GTA 5 and GTA Online will be released as upgraded, native PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions on March 15.

After a delay last year, Rockstar has confirmed that the new-gen editions will arrive soon, bringing "new graphics modes with up to 4K resolution, up to 60 frames per second, texture and draw distance upgrades, HDR options and ray-tracing".

Rockstar also promises that the games will take advantage of new console tech, offering "faster loading times, immersive 3D audio, platform-specific features like advanced haptic feedback, and much more."

Players will be able to perform a "one-time migration" of their story mode progress and GTA Online characters from PS4 and Xbox One to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

It's not clear whether there will be a free or paid upgrade path from last-gen games, nor whether save migration can be performed cross-platform, or has to stay within a console family. We've contacted Rockstar for comment.

As previously announced, GTA Online will also be released as a standalone game, without the need to purchase GTA 5. It will be free for three months after launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X, but Rockstar has not announced a price after that date.

GTA Online itself will also be add new onboarding features when it comes to the new console generation. Players will be able to skip the GTA 5 story prologue to enter (presumably because Online no longer requires a purchase of 5), and a new Career Builder feature is being added.

New Online players will be able to choose to create one of four businesses – Biker, Executive, Nightclub Owner, or Gunrunner – to start the game with, along with in-game cash wot buy properties, vehicles, and weapons. Returning players can either transfer their character's existing progress, or restart the game and use the Career Builder function.

The new-gen versions of the game will also add Hao's Special Works auto shop, which allows players to upgrade 10 vehicles for "elite driving performance that takes full advantage of the upgraded power of new console hardware."

Today's announcement also confirmed that GTA 6 is in development, and it will be interesting to see how that game builds around the existing GTA Online structure.

GTA Online recently got perhaps its most high-profile addition yet – a Franklin-based campaign set years after GTA 5, and co-starring the actual Dr. Dre.

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.

After years of rumours and reports, Rockstar has confirmed it's working on a new Grand Theft Auto game, and said that it's "well underway".

In a new press release, a Rockstar spokesperson wrote:

"With the unprecedented longevity of GTAV, we know many of you have been asking us about a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series. With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered — and we are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway. We look forward to sharing more as soon as we are ready, so please stay tuned to the Rockstar Newswire for official details.

On behalf of our entire team, we thank you all for your support and cannot wait to step into the future with you!"

IGN reported that GTA 6 – if that is indeed what the game ends up being called – was in development back in 2020, but that it was a long way from release. Further reports pegged the game to arrive in 2024 or 2025.

As for the game itself, Rockstar isn't saying any more right now, or committing to when it will say more. Previous reports have said that the initial version of GTA 6 could be smaller than GTA 5, with updates used to build on it over time. Other reports say that the game will return to a Miami-inspired Vice City setting, and some fans even think Rockstar snuck a first screenshot into the GTA Trilogy remasters.

Last year, Rockstar patented a new system for NPC navigation, which some believe will be used in the next GTA. The system is designed to make for more realistic traffic behaviour, creating more life-like road users – with a particular view to making it useful in a "multiplayer network gaming community."

This will be the first modern GTA game released after the departure of Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser, who helped write all the GTA games from 2 to 5, as well as the Red Dead series, Bully, and Max Payne 3. His brother, Sam Houser, remains on the project.

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.

After years of rumours and reports, Rockstar has confirmed it's working on a new Grand Theft Auto game, and said that it's "well underway".

In a new press release, a Rockstar spokesperson wrote:

"With the unprecedented longevity of GTAV, we know many of you have been asking us about a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series. With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered — and we are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway. We look forward to sharing more as soon as we are ready, so please stay tuned to the Rockstar Newswire for official details.

On behalf of our entire team, we thank you all for your support and cannot wait to step into the future with you!"

IGN reported that GTA 6 – if that is indeed what the game ends up being called – was in development back in 2020, but that it was a long way from release. Further reports pegged the game to arrive in 2024 or 2025.

As for the game itself, Rockstar isn't saying any more right now, or committing to when it will say more. Previous reports have said that the initial version of GTA 6 could be smaller than GTA 5, with updates used to build on it over time. Other reports say that the game will return to a Miami-inspired Vice City setting, and some fans even think Rockstar snuck a first screenshot into the GTA Trilogy remasters.

Last year, Rockstar patented a new system for NPC navigation, which some believe will be used in the next GTA. The system is designed to make for more realistic traffic behaviour, creating more life-like road users – with a particular view to making it useful in a "multiplayer network gaming community."

This will be the first modern GTA game released after the departure of Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser, who helped write all the GTA games from 2 to 5, as well as the Red Dead series, Bully, and Max Payne 3. His brother, Sam Houser, remains on the project.

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.

Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, has said that he doesn’t believe Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard will be blocked by the US Federal Trade Commission.

Talking to the Financial Times, Nadella said that the deal would only place Microsoft as the third largest player in the video games industry, and the fragmentation of the market would prevent them from gaining a monopoly.

“At the end of the day, all the analysis here has to be done through a lens of what’s the category we’re talking about, and what about the market structure?” said Nadella. “Even post-this acquisition, we will be number three with sort of low teens [market] share, where even the highest player is also [in the] teens [for market] share. It shows how fragmented content creation platforms are. And so, that’s the fundamental category. Yes, we will be a big player in what is a highly fragmented place.”

Should the deal go ahead, Microsoft will still be behind Sony and Tencent in terms of industry size.

Nadella also noted that distribution is an important factor to consider, and that Microsoft is currently not even the biggest games provider on its own operating system. “Also, the analysis will have to extend to say: Why are these content companies trying to become bigger? It’s because the place where the constraints really are is distribution. The only open distribution platform for any gaming content — guess what? — is Windows . . . the biggest store on Windows is Steam. It’s not ours. People can do any payment instrument, whereas all the other gaming distribution platforms are closed.”

The Microsoft/Activision Blizzard buyout will be investigated by the FTC, which reportedly has concerns around Big Tech companies such as Microsoft. The US commission has recently sued to block two major tech takeovers: Nvidia's purchase of Arm, and Lockheed Martin's takeover of rocket engine manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings.

For more on the deal, check out our full breakdown.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, has said that he doesn’t believe Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard will be blocked by the US Federal Trade Commission.

Talking to the Financial Times, Nadella said that the deal would only place Microsoft as the third largest player in the video games industry, and the fragmentation of the market would prevent them from gaining a monopoly.

“At the end of the day, all the analysis here has to be done through a lens of what’s the category we’re talking about, and what about the market structure?” said Nadella. “Even post-this acquisition, we will be number three with sort of low teens [market] share, where even the highest player is also [in the] teens [for market] share. It shows how fragmented content creation platforms are. And so, that’s the fundamental category. Yes, we will be a big player in what is a highly fragmented place.”

Should the deal go ahead, Microsoft will still be behind Sony and Tencent in terms of industry size.

Nadella also noted that distribution is an important factor to consider, and that Microsoft is currently not even the biggest games provider on its own operating system. “Also, the analysis will have to extend to say: Why are these content companies trying to become bigger? It’s because the place where the constraints really are is distribution. The only open distribution platform for any gaming content — guess what? — is Windows . . . the biggest store on Windows is Steam. It’s not ours. People can do any payment instrument, whereas all the other gaming distribution platforms are closed.”

The Microsoft/Activision Blizzard buyout will be investigated by the FTC, which reportedly has concerns around Big Tech companies such as Microsoft. The US commission has recently sued to block two major tech takeovers: Nvidia's purchase of Arm, and Lockheed Martin's takeover of rocket engine manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings.

For more on the deal, check out our full breakdown.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home!

It looks as though Spider-Man: No Way Home’s deleted scenes include even more footage of some fan-pleasing cameos.

Movie insider Amit Chaudhury has revealed that the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home DVD and Blu-ray release will include over 100 minutes of bonus footage – and that seemingly includes some additional scenes from some of the coolest cameo appearances.

Of course, the biggest cameo was the return of both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as the multiverse portals opened up to reveal the former Spider-Man actors. As you'd expect, it looks as though we’ll be getting additional footage of them hanging out.

The deleted scene in question is simply titled “The Spideys Hang Out” and runs for approximately 4 minutes 25 seconds. What’s it about? At this stage, we have absolutely no idea, but more footage of the three Spideys goofing around is fine by me.

Perhaps more interestingly, it looks as though we’ll be getting even more of Charlie Cox’s cameo appearance, when he appeared as Matt Murdock, finally bringing Daredevil in the MCU.

This clip is titled “Happy’s Very Good Lawyer” and will likely feature Happy Hogan getting some legal advice courtesy of Nelson and Murdock’s finest. This deleted scene runs for a far shorter 1 minute and 35 seconds.

List of #SpiderManNoWayHome's 100 Mins. of bonus content: https://t.co/kOteYqMshl pic.twitter.com/luigWtzzdy

— Amit Chaudhari (@5150Aamrit) February 3, 2022

Elsewhere, it looks as though Dakota Johnson will be joining the Spider-Verse, too, as Marvel’s Madame Web. And while Tom Holland isn’t ready to stop being Spider-Man just yet, it looks as though he wants to see Andrew Garfield pick up The Amazing Spider-Man 3 after fans made the canceled movie trend on Twitter.

Spider-Man: No Way Home stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker, along with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as their own versions of Spider-Man. They’re joined by Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Jon Favreau.

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

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home!

It looks as though Spider-Man: No Way Home’s deleted scenes include even more footage of some fan-pleasing cameos.

Movie insider Amit Chaudhury has revealed that the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home DVD and Blu-ray release will include over 100 minutes of bonus footage – and that seemingly includes some additional scenes from some of the coolest cameo appearances.

Of course, the biggest cameo was the return of both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as the multiverse portals opened up to reveal the former Spider-Man actors. As you'd expect, it looks as though we’ll be getting additional footage of them hanging out.

The deleted scene in question is simply titled “The Spideys Hang Out” and runs for approximately 4 minutes 25 seconds. What’s it about? At this stage, we have absolutely no idea, but more footage of the three Spideys goofing around is fine by me.

Perhaps more interestingly, it looks as though we’ll be getting even more of Charlie Cox’s cameo appearance, when he appeared as Matt Murdock, finally bringing Daredevil in the MCU.

This clip is titled “Happy’s Very Good Lawyer” and will likely feature Happy Hogan getting some legal advice courtesy of Nelson and Murdock’s finest. This deleted scene runs for a far shorter 1 minute and 35 seconds.

List of #SpiderManNoWayHome's 100 Mins. of bonus content: https://t.co/kOteYqMshl pic.twitter.com/luigWtzzdy

— Amit Chaudhari (@5150Aamrit) February 3, 2022

Elsewhere, it looks as though Dakota Johnson will be joining the Spider-Verse, too, as Marvel’s Madame Web. And while Tom Holland isn’t ready to stop being Spider-Man just yet, it looks as though he wants to see Andrew Garfield pick up The Amazing Spider-Man 3 after fans made the canceled movie trend on Twitter.

Spider-Man: No Way Home stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker, along with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as their own versions of Spider-Man. They’re joined by Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Marisa Tomei, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Jon Favreau.

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

One of the biggest changes to the Xbox business in the past five years has been the introduction of the Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft Games CEO Phil Spencer has been its biggest champion, and according to a new profile, a major reason why Microsoft took a chance on the experimental gaming service in the first place.

In a profile by the Wall Street Journal, Xbox Game Pass — a service where for a monthly fee players can download and play from a library of games, including Xbox first-party titles — was born from Microsoft’s success with its cloud service business. But it was never a guarantee Microsoft would go through with the proposal.

“In meetings, Mr. Spencer’s staff would present arguments for why Game Pass Wouldn’t work — publishers wouldn’t participate, or it would eat into profits,” says former Xbox veteran Richard Irving.

“‘[Phil Spencer] wouldn’t take no for an answer,’” Irving added, saying Spencer was at the center of pushing forward with Xbox Game Pass. “He was always trying to find a way to make it work.”

While Xbox Game Pass has been touted as a success with around 25 million subscribers. There are reports that PlayStation is working on a similar service codenamed Project Spartacus.

Unlike Netflix which streams movies and TV shows to devices, Game Pass subscribers can download games to their PC or consoles locally, though Xbox also offers Cloud Streaming as well. Another feature of Xbox Game Pass is being able to access first-party Xbox titles on day one when they’re released.

Spencer is set to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 25th Annual DICE Awards for his work at Microsoft, which includes introducing services like Game Pass. He has also overseen Xbox’s major acquisitions including Activision Blizzard and last year’s ZeniMax Media.

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

While most folks are still chewing their way through the hours of adventure available in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, if you're close to wrapping up the main story, you might be wondering whether DLC will be on the table. Though there's no official word yet, Legends: Arceus fortunately leaves open quite a few possibilities for where a potential DLC could go.

Warning: Minor spoilers for story and locations in Pokemon Legends: Arceus (or, rather, locations not in Legends: Arceus) follow.

Pokemon Legends: Arceus does a fairly good job of canvassing the breadth of "vast Hisui," but there are a handful of key locations that appear in Diamond and Pearl that we never actually get to visit in its past-tense Hisui that could be ripe for some kind of DLC area down the line, big or small.

On the main continent itself, two that spring immediately to mind are Eterna Forest and Canalave City. Though it seems like we visit the forest in the Obsidian Fieldlands, Eterna Forest is located to the north of Jubilife in Diamond and Pearl, while the Heartwood is far to the south in an area we don't really visit in Diamond and Pearl. Canalave is actually in a similar boat, as it's located to the west of Jubilife in an area that appears covered by ocean on the Hisui map. Both of these are relatively small spots though, so they're less interesting DLC fodder than other possibilities.

A slightly more interesting possibility is Iron Island, an area you visit in Diamond and Pearl and traverse alongside Riley. This could be fleshed out to be a small new area in Legends: Arceus, and even opens up the possibility of including the Regi trio in an update, as Platinum included the Iron Ruins and Registeel within. That would also mean adding Regice and Regirock to their respective locations in Mt. Coronet and (presumably) a cave in the Cobalt Coastlands, though.

But this is small potatoes. Let's think big. How about the Underground? In Diamond and Pearl, the Underground is a sprawling cave system used for secret bases and gem mining, but in the more recent remakes there are massive caverns full of different types of Pokemon waiting to be caught, many of which expand the Sinnoh Dex past what it was in the originals. A Hisuian version of this cave system could be an extremely fun place to explore, and could open up interesting possibilities for what Pokemon might appear there...as well as the possibility of proper online play.

And finally, what if we went even bigger? The legendary Pokemon Giratina makes an appearance in Legends: Arceus, so what if we traveled to its Distortion World? This seems like a bit more of a stretch. It's hard to say what kinds of Pokemon might appear there or what we might even been doing there given Giratina is available in the main game already. Plus, Distortion World wasn't in the recent Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl remakes at all. But it's nonetheless an interesting possibility to puzzle over.

One last possibility is the appearance of other regions in Legends: Arceus. This seems unlikely, as Game Freak would be more likely to save these for other, future Legends games. But multiple characters do reference other regions, including Alola, Kanto, Johto, and Galar. So we know it's possible to travel to them from Hisui, and even if it's just a small appearance, it would be cool to see a glimpse of the historical version of any of these familiar places.

Aside from location, Legends: Arceus certainly has plenty of story threads it could still wrap up with DLC. The end of the game leaves open a lot of possibilities for the future of Jubilife, other towns that might one day be built, various mysteries scattered around the world such as the Old Verses, characters that didn't really get conclusive endings, and more. Hopefully, Game Freak has more in the works for the world of Hisui that will tie at least some of these ends up.

Fortunately, there's still plenty to do in Legends: Arceus for the time being. To help you out, we have tons of guides to anything you might want to know about its Pokemon, story, or mechanics, as well as our review of the entire game.

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

Just ahead of The Batman's theatrical release, DC Comics is releasing nine — count 'em, nine — variant covers of various Batman universe comics in March, all inspired by the gritty look of Matt Reeves' new dark knight adventure.

Check out the gallery below for a look at the covers

In order of appearance the variant covers will be available for:

• Batman #121 (on sale March 1) – variant cover by Lee Bermejo
• Batman: Killing Time #1 (on sale March 1) – variant cover by Carlos D’Anda
• Batgirls #4 (on sale March 8) – variant cover by Jonboy Meyers
• Detective Comics #1056 (on sale March 8) – variant cover by Puppeteer Lee
• Batman: The Knight #3 (on sale March 8) – variant cover by Rafael Albuquerque
• Catwoman #41 (on sale March 15) – variant cover by Jenny Frison
• Justice League #74 (on sale March 15) – variant cover by Ben Oliver
• Nightwing #90 (on sale March 15) – variant cover by Riccardo Federici
• Harley Quinn #13 (on sale March 22) – variant cover by Simone Bianchi

My particular favorites? Catwoman wielding a bike chain like a whip, and Paul Dano's Riddler looking like the Zodiac Killer on a particularly gruesome day.

You can pre-order each comic at your local comic book store now. In the meantime, The Batman releases in theaters on March 4, and you can read about how Colin Farrel's version of the Penguin was inspired by The Godfather, or how Robert Pattinson's agent was shocked to hear he wanted the role of Batman.

We've also got a whole three minutes of footage from The Batman, which director Matt Reeves posted following a leak. If Batman isn't your speed, check out every other upcoming DC show and movie.

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.

Credit: DC Comics