A veteran Capcom producer who worked on several Resident Evil Games is leaving the company after 27 years to join Chinese mobile game developer and tech firm NetEase Games.

Hiroyuki Kobayashi announced the career shift in a tweet (below), in which he confirmed his new role as a producer at NetEase and said more details would follow at a later date.

pic.twitter.com/o2xyR2X4YP

— 小林裕幸 (@HiroKobaP) August 12, 2022

"After serving 27 years with gratitude, I have departed from Capcom on March 31, 2022, and will officially be joining NetEase Games as a producer," Kobayashi said. "I will strive to continuously create more enjoyable entertainment experiences for everyone at this new company, in this new era."

Kobayashi started at Capcom in 1995 and was a programmer on the first two Resident Evil games, a planner for the original Dino Crisis, and producer on the original Devil May Cry. He was also a producer on Resident Evil Remake, Resident Evil 4, Killer 7, and Dragon's Dogma among other things, and most recently was executive producer on Mega Man 11.

NetEase is currently developing the Harry Potter Magic Awakened virtual trading card game, Dead by Daylight Mobile, The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War, and more. It's also rumoured to be working on a Destiny mobile game with Bungie.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

The Simpsons showrunner Matt Selman has shared new details about the upcoming season, promising viewers that they will finally find out how the show has managed to predict the future.

In an interview with Deadline, Selman expressed his excitement for Season 34 and offered a tease of what is coming next. He name-dropped a few of this season's guest stars, namely Simu Liu and Melissa McCarthy, before offering a few tidbits about the forthcoming episodes, including one "crazy conceptual episode that explains how The Simpsons know the future."

"It's a conceptual episode with lots of crazy stuff in it," he added. "But it does [offer] an explanation of how The Simpsons can predict the future."

After three decades on air, The Simpsons has developed somewhat of a reputation for its ability to predict the future, causing viewers to occasionally shout "The Simpsons did it!" to actual current events. The latest in a long line of creepy coincidences involves a classic Season 4 episode that somehow managed to predict the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of so-called "murder hornets" in one fell swoop.

Selman and fellow producer Al Jean previously spoke about how The Simpsons has seemingly managed to foresee future events, telling IGN that it's mostly down to the length of time the show has been on air. "If you just do more episodes for more decades than all the other shows, you're gonna get more predictions right," Selman said. "And we really have all the other shows beat when it comes to decades."

While there may not be a complex algorithm behind its future-predicting power, the upcoming season is now expected to offer the best explantion yet, so you won't want to miss it when it premieres next month. Season 34 of the The Simpsons will officially debut on September 25, with an episode that sees Homer get into "a conspiracy cabal while hunting down a missing turtle," according to Selman.

Fox renewed The Simpsons for two more seasons last year, ensuring that the series will remain on the air until at least 2023, bringing the total episode count to 757. "It's a sincere pleasure to announce the Season 33 and 34 pick-ups for The Simpsons. We keep hoping that, eventually, they'll get it right," Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier joked at the time.

There are 32 seasons of The Simpsons available on Disney+, so you might want to check out IGN's rundown of the 30 best episodes of all time to relive some classic moments before the new season airs.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Cover image credit: Fox.

The anti-cheating legal battle prompted by Bungie has escalated as cheats company AimJunkies has accused the Destiny 2 developer's actions of being "ridiculous and absurd".

As reported on Torrentfreak, AimJunkies has denied that its Destiny 2 cheats are illegal or harmful and that Bungie has taken on a "bully mentality" because it is incapable of governing its own players.

Bungie filed the lawsuit last year, saying that AimJunkies violated its copyright laws by producing cheats, but the case was dismissed in May as U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly said there wasn't enough evidence to prove any copyright infringements. Bungie then reworked the accusation, however, and another complaint was filed a few weeks later.

"Do not believe everything you read in their filings," a press release from AimJunkies' parent company Phoenix Digital Group LLC reads. "In fact, do not believe 90% of what they assert in their filings.

"We believe Bungie and their counsel apparently believe the more s**t you throw at the wall, the greater the possibility of something sticking with the court, no matter how ridiculous or absurd it is in the real world.

"Understand cheating is not illegal and the game companies want to make it illegal because they cannot govern their own players. They are looking to the courts to do what they, Bungie, are impotent to do on their own, even with the vast resources and technologies at their disposal. They would rather suffer death by a thousand cuts than admit this is not the way to fix the problem."

The company claims it has offered to work through the problem with Bungie, and said it believes its features should be implemented into the game officially. "But their pride and bully mentality prohibits them from thinking out of the box," it added.

The retaliatory legal action will see AimJunkies subpoena Google, Paypal, and Valve as it seeks to gather evidence against Bungie. Unlike another recent Bungie lawsuit against cheats company Elite Boss Tech - in which it agreed to pay Bungie $13.5 million in damages - this legal battle will likely persist over the following months (perhaps years) as neither side shows intent to step down.

The developer has taken a no nonsense approach to any signs of cheating or misleading in its Destiny 2 community, as evidenced by these two lawsuits and another in which Bungie issued a virtual manhunt for someone who issued YouTubers with fake DMCA takedown, eventually suing the individual for $7.6 million.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

The upcoming Victorian-style fantasy game Nightingale has been delayed.

A statement from developer Inflexion Games posted to Twitter revealed that Nightingale has been delayed until “early 2023” in order to upgrade to Unreal Engine 5. Unfortunately, no specific release date has yet been set.

“We’ve made the difficult decision to delay Nightingale’s Early Access release to the first half of 2023,” Inflexion revealed. “We’ll have more news on specific timing at a later stage.”

An update on our Early Access release pic.twitter.com/LLFLCP3f6h

— Nightingale (@PlayNightingale) August 11, 2022

The delay to Nightingale’s early access release has been made for two very good reasons.

“The first is an upgrade to Unreal Engine 5,” the studio revealed. “After reviewing the potential UE5 has to offer, we decided on upgrading now rather than waiting until after release.”

“Secondly, Inflexion Games is committed to delivering the best possible experience and fulfilling the promise of what Nightingale’s universe of realms has to offer players. To Achieve that, the additional time will allow the team to make key improvements, bolster content, and polish gameplay.”

Although a new release date has not been set, we can expect Nightingale to debut in early 2023.

“In the coming weeks you’ll see more game and development updates from the team,” they confirmed. “Until then, we thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm for what we’re making. It may take a little longer for the mystical Fae portals to open, but we appreciate you taking this journey with us.”

Nightingale is an upcoming shared-world survival crafting game with a fantasy setting that has a decidedly Victorian twist.

“You are stranded beyond our world, cut off by the sudden collapse of the arcane portal network,” says a brief synopsis. “This catastrophic event has left you - and countless others - fighting to survive in a labyrinth of mysterious and perilous realms. Prepare for a journey of adventure, danger, and discovery - as you search for a way back to the last haven of humanity, Nightingale.”

Want to find out more about Nightingale? Check out this extended look at Nightingale’s gameplay, as well as the creatures, world, and lore explained.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

It’s official – MultiVersus Season 1 will launch on August 15, 2022.

A statement via Twitter confirmed the new release date for the Warner Bros. online platform fighter, along with details of a new Battle Pass.

“We’re excited to announce Season 1 will begin on August 15 with a brand-new Battle Pass for you to earn in-game rewards!” the statement reveals. “We can also confirm Morty will join the character roster on August 23 as part of Season 1. We look forward to sharing more in the coming weeks!”

We’re excited to announce Season 1 will begin on August 15 with a brand-new Battle Pass for you to earn in-game rewards! We can also confirm Morty will join the character roster on August 23 as part of Season 1. We look forward to sharing more in the coming weeks! #MultiVersus

— MultiVersus (@multiversus) August 11, 2022

Obviously, the other big news here is that Morty (of Rick & Morty fame) will finally make his way into the game as a playable character on August 23. That’s great news for fans of the show.

But Warner Bros. Games also revealed some further info about Season 1, and it looks as though it won’t just be a single content drop when the game launches. Instead, they’ll be bringing new game modes, etc throughout the first Battle Pass.

“Quick Note: Everything we are bringing to you in Season 1 will not drop on the same day,” they revealed. “New modes and content will be spread through the life of the Season. We'll continue to share dates on all the fun things to come!”

Now only a few days away, Season 1 can’t come quick enough, and it's bound to be a huge relief after the game’s launch was recently delayed.

Although some fans speculated that this could be to do with the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, game director Tony Hyunh was quick to put things straight.

“For those wondering, we are unaffected by the Discovery/Warner Bros. merger,” he said.

And with a player base soon surpassing 10 million players, it looks as though most fans weren’t put off.

Want to find out more about MultiVersus? Check out our character guide for a full list of playable characters, as well as our tips and tricks to get the most out of your match-ups.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Thunderful CEO Brjann Sigurgeirsson has stepped down following the company’s $2.1 million loss.

According to GamesIndustry.biz the CEO, who held the position since the group first formed in 2019, is stepping down in order to take on a new role in the company’s games division.

Meanwhile, former CFO Anders Maiqvist has taken over until a new full-time CEO is found.

The original Thunderful was founded in 2017 by Sigurgeirsson, Bergsala Holding, and Klaus Lyngeled before merging with Bergsala in 2019 to form Thunderful Group.

The company is known for the SteamWorld franchise which was developed by subsidiary Image & Form and includes SteamWorld Dig, its sequel, and SteamWorld Heist.

But Sigurgeirsson’s decision to take a back seat comes after a turbulent time at the company which saw Thunderful make a net loss of $2.1 million for the second quarter of 2022, with operating profit down 62.1%.

Sigurgeirsson attributed the loss to “significant currency effects,” as well as other challenges facing the company’s distribution businesses. However, the company also made a $985,508 impairment following disappointing sales for The Gunk – the studio’s recent release which failed to gain steam in the same way as SteamWorld.

IGN’s own review gave it 7/10 saying, “The Gunk is a fun little platforming adventure full of malicious messes that are plenty satisfying to clean up. The small twists each new area puts on its fairly simple mechanics never drastically shake up its formula of vacuuming the landscape and then hopping to the next location, but an enticing story and a beautiful sense of style keep the clean-up process consistently entertaining throughout its relatively brief campaign.”

Despite the overall loss, Thunderful asserts that it was a strong quarter for its games division.

“We are now around 450 colleagues working on a large number of promising projects, and we have an exciting time ahead of us,” said Sigurgeirsson in a statement. “With that, the time has come for me to step down as CEO of Thunderful Group and for new forces to lead the group as we enter the next phase.”

“I will continue in a new role within our games segment and look forward to focusing on game development again,” he added.

What’s next for Thunderful? Check out the upcoming SteamWorld Headhunter, as well as everything announced at last year’s Thunderful World.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly looking for its very own Kevin Feige. According to Variety, studio head David Zaslav is determined to find his very own version of the Marvel maestro to lead the DCEU’s upcoming ten-year plan.

“We have done a reset,” he said during a recent earnings call. “We’ve restructured the business where we’re going to focus, where there will be a team with a ten-year plan focusing just on DC. It’s very similar to the structure that Alan Horn and Bob Iger put together very effectively with Kevin Feige at Disney.”

But who will take the top job?

There seem to be two frontrunners currently – whether they know it or not. Greg Berlanti, who already oversees many of DC’s TV projects such as The Flash and Superman & Lois, is said to be a name that’s high on the list.

However, according to Variety, nobody has actually approached the producer, and it’s thought that he would be unlikely to sign onto the top job. He hasn’t pursued the position himself and is thought to not be interested in chasing an internal position.

Elsewhere, Dan Lin, who produced The LEGO Movie and Sherlock Holmes, recently lamented his lack of involvement in the DCEU after the ill-fated 2008 George Miller Justice League fell through. During an episode of The Ankler podcast, he said that, at the time, he was pursued to “oversee the entire DC franchise”.

But as Warner Bros. Discovery has since changed the DCEU landscape, it’s unknown whether he would even be interested at this stage. Additionally, he’s already committed to his own production company Rideback, which has an ongoing deal with Universal.

At this point, the list of potential candidates is running a little low. Even the names mentioned seem unlikely to take the plunge.

So, who will take the reins of the DCEU going forward? Walter Hamada, who had been overseeing the DCEU before the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, was recently said to be so incensed by Batgirl’s cancelation that he almost quit his job.

Want to find out more about WB’s upcoming DCEU plans? Check out which DC movies could be affected by the merger, as well as what’s in store with DC’s ten-year plan.

Thumbnail image credit: Alberto Rodriguez/Getty Images

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Batgirl star Leslie Grace may not have hung up her cape just yet. According to Variety, the 27-year-old actress is still being eyed by Warner Bros. Discovery to continue as Batgirl in some form.

“Newly installed Warner Bros. Pictures Group chiefs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, in seeking to mend fences with Batgirl star Leslie Grace, are entertaining the possibility of having her continue to play Batgirl in a future DC film,” they revealed.

But what does that mean?

Batgirl was recently canned following the high-profile Warner Bros. Discovery merger. The reason? It’s believed that the film was deemed irreparable following a damaging test screening – one that Variety reports led to middling test scores. The 10-week director’s cut was deemed to be in bad shape, and so Warner Bros. Discovery decided to use it as a tax write-down instead of releasing the film either theatrically or online.

Batgirl would have seen Leslie Grace debut as Barbara Gordon – a vigilante under the tutelage of an older Batman played by none other than Michael Keaton. But with the movie officially canceled, it looks as though Warner Bros. Discovery wants to shoehorn its lead character into another DC property.

The most likely suspect? The upcoming Black Canary movie.

Black Canary will reportedly see Jurnee Smollett return to the role she originally debuted in the 2020 DC flick, Birds of Prey. A team-up with Leslie Grace’s Batgirl certainly makes a lot of sense, especially considering that she’s already teamed up with other heroes (and villains) in her debut movie.

Whether or not that pans out remains to be seen.

After all, Leslie Grace herself might want to draw a line under it all after Warner Bros. Discovery pulled the rug out from under the production. But with plenty of other DC projects potentially affected by the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, it looks as though it may be some time before we find out.

Want to read more about Batgirl? Check out our rundown of why Batgirl was canceled, not to mention which other DC properties could be affected.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Although The Batman blew away the box office and was apparently confirmed to be getting a sequel, The Batman 2 still isn't a guarantee. According to Variety, the upcoming sequel to Robert Pattinson’s first Batman movie hasn’t yet been greenlit by studio Warner Bros. Discovery.

The Batman 2 is thought to be in development, with writer/director Matt Reeves as well as star Robert Pattinson both returning. But it’s still years away from the box office, and Warner Bros. Discovery hasn’t officially given it the go-ahead.

This is despite WB confirming the film with an announcement back at CinemaCon.

The Batman was a huge hit, at least by pandemic standards, when it debuted earlier this year – earning an impressive $700 million worldwide. A sequel is highly likely to still be on the cards, despite recent troubles at the studio in the wake of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

IGN’s own review of The Batman gave it 10/10 saying that “Matt Reeves’ violent, thrilling, darkly beautiful take on The Batman more than justifies its place in the franchise’s canon.”

Quite how it sits within DC’s 10-year plan remains to be seen. But I can’t help thinking that The Batman 2, along with the upcoming Joker sequel will be the ones that eventually dominate the landscape in terms of Warner Bros. Discovery superhero films.

Which heroes will join them? That’s the big question.

But it looks as though it could be some time before we get any answers, with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav waiting to find his own Kevin Feige before making any further plans.

Want to find out more about The Batman? Check out all the Robert Pattinson movies that Batman fans just have to see, as well as 10 things you didn’t know about The Batman.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Joker 2 is apparently getting a massive budget despite the studio's recent tax write-down. According to Variety, the upcoming sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, could get as much as three times the original film’s budget.

Joker star Joaquin Phoenix as well as director Todd Phillips are thought to be getting a staggering $20 million each for the project, with Lady Gaga getting a $10 million payday for the upcoming film. Combined with the increased cost of complicated musical sequences, this means that Joker 2 will cost around $150 million to produce.

A hefty price tag considering the studio’s recent troubles.

At the moment, Joker 2 is the only DC project to be greenlit following the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, which saw Batgirl unceremoniously canceled. The reason for its cancellation? A tax write-down which was considered a safer bet than, you know, actually releasing the movie.

And that doesn’t sit well given Joker 2’s new, rather substantial budget.

Of course, that’s still a smaller budget than most superhero movies, making Joker 2 far more cost-effective than The Batman – DC’s recent Batman reboot starring Robert Pattinson. But it’s still far more than Warner Bros. Discovery was willing to set aside for Batgirl.

According to Variety, the idea of releasing smaller straight-to-streaming DC movies is now a thing of the past. Although this was the original vision for Batgirl, it looks as though Warner Bros. Discovery and its new leadership team have canned the idea.

Batgirl is no more, and while Blue Beetle was originally going to debut online, it’s now set for a theatrical release… if it releases at all.

It’s said this Blue Beetle, along with several James Gunn projects, are safe following the Batgirl cancellation, but fans are still nervous. After all, Warner Bros. Discovery continues to put money behind its big theatrical releases… and it wouldn’t be surprising to see other, smaller projects fall by the wayside.

At least, if Warner Bros. Discovery truly wants to replicate Marvel’s success.

Variety confirms that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is focused on finding his own Kevin Feige – a single executive to lead DC’s big screen efforts as part of the company’s 10-year plan.

Until that position is filled, it looks as though Warner Bros. Discovery faces even more uncertainty. At least, if you’re not making a Joker sequel.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.