Lost Ark March Update Includes New Story And Endgame Content
Following the successful launch of Lost Ark in North America, the developers announced that more content will be coming at a regular cadence starting in March with new story and raid content.
Lost Ark was released in South Korea back in 2019 and has a head start on content that has yet to be released in the North American version. The developers say there is a “wealth of content present in the Korean version that has yet to make its way to the western shores of Arkesia.”
However, this content will be released starting this month when a new storyline and raid will be released, as well as changes and fixes.
First, the new storyline will introduce new quests, islands, and cinematics to Lost Ark. The quest will follow a cast of new and returning characters and will focus on the Sidereals and the legendary Kadan, the first guardian slayer.
Players will need to complete Feiton and the quests “Yorn - Let There Be Light,” “Whispering Islet - Start of Our Story,” and “Illusion Bamboo Island - End of the Trials,” before being able to accept the new quests.
The second major content addition in March will be the new Abyss Raid, Argos. This end-game raid is similar to Guardians raid where players need to work together to defeat the Guardian before time runs out. The eight-party content will fight a much larger boss through three phases and will drop a reward which can be claimed once a week.
Argos will be available at the Abyss Raid Statue located across Lost Ark’s different major cities.
Lost Ark is a dungeon-crawler MMO that’s currently free-to-play on PC. At launch Lost Ark quickly became Steam’s second-most played game of all time and it looks like there’ll be plenty of content coming down in the future to keep players busy.
Check out IGN’s Lost Ark review here.
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.
The Cuphead Show on Netflix Already Renewed for Season 2
It's a big summer for Cuphead fans, as Studio MDHR has announced season 2 of The Cuphead Show will drop on Netflix this summer, in addition to Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course coming on June 30.
Studio MDHR is the developer of Cuphead, and its founders — the Moldenhauer brothers — served as Executive Producers on The Cuphead Show. While there's no official release date set, this is the first official confirmation we've seen of more episodes. You can see the official season 2 announcement below.
It’s official!! More heartfelt hi-jinx and hilarity awaits in Season 2 of The Cuphead Show, debuting Summer 2022 exclusively on @Netflix. pic.twitter.com/TlBiojlUY4
— Studio MDHR (@StudioMDHR) March 2, 2022
The Cuphead Show is a Netflix original cartoon starring Cuphead, Mugman, and various villains from the Cuphead video game. The show follows Cuphead and Mugman's ongoing battle with the Devil and his henchmen. Season 1 only explored a handful of the game's expansive cast of bosses, so there's plenty of material left for season 2 and beyond.
The first season of the show was a big hit. In our review, we called the show amazing, saying, "The Cuphead Show captures the essence of the popular game, giving fans old and new a surreal, exhilarating, chaotic, and all-around fun throwback cartoon with memorable characters and stunning animation. After Arcane and Castlevania, it’s another feather in Netflix’s cap for stellar video game adaptations."
For more on The Cuphead Show, check out our interview with Cuphead's creators about the show's development. Or, watch Chad and Jared Moldenhauer react to a 23 minute speedrun of Cuphead.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
Housemarque’s Next Game Won’t Be a Returnal Sequel
PlayStation Studios Housemarque's next game won't be a Returnal sequel, according to comments from studio managing director Ilari Kuittinen, VentureBeat reports.
In an interview with journalists at last week's DICE Awards, Housemarque leaders spoke at length about the future of the studio, future projects, and the studio's relationship to PlayStation at a time when the publisher is increasing focus on live-service games.
"We’re one of the very last dinosaurs making arcade games," Kuittinen said. "Nex Machina, a few years ago, was very much a shoot-’em-up game in the style of the coin-ops from the ‘80s. That’s sort of a clue. But it’s interesting. We’ve been thinking about that. We had our stint working on multiplayer games, because a few years back it seemed like you needed to have some kind of multiplayer experience. We tried that, and we really didn’t do it as well. But it’s early days with us starting a new game, a new IP, concepting it out. We’ll see what comes with that."
Returnal director Harry Krueger added that Housemarque is "trying to hold onto that identity" as a studio focused on arcadey games, and that multiple genres can coexist.
"There can be live service games, multiplayer games, games with many different sensibilities," Krueger said. "Returnal is just another voice. At this stage we’re quite proud of what we accomplished with Returnal, and we’re quite excited to pursue that same trajectory as a company."
Returnal took home the DICE Award for outstanding achievement in musical composition, outstanding achievement in audio design, and was nominated for outstanding achievement in technical achievement, action game of the year, and general game of the year. It certainly merits the awards and nominations, considering it's ranked number two on IGN's best PS5 games list and received an 8 out of 10 in our review.
Even though it sounds like Housemarque may not return to Returnal for a full game, a tweet from last November sparked speculation that we could be getting some sort of DLC in the future.
Meanwhile, Sony's acquisition of Destiny 2 developer Bungie has big implications for PlayStation's future: Namely a bigger focus on developing and investing in multiplayer and live-service games, even though PlayStation's single-player games shouldn't be going anywhere.
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.
Jason Momoa Confirms He’s the Villain in Fast and Furious 10
Actor Jason Momoa has confirmed that he's playing the role of the villain in the tenth Fast and Furious film. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly (via SlashFilm) about his new role, Momoa finally confirmed the nature of his role.
"I'm gonna go do 'Fast 10,' that's gonna be fun... it's fun, I get to play the bad guy, which I haven't gotten to do for a while. Now, I get to be the bad boy. A very flamboyant bad boy," the actor said.
It's an uncharacteristic heel turn for the actor, who has mostly played heroic (if excessively brash) protagonists in films like Aquaman, Justice League, and series like Apple TV's See and Netflix's Frontier. He follows in the footsteps of fellow Justice League star Henry Cavill's transformation from reluctant ally into menacing antagonist of Mission Impossible: Fallout. Momoa most recently starred as loyal ally and military commander Duncan Idaho in Denis Villeneuve's Dune.
We'll have to wait a considerable while to see Momoa's chops as a bad guy. Fast 10 has since been delayed to May 2023. We can also pretty reliably say that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson won't be appearing again as Luke Hobbs, thanks to an infamously prolonged falling out with co-star Vin Diesel.
If you're in the mood for more, check out the dumbest moments from the Fast and Furious franchise (so far).
(Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage)
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.
Netflix Purchases Stranger Things Game Developer
Netflix has acquired the developer of a Stranger Things mobile game as it continues its venture into the gaming sphere. Finnish studio Next Games was purchased for around €65 million ($72 million) with the deal expected to close in the second quarter of 2022, as spotted by Crwe World.
Next Level currently has three games under its belt: Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales, The Walking Dead: Our World, and The Walking Dead: No Man's Land.
Netflix's vice president of games Michael Verdu, who the company hired last year to declare its intentions into game development, said Next Games will be a key component to those plans.
"Next Games has a seasoned management team, strong track record with mobile games based on entertainment franchises, and solid operational capabilities," Verdu said. "We are excited for Next Games to join Netflix as a core studio in a strategic region and key talent market, expanding our internal game studio capabilities.
"While we're just getting started in games, I am confident that together with Next Games we will be able to build a portfolio of world class games that will delight our members around the world."
This matches Netflix's statement in January that it aimed to be the "absolute best" gaming service in the industry by expanding its slate of titles in 2022. Netflix began rolling out its gaming service to subscribers in November and currently has twelve games available including Stranger Things 3: The Game and Card Blast.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale.
AMC Will Charge More to Watch The Batman Than Other Movies
Seeing the new Batman movie at an AMC theater this weekend? Expect higher prices than usual, says AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron, according to Deadline.
The higher costs are part of what Aron is calling an experiment with variable pricing.
“Currently, our prices for The Batman are slightly higher than the prices we are charging for other movies playing in the same theaters at the same time,” Aron said during a webcast following quarterly earnings.
“This is all quite novel in the United States, but actually AMC has been doing it for years in our European theaters. Indeed, in Europe we charge a premium for the best seats in the house — as do just about all sellers of tickets in other industries — take sports events, concerts, and live theater, for example," Aron said.
AMC did not release information on how much more expensive tickets to The Batman will cost, but a cursory glance at the AMC Metreon in San Francisco shows Dolby Digital showings for Uncharted at $17.49 and Batman at $19.49. Please note San Francisco prices are not indicative of the rest of the country.
The move to raise ticket prices comes after AMC previously raised weekend prices above midweek levels in some U.S. locations.
If you're still on the fence, you can read our review of The Batman, where editor Alex Stedman gives the movie a 10 out of 10 for its "violent, thrilling, darkly beautiful take on The Batman [that] more than justifies its place in the franchise’s canon." You can also read actor Paul Dano's reason for wearing plastic wrap as the Riddler or read the long road to perfecting a Batman video game.
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/henchman for IGN.
Weird New Netflix Teaser Is for Judd Apatow’s Next Movie
A new trailer has appeared for Cliff Beasts 6… but all is not as it seems.
The hilariously bad trailer, starring Pedro Pascal and Karen Gillan among others, claims to promote a new, upcoming film called ‘Cliff Beasts 6’… but that movie doesn’t exist. It turns out, it’s actually for Judd Apatow’s latest movie, The Bubble.
Here’s the wince-inducing trailer in all its glory:
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the cliffs…
— Netflix (@netflix) March 2, 2022
Check out the teaser for Cliff Beasts 6: Battle for Everest. Full trailer in 2 days! pic.twitter.com/xAdJt8e4kC
If that trailer got you excited for the weird Jurassic Park knock-off, then you’re out of luck – it’s actually a film-within-a-film.
The Bubble is Judd Apatow’s upcoming comedy flick, which sees a group of actors and filmmakers attempting to finish making an action movie during the pandemic… while stuck in a hotel as part of a social bubble.
An interesting idea… but not quite as thrilling as Cliff Beasts 6.
God, I hope this is as good as it looks. This franchise really does need a return to form. pic.twitter.com/42po1cxel1
— JJ Abrams (@jjabrams) March 2, 2022
The new teaser does state that a full trailer is coming in 2 days on March 4, meaning that we might finally get our first look at The Bubble. That is unless Netflix goes all out with another trailer for the completely fictional dinosaur movie.
“Humankind is threatened once again by a dinosaur species: Cliff Beasts,” reads the weird teaser’s YouTube description. “The team must reunite, after 5 long years, to battle the Cliff Beasts – but this time on Mount Everest.”
It may be a bit out there, but the Cliff Beasts 6 teaser has certainly got everyone talking. Even better, it’s given us a glimpse of The Bubble cast in action, as well as revealing what kind of movie they’ll be trying to make.
I mean… a dinosaur action movie? Made in a hotel? That can only end in disaster.
David Duchovny, Karen Gillan, and Pedro Pascal will star in The Bubble, alongside Leslie Mann, Keegan-Michael Key, Iris Apatow, Peter Serafinowicz, and Rob Delaney. The Bubble is directed by Judd Apatow based on a script he co-wrote with Pam Brady.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
Epic Games Buys Music Service Bandcamp
Bandcamp, an online music store and community, announced that it has been acquired by Fortnite creator Epic Games. The music company also confirmed that initiatives such as Bandcamp Fridays, where the platform waives its revenue share so artists receive all sales for a 24 hour period, and its online publication, Bandcamp Daily, will continue to operate as they currently are.
Bandcamp says that joining Epic Games will allow it to expand internationally and push forward development across the platform, including working on mobile apps and merch tools, as well as search and discovery features. Additionally, Epic Games notes that Bandcamp will contribute to its vision of a "creator marketplace ecosystem" for content, technology, games, art, and music.
Bandcamp is joining Epic Games! Read more here: https://t.co/dvLEhURZYG pic.twitter.com/4t1MRvugmG
— bandcamp (@Bandcamp) March 2, 2022
“Bandcamp’s mission is to help spread the healing power of music by building a community where artists thrive through the direct support of their fans,” said Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond in a statement. “In Epic, we’ve found a partner who believes as deeply as we do that the future of music, and art itself, depends on the creation of equitable and inclusive communities like the one our fans and artists have helped to build."
Steve Allison, Vice President and General Store Manager at Epic Games chimed in as well, saying, "Bandcamp has built an incredible community and business where up and coming artists can succeed thanks to the direct support of their fans, with one of the best revenue models and terms in music. This aligns closely with Epic’s approach to supporting creators across all media and enabling them to connect directly with their fans.”
This isn't the first time Epic Games purchased a music-based company. Back in November, Epic Games acquired Harmonix, a studio best known for titles such as Rock Band and Dance Central. Epic sought interest in Harmonix because it could help develop "musical journeys and gameplay for Fortnite."
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey
Apple Officially Announces ‘Peek Performance’ Event for March 8
Apple's first event for 2022 has been announced and will be held on March 8th, the company announced today. As common with previous Apple hardware events, the company has included a tagline that reads "Peek Performance"
Peek performance. March 8th. See you there. #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/cEKMq7BuBh
— Greg Joswiak (@gregjoz) March 2, 2022
Apple may use this event to unveil a 2022 model refresh of the iPhone SE. Bloomberg reports that the 2022 iPhone SE will keep a design similar to that of its predecessor, which launched nearly two years ago, along with an improved camera, a faster processor, and 5G support. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also noted that the forthcoming event may reveal a model refresh for the iPad Air and Mac.
This marks the first Apple event for the year and the latest one the tech giant is holding following a hardware event last October, in which the company announced a third-generation of AirPods, unveiling new M1 systems on a chip, and most notably unveiling new 15 and 16-inch MacBook Pros.
Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
FIFA 22 and NHL 22 Removing Russian Teams in Support of Ukraine
Editor's Note: The war in Ukraine is an ongoing, painful and emotive topic. IGN urges community members to be respectful when engaging in conversation around this subject and does not endorse harassment of any kind.
EA is removing Russian teams from FIFA 22 and NHL 22, in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
In tweets posted simultaneously from the two games' accounts, EA Sports revealed that it would remove both national and club teams from both games.
The moves are designed to reflect the decisions of both football and hockey's real-life international federations, which have also dropped Russia from multiple competitions while the war is ongoing.
A statement from EA SPORTS FIFA: pic.twitter.com/v3pZvpblgS
— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) March 2, 2022
FIFA will remove the Russian national team and all Russian clubs from not just FIFA 22, but FIFA Online and FIFA Mobile. "We're also actively evaluating related changes to other areas of our games," the statement continues.
NHL will not just remove Russian teams, but Belarusian teams too, likely in connection with Belarus' tacit support for the Russian invasion. "We stand with the people of Ukraine and join the voices around the world calling for peace," ended that statement.
A statement from EA SPORTS NHL: pic.twitter.com/2uX4h55ok4
— EA SPORTS NHL (@EASPORTSNHL) March 2, 2022
It's another example of the vocal support for Ukraine in the games industry, which has seen studios pledge support for charitable causes, mass fundraising from influencers, and much more. Ukraine today asked developers to go further and temporarily stop supporting games in Russia altogether.
A number of humanitarian aid organizations are currently accepting donations and support for their efforts to help Ukrainians impacted by the war. They include:
- Save the Children: On the ground right now providing humanitarian aid to children.
- UNICEF: Providing emergency supplies and safe water to communities, as well as care for children on the ground and who have been separated from families.
- Project HOPE: Sending medical supplies and providing health care for refugees.
Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
