Toys R Us Reportedly Tells Employees It Will Close All US Stores
Update #2: Toys R Us has reportedly informed its employees the company will shutter all remaining 700 stores in the United States, or attempt to sell them wherever possible.
The Wall Street Journal reports Toys R Us Chief Executive David Brandon informed employees at the company's headquarters ahead of plans to file liquidation papers today, March 14. This closure would reportedly affect up to 33,000 American jobs, according to WSJ.
At the start of the year, they announced their plans to close down 182 stores by the end of April, but things went from bad to worse in February, with news of the closure of another 200 stores, and over 9,000 layoffs.
Stolen Fortnite Accounts Rack Up Huge Purchases
Multiple Fortnite players claim their accounts have been hacked and used to make fraudulent purchases reaching hundreds of dollars. As Kotaku reports, these claims have come from both Fortnite and Fortnite Battle Royale players over the past few weeks.
Epic addressed this issue in a recent blog post, acknowledging that "a number of accounts have recently been compromised using well-known hacking techniques."
Fortnite Mobile Sign-Ups Now Open
You can now sign up to join the Fortnite Invite Event on iOS.
Those with an iOS device can sign up right here to be put on the Fortnite Invite Event waiting list. You will receive an email invite once you are able to play.
The title's expansion to mobile platforms was announced last week, with an iOS release slated before Android, which will get support sometime in the next few months.
Nintendo Switch 5.0 Firmware Potentially Outed by Parental Controls App
Patch notes for the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app's most recent update on iOS reference Nintendo Switch system version 5.0.0, not only potentially revealing the upcoming firmware update, but hinting that it may arrive sooner rather than later.
The app in question dropped the hint under its Version History tab on its official App Store page, which lists a number of new features for its March 11 update above the following message:
"In order to use some of these features, you will need to update the Nintendo Switch system version to 5.0.0 or later."
The Switch currently runs on version 4.1.0, which went live on December 4, 2017 and added some general system stability fixes.
IGN Movies Podcast: Shape of Water and Wonder Woman 2
Welcome back to the IGN Movies Podcast! In this week's episode, Jim Vejvoda, David Griffin, and Tom Jorgensen talk about the latest happenings in the genre moviesphere.
We delve into what we thought of The Shape of Water and Get Out's Oscar victories, and share our reactions to the big winners overall.
We also discuss some of the most recent, big geek movie news, including the confirmation of Kristen Wiig's casting as Cheetah in Wonder Woman 2.
Listen to our latest podcast by clicking the lovely large type below - right click to download.
IGN Movies Podcast #17
Out This Week: Kirby Star Allies, Devil May Cry HD Collection and Oscar Films Galore
With so many new games and movies coming out, it can be hard to keep up. Lucky for you, IGN is here to help with a weekly round-up of the biggest releases each and every week. Check out the latest releases for this week, and be sure to come back next Monday for a new update.
Note: The prices and deals compiled below are accurate at the time we published this story, but all are subject to change.
Ready Player One SXSW Premiere Has Technical Difficulties with Spielberg in Attendance
Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One premiered at the SXSW Film Festival yesterday, and the director was in the audience during the screening at the Paramount Theater in Austin when the film ran into a technical hiccup.
Variety reports that around an hour and 20 minutes in, the film lost sound, eliciting boos from the audience. After restarting from the point where the audio was lost, the same issue occurred. The third time was the charm though, and the audience reportedly showed their appreciation with a round of applause.
PUBG’s Anti-Cheat Patch Delayed After Technical Issues
Bluehole rolled out PUBG's latest anti-cheat measures over the weekend, but due to compatibility issues, the developer has walked back the update.
"Despite its effectiveness in blocking cheats, we have decided to roll back our latest live server update," it said. "We will continue to resolve some compatibility issues caused by it. There will be a small patch to download. We apologize for the inconvenience."
The patch initially went live on Friday, causing a number of players' games to crash, or fail to launch completely.
Westworld Mobile Game: Register for Early Access
Warner Bros. Interactive has announced that players can now pre-register for the upcoming Westworld mobile game.
Developed by Behaviour Interactive, the game is based on the HBO series and lets fans step into the shoes of a Delos Trainee, affording them control over their own Delos Park simulation.
Players will be responsible for the "manufacturing and care-taking of artificially intelligent hosts" as well as "satisfying guest desires".
Order is maintained by optimizing the park and unlocking locations from the series. Players must match guests with corresponding hosts to satisfy their desires and improve their park simulation.
Vice President of WB Games San Fransisco Jonathan Knight believes the app will give fans "a fresh and exciting way to interact with the engrossing themes and enigmatic narrative explored by the Westworld series".
Mass Effect Lead Writer Quits BioWare For the Second Time
Writer Drew Karpyshyn has announced his retirement from BioWare for a second time, to pursue other projects.
Karpyshyn, who has previously worked on Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and Star Wars: The Old Republic, announced the news on his website.
The writer initially left BioWare Austin in 2012, to work on The Chaos Born trilogy, a series of fantasy books released between 2013 and 2015. He returned to the studio in 2015 once the series was complete, to work on Star Wars: The Old Republic.