Update: Rocksteady has published a new statement direct from the company, rather than a new letter drafted by its female employees. In it, Rocksteady says it worked to tackle the issues raised in the 2018 letter that alleged Rocksteady did nothing about its sexist work place. "In response to the initial communication, we met with all our female staff, we listened, and we dealt with the issues raised. All formal complaints were thoroughly investigated, addressed appropriately, and a number of serious measures were taken in response to the issues that were surfaced, including discipline or termination of staff." As a follow-up, Rocksteady says it will work with an independent, third-party to speak with all employees at Rocksteady who wish to speak up about the company's culture.

Here is our statement: pic.twitter.com/ssyzNWfyhB

— Rocksteady Studios (@RocksteadyGames) August 21, 2020

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Original Story: Rocksteady Studios, the London-based video game developer behind the Batman Arkham series and the upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, has come under fire after the revelation the company allegedly did not take action when presented with stories of sexual harassment within the company. The Guardian published a report regarding a letter signed by over half of Rocksteady’s women employees back in November 2018 that claimed, among other things, of sexual harassment experienced in the workplace. The letter, signed by 10 of the company’s 16 women employees at the time, raised issues about the workplace that included “slurs regarding the transgendered community” and “discussing a woman in a derogatory or sexual manner with other colleagues,” as well as “unwanted advances, leering at parts of a woman’s body, and inappropriate comments in the office.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/22/rocksteady-reportedly-working-on-a-suicide-squad-game"] The Guardian's anonymous source, who signed the letter in 2018, claims that the letter was kept private from the rest of the company and resulted only in a single training seminar on sexual harassment in the workplace. The source alleges Rocksteady still has issues of sexism and harassment from the workplace. Since the publication of The Guardian’s report, Kim MacAskill, former senior scriptwriter for the upcoming Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League, came forward with her account of working at Rocksteady. In her 13-minute video, MacAskill says that 97 percent of the employees at Rocksteady were supportive of her as a woman and developer. “It’s just so unfortunate that because one or two people weren’t so good that this happens and it happened because the company is so inept to limit this stuff,” she said. MacAskill delves into the time when she gathered Rocksteady’s female employees, save for those who worked in Human Resources (HR), to discuss their experiences with sexual harassment at the workplace. MacAskill says all but one of the women she spoke to claimed to have experienced some form of harassment at Rocksteady. MacAskill also alleges HR failed to appropriately handle the allegations. Following these allegations, Rocksteady has remained mostly silent on the matter. The company says it’s working on a response to the news but, in the meantime, shared a letter on the company’s official Twitter account, which it claims is a voluntary response from 7 of the ten signatories of the original 2018 letter. This new letter claims that “immediate action was taken” to address matters of sexual harassment at Rocksteady and that the original 2018 letter sent to The Guardian was done so without their consent.

While working on our response to the recent news, we received the following unsolicited letter. pic.twitter.com/sozmsp6u3C

— Rocksteady Studios (@RocksteadyGames) August 19, 2020

The allegations surfaced just as Rocksteady is about to reveal its latest game, Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League, at the upcoming DC Fandome. This is the studio’s first game since releasing Batman: Arkham Knight in 2015 and Batman: Arkham VR in 2016. IGN has reached out to Rocksteady regarding the report and allegations. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Microsoft unveiled an extensive look at the new Xbox user interface, which is designed to provide a cohesive experience for players across a variety of devices, including Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC, and Android devices via cloud gaming. The overall layout should be familiar to longtime Xbox players, but with a faster, more focused design. Take a look at the UI in the gallery and video below. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=xbox-series-x-user-interface&captions=true"] Microsoft says that the home screen will load more than 50% faster when booting up the system, and around 30% faster when returning from a game. The improvements also cut down on memory usage considerably – around 40% Microsoft says. Other improvements include the consolidation of Parties and Chat into a single tab to streamline communication and make it easier to track what's going on with your friends. One key aspect mentioned is how the system will connect to mobile devices using a new Xbox mobile app. When you capture a gameplay clip, for example, it will automatically be sent to the mobile app, making it easy to then share to your social media of choice. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/19/next-gen-xbox-ui-features-detailed-coming-to-series-x-and-xbox-one"] Microsoft says these new features – like an update to the Microsoft Store – will begin rolling out in the coming weeks, with the major overhaul coinciding with the Xbox Series X launch in November.

While Thor has always ranked among the strongest members of the Avengers, lately he's reached new heights of power after agreeing to become a herald of Galactus. And now Thor #6 illustrates just how powerful the Mighty Thor has become in 2020, as the thunder god slays his most fearsome opponent yet. Read on to learn what new foe has fallen before the might of Mjolnir, but beware of full spoilers for Thor #6 ahead! [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=epic-marvel-covers-showcase-thors-new-costume&captions=true"] Thor is arguably at the peak of his godly strength right now, having first ascended to become the new Allfather of Asgard and then being infused with the Power Cosmic by Galactus. Galactus needs a mighty herald to help him defeat the Black Winter, a sentient cosmic plague that's currently sweeping the multiverse. It even killed the Justice League. But as Thor learned in issue #5, Galactus has a very personal reason for despising the Black Winter. In the previous incarnation of the Marvel Universe, before he became the Devourer of Worlds, the man known as Galan of Taa was the Black Winter's herald. The Black Winter reveals it has no interest in destroying the universe all over again. It simply wants its right-hand man back. At this point Thor is fed up with the temporary alliance he forged with Galactus. The thunder god absorbs all the energy he helped Galactus gather and turns it against his "master." [caption id="attachment_2394870" align="aligncenter" width="1867"] Art by Geoff Shaw. (Image Credit: Marvel)[/caption] Last time Thor directly battled Galactus in the 2011 Mighty Thor series, he barely managed to dent his foe's armor. This time around, one of the most powerful beings in the universe is left broken and defeated. But Thor isn't finished. Equally disgusted with the Black Winter, Thor channels all of his power into Galactus, transforming him into a bomb that obliterates both enemies. When the dust finally settles, Galactus is nothing more than a smoking suit of armor and the Black Winter has been reduced to a single snowflake. But before Thor crushes the plague to death, it shows him a vision of his death. Even as the story flashes forward several months to a victorious Thor reigning over his kingdom, he's still haunted by what he saw in that moment: [caption id="attachment_2394869" align="aligncenter" width="1868"] Art by Geoff Shaw. (Image Credit: Marvel)[/caption] That's right, apparently Thor is doomed to die fighting Thanos, with the Mad Titan wielding both a black version of the Infinity Gauntlet and Mjolnir empowered by the Infinity Stones, while also controlling an army of Marvel Zombies for good measure. Writer Donny Cates began his sprawling cosmic Marvel saga with Thanos Wins back in 2017, and it seems all roads lead back to Thanos in the end. At the moment, it's anyone's guess as to when this fateful conflict will play out, but we do have a better sense of what the immediate future holds for the Odinson. Asgard is currently at peace, though an unknown enemy is manipulating Thor's fate and erasing the future previously glimpsed in Jason Aaron's Thor run. Every day, Thor spirals deeper into a drunken stupor and Mjolnir grows heavier. He may have been strong enough to slay Galactus, but how can Thor fight an enemy who won't show their face? We also have to wonder what the consequences of Galactus' death will be. It's long since been established Galactus is less a villain than a necessary force of cosmic balance that keeps life in check. What happens when that balance is destroyed? Let us know in the comments below what you think of Thor's impressive victory and the implications of his vision of Thanos. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/19/dc-fandome-hall-of-heroes-event-trailer"] In other comic book news, find out about Wolverine's gory new anthology series and learn how the recent WarnerMedia layoffs could impact DC Comics in 2021. [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.

Both legendary comic book writer Frank Miller and director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, The Fountain) wrote their own scripts for the rejected Batman: Year One movie. While neither was used, some think they may have affected future projects, including Christopher Nolan's eventual Batman trilogy. While it was known that Miller and Aronofsky had collaborated on the failed pitch for an R-rated Batman movie following Batman & Robin, Miller told IGN that they had both written separate treatments for the movie. In IGN's new documentary, Batman: Year One - The R-Rated Reboot That Almost Was, Miller explains: "Darren wrote one version and I wrote one version. Neither got produced." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/batman-year-one-the-r-rated-reboot-that-almost-was-ft-frank-miller"] Despite the double-headed approach, both creators were ultimately turned down, with Miller joking, "It has to be agreed upon by the entire United States Congress before it proceeds." He continued, "It’s Batman! So many people have to approve anything to do with a trademark of that value that the odds are that anything is going to be squashed." Interestingly, while those drafts were ultimately never used to make the intended film, they may not have been unused entirely. Former Warner Bros. president of worldwide production, Lorenzo di Bonaventura explained to IGN how those rejected scripts may have affected future movies, including Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, which did end up taking a grittier tone: "I don’t remember what Chris [Nolan] did or didn’t read as he jumped in. But any time you do a draft like that, everybody reads that draft who comes aboard, right? So those ideas can filter in. The Anne Hathaway Catwoman, was it affected by the Aronofsky draft? I have no idea. I find that in the process of developing any big franchise, little ideas somehow find a way when they’re good of never dying, no matter how many drafts, no matter how many filmmakers. Somehow they keep coming back in. "I have no doubt that the exploration of Darren’s version impacted everything following it to some degree. Now you tell me how much. That’s a hard one." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=ranking-the-batman-movies&captions=true"] There's far, far more to learn in the full documentary about Batman: Year One, which would have been a darker, bloodier take on the Batman mythos, had it ever seen the light of day. [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.  

Amazon has announced five new additions to the cast of its TV adaptation of Robert Jordan's fantasy epic The Wheel of Time. Sophie Okonedo, the Oscar-nominated actress who rose to fame playing Tatiana Rusesabagina in 2004's Hotel Rwanda, has been cast as the legendary Amyrlin Seat, Siuan Sanche, who was raised from the Blue Ajah in the Wheel of Time books. She will star alongside Game of Thrones alum Kae Alexander who will be assuming the role of Elmindreda "Min" Farshaw, another fan-favorite character from the best-selling series. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=amazons-wheel-of-time-cast&captions=true"] Also joining the Wheel of Time cast in recurring roles are Kate Fleetwood (Peacock's Brave New World) as Liandrin Guirale, Clare Perkins (Netflix's The Crown newcomer) as Kerene Nagashi, and Finnish actor Peter Franzen (History's Vikings) as Stepin. With these new additions, the series has secured most of its main cast, though fans are still awaiting cast announcements for Elayne and Gawyn Trakand, two other major characters in the first book. The latest quintet joins an array of previously announced cast members, including  Michael McElhatton as Tam Al'Thor, father of Rand Al'Thor, Rosamund Pike as Moiraine, Marcus Rutherford as Perrin Aybara, Barney Harris as Mat Cauthon, Madeleine Madden as Egwene Al'Vere, Zoë Robins as Nynaeve, and Daniel Henney as al'Lan Mandragoran. Alexandre Willaume also recently joined the cast as beloved gleeman Thom Merrilin alongside three other key characters. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/04/20/wheel-of-time-in-60-seconds-what-you-need-to-know"] Amazon's official description for The Wheel of Time series describes the show as one that is "set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to access it." The story follows "Moiraine, a member of the incredibly powerful all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers. There, she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity." For more on The Wheel of Time, check out our guide to everything you need to know about the upcoming series. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Guillermo del Toro's stop-motion movie adaptation of Pinocchio has rounded out a star-studded cast including Ewan McGregor, Christoph Waltz, and Ron Perlman. McGregor will play Cricket, with actor Gregory Mann starring as Pinocchio. The press release and a tweet from an official Netflix account calls Mann a "newcomer" but an IMDb page belonging to a Gregory Mann has one prior role in Cats (2019). David Bradley, who played Walder Frey in Game of Thrones and Mr. Filch in the Harry Potter movies, will play Gepetto. Tilda Swinton, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, and Burn Gorman will join Waltz and Perlman in the movie, which is going to be a musical. The film is set to debut in theaters and on Netflix. Principal photography has been going on since fall 2019 in Oregon. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/01/new-to-netflix-for-august-2020"] “After years of pursuing this dream project, I found my perfect partner in Netflix," del Toro said in a statement. "We have spent a long time curating a remarkable cast and crew and have been blessed by continuous support from Netflix to quietly and carefully soldier on, barely missing a beat. We all love and practice animation with great passion and believe it to be the ideal medium to retell this classic story in a completely new way." del Toro is directing the movie with the animation director of Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mark Gustafson. del Toro and Patrick McHale, a writer for Adventure Time, wrote the script with del Toro and Katz writing the song lyrics. The Shape of Water composer Alexandre Desplat will compose the music score. Gris Grimly designed the Pinocchio character that will be seen in the movie. Grimly illustrates books with nightmarish depictions of classic characters and has a depiction of Pinocchio on his website with a caption claiming it's from 2003. The puppets in the movie will be designed by Mackinnon & Saunders, who previously worked on Corpse Bride and Fantastic Mr. Fox. Members of The Jim Henson Company are also listed as producers on the project. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-horror-movies-on-netflix&captions=true"] del Toro was also in production on an adaption of Nightmare Alley with another star-studded cast, including Blanchett and Perlman. Deadline reported in March that Disney shut down production over coronavirus concerns, but documents from the Director's Guild of Canada released on Friday say the film is back in pre-production with full production set for November. Here's a list of everything that came to Netflix in August and lists of the best horror movies, drama movies and comedies on the service for August 2020. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN who has a Netflix subscription but this one sounds like it's actually worth a trip to the theater.

DC FanDome has been split into two separate events following fan feedback about panel clashes. The first, DC FanDome: Hall of Heroes will still take place this Saturday, August 22, with the second, DC FanDome: Explore the Multiverse, coming on September 12. The Hall of Heroes line-up will include much of the big-name content scheduled for the original Saturday event, including the two new DC games. The organisers promise "special programming, panels and exclusive reveals from a wide variety of films, TV series, games, comics and more." The Hall of Heroes content will be screened 3 times over the course of 24 hours on Saturday, and will only be viewable live on the DC FanDome platform, an "epic world designed personally by Jim Lee". That 24 hour time period will still begin on Saturday at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK (that's Sunday at 3am AEST). You can check out a new trailer for Hall of Heroes below: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/19/dc-fandome-hall-of-heroes-event-trailer"] Explore the Multiverse will take a different tack. For 24 hours from September 12, viewers will be able to create their own schedule out of a "menu" of programming, watching as many panels and showcases as they like within that time, in whatever order they choose. You can view that menu on the DC FanDome site now. The reason for the change comes down to scheduling - after the initial DC FanDome schedule was released, many fans responded about having to watch panels at set times, with clashes across the event's multiple digital stages. This switch now allows for a single Hall of Heroes line-up with most of the expected major announcements in sequence, and a more customisable experience later down the line. "We heard the fans", reads a press release. "DC FanDome, a first-of-its kind, virtual experience for DC superfans around the world, was a lot to handle in one day! It turned out to be so massive that with so many hours of programming, not even The Flash could get through it in 24 hours!" We'll still be reporting all the news from Hall of Heroes this weekend - here's how to watch DC FanDome along with us. [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.

Vampire: The Masquerade- Bloodlines 2 has seen its narrative lead and creative director unexpectedly dropped from the project, with the former saying he is "incredibly disappointed" after being "suddenly terminated" from the game's development team. Paradox Interactive announced that lead narrative designer Brian Mitsoda and creative director Ka’ai Cluney "are no longer part of the team", adding that this was a joint decision between developer Hardsuit Labs and the publisher. Paradox thanked Mitsoda and Cluney for their work, but offered no specific explanation for their termination. "These changes to the team are focused on one thing: to bring you the best possible Vampire: The Masquerade game", reads a statement. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-damsel-trailer"] In a statement to Rock Paper Shotgun, Mitsoda - who headed up writing for the original Bloodlines game and has fronted much of the sequel's PR - clarified that he had been unexpectedly fired, saying "That this came as a shock to me is underselling it." "The pride in the work, the fan expectations, and the support from co-workers who started out as fans kept me going through this long five years. And I’m incredibly disappointed and frustrated to say that this is where it ends for me on the project," Mitsoda added. Bloodlines 2 recently received a major delay, pushing the game back to 2021. Mitsoda explained that he believes his work on the narrative side of the game had not contributed to that delay: "I was not part of the conversations that led to the decision to delay production, and to my knowledge, there were no delays caused by the Bloodlines 2 narrative development. I am confident and proud of the work that I and my team put forward. When that work will be seen and what form it will take is unknown to me." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-next-gen-announcement-trailer"] Paradox added that Alexandre Mandryka (Assassin's Creed, Wahammer 40,000: Space Marine) had been brought on to fill the creative director role. IGN has contacted Hardsuit and Paradox for comment. [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.

After a celebrity cameo was spotted, dataminers seem to have found a second secret character in the Tony Hawk demo files.

A report has surfaced suggesting Halo Infinite's development and recent delay have been affected by outsourcing, with the upcoming Halo TV show also apparently a "significant distraction." An investigative report into the "turbulent" development cycle of Halo Infinite from Thurrott alleges that a number of factors have contributed to the game's troubled development and eventual delay from Xbox Series X console launch into 2021. One major factor in Infinite's delay supposedly stems from the fact that "a significant portion of the game is being outsourced to third-party contractors." This is standard practice in the games industry, especially in AAA, but in Infinite's case, the report suggests that the level of outsourcing has been unusually high, with "the coordination between the many different companies contributing to Infinite has been rough, at best." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/24/halo-infinite-teaser-trailer"] Thurrott's source claims that the outsourcing "was at a ratio higher than a typical studio undertakes during development," which has led to communication and collaboration headaches for 343 Industries. Apparently, the E3 2019 trailer for Halo Infinite was outsourced while the game was not in a playable state, which "over-sold expectations for Infinite's later demos." The report suggests that the marketing and engineering teams behind Halo Infinite "have been on two different planets," which has also led to issues in messaging the game. The Thurrott report also dwells on the departure of high-profile creatives such as Tim Longo and Mary Olsen as a reason for the turmoil - both were creative directors who left 343 Industries in 2019. The recent rumour that the game was going to ship with multiplayer and campaign as separate entities is also corroborated, with the report suggesting that this came under consideration as a means to "meet the Holiday 2020 deadline." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-xbox-series-x-games&captions=true"] As well as the issues with outsourcing, one source told Thurrott that the long-gestating Halo TV series has "been a significant distraction for 343 management." According to the unnamed source, the show has been "taking their priority instead of focusing on making sure development progress is on the right path to reaching its targeted deadline." For more on Halo Infinite, check out this episode of Next-Gen Console Watch 2020 where the team dig into the Halo Infinite delay, wondering how the Xbox Series X can compete without its flagship launch exclusive. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.