Update: 08/26/2022: Embracer Group has now completed its purchase of Crystal Dynamics, Square Enix Montréal, and Eidos-Montréal following a near-four month acquisition process.

The colossal video games holding company announced the update on its website, saying plainly that "all conditions for the transaction, including regulatory approvals, have now been fulfilled and the transaction may be completed. Embracer has, therefore, today completed the acquisition."

It can now shift its focus to acquiring the several other companies it has since purchased, including the owner of The Lord of the Rings and Chivalry developer Tripwire Interactive.

Original Story: Embracer Group has entered into an agreement to acquire Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Square Enix Montréal, and a "catalogue of IPs including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, Legacy of Kain and more than 50 back-catalogue games from Square Enix Holdings" for $300 million.

Embracer shared the news in a press release, saying this acquisition includes roughly 1,100 employees across three studios and eight global locations. The deal, if it goes through, is expected to close during Q2 of Embracer's financial year 2022/2023.

”We are thrilled to welcome these studios into the Embracer Group. We recognize the fantastic IP, world class creative talent, and track record of excellence that have been demonstrated time and again over the past decades. It has been a great pleasure meeting the leadership teams and discussing future plans for how they can realize their ambitions and become a great part of Embracer,” says Lars Wingefors, Co-founder and Group CEO, Embracer Group.

”Embracer is the best kept secret in gaming: a massive, decentralized collection of entrepreneurs whom we are thrilled to become a part of today. It is the perfect fit for our ambitions: make high-quality games, with great people, sustainably, and grow our existing franchises to their best versions ever. Embracer allows us to forge new partnerships across all media to maximize our franchises’ potential and live our dreams of making extraordinary entertainment,” says Phil Rogers, Square Enix America and Europe CEO.

Once this deal goes through, Embracer will have more than 14,000 employees, 10,000 game developers, and 124 internal studios. It also confirmed it has more than 230 games in development at those studios, and more than 30 are AAA titles.

This news comes shortly after Crystal Dynamics announced it was developing a brand-new Tomb Raider game on Unreal Engine 5. No further details were given, but the team did say it was planning to "push the envelope of fidelity."

Crystal Dynamics is also the studio behind Marvel's Avengers and it has been helping Microsoft's The Initiative develop the new Perfect Dark game.

Eidos Montréal is the studio behind Thief 4, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and more, and it is "working on a host of AAA projects including both new releases from beloved franchises and original IP."

Square Enix Montréal is responsible for such games as Hitman GO, Tomb Raider GO, and Deus Ex GO, and it will continue to work in the mobile space building games based on AAA IP.

Embracer is no stranger to acquisitions, as it has been undergoing a rapid expansion over the past few years. Some of the other companies it has acquired/owns are Dark Horse Comics, 3D Realms, Ghost Ship Games, Gearbox, THQ Nordic, Saber Interactive, Koch Media, and many more.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

As Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness gets ready to take over theaters on May 6, The Bad Guys extended its domestic box office streak to two and led a quieter weekend at the movies with a respectable $16.1 million in ticket sales.

As reported by Variety, The Bad Guys now sits at $44.4 million domestically and $74.2 million internationally. Globally, Dreamworks' latest animated feature has crossed $118 million.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 placed second once again by bringing in $11.3 million. After four weeks in theaters, Sonic 2 has grossed $160.9 million domestically and $162.6 million internationally and has now become the highest-grossing video game movie ever in the U.S.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore placed third with $8.3 million and has earned $79 million domestically. It is faring much better overseas and has brought in $250 million so far, helping bring its global tally to $329 million.

The Northman and Everything Everywhere All at Once rounded out the top five with $6.3 million and $5.5 million respectively.

As previously mentioned, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to arrive in theaters next week and will undoubtedly take over the box office. Will it get close to Spider-Man: No Way Home's global total of $1.89 billion? Only time will tell.

As you wait for Doctor Strange, be sure to check out our look back at his story so far, our reaction to 20 minutes of footage from CinemaCon, and our interview with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige about the newest MCU film.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Robert "RazerGuy" Krakoff, the co-founder of Razer and pioneer of the gaming mouse, has died at the age of 81.

Krakoff passed away on April 26, 2022, and Razer shared a message on Twitter announcing the sad news.

"We are saddened by the passing of Co-Founder and President Emeritus, Robert Krakoff, known by everyone as RazerGuy," Razer wrote. "Robert’s unwavering drive and passion for gaming lives on and continues to inspire all of us. Thank you Rob, you will be missed."

We are saddened by the passing of Co-Founder and President Emeritus, Robert Krakoff, known by everyone as RazerGuy. Robert’s unwavering drive and passion for gaming lives on and continues to inspire all of us.

Thank you Rob, you will be missed. pic.twitter.com/2HKNcFaOj2

— R Λ Z Ξ R (@Razer) April 28, 2022

As reported by The Verge, Krakoff was instrumental in bringing the first gaming mouse - the Razer Boomslang - to market in 1999. Krakoff was working for Kärna at the time, a company that invented an "opto-mechanical encoding wheel that could track a mouse’s movements at 2000 dpi, far higher resolution than other mice at the time."

Krakoff did not create the Razer Boomslang, but was a key figure in making it happen alongside a marketing agency called Fitch that essentially kickstarted the Razer brand we know today. This includes the name, three-headed snake logo, website, packaging, and the design and engineering of the Boomslang mouse.

Kärna went bankrupt in 2001 and Krakoff would continue on to co-found Razer with Razer's current CEO Min-Lian Tan in 2005.

At Razer, Krakoff would become the public face of the company and would not only include a message from RazerGuy with Razer products, but he also added his e-mail to the note as well. He was also known for having interviews with up-and-coming journalists and would even give some of them jobs.

Following his time at Razer, he would start a company MindFX Science, which focused on energy drinks and supplements in hopes to sell a "healthy alternative to the highly caffeinated energy drinks and pre-workout products."

He was also a published author under the name RM Krakoff, writing a dozen books since 2009 that ranged from fiction to nonfiction.

Krakoff is survived by his wife, Dr. Patsi Krakoff, their two children, Scott and Robin, and five "very cool" grandchildren.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Most of That '70s Show's main cast will be making guest appearances on the upcoming spin-off series That '90s Show, including Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and Wilmer Valderrama.

As reported by Variety, all of these characters will obviously be returning to their respective roles, but they will not be joined by Danny Masterson as he is set to stand trial on multiple sexual assault allegations.

It was previously announced that Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp will star in That '90s Show as Red and Kitty Forman once again, and they will be part of a cast that includes Ashley Aufderheide, Callie Haverda, Mace Coronel, Maxwell Acee Donovan, Reyn Doi, and Sam Morelos.

That '90s Show will be set in 1995 and will follow Haverda's Leia Forman, who is the daughter of Grace's Eric and Prepon's Donna. Leia is visiting her grandparents for the summer and will bond with "a new generation of Point Place kids under the watchful eye of Kitty and the stern glare of Red."

Netflix has already given That '90s Show a 10-episode order, and That '70s Show's creators Bonnie and Terry Turner, as well as their daughter of Lindsey Turner, will serve as writers and executive producers. That '70s Show's Gregg Mettler will write, executive produce, and serve as showrunner.

The original series debuted in 1998 and ran for eight seasons and 200 episodes before coming to an end in 2006. In 2002, That '80s Show aired on Fox but focused on a new set of characters that didn't cross paths with those from the original show. It only ran for one season and 13 episodes.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter has beamed back to Earth eerie yet incredible images of the NASA Perseverance rover wreckage that helped bring it to the Red Planet last year.

As reported by CBS News, Ingenuity, which was the first helicopter to fly on another planet, took these 10 aerial color photos of Perseverance's debris and NASA believes the images have "the potential to help ensure safer landings for future spacecraft."

The photos feature Perseverance's backshell and supersonic parachute that helped the rover land and safely make it through Mars' atmosphere. While the landing was a huge success, these parts took some expected damage on the descent.

“Perseverance had the best-documented Mars landing in history, with cameras showing everything from parachute inflation to touchdown,” said JPL’s Ian Clark, former Perseverance systems engineer and now Mars Sample Return ascent phase lead. “But Ingenuity’s images offer a different vantage point. If they either reinforce that our systems worked as we think they worked or provide even one dataset of engineering information we can use for Mars Sample Return planning, it will be amazing. And if not, the pictures are still phenomenal and inspiring.”

The parachute itself contained a secret message that was decoded last year, and it was discovered to feature the secret message "dare mighty things," the motto used by the Perseverance team.

Perseverance was launched on July 30, 2020, and it successfully landed on Mars on February 18, 2021. It's mission is to seek signs of habitable conditions for life and search for signs of past microbial life as well.

Blogroll Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

While the Nintendo 64 never got a Metroid game, two fans are working on showing the world what a Metroid 64 could have looked like.

As reported by Nintendo Life, Luto Akino took to Twitter to share his Unity 3D project that aims to create what Metroid 64 could have been.

Instead of opting for a first-person camera a la Metroid Prime, this version features a third-person perspective and shows Samus running around a purple cave area, using her arm canon, and even using her Morph Ball form and bombs.

At last working in #Metroid64 I adjusted small details, and placed a test texture. There is a bug with the beams direction when Samus is flat against the wall that I need to fix #metroid #F2P #n64 #lowpoly #Nintendo64 #Zelda #unity #unity3d #madewithunity #gamedev #3dmodeling #3D pic.twitter.com/sWBYoTbove

— Luto Akino (@LutoAkino) April 26, 2022

There are currently no enemies besides static blocks, but it gives a good glimpse into Akino's vision and what a Metroid game on the N64 would play and look like. Akino is working on this project with a friend and has revealed no plans as to when they would make this available to the public.

You can check back through Akino's Twitter to see even more updates on this Metroid 64 project.

Super Metroid was released for the SNES in 1994 and it took eight years for fans to get a new entry. While Samus did show up in the original Super Smash Bros., she never had a proper entry on the N64.

The wait may have been tough, but fans were treated to two new adventures - GBA's Metroid Fusion and GameCube's Metroid Prime - just days apart in 2002.

Nintendo tried to make Metroid happen on N64, but it revealed it "couldn't come up with any concrete ideas or vehicle at that time." Metroid co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto also said he couldn't imagine how the N64 controller could be used to control Samus.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow has been canceled by The CW after seven seasons.

As reported by THR, Legends of Tomorrow follows the cancellation of DC's Batwoman after three seasons and leaves The CW with only The Flash and Superman & Lois for its DC slate in the next year. The Flash is expected to end after its ninth season, and it will be replaced by shows like producer Greg Berlanti's Gotham Knights.

"Well, folks. It’s been an incredible run," co-showrunner Keto Shimizu wrote on Twitter. "However, the CW has let us know that there will be no season 8 of #LegendsOfTomorrow. We are heartbroken, but also immensely grateful for the amazing work our cast, crew, and writers have contributed to the little show that could.

"Thank you to our fans; your love and passion for our strange band of misfits has made every break, every script, every daily, every cut, and every mix worth all the hard work. We see you, we love you, and you’ll always have a place on the Waverider."

The void left by Legends of Tomorrow will be filled by some of The CW's recent renewals, including All American, Kung Fu, Nancy Drew, Riverdale, and Walker. Those seven renewals are fewer than the 10 or more the network usually chooses to continue early.

Legends of Tomorrow recently celebrated its 100th episode and earlier this year we took a look at how Zari and Behrad became a roadmap for better representation.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

It's been a long time since Scott Pilgrim stepped up to save the world on the big screen. The 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, directed by Edgar Wright, didn't set the box office on fire, but it remains a well-loved movie to this day. Now, it seems another work from Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley is getting an adaptation.

Actress Blake Lively is looking to make her directorial debut by adapting O’Malley's graphic novel Seconds. The film is being made at Searchlight, with Edgar Wright producing and writing the script. Wicked, Cruella, and Dear Evan Hansen producer Marc Platt is also producing the film.

Seconds is the tale of Katie Clay, the head chef of the restaurant the graphic novel is named after. One night, a young girl named Lis gives her a way to "do-over" aspects of her life. With a magical notebook and a cubbyhole full of mushrooms, Katie starts to change her life for the better. Sadly, there are rules to the magical MacGuffins that Katie ignores, causing her life to trend in the other direction.

While this will be Lively's feature directorial debut, she actually debuted last year as the director of Taylor Swift's "I Bet You Think About Me." The video earned Lively nominations for directing and producing from the 2022 Academy of Country Music Awards.

That's not the only adaptation that O'Malley has in the pipeline. The creator has an anime adaptation of Scott Pilgrim in development at Netflix. O'Malley is writing and executive producing the project alongside Are You Afraid of the Dark? reboot showrunner Ben David Grabinski.

Science SARU, the studio behind Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!, Devilman Crybaby, and the T0-B1 and Akariki shorts of Star Wars: Visions will handle the animation if the project moves forward. Hopefully, the project won't fall afoul of the cancellations across Netflix' animation line.

Mike Williams is a Freelance Writer for IGN.

Any reasonable person, upon seeing the upcoming Greta Gerwig 'Barbie' film starring Margot Robbie, would naturally assume that the movie's primary anthem had already been set.

There is, after all, a perfectly functional earworm about Barbie that has delighted listeners for years: 'Barbie Girl' by Danish pop group Aqua. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong.

As baffling as it sounds, that song won't be in the movie. At all. Ulrich Møller-Jørgensen, manager of Aqua lead singer Lene Nystrøm, has told Variety that “The song will not be used in the movie."

Okay, it's maybe not actually all that baffling, even if it's a bummer for fans of the 1997 Europop hit. Despite the song's immense popularity, it's also been the subject of significant controversy. Barbie manufacturer Mattel sued record label MCA Records over it not long after it came out, claiming it violated their trademark. Mattel was especially aggrieved over the sexual nature of lyrics like "Kiss me there, touch me there, hanky panky" presumed to be sung by the Ken doll character in the song. Mattel claimed that this presentation of Barbie had impacted the overall perception of the doll and harmed their marketing plans.

The lawsuit got weirder, too, with MCA Records not only arguing the song was a parody protected under the First Amendment but also suing Mattel right back, accusing the manufacturer of defamation over Mattel's characterization of MCA as a "bank robber." Both parties' suits were ultimately dismissed, with Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski notably concluding his written opinion by saying, "The parties are advised to chill."

While this history is far in the rearview, it still makes sense that Mattel wouldn't want to try and play nice with the Barbie Girl group for their own movie, even if it would be extremely apropos. Maybe we'll get an attempt at a new Barbie song instead, though it's hard to imagine a catchier Barbie anthem.

Barbie is coming to theatres on July 21, 2023 and will star Margot Robbie as Barbie. We got a first look at Robbie in her full doll regalia earlier this week at CinemaCon. Other cast members include Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, and America Ferrera. Lady Bird's Greta Gerwig is directing the film.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts will no longer direct the MCU's Fantastic Four film, as he "needs a break from the superhero realm."

As reported by Deadline, there is "nothing sinister" attached to Watts' departure and Watts is expected to rejoin Tom Holland and Zendaya for the next entry of the Spider-Man franchise, whenever that may be.

"Making three Spider-Man films was an incredible and life changing experience for me. I’m eternally grateful to have been a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for seven years. I’m hopeful we’ll work together again and I can’t wait to see the amazing vision for Fantastic Four brought to life.”

“Collaborating with Jon on the Spider-Man films has been a true pleasure," Marvel studios president Kevin Feige and co-president Louis D'Esposito said. "We were looking forward to continuing our work with him to bring the Fantastic Four into the MCU but understand and are supportive of his reasons for stepping away. We are optimistic that we will have the opportunity to work together again at some point down the road."

Prior to directing Spider-Man: No Way Home for Marvel, which grossed $1.89 billion, Watts also led the first two films in the Holland-era of Spider-Man. Now, Watts will look to continue work on an Apple Studios film that he will write and direct. The film will star George Clooney and Brad Pitt as rival "fixers" who "find themselves simultaneously hired for the same job."

The latest Fantastic Four film was announced in 2020, and it has been mostly quiet in the news department since then. In February 2021, it was reported that the studio was still looking for writers and that "it will be a while" before production begins.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.