With the cancellation of San Diego Comic-Con and many other comic book conventions in 2020, publishers are finding new ways to promote new projects and bring fans together. Skybound Entertainment has announced Skybound Xpo, a new digital-only event aimed at filling the void left by SDCC. Taking place on July 18 and 19, Skybound Xpo will feature a series of panels, creator interviews and footage of upcoming Skybound games, all of which will be livestreamed on Skybound Entertainment’s YouTube channel and the company's official Facebook page. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=art-preview-fire-power-1&captions=true"] Among the panels featured at Skybound Xpo is "Fire (Power) Side Chat," as Skybound co-founder and The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman sheds more light on Fire Power, his new collaboration with Daredevil artist Chris Samnee. You can check out IGN's exclusive reveal of Fire Power to learn more about the martial arts fantasy series. Other major panels will include a Skybound retrospective that celebrates the company's first ten years and hints at what's to come, and a new episode of Kristan Harloff's trivia competition series Movie Trivia Schmoedown. “Like the rest of our community, we miss the comic-cons we go to every year,” said Skybound CEO David Alpert in a statement. “In this off year, we wanted to make sure we could still connect with fans in some way. We’re excited to share the awesome content from our new wave of creators as Skybound turns ten.” The announcement of Skybound Xpo comes shortly after DC's reveal of DC FanDome, another all-digital, Comic-Con-esque event taking place in August. Not to be outdone, SDCC itself will be hosting a digital event called Comic-Con@Home, one which will take place on July 22-26, the same days the regular Comic-Con event was meant to be held. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/02/walking-dead-creator-on-comics-surprise-ending-ign-now"] In other recent Skybound news, Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard are reuniting for a new Walking Dead special called Negan Lives. That standalone comic will reveal the fate of the titular villain and will be offered entirely free of charge to comic book retailers. [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.

Depending on your country, Fortnite will be showing one of three different Christopher Nolan films - Inception, Batman Begins, or The Prestige, for Movie Nite at Party Royale's Big Screen. Movie Nite at Party Royale's Big Screen will begin on June 26, and Fortnite will air these films at different times, once again, depending on your country. [caption id="attachment_2371203" align="aligncenter" width="720"] The location of Movie Nite @ Party Royale's Big Screen[/caption] For example, those in the United States will be able to watch Inception on June 26 at 5am PT/8am ET, 5pm PT/8pm ET, and 8pm PT/11pm ET. In the UK, The Prestige will air on June 26 at 5pm BST. For a full schedule for your country, you can visit the Party Royale website. The showtimes and which films will be shown are all different because of distribution rights and languages for the various countries. This is the "first test" and it will hopefully expand to more countries in the future. There will also be subtitle support for these screenings. There will be no broadcasting or recording of these films during the showings, and Epic Games warns that "any streams or videos of these films will be subject to anti-piracy and DCMA regulations." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/24/full-fortnite-x-travis-scott-astronomical-concert"] This isn't the first time Christopher Nolan's work will be featured in Fortnite, as he debuted a brand-new trailer of his upcoming film Tenent last month. Fortnite has been home to many trailers and even a performance by Travis Scott. [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 considers Inception one of his favorite movies of all time. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

A new tease for Halo Infinite has confirmed that The Banished will be part of the long-awaited next game in the series. The short teaser video, which sees a communication device decipher a signal, features a gravelly voice delivering a message to humanity. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/24/halo-infinite-teaser-trailer"] “The hour approaches. Forces occupy the ring. Within hours, it will be under our control. Humanity will burn. The brazen defiance will be all but a memory. No more Prophets. No more lies. We stand together, brothers to the end. We are his will, we are his legacy, we are The Banished.” The Banished are a mercenary organization set up after a rebellion in the Covenant Empire, the alien antagonists in the Halo series. They are largely made up of Jiralhanae - better known as Brutes to humanity - but also count many of the Covenant races among their ranks, including the Grunts, Elites, and Hunters. The Banished featured as one of the two main playable races in Halo Wars 2, alongside the human UNSC, and so the plot of Halo Wars 2 may have impact or be referenced by Halo Infinite. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=halo-infinite-october-2019-screenshots&captions=true"] The audio references the Prophets, a leadership race of the Covenant, as well as mention that “we are his will” and “we are his legacy”. Who the ‘his’ is in this is unclear, but may potentially refer to Atriox, the leader of the Banished in Halo Wars 2. Brutes were not seen as enemies in Halo 4 or 5, so this signals a welcome return for the fan favorites. Now, where's my Gravity Hammer? We’ll likely find much more about The Banished’s role in Halo Infinite at the next Xbox Series X event, which has promised to show first-party games running on the upcoming console. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Bruce Campbell has revealed that the new official title for Evil Dead 4 is Evil Dead Rise. In an interview with Diabolique, Campbell confirmed that, along with getting a new draft of the script, the next installment of the venerable horror franchise had changed its title from Evil Dead Now to Evil Dead Rise, just a couple of weeks after the original title was announced. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2016/11/01/bruce-campbell-takes-igns-evil-dead-quiz"] Although Campbell shared very few other details about the project, he did suggest that the upcoming movie will shake up the tried-and-tested franchise formula by deviating away from some key narrative staples, such as the classic "cabin in the woods" setting. "The official name is Evil Dead Rise," he confirmed in the interview. "We're getting a new draft in. I don't think anything will happen until 2021. Full bore ahead, we're very excited about it. A whole, new ballgame. No more cabin in the woods." Campbell previously stated that the upcoming sequel would not see the return of his character, Ash Williams, as the team wanted to create a "more dynamic" entry, focused on a female protagonist to seemingly follow in the blood-splattered footsteps of Jane Levy's Mia Allen in the 2013 reboot. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-15-best-horror-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years&captions=true"] To coincide with these changes, Sam Raimi, the original trilogy's director, will not return to direct the fourth flick. Instead, Lee Cronin is writing and directing the forthcoming Evil Dead movie, with Raimi and Campbell both apparently involved in some sort of producing capacity. Campbell last played the role in the now-cancelled Starz series Ash vs Evil Dead. He and Raimi collaborated on Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, and Army of Darkness, which metamorphosed over the years, from an extremely low budget, bleak terror-fest to a pair of gory, "splatstick" genre-bending classics. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Mafia: Definitive Edition, the remake of the 2002 game that follows the rise and fall of mobster Tommy Angelo in the 1930s, is taking lessons from its two sequels and implementing some of their best aspects. Speaking to USgamer, Mafia: Definitive Edition developer Hanger 13's president and chief creative office Haden Blackman described how it's updating so many parts of Mafia, from gameplay improvements to expanding out story bits, like with Tommy's girlfriend Sarah. "For example, Sarah, the love interest in the original, she doesn't get very much screen time, but she's the heart of why Tommy Angelo is doing what he's doing," says Blackman. "At the beginning of the game you learn that he's trying to arrange a way out of the life and he's doing it all for his family, so we wanted to make sure that as a player you knew what it was that he was trying to protect. We wanted to make sure that Sarah got more screen time; she's in the game more, has an understandable kind of role in the lowercase family and uppercase Family." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/13/mafia-1-definitive-edition-story-trailer"] Another focus in this remake is addressing the "valid criticisms" in regards to the repetitive nature of Mafia 3's side missions. The team wants to add new, meaningful missions without that repetition. Blackman even stated that "almost all of our emphasis was on the missions for Mafia: Definitive Edition." Mafia: Definitive Edition will also give players a wide range of options. A big part of the original game was following traffic laws and being extra cautious around police, as Tommy is more of an everyday citizen than a hardened criminal. In this upcoming version, there are settings for police presence and how strict they are to players who break these laws, like riding through a red light. The original settings can be preserved, but this sliders are put in place to give players more choice in how they want to experience this story. Gunplay will also a big change from the original, as it pulls a lot from Mafia 3 and its more cover-based gunplay mechanics. Whereas Clay was a former soldier and Tommy was just a cab driver, Hanger 13 wanted that difference to be felt in the gameplay. Combat is a "little bit more lethal" for Tommy and "every bullet matters." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=mafia-definitive-edition-screenshots&captions=true"] Mafia: Definitive Edition will be released on August 28, 2020, on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam. Mafia II: Definitive Edition and Mafia III: Definitive Edition are available now, and players who purchase the Mafia: Trilogy will get all three games, and the first Mafia will unlock when it is released. [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.

Night City Wire, June 25's Cyberpunk 2077 broadcast, will include a new trailer, new gameplay footage, and a developer walkthrough of a new feature, braindance. Developer CD Projekt Red has also implied that there will be more Night City Wire episodes in future. The developer broke down the upcoming showcase on Twitter, which will be aired at 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern / 5pm UK tomorrow, June 25 (that's June 26 at 2am AEST).

Join us tomorrow, June 25 at 6PM CEST, at https://t.co/cBU8yS6pfc for the first, 25 minute episode of #NightCityWire, where we are going to show you a brand new trailer, present fresh gameplay footage and chat with the devs in detail about one of the game features, braindance. pic.twitter.com/2RReyCMkce

— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) June 24, 2020

Night City Wire is a part of IGN's Summer of Gaming, and you can watch it live with us tomorrow, along with full pre- and post-show discussions. We'll also have a full hands-on preview with the game going live directly after the show, as announced when Cyberpunk 2077 was delayed to November 17 to allow for more bugfixing and game balance work. If that's not enough new Cyberpunk for you, you can check out the upcoming new tie-in comic book series, Trauma Team. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/14/cyberpunk-2077-designing-the-cyberpunk-2077-limited-edition-xbox-video"] The delay will likely place Cyberpunk 2077 near the launch of Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. Even though CD Projekt Red has confirmed owners of the Xbox One and PS4 versions will be freely upgraded to 'robust' next-gen editions, it has not committed to when these new versions will be available. [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.

According to EA CEO Andrew Wilson, Apex Legends is scheduled to soft launch on mobile devices by the end of 2020. As recorded by @ApexLatest on Twitter, Wilson was speaking about mobile business growth on an EA Fireside Chat on June 22, 2020, and said "we have PvZ3 in soft launch, we've talked about having Apex Legends in soft launch by the end of this year. You've heard me talk about 6 or 7 other games in various stages of incubation or production or in finaling phase. We feel very good about our mobile business." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/19/apex-legends-season-5-lost-treasures-collection-event-trailer-ea-play-2020"] If Apex Legends does indeed soft launch on mobile, which would most likely be a Beta of sorts, it will be the third storefront that Apex Legends arrives on in 2020 alongside Nintendo Switch and Steam. Apex Legends will be released on Switch and Steam this Fall, and cross-play between those platforms and all other current versions of Apex Legends will also be enabled. There is no word if cross-play will be available in the mobile version of Apex Legends. During EA Play Live, Apex Legends' Lost Treasures limited time event was revealed and brings with it the return of the Armed and Dangerous mode and a new storyline involving Crypto. The Lost Treasures event began yesterday, June 23. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=apex-legends-lost-treasures-collection-screenshots&captions=true"] [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.

Pokemon Unite, a "strategic team-based battle game" has been announced. It will come to Nintendo Switch and mobile devices (with cross-play), and will be released as a free-to-start game. No release date has been announced. Announced in today's Pokemon Presents broadcast, Pokemon Company president Tsunekazu Ishihara announced the game, which closely resembles a MOBA, such as League of Legends or DOTA 2. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/24/pokemon-unite-official-trailer"] The 5v5 strategy game is developed in partnership with Tencent's TiMi Studios (Call of Duty: Mobile, Arena of Valor), and will see players battling to control areas of an RTS-like map, earning points and evolving their Pokemon mid-battle. Battling wild Pokemon will capture them, earning you points that you can then bank in scoring areas. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. Battling will level up your Pokemon, letting you equip a number of new moves, which can be adapted for your playstyle. Levelling up enough will let your Pokemon evolve, and access Unite moves, which act like Ultimate abilities. Confirmed playable Pokemon in the game will include Pikachu, Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Machop, Snorlax, Haunter, Talonflame, Clefairy, Riolu (as well as all of their evolutions). [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/17/new-pokemon-snap-announced-ign-news"] It's been a big couple of weeks in the world of Pokemon - last week's Pokemon Presents revealed New Pokemon Snap, the free to start Pokemon Cafe Mix, toothbrushing app Pokemon Smile, and mega evolutions in Pokemon Go. [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.

27 years later, Jurassic Park remains one of the all-time great summer blockbusters. Now Mattel is giving fans a new way to celebrate their love for the movie with a downright amazing action figure of Wayne Knight's lovable villain Dennis Nedry. IGN can exclusively reveal Mattel's newest Jurassic Park figure, inspired by one of the more iconic scenes in the original movie. Check out "Barbasol Dennis Nedry" in the slideshow gallery below: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=jurassic-park-this-incredible-dennis-nedry-figure-will-help-you-steal-dino-embryos&captions=true"] This particular figure is inspired by the early scene where Nedry meets with Cameron Thor's character Lewis Dodgson and receives the customized Barbasol shaving cream can that Nedry uses in his ill-fated attempt to smuggle dinosaur embryos out of the park. The figure itself (which is 1:18 scale and measures about 3.75-inches-tall) comes with scene-appropriate accessories like a bag full of money, a tiny Barbasol can and a slice of pie topped with shaving cream. However, the packaging is clearly the star of the show here. The figure comes packaged inside a full-size replica version of the Barbasol can. The can acts as a display case, but it's also an interactive toy in its own right. The base can be twisted to activate a light-up effect, and the top button can be pressed to hear one of several iconic Nedry lines from the movie (including “Uh, uh, uh! You didn't say the magic word!”). The Barbasol Dennis Nedry figure is one of several SDCC-exclusive pieces Mattel is releasing this summer. With the physical Comic-Con show canceled for 2020, these exclusives are being offered online instead. Barbasol Dennis Nedry is priced at $20 and will be available for pre-order through Entertainment Earth beginning at 9am PST on June 24. Pre-orders will also be available through the Mattel Creations website beginning in July. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2015/06/11/the-7-greatest-jurassic-park-quotes"] In other collectibles news, we recently got an early look at Hasbro's G.I. Joe Classified Cobra Commander figure, an incredible detailed and very expensive statue of Joaquin Phoenix's Joker and new Star Wars figures featuring fan-favorite characters like Ahsoka Tano and The Mandalorian. [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.

Ex-PlayStation executive Shawn Layden has put forward a case to reconsider the scale and scope of AAA video games, stating that the current large-scale offerings are unsustainable for the industry. As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Layden discussed the issue at Gamelab Live following a conversation about The Last of Us Part 2, a game that was partially developed during his 25 year tenure at Sony. At approximately 10 hours longer than its predecessor and more technologically advanced, it likely cost a substantial amount more to develop. Yet it still retails for the same price - $59.99. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/12/the-last-of-us-part-2-review"] "The problem with that model is it's just not sustainable," said Layden. He explained that current generation development costs reach between $80 million and $150 million (excluding marketing costs) for AAA games, with the work taking up to five years to complete. Furthermore, AAA budgets have historically doubled each generation, meaning that PS5 development budgets could hit $300 million. "I don't think that, in the next generation, you can take those numbers and multiply them by two and think that you can grow," he added. "I think the industry as a whole needs to sit back and go, 'Alright, what are we building? What's the audience expectation? What is the best way to get our story across, and say what we need to say?' He pointed out how these budgets are unsustainable if retail prices cannot be elastic. “It's been $59.99 since I started in this business, but the cost of games have gone up ten times. If you don't have elasticity on the price-point, but you have huge volatility on the cost line, the model becomes more difficult. I think this generation is going to see those two imperatives collide." AAA is not going to get any less expensive with the advent of 4K art and the expectation of large game worlds. Layden points out that this could also shut different types of creators out of the AAA business. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-ps4-games-2020-update&captions=true"] “It's hard for every adventure game to shoot for the 50 to 60 hour gameplay milestone, because that's gonna be so much more expensive to achieve,” he said. “And in the end you may close some interesting creators and their stories out of the market if that's the kind of threshold they have to meet... We have to reevaluate that." Layden believes that developers need to consider spending three years on a 15 hour experience, rather than five years on an 80 hour game, which could not only help keep costs in control and maintain the standard retail price point, but also help craft “tighter, more compelling content”. For more in Sony’s huge budget games, check out our reviews of The Last of Us Part 2, God of War, and Horizon Zero Dawn. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.