This story contains shots from upcoming WandaVision episodes and discussion that some may consider as spoilers. Proceed with caution.  [poilib element="accentDivider"] A new featurette for WandaVision has dropped a few seconds of footage from upcoming episodes which shine a light on how some plot threats may play out as the show races towards its finale. There are three segments of particular note. The first features Kathryn Hahn's Agnes, seemingly waking from her 'sitcom' state of mind, asking Vision - who is dressed in his Avengers costume - "Am I dead?" [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/11/marvels-wandavision-stay-tuned-featurette"] "Why would you think that?" asks Vision, to which Agnes replies "Because you are." The exchange suggests that Agnes may be unaware of what's been happening to her, or believes that the experience is some kind of afterlife scenario. Additionally, this may be how Vision discovers that he was killed by Thanos in Infinity War, and escalate his friction with Wanda. A scene in the final seconds of the featurette sees Wanda say "This is our home", to which Vision says "Then let's fight for it." The implication here is that Wanda and Vision will come to a shared understanding over Wanda's creation of Westview, and fight against SWORD - or perhaps a new antagonist - to keep the false reality in place. We also, in perhaps the most major tease, see the Mind Stone and Wanda interacting with it. The scene shows shards of the stone erupting from it, and Wanda bathed in its yellow light. This seems to suggest that the stone is being destroyed, but could - in classic Marvel trickery - be a scene played in reverse. Many theories have suggested that Wanda has recreated the Mind Stone in an effort to resurrect Vision, and that may be what we're seeing here. Naturally, we won't know what any of this truly means until the relevant episodes of WandaVision are made available on Disney+. Until then, you can read our latest theory about the show, appropriately titled The Mind Stone Is the Key to Everything. And to catch up on where we are so far, check out our WandaVision Episode 5 review. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Files stolen from CD Projekt Red in a ransomware attack revealed earlier this week have reportedly now been sold in a dark web auction. Dark web monitoring organisation KELA (which previously provided The Verge with what it believes to be legitimate file lists from CD Projekt's Red Engine) reports that an auction set up to sell the files has now been closed after a "satisfying offer" was made from outside of the forum it was being held on. That offer reportedly stipulates that the code will not be distrubuted or sold further. Cybersecurity account vx-underground also reported that it had heard the sale was completed.

Just in: #CDProjektRed AUCTION IS CLOSED. #Hackers auctioned off stolen source code for the #RedEngine and #CDPR game releases, and have just announced that a satisfying offer from outside the forum was received, with the condition of no further distribution or selling. pic.twitter.com/4Z2zoZlkV6

— KELA (@Intel_by_KELA) February 11, 2021

Speaking to IGN, Victoria Kivilevich, a threat intelligence analyst at KELA explained that it appears all of the files stolen – which apparently includes source code for Cyberpunk 2077, multiple versions of The Witcher 3, and Gwent – were sold in a single package. It's unclear who the buyer is, or what they intend to do with the files at time of writing. It's also unclear what price the files were sold for, but reports yesterday indicated an upfront purchase price of $7 million. Kivilevich provided IGN with a translated screenshot of the forum, dated February 10, in which the seller said CD Projekt should pay the 'blitz (upfront purchase fee) because of sensitive data contained in the files. Of course, right now, we can't verify whether that is true. [caption id="attachment_2472150" align="alignnone" width="1336"] A reported screenshot of the now-closed auction thread.[/caption] Developing...

Six Days in Fallujah, a military FPS based on a real Iraq War battle, has been resurrected by a new developer and publisher after being cancelled by its original publisher over a decade ago. Set for release on PC and consoles this year, the new version of Six Days in Fallujah is developed by Highwire Games - a studio founded by Halo’s lead designer - and published by Victura. A tactical shooter, the game is based on events that took place in 2004 during the Second Battle for Fallujah in Iraq. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/11/six-days-in-fallujah-announcement-trailer"] Designed with accuracy in mind, over 100 Marines, soldiers, and Iraqi civilians have been interviewed to ensure authenticity. The campaign depicts six days of conflict as experienced by the U.S. Marines as they attempted to recapture Fallujah from Al Qaeda. To simulate the battle, the developers at Highwire Games claim to have created “unique technologies and game mechanics” designed to replicate the uncertainty and tactics of modern combat in a way other games do not. The original version of Six Days in Fallujah was announced in 2009 by developer Atomic Games and publisher Konami, but was met with criticism from war veterans and anti-war groups. Setting a violent video game in a real world war - particularly one not just fresh in the memory, but also seen as unjust - was seen as controversial. This caused Konami to pull out of the project. While never formally cancelled by Atomic Games, news on Six Days in Fallujah gradually faded. In the years since, Atomic Games’ former CEO, Peter Tamte, has set up Victura, and has been working on a new version of Six Days In Fallujah since 2016. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=six-days-in-fallujah-screenshots&captions=true"] “It’s hard to understand what combat is actually like through fake people doing fake things in fake places,” said Tamte in a press statement. “This generation showed sacrifice and courage in Iraq as remarkable as any in history. And now they’re offering the rest of us a new way to understand one of the most important events of our century. It’s time to challenge outdated stereotypes about what video games can be.” Tamte himself was the executive vice-president of Bungie during the development and launch of Halo: Combat Evolved. The development team of the new version of Six Days In Fallujah is headed up by Jaime Griesemer, who was lead developer on Halo and Destiny, while music is provided by Halo’s original composer, Marty O'Donnell. Numerous other ex-Bungie staff make up Highwire, including former design director, character, vehicle, and weapon artists. Victura has said that more details on the game will be released in the coming weeks. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

The Peacemaker TV series starring John Cena is set for release on HBO Max in January 2022. Casey Bloys, the content chief for HBO and HBO Max, revealed the news in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Bloys said he only recently got involved with making TV content based on DC Comics and Peacemaker was one of the first shows he set into production. "I just started to get involved with the DC content in August [2020]," Bloys said. "Peacemaker is one of the first shows I greenlit and one of the first shows coming out, in January 2022. It's a great example of what HBO Max can do with DC content in that we're producing at a level we haven't seen DC content on TV do thus far." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=who-is-dcs-peacemaker-john-cenas-the-suicide-squad-character-explained&captions=true"] The interviewer asked Bloys about any potential confusion with the DCEU co-existing with the CW TV shows. Bloys also confirmed that Naomi, a new CW series from Ava DuVernay based on DC Comics, is taking place outside the Arrowverse, which means there are now two live-action DC universes on the same network. "You see confusion, I see lots of opportunity for DC fans," Bloys said with a laugh. Bloys also said there is no update on a second season of Watchmen and complimented THR on their reporting about a potential Harry Potter show for HBO Max. Boys clarified that no deals are in place regarding a Harry Potter TV show, but didn't deny that the network has met writers about the potential show. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/29/release-date-new-posters-confirmed-format-for-justice-league-snyder-cut"] HBO Max is currently only available in the US but is planned for release throughout Europe and Latin America by the end of 2021. The Justice League Snyder Cut is set for release on March 18, exclusively on HBO Max. Peacemaker is a spin-off of the upcoming Suicide Squad movie from James Gunn and will explore Peacemaker's origins. The Suicide Squad is currently set for a release in theaters and HBO Max on August 6. John Cena will reprise his role from The Suicide Squad for the Peacemaker series in what will be the first official DCEU TV show. Nhut Le was recently announced to play Judomaster in the Peacemaker series. For a full rundown of Peacemaker's origin and powers, check out IGN's guide to everything you need to know about Peacemaker. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN.

Shown as part of Sony's State of Play and at The Game Awards last year, Sumo Digital’s Hood: Outlaws and Legends is a multiplayer heist game set in a dark reimagining of Robin Hood-era medieval England. But while the trailers are flashy, they give little more than a hint as to how Hood will play. Thankfully, Sumo decided it was more than happy to tell IGN everything – and its deeply detailed description makes Hood sound like an Ocean’s Eleven Merry Men simulator. Game director Andrew Willans explains to me that a match of Hood is made up of three stages; stealing the key to a vault, grabbing treasure from said vault, and escaping the map with your haul. It’s a fairly straightforward concept, but the barriers between your four-player team and the treasure are not just AI guards and a labyrinthine map. Rather than a co-operative game, Hood is competitive; a rival team of players are also present, hunting for the exact same prize that you are. It’s not just a heist, but a race, too. If you’ve played Hunt: Showdown, you may have a sense of the fun, and stress, that should entail. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/11/hood-outlaws-legends-release-date-reveal-trailer"] You’ll come face to face with your rivals at some point during a match’s three phases, which start with a pickpocketing exercise. “The first objective is all about stealing the key to open the treasure vault, but that's not just lying around,” explains Willans. “It's on the belt of the Sheriff of Nottingham. So you've got to sneak up behind and pickpocket the Sheriff, without him turning around and whomping you, or kicking the hornet's nest.” You’ll need to work as a team to approach the Sheriff, overcoming a number of environmental obstacles on the way. “There are doors where you need to pick the locks silently, or smash them loudly, which could attract guards,” Willans reveals. “You'll have a rope arrows that you can shoot down from the battlements, which will give you a silent entry point. As you spawn, usually what happens is you'll be tagging the routes that you think are most advantageous for the team.” With the key secured, it’s onto the next objective: finding the treasure vault. “When you get the key, we give you a clue,” Willans says. “We’ll say you've got the key to the church [or one of a number of other potential buildings], but it doesn't tell you specifically where the vault is. So then it becomes a challenge to get into that building and get eyes on the treasure vault.” At this point, the enemy team will be alerted to the fact that you have the key, but they won’t be provided with the clue. From their perspective, hopefully you’ll make enough of a ruckus that they’ll be able to hear the commotion and work out which part of the map you’re heading for. As such, stealth is paramount. This is reinforced by a number of systems that will hinder your teams progress if you’re caught by the city guard. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/06/hood-outlaws-and-legends-trailer-state-of-play-2020"] “We've got different regions within a map,” says Willans. “If you trigger the alarms, then the AI calls for reinforcements, and they will lock down these regions. They can drop portcullis gates which will trap you in an area, and you'll have to either deal with the threat or find a way to escape through tunnels.” Hood is a hero-based game, so your team composition will dictate how you get yourself out of such a pickle. If your team is made up of the more fragile Mystic and Hunter classes, then you’ll want to scarper into the darkness. But the Brawler, based on Robin Hood’s Little John, has a trick up his sleeve: “If you've got a John on your team, he can lift the portcullis gate to get you out,” Willans reveals. Additionally, there are minor punishments inflicted on the player who gives the team away. “If you're the person that trips the alarm, your super ability will be blocked,” says Willans. “So you need to then return to stealth before you can use your ability again. It's a subtle layer of saying ‘stealth is important’… Conversely, the more stealth takedowns you do, the quicker you feed that ability.” Sumo doesn’t expect nor want players to fully stealth a match, though. “We quickly discovered that it's actually really good fun when you meet the other team,” Willans says. “That friction is what creates the drama, the tension, and the fun.” As such, maps are designed to funnel teams into potential engagements, such as capture zones that, when secured by a team, are used as respawn points. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=hood-outlaws-legends-screenshots&captions=true"] Conflict doesn’t necessarily have to be direct, either; Willans paints a picture of a team observing their rivals from a stealthy vantage point, and then making noise with tools like arrows and rocks to tempt the AI guards into attacking them. “We have our version of a medieval hand grenade,” he adds. “If you drop one of those, obviously people are going to come to investigate. So that’s a tool which is good if you want to mess with the other team.” Upon reaching the building that contains the treasure, you’ll have to find the vault itself. The largest potential location has five floors, and so the task can require a lot of scouring, but the AI is there to help. “We have different guards on different doors,” Willans says. “So you can expect heavier resistance on the treasure vault door, as opposed to like say, the dining room or the kitchens in a castle.” With the treasure in hand, your team now needs to get it to one of a number of extraction points. It's in this phase that Sumo tries to really ratchet up the action. “What is it all of these heist movies tell us?” he asks. “The tense moment is when they crack the safe. They get the money, and then usually that third act is the explosive finale. That's the bit that we were missing when going completely silent, that frantic action as you spill onto the streets like Robert De Niro in Heat. So yeah, we just fully embraced this.” This explosive final phase comes courtesy of the AI’s escalation system. “If the AI gets one look at the treasure chest and sounds the alarm, the entire map goes into lockdown,” Willans reveals. “All hell breaks loose. They'll send knights to the extraction point. The sheriff knows that his loot has been stolen, and he starts marching towards it. So then at the extraction zone you've got the knights to deal with, you've got additional guards, and you've got the sheriff, who is a one hit kill machine. He'll just grab you and crush your skull.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/03/hood-outlaws-legends-the-ranger-character-story-trailer"] Such a commotion is a perfect opportunity for a struggling rival team to flip the tables in the final moments. While the successful thieves fight off the guards, you could swoop in, grab the treasure they worked so hard for, and extract it yourself. It's one of a multitude of valid tactics that Sumo hopes players will learn and adapt to. “You might try and intercept the enemy team, kill the person carrying the key and take it from them,” Willans suggests. “You might decide ‘We're going to get ahead of the team and find the vault before they do’. Because it's a level playing field, no one knows what the vault is going to be. Then you can set up an ambush at the vaults, and basically hijack them.” This multitude of possibilities, combined with the unpredictability of an opposing team, means that each match of Hood has the potential to play out very differently. But Sumo realises that things could get stale, so there’s plenty of variables built into the game. This starts, naturally, with a variety of maps of altering sizes. Within those maps, the vault location is randomly decided, and certain maps have more vault options than others. And finally, there is a library of AI patrol paths to ensure that guard behaviour differs from match to match. “It's like rolling the dice,” says Willans. “You might play the same map 20 times but you'll never have the same set of ingredients in the same order.” Players of Hunt: Showdown may find many of these ideas very familiar. That’s no coincidence; Sumo has enjoyed and been inspired by Crytek’s take on PvPvE. An older version of Hood even had a mechanic of digging up clues, much like players do in Hunt. But over time the design has evolved beyond a medieval version of the same game into something quite different, just still in the same genre. And, like all the best heists do in the movies, the plan for it sounds perfect. The proof will be in the execution, though, which hopefully will be closer to The Thomas Crown Affair’s flawless theft than Reservoir Dogs’ botched diamond heist. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

DICE LA is working on a new Battlefield game, according to the studio's Senior Design Director Justin Wiebe. As spotted by VG247, Wiebe asked his Twitter followers on Monday to guess which "EA owned franchise" he was excited to be working on. After shooting down Plants vs Zombies, Skate and Apex, Wiebe added that "It's Battlefield," confirming that DICE LA is working on a new game in EA's Battlefield shooter series. In one of his replies, Wiebe said that it wasn't Peggle, but that it would be "cool to turn into a class-based shooter." Sign us up for that one. DICE LA has previously supported the development of the Battlefield series, but back in January of 2020, Respawn CEO Vince Zampella took over Dice LA. At that point there were reportedly plans to change the studio's name and release an "original, as-yet-unrevealed game," but it looks like the team will still be working on Battlefield after all. Of course, the DICE LA team could be split into two teams, working on Battlefield and a new project simultaneously.

It’s wondrous I get to work on a game I fell in love with almost 20 years ago! The sandbox play of 1942 was just amazing for its time. I look forward to hearing from all of you what you loved and hope for in a future BF game.

— Justin Wiebe (@JA_Wiebe) February 8, 2021

In a follow-up tweet, Wiebe noted his excitement for the project. "It’s wondrous I get to work on a game I fell in love with almost 20 years ago! The sandbox play of 1942 was just amazing for its time," Wiebe said. "I look forward to hearing from all of you what you loved and hope for in a future BF game." It's not clear whether this is a new game in the Battlefield universe or the one slated for a 2021 release, which EA has previously talked about. Here's everything we know about the game, which will apparently take full advantage of the next-gen consoles. The only real glimpse we've had at the next Battlefield came in a next-gen tech teaser at last year's EA Play showcase – you can check that out below: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/dragon-age-and-battlefield-tech-teaser-ea-play-2020"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

CD Projekt Red is co-publishing The Witcher: Old World, a board game from Go On Board that explores the world of The Witcher in the years before Geralt took up his sword. Designed by Łukasz Woźniak (creator of Titans and Valhalla), the deck building game supports between two and five players. It's set around a competition between Witchers, with each player aligned to one of the five Witcher schools: the Wolf (sword combat), the Griffin (magic), the Cat (speed), the Bear (defensive), or the Viper (poison). Players are provided with a deck of ten cards suited to their chosen school, which include attacks, blocks, dodges, and magical Signs, which are used in combat encounters. Killing monsters will provide players new cards to add to their deck, gradually building the ability to play powerful combos. Players are able to embark on a variety of quests that will reward both cash and renown. Success in quests is important, as the first player to earn a certain amount of trophies will be crowned the winner. The competition between players will also result in fights between rival Witchers. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2016/05/26/the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-blood-and-wine-review"] It wouldn’t be a Witcher game without tests of your moral fibre, so there are also narrative decisions to make as the game progresses. BoardGameGeek reports that The Witcher: Old World will be launched through Kickstarter, as is often the case with a great deal of modern board games. The funding campaign is set to be launched in May, with an April 2022 window targeted for full release. The first images of the game show that it will come with at least two miniatures; a Witcher casting Igni and a wendigo. The full opening of the Kickstarter should reveal the full contents of the box. For more on the video game side of The Witcher, take a look at the news of CD Projekt being held to random over stolen Witcher source code. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Nintendo has launched a concierge program in the US, allowing new Nintendo Switch owners to take 1-on-1 consultations with a Nintendo representative to figure out what games they should play next, among other topics. Details about The Nintendo Switch Concierge program can be seen on Nintendo's website, where the consultation process is explained in simple steps – pick a topic, book a slot and jump on a video call with a Nintendo rep. New Nintendo Switch owners that are over 18 years old and located in the United States can apply to take part in a session on a first-come, first-served basis. The website's application system offers a variety of topics: Nintendo Switch 101, Games (Getting Started), Games (What to Play Next), Security and Privacy, Nintendo Account, and Customization. The idea is clearly to offer users less familiar with gaming, or parents who are buying their kids a Switch, an opportunity to be walked through their console. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/21/nintendo-switch-welcome-to-nintendo-switch-trailer"] The What to Play Next session will see a representiative "discuss recommendations on games to play next based on who is playing, play styles, favorite games, system and accessories owned." It's perhaps no surprise that Nintendo's starting the program – the Nintendo Switch recently surpassed the 3DS in sales, clocking in nearly 80 million units sold as of December 2020, so it makes sense that Nintendo is keen to help all of these new users onboard with the popular console and find games that suit their tastes. A concierge system seems like this is a great way to familiarize new gamers with the device or help parents get to grip with the intricacies of the Nintendo Switch and set up privacy controls. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Zynga is aiming to release its unrevealed Star Wars game by the end of 2021, with more news to come soon, and a soft launch in the summer. Zynga (Words With Friends, Farmville) revealed that it was working on its first Star Wars game late last year. In the company's latest earnings reports, the company revealed: "We also expect our first Star Wars game to enter soft launch in early summer with the potential to launch by the end of the year." A soft launch is a release strategy often used for mobile games, similar to a beta, but with games usually released in specific territories as developers fix bugs and test server capacity, with a global launch coming later. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-star-wars-game-review&captions=true"] We still don't know exactly what the Star Wars game will be, but it seems we won't have to wait too long. In an investor Q&A, CEO Frank Gibeau wouldn't be drawn on more details, but added, "There'll be more news on the Star Wars title as we progress into the first part of this year." Zynga opened a brand new Austin, Texas studio to develop its Star Wars game, adding that it had a "mission of bringing AAA console visuals and deep, compelling gameplay to mobile platforms." Whatever it is, this new game will be one of the first new Star Wars games to be housed under the returning Lucasfilm Games brand, and is presumably one of the new projects Lucasfilm promised would be revealed during 2021. So far, Lucasfilm Games has announced an open-world Ubisoft Massive game, an Indiana Jones game from MachineGames, and confirmed that EA still has more Star Wars games to come. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/how-star-wars-games-can-flourish-now-that-ea-lost-exclusivity"] [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.

Twitch has accidentally leaked a new Street Fighter V character called Eleven via an email sent to users – Eleven is the last character to be added in SF5's final season of content. As spotted by AllGamesDelta on Twitter, an email rounding up the coming week's events on Twitch contains a blurb about the Street Fighter V Winter Update, which is set to occur on Thursday. The blurb notes that it will feature "an exclusive look at the newest character, Eleven."

Twitch accidentally leaks the identity of Street Fighter V: Champion Edition's final Season 5 character

It's Eleven, the precursor to Street Fighter III's Twelve https://t.co/SG0EABqd79 pic.twitter.com/PreEJ8NDPp — AllGamesDelta (@AllGamesDelta_) February 11, 2021

This all but confirms that Eleven will be the next character added to Street Fighter V during Season 5. According to Capcom's roadmap for the game, we can expect Eleven to land in Fall 2021, following new characters Dan, Rose, Oro and Akira Kazama from Rival Schools. Eleven has already featured in Street Fighter V during the character story of Urien, and the character is a pale shapeshifter developed by the in-game Secret Society. They served as a prototype of the character Twelve, who first appeared in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2016/02/15/street-fighter-5-review"] After Eleven, Street Fighter 5 will seemingly be content-complete - and with Capcom all but confirmed to be working on Street Fighter 6, it seems clear where the team's attentions will be turned afterwards. Back in August of 2020, veteran Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono left Capcom after almost 30 years. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.