There have been a lot of gaming mysteries over the years, many of which have now been solved. What happened to Half-Life 2: Episode 3? Well, we kind of know. What’s the meaning of the Mt. Chiliad mystery? We got our answer. But there’s a new gaming enigma, one that stretches back into last year, a mystery still waiting to be solved as I type:

What in the freshly-baked hell is going on with Cooking Mama: Cookstar?

The core of this mystery lies in the fact that, depending on where you look, Cooking Mama: Cookstar is either out now, coming soon, or completely MIA. A trailer on the game’s (extremely quiet) Twitter feed definitively announces that it’s "available now" on Nintendo Switch. That statement is, at best, partially true.

If you can’t stand the heat, get into Mama’s kitchen! #CookingMama is back with her most fantastic and fun video game adventure ever!

Introducing Cooking Mama: Cookstar. A brand-new Cooking Mama experience created for Nintendo Switch™. Order here: https://t.co/gxje6DKjyZ pic.twitter.com/tHFa35WKZ2 — Cooking Mama: Cookstar (@CookstarMama) March 26, 2020

That trailer (and the game’s website) point to a Nintendo eShop version of the game, but if you search for that version at time of writing - in the US or Europe - the eShop returns no results, not even a ‘Coming Soon’ entry. Even stranger, the game was released on the US eShop last week, but only for a few hours, before being unceremoniously pulled from sale and its listing scrubbed from Nintendo’s digital store entirely.

Physical copies of Cookstar are a different story. According to some very pleased/confused Redditors, copies have quietly appeared in select US outlets of Target. Amazon only lists third-party sellers (at least one of which seems to have been set up solely to sell this new Cooking Mama game, strangely), implying the retail giant has no copies at all.

In Europe, the game is seemingly impossible to get a hold of right now, and is listed by several retailers for a release later this month - but none of them seem to agree about when. Don’t even get me started on the apparent PS4 version of the game, which is listed for sale across the internet, but hasn’t been outwardly mentioned by any official source around ‘launch’.

Cooking Mama: Cookstar is, in essence, Schrödinger's Video Game, seemingly existing and non-existing simultaneously, with neither state particularly easy to prove. Can you tell I’ve been looking into this for too long?

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Cooking%20Mama%3A%20Cookstar%20is%2C%20in%20essence%2C%20Schr%C3%B6dinger's%20Video%20Game."]

In short, this is all a bit of a mess, and a contingent of fans across social media are becoming vocal about how very unusual this situation has become. The few people that have been able secure a copy have been able to upload images and videos of the game. As you’d expect, it looks like just another Cooking Mama game - nothing about what I’ve seen suggests that it’s broken, offensive, or any other quality that could cause this level of confusion, silence and general oddity.

But perhaps all this should have been expected, because almost everything about the run-up to Cookstar’s release has been decidedly odd. Also called Cooking Mama: Coming Home to Mama (I can’t fully work out when or why it swapped to Cookstar), the game has been inadvertently revealed by ratings boards in 2019, and had an unlisted game trailer leak (including an incorrect release window and a non-existent website).

The first real mystery to contend with is who has actually made this game. The Cooking Mama series was created by Japanese developer Office Create, which hit a goldmine when the games started to sell by the million on Nintendo DS. Office Create eventually changed its name to Cooking Mama Ltd., making 10 mainline and spin-off games in the series. Seemingly just to confuse me further, it seems that, at some point, it changed its name back to Office Create, the developer listed on the most recently released Cooking Mama games. But neither of those company names are on the packaging or merchandising for Cookstar.

An early classification by the Australian ratings board listed its developer as 1st Playable Productions - an education game developer - but that classification has since been removed, and a new listing includes no mention of 1st Playable. 1st Playable itself makes no mention of the game on its website.

Nintendo and the devs really dropped the ball with Cooking Mama Cookstar. I was able to preorder as soon as the trailer went out but displaying the game on eShop only to take it off with no explanation and then leave folks hanging when it was suppose to out in late March. pic.twitter.com/GRWDK0mGtx

— SIMPAI is on Alba Island (@MadamZeti) April 3, 2020

The sole mention of a creator on Cooking Mama: Cookstar’s box is Planet Entertainment. Planet Entertainment is a part of Planet Digital Partners, a US company that boasts, in its own words, “an all-star team of video game industry leaders including the former PlayStation Europe President, the founder of Take 2/Grand Theft Auto, the former CEO of Guitar Hero and hit-maker developers of Halo, Quake, and NBA Playgrounds.”

That would seem to get us somewhere, but even this is something of a dead end. Neither Planet Entertainment, nor Planet Digital claim to be developers - both list themselves as publishers. I tried to work out if Planet Entertainment could be the development arm of Planet Digital Partners, and looked up its listed company headquarters – it’s just a sizeable house in rural Connecticut. I mean, it’s not impossible that that house is bustling with clever people coding virtual lettuce, but it doesn’t feel likely.

And it gets stranger: Planet doesn’t seem to acknowledge its involvement with Cooking Mama: Cookstar anywhere other than the game’s box, and the Cookstar website. The company Twitter account has been silent since 2019, and there’s no mention of the game on the Planet Entertainment website. In fact, that website has actively deleted older posts about the game.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=cooking-mama-cookstar-screenshots&captions=true"]

Thankfully, we can see some of those original posts, because they were hosted elsewhere – and an August 2019 entry became notable for announcing that the new Cooking Mama would be the “first game to integrate blockchain technology on major consoles”, which led to widespread confusion at the time. That press release discussed adding in-game currencies, online events and “Private-Key Enabled Balanced DRM”. Please remember, we’re talking about a Cooking Mama game.

Just to up the strangeness a little more, a final paragraph announced that the game would have a vegetarian mode - for which it won an award from PETA. Only the vegetarian mode appears to have made it into the final release from what I’ve seen of the game.

It adds up to make one of the stranger cases of a missing game that I can remember - certainly not vaporware, but very certainly a hazy proposition. A game released in a liminal space – it’s out, but it’s not out out. Someone, somewhere is running a Twitter account specifically about Cookstar, but isn’t responding to fan queries about what’s happened to the game – who is that? How have both digital and physical releases ended up in fans’ hands legitimately, when they should seemingly have never been released?

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=At%20the%20heart%20of%20this%20whirlwind%20of%20weirdness%2C%20there%E2%80%99s%20a%20group%20of%20people%20that%20just%20want%20to%20play%20a%20new%20game%2C%20and%20can%E2%80%99t."]

The sad thing is, at the heart of this whirlwind of weirdness, there’s a group of people that just want to play a new game, and can’t – and they aren’t being told why.

I’ve attempted to make contact with Planet Entertainment, Planet Digital Partners, Koch Media, and Office Create about the game, to try and get to the bottom of who made Cooking Mama: Cookstar, when it will be officially released, why any of this has happened at all, and to check if it actually is the world’s first blockchain-enabled console game. At time of writing, none of them have responded. A PR agency for Planet, Sandbox Strategies, has replied but unfortunately can’t answer my questions. The mystery, unfortunately, continues.

If you have any information about the saga of Cooking Mama: Cookstar, please email newstips@ign.com. Please, at the very least for my poor brain’s sake, do it. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News, and he can't decide if this was fun or terrifying to research. Follow him on Twitter.

The highly anticipated Final Fantasy 7 Remake is officially available for worldwide preload on PlayStation consoles. With the game set to launch on April 10, Square Enix has said it wants to ensure fans have plenty of time to get the game downloaded on their consoles. “We know that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and many people having to stay at home, some of you may be experiencing extra pressure on your internet bandwidth," said the game's producer Yoshinori Kitase. "We wanted to give all our fans some extra time to download the game.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/03/final-fantasy-7-remake-vs-final-fantasy-7-early-scenes-compared"] With the file size coming in at over 100 GB, some players will likely benefit greatly from the extra time to download the game. Developers shared that it created custom assets for every part of Midgar, which greatly increased the overall file size. Essentially, this means when you venture into different parts of Midgar, like the Slums, you won’t see assets re-used in other areas of the game. Despite some Australian and European retailers selling the game early. Square Enix has confirmed that digital copies of the game will not be released early. While this may be upsetting to some fans, the release is only a week away! [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/03/final-fantasy-vii-remake-final-trailer"] If you're not familiar with the game, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be released in different episodes to ensure "the highest visual quality." Be sure to keep your eye on IGN's official Final Fantasy 7 Remake wiki page for help when the game comes out. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Andrew Smith is a freelance contributor with IGN. Follow him on Twitter @_andrewtsmith.

The highly anticipated Final Fantasy 7 Remake is officially available for worldwide preload on PlayStation consoles. With the game set to launch on April 10, Square Enix has said it wants to ensure fans have plenty of time to get the game downloaded on their consoles. “We know that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and many people having to stay at home, some of you may be experiencing extra pressure on your internet bandwidth," said the game's producer Yoshinori Kitase. "We wanted to give all our fans some extra time to download the game.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/03/final-fantasy-7-remake-vs-final-fantasy-7-early-scenes-compared"] With the file size coming in at over 100 GB, some players will likely benefit greatly from the extra time to download the game. Developers shared that it created custom assets for every part of Midgar, which greatly increased the overall file size. Essentially, this means when you venture into different parts of Midgar, like the Slums, you won’t see assets re-used in other areas of the game. Despite some Australian and European retailers selling the game early. Square Enix has confirmed that digital copies of the game will not be released early. While this may be upsetting to some fans, the release is only a week away! [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/03/final-fantasy-vii-remake-final-trailer"] If you're not familiar with the game, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be released in different episodes to ensure "the highest visual quality." Be sure to keep your eye on IGN's official Final Fantasy 7 Remake wiki page for help when the game comes out. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Andrew Smith is a freelance contributor with IGN. Follow him on Twitter @_andrewtsmith.

As if 2020 couldn't get any worse it appears the Venom symbiote has arrived on Earth. At least that's what many Twitter users have been half-jokingly saying after a video was posted showing a strange, gooey black substance. Twitter user @sunnyarkade posted the video below asking if anyone could identify what the strange substance was. Given its similar appearance to the alien symbiote from Spider-Man comics and movies, it didn't take long for "Venom" to start trending:

Anybody know what this is? pic.twitter.com/B2dQLTm4td

— non essential (@sunnyarkade) April 2, 2020

OK, so really, what is this thing? The leading suspect, according to Twitter users, is the bootlace worm, "the longest animal on Earth [that] produces a neurotoxin that can kill both crabs and cockroaches." Meanwhile @masteracestick appears to be having fun trolling, saying the goop is a "pneumanatic singila symbiotic group" and adding that, "They are very rare to find. They have been known to cover at least 2-3 making them go psycho, hear things, and get controlled." (If you Google "pneumanatic singila symbiotic group" the only results that come up are for this tweet.) [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=venom-marvels-most-powerful-symbiotes-ranked&captions=true"] So what do you think this slimy stuff is? Sound off in the comments! And to brush up on Venom and symbiotes, check out our ranking of Marvel's most powerful symbiotes, learn how to kill Venom, and find out everything you need to know about Shriek and Carnage, the villains of Venom 2. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/06/22/how-to-kill-venom]

As if 2020 couldn't get any worse it appears the Venom symbiote has arrived on Earth. At least that's what many Twitter users have been half-jokingly saying after a video was posted showing a strange, gooey black substance. Twitter user @sunnyarkade posted the video below asking if anyone could identify what the strange substance was. Given its similar appearance to the alien symbiote from Spider-Man comics and movies, it didn't take long for "Venom" to start trending:

Anybody know what this is? pic.twitter.com/B2dQLTm4td

— non essential (@sunnyarkade) April 2, 2020

OK, so really, what is this thing? The leading suspect, according to Twitter users, is the bootlace worm, "the longest animal on Earth [that] produces a neurotoxin that can kill both crabs and cockroaches." Meanwhile @masteracestick appears to be having fun trolling, saying the goop is a "pneumanatic singila symbiotic group" and adding that, "They are very rare to find. They have been known to cover at least 2-3 making them go psycho, hear things, and get controlled." (If you Google "pneumanatic singila symbiotic group" the only results that come up are for this tweet.) [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=venom-marvels-most-powerful-symbiotes-ranked&captions=true"] So what do you think this slimy stuff is? Sound off in the comments! And to brush up on Venom and symbiotes, check out our ranking of Marvel's most powerful symbiotes, learn how to kill Venom, and find out everything you need to know about Shriek and Carnage, the villains of Venom 2. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/06/22/how-to-kill-venom]

After seven long weeks of challenges, the highly anticipated Deadpool skin has finally arrived in Fortnite. The skin is available for free as long as you own the Battle Pass, but you will have to complete a handful of challenges to unlock it. The skin has been teased ever since the launch of Fortnite Chapter 2: Season 2 when fans noticed a few Deadpool appearances in the trailers for the new season. Shortly after that, challenges began appearing in Deadpool's bunker, allowing players to unlock apparel items like his famous katanas, themed weapon wraps, and some different sprays and emotes. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/03/fortnite-deadpool-has-arrived-trailer"]

How to Unlock the Deadpool Skin in Fortnite

If you're wondering how to unlock the Deadpool skin, you'll need to complete a set of 14 rather simple challenges. Our official Fortnite wiki page has a complete list of all the challenges as well as step-by-step guides that will show you how to complete each challenge. If you're all caught up, then you'll just need to complete the two final challenges that released today, April 3. The first will task players with tracking down both of Deadpool's pistols and the second challenge will require players to find a phone booth or porta potty and change into the Deadpool skin. Once you've finished off both of those challenges, you'll be awarded the coveted skin. Additionally, it looks like Epic isn't quite done with Deadpool yet, as there is a placeholder for another set of challenges next week. While we wait to see what's next, be sure to check out the new Battle Bus and Yacht, as they have been taken over by Deadpool. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Andrew Smith is a freelance contributor with IGN. Follow him on Twitter @_andrewtsmith.

After seven long weeks of challenges, the highly anticipated Deadpool skin has finally arrived in Fortnite. The skin is available for free as long as you own the Battle Pass, but you will have to complete a handful of challenges to unlock it. The skin has been teased ever since the launch of Fortnite Chapter 2: Season 2 when fans noticed a few Deadpool appearances in the trailers for the new season. Shortly after that, challenges began appearing in Deadpool's bunker, allowing players to unlock apparel items like his famous katanas, themed weapon wraps, and some different sprays and emotes. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/03/fortnite-deadpool-has-arrived-trailer"]

How to Unlock the Deadpool Skin in Fortnite

If you're wondering how to unlock the Deadpool skin, you'll need to complete a set of 14 rather simple challenges. Our official Fortnite wiki page has a complete list of all the challenges as well as step-by-step guides that will show you how to complete each challenge. If you're all caught up, then you'll just need to complete the two final challenges that released today, April 3. The first will task players with tracking down both of Deadpool's pistols and the second challenge will require players to find a phone booth or porta potty and change into the Deadpool skin. Once you've finished off both of those challenges, you'll be awarded the coveted skin. Additionally, it looks like Epic isn't quite done with Deadpool yet, as there is a placeholder for another set of challenges next week. While we wait to see what's next, be sure to check out the new Battle Bus and Yacht, as they have been taken over by Deadpool. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Andrew Smith is a freelance contributor with IGN. Follow him on Twitter @_andrewtsmith.

AMC Theatres, America's largest movie cinema chain, has had its credit rating downgraded to reflect an "imminent" risk of defaulting due to the impact of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Wrap reports that S&P Global downgraded its credit rating for AMC Entertainment to CCC- from B on Thursday, taking the company's outlook from "Highly speculative" to "Default imminent, with little prospect for recovery," as the agency forecast the closure of AMC Theatres to extend beyond June. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/13/how-coronavirus-delays-are-impacting-2020-movies-ign-now"] "We do not believe AMC has sufficient sources of liquidity to cover its expected negative cash flows past mid-summer, and we believe the company will likely breach its 6x net senior secured leverage covenant when tested on Sept. 30, 2020, absent a waiver from its lenders," S&P analysts wrote in a ratings note. According to Deadline, AMC was the first theatre chain to address the COVID-19 pandemic, as the company closed its 634 locations across the US and Canada and 120 venues in the UK and Ireland, operated under Odeon, on March 17 to help slow the spread of the virus. Then, on March 25, the company announced that it had furloughed its corporate employees, including its CEO Adam Aron, as part of a plan to "preserve cash and to ensure that AMC can reopen our doors once this health crisis has dissipated." However, even after significantly lowering its fixed costs and capital spending requirements, S&P analysts predict the company's liquidity sources to only "last through mid-summer," so AMC might have to try to secure additional liquidity through the CARES act or its lenders. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true"] Though it's unlikely, S&G said it could consider raising the rating if "AMC were able to secure additional liquidity without further burdening its capital structure and if we expected the company would be able to generate substantial cash flow in 2021." Meanwhile, many drive-in movie theatres have experienced a sudden surge of interest from cinephiles looking for an alternative to movie-watching in isolation. A number of the 305 outdoor venues across America reported an increase in business shortly after the majority of traditional brick-and-mortar movie theatres temporarily closed their doors. For a list of recommendations on how best to help, and stay safe, during the Coronavirus pandemic, please read our resource guide. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

AMC Theatres, America's largest movie cinema chain, has had its credit rating downgraded to reflect an "imminent" risk of defaulting due to the impact of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Wrap reports that S&P Global downgraded its credit rating for AMC Entertainment to CCC- from B on Thursday, taking the company's outlook from "Highly speculative" to "Default imminent, with little prospect for recovery," as the agency forecast the closure of AMC Theatres to extend beyond June. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/13/how-coronavirus-delays-are-impacting-2020-movies-ign-now"] "We do not believe AMC has sufficient sources of liquidity to cover its expected negative cash flows past mid-summer, and we believe the company will likely breach its 6x net senior secured leverage covenant when tested on Sept. 30, 2020, absent a waiver from its lenders," S&P analysts wrote in a ratings note. According to Deadline, AMC was the first theatre chain to address the COVID-19 pandemic, as the company closed its 634 locations across the US and Canada and 120 venues in the UK and Ireland, operated under Odeon, on March 17 to help slow the spread of the virus. Then, on March 25, the company announced that it had furloughed its corporate employees, including its CEO Adam Aron, as part of a plan to "preserve cash and to ensure that AMC can reopen our doors once this health crisis has dissipated." However, even after significantly lowering its fixed costs and capital spending requirements, S&P analysts predict the company's liquidity sources to only "last through mid-summer," so AMC might have to try to secure additional liquidity through the CARES act or its lenders. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true"] Though it's unlikely, S&G said it could consider raising the rating if "AMC were able to secure additional liquidity without further burdening its capital structure and if we expected the company would be able to generate substantial cash flow in 2021." Meanwhile, many drive-in movie theatres have experienced a sudden surge of interest from cinephiles looking for an alternative to movie-watching in isolation. A number of the 305 outdoor venues across America reported an increase in business shortly after the majority of traditional brick-and-mortar movie theatres temporarily closed their doors. For a list of recommendations on how best to help, and stay safe, during the Coronavirus pandemic, please read our resource guide. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Crucible, a sci-fi PvP shooter developed by Amazon’s Relentless studio, will release in May. The New York Times reports that Crucible was due to be revealed in early March and released on the last day of that month, but the impact of the coronavirus on marketing meant this date was pushed back to April 14 and then once more to May, in order to relieve pressure on the teams involved. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/03/new-world-hands-on-with-amazons-open-world-mmorpg"] Very little is currently known about Crucible. It was first announced in 2016 at TwitchCon, where it was said to be a class-based last-man-standing game. However, The New York Times claims that it has been “redesigned many times” during development, so it remains to be seen exactly what mechanics it uses. The class system does owe learnings to League of Legends and Dota 2, though, so expect something with a hero shooter vibe. Amazon Game Studios’ website does list Crucible, and describes it as “a fight for survival and control. Not only will you be going toe-to-toe with your fellow competitors, but you’ll have to adapt and overcome all the challenges the planet itself throws your way. You and your teammates will need to work together to take down alien creatures, capture objectives, and pursue your opponents in search of victory.” It appears that there are PvE elements alongside its competitive goals, too. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=all-the-big-games-coming-in-2020&captions=true"] Crucible is not the only game in development within Amazon’s portfolio of studios. Also due to release in May is New World, the MMO that the studio has been pretty open about over the last year or so. It’s also, according to The NY Times, working on Project Tempo, a cloud-based platform that will likely prove a competitor to Google’s Stadia. On top of that, there’s also a new The Lord of the Rings MMO in production, too. For more on Amazon’s games, check out our preview of New World and how it’s massive PvP battles stand out. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter.