Otherside Entertainment has announced that Tencent will take over the System Shock franchise from the Boston games studio. In a short message to followers on Twitter, Otherside announced that “Tencent will be taking the [System Shock] franchise forward.” The studio added in a follow-up, “As a smaller Indie studio, it had been challenging for us to carry the project on our own. We believe Tencent’s deep capabilities and expertise as a leading game company will bring the franchise to new heights.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=18-games-that-seemingly-vanished&captions=true"] Otherside Entertainment acquired the license to develop System Shock 3 from Night Dive Studios. However, development on the sequel stalled after reports that the studio fell behind on the development of the project. Based on the tweets it doesn’t appear as though OtherSide will be involved with System Shock going forward. Night Dive Studios, who still holds the rights to the System Shock IP, is working on a remake of the first game independently. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/03/19/system-shock-3-in-engine-teaser"] Tencent is one of China’s largest video game corporations and primarily focuses on mobile games. The studio has shown interest in expanding to triple-A development after reports that the company hired Kojima Productions co-founder Ken-Ichiro Imaizumi and Halo 4 lead designer Scott Warner. IGN has reached out to Tencent for a statement. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. If you know anything about the status of System Shock 3 reach out on Twitter or newstips@ign.com

Devolver Digital has announced that Serious Sam 4 will launch on Steam and Google Stadia this August. Along with the announcement, Devolver dropped a new trailer for the title. Serious Sam 4 is a prequel to the rest of the series, and the trailer gives us a good look at the updated enemy design in the game. You can check out the new trailer here: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/20/serious-sam-4-planet-badass-cinematic-trailer"] On the Serious Sam Steam page, Devolver Digital has posted a number of other Serious Sam 4 videos, including looks at battles, enemies, weapons, music, and the legion system, which allows thousands of enemies to exist on the battlefield. Additionally, the entire Serious Sam main series is currently on sale. Serious Sam 4 will also include a co-op mode, where up to four players can tackle primary campaign missions and side quests together. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=serious-sam-4-screenshots&captions=true"] Croteam and Devolver Digital have been silent about Serious Sam 4 for quite some time. Serious Sam 4 was officially announced in April 2018, and besides a brief appearance at E3 2018, there's been no new information since the game's announcement. For more, check out our review of 2011's Serious Sam 3: BFE. Or, read about 18 games that seemingly vanished. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=18-games-that-seemingly-vanished&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Logan Plant is a news writer for IGN, and the Production Assistant for Nintendo Voice Chat, IGN's weekly Nintendo show. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.

After months and even years of campaigning by fans, stars, and Zack Snyder himself, the director of Man of Steel confirmed the "Snyder Cut" of Justice League will officially be released on HBO Max. Zack Snyder confirmed the cut's release for HBO Max in 2021 following a livestream watch-along of Man of Steel, which Superman himself Henry Cavill joined in at the stream's end to discuss. Warner Bros. confirmed the cut's release following the frequent campaigning of fans over recent years to #ReleasetheSnyderCut. [caption id="attachment_2354639" align="alignnone" width="720"] Snyder's Justice League director's cut will hit HBO Max[/caption] "I want to thank HBO Max and Warner Brothers for this brave gesture of supporting artists and allowing their true visions to be realized. Also a special thank you to all of those involved in the SnyderCut movement for making this a reality,” Snyder said in a statement alongside the announcement. According to THR, it's still unclear if the Snyder Cut will be released in episodic chapters or as a full director's cut, but the Snyders are reportedly currently "reassembling much of their original postproduction crew to score, cut, add new and finish old visual effects, and, yes, maybe bring back many of the actors to record additional dialogue." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-dceu-movie-review-score&captions=true"] HBO did not state a running time or name any specifics about what footage may be changed or altered for Snyder's director's cut of the film, which he stepped down from directing during Justice League production due to a family tragedy. Marvel's The Avengers director Joss Whedon stepped in to finish production for the film, which hit theaters in 2017. The version of Justice League that hit theaters was met with largely poor critical reception. Fan outcry for a cut that would have been true to Snyder's original version began almost immediately after the film's release, but we first received word in 2018 that WB wasn't planning to release a Snyder Cut., and following that came word that Henry Cavill would possibly be leaving the role of Superman. Still, fans continued to push for the Snyder Cut's release, with fans in 2019 even flying a banner over San Diego Comic-Con highlighting the campaign to release the cut, with billboards around New York Comic-Con signaling the same that year. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=4f7e8ff8-1b99-4e59-9e51-55a68d245765"] In November 2019, Aquaman star Jason Momoa claimed to have seen the Snyder Cut, but by the end of 2019, we were still not expecting a Snyder Cut to be released despite the cast's endorsements. There even came word at the time that the, by this point, fabled Snyder Cut was not properly finished, casting doubt on whether it could have been shown to anyone yet. But before 2019 ended, Zack Snyder himself seemingly confirmed the cut existed. The director further increased curiosity, posting photos of Cavill's Superman in a black suit that didn't appear in the film. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/11/15/justice-league-review"] With Snyder's teases, fan fervor for the cut's release only grew, and we recently tracked the history of the Snyder Cut ahead of this recent announcement. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor.

A group of Japanese and North American publishers will hold a New Game+ Expo to showcase 40 games from SEGA, ATLUS, and more. As events like Gamescom move to a fully-digital showcase this year while other video game conference mainstays like E3 have cancelled its 2020 production altogether due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, companies are finding new ways to showcase the games they have coming this year and beyond. Announced May 20, 14 publishers from North America and Japan will join together on June 23 to showcase 40 games. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-playstation-5-games&captions=true"] "New Game+ Expo is a grassroots coalition of publishers and developers," New Game+ Expo's Adam Johnson said. "Organizing together for the first time, we hope fans have fun as we take a look at the combined lineup of games for 2020 and beyond." This showcase of games will join the likes of Microsoft's Xbox 20/20 monthly updates, Guerrilla Collective's indie game showcase, Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest, and even IGN's very own Summer of Gaming event. The following publishers will show games during the New Game+ Expo: Acttil, AKSYS Games, Arc System Works America, GungHo America, Idea Factory International, Inti Creates, KOEI TECMO America, Nasume Inc., NIS America, Inc., PLAYISM, Sega of America, SNK Corporation, Spike Chunsoft, Inc., and WayForward. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/04/how-coronavirus-is-impacting-the-games-industry"] As to what games or franchises we can expect to see, that information is currently unknown. The New Game+ Expo will stream on Twitch on June 23 at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET with trailers from the stream hitting YouTube shortly after. Other gaming events are going the digital route too such as the Game Developers Conference, which shifted to an all-digital summer event in August. Here are some ways you can help others and stay safe during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

Naughty Dog has discussed The Last of Us Part 2's ambitious scope for sometime now, but a new look at the game has teased that the adventure is so big, players may not experience some story and gameplay elements on a single playthrough. In the latest episode of PlayStation's multi-part look at The Last of Us Part II, which you can watch below, members of the development team discuss how Naughty Dog's biggest game ever has scripted sequences players may miss. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/20/the-last-of-us-part-ii-inside-the-gameplay-video"] "In this game we've gone so far in making the level design open that there are actually entire story moments, entire combat encounters, full scripted sequences that you may completely miss," The Last of Us part 2 Co-Director Anthony Newman said in the latest look at the sequel. "And there are things that we feel like, even though a portion of our player base may never see these things, the fact that when you do encounter them, you feel like you discovered them, it lends them this charm and this magic I think is unique to games that this happened to me, because of what I did and the place I explored to." Director Neil Druckmann previously spoke to IGN about the scope of The Last of Us Part II's world, saying "Depending where you are with the story, we might open things up significantly and say, ‘Here are some optional things you can go explore, some side stories, or you can go directly next to where you’re meant to go,’" but that a big goal for the team was not to simply pad out the experience. "It’s not padded, it has that pacing of the first game," he told us at the time. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-last-of-us-part-2-new-screenshots&captions=true"] The latest look at the sequel also offered some more details about the upgrade system. Returning to The Last of Us Part 2 is the ability to modify weapons and upgrade the character's skills. But Newman explained that, to exemplify the idea that the characters, and players, have to live with their choices, you won't be able to upgrade everything in one go. "We put a much stronger emphasis on the importance of the choices you make in the longterm for your character," Newman said. "Through the weapon upgrade system, through the player upgrade system, there aren't enough resources in a single playthrough to fully upgrade your character. The choices that you make, you're going to have to live with. And we wanted to make sure that all the choices that you made had a really noticeable and tangible impact on the way that you play." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/09/28/the-last-of-us-part-2-how-the-world-and-gameplay-have-evolved"] Whether this means any sort of New Game+ mode will be included from the jump or introduced later is not stated, but it sounds like players will have to play through The Last of Us Part 2's journey multiple times to experience the full skill trees. We do at least know plenty about how the sequel will play thanks to our The Last of Us Part 2 hands-on last year, at which time we also learned about how dogs will impact The Last of Us 2's gameplay, how Joel and Ellie's relationship has changed in the sequel, and more. After The Last of Us Part 2's delay earlier this year, Sony announced a new June release date for the Naughty Dog sequel, and shortly after Naughty Dog confirmed The Last of Us 2 had gone gold. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor and host of IGN's PlayStation show, Podcast Beyond!

Disney+ has given a release date for the option to watch The Simpsons in the original 4:3 aspect ratio. Starting on May 28, episodes will be watchable in the original 4:3 aspect ratio so that visual jokes no longer get cut off by the widescreen format. When Disney+ launched in 2019, all 30 seasons of The Simpsons were available to stream. However, they were only available in the 16:9 widescreen ratio. This presented problems as the original seasons were aired in a 4:3 format and visual jokes, in particular, were created specifically for that size. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=all-the-must-watch-disney-plus-titles-on-launch-day&captions=true"] Comedian Tristan Cooper tweeted a viral example of how the widescreen aspect ratio cuts off visual gags in The Simpsons that only make sense in its original ratio. Now, Disney+ subscribers will have the option to watch these older episodes with the jokes untouched by the widescreen cut off.

All the classic Simpsons episodes on Disney+ are in cropped widescreen format -- this means you miss out on tons of great visual jokes, like how Duff, Duff Lite and Duff Dry all come from the same tube. pic.twitter.com/cTy9adulFl

— Tristan Cooper (@TristanACooper) November 12, 2019

Disney+ later announced it would make the 4:3 option available in May but did not announce a release date at the time. Not every episode of The Simpsons will be available in 4:3 but that’s because the series did eventually move to a widescreen format partway through season 20. Disney says the users will have a choice when it comes to changing aspect ratios, so if you prefer watching the older seasons in widescreen you’ll still be able to. For more, check out IGN’s full list of shows and movies on Disney+. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. He was also saying 'Boo-urns.' You can follow him on Twitter.

This article is part of a new initiative on IGN where we spend a whole month exploring topics we find interesting in the world of video games (and hope you will, too!). May is Development Month, where we'll tell untold stories from behind the scenes of our favorite games. [poilib element="accentDivider"] In the last few weeks, I’ve begun playing Call of Duty: Warzone almost daily. Social distancing and a committed squad of friends have absolutely contributed to that, but there’s something about its blend of ideas that really works for me. I love how it atomises long rounds into small bursts of action with its Contracts system; how tension and silliness seem to pop up in equal measure; and how it’s slightly upped the time-to-kill for a CoD game, turning many firefights into longer, more tactical affairs while keeping the terrifying gunmetal fanfare of its weaponry intact. But there’s one thing I love more than any of this; it is the tracksuit jacket worn by an Operator called Yegor. Specifically, the pink one.Every time a round of Warzone begins, you’re treated to a short clip of your squad lining up at the back of a paratrooper plane’s hatch and, if the right version of Yegor’s there (i.e. one where he bothered putting on a shirt), you’ll see something magical. His seemingly humdrum tracksuit top is positively alive with wind-caused ripples, sunlight bouncing off of its slick surface, as his knock-off Vladimir Putin face stares down with steely determination at the battlefield below. I mention the pink tracksuit in particular because I think you see more of the effect in action than on any other bit of clobber in his wardrobe. It looks really good, to the point where I began pointing it out every time my squad started a new round, and became quietly obsessed with not just how realistic it was, but how needless an addition it seemed to be. For a single miniature cutscene in a Battle Royale game – where you often barely have time to register an enemy’s presence, never mind their choice of athleticwear – it wasn’t just good; it was too good. I started to wonder who had made the decision to make Yegor’s jacket look so good, and then whose job it was to make Yegor’s jacket a reality. I wondered why they wanted to make Yegor’s jacket at all. I began to turn it into a proper noun in my head. This wasn’t Yegor’s jacket, this was Yegor’s Jacket, some kind of hidden message from its developers about the sheer amount of unseen work going into AAA-scale game design in 2020. I started talking about it so much that a friend asked a question I should really have asked to myself: “Why don’t you just email Activision and see if they can get someone to tell you why Yegor’s Jacket is so good?” So I did. “Yegor’s tracksuit,” says Infinity Ward studio art director, Joel Emslie, ignoring my chosen nomenclature, “is a love letter to a character that I created 13 years ago for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It was for Zakeav’s son, one of the guys that you ride in a car with in the beginning of the game. For some reason tracksuits were big that year.” Charmingly unruffled by how stupid an interview request this is, Emslie finishes his reminiscence with a phrase that sounds almost philosophical – and that I, as the world’s biggest Yegor’s Jacket fan, very much appreciate: “That was then, Yegor is now.” Yegor is now, in as much as he’s emblematic of how much game developers are wringing out of current-gen console hardware in the tail end of its life. Can you imagine a virtual jacket that looked like this in 2014? I absolutely cannot. I can’t outright prove this, but I swear that the moment Yegor’s Jacket appears on my screen in all its polyester splendour, it’s always the exact moment that my otherwise unworried PS4 Pro decides to start screaming. There might be a reason for that: “When it comes to this tracksuit,” explains Emslie, “it uses cutting edge in-game physically based materials to render the fabrics to the highest quality we can deliver.” When I ask him if Warzone features the most realistic clothing yet seen in a game, he gives a more diplomatic response: “It is by far the most realistic clothing in a game that I have ever been a part of.” [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=The%20work%20is%20totally%20fulfilling%20%E2%80%93%20even%20if%20it%E2%80%99s%20creating%20the%20perfect%20dirty%20boot."] Yegor’s Jacket is, by itself, a collaboration between artists, lighting designers, animators and more – and that’s a single part of a wider whole. Once I noticed how good that looked, I began to realise how good clothing looked across the board in Warzone (and the wider Call of Duty: Modern Warfare package): Ghillie suits flap in the rush of an open-topped ATV, heavy weaponry jingles against buckles on the backs of crouching operators, Zane’s improbable cape billows as he leaps off a building in search of another kill. Which begs the question – why is any of this in there at all? It seems a monumental amount of work for something relatively few players will actively notice, and even fewer will become obsessed by to the point of watching videos for glimpses of a single jacket that they can put in an article about said jacket. The answer, for Emslie, is to create an experience that feels more whole. “Early in development for Modern Warfare & Warzone, we challenged ourselves with what could be referred to as a gold diorama. This was a very small sample section of the game to stress test our techniques and some of our early development infrastructure. It included an exterior scene in overcast daylight, a couple of vehicles, and few characters. The scene was set on a hilltop in the Isle of Skye, Scotland and so it made perfect sense that there should be some wind to add visual stimulation to everything in the scene. “This opened the door for some creative solutions to create windblown clothing and props worn by our characters. When we saw how effective the look of all these things together could be, we decided to get as much of that into the game as possible. There are so many moments where our characters are riding shotgun on a helicopter or tac-rover. It really adds a sense of reality to the characters and what they wear.” Essentially, it lends an almost invisible verisimillitude, something your brain registers as feeling real, without it necessarily having to notice it directly. The more work put into making the stuff that grounds you in the game world, the more you’re likely to feel immersed by it all. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/23/call-of-duty-warzone-review"] The process for getting to that point is pretty fascinating. Like many AAA games, Infinity Ward’s artists have begun 3D scanning real-life objects – after all, if you’re trying to build realistic looking clothing, why not use the real thing? It lifts my heart to know that, somewhere in Los Angeles, there’s a real Yegor’s Jacket sitting in a big cupboard (Activision, I will pay for that, get in touch). “It required us to build out a physical wardrobe collection right next to the model shop,” says Emslie. “It has it all. From full body jumpsuits down to the smallest props like a piece of glint tape on a helmet. This isn’t completely unique, but we not only built out a collection, we processed the clothing and props like a Hollywood prop house would do for a feature film. The entirety of our collection is processed by our artists to make it all look used and lived in.” Those scans come in ‘clean’, with artists asked to dirty them up once they’re in the system, and make them look like they’ve actually been worn. But even that wasn’t quite realistic enough for Emslie and his team, with something about that invented grime giving away its virtual creation. “I can think of a few moments early on where I stopped an artist from painting dirt onto a character and encouraged them to take the boots out for a hike or drag them through a dirt patch outside. If there is a way to get dirt into a pair of gloves or get the perfect patina onto a tactical helmet, we find a way. The result is a very natural look that seats the characters into the environments very convincingly.” It’s fascinating to me to think of quite how much work is being put into these less-noticed elements, and the sheer level of expertise artists are bringing to elements of games that are designed to be somewhat invisible to the player. I ask Emslie how people get into this kind of work – in a way, the business of not being noticed: “I think the people that are most successful at getting into various jobs usually have a healthy curiosity and fascination with the work itself. All of this takes a massive amount of time and effort. The work really needs to hold your interest to a point where you could lose track of time and almost sink into a trance. Anyone can get into a line of work. Staying in the line of work and being successful with something like this means you probably love it.” Seemingly sensing that I’m going to ask if it’s satisfying to know that a piece of work may never be consciously noticed, Emslie adds: “The work is totally fulfilling – even if it’s creating the perfect dirty boot.”But what about when people do notice the work? What about when someone becomes obsessed with a fictional Ukranian just because of his choice of top? “We are creating what I can consider the largest catalog of unique characters I’ve ever been a part of. The most rewarding moments for me are when someone relates to a character in the narrative or makes a connection to an Operator that they feel represents how they want to look in our game.” That’s mission accomplished, I guess – it might not be for reasons other than that his jacket is really fluttery and shiny, but I’m yet to play as any Operator other than Yegor, simply because of his look. I have one more question for Emslie – well, a question and a compliment. Who, specifically, made Yegor’s Jacket, and can I congratulate them? “We are in the middle of our stay at home instructions and it’s been a while since we were all together in the art pit. I can’t remember who exactly crafted that particular jacket, but I will be certain to ask now that you’ve mentioned it and deliver the compliment.” I’ll try too: in case you’re reading this, anonymous Yegor's Jacket Designer, good work. I noticed. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News, and he just remembered he wrote a whole article about a game character's sandals once, too. Follow him on Twitter.

The first images from the CBS All Access adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand have started to appear, with new photos from the set offering a first look at the main cast of characters, including Alexander Skarsgård as Randall Flagg. Vanity Fair shared the exclusive reel of photos showcasing "the good, the bad, and the otherworldly" in the upcoming series, created by Josh Boone and Benjamin Cavell, who is also serving as showrunner alongside Taylor Elmore. Whoopi Goldberg is among those pictured; she is starring in the series as 108-year old Mother Abigail, a blind prophet who is essential to humanity's fight for survival after a devastating plague sweeps the globe. "She is very, very righteous and very good. But really flawed I feel," Goldberg said of Mother Abigail. "She doesn't listen when God is talking to her. And she tends to go her own way because she's been like this her whole life. It takes her a little while to figure out that there's something bigger than her." Alexander Skarsgård also makes his debut as the iconic villain Randall Flagg, a charismatic rockabilly demon who is "galvanizing as a leader." His true power is said to be his ability to bring out the worst in his followers. "He's so charming and he's so handsome, and so powerful—I mean genuinely powerful, able to perform these sort of miracles where he could levitate himself and he has these actual powers," Elmore said of Skarsgård's character. "And yet he needs this adulation and this kind of worship from these people whom he's summoned to him." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-stephen-king-remake-so-far&captions=true"] Elsewhere, Heather Graham's Rita Blakemoor is pictured alongside Jovan Adepo's Larry Underwood, a struggling, drug-addicted musician who finds his true calling after civilization collapses. Owen Teague's Harold Lauder, Odessa Young's Frannie Goldsmith and Nat Wolff's Lloyd Henreid also make appearances. These ragtag bunch of characters are placed in a post-apocalyptic world after a pandemic of a weaponized strain of influenza almost wiped out the entire world population, though the show, just like the novel, will focus on a variety of themes borne outside of the virus. "It's about the fundamental questions of what society owes the individual and what we owe to each other," said Cavell. "Over the last however-many years, we have sort of taken for granted the structure of democracy. Now, so much of that is being ripped down to the studs. It's interesting to see a story about people who are rebuilding it from the ground up." The Stand is expected to air on CBS All Access later this year. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Nintendo has revealed a new set of Power-Up Pack costumes for LEGO Mario, which introduce a variety of new game mechanics to the physical toy set. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/lego-mario-new-lego-super-mario-power-up-packs-trailer"] The Power-Up Packs each include a hat and a set of dungarees for the LEGO Mario figure to slot into, and each new costume allows him to do new things. The Fire Mario suit grants him the power to throw fireballs at enemies, activated by tilting the figure forward. The Propeller Mario suit allows Mario to fly and collect coins from mid-air. Cat Mario, meanwhile, lets the plumber climb walls while making vaguely adorable/somewhat creepy cat noises. Finally the Builder Mario suit lets you perform a damaging jump which awards coins as Mario smashes back down onto the ground. The Power-Up packs will be available starting August 1. As they are just suits, they all require the Starter Course pack to work. That pack includes 231 pieces used to build a physical Mario level, as well as the interactive LEGO Mario figure itself. That starter course can then be combined with Expansion sets such as the Piranha Plant Power Slide and Bowser’s Castle. Mario’s adventures through them can then be augmented with the use of the new Power-Up packs. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=lego-super-mario-first-look&captions=true"] LEGO Super Mario is designed as a bridge between video games and toys. Playing with the sets combines physical blocks, the use of the ‘mechanics’ provided by the interactive figure, and a player’s imagination. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter. 

Henry Cavill has been turned into an Easter Egg character in Total War: Warhammer 2, one of his favourite games. The star of The Witcher on Netflix has previously made clear how much he likes Creative Assembly's game, telling GQ he'd completed the game with six different races. He even made clear in that interview how much he looks forward to new DLC for the game arriving. Well the latest DLC, The Warden and The Paunch arrives tomorrow, May 21, and Cavill should be more excited than ever, as the expansion adds a character based on the actor and his recent work. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/09/25/total-war-warhammer-2-review"] As pointed out by PCGamesN, the new DLC includes a High Elf Loremaster simply named Cavill, who comes with a trait called White Wolf that gives him a bonus when fighting against large enemies (like monsters, perhaps), and even includes the flavour text "Wind's howling" (based on an oft-quoted line from The Witcher 3). If that wasn't evidence enough, PCGamesN talked to the game's director, Richard Aldridge, who confirmed the homage: "So when when I saw a certain Mr. Cavill mention that he enjoys nothing more than firing up Total War: Warhammer or painting a few models in his spare time, I thought it would be fun to somehow inject him into the game [...] With the Warden and the Paunch coming up, it felt like a good time to include Henry, and what better way than having a mighty Loremaster of Hoeth by your side with a few personal special traits to play with when starting a campaign as Eltharion?” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/09/04/henry-cavill-was-the-first-choice-for-the-witcher"] Cavill (the real one, not the elf one) is a major gaming fan, who said he "lived and breathed" the Witcher games to prepare for his onscreen role as Geralt of Rivia, and has been painting Warhammer models to pass the time in quarantine. We here at IGN are also fans of Total War: Warhammer 2, awarding it a 9.1 review, calling it "a league above anything we’ve seen in the entire Total War series before in both design and presentation." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News and he aspires to one day be an Easter Egg in Dynasty Warriors. Follow him on Twitter.