Hello Neighbor 2 has been pushed back to an unannounced date in 2022. Publisher TinyBuild has announced that pre-orders will begin in April, and that an upcoming beta will show off some of the game's open world.

According to the publisher, pre-orders for the stealth horror sequel will go live from April 7, 2022. The last time we heard about the game's release, it was due for 2021, meaning it's received a quiet delay.

As well as ensuring that they'll be able to play the game at release, fans pre-ordering Hello Neighbor 2 will also receive access to the game's beta when it releases.

While a release date is yet to be announced, the studio has said that those accessing Hello Neighbor 2's beta will be able to explore a good part of the game's fictional town, Raven Brooks. Elsewhere in the announcement, the publisher also shared a short trailer for the game.

"In this game, you'll be playing as Quentin - a journalist investigating a series of missing person cases in the open world of Raven Brooks," explains a narrator over the top of the trailer. "Create your own adventure as you interact with a host of new characters and take on the infamous Mr. Peterson - a suspect who has been hiding from the police and is now designed with a neural network. But trust no one, everyone's a suspect."

In the trailer, fans are introduced to a number of different new characters from within the game including what appears to be an AI dog, a gun-wielding taxidermist, and the town's Mayor (as previously referenced in the game's first devlog). The clip also appears to show off a number of new items that players will be able to collect within the game such as a doughnut, which Quentin uses to distract a dog, and a rifle, which is taken from a wall.

For more on Hello Neighbor 2, make sure to check out our first preview of the game, where we sat down with the game's creators to talk about the sequel's improved AI, new protagonist, and expanded open world.

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

Hello Neighbor 2 has been pushed back to an unannounced date in 2022. Publisher TinyBuild has announced that pre-orders will begin in April, and that an upcoming beta will show off some of the game's open world.

According to the publisher, pre-orders for the stealth horror sequel will go live from April 7, 2022. The last time we heard about the game's release, it was due for 2021, meaning it's received a quiet delay.

As well as ensuring that they'll be able to play the game at release, fans pre-ordering Hello Neighbor 2 will also receive access to the game's beta when it releases.

While a release date is yet to be announced, the studio has said that those accessing Hello Neighbor 2's beta will be able to explore a good part of the game's fictional town, Raven Brooks. Elsewhere in the announcement, the publisher also shared a short trailer for the game.

"In this game, you'll be playing as Quentin - a journalist investigating a series of missing person cases in the open world of Raven Brooks," explains a narrator over the top of the trailer. "Create your own adventure as you interact with a host of new characters and take on the infamous Mr. Peterson - a suspect who has been hiding from the police and is now designed with a neural network. But trust no one, everyone's a suspect."

In the trailer, fans are introduced to a number of different new characters from within the game including what appears to be an AI dog, a gun-wielding taxidermist, and the town's Mayor (as previously referenced in the game's first devlog). The clip also appears to show off a number of new items that players will be able to collect within the game such as a doughnut, which Quentin uses to distract a dog, and a rifle, which is taken from a wall.

For more on Hello Neighbor 2, make sure to check out our first preview of the game, where we sat down with the game's creators to talk about the sequel's improved AI, new protagonist, and expanded open world.

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

Alan Wake 2 is officially happening and Remedy is promising a true, survival horror experience. This is an important distinction because the first Alan Wake was more akin to a psychological thriller. But in an interview with IGN, Remedy creative director Sam Lake says the team is going full-speed with the survival-horror genre and has the freedom of an “M” rating to chase this creative vision.

When asked about the M rating (The first Alan Wake is Rated T) Lake called it, “Liberating,” to not make “compromises or censor yourself with the content.” At the same time, Lake reiterated that Alan Wake will be true to the psychologically-tinged vision Remedy cooked up for the story and that the developers “are not necessarily trying to do shocking content for its own sake.”

“For anything to do with Alan Wake the story is very central — this horror story,” Lake says. “Let’s do Remedy’s take on a survival horror game and focus on story… the horror story is this psychological, layered, deep mystery to dive into. And yes, it’s going to be scary. But it just works really really well with the gameplay.”

The original Alan Wake followed the eponymous character, a writer, to a small town of Bright Falls with his wife. A mysterious dark force takes over the town and Wake must use the power of light to rescue his taken wife.

The first Alan Wake utilized a combat mechanic where players must use light to weaken an enemy before being able to kill them with conventional weapons like a gun. The first Alan Wake didn’t have gameplay elements like resource management or limited health which is traditional to the survival horror genre. But these elements sound like they could be appearing in the sequel.

IGN will have a full video interview with Sam Lake about Alan Wake 2 coming soon so keep an eye out for that. Lake says Alan Wake 2 is set to be the most beautiful Remedy game yet thanks to its Northlight engine. And be sure to check here for everything announced at The Game Awards.

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

Alan Wake 2 is officially happening and Remedy is promising a true, survival horror experience. This is an important distinction because the first Alan Wake was more akin to a psychological thriller. But in an interview with IGN, Remedy creative director Sam Lake says the team is going full-speed with the survival-horror genre and has the freedom of an “M” rating to chase this creative vision.

When asked about the M rating (The first Alan Wake is Rated T) Lake called it, “Liberating,” to not make “compromises or censor yourself with the content.” At the same time, Lake reiterated that Alan Wake will be true to the psychologically-tinged vision Remedy cooked up for the story and that the developers “are not necessarily trying to do shocking content for its own sake.”

“For anything to do with Alan Wake the story is very central — this horror story,” Lake says. “Let’s do Remedy’s take on a survival horror game and focus on story… the horror story is this psychological, layered, deep mystery to dive into. And yes, it’s going to be scary. But it just works really really well with the gameplay.”

The original Alan Wake followed the eponymous character, a writer, to a small town of Bright Falls with his wife. A mysterious dark force takes over the town and Wake must use the power of light to rescue his taken wife.

The first Alan Wake utilized a combat mechanic where players must use light to weaken an enemy before being able to kill them with conventional weapons like a gun. The first Alan Wake didn’t have gameplay elements like resource management or limited health which is traditional to the survival horror genre. But these elements sound like they could be appearing in the sequel.

IGN will have a full video interview with Sam Lake about Alan Wake 2 coming soon so keep an eye out for that. Lake says Alan Wake 2 is set to be the most beautiful Remedy game yet thanks to its Northlight engine. And be sure to check here for everything announced at The Game Awards.

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

For years Remedy has been developing games on a proprietary game engine called Northlight. And Remedy creative director Sam Lake says that Alan Wake 2 will set a new bar for Remedy in terms of visual quality.

“Alan Wake 2 will, by far, be the best-looking, most beautiful Remedy game ever,” Lake says during a sit-down interview with IGN. Given that Northlight is the engine powering graphically-rich games like Control and Quantum Break, this is a bold and exciting claim.

IGN asked if the partnership between Remedy and Epic Games on Alan Wake 2, where Epic Games is publishing the title, means the Alan Wake sequel could be developed on Epic’s Unreal Engine 5. But Lake says that it’s sticking with Northlight because it has tech best-suited for the experience Remedy is trying to create for the next Alan Wake game.

“[Alan Wake 2] is on Northlight. We feel that especially for this kind of experience where atmosphere and stylization are more important than ever before, is that we know Northlight so well we can focus on certain things and push certain things forward.”

The Northlight engine was designed to push forward storytelling elements Remedy Entertainment favors when developing games. This includes an emphasis on cinematic realism, photorealistic characters, large-scale destruction and physics, and more. Alongside Alan Wake 2, Northlight is being used for the upcoming CrossfireX story campaign which Remedy is developing for Smilegate.

Alan Wake 2 was officially announced at The Game Awards as Remedy’s first-ever survival-horror game. And Lake says that Remedy is taking advantage of the creative freedom to design a truly scary game.

IGN will have the full video interview with Sam Lake up soon so check back for that. And check out everything announced at The Game Awards here.

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

For years Remedy has been developing games on a proprietary game engine called Northlight. And Remedy creative director Sam Lake says that Alan Wake 2 will set a new bar for Remedy in terms of visual quality.

“Alan Wake 2 will, by far, be the best-looking, most beautiful Remedy game ever,” Lake says during a sit-down interview with IGN. Given that Northlight is the engine powering graphically-rich games like Control and Quantum Break, this is a bold and exciting claim.

IGN asked if the partnership between Remedy and Epic Games on Alan Wake 2, where Epic Games is publishing the title, means the Alan Wake sequel could be developed on Epic’s Unreal Engine 5. But Lake says that it’s sticking with Northlight because it has tech best-suited for the experience Remedy is trying to create for the next Alan Wake game.

“[Alan Wake 2] is on Northlight. We feel that especially for this kind of experience where atmosphere and stylization are more important than ever before, is that we know Northlight so well we can focus on certain things and push certain things forward.”

The Northlight engine was designed to push forward storytelling elements Remedy Entertainment favors when developing games. This includes an emphasis on cinematic realism, photorealistic characters, large-scale destruction and physics, and more. Alongside Alan Wake 2, Northlight is being used for the upcoming CrossfireX story campaign which Remedy is developing for Smilegate.

Alan Wake 2 was officially announced at The Game Awards as Remedy’s first-ever survival-horror game. And Lake says that Remedy is taking advantage of the creative freedom to design a truly scary game.

IGN will have the full video interview with Sam Lake up soon so check back for that. And check out everything announced at The Game Awards here.

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

PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst announced today that Sony Interactive Entertainment has acquired independent developer Valkyrie Entertainment — making this the 17th studio under the PlayStation Studios umbrella and the fifth acquisition the gaming giant has made in 2021 alone.

Founded in 2002, Valkyrie Entertainment is a Seattle-based game developer best known for offering co-development services for several development studios. Valkyrie Entertainment's portfolio consists of assisting in the development of games such as Halo Infinite, Forza Motorsport 7, God of War (2018), and more. More recently in September, the studio announced it is helping Sony Santa Monica studio with the development of God fo War Ragnarok, which is slated for a 2022 release.

Today we announce @valkyrieent will be joining the PlayStation Studios family. The studio will be making invaluable contributions to key PlayStation Studios franchises pic.twitter.com/sNTugminD5

— Hermen Hulst (@hermenhulst) December 10, 2021

“Valkyrie Entertainment is a highly adaptable and respected studio which has produced high-quality work on a range of platforms from console to PC; and a variety of styles from action to games-as-a-service titles,” said Hermen Hulst notes in the press release. “Valkyrie’s diverse capabilities will be welcomed by every team at PlayStation Studios as we continue to focus on delivering extraordinary gaming experiences.”

Throughout the year, PlayStation has made several acquisitions beginning in June with the acquisition of Returnal developer Housemarque. In July, the company announced it had acquired Nixxes, a Dutch-based studio specializing in porting games to PC.

In September, Sony made two more acquisitions, the first being Firesprite, a developer best known for creating The Playroom and The Persistence. While the second was the long-awaited acquisition of Bluepoint Games, best known for remaking Shadow of the Colossus and more recently Demon Souls. Despite Bluepoint's solid track record with remaking classic games, the studio confirmed its next project will be an original property.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster

PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst announced today that Sony Interactive Entertainment has acquired independent developer Valkyrie Entertainment — making this the 17th studio under the PlayStation Studios umbrella and the fifth acquisition the gaming giant has made in 2021 alone.

Founded in 2002, Valkyrie Entertainment is a Seattle-based game developer best known for offering co-development services for several development studios. Valkyrie Entertainment's portfolio consists of assisting in the development of games such as Halo Infinite, Forza Motorsport 7, God of War (2018), and more. More recently in September, the studio announced it is helping Sony Santa Monica studio with the development of God fo War Ragnarok, which is slated for a 2022 release.

Today we announce @valkyrieent will be joining the PlayStation Studios family. The studio will be making invaluable contributions to key PlayStation Studios franchises pic.twitter.com/sNTugminD5

— Hermen Hulst (@hermenhulst) December 10, 2021

“Valkyrie Entertainment is a highly adaptable and respected studio which has produced high-quality work on a range of platforms from console to PC; and a variety of styles from action to games-as-a-service titles,” said Hermen Hulst notes in the press release. “Valkyrie’s diverse capabilities will be welcomed by every team at PlayStation Studios as we continue to focus on delivering extraordinary gaming experiences.”

Throughout the year, PlayStation has made several acquisitions beginning in June with the acquisition of Returnal developer Housemarque. In July, the company announced it had acquired Nixxes, a Dutch-based studio specializing in porting games to PC.

In September, Sony made two more acquisitions, the first being Firesprite, a developer best known for creating The Playroom and The Persistence. While the second was the long-awaited acquisition of Bluepoint Games, best known for remaking Shadow of the Colossus and more recently Demon Souls. Despite Bluepoint's solid track record with remaking classic games, the studio confirmed its next project will be an original property.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster

The JBL Quantum Cup is back for its second annual tournament and it looks to provide fans all across the world a way to not only watch the best Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players compete for a prize pool of $180,000, but also a chance to win prizes and even play their way into the global JBL Quantum Cup Fortnite tournament.

All the exciting action begins on December 17 and this guide will ensure you know how you can watch the event, how you may have a chance to win some prizes, and what you can expect to see from this year’s JBL Quantum Cup.

JBL Quantum Cup Event Time and Dates

If you live in the Pacific Time Zone, the JBL Quantum Cup will begin on December 16, 2021, at 11pm with the Fortnite Asia Pacific Finals. Otherwise, the tournament will start on December 17 at 2am ET/7am GMT/6pm AEDT and will run for three days straight until the end of the tournament on December 19.

Fortnite Asia Pacific Finals: December 16, 2021, at 11pm PT / December 17, 2021, at 2am ET/7am GMT/6pm AEDT

Fortnite Europe Finals: December 17, 2021 at 9am PT/12pm ET/5pm GMT / December 18, 2021, at 4am AEDT

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Asia Pacific Finals: December 17, 2021 at 11pm PT / December 18, 2021, at 2am ET/7am GMT/6pm AEDT

Apex Legends North America Finals - Day 1: December 18, 2021, at 1pm PT/4pm ET/9pm GMT / December 19, 2021, at 8am AEDT

Apex Legends North America Finals - Day 2: December 19, 2021, at 1pm PT/4pm ET/9pm GMT / December 20, 2021, at 8am AEDT

How to Watch the JBL Quantum Cup

We'll be hosting the JBL Quantum Cup livestream on our channels across a variety of platforms including IGN.com, YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter, and our dedicated esports YouTube channel IGN Compete. Here's the full list of places you can watch the JBL Quantum Cup:

• JBL Audio Twitch Channel
• IGN.com (homepage)
• IGN’s Twitter
• IGN's Twitch Channel
• IGN’s Youtube Channel
• IGN Compete YouTube Channel
• IGN's iOS App
• IGN's Android App

What to Expect from the JBL Quantum Cup

The JBL Quantum Cup spans across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific and JBL, alongside its partner ESL, has brought some of the best Fortnite, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Apex Legends players in the world, including the newly signed 100 Thieves’ Apex Legends team, to compete for a prize pool of $180,000 - $35,000 for each regional Fortnite championship, $25,000 for the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive finals, and $50,000 for the Apex Legends finals.

Over the course of November, gamers had a chance to earn a spot in the JBL Quantum Cup Fortnite tournament, with regional qualifying rounds held in North America, Europe, and Asia. There were 200 duos that competed, and the top 25 advanced through to three rounds of qualifiers to fight for a chance to earn the right to play in the championship.

Throughout the event, participants will be able to interact and engage with other JBL Ambassadors and pro gamers, including SypherPK, Arkhram, Doigby, Keebabb, and Royalistiq, as well as taking advantage of JBL.com promotions and prize drops throughout the length of the stream.

To get updates throughout the weekend follow @JBLQuantum.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The JBL Quantum Cup is back for its second annual tournament and it looks to provide fans all across the world a way to not only watch the best Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players compete for a prize pool of $180,000, but also a chance to win prizes and even play their way into the global JBL Quantum Cup Fortnite tournament.

All the exciting action begins on December 17 and this guide will ensure you know how you can watch the event, how you may have a chance to win some prizes, and what you can expect to see from this year’s JBL Quantum Cup.

JBL Quantum Cup Event Time and Dates

If you live in the Pacific Time Zone, the JBL Quantum Cup will begin on December 16, 2021, at 11pm with the Fortnite Asia Pacific Finals. Otherwise, the tournament will start on December 17 at 2am ET/7am GMT/6pm AEDT and will run for three days straight until the end of the tournament on December 19.

Fortnite Asia Pacific Finals: December 16, 2021, at 11pm PT / December 17, 2021, at 2am ET/7am GMT/6pm AEDT

Fortnite Europe Finals: December 17, 2021 at 9am PT/12pm ET/5pm GMT / December 18, 2021, at 4am AEDT

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Asia Pacific Finals: December 17, 2021 at 11pm PT / December 18, 2021, at 2am ET/7am GMT/6pm AEDT

Apex Legends North America Finals - Day 1: December 18, 2021, at 1pm PT/4pm ET/9pm GMT / December 19, 2021, at 8am AEDT

Apex Legends North America Finals - Day 2: December 19, 2021, at 1pm PT/4pm ET/9pm GMT / December 20, 2021, at 8am AEDT

How to Watch the JBL Quantum Cup

We'll be hosting the JBL Quantum Cup livestream on our channels across a variety of platforms including IGN.com, YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter, and our dedicated esports YouTube channel IGN Compete. Here's the full list of places you can watch the JBL Quantum Cup:

• JBL Audio Twitch Channel
• IGN.com (homepage)
• IGN’s Twitter
• IGN's Twitch Channel
• IGN’s Youtube Channel
• IGN Compete YouTube Channel
• IGN's iOS App
• IGN's Android App

What to Expect from the JBL Quantum Cup

The JBL Quantum Cup spans across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific and JBL, alongside its partner ESL, has brought some of the best Fortnite, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Apex Legends players in the world, including the newly signed 100 Thieves’ Apex Legends team, to compete for a prize pool of $180,000 - $35,000 for each regional Fortnite championship, $25,000 for the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive finals, and $50,000 for the Apex Legends finals.

Over the course of November, gamers had a chance to earn a spot in the JBL Quantum Cup Fortnite tournament, with regional qualifying rounds held in North America, Europe, and Asia. There were 200 duos that competed, and the top 25 advanced through to three rounds of qualifiers to fight for a chance to earn the right to play in the championship.

Throughout the event, participants will be able to interact and engage with other JBL Ambassadors and pro gamers, including SypherPK, Arkhram, Doigby, Keebabb, and Royalistiq, as well as taking advantage of JBL.com promotions and prize drops throughout the length of the stream.

To get updates throughout the weekend follow @JBLQuantum.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.