After seven years, Respawn is finally ending all new sales of the first Titanfall game starting today. Titanfall will also be removed from subscription-based services on March 1, 2022. However, any players who've already purchased Titanfall will still have access to live servers.

Despite the removal, Respawn insisted that Titanfall is part of the company's DNA and that the universe will continue.

A note about Titanfall. pic.twitter.com/Ew232HkUIo

— Respawn (@Respawn) December 1, 2021

Respawn announced its decision Wednesday morning, adding that Titanfall is a central part of the studio's identity.

"Rest assured, Titanfall is core to Respawn's DNA and this incredible universe will continue," Respawn wrote. "Today in Titanfall 2 and Apex Legends, and in the future. This franchise is a north star for the caliber of experiences we will continue to create here at Respawn."

Beyond merely the age of Titanfall, Respawn's original multiplayer FPS has been plagued throughout the last couple of years by a series of hacking attacks that rendered the game mostly unplayable. That led to an outcry from the remaining fan base still playing the 2014 shooter, and even Apex Legends was briefly impacted by what appeared to be a retaliatory hack by unknown perpetrators.

Respawn eventually fixed Apex Legends' technical issues, but could only devote "one or two" developers to the aging Titanfall, a community coordinator for Respawn said in July.

For now, Respawn is focused on Apex Legends, currently in its 11th season and serving as one of EA's main focal points for its next financial year, and a Jedi: Fallen Order sequel is likely as EA said it's the start of a new franchise.

A Titanfall 3 likely won't happen anytime soon, though, since Respawn's community coordinator Jason Garza said the studio is working on "too many other games" at the moment. Though it's still plagued by similar DDoS attacks, Titanfall 2 is still available and has one heck of a single-player campaign, and even received a framerate boost as part of a past Xbox Series X update.

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/pilot for IGN.

PlayStation has announced the PS Plus lineup for December 2021, and the games included are Mortal Shell and LEGO DC Super-Villains for PS4, as well as Godfall for players on PS4 and PS5. The games will be available from next Tuesday, December 7, until Monday, January 3.

Godfall was one of the launch titles for PlayStation 5 last year. It's a multiplayer, gear-based action game that showed off some of the graphical capabilities of PS5. It was later announced that it would be coming to PS4 after launch.

We called the game "okay" in our Godfall review, saying, "the repetition of its missions wears thin before the end of its campaign, and even thinner in the endgame afterward."

Mortal Shell is a brutal indie game clearly inspired by FromSoft's Soulsbourne games. It's not a straight copy, though, as Mortal Shell introduces new ideas to set it apart from Dark Souls. We called the game great in our Mortal Shell review.

And, LEGO DC Super-Villains lets players romp around the DC universe as Joker, Harley Quinn, and more classic baddies from the Injustice League. The game is "both stylish and jam-packed full of fun action", making it another solid entry in the long-running LEGO franchise.

In addition to these new titles, PS Plus subscribers also still have access to three PS VR titles until January 3. The games are The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, The Persistence, and Until You Fall. Sony is giving away the free PS VR games to celebrate the platform's 5th anniversary.

Even if you don't have a PS VR yet, it's still worth grabbing these games, because we know Sony is working on a PS VR 2, which would hopefully support current PS VR games, in addition to the rumored 4K display, eye tracking, haptic feedback, and more.

And, if you've forgotten, it's not too late to redeem November's PS Plus titles. Knockout City, First Class Trouble and Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning are still available on PS Plus until Monday, December 6.

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

Scientists who created the first living robots have revealed that the organisms, known as xenobots, can now reproduce, according to their study.

Created using stem cells from the African Clawed Frog (Xenopus laevis), xenobots are less than one millimetre wide and can move, work together as a group and even self-heal.

But now, the scientists who developed them have found they can reproduce in an entirely new way – completely different from the biological reproduction of any living plant or animal.

“I was astounded by it,” professor of biology and director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University, Michael Levin said, as reported by CNN.

This new form of reproduction sees the xenobots effectively harvest loose stem cells, gathering them together into piles which can then mature into xenobots.

“Frogs have a way of reproducing that they normally use,” Levin said. “But when you ... liberate [the cells] from the rest of the embryo and you give them a chance to figure out how to be in a new environment, not only do they figure out a new way to move, but they also figure out apparently a new way to reproduce.”

However, they soon discovered that replication happened rarely with the original, spherical-shaped xenobots. And only under specific circumstances. The bots used a process known as kinetic replication – known to occur at a molecular level but never seen on this scale, using entire cells or organisms.

After realising the xenobots shape was hindering them, researchers used AI to test a variety of new body shapes to maximise the stem cell harvesting process. The AI settled on a C-shape which resembles iconic gaming character, Pac-Man.

“The AI didn't program these machines in the way we usually think about writing code. It shaped and sculpted and came up with this Pac-Man shape,” lead author of the study, Josh Bongard said – a computer science professor and robotics expert at the University of Vermont. “The shape is, in essence, the program. The shape influences how the xenobots behave to amplify this incredibly surprising process.”

Stem cells are often used in medicine to replace damaged cells or to fight certain forms of cancer and blood-related diseases. However, their use as biological robots involved merely harvesting the cells from frog embryos and leaving them to incubate.

“Most people think of robots as made of metals and ceramics,” Bongard said. “But it's not so much what a robot is made from but what it does, which is act on its own on behalf of people.”

“In that way it's a robot,” he added. “But it's also clearly an organism made from genetically unmodified frog cell.”

Although the thought of self-replicating machines is reminiscent of the likes of The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the researchers are assured that these robots are contained in a lab and are both biodegradable and are easily extinguished.

But the discovery of self-replicating robots opens up a whole new world of possibilities. A bit more useful than Elon Musk's proposed humanoid robots.

“There are many things that are possible if we take advantage of this kind of plasticity and ability of cells to solve problems,” Bongard said.

The study was originally published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PNAS on November 20, 2021.

Main image credit: Douglas Blackiston & Sam Kriegman in the research article.

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

IGN is pleased to exclusively debut the new trailer for Assetto Corsa Competizione, showcasing the new features coming as part of the newly upgraded PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions.

The free upgrade will bring Assetto Corsa Competizione up to 60 frames-per-second, as well as add a progressive full day cycle to races for authentic sunsets and atmospheric lighting. Randomly generated weather further contributes to the atmosphere, with cloudy skies and rain really making Silverstone feel authentic.

Weather is about more than just making the atmosphere authentic, though; rain affects the physics of the track, combining with other systems to affect gameplay. Rubber deposits on the track that build up lap after lap create enhanced grip over the course of a race, but if it begins to rain then those rubbered lines lose grip, and so drivers must properly adapt to the random weather patterns in order to succeed.

Other new generation enhancements include updated liveries from the 2021 race season, and private multiplayer lobbies.

All these features will be provided as a free upgrade for people who own the PS4 or Xbox One version of Assetto Corsa Competizione. All save data and owned DLC will carry over to the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions. The free upgrade will be available from February 24, 2022.

A new Day One edition of the game, available for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, will also be available. This includes the 2020 GT World Challenge Pack DLC, which comes with a number of extra elements:

• Autodromo Internazionale Enzo E Dino Ferrari - Imola
• Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020
• Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 2020
• 60+ car liveries
• 2020 GT World Challenge drivers and team entries
• 2020 Pirelli ‘DHE’ tyre model
• 2020 GT World Challenge season BOP

For more, check out five minutes of PS5 gameplay, and our review for the last-gen version of Assetto Corsa Competizione.

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

Ghostrunner will be releasing a major new DLC expansion in early 2022, IGN can exclusively reveal. After teasing it as the "Ultimate DLC" last week, Ghostrunner's developers took the wraps off the new content today, revealing that it is a story-driven expansion featuring a major character from the core game.

Titled Project_Hel, the new DLC will you in the shoes of Hel, one of the original game's trickiest bosses. In the Project_Hel DLC, she will be a combat-oriented character designed to appeal to "new players and veterans," and will feature her own ability progression system.

Project_Hel's story will span six missions, following Hel as she descends Dharma Tower. It will also include new enemies, bosses, and six new tracks from electronic musician Daniel Deluxe. It was originally planned as a smaller piece of DLC, but eventually grew into a "full-blown Ghostrunner experience."

In addition to the new story, 505 Games is planning a free cosmetics bundle. The Holiday Pack will include several festive swords and matching gloves, and will be available December 7.

In our original Ghostrunner review, we called it a "speedrunner's dream" when it launched last year. "You may die hundreds of times, but instantaneous respawns and generous checkpointing ensure that Ghostrunner’s challenging combat and platforming never become a chore," reviewer Mitchell Saltzman opined.

Since then 505 Games has announced Ghostrunner 2, a sequel being developed for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

When Project_Hel is released, it will be the biggest piece of Ghostrunner DLC to date. Players can sign up for an early private beta that will take place before launch, with participants being included in Project_Hel's credits.

Project_Hel will cost $14.99, and will release on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Amazon Luna, and PC on January 27.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN

Ghostrunner will be releasing a major new DLC expansion in early 2022, IGN can exclusively reveal. After teasing it as the "Ultimate DLC" last week, Ghostrunner's developers took the wraps off the new content today, revealing that it is a story-driven expansion featuring a major character from the core game.

Titled Project_Hel, the new DLC will you in the shoes of Hel, one of the original game's trickiest bosses. In the Project_Hel DLC, she will be a combat-oriented character designed to appeal to "new players and veterans," and will feature her own ability progression system.

Project_Hel's story will span six missions, following Hel as she descends Dharma Tower. It will also include new enemies, bosses, and six new tracks from electronic musician Daniel Deluxe. It was originally planned as a smaller piece of DLC, but eventually grew into a "full-blown Ghostrunner experience."

In addition to the new story, 505 Games is planning a free cosmetics bundle. The Holiday Pack will include several festive swords and matching gloves, and will be available December 7.

In our original Ghostrunner review, we called it a "speedrunner's dream" when it launched last year. "You may die hundreds of times, but instantaneous respawns and generous checkpointing ensure that Ghostrunner’s challenging combat and platforming never become a chore," reviewer Mitchell Saltzman opined.

Since then 505 Games has announced Ghostrunner 2, a sequel being developed for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

When Project_Hel is released, it will be the biggest piece of Ghostrunner DLC to date. Players can sign up for an early private beta that will take place before launch, with participants being included in Project_Hel's credits.

Project_Hel will cost $14.99, and will release on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Amazon Luna, and PC on January 27.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN

Keanu Reeves has revealed that filming Matrix Resurrections was a very different experience to previous Matrix movies, with very little rehearsal involved.

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the 57-year-old Matrix Resurrections star compared the original Matrix trilogy to the upcoming movie.

“[Wachowski was] more behind the monitor” but “still hands-on,” he said of the original movies. But with Resurrections, “[she was] participating more with the movement of the camera, and more interested in doing than rehearsing.”

He confessed that while shooting Matrix Resurrections they “barely rehearsed, if at all.”

Matrix Resurrections sees Keanu Reeves return as Thomas ‘Neo’ Anderson — the techno-messiah of the original Matrix trilogy who’s looking a bit worse for wear this time around.

“In a world of two realities — everyday life and what lies behind it —Thomas Anderson will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more,” reads the official synopsis. “Choice, while an illusion, is still the only way in or out of the Matrix, which is stronger, more secure and more dangerous than ever before.”

The Matrix certainly feels a lot different in its current iteration, with Morpheus (famously played by Laurence Fishburne) now played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, while other original characters such as Trinity and Niobe see the return of their original actors.

This has led some to speculate that the Morpheus we see in teasers is actually a new version of the iconic character — rebuilt by the machines.

But despite an impressive trailer, little else is known about Matrix Resurrections.

Director Lana Wachowski is keen to keep it that way, saying only that “the power of technology to trap or limit our subjective reality” plays an “important part of the new narrative” in the upcoming film.

“Art is a mirror,” said Wachowski. “Most will prefer to gaze at the surface but there will be people like me who enjoy what lies behind the looking glass. I made this movie for them.”

Matrix Resurrections heads to theatres and HBO Max on December 22, 2021.

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

Keanu Reeves has revealed that filming Matrix Resurrections was a very different experience to previous Matrix movies, with very little rehearsal involved.

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the 57-year-old Matrix Resurrections star compared the original Matrix trilogy to the upcoming movie.

“[Wachowski was] more behind the monitor” but “still hands-on,” he said of the original movies. But with Resurrections, “[she was] participating more with the movement of the camera, and more interested in doing than rehearsing.”

He confessed that while shooting Matrix Resurrections they “barely rehearsed, if at all.”

Matrix Resurrections sees Keanu Reeves return as Thomas ‘Neo’ Anderson — the techno-messiah of the original Matrix trilogy who’s looking a bit worse for wear this time around.

“In a world of two realities — everyday life and what lies behind it —Thomas Anderson will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more,” reads the official synopsis. “Choice, while an illusion, is still the only way in or out of the Matrix, which is stronger, more secure and more dangerous than ever before.”

The Matrix certainly feels a lot different in its current iteration, with Morpheus (famously played by Laurence Fishburne) now played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, while other original characters such as Trinity and Niobe see the return of their original actors.

This has led some to speculate that the Morpheus we see in teasers is actually a new version of the iconic character — rebuilt by the machines.

But despite an impressive trailer, little else is known about Matrix Resurrections.

Director Lana Wachowski is keen to keep it that way, saying only that “the power of technology to trap or limit our subjective reality” plays an “important part of the new narrative” in the upcoming film.

“Art is a mirror,” said Wachowski. “Most will prefer to gaze at the surface but there will be people like me who enjoy what lies behind the looking glass. I made this movie for them.”

Matrix Resurrections heads to theatres and HBO Max on December 22, 2021.

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

Rocky IV star Dolph Lundgren says a full Ivan Drago spinoff could be in the works following his last appearance in 2018's Creed II.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 64-year-old Swedish actor and martial artist revealed that we may finally get another fight between Rocky and Drago.

“I think there’s some talk about doing a whole spinoff on Drago with MGM,” he said. “So, you may get more of that.”

Creed II starred Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed, with Sylvester Stallone once again playing the young boxer’s mentor as the former Heavyweight champion turned coach, Rocky Balboa.

This time around, Adonis takes on the son of Ivan Drago – the former Russian champion, Rocky’s nemesis, and the man who ultimately killed Adonis’ father with a knockout blow during an exhibition match.

Of course, with Rocky and Drago both in the movie, fans were hoping for a rematch. But while a short fight was shot, it ultimately ended up on the cutting room floor. “I thought it was a good moment,” said Lundgren. “It was also a fan moment. It was a quick little fight, and I thought it worked. But the director and MGM felt that it was extraneous and that it didn’t add anything.”

Despite the fight ultimately being cut, it looks as though Ivan Drago may get his rematch after all. But while Lundgren insists that an Ivan Drago project is in the works, nothing has been officially announced. Furthermore, Stallone says he officially retired his Rocky character in 2018.

Lundgren recently appeared in the Rocky IV director’s cut, Rocky vs. Drago – The Ultimate Director’s Cut which added 40 minutes of never before seen footage.

“When I played the character, I did a backstory about how he was brought up by the state and they controlled him. He didn’t have much say,” he explained. “He wasn’t really an evil person; he was just a product of the system. He’s Frankenstein’s monster. He’s not Dr. Frankenstein; that was the Soviet Union. So, I always played that, and some of that came across in ’85. Sly and I are friends, but now, I guess he wanted to show the other side of the character. So, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.”

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

Rocky IV star Dolph Lundgren says a full Ivan Drago spinoff could be in the works following his last appearance in 2018's Creed II.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 64-year-old Swedish actor and martial artist revealed that we may finally get another fight between Rocky and Drago.

“I think there’s some talk about doing a whole spinoff on Drago with MGM,” he said. “So, you may get more of that.”

Creed II starred Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed, with Sylvester Stallone once again playing the young boxer’s mentor as the former Heavyweight champion turned coach, Rocky Balboa.

This time around, Adonis takes on the son of Ivan Drago – the former Russian champion, Rocky’s nemesis, and the man who ultimately killed Adonis’ father with a knockout blow during an exhibition match.

Of course, with Rocky and Drago both in the movie, fans were hoping for a rematch. But while a short fight was shot, it ultimately ended up on the cutting room floor. “I thought it was a good moment,” said Lundgren. “It was also a fan moment. It was a quick little fight, and I thought it worked. But the director and MGM felt that it was extraneous and that it didn’t add anything.”

Despite the fight ultimately being cut, it looks as though Ivan Drago may get his rematch after all. But while Lundgren insists that an Ivan Drago project is in the works, nothing has been officially announced. Furthermore, Stallone says he officially retired his Rocky character in 2018.

Lundgren recently appeared in the Rocky IV director’s cut, Rocky vs. Drago – The Ultimate Director’s Cut which added 40 minutes of never before seen footage.

“When I played the character, I did a backstory about how he was brought up by the state and they controlled him. He didn’t have much say,” he explained. “He wasn’t really an evil person; he was just a product of the system. He’s Frankenstein’s monster. He’s not Dr. Frankenstein; that was the Soviet Union. So, I always played that, and some of that came across in ’85. Sly and I are friends, but now, I guess he wanted to show the other side of the character. So, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.”

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