentoring young talent at AEW with his years of professional wrestling experience, as well as educating fans with his commentary.

AEW Dark: Elevation, which will focus on both established and rising stars in AEW’s roster, will air on Mondays at 7 PM ET on AEW’s YouTube channel.

Wight began his wrestling career decades ago in 1994, signing with WCW in 1995. In 1999, he signed a multi-year contract with WWF (which of course later became WWE), eventually winning numerous championship events. He’s previously won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, two WWF/WWE Championship wins, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship twice, and the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, making him the only wrestler to have held all four titles. Wight is also an 11-time World Tag-Team Champion.

[caption id="attachment_2478149" align="alignnone" width="720"] Big Show enters the ring during the WWE Raw event at Rose Garden arena in Portland, Ore., Monday February 27th, 2012. (Photo by Chris Ryan/Corbis via Getty Images)[/caption]

Wight’s star power also catapulted him into Hollywood, with appearances in films like Jingle All the Way with Arnold Schwarzenegger, shows like Burn Notice, and more recently a starring role in the sitcom The Big Show Show.

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AEW was founded in 2019 by Jacksonville Jaguars co-owner Tony Khan, with former WWE wrestlers headlining, including Cody and Brandi Rhodes, Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, Chris Jericho, Sting, Hangman Page, and Jon Moxley. Cody Rhodes and Omega also serve as executive producers. Sting signed his deal with AEW as recently as early December last year. AEW has established itself as one of the more serious competitors to WWE’s long standing monopoly on professional wrestling, with financial backing from billionaire Shahid Khan.

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/babyface for IGN.

Hulu has released the official trailer for Season 2 of Solar Opposites, which is set to premiere on the streamer on Friday, March 26, 2021. IGN can exclusively debut the bonkers new trailer for Solar Opposites' second season, which you can watch in the video below or at the top of the page: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/24/solar-opposites-season-2-exclusive-official-trailer-2021-justin-roiland-thomas-middleditch"] Solar Opposites was co-created by Justin Roiland (Rick & Morty) and Mike McMahan (ex-writer's assistant on Rick & Morty). Here's how Hulu describes the series: "Solar Opposites centers around a team of four aliens who escape their exploding homeworld only to crash land into a move-in ready home in suburban America. They are evenly split on whether Earth is awful or awesome. Korvo (Roiland) and Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone) only see the pollution, crass consumerism, and human frailty while Terry (Thomas Middleditch) and Jesse (Mary Mack) love humans and all their TV, junk food, and fun stuff. Their mission: protect the Pupa, a living supercomputer that will one day evolve into its true form, consume them and terraform the Earth." What did you think of the trailer? Let us know in the comments. And for more Solar Opposites, be sure to check out our Season 1 review. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-top-10-rick-and-morty-episodes&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He's also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.

After a series of teases from the film's cast, including Tom Holland, Jacob Batalon, and Zendaya, Spider-Man director Jon Watts kind of set the record straight and revealed the new Spidey sequel will be titled Spider-Man: No Way Home. The stars of the film revealed the title in a new video, as the stars discussed the fake titles they received and whether they can be trusted with these Marvel secrets after leaving Watts' office. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/24/spider-man-no-way-home-tom-holland-reveals-title-for-spider-man-3"] Just yesterday, the three main stars jokingly each revealed separate names for the film, including Phone Home, Home-Wrecker, and Home Slice. The video above teases out some of the many, many considered names, all involving the word home to follow in the footsteps of Homecoming and Far From Home, before the team settled on No Way Home. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-cinematic-universe-every-upcoming-movie-and-tv-show&captions=true"] Spider-Man 3 is scheduled is currently set for a December 17, 2021 release date, and although there have been reports that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield would be returning for this new film, Tom Holland denied those rumors, having said he's read the whole script and that it would be a big secret to keep from Spider-Man himself. For more on Spider-Man 3, check out Holland's comments on how this film will be the "most ambitious standalone superhero movie ever made" and all the details on Doctor Strange's appearance in the sequel to Far From Home. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/04/what-to-expect-from-marvel-in-2021"] Marvel also revealed this week that the Disney+ series Loki is set for a June release, following after the soon-to-be-wrapped WandaVision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which will begin airing in March. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

Disney+ has officially revealed the premiere date for Marvel's upcoming Loki series starring Tom Hiddleston – and it's been pushed back from May to June 11. During the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour on Wednesday, Disney+ paneled some of its upcoming series and presented a Q&A with Marvel Studios President and Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige. At the event, the streaming service unveiled the release date for Marvel's Loki, scheduling the series for a Disney+ premiere on June 11, 2021 — which is slightly later than the May release window that was announced at Disney's annual Investor Day event last year. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/11/marvels-loki-official-trailer"] Loki features the God of Mischief as he steps out of his brother's shadow in a new series that takes place after the events of 2012's Avengers: Endgame. Hiddleston is returning as the title character, joined by Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Wunmi Mosaku, and Richard E. Grant. Kate Herron is the series' director, and Michael Waldron is the head writer. Herron previously revealed that Loki would be going to "an entirely new part of the MCU," as the mischievous character is expected to pop up at various points throughout human history, influencing historical events. The series is said to tie into the events of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which is currently penciled in for a release on March 25, 2022. Very few details are known about Loki's connection to the MCU movie, but we do know that the Doctor Strange sequel is also going to tie into the events of Spider-Man 3 and WandaVision. Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff will appear alongside Benedict Cumberbatch's Steven Strange, and Feige has teased that the Multiverse will be a running theme throughout Phase Four and beyond. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvels-loki-trailer-frame-by-frame-breakdown&captions=true"] If you would like to know more about Marvel's future slate of projects and releases, check out our roundup of the biggest and most noteworthy developments in the MCU, on Disney+, and in comics this year. For more about Loki specifically, watch the first trailer for the MCU series and then have a read through our Time Variance Authority explainer and full trailer breakdown. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Disney+ has officially revealed a May 4 premiere date for Star Wars: The Bad Batch, an all-new animated series from Lucasfilm. During the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour on Wednesday, Disney+ paneled some of its upcoming series and officially announced the release date for Star Wars: The Bad Batch. The Clone Wars spinoff series will debut on the streaming service on May 4, also known as Star Wars Day, a recurring holiday that celebrates the long-spanning intergalactic franchise. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/12/star-wars-the-bad-batch-trailer-breakdown"] Star Wars: The Bad Batch follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch as they find their way through a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone Wars. Members of Bad Batch — a unique squad of clones who vary genetically from their brothers in the Clone Army — each possess a singular exceptional skill that makes them extraordinarily effective soldiers and a formidable crew. The troopers, formally known as the Clone Force 99 squad, were first introduced in the opening storyline of The Clone Wars: Season 7. Acting as both a sequel and a spinoff to the beloved CG-animated series, The Bad Batch series will pick up shortly after the end of the war, exploring the team's new existence as mercenaries and their struggle to find a purpose. The upcoming series is helmed by a number of Star Wars veterans, including executive producers Dave Filoni, Athena Portillo, Brad Rau, and Jennifer Corbett, together with co-executive producer Carrie Beck and producer Josh Rimes. Rau is also credited as the supervising director of the series, while Corbett is head writer. Both previously worked on Star Wars Resistance together. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-upcoming-star-wars-movie&captions=true"] The Bad Batch is just the latest Star Wars series to be slotted into the Disney+ schedule, following two seasons of The Mandalorian. Fans can also look forward to a Rogue One prequel series focused on Diego Luna's Cassian Andor, an Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor, and a mysterious female-led series from Russian Doll's Leslye Headland. For even more from the galaxy far, far away, read our roundup of Star Wars TV shows, video games, comics, and everything else coming out of the franchise this year. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

At today's Disney+ Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, Disney revealed premiere dates and new images for such shows as Loki, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Monsters at Work, and more. Following Marvel's The Falcon and Winter Soldier's debut on Disney+ on March 19, it was revealed that Loki will premiere on June 11, 2021. Taking place after Avengers: Endgame, this series will see the return of Tom Hiddleston as Loki alongside Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Wunmi Mosaku and Richard E. Grant. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=disney-premiere-dates-and-images-loki-star-wars-the-bad-batch-and-more&captions=true"] Star Wars: The Bad Batch, which follows the elite and experimental clones of the titular Bad Batch, will see its first episode arrive on Disney + on May 4, 2021. On March 26, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers will make its debut, and will be followed by Big Shot, a new series that stars John Stamos, on April 16, 2021. High School Musical: The Musical: The Series will return for its second season on Friday, May 14, and will follow the East High Wildcats as they prepare to perform Beauty and the Beast as their spring musical. The second season of Zenimation will arrive on June 11 and will provide another mindfulness soundscape experience with scenes from eight decades of Walt Disney Animation Studios films. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/11/marvels-loki-official-trailer"] On June 25, The Mysterious Benedict Society will debut on Disney+ and follows a group of orphans who must "foil a nefarious plot with global ramifications while creating a new sort of family along the way." July 2 will see the return of everyone's favorite monsters in Monsters At Work. It stars Ben Feldman as Tylor Tuskmon, but will also feature Billy Crystal's Mike Wazowski and John Goodman's James P. "Sulley" Sullivan." Turner & Hooch will premiere on July 16, and stars Josh Peck as Scott Turner, who also happens to be the son of Detective Scott Turner from the 1989 film on the same name starring Tom Hanks. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/10/star-wars-the-bad-batch-official-sizzle-reel-trailer"] Lastly, Chip 'N' Dale: Park Life will debut on Friday, July 23. This series will combine classic-style cartoon comedy with contemporary storytelling and will contain 36 seven-minute episodes. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The Black Mirror-inspired survival horror game Dark Moonlight has been announced for PC by developer Silent Bear Studio. Check out the in-engine reveal trailer above and the first screenshots in the gallery below. Centering around themes of fears and phobias, you'll play Dave Kellerman, a mental health sufferer who voluntarily undergoes an "unconventional" treatment. As the developers describe it, "Instead of releasing him from his phobias, the therapy forces him into an unknown world at the borders of reality and nightmare. To survive, David will have to put his fears and mental health aside. With limited means of defense, including weapons and ammo, and threatened by horrifying monsters and demons lurking in every corner, David will be challenged by clever puzzles his mind puts in front of him, trying to stop him from progressing." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=dark-moonlight-screenshots&captions=true"] On the games side, Silent Bear cites its video game influences as Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and Outlast. You can wishlist Dark Moonlight on Steam. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.

CD Projekt Red has delayed Cyberpunk 2077's major 1.2 patch following the cyber attack the studio suffered earlier this month. CD Projekt Red announced the news on Twitter, also mentioning that this new patch "goes beyond any of our previous updates." "While we dearly wanted to deliver Patch 1.2 for Cyberpunk 2077 in the timespan we detailed previously, the recent cyber attack on the studio’s IT infrastructure and extensive scope of the update mean this unfortunately will not happen — we’ll need some additional time," CD Projekt Red wrote. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/09/cyberpunk-2077-and-witcher-3-source-code-stolen-ign-now"] "Our goal for Patch 1.2 goes beyond any of our previous updates. We’ve been working on numerous overall quality improvements and fixes, and we still have work to do to make sure that’s what you get. With that in mind, we’re now aiming for release in the second half of March. "It’s not the news we enjoy sharing, but we want to make sure we launch this update properly. Stay tuned for more information as the time draws closer. Thank you for your continued patience and support." The aforementioned cyber attack against CD Projekt Red compromised the studio's internal systems and the hackers stole documents and the source code for Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3, and more. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/02/cyberpunk-2077-console-performance-review-patch-110-111"] These stolen files were reportedly sold in a dark web auction that was allegedly set at $7 million. Patch 1.2 was part of the Cyberpunk 2077 Updates Roadmap that detailed the game's future after the litany of launch issues. Alongside these updates, there are still free DLCS planned alongside the free next-gen console update that will arrive in the second half of 2021. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.