Universal Cancels Release of The Hunt After Shootings, Trump Criticism
Universal has canceled the release of the Hunt, a film in which a group of “elites” kidnap, track, and murder “deplorables” for sport, citing the wake of deadly shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, as well as criticism from President Trump and conservative groups.
“While Universal Pictures had already paused the marketing campaign for The Hunt, after thoughtful consideration, the studio has decided to cancel our plans to release the film,” a Universal spokesperson told IGN in a statement. “We stand by our filmmakers and will continue to distribute films in partnership with bold and visionary creators, like those associated with this satirical social thriller, but we understand that now is not the right time to release this film.”
Fortnite is Making the Overpowered B.R.U.T.E. Mechs Harder to Find
Remember last week, when Fortnite players had just about had it up to here with the new B.R.U.T.E. mechs and how drastically they changed the direction of a fight? The common sentiment was that Fortnite should get rid of the mechs, but it looks like developer Epic Games is meeting the critics halfway. Epic is making it significantly less likely you’ll find a B.R.U.T.E. mech out on the map.
In a post to the Fortnite subreddit, the official Epic Games account laid out how they’re going to reduce the odds that a B.R.U.T.E. mech spawns on the map. These changes will impact both Arena and Tournament playlists.
The Next Total War Saga Game Seems to be Set in Troy
The next Total War Saga game seems to be set in the ancient city of Troy, possibly during the infamous Trojan War, according to a new trademark filing made by developer Creative Assembly.
First reported by Eurogamer, Reddit user r/zhxws managed to discover the trademark filing for “Total War Saga: Troy” by Creative Assembly on the United Kingdom’s government’s Intellectual Property Office site, which appears to have been filed on July 23 of this year.
FIFA Volta Will Have No Microtransactions At Launch
FIFA Volta is one of the biggest additions coming to FIFA 20. And while it will come with a whole suite of vanity items to customize the look of your athlete, there will be no microtransactions in FIFA Volta - at least, at launch.
"We're not planning on launching with any
" says FIFA producer Jeff Antwi, "right now, anything that you earn is earned through in-game challenges." You can unlock cosmetic items by completing objectives or by using Volta Coins that can oonly be earned by completing matches. The higher the difficulty of the challenge/match, the higher the rewards.
FIFA Volta will have seasonal content with challenges and cosmetics changing on "roughly a month to month basis," says Antwi, but for now there's no season pass in sight. This makes sense considering how frequently content will change.
Update: Walmart Responds, Now Claims No Policy Banning Games Exists
Update August 9, 3:13pm:
Since the posting of this story, Walmart has claimed they were confused over our request for comment, effectively reverting their statement on a policy around the ban of any game sales (temporary or otherwise).
During this investigation IGN reached out multiple times to ask whether Walmart was halting the sale of video games from its stores. We asked Walmart to clarify yesterday's reports regarding video game ads and signage, and then added, "There are additional reports on Twitter that say certain stores are taking down video game sales completely. Is there any truth to these reports?"
Walmart followed up in reply with the statement that you see in the original story. In the statement Walmart said, "We’ve taken this action out of respect for the incidents of the past week, and it does not reflect a long-term change in our video game assortment."
Gwyneth Paltrow Didn’t Know Sam Jackson Was in Marvel Movies With Her
SPOILERS ahead for Avengers: Endgame!
According to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, Pepper Potts actress Gwyneth Paltrow didn't know Samuel L. Jackson was part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe despite the Nick Fury appearing in several of the same films as her, such as Iron Man 2.
During a Q&A with Empire for the home video release of Avengers: Endgame, Feige revealed that the filming of Tony Stark's funeral at the lake house "was shot in October 2017, the day we shot the 10th anniversary photo."
ESPN Delays Apex Legends Esports Broadcast Following Mass Shootings
ESPN has decided to delay a planned broadcast of an Apex Legends esports tournament following this month’s mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton.
ESPN originally planned to broadcast a taped Apex Legends competition across various Disney-owned channels, including APC, ESPN2, and ESPNEWS. Those plans have seemingly changed following two mass shootings that occurred last weekend, 13-hours apart. Apex Legends is Respawn Entertainment’s free-to-play, battle royale first-person shooter.
Esports reporter Rod Breslau first published an internal memo sent to ABC Affiliates explaining that ABC will, “no longer air ‘EXP Invitational Apex Legends at X Games‘ on Sunday, August 11, 2019 in the 4:00 – 5:00 PM ET/3:00 -4:00 PM PT time period.” Bloomberg confirmed these plans with an anonymous, internal source.
Reacquaint Yourself With the Weapons Manufacturers of Borderlands 3
Our IGN First game for August 2019 is the much anticipated Borderlands 3. We've got tons of info and first-looks coming at you all this month, including the first 14 minutes of Borderlands 3 and a tour of Borderlands 3's new hub, Sanctuary 3.
Today we're focusing on the gun manufacturers. Of course, classic Borderlands weapons makers are returning, but we also have a look at the hacked-together firearm creations of the Children of the Vault (COV). There are also new, easy-to-switch alt-fire modes, adding a whole new layer to combat.
Reacquaint Yourself With the Weapons Manufacturers of Borderlands 3
Our IGN First game for August 2019 is the much anticipated Borderlands 3. We've got tons of info and first-looks coming at you all this month, including the first 14 minutes of Borderlands 3 and a tour of Borderlands 3's new hub, Sanctuary 3.
Today we're focusing on the gun manufacturers. Of course, classic Borderlands weapons makers are returning, but we also have a look at the hacked-together firearm creations of the Children of the Vault (COV). There are also new, easy-to-switch alt-fire modes, adding a whole new layer to combat.
Epix’s Pennyworth Gives Batman’s Mom an Origin Story
For more on the series, be sure to check out our spoiler-free review of the Pennyworth series premiere right here.
Epix's Pennyworth will air its third and fourth episodes, titled "Martha Kane" and "Lady Penelope" respectively, on Sunday, August 11. Martha Kane, who some might know as Bruce Wayne's future mom, will join Alfred and Thomas Wayne on thrilling new adventures. And while the comic books have touched on Martha's character from time to time, she's never been fully explored in a live-action TV series or movie.
We spoke to actress Emma Paetz (Gentleman Jack) about the challenges of playing Batman's future mom, and if she ever felt any pressure taking on such an important role. "I felt very liberated because most of what people know about Martha and Thomas is them dying and that being the catalyst for Batman's story," Paetz told IGN. "So there's not a lot about how they live and how they were as people. So I didn't feel the weight of other people's expectations."