During EA's Q2 2023 earnings call, the company addressed the recent deal with Marvel and how the decision to enter into another partnership with Disney was driven by the success from the company's previous deal with Star Wars.

During the call, EA was asked if it could offer more details about the recently announced deal with Marvel that will see EA work on three Marvel games starting with EA Motive's Iron Man game. While EA declined to go into that much more detail, the company said that it is seeking to be a "cooperative" and creative partnership rather than a "transactional" one.

Furthermore, the decision to sign a new deal with Disney was a result of the previous Star Wars deal where EA says "over 40 percent of Star Wars players went on to play other EA games."

In 2013 EA signed a ten-year deal allowing the company to exclusively make Star Wars games for Lucasfilms. This deal resulted in moderate hits like Star Wars Battlefront 1 and 2, and Star Wars: Squadrons, as well as the critical hit Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The latter is set to receive a sequel in 2023 titled, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

According to EA, this Star Wars deal should be considered an overall success given the interest it generated in players to play EA's other games and it looks like the publisher is hoping for a repeat with Marvel.

EA's deal with Marvel isn't quite as long as the one for Star Wars. EA has agreed to make at least three action adventure games based on Marvel comics. The first game has already been announced and it's the Iron Man game from EA Motive. It will tell an original story set in the Marvel universe.

Whether this new game will be similarly beneficial to EA remains to be seen. But otherwise, EA spent most of the financials talking about the success of the most recent FIFA game which continues to grow year-over-year.

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

One of the main talking points surrounding Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter is the new owner's plan to charge users for verification. While reports originally said the blue checkmark would cost $20 per month, his latest tweets say verification will cost $8 a month.

Earlier today, Musk tweeted: "Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month."

He continued by saying, "Price adjusted by country proportionate to purchasing power parity", but since it's unclear if Musk's tweets are actually announcements or just throwing ideas out to the audience, we don't yet know what Twitter will and won't eventually implement.

Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.

Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022

Musk's thread continued, with him saying subscribers will get priority in replies, mentions, and search, the ability to post long video and audio, and half as many ads. According to Musk, the company could give publishers "willing to work" with Twitter a bypass on the paywall. Musk claims the verification subscription system will give Twitter a revenue to "reward content creators".

This thread of tweets describing the features comes just hours after Musk defended paywalled verification. Late last night, Musk replied to a tweet from author Stephen King, who was complaining about paying Twitter to keep his blue check. Musk responded, saying "We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?"

In a follow-up tweet, Musk wrote, "I will explain the rationale in longer form before this is implemented. It is the only way to defeat the bots & trolls."

Many Twitter users are confused about Musk's messaging, with some saying that verification is not a status symbol, but a way to prevent scammers from catfishing as journalists, content creators, and celebrites.

Right now, Twitter Blue costs $4.99/month and lets users edit their tweets, get early access to new features, and more. However, Twitter Blue and verification are currently entirely separate. Under Musk's reported plan, Twitter users who are already verified will have 90 days to subscribe to the new plan to keep their blue checkmark.

This also means any currently unverified users could theoretically subscribe to become instantly verified. And, it's worth a mention that the team on the project was reportedly told they have until November 7 to launch the new feature, or they will be fired.

Blogroll image credit: Jim Watson/Getty Images.

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.

One of the main talking points surrounding Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter is the new owner's plan to charge users for verification. While reports originally said the blue checkmark would cost $20 per month, his latest tweets say verification will cost $8 a month.

Earlier today, Musk tweeted: "Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8/month."

He continued by saying, "Price adjusted by country proportionate to purchasing power parity", but since it's unclear if Musk's tweets are actually announcements or just throwing ideas out to the audience, we don't yet know what Twitter will and won't eventually implement.

Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.

Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2022

Musk's thread continued, with him saying subscribers will get priority in replies, mentions, and search, the ability to post long video and audio, and half as many ads. According to Musk, the company could give publishers "willing to work" with Twitter a bypass on the paywall. Musk claims the verification subscription system will give Twitter a revenue to "reward content creators".

This thread of tweets describing the features comes just hours after Musk defended paywalled verification. Late last night, Musk replied to a tweet from author Stephen King, who was complaining about paying Twitter to keep his blue check. Musk responded, saying "We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?"

In a follow-up tweet, Musk wrote, "I will explain the rationale in longer form before this is implemented. It is the only way to defeat the bots & trolls."

Many Twitter users are confused about Musk's messaging, with some saying that verification is not a status symbol, but a way to prevent scammers from catfishing as journalists, content creators, and celebrites.

Right now, Twitter Blue costs $4.99/month and lets users edit their tweets, get early access to new features, and more. However, Twitter Blue and verification are currently entirely separate. Under Musk's reported plan, Twitter users who are already verified will have 90 days to subscribe to the new plan to keep their blue checkmark.

This also means any currently unverified users could theoretically subscribe to become instantly verified. And, it's worth a mention that the team on the project was reportedly told they have until November 7 to launch the new feature, or they will be fired.

Blogroll image credit: Jim Watson/Getty Images.

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.

FIFA 23 will be getting its free FIFA World Cup 2022 update on November 9, 2022, and will bring with it the teams of the 32 qualified nations into an authentic experience.

The FIFA World Cup update will arrive on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC, but, unfortunately, FIFA 23 Legacy Edition on Switch will not be getting the update.

Instead, Switch owners will be left with the standard version of the game that we gave a 2/10 when it was released. FIFA Mobile players, on the other hand, will get to jump in a day early on November 8.

FIFA 23 players will get to play as any of the 32 qualified nations from the upcoming World Cup, and the entire tournament will be playable. Furthermore, players will be able to customize the tournament to their liking, meaning they can change groups and substitute in select teams that didn't make it to the finals.

The FIFA World Cup 2022 update will also have an Online Tournament Mode that will let players pick a nation and fight through the Knockout Stage to win it all.

From November 21 - December 18, FIFA World Cup: Live will be a live experience that will be updated throughout the actual Group and Knockout stages of the real-life World Cup tournament. This will be seen in updated fixtures and squads for each game as they were in the tournament. If an outcome of a game was not what you were hoping for, you will also have the chance to rewrite history and guide your team to victory.

Your FIFA World Cup is another way to experience the tournament, and it will let players choose a nation and pick a starting point anywhere in the World Cup. As they progress, the line-ups, match stats, and standings will mirror the actual tournament, providing an authentic single-player experience.

To help with the immersion of the mode, there will also be "authentic stadium dressings, match ball, additional player head scans, the iconic trophy, and two stadiums including the venue for the Final." FIFA World Cup commentary, visuals, and cinematics will also be part of the package.

FIFA Ultimate Team will be joining in on the fun as well with the "World Cup Path to Glory" event that will run from November 11-23 and will feature 30 "unique World Cup Heroes, presented in a custom World Cup-themed Hero shell."

Additionally, the biggest stars of the World Cup will be chosen for the Team of the Tournament and will come complete with permanently boosted items.

EA also teased that "the excitement will continue" for the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023," and more updates will be shared in the future.

If you want to see if FIFA 23 is worth it for the World Cup update, be sure to check out our review.

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.

FIFA 23 will be getting its free FIFA World Cup 2022 update on November 9, 2022, and will bring with it the teams of the 32 qualified nations into an authentic experience.

The FIFA World Cup update will arrive on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC, but, unfortunately, FIFA 23 Legacy Edition on Switch will not be getting the update.

Instead, Switch owners will be left with the standard version of the game that we gave a 2/10 when it was released. FIFA Mobile players, on the other hand, will get to jump in a day early on November 8.

FIFA 23 players will get to play as any of the 32 qualified nations from the upcoming World Cup, and the entire tournament will be playable. Furthermore, players will be able to customize the tournament to their liking, meaning they can change groups and substitute in select teams that didn't make it to the finals.

The FIFA World Cup 2022 update will also have an Online Tournament Mode that will let players pick a nation and fight through the Knockout Stage to win it all.

From November 21 - December 18, FIFA World Cup: Live will be a live experience that will be updated throughout the actual Group and Knockout stages of the real-life World Cup tournament. This will be seen in updated fixtures and squads for each game as they were in the tournament. If an outcome of a game was not what you were hoping for, you will also have the chance to rewrite history and guide your team to victory.

Your FIFA World Cup is another way to experience the tournament, and it will let players choose a nation and pick a starting point anywhere in the World Cup. As they progress, the line-ups, match stats, and standings will mirror the actual tournament, providing an authentic single-player experience.

To help with the immersion of the mode, there will also be "authentic stadium dressings, match ball, additional player head scans, the iconic trophy, and two stadiums including the venue for the Final." FIFA World Cup commentary, visuals, and cinematics will also be part of the package.

FIFA Ultimate Team will be joining in on the fun as well with the "World Cup Path to Glory" event that will run from November 11-23 and will feature 30 "unique World Cup Heroes, presented in a custom World Cup-themed Hero shell."

Additionally, the biggest stars of the World Cup will be chosen for the Team of the Tournament and will come complete with permanently boosted items.

EA also teased that "the excitement will continue" for the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023," and more updates will be shared in the future.

If you want to see if FIFA 23 is worth it for the World Cup update, be sure to check out our review.

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 Embracer Group is shutting down Onoma just months after its acquisition, with some staff set to be transferred to sister studio Eidos Montreal, Bloomberg reports. The closure will impact some 200 employees.

Formerly known as Square Enix Montreal, Onoma was acquired along with the rest of Square Enix's former western holdings back in August. It subsequently took on the name Onoma back in October.

According to Bloomberg, the move is likely a cost-cutting measure, as Eidos Montreal is reportedly reducing the scope of one project and plans to cancel another. Eidos Montreal is also reportedly helping Microsoft to develop a game in the Fable franchise, though it's unclear if it's serving as a support studio for Playground Games' Fable project. It appears to be similar to the deal that Crystal Dynamics has with The Initiative to co-develop Perfect Dark.

CDE Entertainment, the Embracer-owned group comprised of assets acquired from Square Enix, sent the following statement to GI.biz from director Phil Rogers:

With the opportunity to form the 12th operative group within Embracer we have massive ambitions across Crystal Dynamics and Eidos-Montréal. We see the growth opportunities centered around our premier franchises and AAA games. Closing publishing QA and our Onoma studio is a difficult decision and one that we've taken with great care and consideration. We greatly thank all those team members for their contributions over the years and hope to find proper placements for as many as possible.

Founded in 2011, Onoma was best-known for its work on the well-regarded Go series of mobile games, which included Hitman Go, Lara Croft Go, and Deus Ex Go. It was also working on an Avatar: The Last Airbender mobile MMO via its London studio.

Onoma was one of many studios acquired in the midst of Embracer Group's acquisition spree, which also included the rights to various Lord of the Rings media properties and more. IGN has reached out to The Embracer Group for a statement and will update as necessary.

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 Embracer Group is shutting down Onoma just months after its acquisition, with some staff set to be transferred to sister studio Eidos Montreal, Bloomberg reports. The closure will impact some 200 employees.

Formerly known as Square Enix Montreal, Onoma was acquired along with the rest of Square Enix's former western holdings back in August. It subsequently took on the name Onoma back in October.

According to Bloomberg, the move is likely a cost-cutting measure, as Eidos Montreal is reportedly reducing the scope of one project and plans to cancel another. Eidos Montreal is also reportedly helping Microsoft to develop a game in the Fable franchise, though it's unclear if it's serving as a support studio for Playground Games' Fable project. It appears to be similar to the deal that Crystal Dynamics has with The Initiative to co-develop Perfect Dark.

CDE Entertainment, the Embracer-owned group comprised of assets acquired from Square Enix, sent the following statement to GI.biz from director Phil Rogers:

With the opportunity to form the 12th operative group within Embracer we have massive ambitions across Crystal Dynamics and Eidos-Montréal. We see the growth opportunities centered around our premier franchises and AAA games. Closing publishing QA and our Onoma studio is a difficult decision and one that we've taken with great care and consideration. We greatly thank all those team members for their contributions over the years and hope to find proper placements for as many as possible.

Founded in 2011, Onoma was best-known for its work on the well-regarded Go series of mobile games, which included Hitman Go, Lara Croft Go, and Deus Ex Go. It was also working on an Avatar: The Last Airbender mobile MMO via its London studio.

Onoma was one of many studios acquired in the midst of Embracer Group's acquisition spree, which also included the rights to various Lord of the Rings media properties and more. IGN has reached out to The Embracer Group for a statement and will update as necessary.

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.

Alan Wake and Control developer Remedy has five games in development, and the studio shared minor updates on each one through a recent business release.

Remedy CEO Tero Virtala said Alan Wake 2 is in the "full production stage", and that it's still on track to release in 2023. Virtala said the "game is coming together on all fronts", but there is a lot of work left to do. We haven't heard about Alan Wake 2 since Remedy shared new concept art in May, but at the time, director Sam Lake said a lot of the game was already playable.

There are two Control projects in the works, Codename Condor and Codename Heron. Codename Condor is the 4-player co-op PvE title announced last summer. Virtala said this multiplayer project is still in the proof-of-concept stage. Codename Heron, meanwhile, is Remedy's bigger-budget Control game currently in the concept stage.

Remedy and Tencent are co-publishing Vanguard: A free-to-play cooperative multiplayer title that is also still in the proof-of-concept stage. When the game was announced last December, it was described as a "free-to-play, co-operative PvE shooter that combines Remedy's narrative expertise and action gameplay into an immersive multiplayer experience." Beyond that, we still don't know much about Vanguard.

Finally, Virtala briefly wrote about the Max Payne 1&2 Remake Remedy is working on alongside Rockstar Games, saying development continued with "a small core team". That remake was announced in April, where we learned Remedy would handle development on Alan Wake 2 and Control's Northlight game engine.

Alan Wake 2 is the only one of Remedy's projects with a release window. Beyond that, we have no concept of when Remedy's Control projects or partnerships with Tencent and Rockstar will be completed. Until we know more, you can also look foward to the Alan Wake TV show in development at AMC.

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.

Alan Wake and Control developer Remedy has five games in development, and the studio shared minor updates on each one through a recent business release.

Remedy CEO Tero Virtala said Alan Wake 2 is in the "full production stage", and that it's still on track to release in 2023. Virtala said the "game is coming together on all fronts", but there is a lot of work left to do. We haven't heard about Alan Wake 2 since Remedy shared new concept art in May, but at the time, director Sam Lake said a lot of the game was already playable.

There are two Control projects in the works, Codename Condor and Codename Heron. Codename Condor is the 4-player co-op PvE title announced last summer. Virtala said this multiplayer project is still in the proof-of-concept stage. Codename Heron, meanwhile, is Remedy's bigger-budget Control game currently in the concept stage.

Remedy and Tencent are co-publishing Vanguard: A free-to-play cooperative multiplayer title that is also still in the proof-of-concept stage. When the game was announced last December, it was described as a "free-to-play, co-operative PvE shooter that combines Remedy's narrative expertise and action gameplay into an immersive multiplayer experience." Beyond that, we still don't know much about Vanguard.

Finally, Virtala briefly wrote about the Max Payne 1&2 Remake Remedy is working on alongside Rockstar Games, saying development continued with "a small core team". That remake was announced in April, where we learned Remedy would handle development on Alan Wake 2 and Control's Northlight game engine.

Alan Wake 2 is the only one of Remedy's projects with a release window. Beyond that, we have no concept of when Remedy's Control projects or partnerships with Tencent and Rockstar will be completed. Until we know more, you can also look foward to the Alan Wake TV show in development at AMC.

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.

Blizzard has announced that it is temporarily removing Overwatch 2 hero Mei from the game due to a bug. The character is expected to return to the game alongside the next patch, which is due out on November 15.

"We are temporarily disabling Mei to address a bug with her Ice Wall ability that allows heroes to reach unintended locations," Blizzard stated in a tweet from its customer service account. "We are working to address these issues as quickly as possible and aim to bring Mei back in our next upcoming patch which is set for November 15."

[#OW2] We are temporarily disabling Mei to address a bug with her Ice Wall ability that allows heroes to reach unintended locations. We are working to address these issues as quickly as possible and aim to bring Mei back in our next upcoming patch which is set for November 15. pic.twitter.com/dHP65pMCsX

— Blizzard CS - The Americas (@BlizzardCS) October 31, 2022

The bug allowed Mei to use her wall to get her to locations outside the gameplay boundaries, which frequently resulted in players being able to hide out of sight from opponents and earn easy damage and kills. The exploit can be seen in this clip posted on Reddit.

This move comes just weeks after heroes Bastion and Torbjörn were also removed from the game for bugs that were causing serious disruptions to gameplay as well. Their removal was one of many issues that plagued the game's rocky launch, including extensive queue times and incessant DDoS attacks.

Although the team is working dilligently on character bugs, they won't be looking to rebalance any of Overwatch 2's heros for another month or so. In a recent blog post, Blizzard stated that they'll be looking at that type of in-depth rebalancing no sooner than December.

In our Overwatch 2 review, we called the game "a very fun team-based FPS, packed full of charm and love for the world it takes place in."

You can download and play it for free right now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Billy Givens is a freelancer at IGN with over a decade of experience writing gaming, film, and tech content. His work can also be found on GameSpot, USA Today, Digital Trends, Tom's Guide, and more. You'll find him blabbering on about video games and more on Twitter at @mektige.