Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan hosted a new developer update from the Blizzard team today that addressed many of the balance and meta grievances within the competitive Overwatch community. Blizzard says it will commit to more regular balance updates and will implement a Hero Pool system, not a hero ban. Talks of introducing a hero ban in Overwatch have been happening within the competitive community for some time. The idea originates from MOBAs where before a match, each team can choose a hero to “ban” from the match. While there have been arguments from both sides about whether or not Overwatch should also have a hero ban system, Kaplan has gone ahead and introduced a new solution: Hero Pools. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=overwatch-winter-wonderland-2019-skins-and-screenshots&captions=true"] Each week during Season 21, Blizzard will implement a new Hero Pools system where a few heroes will be disabled from Competitive Play for a given week. Each week a new pool of heroes will be temporarily disabled. Kaplan said that the Hero Pools system is a test for Season 21 and “may not persist” past the season. The cadence of hero pools rotation could also change during the experiment. Furthermore, the disabled heroes aren’t going to be chosen by an algorithm and instead by the design team. The goal is to shake up the meta every week and promote hero diversity. The system will only be available in Competitive Play and not Arcade or Quick Play. Blizzard said the Overwatch League will implement a version of the Hero Pool as well. The Hero Pool isn’t the only system Blizzard is testing to shake up the meta. Kaplan said that aside from the weekly Hero Pool rotation and more rapid balance updates, Overwatch will start up an Experimental Card. This is a new Card on the Play screen that will allow Blizzard to test major changes before Blizzard devs decide (or not) to implement them in the standard game modes. The Experimental Card is different from the PTR and is not meant to test bugs. Instead, it’s to experiment with balance updates, game modes, and rule changes that Blizzard wants to test. The Experimental Card is a live version of Overwatch and will be available to PC and console players, and players can progress and unlock loot boxes from playing. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2016/05/27/overwatch-review"] Kaplan is clear that Blizzard wants to shake up the meta and create big changes to how players compete. But these changes are also experimental, and some of the changes may or may not stick. Either way, Overwatch competitive fans should expect a lot more changes coming to the game soon, and it will hopefully keep the meta fresh. Overwatch previously tried to vitalize the meta by introducing a 2-2-2 role lock, though it’s not enough to keep the meta from stagnating. Meanwhile, Blizzard is also working on Overwatch 2, read IGN's Overwatch 2 preview from Blizzcon. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

Nintendo's lineup of smartphone games has reportedly reached a new milestone. Sensor Tower reports that Nintendo's mobile titles have generated more than $1 billion in revenue on Apple and Android devices. Fire Emblem Heroes accounts for over half of the revenue, coming in with $656 million in player spending. Here are the numbers:

• Fire Emblem Heroes: $656 million
• Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp: $131 million
• Dragalia Lost: $123 million
• Mario Kart Tour: $86 million
• Super Mario Run: $76 million
• Dr. Mario World: $4.8 million

Sensor Tower's data does not include numbers from the social app Miitomo, even though it included microtransactions. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/30/nintendo-switch-sales-cross-50-million-pokemon-sword-and-shield-sales-pass-16-million-ign-news"] Nintendo's Mario smartphone games have not grossed nearly as much as the company's other releases, despite Super Mario Run becoming the fastest app to reach 50 million downloads on the App Store. Unlike standard mobile games, Super Mario Run let players try the first few levels for free, and then blocks the rest of the game behind a one-time payment. On the other end of the spectrum, Mario Kart Tour is filled with microtransactions, including a subscription service that's more expensive than Nintendo Switch Online. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="legacyId=20100633&captions=true"] The data also shows that Super Mario Run is still the most downloaded Nintendo mobile game. Interestingly, Fire Emblem Heroes is both the highest grossing title, and the least downloaded. Nintendo has grossed $581 million from its mobile titles in Japan alone, while $316 million has come from the United States. For more, read why some people are disappointed with Nintendo's mobile efforts. Or, learn how Nintendo is reportedly "not interested" in making a large amount of revenue from one smartphone title. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/10/03/is-nintendos-mobile-strategy-working-nvc-477"] [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.

Update (10:25 a.m. PT): All services appear to be restored, though Steam is still running slowly for some users. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Update (10:15 a.m. PT): IGN was able to access the Steam store, though reports of outages persist. Original story follows. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Steam is currently experiencing widespread connectivity issues. According to Downdetector, users are reporting problems logging in, accessing the store, and playing online. Nearly 10,000 outage reports have been submitted from various countries, all within the last two hours. Valve has yet to comment on the outage. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan is a freelance writer for IGN.

Terminator actress Linda Hamilton doesn't see herself playing Sarah Connor again after the box office failure of Terminator: Dark Fate. In an interview with THR, Hamilton said she's fine with not returning to the role, but will come back if something really great comes along. "...I would be quite happy to never return. So, no, I am not hopeful [to return to Terminator] because I would really love to be done," Hamilton said. "But, if there were something new that really spoke to me, I am a logical person, and I will always consider viable changes." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/10/terminator-dark-fate-exclusive-deleted-scene-the-crossing"] The interviewer brought up the weak box office performance of Terminator: Dark Fate. $250 million in box office is great for most movies, but Terminator 6 had a production budget of $185 million, a marketing budget probably worth tens of millions on its own, and movie theaters taking their percentage of that $250 million. After Dark Fate's opening weekend in November 2019, pundits predicted a final worldwide gross of $180 million to $200 million, which would've resulted in a $100 million loss. "Today’s audience is just so unpredictable. I can’t tell you how many laymen just go, 'Well, people don’t go to the movies anymore,'" Hamilton said. "That’s not Hollywood analysis; that just comes out of almost everybody’s mouth. It should definitely not be such a high-risk financial venture..." Terminator: Dark Fate received mixed reviews from critics judging by the 54/100 on Metacritic. On Rotten Tomatoes, Dark Fate has a 70% approval rating from critics, which is about on par with Terminator 3's 69% rating. Both sequels are far away from Terminator 2 at 93% and the original Terminator at a perfect 100% rating. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=best-reviewed-movies-of-2019&captions=true"] Terminator 6 was the lowest-performing Terminator movie at the box office since the original. Dark Fate made less than half of the $515 million worldwide gross of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. For more on Terminator, read about why the director of Dark Fate will never work with producer James Cameron again and how the U.S. Army is keeping Terminator in mind when developing cyborg soldiers. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN.

GTA Online is giving away $2 million of in-game currency to each player who logs in during a set period of time. From Thursday, January 30 to Wednesday, February 5, players simply need to log in to receive the first $1 million. Another $1 million will be handed out for all players logging in between Thursday, February 6 and Wednesday, February 12. A list of all weekly GTA Online updates can be found here, including information on new vehicles, discounts, and Diamond Casino rewards. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-rockstar-game-review-ever&captions=true"] The announcement was made in a blog post on the Rockstar Games website celebrating December 2019 as the most popular month GTA Online has seen yet. More players logged on in December 2019 than ever before, topping daily, weekly and monthly records broken when the Diamond Casino & Resort opened in the game during summer 2019. 2019 was also the number one year for Grand Theft Auto V in YouTube video views, and an unnamed record was set for "engagement via likes and comments," according to Rockstar Games citing Tubular Labs. A similar promotion is currently in play for Red Dead Online as well. Players who log on to Red Dead Online will receive free weapons and hundreds of bullets of ammo for logging in the first week and a free license, bolas, and arrows for logging in the second week. Grand Theft Auto V was recently announced as the best-selling game of the decade in the USA and was added to Microsoft's Game Pass for Xbox users. While PC users don't have GTA V on Game Pass, they have this nice Vice City mod. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/08/gta-5-vice-city-mod-gameplay"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN.

If you feel as though your life is lacking in life-size Star Wars replicas, but you don't have the room to construct a life-size Jabba or even a functioning R2 replica, Sideshow Collectibles wants you to know there is a way to have your cake and eat it, too. The $350 life-size "The Child" statue is available for preorder right now, and while it won't take up too much room in your collection, it will fill your heart to the point of overflowing with joy. Check out the slideshow to see more of this adorable little unknown-species: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=sideshow-collectibles-the-child-life-sized-statue&captions=true"] The statue is 16.5" tall, and is true to its appearances on Disney+ The Mandalorian, right down to the tufts of fuzzy hair on its adorable little head. While 16.5" might seem small, this is a 1:1 replica, and its detail goes so far as to include the shift-knob from The Mandalorian's ship in its tiny, two-fingered hand. The galaxy's cutest inhabitant has proved such a massively popular part of The Mandalorian when Sideshow debuted the statue last night, its website crashed from the influx of traffic. Things are working as they should be right now. With the site up and running again, you can preorder now, but the adorable Baby Yoda statue's estimated release window is sometime between August and October of this year. In the meantime, you can always console yourself by rewatching The Mandalorian, or if you haven't yet seen it, watch the first season of the Mandalorian for free with a Disney+ free trial. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Seth Macy is IGN's tech and commerce editor and just wants to be your friend. Find him on Twitter @sethmacy.

The next Transformers: The Card Game booster set, Titan Masters Attack, introduces new characters, mechanics, and a new type of card to the game. There are 46 new character cards in the Titan Masters Attack series, 43 of which have never appeared in Transformers: TCG. Take a look at the slideshow below for a high-res look at Sergeant Kup, Flintlock, a new Stratagem card, and more: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=transformers-tcg-titan-masters-attack-exclusive-first-look&captions=true"] Similar to the Transformers: War for Cybertron Wave 4 sealed boxes containing a Trypticon card, the Titan Masters Attack sealed boxes all contain a Fortress Maximus pack with his card, head character Cerebros, and Cerebros’ head character Emissary. That collection of characters is the biggest change coming to the Transformers TCG. All Titan Master characters have separate bodies and heads. "Head characters give bonuses to the body, and when the body is KOed, the head deploys as a separate bot mode character." There's no rule on which cards have to be used together, meaning you're free to "mix and match heads and bodies" for your own playstyle. The upcoming Sratagem Cards also change up the game, letting you "further customize characters" on your teams. The cards are "keyed to a specific character card and cost stars," allowing you to modify a character "in an interesting (and sometimes unusual!) way." Stratagems also work with previously released cards, so you can start reworking and improving your existing decks with these new types. The Titan Masters Attack packs and boxes will be available beginning April 17, 2020 in most regions, but you can preorder them right now from Amazon if you're in the US. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Seth Macy is IGN's tech and commerce editor and just wants to be your friend. Find him on Twitter @sethmacy.

Obsidian Entertainment, Virtuos Games, and Private Division have announced that The Outer Worlds will officially arrive on the Nintendo Switch on March 6, 2020. The sci-fi single-player RPG that takes many cues from the Fallout franchise will retail for $59.99 USD. It will be available digitally on the Nintendo eShop and as a boxed version with a code to download the game. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/10/22/the-outer-worlds-review"] The Outer Worlds was released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on October 25, 2019. It is also currently available on Xbox Game Pass for Xbox One and PC. In our review of The Outer Worlds, we said "Obsidian has found its own path in the space between Bethesda and BioWare, and it’s a great one." The Outer Worlds was nominated for many awards at IGN, including Game of the Year, and it won the Best Video Game Performance of 2019 for Ashley Burch's portrayal of Parvati. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-video-game-characters-of-2019&captions=true"] While you wait just a little bit longer for The Outer Worlds to release on Nintendo Switch, be sure to check out our 13 Tips and Tricks for surviving this RPG, the news on The Outer Worlds DLC, and see what other games joined it on our list of Unannounced Xbox Sequels we Want to Play on Xbox Series X. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

This week in Grand Theft Auto Online, lay claim to the Albany V-STR sports car, and get extra rewards in Adversary Modes and VIP/CEO work and challenges.

For the Fortnite Cameo vs Chic challenge, you'll need to visit some no fishing sign locations. Here's where you can find them.