Embracer Group, which owns a number of video game studios including Gearbox Software, Volition and 4A Games, is creating a comprehensive video game archive which plans to include every video game ever made. Martin Lindell, an adviser at Embracer Group posted the news to Twitter, and you can watch CEO Lars Wingefors talk about his plans for the archive at this timestamped video link. Wingefors has already donated his own collection to form "the foundation of the archive" but Embracer Group plans to create "an archive of all video games" and has been acquiring significant collections from private collectors in Europe over the past year. It currently holds around 50,000 pieces, including "games, consoles, peripherals and arcades," many of which are described as extremely rare. Wingefors has said that the project "will take decades to complete," but the group is committed to seeing it through.

Something I'm very proud to be a part of is our efforts at @embracergroup to build a games archive. The project is led by Thomas Sunhede, my friend and co-author of the book about Swedish video games dev history. pic.twitter.com/tmbosfVSDm

— Martin Lindell (@martinlindell) February 18, 2021

The archive may be kept near the Embracer Group Headquarters in Värmland, Sweden but the company has plans to create "satellite exhibits" at the companies it owns about the creative history of their companies. It may also create external travelling exhibits around the globe. The project is being spearheaded by Thomas Sunhede, co-author of a book concerning the history of Swedish video game development. Embracer Group has said that the archive will also act as a "complete reference library for the benefit of the group." Elsewhere, the Embracer Group has revealed that it has 150 games in development, with 70 to be completed by March 2022. The company recently acquired Borderlands developer Gearbox Software for $1.3 Billion in early February. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Embracer Group, which owns Gearbox Software (Borderlands), Volition (Saint's Row), Coffee Stain (Satisfactory) and 4A Games (Metro Exodus) to name a few, has 150 games in development, with 70 due to be completed before March 2022. The news was revealed as part of the group's third-quarter interim report, published on the Embracer Group website. The number of game development projects at Embracer Group increased 56% year-on-year, from 96 in October-December 2019 to 150 in October-December 2020. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/02/13/metro-exodus-review"] "We now expect the next financial year ending March 2022 to become the strongest in our history driven by numerous significant releases towards the second half of the year," the report reads. "In total, we expect to complete more than 70 premium game development projects." This means that by March 2022, 70 of the 150 games in development will be in a state fit for release (although they won't necessarily all see release in that time period) The Embracer Group has clearly been on a hiring spree to account for all of these new games in development. "Total headcount increased 93% to 5,730 (2,970) where total game developers increased 92% to 4,325 (2,258)," the report reads. That's nearly double the number of game developers onboarded in the space of a year. We reported back in May of 2020 that Embracer Group had 69 unannounced games in development, so hopefully we'll hear more about all of these new projects in the near future. At that point, the group also had 118 games in development, so its embarked on a whopping 32 new projects since May of last year. The group could easily add more games to this list in the wake of its latest string of acquisitions, which included port pioneers Aspyr Media and Borderlands developer Gearbox, which it picked up earlier this month for $1.3 Billion. One game it seemingly won't be helping make is Little Nightmares 3, with developer Tarsier now focusing on new IP. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Tarsier Studios "will, from now on, focus on creating new IPs", potentially spelling the end of its Little Nightmares series. Tarsier parent company Embracer Group revealed its Q3 earnings today, including a section on the Swedish studio. "After the quarter Tarsier studios game Little Nightmares 2 was published [by Bandai Namco] and was well received by its audience," reads the earnings report. "Tarsier studios will, from now on, focus on creating new IPs." In a webcast to accompany the earnings, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors went into more detail. "I'm super-thrilled, and I spoke to the CEO of Tarsier the other day, and congratulated him [on] the critical success of Little Nightmares 2. It's an IP they created, but it's owned by Bandai Namco and published by Bandai Namco, so it doesn't really have any significant commercial impact for us, even though if it does really well it could have some royalty revenues over time. "But I'm super excited about them achieving such a game again, because the first game was very well received, and this game looks as well received. Now, having that game created, they will move over to create new IPs, and I'm super excited, and that was the main reason we made this acquisition a bit over a year ago." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/04/26/little-nightmares-review"] Wingefors' comments don't outwardly say that Tarsier will no longer make Little Nightmares games, but his mention of the series' ownership by Bandai Namco (a competing publisher), and his pointing to new IPs being the reason for the acquisition seem to imply it. It is, of course, possible that Bandai Namco could now hand the Little Nightmares IP to a new studio, given its success. We've contacted Tarsier, Embracer, and Bandai Namco for comment. Tarsier was acquired by Embracer Group (the prolific acquisition-focused holding company that now owns the likes of Gearbox, 4A Games, Volition, and many more games companies) in December 2019. Little Nightmares 2 had been announced earlier that year, implying that devlopment had already begun for Bandai Namco at the time of the acquisition. We awarded Little Nightmares 2 a 7/10 review, saying "There’s no doubting developer Tarsier Studios’ artistry and ability, but I hope for its next project it leaves these Little Nightmares behind and dares to dream bigger." It seems that may now be the case. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News, and he really wants you to play Tarsier's somewhat forgotten VR game, Statik. It's fantastic. Follow him on Twitter.

Scientists have proposed a new theory that could explain the origin of the celestial body that is largely attributed as the cause of the mass extinction event that wiped out dinosaurs. EurekAlert! shared the findings from the recent study, published in Nature's Scientific Reports, which theorizes that the break-up of a long-period comet could have been the real culprit of the dinosaur extinction, not an asteroid (like some scientists have previously hypothesized). The researchers examined the potential origin and journey of the catastrophic object that forever changed history. In the paper, Amir Siraj and Avi Loeb put forward a theory to suggest that a piece of cometary shrapnel crashed into Earth over 66 million years ago to create the Chicxulub crater. The research indicates that the long-distance comet originated from the Oort Cloud - an icy sphere of debris located on the edge of the solar system - and found its trajectory from Jupiter's gravitational force and the sun's tidal forces. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/20/jurassic-world-dominion-will-conclude-both-jurassic-park-trilogies"] "The solar system acts as a kind of pinball machine," Harvard University astrophysics undergraduate student Siraj explained to the outlet, as he detailed the comet's potential journey through the solar system, which could have led to its collision with Earth. "Jupiter, the most massive planet, kicks incoming long-period comets into orbits that bring them very close to the sun. "In a sungrazing event, the portion of comet closer to the sun feels a stronger gravitational pull than the part that is further, resulting in a tidal force across the object. You can get what's called a tidal disruption event, in which a large comet breaks up into many smaller pieces. And crucially, on the journey back to the Oort cloud, there's an enhanced probability that one of these fragments hit the Earth." The analysis revealed new calculations that show that roughly 20 percent of long-period comets become "sungrazers," and that the chances of comet debris impacting Earth's surface increases by a factor of 10. The study authors determined that the new rate of impact would be consistent with the Chicxulub impact crater, thereby providing a satisfactory explanation for the origin of the impactor. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-deaths-in-the-jurassic-park-movies&captions=true"] "Our paper provides a basis for explaining the occurrence of this event," stated study co-author Loeb, a Harvard astronomer who hopes that their hypothesis will be investigated further. "We are suggesting that, in fact, if you break up an object as it comes close to the Sun, it could give rise to the appropriate event rate and also the kind of impact that killed the dinosaurs." An earlier study assessed other factors that may have played a part in the wipeout of dinosaurs prior to the celestial object striking Earth. Researchers examined fossilized marine mollusk shells across the globe and discovered high levels of mercury contamination from volcanic eruptions, which could have posed a significant health threat to dino populations before the Chicxulub impact event. For more dinosaur discoveries, dig into this story about the record-setting T. Rex fossils that sold for $31.8 million, then read all about the scientists who are extracting DNA from insects preserved in resin but have no intention of raising dinosaurs or take a look through our dueling dinosaurs fossil photo gallery that shows a T. Rex and Triceratops locked into the same fossil preservation. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

HBO Max has unveiled the first look at its upcoming Aquaman: King of Atlantis animated series. The image, which you can see in the tweet below, was revealed as part of HBO Max's virtual Television Critics Association junket on Wednesday, February 17. The screenshot appears to show Arthur Curry - aka Aquaman - and long-standing love interest Mera preparing to do battle with someone, but it's unclear who the duo are facing off against. Aquaman: King of Atlantis' distinctive art style is a far cry from the DCEU's take on the water-dwelling character, and suggest that we'll be seeing a more comical, wacky version of the Justice League member.

The first promotional image for HBO Max's AQUAMAN: KING OF ATLANTIS has been released pic.twitter.com/pfRwXAt6gn

— What's On HBO Max (@WhatsOnHBOMax) February 17, 2021

A three-part animated mini-series, Aquaman: King of Atlantis will follow Curry as he tackles the first days of his new role as Atlantis' ruler. Advised by Mera and right-hand man Vulko, Aquaman will need to deal with unscrupulous surface dwellers, underwater threats, and his half-brother Orm, who wishes to claim the throne for his own. Aquaman: King of Atlantis is being executively produced by James Wan and his Atomic Monster production company. Victor Courtright and Mary Halpern-Graser, who respectively produced and wrote Thundercats Roar, will serve as showrunners and co-executive producers on the animated mini-series. The show was announced in January 2020 and, at the time, HBO Max's Head of Original Content Sarah Aubrey stated that Aquaman: King of Atlantis would be an "exciting addition" to the company's slate of shows. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/17/dc-super-hero-girls-teen-power-nintendo-switch-reveal-trailer"] Aquaman has seen a resurgence in recent years thanks to Jason Momoa's take on the superhero. In our review of Aquaman's 2018 standalone movie, we said "it really shouldn’t work as well as it does, but it’s all so inherently weird and brazenly bonkers that the siren call of this giddy, otherworldly romp is hard to resist." A sequel and a spin-off movie - The Trench - are in the works. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Tom Power is a UK-based freelance journalist. Follow him on Twitter.

A series of leaks suggest that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will receive a new Zombies mode called Outbreak in the near future. Multiple reports suggest that the Call of Duty website changed briefly overnight to display the words "Welcome to Outbreak - A new, large-scale Zombies experience." You can see a screencap of the text on the ModernWarzone Twitter account. This was echoed by The Gaming Revolution and users on Reddit like MrTheRevertz, who found the same text in the Call of Duty App. A complementary leak from ColdWarLeakz shows a number of Zombies-related icons that have apparently been found in the Warzone files. Officially, Treyarch has been teasing something Zombies-related on Twitter over the past few days, starting with a purple portal visual (which will be familiar to Zombies players) and a glimpse at the Ural Mountains. The studio's latest tweet offers "Requiem recon intel," and mentions how Aetherium crystals "are spreading across" a snowy region and altering the atmosphere.

New Requiem recon intel incoming… pic.twitter.com/vK0YctDOEV

— Treyarch Studios (@Treyarch) February 17, 2021

This lines up with a circulated leak from Twitter user Okami in early February, which said that Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War would receive a "new mode called Outbreak." At the time, Okami said it would be "Treyarch style, co-op zombies on a large scale Fireteam map", and described it as "open world zombies," which gives us a decent idea of how the new rumoured mode will function. Seeming Zombies teasers were first spotted inside of Call of Duty: Warzone last week, bringing machines from Cold War's Zombies mode into the battle royale game, as well as screen distortion effects that pointed towards Nova 6 and other facets of COD Zombies lore. So far, Outbreak seems to be mentioned as a Black Ops Cold War mode, but it's possible that it would come with some connection to Warzone. We recently learned that Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War is one of the best selling games in US history. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

A series of leaks suggest that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will receive a new Zombies mode called Outbreak in the near future. Multiple reports suggest that the Call of Duty website changed briefly overnight to display the words "Welcome to Outbreak - A new, large-scale Zombies experience." You can see a screencap of the text on the ModernWarzone Twitter account. This was echoed by The Gaming Revolution and users on Reddit like MrTheRevertz, who found the same text in the Call of Duty App. A complementary leak from ColdWarLeakz shows a number of Zombies-related icons that have apparently been found in the Warzone files. Officially, Treyarch has been teasing something Zombies-related on Twitter over the past few days, starting with a purple portal visual (which will be familiar to Zombies players) and a glimpse at the Ural Mountains. The studio's latest tweet offers "Requiem recon intel," and mentions how Aetherium crystals "are spreading across" a snowy region and altering the atmosphere.

New Requiem recon intel incoming… pic.twitter.com/vK0YctDOEV

— Treyarch Studios (@Treyarch) February 17, 2021

This lines up with a circulated leak from Twitter user Okami in early February, which said that Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War would receive a "new mode called Outbreak." At the time, Okami said it would be "Treyarch style, co-op zombies on a large scale Fireteam map", and described it as "open world zombies," which gives us a decent idea of how the new rumoured mode will function. Seeming Zombies teasers were first spotted inside of Call of Duty: Warzone last week, bringing machines from Cold War's Zombies mode into the battle royale game, as well as screen distortion effects that pointed towards Nova 6 and other facets of COD Zombies lore. So far, Outbreak seems to be mentioned as a Black Ops Cold War mode, but it's possible that it would come with some connection to Warzone. We recently learned that Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War is one of the best selling games in US history. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Facebook has chosen to block all Australian and international news from the feeds of its Australian users as the company escalates its opposition to proposed new laws that would require tech companies to pay for the journalism they display. “The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content,” claimed Facebook Australia & New Zealand MD William Easton in a statement published this morning. “Google Search is inextricably intertwined with news and publishers do not voluntarily provide their content. On the other hand, publishers willingly choose to post news on Facebook, as it allows them to sell more subscriptions, grow their audiences and increase advertising revenue.” Unfortunately, Facebook’s summary removal of news from Australian feeds has resulted in the removal of a large number of non-news organisations, including emergency services, government health departments, various charities, satirical comedy websites, video game publishers, and even a host of international sports teams. Some feeds that were blocked have since been restored by Facebook (including Fire & Rescue NSW and Western Australia’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services) but many remain inaccessible, from non-profit organisation Bowel Cancer Australia to EA to… the Denver Broncos. [caption id="attachment_2474895" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] A whole host of non-news organisations have been muted by Facebook in Australia, from charities to comedy sites, and video game publishers to random sports teams.[/caption] For its part, the Australian government is reportedly moving ahead with the legislation, which is likely to pass the Senate next week. “Facebook needs to think very carefully about what this means for its reputation and standing,” Communications Minister Paul Fletcher told the ABC. “We will be making the point that the position that Facebook has taken means that the information that people see on Facebook does not come from organisations with a fact-checking capability, paid journalists, with editorial policies.” Facebook claims it generated approximately 5.1 billion referrals to Australian publishers last year, a figure it says is worth an estimated AUD $407 million. The Australian Tax Office’s most recent annual corporate tax transparency report indicates Facebook made over AUD $582 million in revenue in 2018-19 but only declared a taxable income of AUD $51.4 million and paid just AUD $15.4 million in tax. Facebook’s Australian operation has previously faced scrutiny for reducing its taxable income by sending hundreds of millions of dollars to undisclosed overseas subsidiaries.

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Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office. You can find him on Twitter sporadically @MrLukeReilly.

Facebook has chosen to block all Australian and international news from the feeds of its Australian users as the company escalates its opposition to proposed new laws that would require tech companies to pay for the journalism they display. “The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content,” claimed Facebook Australia & New Zealand MD William Easton in a statement published this morning. “Google Search is inextricably intertwined with news and publishers do not voluntarily provide their content. On the other hand, publishers willingly choose to post news on Facebook, as it allows them to sell more subscriptions, grow their audiences and increase advertising revenue.” Unfortunately, Facebook’s summary removal of news from Australian feeds has resulted in the removal of a large number of non-news organisations, including emergency services, government health departments, various charities, satirical comedy websites, video game publishers, and even a host of international sports teams. Some feeds that were blocked have since been restored by Facebook (including Fire & Rescue NSW and Western Australia’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services) but many remain inaccessible, from non-profit organisation Bowel Cancer Australia to EA to… the Denver Broncos. [caption id="attachment_2474895" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] A whole host of non-news organisations have been muted by Facebook in Australia, from charities to comedy sites, and video game publishers to random sports teams.[/caption] For its part, the Australian government is reportedly moving ahead with the legislation, which is likely to pass the Senate next week. “Facebook needs to think very carefully about what this means for its reputation and standing,” Communications Minister Paul Fletcher told the ABC. “We will be making the point that the position that Facebook has taken means that the information that people see on Facebook does not come from organisations with a fact-checking capability, paid journalists, with editorial policies.” Facebook claims it generated approximately 5.1 billion referrals to Australian publishers last year, a figure it says is worth an estimated AUD $407 million. The Australian Tax Office’s most recent annual corporate tax transparency report indicates Facebook made over AUD $582 million in revenue in 2018-19 but only declared a taxable income of AUD $51.4 million and paid just AUD $15.4 million in tax. Facebook’s Australian operation has previously faced scrutiny for reducing its taxable income by sending hundreds of millions of dollars to undisclosed overseas subsidiaries.

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Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office. You can find him on Twitter sporadically @MrLukeReilly.

Another DC icon is making their way to HBO Max. Variety reports a Constantine reboot series is "in early development" at the streamer. The new series won't be connected to either the 2005 movie or the short-lived 2014 series on NBC. Instead, Variety's sources indicate the series features a brand new take on the John Constantine character, and one tied to HBO Max's Justice League Dark series being produced by JJ Abrams' Bad Robot. Casting is still underway for the lead role, and The Syndicate's Guy Bolton is attached to write the series. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=dc-extended-universe-every-upcoming-movie&captions=true"] Variety's sources also suggest the series will focus on a younger version of John Constantine, which could imply the series will act as a prequel to Justice League Dark in the same way Peacemaker and Gotham PD are connected to The Suicide Squad and The Batman, respectively. The series is also said to stick closer to the subject matter of the comics compared to the movie, emphasizing supernatural horror over religious elements. Matt Ryan currently plays the Arrowverse's version of John Constantine, reprising his role from the NBC series. Ryan's Constantine officially made the jump to the Arrowverse in a 2015 episode of Arrow, before going on to play a recurring role on DC's Legends of Tomorrow. It's unknown whether this new series will impact Constantine's presence in the Arrowverse, though Legends of Tomorrow was among numerous CW shows recently renewed for the 2021-2022 TV season. Even as The CW continues to boost its Arrowverse lineup, two potential spinoff series won't be moving forward at the network. It was reported at the start of the year that Green Arrow and the Canaries is now "officially dead." The planned Wonder Girl series has also been scrapped, despite only just being announced in November 2020. This comes along with the news that Supergirl will end with the upcoming Season 6 and Black Lightning will end after Season 4. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/10/09/constantine-city-of-demons-micro-movie-review"] Are you ready for a new John Constantine? Let us know what you think of this DC news in the comments below. [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.