Days Gone director Jeff Ross has joined Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics.

In a tweet, Ross announced he was joining the studio as design director just hours after it revealed it was working on a new Tomb Raider game. He didn't confirm which game he'd be working on though, as Crystal Dynamics is also co-developing the Perfect Dark reboot with The Initiative, and continues to work on Marvel's Avengers.

I'm excited to announce I now work at the amazing Crystal Dynamics as Design Director. That's all I can say other than I'm thrilled with the project, and especially the team of really wonderful people.

I will become a Seattleite this summer.

Also--Come work with me! https://t.co/HjDFIFk7MF

— Jeff Ross (@JakeRocket) April 5, 2022

Ross will be joining Crystal North West in Seattle this summer, a subsidiary studio of Crystal Dynamics, but his LinkedIn profile indicates he's been a Crystal Dynamics employee since February.

Ross has previously expressed his desire to work on an Uncharted game, and considering that Crystal Dynamics took inspiration from the PlayStation exclusive when it rebooted Tomb Raider, it would certainly make sense if he was a lead in Lara Croft's latest.

He's also been vocal about the sequel to Bend Studio's Days Gone that never got to happen, saying it was pitched to be a shared universe co-op game with a "more technical direction". The original game was treated like a disappointment by management though, Ross said, and sequel hopes were apparently dashed when ex-chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, Shawn Layden left the company.

The new Tomb Raider game is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 with franchise general manager Dallas Dickinson promising a "high-quality cinematic action-adventure experience".

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Acting for Eidos Montreal’s Guardians of the Galaxy came with an almost unique challenge. Not only were the core cast members tasked with bringing digital avatars to life, they had to differentiate them from some of the most famous onscreen characters of the last decade. Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket, and Groot – they’re all now major pop culture names thanks to their MCU counterparts, not to mention decades of comic book appearances.

But this isn’t an MCU game, nor a straight comic adaptation. Not in the slightest. We spoke to all five lead cast members for Guardians of the Galaxy to work out how they managed the balancing act of presenting players with new versions of beloved, familiar characters.

“We were told very early on that [the developers] did not want it to be the comic books, they did not want it to be the MCU versions of the characters,” said Jon McLaren, who plays Starlord. “They wanted us to take risks, try things and really push to make these characters our own.”

That’s exactly what the cast did.

“I chose not to go back and look at the movies,” said Kimberly-Sue Murray, who plays Gamora. “I didn’t want to be influenced because I knew we were going to do our own version.”

“The narrative team did such an incredible job of crafting a unique story and unique world that is completely separate from the comics and the MCU,” explained McLaren.

Much like the MCU Guardians, the game’s Peter Quill and his rag-tag band of space heroes are a loveable ensemble brimming with heart, humor, and barely-concealed contempt for one another. But the versions we ended up seeing became very much their own - leading to widespread critical praise, and even awards recognition.

At this week’s BAFTA Game Awards, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy was nominated for its Narrative and Audio Achievement, while Jon McLaren is up for Performer in a Leading Role, with Jason Cavalier (Drax) and Alex Weiner (Rocket) both up for Performer in a Supporting Role.

“This is an affirmation of that team effort as a whole,” said McLaren.

Much like his on-screen alter ego, McLaren is a rallying voice among his real-life Guardians, and he’s keen to share the credit for the game’s success. And while the narrative team gave its actors extensive background notes for each of their characters, they were very keen for the cast to develop the roles themselves along the way.

“They really emphasized doing our own versions of the characters and steering clear of the MCU,” said Murray. In her case, this meant a substantial departure from how Gamora was portrayed on the big screen. “I really loved that Gamora wasn’t anyone’s love interest,” she added.

Of course, the big-screen version of Gamora, played by Zoe Saldana, saw the galaxy’s deadliest woman become an eventual love interest for Peter Quill, but in the game, there’s not even so much as a hint of that happening.

“She stood on her own,” added Murray. “There was no ambiguity with regards to her relationship with Peter Quill. I really wanted to have her be one of the guys. She’s a team member, she’s an equal, she’s not just a love interest. As a woman, often I play the love interest, so I really wanted her to be an equal and to stand her own and have her own story that had nothing to do with lust or love.”

That carries over into the game’s mechanics, too. Gamora is an equal part of the team, and a vital one – carving up enemies with her signature blade while also offering an insight into tactical maneuvers as you decide how to approach different situations.

“It made her mission so much clearer,” added Murray. “She has her own past that she’s dealing with, her own dark secrets, and you don’t want to distract from that. It was a smart move.”

Drax says it himself – this woman is a murderess. And pretty badass, too. The Destroyer himself is also a different beast in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Sure, he’s still got his trademark straightforward nature, and the Katathian warrior clearly takes some cues from Dave Bautista when waxing literal with his chums. But actor Jason Cavalier put a lot of work into sounding out exactly what makes Drax tick.

“Drax moved differently, spoke differently, thought differently, and came from a far different culture from anything I’ve ever had to experience, so I had to create everything from scratch,” said Cavalier.

“Why was Drax so literal? I mean, we hear about the culture, but it’s never really explicitly stated why they react that way, so I had to figure out a logical reason for behaving that way. Drax comes from a warrior culture and if they were going to fight at the drop of a hat, you’d have no society left. So, these people needed to be clear with each other, and direct, so there would be no miscommunication - because most conflict comes out of miscommunication. So, that was my reasoning for why Drax was the way he was. He’s not stupid, he’s just from somewhere else and they behave differently.”

You see this throughout the game – Drax’s literal nature is played for laughs as he regularly holds onto his own butt or complains that it’s physically impossible for him to watch his head.

“I did go back and revisit the films a number of times,” said Cavalier. “Just to reacquaint myself with some mannerisms and things. I knew we were doing our own versions, but I also knew that we were probably going to have to respect certain characteristics.”

However, the depth of Cavalier’s character really comes to the fore when dealing with his past. It’s a familiar story for fans of the movies – Drax’s wife and child were killed by Thanos. Unfortunately, this grief makes him the most vulnerable, whether he realizes it or not.

“The depth of his pain was something he had never addressed and had buried,” said Cavalier. “When the opportunity to heal that pain came, that could have been what was weakening him.”

During the game, the Guardians encounter the Universal Church of Truth – a cult-like church with promises of eternal life and resurrecting dead loved ones, so it’s easy to see how Drax could fall for their mind-controlling shenanigans.

“We never explicitly see the moment he decides,” explained Cavalier. “We get little hints and glimpses of him being confused or not quite there completely, but the act of breaking under The Promise, we never see. I had to make a decision on why that would be and I just assumed it was that he wanted to be rid of the pain that he had inside.”

Considering the light-hearted, over-the-top nature of the game, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy deals with a lot of pain from its main characters. Take Rocket, for example. The MCU touches on his past as a result of experimentation on Halfworld… but never quite explores it. Here, the game goes all in – using it as motivation for much of Rocket’s quirks.

Actor Alex Weiner explained how he got under the raccoon’s skin:

“I started looking at some summaries of comics, the arcs that were present – discovering Lylla, discovering Halfworld. I did stay away from the MCU, actually. I was already a huge fan and like many people, I discovered those characters through the MCU. But now, having the opportunity to portray this character myself, I didn’t want to be influenced in any way.”

On the surface, Rocket is one of the characters that most closely resembles his MCU version. There’s that underlying rough and ready nature that permeates the character, and a deep sense of otherness – that he’s always on the outside. Then, there’s Rocket’s hang-up about being a raccoon.

“It would have been easy to play him as a human,” said Weiner. “It would have been easier to just walk around and talk, but then I made a decision to add some animalistic qualities into Rocket, so just scratching his spur sometimes, or like a little twitch in his leg. That kind of came in through the game a little bit at times. I was constantly exploring this character who claims he’s not a raccoon even though he kind of is, so how does that work? Does he have those animalistic ticks? That was one thing that I played around with quite a bit.”

Ultimately, it’s Rocket’s backstory that really sets the video game version apart. “I was immediately curious about his backstory,” he said. “We didn’t get a huge amount of it from the MCU. We knew that he was tested upon, that there were experiments involved.”

The nature of video games means that there’s a lot more time to delve into these characters compared to the movies. Essentially, we get a much deeper dive into what makes them tick, and the cast took every opportunity to portray that.

“You have twenty hours versus two to really dive into the backstories of these characters,” said McLaren. “You learn a lot about Rocket, you learn a lot about Drax, about Groot, about Gamora, and you just have more time to tell their stories.”

“The gamer gets to explore the world… you get to know the characters,” added Murray. “How many cinematic hours did we shoot, like six? That’s three movies! You have so much time with these characters.”

It’s not just about the length of time we spend with them, either. Groot actor Robert Montcalm may only have said three repeated words throughout the game, but explained it more than eloquently in our interview:

“Emotional depth makes me care about my teammates, and this is all about a team growing together,” he explained. “If you don’t have the emotional depth of everybody, you’re not really going to care about these side characters. Why should I go and rescue Rocket in that situation? Why do I care if Gamora needs help on that end of the battlefield? It doesn’t really matter. But in this game where you can go and have meetings where you talk one on one with the characters and learn more about them – that was extremely interesting for me. Now I know a little bit more and I care a little bit more. It was a journey of growing together as a family in this game. You know and you care and that’s why you want to keep playing.”

Montcalm had one of the trickiest jobs – making a new, unique version of Groot while saying just three words over and over again. To put it into context, he had 1630 lines in the game, all of them saying “I am Groot”.

“I absolutely adored doing that line,” he laughed. “I felt bad some days when we would show up and everybody had monologues to say, and I was like ‘I have two “I am Groots” in this scene’.”

Of course, there’s more to it than that. The intention and meaning behind his lines differ with every “I am Groot”, whether he’s being accidentally shot at by his best buddy, or trying to convince Rocket to give Starlord another chance.

“Some people would be like, ‘That’s ridiculous – you say one line, that can’t be that interesting’,” he explained. “To me, it was the most interesting to say that one line again and again and again.”

The dynamic between Rocket and Groot in particular means that Montcalm and Weiner had a very close working relationship. When it comes to the game, you can see that in how they depend on each other.

“Rocket and Groot have such a unique relationship, it really made the world of difference to have Robert in on all of the scenes,” said Murray.

“What’s funny is, Rocket wouldn’t always translate what I was saying, purposefully, because he would want to get his way on something I perhaps disagreed with him on,” said Montcalm. “So, I would just keep staring at him after he would give a mistranslation of what I meant.”

“There were numerous times where Robert would deliver me an ‘I am Groot’ and I knew exactly what he was saying,” said Weiner. “I just knew. He was that good.”

There’s one thing that’s clear from my time with the cast of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – these actors are as much a family as their on-screen characters. That’s bound to have paid off when making the game itself… and even now, they’re still part of their own crew.

“Some of the insults towards Starlord – ‘Floorboard’, ‘Stormlord’ – I remember we would start using them off set,” explained Weiner. “I’d call up Jon and be like ‘Hey Floorboard, how you doing?’ Starpants was the best one. They were really fun.”

“I still text Jon sometimes with the star emoji and the pants emoji,” laughed Murray.

“I have him as Starpants in my phone, actually,” laughed Weiner.

“Yeah… I have a lot of nicknames as a result of this game,” said McLaren. “We bonded really quick,” he added. “We really did become best friends really, really quickly. I hope and I think that it shows throughout the game.”

“Whatever work I was able to do, I was able to do because of my extended family here,” said Cavalier. “It wouldn’t have worked without them. I felt free and open, and if I fell, they were there to catch me. It was very much a family effort. A team effort.”

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

Konami is finally releasing the full version of eFootball on April 14, with a new patch set to fix bugs and add new features many have been waiting for since last year.

Patch 1.0 promises to turn the game from what Konami said was "basically a demo" into the fully-fledged first version of its new soccer series.

Announced in a blog post on the eFootball website, the development team said it had been working hard to "regain the trust" of players and had taken on feedback to fix bugs, improve online play, and add new gameplay mechanics.

We are pleased to announce that the update (version 1.0.0) for eFootball™ 2022 will be released on 14th April 2022.

— eFootball (@play_eFootball) April 6, 2022

One of the major additions comes in the Dream Team mode, previously branded as Creative Team, which allows players to combine a mixture of their own players and real-life soccer stars to form a, well, ultimate team.

Several changes to eFootball's gameplay will also be made. Konami promised that defending has been made more intuitive overall, and it's also added commands for a shoulder charge, call for pressure, and a one-on-one match up option (essentially the L2 button in FIFA).

Passing has also been reworked, the AI should now make smarter decisions when receiving and passing the ball, and Konami has added a "stunning pass" command for some added finesse.

Changes have also been made to shooting, with Konami adding a variety of shot styles to suit different situations, and dribbling has also been overhauled to be more responsive.

On a team level, new game plan options have been added allowing players to change formations, alter player roles, employ tactics, and so on.

Finally, Konami has adopted a client-server system to improve online connectivity, but said these changes are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the overall fixes brought with patch 1.0.

This version of eFootball was originally expected to launch on November 10 but became the latest problem in a pretty disastrous launch.

In IGN's 3/10 review in progress, we said: "Launching as essentially a demo with very limited modes, stuttering gameplay, laughable crowd models, and more than a few bugs and glitches, it’s very hard to recommend eFootball in its current form." We'll be updating that review after 1.0 arrives.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

The DeLorean Motor Company has given the first glimpse at its new electric vehicle.

A preview of the preview was shared on Twitter on April 1 before the company finally unveiled the first proper look at the car a few days later in another tweet (below).

It's not an immediately familiar look, but seems appropriately futuristic, and does seem to be retaining the grilled rear window of the original in some respect.

Let’s clear things up a bit. The next generation of DeLorean is coming into focus August 18, 2022. For more information read the press release here: https://t.co/Q4Rax2aBC1 #DeLorean #DeloreanEVolved #firstlook pic.twitter.com/H0t0i4ODqv

— DeLorean Motor Company (@deloreanmotorco) April 4, 2022

DeLorean also announced that the full vehicle and official name reveal would arrive slightly earlier than expected on August 18 at the Pebble each Concours d'Elegance Awards Ramp.

"Excitement is rising like the doors of our iconic sports car," CMO of the DeLorean Motor Company, Troy Beetz, said. "We are revealing the next generation prototype 3 days earlier than planned on the most prestigious stage at Pebble Beach."

The DeLorean's return as an electric vehicle was announced in February with a short but stylish video showing a silhouette of the iconic gull-wing doors. It comes 40 years after the original car's production which began in 1981 but only until the following year when the DeLorean Motor Company went bust.

This means it was already out of production when 1985's Back to the Future was released, but the hit-film made the DeLorean one of the most iconic cars in movie history.

For those seeking a taste of DeLorean but unable to wait for the August reveal, or perhaps just looking for a cheaper way to relive the 80s magic, LEGO released its own version of the original car for a slightly more affordable $169.99.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Haunted Chocolatier is taking a much more action-focused approach compared to Stardew Valley, and we're now learning that the game will even include boss battles.

In an episode of Reason Livestream (via PC Gamer), Haunted Chocolatier and Stardew Valley developer Eric Barone showed off a new song from the game, titled "Bee Boss". The song is a catchy tune that definitely gives off beehive vibes, but the reveal also serves as the first confirmation we've seen that boss battles are coming to Haunted Chocolatier.

In addition to bosses seemingly being present, there is a larger emphasis overall on combat in Haunted Chocolatier. We previously learned that Haunted Chocolatier's combat is being remade from scratch compared to Stardew Valley's, with Barone saying, "Haunted Chocolatier has a greater focus on combat, so it needs to be very fun, satisfying, and engaging, while also appropriately fitting into the big picture."

In Stardew Valley, combat took place in the mines, where players would descend deeper into the mine to find tougher enemies and better rewards. However, there weren't many options for players to choose how they wanted to approach combat. Barone is working on upgrading the combat for Haunted Chocolatier, introducing a shield/stun mechanic, among other new gameplay features.

Haunted Chocolatier was revealed last October. The game is a top-down pixel-based simulation, with a focus on sweet treats as opposed to Stardew's farming and ranching. We don't know when the game is coming, as Barone has said "it will be a while" before the game is done. As of now, PC is the only confirmed platform. For comparison, Stardew Valley also initially launched on PC, before making it to consoles long after release.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Haunted Chocolatier is taking a much more action-focused approach compared to Stardew Valley, and we're now learning that the game will even include boss battles.

In an episode of Reason Livestream (via PC Gamer), Haunted Chocolatier and Stardew Valley developer Eric Barone showed off a new song from the game, titled "Bee Boss". The song is a catchy tune that definitely gives off beehive vibes, but the reveal also serves as the first confirmation we've seen that boss battles are coming to Haunted Chocolatier.

In addition to bosses seemingly being present, there is a larger emphasis overall on combat in Haunted Chocolatier. We previously learned that Haunted Chocolatier's combat is being remade from scratch compared to Stardew Valley's, with Barone saying, "Haunted Chocolatier has a greater focus on combat, so it needs to be very fun, satisfying, and engaging, while also appropriately fitting into the big picture."

In Stardew Valley, combat took place in the mines, where players would descend deeper into the mine to find tougher enemies and better rewards. However, there weren't many options for players to choose how they wanted to approach combat. Barone is working on upgrading the combat for Haunted Chocolatier, introducing a shield/stun mechanic, among other new gameplay features.

Haunted Chocolatier was revealed last October. The game is a top-down pixel-based simulation, with a focus on sweet treats as opposed to Stardew's farming and ranching. We don't know when the game is coming, as Barone has said "it will be a while" before the game is done. As of now, PC is the only confirmed platform. For comparison, Stardew Valley also initially launched on PC, before making it to consoles long after release.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Blizzard today announced that the next year of Hearthstone will be known as The Year of the Hydra. It will commence on April 12 (April 13 in ANZ) with the release of Hearthstone's newest expansion, Voyage to the Sunken City, and will see three sets leave the Standard format - Ashes of Outland, Scholomance Academy and Madness at the Darkmoon Faire. It's going to be a massive shakeup, and not just because the card pool will be significantly smaller for Standard players, but also because the game's foundation - the Core Set, which is free for all players to use - will be radically different to The Year of the Gryphon's.

Last year's Core Set was 235 cards, but for The Year of the Hydra, the set will expand to 250 cards. In terms of changes, 57 cards are rotating out, and 72 cards are coming in. I'll get to some of the most significant returning cards in a minute, but first, it's worth pointing out that 11 cards are getting buffs or having previous nerfs reverted. Execute is back to one mana (from two), for instance, while Nourish is returning to five mana (from six). Equality, meanwhile, is two mana once more (after spending time at both three and four mana), which means the classic Equality + Consecrate board clear costs six mana again. The changes are all pretty significant and indicative of how powerful the Voyage to the Sunken City cards are projected to be, as well as how Hearthstone's cards have grown more powerful in general. You can see the full roster of updated cards in the slideshow below.

Many of the cards being added, meanwhile, have been deck-defining, highly played or key tech choices in the past, so have the potential to really help shape the new meta in The Year of the Hydra. In neutral, a few of the returning cards that really jump out are the original League of Explorers: Reno Jackson, Brann Bronzebeard, Elise Starseeker and Sir Finley, not to mention Doomsayer, Murloc Warleader, Tar Creeper, Lifedrinker, Wild Pyromancer, Sea Giant, Primordial Drake and Mossy Horror. Each class also gets some powerful new (old) tools. Hunter, for instance, sees the return of Houndmaster Shaw, Animal Companion, Springpaw, Cloaked Huntress, Marked Shot and Candleshot. Priest, meanwhile, gets a selection of stone cold classics sure to drive non-Priest players mad, including Lyra the Sunshard, Northshire Cleric, Radiant Elemental, Lightbomb, Murozond the Infinite and Drakonid Operative. You can see the full Core Set in the slideshow below to get an idea of each class' foundation.

For those who want to see the changes at a glance, here's a list (via Blizzard) of the Core Set changes.

57 Cards Rotating Out

Neutral: Arcane Anomaly, Argent Squire, Cogmaster, Young Priestess, Mini-Mage, River Crocolisk, Toxicologist, Brightwing, Earthen Ring Farseer, Flesheating Ghoul, Ice Rager, Injured Blademaster, King Mukla, Spider Tank, Stoneskin Basilisk, Baron Rivendare, Gurubashi Berserker, High Inquisitor Whitemane, Barrens Stablehand, Clockwork Giant

Demon Hunter: Ashtongue Battlelord, Warglaives of Azzinoth

Druid: Enchanted Raven, Landscaping, Menagerie Warden, Nordrassil Druid, Ancient of War

Hunter: Webspinner, Lock and Load, Scavenging Hyena, Headhunter’s Hatchet, Bearshark

Mage: Water Elemental, Mirror Entity, Fallen Hero, Coldarra Drake

Paladin: Holy Light, Pursuit of Justice, Guardian of Kings

Priest: Crimson Clergy, Shadowform, Lightspawn, Temple Enforcer, Natalie Seline

Rogue: Bladed Cultist, Patient Assassin

Shaman: Windfury, Unbound Elemental, Draenei Totemcarver, Earth Elemental

Warlock: Dread Infernal, Possessed Villager, Enslaved Fel Lord, Ritual of Doom

Warrior: Warsong Commander, War Cache, Warsong Outrider

72 Cards Coming In

Neutral: Zola the Gorgon, Sir Finley Mrrglton, Brann Bronzebeard, Elise Starseeker, Reno Jackson, Murloc Warleader, Mistress of Mixtures, Acolyte of Pain, Doomsayer, Beaming Sidekick, Gorillabot A-3, Tar Creeper, Lifedrinker, Wild Pyromancer, Sea Giant, Plated Beetle, Azure Drake, Twilight Drake, Escaped Manasaber, Primordial Drake, Mossy Horror, Faerie Dragon, Vulpera Scoundrel, Cobalt Scalebane, Injured Tol'vir

Demon Hunter: Metamorphosis, Wrathscale Naga, Flamereaper

Druid: Fandral Staghelm, Earthen Scales, Wrath, Living Roots, Mounted Raptor, Ancient of Lore

Hunter: Houndmaster Shaw, Animal Companion, Springpaw, Cloaked Huntress, Marked Shot, Candleshot

Mage: Kalecgos, Pyroblast, Blizzard, Pyromaniac, Explosive Runes

Paladin: Flash of Light, Amber Watcher, Bronze Explorer, Ragnaros Lightlord

Priest: Lyra the Sunshard, Northshire Cleric, Radiant Elemental, Lightbomb, Drakonid Operative, Murozond the Infinite

Rogue: Tess Greymane, Buccaneer, Hench-Clan Burglar

Shaman: Krag'wa, the Frog, Far Sight, Flametongue Totem, Maelstrom Portal, Bloodlust

Warlock: Voidwalker, Imp Gang Boss, Abyssal Enforcer, High Priestess Jek'lik, Darkshire Librarian

Warrior: Darius Crowley, Shield Block, Bloodhoof Brave, Bash

11 Cards Getting Updates (Buffs/Nerf Reversions)

Neutral: Gorillabot A3 costs 3 mana; Azure Drake has 5 Health

Demon Hunter: Feast of Souls is 1 mana; Wrathscale Naga has 2 Health

Druid: Nourish is 5 mana

Mage: Kalecgos is 9 mana

Paladin: Equality costs 2 mana; Bronze Explorer has 3 Attack

Warlock: High Priestess Jek’lik has 5 Health

Warrior: Execute is 1 mana; Darious Crowley has 5 Health

Today's announcement also saw the remaining cards revealed for the Voyage to the Sunken City set. We've now seen all 135 and it's shaping up to be one heck of a set, with big impactful Colossal minions that take up multiple board spaces, the new Naga tribe with their interesting spell synergies, the ability to sink cards to the bottom of your deck then Dredge them back up, and generally interesting directions for almost all the classes, whether we're talking about Murloc Warlock, the return of Mech Mage or the rise of Multicaster Shaman. You can see all the cards below.

Our Voyage to the Sunken City begins on April 12 (April 13 in ANZ), and promises to kick off an exciting year. You can find out more about the set and the team's plans for the year ahead over at Hearthstone's official site.

Cam Shea has worked at IGN since before the before times and has been following Hearthstone since it was first announced. When he's not playing games he's mixing records.

The massive and fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex may be the most recognizable dinosaur of all time, but it has long been the butt of jokes due to its tiny, seemingly pointless arms. But according to one paleontologist, there may have been an important evolutionary purpose behind the reptile's stubby forelimbs.

In a new study published in Acta Palaeontologia Polonica, Kevin Padian, professor of integrative biology and curator at the University of California's Museum of Paleontology, theorizes that the T-Rex's arms evolved to be short so as to reduce the chances of accidental dismemberment during feeding frenzies.

While it's often assumed that tyrannosaurids hunted solo, more recent evidence indicates that many of them may actually have hunted in packs. That being said, when it came to feeding time, the animal's humongous jaws and razor-sharp teeth could do some pretty serious damage to anything caught in its path.

Padian suggests in his report that "during group-feeding on carcasses, limb reduction was selected to keep the forelimbs out of the way of the jaws of large conspecific predators, avoiding injury, loss of blood, amputation, infection, and death.”

Speaking to Berkeley News, Padian elaborated on his hypothesis, saying, “What if several adult tyrannosaurs converged on a carcass? You have a bunch of massive skulls, with incredibly powerful jaws and teeth, ripping and chomping down flesh and bone right next to you. What if your friend there thinks you’re getting a little too close? They might warn you away by severing your arm. So, it could be a benefit to reduce the forelimbs, since you’re not using them in predation anyway.”

For many years, it was assumed that the T-Rex's tiny arms were merely an evolutionary holdover, much like a human's wisdom teeth or the wings on certain species of flightless birds. Over the years, however, some paleontologists have begun to theorize that the T-Rex's short forelimbs could also have evolved to aid them in tipping over other large dinosaurs, holding a mate in place, or gnashing at prey in close-quarters.

Although he doesn't presume that his new hypothesis is the final word on anything, Padian is also unconvinced that any previous suggestions are viable, stating that they are "untested or impossible because they can't work."

“And none of the hypotheses explain why the arms would get smaller," he said. "The best they could do is explain why they would maintain the small size. And in every case, all of the proposed functions would have been much more effective if the arms had not been reduced.”

Padian expects that he can strengthen his theory greatly by studying fossil bite marks in existing specimens in museums across the globe.

It's not the only T-Rex theory we've heard recently – some scientists now posit that T-Rex was actually three different species. As for the rest of us, we'll probably be doing most of our T-Rex research by watching Jurassic World Dominion later this year.

Billy Givens is a freelance writer at IGN.

Nerds' Kitchen and Ten Speed Press are releasing an official Witcher cookbook.

Fully trademarked by CD Projekt Red, the book will feature 80 recipes that promise a new level of immersion into the Witcher universe.

Anita Sarna and Karolina Krupecka of Nerds' Kitchen (and its subsidiary Witcher Kitchen) have created the cookbook to emulate the foods that protagonist Geralt may encounter while hunting monsters on the path.

Take a culinary journey through the Continent with The Witcher Cookbook — created by Anita Sarna and Karolina Krupecka of @WitcherKitchen & @NerdsKitchen, it includes 80 mouthwatering recipes inspired by the world of The Witcher games!

Pre-order now: https://t.co/RG8os78PRS pic.twitter.com/QPvEK4ipKH

— The Witcher (@witchergame) March 31, 2022

The included recipes are all inspired by various areas of The Witcher 3 including baked fruits from White Orchard, snacks from the markets of Oxenfurt, and a meal of fresh fish and mulled ciders from Skellige.

The cookbooks official synopsis describes them as "meticulously-researched, immersive recipes that give fans a taste of the distinct flavours a witcher might sample as he travels the countryside.

"These dishes celebrate local and seasonal ingredients while adding unique twists that form a culinary map of the Continent and beyond."

The Witcher Cookbook isn't due to be released for a while, with a hardcover version pegged for October 25 this year.

It joins a growing list of incoming Witcher projects including the Netflix show's third season, the Gwent spin-off Project Golden Nekker, and the new Witcher game that CD Projekt Red announced last month.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Nerds' Kitchen and Ten Speed Press are releasing an official Witcher cookbook.

Fully trademarked by CD Projekt Red, the book will feature 80 recipes that promise a new level of immersion into the Witcher universe.

Anita Sarna and Karolina Krupecka of Nerds' Kitchen (and its subsidiary Witcher Kitchen) have created the cookbook to emulate the foods that protagonist Geralt may encounter while hunting monsters on the path.

Take a culinary journey through the Continent with The Witcher Cookbook — created by Anita Sarna and Karolina Krupecka of @WitcherKitchen & @NerdsKitchen, it includes 80 mouthwatering recipes inspired by the world of The Witcher games!

Pre-order now: https://t.co/RG8os78PRS pic.twitter.com/QPvEK4ipKH

— The Witcher (@witchergame) March 31, 2022

The included recipes are all inspired by various areas of The Witcher 3 including baked fruits from White Orchard, snacks from the markets of Oxenfurt, and a meal of fresh fish and mulled ciders from Skellige.

The cookbooks official synopsis describes them as "meticulously-researched, immersive recipes that give fans a taste of the distinct flavours a witcher might sample as he travels the countryside.

"These dishes celebrate local and seasonal ingredients while adding unique twists that form a culinary map of the Continent and beyond."

The Witcher Cookbook isn't due to be released for a while, with a hardcover version pegged for October 25 this year.

It joins a growing list of incoming Witcher projects including the Netflix show's third season, the Gwent spin-off Project Golden Nekker, and the new Witcher game that CD Projekt Red announced last month.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.