Star Wars: Squadrons developer EA Motive has confirmed that, while it is working on "something pretty special," it is not a new Star Wars project EA Motive took to Twitter to put a stop to some speculation that its next game would in-fact take place, much like Star Wars: Squadrons, in that galaxy far, far away. "Due to human error (hey, it happens!) we've seen a lot of speculation," EA Motive wrote. "While we're not working on a new Star Wars project, we are working on something pretty special. Follow us here or check back for more info on what we're up to!" [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/01/star-wars-squadrons-single-player-review"] IGN recently spoke to EA Motive, and general manager Patrick Klaus confirmed that there are several projects in the works at the studio, but gave no specific details as to what they might be. When asked if it would be original IP or based on franchises like Star Wars, Klaus did say the new projects were a bit of both, but didn't commit to saying Star Wars was going to be a focus again. Star Wars: Squadrons was released last month and, in our single player review, we said it "tells an entertaining story, while its flight controls hit a sweet spot between accessibility and nuance – and it’s made even better by VR and HOTAS support." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-playable-star-wars-squadrons-ship&captions=true"] In our Star Wars: Squadrons multiplayer review, we said "The thrill of Star Wars: Squadrons’ 5v5 dogfights is a treat, so it’s a shame there isn’t more here to sustain it in terms of modes, maps, or progression." Unlike many games these days, EA Motive has no plans for any substantial additional content for Star Wars: Squadrons. While it recently released some The Mandalorian-themed DLC, it would seemingly appear that we won't be seeing any expansions or the sort, although never say never. For more on Star Wars: Squadrons, check out our best tips and tricks to become an ace starship pilot, our favorite loadouts, and how Star Wars: Squadrons captures the spirit of classic Star Wars flight games. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/09/how-star-wars-squadrons-captures-the-spirit-of-classic-star-wars-flight-games"] [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 character creator and photo mode have been revealed for PS5 launch title Demon's Souls, and it will allow players to customize their appearance with up to 16 million permutations. As revealed on PlayStation.Blog, the team behind Demon's Souls has added many more options to create your character than were featured in the PS3 original and is ensuring that there is "satisfying variety possible for those who wish to tinker with every slider." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=demons-souls-ps5-character-creator-screenshots&captions=true"] Considering that Demon's Souls also has both seamlessly integrated synchronous and asynchronous multiplayer elements, it was important for the team to give players the power to craft the avatar they wished to show off. With the total number of synchronous online players in an instance being increased to six, this was even more of a priority so players could truly stand out. With all these options to customize your character, it would be a shame to not be able to show it off, and Sony and Bluepoint Games have added a photo mode to Demon's Souls on PS5 to help do just that. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=demons-souls-ps5-photo-mode-screenshots&captions=true"] Players will be able to hide and show weapons and helmets, remove their character from a scene for a striking landscape shot, strike a pose or change expressions for the "ultimate selfie," and change camera settings like zoom, film grain, and even blur out their friends. Outside of Photo Mode, players will be able to utilize the filters to change how the game looks, including "one designed to tune brightness, contrast and color levels to closely resemble those of the original PS3 game, for those who may prefer that classic look." Demon's Souls will be released alongside the PlayStation 5 on November 12, 2020, and brings the 2009 PS3 title forward to a new generation. For more, check out how Bluepoint is remaking this classic and read about the over 180 Guide Videos located in the PS5's UI that may help players survive this brutal world. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/29/demons-souls-ps5-gameplay-trailer"] [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 PS5 apparently won't support a native 1440p resolution, according to IGN Italy, which says it received official confirmation from Sony Europe on Wednesday. This is bad news for PlayStation fans with 1440p gaming monitors, as it means the PS5 will not play ball with the intended resolution for the set, likely upscaling from 1080p to compensate. We've contacted Sony for comment. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/27/ps5-console-unboxing"] The PlayStation 5 can output a maximum of 8K resolution, and 4K at 120 FPS via HDMI 2.1-compliant TVs. It'll be fine at 1080p resolution too, but the in-between resolution used by many PC gamers seemingly won't be supported by the new console at launch. Earlier in the week we learned that PS4 exclusive Days Gone will run at up to 60 FPS on PS5 with Dynamic 4K. The DualSense controller will also seemingly feature a removable faceplate that could be swapped out with custom designs. The PS5 launches on November 12 & November 19 worldwide. Preorders for the PlayStation 5 are currently sold out, but if more go up they'll be in our PS5 preorder guide right away. For everything you need to know about PlayStation 5, check out our PS5 guide. Here's a guide to all the best PlayStation holiday gifts for 2020. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

A T-shirt worn by a Bethesda employee seemingly confirms a series of Starfield leaks that made their way onto the internet this year. As spotted by user Rynderend on Reddit, Bethesda Game Studios managing director Ashley Cheng was seen sporting a Starfield development team shirt in a Develop: Brighton award ceremony live stream, during which Bethesda boss Todd Howard accepted the Develop Star Award. [caption id="attachment_2434265" align="alignnone" width="1436"] Bethesda's Ashley Cheng, with patch design enhanced.[/caption] A patch-like design on Cheng's shoulder depicts a planet's surface and the stars above – and has been seen in Starfield leaks over the past few months. It can be seen most clearly on the astronaut's suit in September's Imgur dump of images purporting to be from an early build of the game. Many were sceptical about the legitimacy of the leaks at first, but this connection draws a clear link to Bethesda's upcoming title. When these leaks circulated it was suggested by the leaker that the game was targeting a 2021 launch, and a final image leaked on Twitter showing a moonbase settlement. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/06/11/starfield-teaser-trailer-e3-2018"] All of the leaks seen so far show astronauts standing outside of space stations of varying materials and architecture. The player character appears to have a health and stamina bar and a firearm, and there's some kind of survival mechanics node in the bottom left of the UI, with a CO2 and O2 meter, as well as a potential gravity indicator. It may be that you can build these settlements while managing your various needs in space to survive in Starfield. Bethesda revealed Starfield way back in 2018 and we've learned precious little about the game since. Earlier this year we found out that Starfield had received a "major engine rewrite" for next-gen consoles, which Todd Howard recently said was the largest update ever made to Bethesda's Creation Engine. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons continues to see huge sales and, with 26.04 million copies sold, could well topple Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the Nintendo Switch's best-selling game before too long. In Nintendo's latest financial results, the company announced that New Horizons had sold over 14 million copies in the first half of the Japanese financial year, keeping it above the likes of Super Mario Odyssey, Pokemon Sword & Shield, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in the software best-sellers chart. It's a total sales figure only beaten by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which sold over 4 million copies in the same period, putting it at 28.99 million copies. In August, there was over 4 million copies' difference between the two games – with only 3 million copies now separating the top two, it seems Animal Crossing is continuing to outpace the leader. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/16/animal-crossing-new-horizons-review"] With the holiday season approaching (a traditionally strong period for hardware, systems' best-selling games, and bundles), it may be that Animal Crossing overtakes the racing game sooner rather than later. It's not a sure thing, of course – many first-time Switch buyers will pick up Mario Kart, meaning it could receive a boost that keeps it ahead of Animal Crossing. What is for sure is that New Horizons is comfortably the most successful Animal Crossing game of all time – Animal Crossing: New Leaf managed 12.82 million sales on 3DS, Wild World sold 11.75 million on DS, and City Folk sold 3.38 million on Wii. In no small part due to New Horizons, Switch software sales for the same period rose 71% year-on-year, and Switch hardware sales grew by 80.9% year-on-year. [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.

DJI introduced the original Mavic Mini as its smallest drone yet and while it was light enough to fly under the FAA’s radar, it felt a little lacking without 4K video. Well now DJI has announced the  Mini 2, a lightweight drone that’s just as small and featherweight, but with the added ability to shoot 4K video and RAW images. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=dji-mini-2&captions=true"] Equipped with a higher resolution 1/2.3-inch sensor, the DJI  Mini 2 is capable of recording 4K footage at 30 fps and 12MP photos in RAW format. This is a big improvement over the original Mavic Mini that was only able to shoot videos at up to a 2.7K resolution at 30 fps and only JPG photos. [widget path="global/page/imagecomparison" parameters="comparisons=%7B%22comparisons%22%3A%5B%7B%22caption%22%3A%22RAW%20Processing%20Comparison%22%2C%22images%22%3A%5B%7B%22id%22%3A%225fa349ede4b0aae7482494ed%22%2C%22label%22%3A%22Unedited%20RAW%22%7D%2C%7B%22id%22%3A%225fa34a3ae4b0aae7482494ee%22%2C%22label%22%3A%22Edited%20RAW%22%7D%5D%7D%5D%7D"] RAW format coming to the Mini 2 is another big boon for aerial photographers who want to fine tune their images in Photoshop, Lightroom, and Capture One. Just take a look at the details we were able to recover from processing a RAW image in the comparison above. Additionally, if you shoot video at 1080p you’ll be able to crop in digitally by up to four times, or two times for “loseless” magnification. What’s more, the drone still weighs only 249 grams, making it so small and light that you don’t even need to register it with the FAA. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=dji-mini-2-image-samples&captions=true"] The Mini 2 also features upgraded motors that provide up to 31 minutes of flight time – a minute longer than last year’s model – and it can withstand winds up to 24mph. More impressively, the range of the Mini 2 has been extended from 4km (2.49 miles) to 10km 6.21 miles thanks to the company’s new OcuSync 2.0 transmission technology. The only thing that feels lacking about the drone is it only features forward- and bottom-facing proximity sensors. The DJI Mini 2 is available now and it comes at a starting price of $449 for the standard package, which includes a DJI  Mini 2, remote controller, and one battery. The $559 Fly More Combo includes a few more accessories including a charging hub, carrying case, remote controller, and three batteries, [poilib element="accentDivider"] Kevin Lee is IGN's Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam

DJI introduced the original Mavic Mini as its smallest drone yet and while it was light enough to fly under the FAA’s radar, it felt a little lacking without 4K video. Well now DJI has announced the Mavic Mini 2, a lightweight drone that’s just as small and featherweight, but with the added ability to shoot 4K video and RAW images. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=dji-mavic-mini-2&captions=true"] Equipped with a higher resolution 1/2.3-inch sensor, the DJI Mavic Mini 2 is capable of recording 4K footage at 30 fps and 12MP photos in RAW format. This is a big improvement over the original Mavic Mini that was only able to shoot videos at up to a 2.7K resolution at 30 fps and only JPG photos. [widget path="global/page/imagecomparison" parameters="comparisons=%7B%22comparisons%22%3A%5B%7B%22caption%22%3A%22RAW%20Processing%20Comparison%22%2C%22images%22%3A%5B%7B%22id%22%3A%225fa349ede4b0aae7482494ed%22%2C%22label%22%3A%22Unedited%20RAW%22%7D%2C%7B%22id%22%3A%225fa34a3ae4b0aae7482494ee%22%2C%22label%22%3A%22Edited%20RAW%22%7D%5D%7D%5D%7D"] RAW format coming to the Mini 2 is another big boon for aerial photographers who want to fine tune their images in Photoshop, Lightroom, and Capture One. Just take a look at the details we were able to recover from processing a RAW image in the comparison above. Additionally, if you shoot video at 1080p you’ll be able to crop in digitally by up to four times, or two times for “loseless” magnification. What’s more, the drone still weighs only 249 grams, making it so small and light that you don’t even need to register it with the FAA. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=dji-mavic-mini-2-image-samples&captions=true"] The Mini 2 also features upgraded motors that provide up to 31 minutes of flight time – a minute longer than last year’s model – and it can withstand winds up to 24mph. More impressively, the range of the Mini 2 has been extended from 4km (2.49 miles) to 10km 6.21 miles thanks to the company’s new OcuSync 2.0 transmission technology. The only thing that feels lacking about the drone is it only features forward- and bottom-facing proximity sensors. The DJI Mini 2 is available now and it comes at a starting price of $449 for the standard package, which includes a DJI Mavic Mini 2, remote controller, and one battery. The $559 Fly More Combo includes a few more accessories including a charging hub, carrying case, remote controller, and three batteries, [poilib element="accentDivider"] Kevin Lee is IGN's Hardware and Roundups Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam

Sega has announced a share transfer of its arcade business to Japanese company Genda, which will see Sega sell off its historic Japanese arcade business. Sega Sammy, the parent company that owns Sega and other affiliated businesses, announced that it has agreed to sell 85.1% of its shares in Sega Entertainment, the group’s arcade and amusement center business in Japan. The deal does not impact its video game divisions at all. Sega Sammy announced that its arcade business has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and that usage of its arcade facilities “declined remarkably” and resulted in “a significant loss” for its Q1 fiscal year. Sega Sammy’s board of directors agreed to transfer a majority share of its arcade business to Genda. The full impact of Sega’s departure from the physical arcade business will be revealed when the company shares its quarterly earnings to investors later this week. But Sega says the changes will be recorded as “extraordinary losses” for the company. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/21/arcade-dreams-forgotten-classics-sega-gun-fight"] Sega, like many Japanese video game companies, has arms in a variety of businesses outside of game development. Sega’s history in the arcade business is legendary and departing the business will mark the end of a decades-spanning era for the company. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Sega has announced a share transfer of its arcade business to Japanese company Genda, which will see Sega sell off its historic Japanese arcade business. Sega Sammy, the parent company that owns Sega and other affiliated businesses, announced that it has agreed to sell 85.1% of its shares in Sega Entertainment, the group’s arcade and amusement center business in Japan. The deal does not impact its video game divisions at all. Sega Sammy announced that its arcade business has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and that usage of its arcade facilities “declined remarkably” and resulted in “a significant loss” for its Q1 fiscal year. Sega Sammy’s board of directors agreed to transfer a majority share of its arcade business to Genda. The full impact of Sega’s departure from the physical arcade business will be revealed when the company shares its quarterly earnings to investors later this week. But Sega says the changes will be recorded as “extraordinary losses” for the company. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/21/arcade-dreams-forgotten-classics-sega-gun-fight"] Sega, like many Japanese video game companies, has arms in a variety of businesses outside of game development. Sega’s history in the arcade business is legendary and departing the business will mark the end of a decades-spanning era for the company. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

It's been a staple of science-fiction ever since robots were introduced in the 1920 play R.U.R. that they would one day replace humans in the workforce. Robots have become more commonplace in our daily lives and automation has indeed replaced humans in a variety of jobs in recent decades so it is noteworthy that this week saw robots actually lose their jobs to humans. The retail chain Walmart has reportedly laid off 500 robots it's been using as in-store stock-checkers. Walmart said it's observed during the pandemic that humans can yield similar results to the six-foot-tall roving robots the retailer has been using to scan its stores' shelves since 2015. Walmart announced Monday that it was ending its contract with Bossa Nova Robotics, which prompted the latter to lay off roughly 50% of its staff. (Walmart will continue to use robotics in other aspects of its business, such as floor-cleaning.) As reported by the Wall Street Journal, "Walmart ended the partnership because it found different, sometimes simpler solutions that proved just as useful, said people familiar with the situation. As more shoppers flock to online delivery and pickup because of Covid-19 concerns, Walmart has more workers walking the aisles frequently to collect online orders, gleaning new data on inventory problems, said some of these people." The paper also cites sources claiming, "Walmart U.S. chief executive John Furner has concerns about how shoppers react to seeing a robot working in a store." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=saddest-robot-deaths&captions=true"] Human responses to robots have been the subject of many studies, including a recent one that found people wanting androids to look human -- to a point. Now, a new study by researchers at the Interactive Machines Group at Yale University sheds light on the human mistreatment of robots -- and what it actually reveals about people. The purpose of the study was to see whether people would intervene if they saw someone being abusive to a robot, which would then express an emotional response to its mistreatment. According to the Wall Street Journal, researchers, "set up its experiment to see if humans would show more empathy if bystander robots expressed sadness over the mistreatment of their fellow robot, Cozmo. The diminutive, commercial android is mobile, verbal and conveys unhappiness with a downcast and droopy facial expression worthy of Pixar." Basically, they wanted to see how people would respond if others made WALL-E sad so the study used robots that could express sadness instead of having no response at all. For the purposes of the study, one human involved in it was instructed ahead of time to mistreat the robot when it made a mistake. "Nine out of 15 people strongly intervened in response to the abuse when the bystander robots expressed sadness. Only three out of 15 intervened when the other robots didn’t react," according to the Journal. "Of those that intervened, most admonished the attacker verbally, while one participant went even further, taking the robot off the table." One scientist said the value of this field of study is less about robots and more about what it reveals about human beings. "How we treat machines is a lens into who we are,” said computer scientist and the University of Southern California professor Maja Mataric. “Why do people feel that they have carte blanche to behave in cruel ways…which we see all the time on social media? The goal is not to build better robots, but to build better robots that make us better people.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/revealed-your-top-5-giant-robots-mechs-power-ranking"] For more science news, read up on the evidence of a parallel universe where time runs backward, a cosmic cloud that has some people claiming "Galactus is coming!", NASA's discovery of water on the moon, a black widow star that's a source of gamma radiation, the frightening 50-50 chance that we really are living in a simulation, and a rogue planet that's flying through the Milky Way.