Riot Games has revealed that Act II of Valorant will begin on August 4, 2020, and will bring with it a new Battlepass, a new agent, a new Glitchpop Skinline, and a free-for-all Deathmatch mode. Valorant's Act II Battlepass will feature "unique unlockables, including gun skins, gun buddies, sprays, player cards, player titles, and Radianite Points," and will cost 1000 VP. The new agent arriving in Valorant, Killjoy, was revealed last week and will become playable on August 4 as well. She is a "wunderkind" that can use a variety of robots and gadgets to gain the upperhand against her enemies. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=valorant-act-ii-screenshots&captions=true"] The new Glitchpop Skinline "leans into a dystopian future where death has no consequence and comes to life through bright, colorful skins and a playful but deadly attitude." These new skins will be available for Frenzy, Odin, Bulldog, and Judge. There will also be a melee weapon as well. Free-for-all Deathmatch will launch in Beta form and will become available on August 5. It will see 10 players battling for dominance, with no abilities, infinite money, and no Spike. A player will become victorious with 30 kills or if they have the most kills after 6 minutes. All weapons will be available and players will start with heavy armor. When a player dies, they will respawn within 3 seconds and will start with 8 seconds of invulnerability that will allows them to swap weapons if desired. Once they move or fire, the invulnerability goes away. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/29/valorant-new-agent-reveal-killjoy"] Health packs will drop after an enemy is killed, an UAV will reveal the current location of enemies every 5 seconds, and Kill Banners will appear for those who can achieve a double kill, triple kill, etc. [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 who is a Sova main. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s latest patch, containing the update for Season 5, has been deployed. It is, as they always are, massive, but Infinity Ward says that the update will actually shrink the overall install size of the game. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=call-of-duty-modern-warfare-and-warzone-season-4-screenshots&captions=true"] The Season 5 update, available to download now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One ahead of the season launch itself, weighs in at a chunky 36GB on PS4, although requires 90GB of free space on the hard drive to initiate the download. But Modern Warfare’s Production Director, Paul Haile, has said that this won’t just add more space demands on top of what the game currently takes up.

this means the download will be big, but the overall size of the game will actually shrink on your consoles after you download the patch, even though we're adding a bunch of new content for the season.

— Paul Haile (@Tyrael) August 2, 2020

“The overall size of the game will actually shrink on your consoles after you download the patch, even though we're adding a bunch of new content for the season,” he says. He also explains that the patch contains not just new content, but optimisation for the existing asset packs. With Modern Warfare taking up pretty much 200GB at the moment across all platforms, this shrinkage of the install size will come as good news to many players who'd like to have other large games installed on the same drive. For more on Call of Duty, check out Infinity Ward’s current stance on cheat bans, a listing that appears to be for this year’s unannounced Call of Duty game, and how our obsession with Yegor’s pink tracksuit jacket revealed some fascinating things about game design. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s latest patch, containing the update for Season 5, has been deployed. It is, as they always are, massive, but Infinity Ward says that the update will actually shrink the overall install size of the game. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=call-of-duty-modern-warfare-and-warzone-season-4-screenshots&captions=true"] The Season 5 update, available to download now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One ahead of the season launch itself, weighs in at a chunky 36GB on PS4, although requires 90GB of free space on the hard drive to initiate the download. But Modern Warfare’s Production Director, Paul Haile, has said that this won’t just add more space demands on top of what the game currently takes up.

this means the download will be big, but the overall size of the game will actually shrink on your consoles after you download the patch, even though we're adding a bunch of new content for the season.

— Paul Haile (@Tyrael) August 2, 2020

“The overall size of the game will actually shrink on your consoles after you download the patch, even though we're adding a bunch of new content for the season,” he says. He also explains that the patch contains not just new content, but optimisation for the existing asset packs. With Modern Warfare taking up pretty much 200GB at the moment across all platforms, this shrinkage of the install size will come as good news to many players who'd like to have other large games installed on the same drive. For more on Call of Duty, check out Infinity Ward’s current stance on cheat bans, a listing that appears to be for this year’s unannounced Call of Duty game, and how our obsession with Yegor’s pink tracksuit jacket revealed some fascinating things about game design. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Update: PlayStation has confirmed that, despite the denial from the retailer, Spider-Man will be coming to Marvel's Avengers as a PlayStation exclusive DLC. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Orignal Story: UK retailer Base sparked speculation this weekend after a PS4 listing for Marvel's Avengers specified that Spider-Man would be an exclusive character of the Sony version of the game - however the retailer has now told IGN that the information was "not correct". Base.com originally listed the PS4 version of the game with a description that said, "Play as Spider-man exclusively on PS4". After speculation began that it had listed unannounced information, Base removed the mention of the exclusive character (you can see the original listing here), only furthering internet intrigue. However, speaking to IGN, a Base spokesperson told IGN the information was wrong, and had been present on the page for over a year: "The information was removed from our product page as it was not correct.  We removed the information as soon as we found out that it was not correct. It had been on the product since E3 June 2019 (11 June 2019)." The spokesperson clarified that the offending line did not come from a publisher or supplier. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/29/hawkeye-reveal-trailer-for-marvels-avengers-4k"] The speculation was informed by the fact that Sony owns the film rights to Spider-Man, PlayStation exclusively releases Spider-Man games, and the fact that developer Crystal Dynamics has previously said that the PS4 version of the game would include "surprises" for PlayStation owners. There's also the fact that, when revealing Hawkeye as a post-launch character, he was seemingly listed as the second of four planned heroes to come to the game as free updates - which would leave the possibility that an exclusive Spider-Man would be the first. While it remains possible that Spider-Man could appear in the game, it seems Base wasn't working with any privileged information. Publisher Square Enix has not replied to a request for comment. Marvel's Avengers starts a series of beta tests this week - here's everything you'll be able to do in the demo versions of the upcoming hero game. [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.

UK retailer Base sparked speculation this weekend after a PS4 listing for Marvel's Avengers specified that Spider-Man would be an exclusive character on the Sony version of the game - however the retailer has now told IGN that the information was "not correct". Base.com originally listed the PS4 version of the game with a description that said, "Play as Spider-man exclusively on PS4". After speculation began that it had listed unannounced information, Base removed the mention of the exclusive character (you can see the original listing here), only furthering internet intrigue. However, speaking to IGN, a Base spokesperson told IGN the information was wrong, and had been present on the page for over a year: "The information was removed from our product page as it was not correct.  We removed the information as soon as we found out that it was not correct. It had been on the product since E3 June 2019 (11 June 2019)." The spokesperson clarified that that the offending line did not come from a publisher or supplier. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/29/hawkeye-reveal-trailer-for-marvels-avengers-4k"] The speculation was informed by the fact that Sony owns the film rights to Spider-Man, PlayStation exclusively releases Spider-Man games, and the fact that developer Crystal Dynamics has previously said that the PS4 version of the game would include "surprises" for PlayStation owners. There's also the fact that, when revealing Hawkeye as a post-launch character, he was seemingly listed as the second of four planned heroes to come to the game as free updates - which would leave the possibility that an exclusive Spider-Man would be the first. While it remains possible that Spider-Man could appear in the game, it seems Base wasn't working with any privileged information. Publisher Square Enix has not replied to a request for comment. Marvel's Avengers starts a series of beta tests this week - here's everything you'll be able to do in the demo versions of the upcoming hero game. [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.

Sony has announced that its next PlayStation State of Play will arrive on August 6, 2020, at 1pm PT/4pm ET/9pm BST. Sony specifically notes there will be "no big PS5 announcements," and revealed that this State of Play will instead focus on upcoming third-party published PS4 and PS VR games. However, there will be "a few quick check-ins on third-party and indie games from June's PS5 showcase." This State of Play will run around 40 minutes, and Sony makes it super clear that "there will be no PlayStation Studios updates in Thursday’s episode. There won’t be any updates around hardware, business, preorders, or dates either." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/30/the-best-ps4-games-summer-2020-update"] While we won't be getting any big PS5 announcements, Sony did give us a bit more details on how compatibility will work with existing PlayStation 4 peripherals and accessories. PlayStation 5 is scheduled to be released in Holiday 2020, and while we don't have a price or release date yet, we do know some confirmed games and what the hardware will look like. While PlayStation's two big first-party games - The Last of Us Part 2 and Ghost of Tsushima - have already been released, there are still some big games too look forward to. These include Cyberpunk 2077, Marvel's Avengers, Star Wars: Squadrons, Watch Dogs Legion, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and more. [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.

Sony has announced that its next PlayStation State of Play will arrive on August 6, 2020, at 1pm PT/4pm ET/9pm BST. Sony specifically notes there will be "no big PS5 announcements," and revealed that this State of Play will instead focus on upcoming third-party published PS4 and PS VR games. However, there will be "a few quick check-ins on third-party and indie games from June's PS5 showcase." This State of Play will run around 40 minutes, and Sony makes it super clear that "there will be no PlayStation Studios updates in Thursday’s episode. There won’t be any updates around hardware, business, preorders, or dates either." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/30/the-best-ps4-games-summer-2020-update"] While we won't be getting any big PS5 announcements, Sony did give us a bit more details on how compatibility will work with existing PlayStation 4 peripherals and accessories. PlayStation 5 is scheduled to be released in Holiday 2020, and while we don't have a price or release date yet, we do know some confirmed games and what the hardware will look like. While PlayStation's two big first-party games - The Last of Us Part 2 and Ghost of Tsushima, have already been released, there are still some big games too look forward to. These include Cyberpunk 2077, Marvel's Avengers, Star Wars: Squadrons, Watch Dogs Legion, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and more. [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.

Sony has revealed more details on how PlayStation 4 peripherals and accessories will work with PlayStation 5, including that the DualShock 4 will not work with PS5 games. Revealed on PlayStation.Blog, the DualShock 4 will still work with "supported PS4 games" on PS5, but Sony believes PS5 games should "take advantage of the new capabilities and features we’re bringing to the platform, including the features of DualSense wireless controller." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/12/ps5-reveal-event-in-5-minutes"] As for other existing PS4 peripherals and accessories, Sony has confirmed the following;

• Specialty peripherals, such as officially licensed racing wheels, arcade sticks, and flight sticks, will work with PS5 games and supported PS4 games.
• The Platinum and Gold Wireless Headsets, as well as third-party headsets that connect via USB port or audio jack, will work on PS5 (the headset companion app is not compatible with PS5).
• The DualShock 4 wireless controller and PlayStation officially licensed third-party gamepad controllers will work with supported PS4 games.
• Both the PS Move Motion Controllers and the PlayStation VR Aim Controller will work with supported PS VR games on PS5.

Sony also notes that "not all PlayStation officially licensed or third-party peripherals/accessories may work on PS5," and it recommends those who own such products to check with the manufacturer to confirm whether or not they will. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-playstation-5-games&captions=true"] Lastly, PS4's PlayStation Camera will work with PS5 for those playing supported PS VR games, but it will require a PlayStation Camera adapter that "will be provided at no additional cost to PS VR users." More details on how to get this adapter will be announced at a later date. For more on PlayStation 5, check out everything we know about the PS5, every confirmed game for Sony's next-gen console, and a side-by-side look of the PS5 DualSense and PS4 DualShock 4. [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.

Sony has revealed more details on how PlayStation 4 peripherals and accessories will work with PlayStation 5, including that the DualShock 4 will not work with PS5 games. Revealed on PlayStation.Blog, the DualShock 4 will still work with "supported PS4 games" on PS5, but Sony believes PS5 games should "take advantage of the new capabilities and features we’re bringing to the platform, including the features of DualSense wireless controller." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/12/ps5-reveal-event-in-5-minutes"] As for other existing PS4 peripherals and accessories, Sony has confirmed the following;

• Specialty peripherals, such as officially licensed racing wheels, arcade sticks, and flight sticks, will work with PS5 games and supported PS4 games.
• The Platinum and Gold Wireless Headsets, as well as third-party headsets that connect via USB port or audio jack, will work on PS5 (the headset companion app is not compatible with PS5).
• The DualShock 4 wireless controller and PlayStation officially licensed third-party gamepad controllers will work with supported PS4 games.
• Both the PS Move Motion Controllers and the PlayStation VR Aim Controller will work with supported PS VR games on PS5.

Sony also notes that "not all PlayStation officially licensed or third-party peripherals/accessories may work on PS5," and it recommends those who own such products to check with the manufacturer to confirm whether or not they will. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-playstation-5-games&captions=true"] Lastly, PS4's PlayStation Camera will work with PS5 for those playing supported PS VR games, but it will require a PlayStation Camera adapter that "will be provided at no additional cost to PS VR users." More details on how to get this adapter will be announced at a later date. For more on PlayStation 5, check out everything we know about the PS5, every confirmed game for Sony's next-gen console, and a side-by-side look of the PS5 DualSense and PS4 DualShock 4. [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.

Tommy François, Ubisoft's vice-president of editorial and creative services, has left the company after allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct. The departure of the long-serving executive, who had previously been placed on administrative leave, was first reported by Business Insider's Samuel Horti. When asked for comment by IGN, an Ubisoft spokesperson replied with, “Tommy François has left the company, effective immediately.” Business Insider reports that CEO Yves Guillemot told Ubisoft employees about François' departure last week. François' role saw him steering the creative direction of the company's franchises, including Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Watch Dogs. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/21/multiple-assassins-creed-games-reportedly-scrapped-or-minimised-female-lead-roles-before-release-ign-news"] François is far from the onlu Ubisoft executive to leave the company in recent weeks. After being wracked with scandals, the French developer/publisher has seen Ashraf Ismail, Maxime Béland, Serge Hascoët, Tannis Mallat, and Cécile Cornet all step down from their senior roles following allegations of toxic behaviour, sexual misconduct, and mishandling of employee reports about abuse at the company. Yves Guillemot has promised "major changes" to the company following numerous and ongoing reports of harassment and misconduct among employees across Ubsoft's studios. [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.