Valorant is officially available for everyone, but some players who were caught cheating during the beta were disappointed that they’re still banned in the public release version of Riot’s new shooter. “All cheating account bans are permanent for the account,” says Valorant’s Anti-Cheat Lead Paul Chamberlain in a statement to IGN. “Most cheating account bans also come with a hardware ban, meaning we track their souls through time and space and ban them again when they try to re-enter the game with a fake mustache.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=gameplay-screenshots-of-valorant-closed-beta&captions=true"] Riot has made anti-cheating a key pillar in Valorant's development. Along with strict anti-cheat policies, Riot’s anti-cheat system Vanguard goes further than a lot of other anti-cheat software by making it more difficult to start up or even create cheats for Valorant. The company also offered a bounty of $100,000 for hackers who can find weaknesses in Vanguard. Chamberlain did reveal that while all bans on Valorant are permanent by default, they can be reversed. “I can’t reveal too much here, but I will say that not all of these bans are permanent, and we do periodically review them to lift specific ones. At release, we have reviewed all existing hardware bans and unbanned some of the less egregious offenders. We are not planning to remove any more hardware bans until our next periodic review.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/03/6-minutes-of-valorant-gameplay"] Valorant is Riot’s new team-based shooter with hero elements. The free-to-play, 5v5 shooter had an extended beta but is now freely available for anyone who wants to play. You can check out IGN’s Valorant review for our take on Riot’s newest title. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Rockstar has announced that it will be shutting down GTA Online and Red Dead Online today for 2 hours, to "honor the legacy of George Floyd". Both games will have access closed between 11am - 1pm Pacific / 2pm - 4pm Eastern / 7pm - 9pm UK / 4am - 6am AEST.

Black Lives Matter. To honor the legacy of George Floyd, today, 6/4/20, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. ET, we will be shutting down access to our online games, Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Online.

— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) June 4, 2020

Rockstar followed up its initial message by asking players to support victims of racial injustice by supporting a list of civil rights-based charitable organisations. It's unclear at time of writing if Rockstar will itself be making donations to the causes it highlights.

Following the memorial, we hope you will join us in further honoring the many victims of America's racial injustices by supporting their families, black-owned businesses, those marching on the streets, and coalitions through the organizations listed here: https://t.co/yIQu2R1pJb

— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) June 4, 2020

IGN stands in solidarity with the black community, and condemns racism. We encourage those reading to donate to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and support the fight for racial justice. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Black lives matter.

Acclaimed director Ridley Scott has shared his thoughts on the future of the Alien franchise, particularly his idea for a third prequel film. Speaking to the LA Times in a recent interview, Scott spoke openly about a prospective return to the 40-year-old sci-fi franchise, saying that he would like to see the next Alien film explore the secret origins of the Xenomorph eggs from the original 1979 classic. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/05/13/alien-covenant-why-the-xenomorphs-were-created-spoilers"] "I still think there's a lot of mileage in Alien, but I think you'll have to now re-evolve," he admitted. "What I always thought when I was making the first one [was] why would a creature like this be made and why was it travelling in what I always thought was a kind of war-craft, which was carrying a cargo of these eggs. What was the purpose of the vehicle and what was the purpose of the eggs? That's the thing to question - who, why, and for what purpose is the next idea, I think." In the first Alien movie, Ripley and the other crew members of the Nostromo stumble upon the mysterious hive of eggs inside the abandoned Space Jockey ship on LV-426. In the decades since then, we have seen an entire franchise of seemingly unstoppable, acid-bleeding, double-jaw chomping xenomorphs burst from the chest of this original concept to breed a whole host of new storylines, with some mixed results. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-xenomorph-and-alien-from-the-alien-movies&captions=true"] Alien: Covenant opened to an estimated $36 million in the U.S. in 2017, a figure that was down 34 percent from Prometheus' opening weekend in 2012. Further to this, Covenant suffered a severe 71 percent drop in its second weekend at the box office. Despite performing below some prior expectations, Covenant still had one of the Alien franchise's strongest debuts, unadjusted for inflation. In the past, Scott, who helmed the original Alien film for Fox in 1979, as well as the two recent prequels, has revealed his intentions to make two further sequels to Covenant, with the last film planned to lead directly into Alien. However, it appears that the now-infamous Disney/Fox merger that took place in 2019 has put those sequels on hold for now. For more on the ramifications of that acquisition, find out what Disney's rebranding of their Fox properties could mean for the future of those franchises. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 3 has been delayed, with the new season now launching on June 17th, with developer Epic explaining that the move is due to current outcry and protests in the US. "Recent events are a heavy reminder of ongoing injustices in society, from the denial of basic human rights to the impact of racism both overt and subtle against people of color. We're acutely aware of the pain our friends, families, team members, players, and communities are experiencing," begins a statement from the Fortnite blog published earlier today. "We believe in equality and justice, diversity and inclusion, and that these fundamentals are above politics," Epic Games adds. "The team is eager to move Fortnite forward, but we need to balance the Season 3 launch with time for the team to focus on themselves, their families and their communities."

https://t.co/8KgWau8FyC

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) June 3, 2020

An in-game live event, 'The Device', that is set to occur at the end of the current season has also been moved to June 15th. The delay comes in the wake of the death of George Floyd, and the protests against police brutality and racism that have subsequently taken place worldwide. Chapter 2 Season 3 has been delayed twice previously, first in April in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and then last week - it was originally set to launch on June 11th. Earlier this week, Sony revealed that it was postponing its PS5 conference to "stand back and allow more important voices to be heard." IGN stands in solidarity with the black community, and condemns racism. We encourage those reading to donate to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and support the fight for racial justice. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Black lives matter.

A music artist has accused Naughty Dog of copying her cover of New Order’s True Faith, which features in a trailer for The Last of Us Part 2.

@Neil_Druckmann @Naughty_Dog hey are you aware that the true faith cover you put in your last of us 2 trailer is a replica of my cover that came out 10 yrs ago? I wrote original parts not in the original song that are copied exactly by whoever covered it. I am heartbroken.

— Lotte Kestner (@lottekestner) June 4, 2020

Lotte Kestner, a singer/songwriter, posted to Twitter a message for Naughty Dog and its vice president, Neil Druckman, pointing out that the cover of True Faith used in the trailer is a “replica” of her cover, which she released in 2011 on her album Stolen. “I wrote original parts not in the original song that are copied exactly by whoever covered it,” she said. “I am heartbroken.” To compare, it’s worth listening to Kestner’s cover, the trailer, and the original New Order song. Three minutes and thirty seconds into Kestner’s version, there are some humming vocals that fit with the slower, acoustic stylings of the cover. A similar vocal segment is sung by Ellie in the trailer at the 45 second mark. Importantly, the original New Order track - a piece of synth music - does not feature these humming-like vocals. It’s this difference that has led Kestner to believe that the trailer has copied her version of the song. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/03/the-last-of-us-part-ii-official-extended-commercial"] The legal status of this is murky. While currently unconfirmed, it is likely that copyright permission for the trailer was sought from New Order rather than Lotte Kestner. So, despite the song not being Kestner’s original work, does she have any legal grounds over her arrangement? A similar case can be found from back in 2013, when Jonathan Coulton - yes, the guy who wrote Portal’s Still Alive - found that his folky cover of Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Baby Got Back had been covered identically by the Fox TV show Glee. Take a listen to his cover and the Glee version. It's a very similar arrangement, right down to the banjo. When interviewed about it by Wired, Coulton said “[Fox] got in touch with my peeps to basically say that they’re within their legal rights to do this.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-last-of-us-part-2-new-screenshots&captions=true"] "It seems that because of the compulsory license I purchased when I made a cover of this song, the arrangement itself is not protected under copyright, although it's the darkest gray of the gray areas [of the law]... While there may be some weird offshoot of the law, it doesn't seem like something where a little guy could sue to get any satisfaction,” he explained. It appears, then, that Lotte Kestner may be stuck fighting in a very unclear area of copyright law. So far, Naughty Dog has yet to respond publicly. IGN has reached out to Sony for comment. For more from The Last of Us Part 2, check out the new enemy factions, the new terrors of the infected, and our final, story spoiler-free preview. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter. 

A recent update to The Sims 4 has seemingly introduced a bug to the game that is causing some sims to pee fire. "Why is my sims pee literally in flames?? is it because he is tense?" writes user JojoWigSnatch on The Sims 4 subreddit. And they're not the only one - the place is flooded with reports of flammable urine, as noticed by RockPaperShotgun. Many are claiming that it has something to do with the 'Tense' emotional state sims can experience, but until EA makes a statement, we can't be sure where this glitch has come from. For now, please enjoy this absurd situation while you can. Aside from the blazing wee, this update is causing other, more serious problems like crashes and lost saves. Sims Quality Designer SimGuruNick noted on Twitter that the team is looking into these issues. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/08/the-sims-4-tiny-living-official-trailer"] Appropriately, this update also added firefighters to the game, although, luckily, the burning wiz won't set your house alight, as players are reporting that it goes away once your Sim is finished with their number one. "I saw that with my sim too! But once she was done it just went away... like, wut," writes user BeadingBeauty97. This unfortunate update has arrived in advance of the Eco Lifestyle Pack, which launches tomorrow on June 5th. You can check out the full patch notes here. Check out our review of The Sims 4 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which was published back in 2017. In other The Sims 4 news, check out this great feature from The Sims General Manager Lyndsey Pearson about the women who inspired her love for games. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Studio Ghibli has shared details about its first fully 3D CG-animated film, Goro Miyazaki's Aya and the Witch. Entertainment Weekly reports that production company NHK Enterprises announced that Aya and the Witch (Aya to Majo) will premiere on Japan's NHK this winter, and will be Studio Ghibli's first entirely 3D CG feature. Hayao Miyazaki is overseeing the project alongside his son, Goro Miyazaki, who is taking to the director's chair on the film, which is based on Diana Wynne Jones' children's book Earwig and the Witch, published in 2011. [caption id="attachment_2360343" align="alignnone" width="508"] Image credit: Greenwillow Books/Paul O. Zelinsky[/caption] The book tells the story of Earwig, an orphan girl who has lived at St. Morwald's Home for Children ever since she was a baby, but all of that changes the day that she is adopted by a mysterious woman named Bella Yaga, who turns out to be a terrible witch and brings Earwig to live in her home of supernatural trinkets. With help from a talking cat, Earwig must use her wits to survive in her new magical surroundings. Wynne Jones also wrote the novel for Howl's Moving Castle, the 2004 animated adaptation, scripted and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/03/studio-ghibli-confirmed-to-be-working-on-two-new-films-ign-now"] Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki made a statement about the film. "Can Aya and the Witch do well after corona?" he quizzed. "I thought about that many times when I was watching the early footage. Then I realized the big characteristic of the movie is Aya's wisdom. If only we have wisdom, we can overcome anything in any era. When I thought about that, I was relieved. "If Pippi Longstocking is the story of the world's strongest girl," Suzuki added. "Aya is the story of the world's smartest girl. Aya is cheeky but somehow cute. I hope she is loved by many types of people. By the way, I thought Aya reminded me of someone, then it turned out it was Goro himself, who was the director of the movie. When I told that to him he looked bashful." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-anime-series-on-netflix-right-now&captions=true"] While the film is a digression from the traditional, hand-drawn animation that Studio Ghibli is well-renowned for, it has already been picked up as one of four animated selections ahead of this year's Cannes Festival, which is postponed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic but may be rescheduled for June or July, depending on the developing situation. Goro Miyazaki's Aya and the Witch is one of two projects being developed by Studio Ghibli this year -- the other being Hayao Miyazaki's first feature film since coming out of retirement, though we might have some time to wait until the release of How Do You Live? (Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka), as Suzuki projects that it could take three years to complete its animation. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Mega Crit Games has revealed that its popular card-based roguelike Slay the Spire is coming to iOS devices this month. The news arrived in a blog post on Slay the Spire's Steam community page. Mega Crit notes that more information will arrive during the Guerilla Collective Show on June 6th, but for now, the port has been confirmed. Slay the Spire on iOS will cost $9.99 at launch and offers "the complete, spire-climbing experience you have already enjoyed on PC." If you're an Android user, you'll also be pleased to learn that the game is headed to that platform in the future, although the team at Mega Crit is not ready to talk about a potential release date yet. It's in the works, which is the main thing! [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/01/25/slay-the-spire-review"] The blog post offers a few screenshots from the iOS port for those interested in how the game will look on a touchscreen smartphone. We reviewed Slay the Spire back in January of 2019, calling the game an "extremely satisfying package." In more Slay the Spire news, check out this footage of the game's developers reacting to the game being beaten in five minutes by a crafty speedrunner. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning has seemingly leaked on the Microsoft Store and will apparently make its way to at least Xbox One on August 11, 2020. Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is a remastered version of the 2012's Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning that was released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. This remaster appears to include all DLC, including Teeth of Naros and Legend of Dead Kel, and will have "improved graphical fidelity." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=kingdoms-of-amalur-re-reckoning-screenshots&captions=true"] Amalur's story is penned by New York Times' best-selling author R.A. Salvatore and was also developed by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion lead designed Ken Rolston. In our review of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, we said "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning isn't the perfect game. Its random technical hiccups and inconsistent art style certainly holds it back from even higher levels of greatness. But no matter what you're looking for, whether it be amazing gameplay, immersive storytelling or perhaps a riveting new world to explore as you fully customize and re-customize your character at will, Reckoning has it all." Kingdoms of Amalur was originally developed by 38 Studios and was published by EA. In 2018, THQ Nordic bought the property from the now-defunct studio, although EA still owned the publishing rights. It appears they worked out a deal to make this happen. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2012/02/03/kingdoms-of-amalur-reckoning-video-review"] Amalur came with a ton of controversy, as the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation filed a lawsuit against 38 Studios founder and ex-Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and other executives. 38 Studios went out of business following a $75 million dollar loan supported by Rhode Island taxpayers. [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 hopes this is also coming to Switch. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Star Wars' John Boyega delivered an impassioned speech Wednesday in London during a Black Lives Matter protest over the recent killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. During his speech, Boyega noted that his activism might hurt his career but that it's a price he's willing to pay. However, Lucasfilm has since come out in support of their Star Wars lead, declaring him a "hero" that they stand with. “Look, I don’t know if I’m going to have a career after this, but f*** that,” Boyega shouted to a crowd of fellow protestors assembled in London's Hyde Park. Hoarse and deeply moved, Boyega declared, “I need you to understand how painful it is to be reminded every day that your race means nothing — and that isn’t the case anymore, that was never the case anymore. We are a physical representation of our support for George Floyd."

Raw passion! @JohnBoyega delivering a painful speech at the #blacklivesmatter protest pic.twitter.com/wtCW8GQE2I

— SB.TV (@SBTVonline) June 3, 2020

Outside parliament @JohnBoyega tells everyone to take a knee and says black people “I love you” pic.twitter.com/2egDZwmBzE

— SymeonBrown (@symeonbrown) June 3, 2020

Boyega's most recent employer, Lucasfilm, declared him "our hero," promising that "Lucasfilm stands with John Boyega."

We stand with and support you, @JohnBoyega. View his full speech: https://t.co/Goxb5y2wrK pic.twitter.com/ZvE0t5tRPY

— Star Wars (@starwars) June 3, 2020

John Boyega isn't the only Star Wars actor to take to the streets and join the protestors. The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal participated in a march in Los Angeles this past weekend, documenting it on his social media accounts. Check out this overview of ways you can donate, contribute, and support Black Lives Matter, such as contributing to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.