The Witcher: Blood Origin will mark Michelle Yeoh’s introduction to The Witcher universe, but the iconic action star, who will play Scian in the upcoming series, is already well-acquainted with the popular fantasy franchise.

“So I was already a big fan of The Witcher series because I love this world of fantasy and science fiction and monsters and the ability to do magic and all that,” Yeoh told IGN in a new interview.

Yeoh called writer Declan De Barra “very exciting” when he approached her to play Scian, a very skilled swordsman from the elven Ghost tribe. But Yeoh didn’t need that much convincing to join the new show – she was already “very attached to this genre.”

“I was completely drawn into it, because this is the original story – why do we have the Witcher? Why did we have to sacrifice a hero or heroine to create this Witcher that is able to save us all? And why did we get to this path?” Yeoh said “The elf kingdom was the golden age. How did we not manage to stay there? And I found that fascinating because this is a story that is a thousand, two, three hundred years ago prior to The Witcher. And for me that's always fascinating, mysterious, and interesting. So well, how do you say no to that?”

Bringing Scian to live in The Witcher: Blood Origin

Yeoh stars alongside Sophia Brown and Laurence O’Fuarain in the upcoming prequel to the hit Netflix series. The Witcher: Blood Origin will take place 1200 years before the original series and depict the creation of the first Witcher as well as the lead-up to the so-called “Conjunction of the Spheres” – the moment monsters slipped into the series’ world. It will be a four-part miniseries.

Talking about the process of bringing Scian to life, Yeoh described working closely with the show’s stunt coordinator to develop a style she describes as fluid and stealthy.

“She's the gel that brings her team together. And all the things that are done is not just a singular performance, it has to work as a team,” Yeoh says. “So the thing is how she works with Fjall and with Éile is how they move with and together. So it's the fluidity that makes this character and makes the style of fighting very, very different from like Crouching Tiger or even Emperor Georgiou.”

Despite the differences, Yeoh doesn’t really compare the characters, saying every one of the characters have their own place.

“I mean it's so fun,” Yeoh said. “You get to put on the ears and those amazing tattoos that tell the story of its own and those eyes that completely transforms…that you don't see whether it's Crouching Tiger, a warrior, or you don't see an aging woman who's trying to get her taxes done. And you just see this very spiritual elf.

“And that's what I love about being an actor is being able to step into different shoes and find things that are challenging. And hopefully every single time you find something completely different so that you're not just trying to repeat the same things again and again. And it's boring for you too.”

The Witcher: Blood Origin is set to release December 25. Go here to learn more about The Witcher: Blood Origins’ cast in the run-up to release.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

The Witcher: Blood Origin's latest trailer has revealed that Joey Batey's Jaskier, he of 'Toss a Coin to Your Witcher' fame, will be part of the 4-part event prequel series.

The latest trailer for The Witcher: Blood Origin was revealed at CCXP in Brazil and gives us a great look at the "origin of the Witcher saga," and Jaskier surprisingly appears right at the end in front of Minnie Driver's Seanchaí.

"You're a bard. I'm a storyteller. I need you to sing a story back to life," Seanchaí says.

Jaskier then responds with, "Are you sure you've got the right man for this?"

While the arrival of Jaskier is great news for fans of The Witcher, it's also a bit of an interesting development as this new series takes place 1,200 years before the original series. The trailer talks about monoliths that are causing tears between worlds, so they could be responsible for Jaskier's role in the story.

However, there are some theories online that Jaskier is actually immortal, especially considering he hasn't really aged throughout the over two decades we have already seen of Netflix's The Witcher.

As for the rest of the trailer, we catch another glimpse of the seven main heroes of our story, who are all outcasts and strangers to each other who must come together to fight an "unstoppable empire."

Speaking of that empire, we also see more of Lenny Henry's Chief Sage Balor and the tease of his powerful beast. This beast also appears to be the key to creating the first Witcher as it appears the team will attempt to merge the beast's power with one of the heroes to use the enemy's greatest weapon against them.

Netflix also shared new key art of the series, and it features the seven heroes of The Witcher: Blood Origin, including Michelle Yeoh's Scian, Sophia Brown's Eile, and Laurence O'Fuarain's Fjall.

For more on The Witcher: Blood Origin, check out the last trailer for the series that showed off bloody combat, and our breakdown of The Witcher's timeline.

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.

The first poster for DC's Blue Beetle movie starring Xolo Maridueña as Jamie Reyes has been revealed at CCXP 2022.

The poster, which you can see below, features the alien scarab that gives Reyes his powers and allows him to become the Blue Beetle.

Blue Beetle is DC Films' first superhero movie to star a Latino character and follows Reyes, who will be the third character to take on the Blue Beetle Mantle in the film's universe.

Blue Beetle was originally developed for HBO Max, but it was then shifted to a theatrical release and will now premiere on August 18, 2023. We still don't know too much about the movie, but we did get a look at concept art for the live-action Blue Beetle suit.

We also know that Academy Award-winner Susan Sarandon has replaced Sharon Stone and will play Victoria Kord, a new character that will serve as the villain of Blue Beetle. Joining Maridueña and Sarandon will be Bruna Marquezine, Belissa Escobedo, Harvey Guillén, George Lopez, Adriana Barraza, Elpidia Carrillo, Damián Alcázar, and Raoul Max Trujillo.

Blue Beetle was one of the projects that were deemed safe after Batgirl's cancellation alongside multiple James Gunn projects. Speaking of Gunn, that particular piece of news was announced even before it was revealed that Gunn and Peter Safran would be leading DC Films as co-CEOs.

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.

It's been a big year for Valve — after its Steam Deck launched in February, Valve has finally cleared up supply chain issues and stopped requiring reservations, making the handheld PC a lot easier to get than it was at launch.

To celebrate, Valve is giving free Steam Decks away to a handful of lucky Game Awards viewers. For every minute of the Game Awards, Valve will give one 512GB Steam Deck away, adding up to nearly 200 Steam Decks.

"It's been a fun year for Steam Deck, and we've been blown away by the response," Valve wrote in a post on the Steam News Hub.

To be eligible to win a Steam Deck during this giveaway, fans in the US, Canada, UK, or EU can register. They also have to have made a purchase on Steam between November 14, 2021, and November 14, 2022, and must be in good standing and not have a limited account.

Giving away 180 Steam Decks is a far cry from early on when Valve had to use a strict queue system in order to ensure everyone who wanted a Steam Deck could get one. As the year progressed, and supply-chain issues lessened, Valve began ramping up production and delivery of Steam Decks to customers, leading to the giveaway.

The giveaway will begin on December 8 at 5 PM PST when the main Game Awards show kicks off, though hopeful Steam Deck owners must also be watching Steam's official stream of the awards show to remain eligible.

This year, God of War: Ragnarok and Elden Ring lead the Game Awards, with ten and seven nominations respectively. Find the full list of nominees here.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they've contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

The man whose loot was so good it crashed Destiny's servers this morning, Xûr, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get your some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further.

Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he's got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians.

We've rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP.

Where Is Xûr Today?

Xûr's location can be found at Winding Cove in the EDZ on December 2 through December 6. To reach him, travel to the landing point at Winding Cove. When you arrive, make for the rock cliffs at the far end of the cove and look for a cave winding up to a platform next to some Fallen. There you'll find the freakish salesman we all adore.

What's Xûr Selling Today?

Exotic Engram

Cerberus+1 - Exotic Auto Rifle

Workhusk Crown - Exotic Hunter Helmet

• 14 Mobility
• 6 Resilience
• 11 Recovery
• 9 Discipline
• 11 Intellect
• 12 Strength
• Total: 63

Peregrine Greaves - Exotic Titan Leg Armor

• 3 Mobility
• 17 Resilience
• 13 Recovery
• 9 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 20 Strength
• Total: 64

Skull of Dire Ahamkara - Exotic Warlock Helmet

• 9 Mobility
• 8 Resilience
• 15 Recovery
• 2 Discipline
• 14 Intellect
• 15 Strength
• Total: 63

None of the exotic offerings are exactly mindblowing today (including the auto rifle), but the roll on Peregrine Greaves would be my top pick if I had to choose. That said, you wouldn't be missing out on much by skipping everything this week.

Exotic Weapons

Hawkmoon - Exotic Hand Cannon

• Paracausal Shot
• Extended Barrel
• Alloy Magazine
• Snapshot Sights
• Combat Grip

Dead Man's Tale - Exotic Scout Rifle

• Cranial Spike
• Smallbore
• Flared Magwell
• Killing Wind
• Fited Stock

Hawkmoon and Dead Man's Tale are both great weapons, and this week's roll of Hawkmoon is pretty darn good (especially for PvP, I'd wager). Snag it if you'd like!

Legendary Weapons

Vulpecula - Hand Cannon

• Full Bore/Polygonal Rifling
• Alloy Magazine/Flared Magwell
• Encore
• Headstone
• Handling Masterwork

Stars In Shadow - Pulse Rifle

• Arrowhead Brake/Corkscrew Rifling
• Extended Mag/Alloy Magazine
• Pulse Monitor/Grave Robber
• Sympathetic Arsenal/Elemental Capacitor
• One Quiet Moment
• Stability Masterwork

Fractethyst - Shotgun

• Smoothbore/Smallbore
• Steady Rounds/Accurized Rounds
• Quickdraw
• Thresh
• Handling Masterwork

Farewell - Sidearm

• Corkscrew Rifling/Fluted Barrel
• Accurized Rounds/Extended Mag
• Tunnel Vision
• Multikill Clip
• Handling Masterwork

Extraordinary Rendition - Submachine Gun

• Chambered Compensator/Fluted Barrel
• Tactical Mag/Flared Magwell
• Surplus
• Tap The Trigger
• Stability Masterwork

Far Future - Sniper Rifle

• Arrowhead Brake/Extended Barrel
• Tactical Mag/Extended Mag
• Lead From Gold
• Thresh
• Stability Masterwork

Falling Guillotine - Sword

• Hungry Edge/Jagged Edge/Tempered Edge
• Balanced Guard/Enduring Guard
• Energy Transfer
• Surrounded
• Impact Masterwork

None of the legendary weapons this week steal my heart, but the rolls for Fractethyst and Stars In Shadow may prove pretty decent for a PvE use case.

Warlock Legendary Armor

For Warlocks, Xûr is selling the Seventh Seraph set which includes:

Seventh Seraph Gauntlets

• 12 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 16 Recovery
• 7 Discipline
• 9 Intellect
• 16 Strength
• Total: 62

Seventh Seraph Chest Armor

• 12 Mobility
• 16 Resilience
• 2 Recovery
• 16 Discipline
• 7 Intellect
• 9 Strength
• Total: 62

Seventh Seraph Helmet

• 7 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 19 Recovery
• 7 Discipline
• 16 Intellect
• 7 Strength
• Total: 58

Seventh Seraph Leg Armor

• 6 Mobility
• 24 Resilience
• 2 Recovery
• 2 Discipline
• 16 Intellect
• 9 Strength
• Total: 59

Seventh Seraph Bond

Warlocks got skunked this week! Absolutely nothing is even remotely worth considering! Yikes!

Titan Legendary Armor

For Titans, Xûr is selling the Seventh Seraph set which includes:

Seventh Seraph Gauntlets

• 6 Mobility
• 12 Resilience
• 10 Recovery
• 2 Discipline
• 20 Intellect
• 7 Strength
• Total: 57

Seventh Seraph Chest Armor

• 12 Mobility
• 14 Resilience
• 6 Recovery
• 2 Discipline
• 10 Intellect
• 21 Strength
• Total: 65

Seventh Seraph Helmet

• 13 Mobility
• 6 Resilience
• 12 Recovery
• 7 Discipline
• 20 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 60

Seventh Seraph Leg Armor

• 14 Mobility
• 6 Resilience
• 12 Recovery
• 12 Discipline
• 16 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 62

Seventh Seraph Mark

Titans have one nice roll with the chest piece that's got a spikey strength stat -- I could see that coming in a lot of handy for us punchy Titans!

Hunter Legendary Armor

For Hunters, Xûr is selling the Seventh Seraph set which includes:

Seventh Seraph Gauntlets

• 13 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 16 Recovery
• 14 Discipline
• 15 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 62

Seventh Seraph Chest Armor

• 12 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 16 Recovery
• 13 Discipline
• 14 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 59

Seventh Seraph Helmet

• 2 Mobility
• 23 Resilience
• 6 Recovery
• 9 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 21 Strength
• Total: 63

Seventh Seraph Leg Armor

• 16 Mobility
• 8 Resilience
• 6 Recovery
• 17 Discipline
• 6 Intellect
• 6 Strength
• Total: 59

Seventh Seraph Cloak

Hunters got one decent armor piece with the helmet, which has decent overall stats and spikiness in the Resilience and Strength categories. Not amazing, but also not bad!

That's a wrap on Xûr for this week, Guardians! Are you excited for the new season of Destiny next week? Let us know in the comments! For more on Destiny, check out some of the new weapons and gear you can find in The Witch Queen and read about how Sony's purchase of Bungie fits into its larger plans.

Travis Northup is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @TieGuyTravis and read his games coverage here.

Marvel Snap players have found a legitimate way to raise Black Panther's power level to over 600,000, practically breaking the game in the process.

As reported by Polygon, who encountered the combo first hand, combining Black Panther with Wong, Ironheart, Odin, and the Onslaught's Citadel location brings its power level to 689,730.

That's at least the number Marvel Snap landed on after it freaked out a little, and even then its numbers showed up completely stretched out and outside the allocated space. For those unfamiliar, Marvel Snap power levels usually range from single digit totals to potentially 20 or 30 if a card is very good, making the 600,000 number an eye-watering amount.

The combo isn't even particularly hard to pull off, you just need the right cards and location. Black Panther's ability doubles his current power when he's revealed; Ironheart adds two power to three random teammates; and Wong triggers reveal abilities twice.

The Onslaught's Citadel location doubles ongoing abilities, meaning Wong's, so each on reveal essentially happens four times. The combo is then completed when Odin is played, who on reveal triggers all allies' reveal abilities again.

Basically, Black Panther's power level gets doubled again and again and again, plus a few more times, eventually resulting in the ridiculously high number.

An update was released for Marvel Snap on November 30, adding a ton of new cards and a new way to earn them. It's unclear if this combo will be nerfed in an upcoming update, but since it's all within the rules of the game, and not just an exploit or glitch, it would be fairly hard to limit.

In our 8/10 review, IGN said: "Marvel Snap packs bold ideas, deep gameplay, a punchy presentation and lots of love for Marvel. Its approach to building a collection and randomness in gameplay won't be for everyone, but it's still well worth playing."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Developer Games Box S.A. has announced Primitive, a new Unreal Engine 5-powered first-person survival game set in a hostile open-world Stone Age. It's in development for PC, though no release date has been set.

"The project is still at its early development stage. Thinking of similar games, Primitive is close to such titles as Far Cry Primal, yet our concept focuses more strongly on showing the primal character of a real world from many thousands of years ago, where it all boiled down to raw power, as well as a fight for dominance and survival," says Tomasz Supeł, CEO of Games Box S.A.

A third-person view will be available in addition to first-person, while you'll face off against not just the elements, but also rival Neanderthal tribes, Sabretooth Tigers, and Wooly Mammoths. You'll also need to build your shelter, while dynamically changing weather will also throw a wrench into your best-laid plans for survival.

If you're interested, you can wishlist Primitive on Steam.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Days after news that Smash World Tour [SWT] would be canceling its final 2022 championship and 2023 tour, Nintendo has offered a lengthy statement over the decision to not offer SWT a license to host Smash Bros. events.

In a statement to IGN, Nintendo said that its "decision was solely based on our assessment of the proposals submitted by the SWT and our evaluation of their unlicensed activities.” Nintendo added that “Any partner that we grant a license to has to meet the high standards we require when it comes to the health and safety of our fans.”

“It’s also important that a partner adheres to brand and IP guidelines and conducts itself according to professional and organizational best practices,” Nintendo writes. “We use this same approach to independently assess all partners. If we discover that a partner is doing something inappropriate, we will work to correct it.”

The upcoming Smash World Tour Championships and the entirety of the 2023 Smash World Tour must be cancelled.

Full Story: https://t.co/3ro3q7rr4h pic.twitter.com/Gcgcgakdvp

— Smash World Tour 2022 (@SmashWorldTour) November 29, 2022

Earlier this week, organizers of the Smash World Tour, one of the largest third-party Super Smash Bros. fighting game tournaments, announced that it will cancel its final event of the year as well as its 2023 events after Nintendo declined to issue them a license to carry on Smash Bros. fighting tournament events.

The organizers of SWT published a lengthy Medium post regretting the events, claiming that “without any warning” it was told it could no longer operate. Organizers also revealed that it was in negotiations with Nintendo to receive a license to operate Smash Bros. tournaments and that Nintendo even noted how SWT did not infringe on their IP.

However, this point is seemingly disputed by Nintendo’s statement which implies any partner must adhere to “brand and IP guidelines” set by the company.

Nintendo also reiterated that it “verbally” let the organizers of SWT know that it was not asking to cancel the 2022 finals “because of the impact it would have on players,” and saying that “the decision to cancel the SWT 2022 was, and still is, their own choice.”

Organizers of SWT say that it will offer full refunds to attendees of its now-canceled 2022 event.

The SWT organizers also accused one of Nintendo’s Smash Bros. partners, Panda Global, the organizers of the Panda Cup Smash Bros. tournament, of sabotage claiming that its founder Alan Bunney was telling potential organizers that SWT would be getting shut down, thereby making any potential SWT partners have second-thoughts of joining up with the Smash World Tour.

Nintendo says its decision “was not influenced by any external parties such as Panda Global,” and that the company is “open to partnering with other organizations and will continue to offer licenses for major tournaments outside of the Panda Cup.” While Panda Global will remain a partner with Nintendo on Smash Bros. the company says that it “look[s] forward to receiving proposals from other groups for tournament licenses.”

You can read Nintendo’s full statement below.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Monster Hunter Rise is making the move to all consoles, as the previously Switch-exclusive game will soon be available on PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows. Plus, Xbox Game Pass subscribers can look forward to Rise joining the service for consoles, PC, and cloud at launch.

Capcom announced the game's multiplatform release is set for January 20, 2023. Monster Hunter Rise originally launched exclusively on Nintendo Switch in March 2021, before it came to Steam earlier this year. Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak — the major expansion already available on Switch and Steam — is coming to all platforms sometime next Spring.

Unfortunately for hunters who have already poured hundreds of hours into Rise on Switch or Steam, cross-save and cross-play is not planned for the Xbox or PlayStation releases. This means if you want to play on these platforms, you'll have to start from scratch. Fans requested cross-save and cross-play leading up to Monster Hunter Rise's Steam release as well, but Capcom said they were unable to implement the features at the time.

The new versions of Monster Hunter Rise boast improved performance over the Switch release. 4K resolution and 60 FPS are supported on PS5 and Series X, along with 3D audio. Ranged and shielded weapons will also make use of the DualSense's adaptive triggers on PlayStation 5.

Monster Hunter Rise is a great addition to Capcom's long-running franchise, and Sunbreak added a lot of cool new monsters on top of the base game. Sunbreak is still getting new free content drops, most recently adding a trio of new monsters in its latest update.

Early 2023 will be a busy time for hunters, with the multitplatform release of Monster Hunter Rise coming just a few weeks before EA and Omega Force's Wild Hearts, which looks to hit a lot of the same beats as Capcom's hunting franchise.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

At long last, the first trailer for James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has dropped.

The first Guardians of the Galaxy solo movie since the events of Avengers: Endgame sees Peter Quill, Rocket, Drax, Mantis, and Groot re-unite for one, seemingly final, outing.

Check out the trailer below.

The trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 features Drax chucking a basketball at an alien child’s face, baby Rocket, Adam Warlock, a multi-armed Groot, and so much more. pic.twitter.com/QyjyzW5iTw

— IGN (@IGN) December 1, 2022

The trailer shows the gang on a variety of galactic adventures, battling monsters and accidentally running afoul of an alien suburb. We also get hints of emotional farewells, Rocket's past, and one almighty, "We are Groot."

In addition to the trailer, Marvel released a brand-new poster for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which shows the gang with a galactic sunset in the background — possibly a nod to the Guardians riding into the sunset.

After all, this is likely James Gunn's last movie for the MCU as he has taken the job of co-leading DC Studios where he is apparently putting together a long-term plan that will unite DC movies, TV, and animation. Gunn has called it a torturous and emotional farewell compared to the more festive Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which arrived the day after Thanksgiving.

By comparison, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was more like a company Christmas party, with guest star Kevin Bacon among those talking about how much fun they had on the project.

Be sure to check out IGN's review of Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday special here. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 releases May 5.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.