Classic '80s adventure movie The Goonies is getting a TV show of sorts, with a Goonies-inspired drama heading to Disney+.

According to Variety, the upcoming show is about a teacher who helps her class recreate The Goonies in a shot-for-shot remake.

Originally known only as the “Untitled Film Re-Enactment Project”, the script was adapted by Sarah Watson into a pilot episode for Fox. Produced by Warner Bros. Television, it has now shifted to Disney+ as well as getting a new name – Our Time.

The Goonies is a 1985 adventure comedy film by director Richard Donner, which later became a bit of a cult classic. Attempting to save their homes from foreclosure, the kids of the “Goon Docks” embark on an adventure to find the hidden treasure of a 17th century pirate, One-Eyed Willy.

Now, this classic kids film is getting a sort of meta-remake.

“It was an incredible cast, but unfortunately a little bit too young for Fox,” said Warner Bros. Television boss, Clancy Collins White. “And so we immediately swung into high gear and hit the town with it. We did not yet have anything in development at Disney Plus. It’s been another example of being able to carve a pathway where there wasn’t one by virtue of a great story, a great pilot, a great series. The deal has taken a while to make, but we’re really excited to be moving forward.”

The Donner Company and Amblin, which were both behind The Goonies, are on board for the upcoming project.

If you ask me, this new Goonies show sounds similar to the plot of Son of Rambow – the critically acclaimed 2007 comedy which sees two young friends create their own film based on First Blood.

But considering the popularity of The Goonies, it feels like a great choice of remake.

Writer Sarah Watson also joins as executive producer, alongside Gail Berman and Hend Baghdady from The Jackal Group, Lauren Shuler Donner and the late Richard Donner, and Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey from Amblin TV.

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

Passion Republic Games has revealed Kongkrete, a sentient office building that will be a playable character in the studio’s upcoming multiplayer brawler game, GigaBash.

Here at IGN we’re able to bring you the first look at gameplay of Kongkrete in the new official GigaBash trailer. Take a look at the chaos in action below.

Kongkrete has one advantage over its adversaries in GigaBash’s monster roster; as a building, it can blend in with other structures on the map when standing completely still. This allows the multi-storey terror to gain the element of surprise, which is not something we’d ever expect of a tower block.

Enemies that get too close to Kongkrete can be damaged by a burst of Giga Energy that reverses their movement controls, making it much more difficult for them to fight back and avoid your blows. Such a move pales in comparison to Kongkrete’s Ultimate ability, though, which turns it into a rocket-powered skyscraper that can squash enemies flat.

GigaBash is a 4-player multiplayer brawler inspired by kaiju movies. With a roster of monsters, kaijus, and heroes, players will be able to cause chaos in fully destructible maps (so expect plenty of collapsing buildings, aside from Kongkrete). It will release on PS5, PS4 and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store in early 2022.

For more, check out 17 minutes of GigaBash gameplay, in which hero Gigaman can be seen battering the monster Skorak.

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

Passion Republic Games has revealed Kongkrete, a sentient office building that will be a playable character in the studio’s upcoming multiplayer brawler game, GigaBash.

Here at IGN we’re able to bring you the first look at gameplay of Kongkrete in the new official GigaBash trailer. Take a look at the chaos in action below.

Kongkrete has one advantage over its adversaries in GigaBash’s monster roster; as a building, it can blend in with other structures on the map when standing completely still. This allows the multi-storey terror to gain the element of surprise, which is not something we’d ever expect of a tower block.

Enemies that get too close to Kongkrete can be damaged by a burst of Giga Energy that reverses their movement controls, making it much more difficult for them to fight back and avoid your blows. Such a move pales in comparison to Kongkrete’s Ultimate ability, though, which turns it into a rocket-powered skyscraper that can squash enemies flat.

GigaBash is a 4-player multiplayer brawler inspired by kaiju movies. With a roster of monsters, kaijus, and heroes, players will be able to cause chaos in fully destructible maps (so expect plenty of collapsing buildings, aside from Kongkrete). It will release on PS5, PS4 and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store in early 2022.

For more, check out 17 minutes of GigaBash gameplay, in which hero Gigaman can be seen battering the monster Skorak.

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

Bungie head of HR Gayle d'Hondt is stepping down from her role at the company after more than 14 years effective today, IGN has learned.

In an email circulated to employees today which IGN has seen in full, d'Hondt reflected on her time at the company, saying she wants to do "everything in my power to make sure everyone who works here has a safe, welcoming, and supportive environment." She then cited the need for the company's people team to "move forward" with membership "largely comprised of people new to Bungie."

"I know that they need to be trusted to be your advocates – not labeled as 'enablers' or seen as company resources who provide bad actors with safe harbor," she wrote.

D'Hondt is officially stepping out of her official role as senior employee relations manager, but it is not clear whether or not she will remain with the company. In her email, she states that she "will work with Holly [Barbacovi, chief people officer] and the leadership team at Bungie to determine what the appropriate next steps are."

Also in her message, d'Hondt mentioned that her time at Bungie had included working through "deeply challenging interpersonal conflicts" including termination of employees for "performance, bad behavior, and for discrimination, racism, and sexual harassment."

She added that this included reporting her own abuser: "a man, an executive, and someone I thought was my friend at Bungie — which resulted in Bungie firing him."

D'Hondt concluded her email: "I am proud of the work I did at this company. I believe I made recommendations that were in the best interest of our people and in service of the company we wish to become. I also believe we made some mistakes, and that to become the better version of ourselves – the company I know we can be – we have to acknowledge and confront them, in good faith, and grow together."

D'Hondt's announcement comes less than a week after our extensive report on Bungie's work culture, which spanned a long history of sexism, boys' club culture, crunch, and HR protection of abusers over more than a decade. It also included details on Bungie's more recent efforts to turn that culture around, including quietly removing a number of harmful individuals from the company in the last few years.

Bungie did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

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

Bungie head of HR Gayle d'Hondt is stepping down from her role at the company after more than 14 years effective today, IGN has learned.

In an email circulated to employees today which IGN has seen in full, d'Hondt reflected on her time at the company, saying she wants to do "everything in my power to make sure everyone who works here has a safe, welcoming, and supportive environment." She then cited the need for the company's people team to "move forward" with membership "largely comprised of people new to Bungie."

"I know that they need to be trusted to be your advocates – not labeled as 'enablers' or seen as company resources who provide bad actors with safe harbor," she wrote.

D'Hondt is officially stepping out of her official role as senior employee relations manager, but it is not clear whether or not she will remain with the company. In her email, she states that she "will work with Holly [Barbacovi, chief people officer] and the leadership team at Bungie to determine what the appropriate next steps are."

Also in her message, d'Hondt mentioned that her time at Bungie had included working through "deeply challenging interpersonal conflicts" including termination of employees for "performance, bad behavior, and for discrimination, racism, and sexual harassment."

She added that this included reporting her own abuser: "a man, an executive, and someone I thought was my friend at Bungie — which resulted in Bungie firing him."

D'Hondt concluded her email: "I am proud of the work I did at this company. I believe I made recommendations that were in the best interest of our people and in service of the company we wish to become. I also believe we made some mistakes, and that to become the better version of ourselves – the company I know we can be – we have to acknowledge and confront them, in good faith, and grow together."

D'Hondt's announcement comes less than a week after our extensive report on Bungie's work culture, which spanned a long history of sexism, boys' club culture, crunch, and HR protection of abusers over more than a decade. It also included details on Bungie's more recent efforts to turn that culture around, including quietly removing a number of harmful individuals from the company in the last few years.

Bungie did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

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

Fable creator Peter Molyneux's next game isn't even out yet, but it's already making millions of dollars through NFTs, including selling one plot of land for a breathtaking amount of money.

Over the weekend Molyneux announced that his new game is called Legacy, and it's described as "an innovative new game that pushes the boundaries of Blockchain Gaming". To get into the game, players have to buy a "Land NFT" which lets them open a "blockchain business association" in the game.

This allows players to create digital buildings and products to sell to other players. Basically, you can become a virtual business owner in the hopes of making real money.

The money in the game is a cryptocurrency called LegacyCoin that's part of the Ethereum blockchain. You can read more about Legacy's planned ecosystem, and how it plans to let players earn LegacyCoin.

While the game isn't due out until next year, the Land NFTs went up for sale this weekend. And, Rock Paper Shotgun reports some of the plots of Land sold for incredibly high prices.

Overall, the plots of land sold for a total of more than $53 million. The most expensive and rare plot called the London plot, sold for a staggering $900,000. The game isn't out until 2022, so the new "Land" owners will have to wait until then to start working on their digital businesses within Legacy.

Much of the game industry is starting to experiment with NFTs and blockchain. Ubisoft took a crack at it when it announced its new Quartz system, and STALKER 2 announced a blockchain project just today. On the flipside, Steam has banned blockchain games and NFTs from its platform entirely.

Public opinion is divided on NFTs as a model for commerce and games. Ubisoft's Quartz reveal was quickly downvoted, and critics say that NFTs offer nothing new while draining precious resources. The market is also rife with speculation, making the monetary potential of the concept shaky at best.

Axios' Stephen Totilo noted that Ubisoft's Ghost Recon NFTs are being listed for hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the offers are a paltry $21, meaning sellers are looking to cash in on the hype more than the actual interst.

Those Ghost Recon NFT gun skins are now on crypto marketplaces. Of the 2,000 skins issued, I found 19 on sale. Asking prices ranged from $634 to $423,000.

The highest offer anyone is making on the market I checked?

$21

The sector is full of speculatorshttps://t.co/cOuyVdn2Fv

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) December 15, 2021

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Fable creator Peter Molyneux's next game isn't even out yet, but it's already making millions of dollars through NFTs, including selling one plot of land for a breathtaking amount of money.

Over the weekend Molyneux announced that his new game is called Legacy, and it's described as "an innovative new game that pushes the boundaries of Blockchain Gaming". To get into the game, players have to buy a "Land NFT" which lets them open a "blockchain business association" in the game.

This allows players to create digital buildings and products to sell to other players. Basically, you can become a virtual business owner in the hopes of making real money.

The money in the game is a cryptocurrency called LegacyCoin that's part of the Ethereum blockchain. You can read more about Legacy's planned ecosystem, and how it plans to let players earn LegacyCoin.

While the game isn't due out until next year, the Land NFTs went up for sale this weekend. And, Rock Paper Shotgun reports some of the plots of Land sold for incredibly high prices.

Overall, the plots of land sold for a total of more than $53 million. The most expensive and rare plot called the London plot, sold for a staggering $900,000. The game isn't out until 2022, so the new "Land" owners will have to wait until then to start working on their digital businesses within Legacy.

Much of the game industry is starting to experiment with NFTs and blockchain. Ubisoft took a crack at it when it announced its new Quartz system, and STALKER 2 announced a blockchain project just today. On the flipside, Steam has banned blockchain games and NFTs from its platform entirely.

Public opinion is divided on NFTs as a model for commerce and games. Ubisoft's Quartz reveal was quickly downvoted, and critics say that NFTs offer nothing new while draining precious resources. The market is also rife with speculation, making the monetary potential of the concept shaky at best.

Axios' Stephen Totilo noted that Ubisoft's Ghost Recon NFTs are being listed for hundreds of thousands of dollars, but the offers are a paltry $21, meaning sellers are looking to cash in on the hype more than the actual interst.

Those Ghost Recon NFT gun skins are now on crypto marketplaces. Of the 2,000 skins issued, I found 19 on sale. Asking prices ranged from $634 to $423,000.

The highest offer anyone is making on the market I checked?

$21

The sector is full of speculatorshttps://t.co/cOuyVdn2Fv

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) December 15, 2021

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Get ready for some nostalgia, Harry Potter fans, as the first poster for the upcoming Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts has been revealed.

The poster features Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, or Harry, Ron, and Hermione, front and center, with many other familiar faces surrounding them. They appear to be standing in Hogwarts' Great Hall, which is decked out for the holiday season.

Last week, we got our first look at the Harry Potter reunion through an image of Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson all sitting together on set.

The reunion was announced back in November, and it's set to be a big celebration of the film franchise, featuring many of the film series' cast beyond the big three. The reunion's announcement made no mention of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who has come under fire for her controversial anti-transgender views.

The special is set to air on New Year's Day on HBO Max. If you want to be ready to check it out for yourself, check out how to watch the Harry Potter 20th anniversary special.

The HBO Max special might not be the last reunion between the main three actors. Sorcerer's Stone director Chris Columbus wants to bring Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson together for an adaptation of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – the hit theatre production that features Harry, Ron, and Hermione's children.

There's plenty of other stuff going on in the wizarding world, as well. Just this week, we got a look at the first trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, which is coming to theaters on April 15, 2022.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Get ready for some nostalgia, Harry Potter fans, as the first poster for the upcoming Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts has been revealed.

The poster features Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, or Harry, Ron, and Hermione, front and center, with many other familiar faces surrounding them. They appear to be standing in Hogwarts' Great Hall, which is decked out for the holiday season.

Last week, we got our first look at the Harry Potter reunion through an image of Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson all sitting together on set.

The reunion was announced back in November, and it's set to be a big celebration of the film franchise, featuring many of the film series' cast beyond the big three. The reunion's announcement made no mention of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who has come under fire for her controversial anti-transgender views.

The special is set to air on New Year's Day on HBO Max. If you want to be ready to check it out for yourself, check out how to watch the Harry Potter 20th anniversary special.

The HBO Max special might not be the last reunion between the main three actors. Sorcerer's Stone director Chris Columbus wants to bring Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson together for an adaptation of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – the hit theatre production that features Harry, Ron, and Hermione's children.

There's plenty of other stuff going on in the wizarding world, as well. Just this week, we got a look at the first trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, which is coming to theaters on April 15, 2022.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Activision Blizzard is currently facing serious ongoing allegations of harassment and mistreatment of marginalized workers. To learn more, please visit our timeline as well as our in-depth report on the subject.

Diablo II’s last meaningful balance-focused patch arrived on March 23, 2010. That was to be the evermore version of the classic action-RPG. And yet, more than 21 years after Diablo II first launched, that’s not the end of the story. That version of the game - 1.13c to be precise - was the foundation upon which Diablo II: Resurrected was built. That game took the underlying game logic of the original and laid a 3D engine laid over the top, and the goal was to keep the gameplay (almost) exactly as it once was.

Now, however, Blizzard has announced a new patch coming to Diablo II: Resurrected that will once again take the experience somewhere new. Patch 2.4 - which will be coming to a PTR (Public Test Realm) on PC early next year - is set to make significant changes, close to 12 years since the last such update.

The changes will be geared around opening up new opportunities. The team isn’t interested in messing with things that work, and will instead focus on giving players more options. All seven playable classes are being reworked to some extent, in fact, capitalising on the game’s impressively open class design to elevate class fantasies that aren’t currently viable in high-level play. A few examples of builds the team have focused on, for instance, are melee-powered Amazons, martial arts-focused Assassins, and axe throwing Barbarians.

The re-introduction of Ladder Play (seasonal play), meanwhile, will introduce new Rune Word items, which are high level armour pieces and weapons crafted using hard to find socketable items. Set items are being buffed too, and Mercenaries (AI support characters) are being reworked.

These changes are a big deal considering how sacrosanct the original game was during Resurrected’s development, but it makes sense. The light touch tweaks that were made for Resurrected, such as (optional) auto-gold pick-up and adding a skill bar for PC players, were well-received, and the team have had many months of community feedback too.

“The first stage was, let's launch the game, have it be successful, and make sure that all the bugs and all the kinks and all the server stuff… was taken care of and smoothed out before moving on to stage two,” says Matthew Cederquist, Senior Game Producer. “I think we took the right approach, making sure everything was good before making changes. There was such an abundance of feedback that came through too, it was almost overwhelming. Players still love this game, 20 years later, and want to see updates. We took that and ran with it.”

Let’s dig into the changes in more detail.

Class Balance Changes

As mentioned, the changes to the seven playable classes (Amazon, Assassin, Barbarian, Druid, Necromancer, Paladin and Sorceress) won’t alter what they can already do, but instead will foster new viable builds.

“Conservative is a good way to put it,” says Robert Gallerani, Studio Design Director. “We're taking baby steps… which is why you'll notice that nothing's being nerfed.”

So what constitutes a viable build? Well that would be high-level play in Diablo II’s Nightmare and Hell difficulties. “We're not looking to make a brand new game, Diablo II is still going to be Diablo II,” Matthew Cederquist adds. “The main goal is to take the less viable classes and builds, stuff that has thematic value, and raise them up. 20 years ago, if you played a Blizzard Sorceress and you jumped back in [today] you’d still be able to play the same Blizzard Sorc. But, what if you always loved the idea of a Throwing Barbarian? It wasn't viable before. That's what we’re looking to do.”

It’s a commendable approach, and one that will no doubt pave the way for new builds complemented by both existing items and new Rune Words. Also, while viability is determined by high-level play it’s worth noting that all changes will benefit lower difficulty too.

The Amazon changes are being described as melee focused, with skills like Impale and Fend highlighted as two that are being buffed to increase damage potential. There’ll be changes to synergy requirements too, meaning you might not need to put a decent number of skill points into a synergy skill purely for the buff it can give.

High level play Assassins in Diablo II are usually all about placing sentries and traps and keeping your distance from mobs. With Patch 2.4, the martial arts skill tree is getting a rework specifically to offer up more choice. Not only that but lesser used traps are set to get a damage scaling buff – which means more options than simply going for Lightning Sentries every time.

For the Barbarian, in addition to the aforementioned Throwing Barbarian (Double Throw and Throwing Mastery) build, Leap Attack and Grim Ward are being looked into. For the Necromancer, Skeletal Mages and lesser used golems are getting a rework alongside bone skills for damage reduction.

Druid, meanwhile, is getting what sounds like a substantial rework of fire skills (right down to timings) and other elemental skills. In addition to this, the pet side of the Druid, the summons, are being buffed with a mind towards high-level Hell runs. This means that the Druid’s pets should be getting increased health, higher damage output, and some new synergies.

The Paladin’s cool sounding but not that cool Fist of the Heavens is getting a buff of some sort alongside Offensive Auras. For the Sorceress, skills like the Hydra will be improved whilst the team is looking to make the Inferno skill “less clunky” to use.

Mercenaries Rework and Set Item Buffs

Another area the team is focusing on is Mercenaries and making all of these recruitable AI characters useful across all difficulties. This means buffing their skills and base stats, with new Rune Words also supporting the lesser used Mercenaries. Basically, anyone other than Act II’s Desert Mercenary.

It’s a significant move, especially for those that struggle to keep their Mercenaries alive as they progress onto Nightmare and Hell. The goal here is to try and service the player base that sits in the middle, between casual and high-end expert. This philosophy is also driving the changes that are being made to some of the sets found in Diablo II.

“Diablo II is easy to get into and hard to master,” Matthew Cederquist says. “And there is a middle point that's a little vague. That's where the set items come into play. We wanted to be able to identify which ones were solid and didn't need changing at all. We put a couple of the others in front of the community and they were like, ‘oh yeah, I instantly sell those’. When something like that happens, you probably want to design them a little differently.”

An example of a set that isn’t changing is Cow King’s Leathers; a useful collection of green goodness you could work into any number of builds. Gear that’s confirmed to be getting a rework is Death’s Garb, which currently falls into that “instantly sell” category.

According to the team though, it’s not just about buffing lesser-used items. “Just taking other games into consideration, stuff outside of action-RPGs, when you have one [piece] of a set, there's something in the back of your mind where you want to get the other one,” Robert Gallerani reflects. “You need the matching set. That fantasy of putting together a matching set, having these two or more things that belong together. This is a key reason we’re buffing sets. A set is a really cool thing, you got it, so it should be good for you.”

‘Tis the Season for Ladder Play

Ladder Play will also be coming with patch 2.4, but this is no great surprise, as it was announced as a post-launch feature when Resurrected was first revealed. It will take a form that’s very familiar to old school Diablo II players - a race to level 99. Each new Ladder Play period generally lasts for a few months, and players start from scratch at the beginning of each season. Ladder Play encompasses four modes covering vanilla Diablo II, the Lord of Destruction expansion, and Hardcore versions of both.

Ladder Play has historically seen the debut of Rune Words in Diablo II and that tradition will continue with Resurrected. Ladder Play will be the only place where the new Rune Words coming in Patch 2.4 will drop, at least initially. Focusing on Rune Words as opposed to new uniques is an ingenious way to introduce new and powerful items, as it relies on crafting, negating the need to alter things like drop rates covering countless variations or possible loot.

Although details on the exact Rune Words aren’t yet available, or the total number, we do know quite a bit. All of the new Rune Words will utilise existing runes that are already available in Diablo II - some of them are actually high-level items that were designed back in the day, but that never made their way into the final game. Most of them though will be brand new and set to synergise with the meatier changes being introduced in patch 2.4.

The new Rune Words will complement the set item buffs, some will suit Mercenaries, and others will help amplify reworked class fantasies. As is the way with Ladder Play, the new Rune Words will eventually make their way over to the core Diablo II: Resurrected experience, but only after the inaugural ladder season has come to a close. On this front Blizzard expects the first ladder season to last roughly four months. However, this could change as Patch 2.4 rolls out.

Introducing the PTR

For the development team, remaining true to the original Diablo II and its Lord of Destruction expansion was always the goal. So even though patch 2.4 sounds a little bit like a Trojan Horse-style 180 on that idea, it was only after the positive reception from fans that the team felt they could “start acting on a lot of those theories and ideas we had through development.”

“When we were very first thinking of remastering this game I went out to these storage lockers around the town,” Matthew Cederquist says. “And they had all of these handwritten books and notebooks, ancient things that you had to dust off. But within them were the original thoughts of the designers. So when you’re looking to change something that's so many years old, you don't want to simply add something because you think it might be cool. These changes hearken back to what the original team created. Getting to see what they were thinking, we put ourselves in that position and then built upon that.”

“There are times where we've hit a bridge too far,” Robert Gallerani adds. “For example, fire immunities. A lot of people talk about how at a certain point in the game, fire immunity [on monsters] can screw a particular build. So why don’t we go in and start changing how fire immunity works? Well, the systems of Diablo II are all intertwined, so changing this one thing over here could change 19 other things over there. So we have to do it in a staggered approach. That's not to say we're thinking about getting rid of immunities, we’re just taking it slow. Let's see how everyone reacts, and as we go along, what works and what doesn't.”

Patch 2.4 will roll out early next year on PC in PTR form. It promises to help keep Diablo II vital as we move through 2022. And best of all? This is only the beginning.

Kosta Andreadis is an Australian musician and freelancer who wrote this longform Diablo retrospective. Check out his tunes and follow him on Twitter.