The Boys Season 3 will premiere its first three episodes worldwide on Prime Video on June 3 2022, with the remaining five episodes airing every Friday through July 8.

The release date for The Boys Season 3 was announced during the final installment of the Vought News Network (VNN) digital video miniseries, 'Seven on 7 with Cameron Coleman', which was designed to help bridge the gap between Season 2 and the upcoming third season, following on from the explosive action of the last season finale in October 2020.

Small spoilers for The Boys Season 2 follow.

Towards the end of Season 2, Homelander found himself in a particularly bad place. He started to lose his grip on reality, and desperately tried to regain control of the unravelling situation. In a scene that was originally cut from the first season, he repeatedly chanted the phrase "I can do whatever I want!"... and that appears to be his outlook this coming season.

Antony Starr will return as the narcissistic leader of The Seven alongside Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, Claudia Doumit, and Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy, one of the earliest superheroes injected with Compound V during WWII.

After Soldier Boy fought in WWII, he became the first super celebrity and a mainstay of American culture for decades. The history of his Payback team will likely play a significant role in the third season if the first episode's title is anything to go by. To learn more about Solider Boy, check out our explainer of this character who introduces a f***ed-up take on Avengers.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Members of a hacking group creating cheats for PUBG Mobile have been ordered to pay $10 million in damages – which PUBG's developers say they'll reinvest into anti-cheat technology.

As detailed in a press release, federal courts in the US and Germany recently ruled in favor of PUBG Mobile publishers Tencent Games and Krafton in a lawsuit launched against members of a hacking group known for creating and distributing cheats within the game.

As part of the ruling, the defendants have been ordered to pay the publishers around $10 million USD in damages. In addition, the group has also been ordered to provide details pertaining to how they were able to exploit the game in the first place and are under strict instructions to cease any future illegal activities involving game cheating.

In a statement following the legal victory, Tencent Games PUBG Mobile Producer Rick Li spoke about the importance of the ruling within the game's online community. “Millions of players worldwide enjoy PUBG Mobile and we will ensure a level playing field for everyone. Sadly, the actions of hacker groups undermine the fairness of the game. These Judgements send a clear message that we will not tolerate cheating in PUBG Mobile," he said.

Krafton's Head of PUBG Mobile Product Development Minu Lee added that the publishers will continue to monitor the state of the game going forward. “Fun and fairness is the bedrock of the PUBG Mobile experience and cheating in any form will not be tolerated," said Lee. "As such, we will continue enforcing our IP rights with unwavering resolve against any who seek to tarnish or misuse them.”

The two companies announced that any funds recovered from the ruling will be reinvested into anti-cheat technology for the game.

Despite this being a victory for PUBG Mobile and its community, other online multiplayer publishers will be hoping that it sends a wider message throughout the industry. The issue of cheating has become far more prominent with the rise of free-to-play online games and has affected a number of gaming communities including the likes of Halo Infinite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Battlefield 2042.

While a number of games such as Call of Duty: Warzone have looked to combat cheating through building upon and improving their built-in anti-cheat systems, further legal options are also being explored by a number of companies. Most recently, Activision announced that it had launched a lawsuit against EngineOwning - a popular cheats distributor who is accused of creating and distributing cheats throughout a range of Call of Duty titles. With that in mind, it's likely that Activision will be encouraged by the recent ruling in favour of PUBG Mobile and will be hoping for a similar outcome in their own pursuits.

To read more about the efforts companies are taking to combat cheaters within their games, make sure to check out this piece detailing the lawsuit that Riot and Bungie launched against the software producers creating hacks for Valorant and Destiny 2 last year.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Members of a hacking group creating cheats for PUBG Mobile have been ordered to pay $10 million in damages – which PUBG's developers say they'll reinvest into anti-cheat technology.

As detailed in a press release, federal courts in the US and Germany recently ruled in favor of PUBG Mobile publishers Tencent Games and Krafton in a lawsuit launched against members of a hacking group known for creating and distributing cheats within the game.

As part of the ruling, the defendants have been ordered to pay the publishers around $10 million USD in damages. In addition, the group has also been ordered to provide details pertaining to how they were able to exploit the game in the first place and are under strict instructions to cease any future illegal activities involving game cheating.

In a statement following the legal victory, Tencent Games PUBG Mobile Producer Rick Li spoke about the importance of the ruling within the game's online community. “Millions of players worldwide enjoy PUBG Mobile and we will ensure a level playing field for everyone. Sadly, the actions of hacker groups undermine the fairness of the game. These Judgements send a clear message that we will not tolerate cheating in PUBG Mobile," he said.

Krafton's Head of PUBG Mobile Product Development Minu Lee added that the publishers will continue to monitor the state of the game going forward. “Fun and fairness is the bedrock of the PUBG Mobile experience and cheating in any form will not be tolerated," said Lee. "As such, we will continue enforcing our IP rights with unwavering resolve against any who seek to tarnish or misuse them.”

The two companies announced that any funds recovered from the ruling will be reinvested into anti-cheat technology for the game.

Despite this being a victory for PUBG Mobile and its community, other online multiplayer publishers will be hoping that it sends a wider message throughout the industry. The issue of cheating has become far more prominent with the rise of free-to-play online games and has affected a number of gaming communities including the likes of Halo Infinite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Battlefield 2042.

While a number of games such as Call of Duty: Warzone have looked to combat cheating through building upon and improving their built-in anti-cheat systems, further legal options are also being explored by a number of companies. Most recently, Activision announced that it had launched a lawsuit against EngineOwning - a popular cheats distributor who is accused of creating and distributing cheats throughout a range of Call of Duty titles. With that in mind, it's likely that Activision will be encouraged by the recent ruling in favour of PUBG Mobile and will be hoping for a similar outcome in their own pursuits.

To read more about the efforts companies are taking to combat cheaters within their games, make sure to check out this piece detailing the lawsuit that Riot and Bungie launched against the software producers creating hacks for Valorant and Destiny 2 last year.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Sega is reassessing its plans to launch NFT content, having received negative reactions from the community following their initial announcement on the matter.

As reported by Nintendo Life, Sega's NFT plans were addressed in a recent management meeting in which Sega CEO Haruki Satomi, CFO Koichi Fukazawa, and COO Yukio Sugino assembled to discuss a range of topics regarding the company, including its growth strategy, noting that "nothing is decided" about NFTs, blockchain, or play-to-earn content.

"In terms of NFT, we would like to try out various experiments and we have already started many different studies and considerations but nothing is decided at this point regarding P2E [Play-to-Earn]," one attendee remarked. "There have been many announcements about this already including at overseas but there are users who show negative reactions at this point."

The speaker went on address several areas that may need to be considered before the company makes a final decision on whether or not to proceed with their plans to "start selling NFT digital contents that utilize blockchain technology" in partnership with game developer double jump.tokyo., as per the announcment made by Sega in April of last year.

"We need to carefully assess many things such as how we can mitigate the negative elements, how much we can introduce this within the Japanese regulation, what will be accepted and what will not be by the users," they added. "Then, we will consider this further if this leads to our mission 'Constantly Creating, Forever Captivating,' but if it is perceived as simple money-making, I would like to make a decision not to proceed."

NFTs and cryptocurrencies are currently largely unregulated entities often exploited for scam purposes and have been accused of having a huge negative impact on the environment due to the energy consumed during the electronic mining of currency. Steam has already banned blockchain games, but some companies are moving forward with their NFT plans regardless.

Konami is the latest games publisher to express a shift in this direction, having recently announced the launch of an NFT collection to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Castlevania. Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda also penned a New Year's letter highlighting the company's growing focus on NFTs, blockchain games, and the metaverse.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Sega is reassessing its plans to launch NFT content, having received negative reactions from the community following their initial announcement on the matter.

As reported by Nintendo Life, Sega's NFT plans were addressed in a recent management meeting in which Sega CEO Haruki Satomi, CFO Koichi Fukazawa, and COO Yukio Sugino assembled to discuss a range of topics regarding the company, including its growth strategy, noting that "nothing is decided" about NFTs, blockchain, or play-to-earn content.

"In terms of NFT, we would like to try out various experiments and we have already started many different studies and considerations but nothing is decided at this point regarding P2E [Play-to-Earn]," one attendee remarked. "There have been many announcements about this already including at overseas but there are users who show negative reactions at this point."

The speaker went on address several areas that may need to be considered before the company makes a final decision on whether or not to proceed with their plans to "start selling NFT digital contents that utilize blockchain technology" in partnership with game developer double jump.tokyo., as per the announcment made by Sega in April of last year.

"We need to carefully assess many things such as how we can mitigate the negative elements, how much we can introduce this within the Japanese regulation, what will be accepted and what will not be by the users," they added. "Then, we will consider this further if this leads to our mission 'Constantly Creating, Forever Captivating,' but if it is perceived as simple money-making, I would like to make a decision not to proceed."

NFTs and cryptocurrencies are currently largely unregulated entities often exploited for scam purposes and have been accused of having a huge negative impact on the environment due to the energy consumed during the electronic mining of currency. Steam has already banned blockchain games, but some companies are moving forward with their NFT plans regardless.

Konami is the latest games publisher to express a shift in this direction, having recently announced the launch of an NFT collection to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Castlevania. Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda also penned a New Year's letter highlighting the company's growing focus on NFTs, blockchain games, and the metaverse.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Question Games – which was founded in part by ex-BioShock developers who went on to create The Magic Circle and The Blackout Club – is working on a new South Park game.

As spotted by Eurogamer, Question has posted a job advert for a lead level designer to help make "a new video game set in the world of South Park." It's not clear if this is to assist on the South Park game previously announced to be in development at South Park Studios, or is a separate game entirely. We've contacted South Park Studios and Question for comment.

Question is an interesting match for the long-running comedy show – aside from its developers' history on beloved games including Thief, BioShock, and the most recent South Park RPGs, the studio's own Magic Circle was a satirical look inside the game development process. Given The Stick of Truth and The Fractured But Whole's own metatextual approach to gaming genres and comedy, it makes for a potentially very nice fit.

Question's own vision is to "draw on a long history of games with strong central narratives & diverse player-enabling systems with the goal of attempting to create new experiences in the same vein, but on a smaller scale."

The level designer role itself doesn't give too much about the game away, although there is mention of development using Unreal Engine, and multiplayer development experience is a requirement of the role. As you might expect, the game appears to be in development for PC and consoles.

South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker recently signed an enormous South Park deal that comprises 14 movies, multiple TV seasons, and a new game. Under the terms of that deal, the show will run until at least 2027, which will mark its 30th anniversary.

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.

Question Games – which was founded in part by ex-BioShock developers who went on to create The Magic Circle and The Blackout Club – is working on a new South Park game.

As spotted by Eurogamer, Question has posted a job advert for a lead level designer to help make "a new video game set in the world of South Park." It's not clear if this is to assist on the South Park game previously announced to be in development at South Park Studios, or is a separate game entirely. We've contacted South Park Studios and Question for comment.

Question is an interesting match for the long-running comedy show – aside from its developers' history on beloved games including Thief, BioShock, and the most recent South Park RPGs, the studio's own Magic Circle was a satirical look inside the game development process. Given The Stick of Truth and The Fractured But Whole's own metatextual approach to gaming genres and comedy, it makes for a potentially very nice fit.

Question's own vision is to "draw on a long history of games with strong central narratives & diverse player-enabling systems with the goal of attempting to create new experiences in the same vein, but on a smaller scale."

The level designer role itself doesn't give too much about the game away, although there is mention of development using Unreal Engine, and multiplayer development experience is a requirement of the role. As you might expect, the game appears to be in development for PC and consoles.

South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker recently signed an enormous South Park deal that comprises 14 movies, multiple TV seasons, and a new game. Under the terms of that deal, the show will run until at least 2027, which will mark its 30th anniversary.

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.

The moderation team behind Battlefield 2042's subreddit has warned fans that they will not hesitate to shut down the space for a period of time if the level of toxicity on the feed continues to mount. The announcement comes only a month after the r/Halo subreddit declared its own temporary lockdown following similar toxic behaviour from some members of its community.

As reported by PC Gamer, the warning from the r/Battlefield2042 moderation team seemingly comes after a wealth of angry responses were aimed in backlash to now-deleted tweets posted on Twitter by EA Global Comms Director Andy McNamara.

McNamara's tweets appear to have been made in response to the Battlefield community after it criticized DICE for a lack of communication and further improvements to the game throughout the latter part of December - during a period of vacation for a number of staff at the studio.

"Back to work today, check Reddit & Twitter and Battlefield fans are pissed we didn't do enough updates or communication over the holiday break," said McNamara. "Guys, people gotta rest. We have things in motion but we have to figure out what is possible [...] Let us get back from break and get back to work. Love you guys but these expectations are brutal. The things you want take time to scope, design, and execute."

Following McNamara's comments, the thread was posted on the Battlefield 2042 subreddit where anger toward the studio and its employees seemingly accelerated into insults from some parties. This then prompted the moderation team behind the subreddit to get involved, issuing a first warning to those about their actions in the forum.

McNamara has since removed his original tweets from Twitter, instead opting to apologise to fans for not making his message clear enough. This caused a renewed round of angry responses from some.

"The message was clear on launch," writes one fan. "Stop looking for sympathy and start providing solutions. Your idea of we need to work some of those things out shouldn't be hard being half of it was in former games. Keep my $100. Sure it's money lost. But it's $100 knowing to never touch BF again."

Friction between DICE and members of the Battlefield community has been on the rise since the launch of Battlefield 2042. Following a turbulent release riddled with bugs and glitches, as well as a number of overall changes to gameplay within the series, fans of the franchise have been largely critical of the game.

In November, this was reflected in the title's Steam review score, which was inundated with negative reviews, and pushed it onto Steam 250's infamous Hall of Shame. Since then further tensions have grown between DICE and its community over perceived missing features and other factors such as a leaked Santa Claus-themed holiday skin.

While DICE has worked to improve the overall experience for players within Battlefield 2042, there has been genuine criticism and constructive feedback, but a rise in toxic behaviour from the game's fanbase has also been noted.

With tensions continuing to mount between community members and those at the studio, and toxicity continuing in community responses, this week the moderation team for Battlefield's subreddit issued its members a clear-cut ultimatum: ditch the insults, or else the forum could be placed into lockdown. A full statement from the team can be seen below.

The response from the moderation team resembles a similar tone made in a statement by the team behind the r/Halo subreddit last month, which issued a temporary lockdown after the team declared that "toxicity had reached a breaking point and was increasing exponentially." After explaining that behaviour on the sub had "made it impossible for people to have civil discussions", the Halo subreddit closed for a weekend in an attempt to allow tempers to dissipate and people to take a break.

While it's not yet clear whether the Battlefield 2042 subreddit will need to take similar action, here's to hoping that those involved in posting insults and targeted messages of harassment can heed the warning before it's too late.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

The moderation team behind Battlefield 2042's subreddit has warned fans that they will not hesitate to shut down the space for a period of time if the level of toxicity on the feed continues to mount. The announcement comes only a month after the r/Halo subreddit declared its own temporary lockdown following similar toxic behaviour from some members of its community.

As reported by PC Gamer, the warning from the r/Battlefield2042 moderation team seemingly comes after a wealth of angry responses were aimed in backlash to now-deleted tweets posted on Twitter by EA Global Comms Director Andy McNamara.

McNamara's tweets appear to have been made in response to the Battlefield community after it criticized DICE for a lack of communication and further improvements to the game throughout the latter part of December - during a period of vacation for a number of staff at the studio.

"Back to work today, check Reddit & Twitter and Battlefield fans are pissed we didn't do enough updates or communication over the holiday break," said McNamara. "Guys, people gotta rest. We have things in motion but we have to figure out what is possible [...] Let us get back from break and get back to work. Love you guys but these expectations are brutal. The things you want take time to scope, design, and execute."

Following McNamara's comments, the thread was posted on the Battlefield 2042 subreddit where anger toward the studio and its employees seemingly accelerated into insults from some parties. This then prompted the moderation team behind the subreddit to get involved, issuing a first warning to those about their actions in the forum.

McNamara has since removed his original tweets from Twitter, instead opting to apologise to fans for not making his message clear enough. This caused a renewed round of angry responses from some.

"The message was clear on launch," writes one fan. "Stop looking for sympathy and start providing solutions. Your idea of we need to work some of those things out shouldn't be hard being half of it was in former games. Keep my $100. Sure it's money lost. But it's $100 knowing to never touch BF again."

Friction between DICE and members of the Battlefield community has been on the rise since the launch of Battlefield 2042. Following a turbulent release riddled with bugs and glitches, as well as a number of overall changes to gameplay within the series, fans of the franchise have been largely critical of the game.

In November, this was reflected in the title's Steam review score, which was inundated with negative reviews, and pushed it onto Steam 250's infamous Hall of Shame. Since then further tensions have grown between DICE and its community over perceived missing features and other factors such as a leaked Santa Claus-themed holiday skin.

While DICE has worked to improve the overall experience for players within Battlefield 2042, there has been genuine criticism and constructive feedback, but a rise in toxic behaviour from the game's fanbase has also been noted.

With tensions continuing to mount between community members and those at the studio, and toxicity continuing in community responses, this week the moderation team for Battlefield's subreddit issued its members a clear-cut ultimatum: ditch the insults, or else the forum could be placed into lockdown. A full statement from the team can be seen below.

The response from the moderation team resembles a similar tone made in a statement by the team behind the r/Halo subreddit last month, which issued a temporary lockdown after the team declared that "toxicity had reached a breaking point and was increasing exponentially." After explaining that behaviour on the sub had "made it impossible for people to have civil discussions", the Halo subreddit closed for a weekend in an attempt to allow tempers to dissipate and people to take a break.

While it's not yet clear whether the Battlefield 2042 subreddit will need to take similar action, here's to hoping that those involved in posting insults and targeted messages of harassment can heed the warning before it's too late.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Cardy, Joe, and Dale are here to run through the five best things they each did over the Christmas break. We've got superheroes, detectives, murders, and metaverses among many other topics. The Endless Search also makes its glorious return as well as a borderline heated debate about what the best British crisp is.

Want to get in touch? Why not let us know what the best Christmas present you received this year was. Feel free to sling us an email at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast #626: The 15 Best Things We Played and Watched Over Christmas

• IGN UK Podcast #625: The Big 2022 Preview
• IGN UK Podcast #624: Alternative Movie and TV Awards 2021
• IGN UK Podcast #623: Alternative Game Awards 2021
• IGN UK Podcast #622: Sucking on Chocolate is Wonderful
• IGN UK Podcast #621: West Side Story of Bungalow Bill