William Shatner's TekWar novel series is set to become a mixed-reality adult animation show, produced by Shatner through his Shatner Universe, together with Pure Imagination Studios.

According to Deadline, the new series will be developed and written by Matt Michnovetz, who has previously served as a writer on Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the more recent Disney+ show Star Wars: The Bad Batch. The plan is to adapt the sci-fi world of the TekWar novels to bring it to the screen as a mixed-reality, adult animated series.

The mixed reality element of the project will reportedly encourage viewer participation across different forms of technology, including mobile, tablets or wearable devices. The idea is to immerse audiences into the show's narrative by giving them the option to become part of it themselves, though viewers can also watch the series without having to interact with it.

As reported by Deadline, Shatner's TekWar novels are set in the year 2043 and present a cyberpunk-esque mystery centered around a former detective who is framed for dealing an illegal mind-altering drug in the form of a bio-digital microchip that poses a great threat to humanity and has the potential to become a virus that will lead to an unrecoverable future.

"We are very excited to work with the legendary William Shatner to reimagine the world of TekWar at a post-pandemic time," said John P. Roberts, CCO of Pure Imagination. "TekWar was truly ahead of its time envisioning a future filled with AI and the world of simulated reality. It's becoming our reality now, and we’re excited to build a storyverse around it."

"We want to do something that hasn't been done before," added Joshua Wexler, Pure Imagination's Chief Executive of Fun. "The world and story of TekWar transcends traditional linear media and has the potential to be experienced on multiple entertainment platforms, some that exist today and some we'll have to invent, and we can’t wait to get started."

"My association with Pure Imagination is beyond my sheer imagination," Shatner said of the project, which is being viewed as the first step towards building a real-time multiverse around a property. "Imagine bringing to life this wonderful character in a variety of ways, so technologically advanced. This is the future, and I am looking forward to it."

Shatner became a cultural icon for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek television series, steering the USS Enterprise through its voyages between 1966 and 1969. He reprised his role in Star Trek: The Animated Series, as well as Star Trek: The Motion Picture. He played Kirk in the next six Star Trek films prior to the character's demise.

The legendary actor has been involved with plenty of pioneering projects before. For his birthday this year, the Star Trek legend announced a special collaboration with Los Angeles-based tech company StoryFile and revealed that they would be creating an interactive AI-powered video of himself, so family and friends could interact with him for years to come.

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

William Shatner's TekWar novel series is set to become a mixed-reality adult animation show, produced by Shatner through his Shatner Universe, together with Pure Imagination Studios.

According to Deadline, the new series will be developed and written by Matt Michnovetz, who has previously served as a writer on Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the more recent Disney+ show Star Wars: The Bad Batch. The plan is to adapt the sci-fi world of the TekWar novels to bring it to the screen as a mixed-reality, adult animated series.

The mixed reality element of the project will reportedly encourage viewer participation across different forms of technology, including mobile, tablets or wearable devices. The idea is to immerse audiences into the show's narrative by giving them the option to become part of it themselves, though viewers can also watch the series without having to interact with it.

As reported by Deadline, Shatner's TekWar novels are set in the year 2043 and present a cyberpunk-esque mystery centered around a former detective who is framed for dealing an illegal mind-altering drug in the form of a bio-digital microchip that poses a great threat to humanity and has the potential to become a virus that will lead to an unrecoverable future.

"We are very excited to work with the legendary William Shatner to reimagine the world of TekWar at a post-pandemic time," said John P. Roberts, CCO of Pure Imagination. "TekWar was truly ahead of its time envisioning a future filled with AI and the world of simulated reality. It's becoming our reality now, and we’re excited to build a storyverse around it."

"We want to do something that hasn't been done before," added Joshua Wexler, Pure Imagination's Chief Executive of Fun. "The world and story of TekWar transcends traditional linear media and has the potential to be experienced on multiple entertainment platforms, some that exist today and some we'll have to invent, and we can’t wait to get started."

"My association with Pure Imagination is beyond my sheer imagination," Shatner said of the project, which is being viewed as the first step towards building a real-time multiverse around a property. "Imagine bringing to life this wonderful character in a variety of ways, so technologically advanced. This is the future, and I am looking forward to it."

Shatner became a cultural icon for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek television series, steering the USS Enterprise through its voyages between 1966 and 1969. He reprised his role in Star Trek: The Animated Series, as well as Star Trek: The Motion Picture. He played Kirk in the next six Star Trek films prior to the character's demise.

The legendary actor has been involved with plenty of pioneering projects before. For his birthday this year, the Star Trek legend announced a special collaboration with Los Angeles-based tech company StoryFile and revealed that they would be creating an interactive AI-powered video of himself, so family and friends could interact with him for years to come.

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

New World was absolutely huge at launch yesterday, to the point where it became very hard to actually play the game. Thankfully Amazon Games has been working on lowering queue time across the globe to help get new players into the MMO.

The developer has been updating the New World forums throughout its first day of release. So far, the EU Central, North America West, North America East and Australia servers have had additional worlds added, with the aim of offering more of an even spread of players. With the team promising to monitor world congestion, you can likely expect more expansions as time goes on.

If you're looking to jump in while the hype is hot, a new fan-run website, New World Status aims to offer live data for player counts across the world, including numbers of people waiting in the queue for any given in-game world, and an estimated average wait time.

It's quite possible that even Amazon was taken by surprise with New World's launch day popularity. It very quickly became Steam's most-played game of the year, reaching over 700,000 concurrent players, smashing Valheim's huge record from earlier in 2021.

We've begun a review-in-progress for New World, praising its looks and player-based economy, but expressing some early worries about combat and character customisation. It will be updated as time goes on, but initial impressions feel positive.

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.

New World was absolutely huge at launch yesterday, to the point where it became very hard to actually play the game. Thankfully Amazon Games has been working on lowering queue time across the globe to help get new players into the MMO.

The developer has been updating the New World forums throughout its first day of release. So far, the EU Central, North America West, North America East and Australia servers have had additional worlds added, with the aim of offering more of an even spread of players. With the team promising to monitor world congestion, you can likely expect more expansions as time goes on.

If you're looking to jump in while the hype is hot, a new fan-run website, New World Status aims to offer live data for player counts across the world, including numbers of people waiting in the queue for any given in-game world, and an estimated average wait time.

It's quite possible that even Amazon was taken by surprise with New World's launch day popularity. It very quickly became Steam's most-played game of the year, reaching over 700,000 concurrent players, smashing Valheim's huge record from earlier in 2021.

We've begun a review-in-progress for New World, praising its looks and player-based economy, but expressing some early worries about combat and character customisation. It will be updated as time goes on, but initial impressions feel positive.

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 long-running spy comedy Archer has been renewed for a 13th season over at FXX. But the next season will be the first without actor Jessica Walter, who died earlier this year.

As reported by Collider, the animated spy comedy Archer has been renewed for another season but the series will have to go on without Walter, who voiced Malory Archer. Malory is the mother to the lead character Sterling Archer and formerly the head of the spy agency the show centered around.

While she was able to record her full voice lines for Archer’s 12th season, which is currently airing, Walter’s passing means showrunner and creator Adam Reed will need to figure out whether to write out the character or recast the role for season 13.

In the past, Reed has retired characters whose actors have died. In 2015 when actor George Coe passed away, his faithful butler character Woodhouse was written off the show. And in an interview with Collider Reed has said he has ideas on how the show will handle Walter’s passing.

Jessica Walter died in March 2021 and is best known for playing sharp matriarchs like Malory as well as Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development where she earned an Emmy Award for Oustanding Supporting Actress for the latter role.

Archer is currently airing its 12th season. Although the series began as a spoof on the spy comedy, subsequent seasons have taken some detours into different genres like a classic noir mystery, or a recent amazonian adventure. The current season is a bit of a return to form as the characters are once again spies, though they’re competing with a large international spy conglomerate.

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

The long-running spy comedy Archer has been renewed for a 13th season over at FXX. But the next season will be the first without actor Jessica Walter, who died earlier this year.

As reported by Collider, the animated spy comedy Archer has been renewed for another season but the series will have to go on without Walter, who voiced Malory Archer. Malory is the mother to the lead character Sterling Archer and formerly the head of the spy agency the show centered around.

While she was able to record her full voice lines for Archer’s 12th season, which is currently airing, Walter’s passing means showrunner and creator Adam Reed will need to figure out whether to write out the character or recast the role for season 13.

In the past, Reed has retired characters whose actors have died. In 2015 when actor George Coe passed away, his faithful butler character Woodhouse was written off the show. And in an interview with Collider Reed has said he has ideas on how the show will handle Walter’s passing.

Jessica Walter died in March 2021 and is best known for playing sharp matriarchs like Malory as well as Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development where she earned an Emmy Award for Oustanding Supporting Actress for the latter role.

Archer is currently airing its 12th season. Although the series began as a spoof on the spy comedy, subsequent seasons have taken some detours into different genres like a classic noir mystery, or a recent amazonian adventure. The current season is a bit of a return to form as the characters are once again spies, though they’re competing with a large international spy conglomerate.

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

Netflix big foray into games is now underway in earnest, and one of its first major acquisitions is a darling from the indie space. In a blog post on its official site, Night School Studio announced it would be bringing its adventure game expertise to the streaming service.

"Night School wants to stretch our narrative and design aspirations across distinctive, original games with heart," Night School co-founder Sean Krankel wrote. "Netflix gives film, TV, and now game makers an unprecedented canvas to create and deliver excellent entertainment to millions of people. Our explorations in narrative gameplay and Netflix’s track record of supporting diverse storytellers was such a natural pairing. It felt like both teams came to this conclusion instinctively."

It's a natural fit. Night School Studio found fame with games like Oxenfree and Afterparty — story-driven adventures that mesh well with Netflix's approach. Oxenfree is likewise a supernatural coming-of-age story, which is exactly the kind of story that is apt to play with Netflix's audience.

Netflix first announced it would be getting into gaming over the summer, tapping former video game executive Mike Verdu to become its new vice president of game development. Its early efforts have mainly consisted of more casual mobile games such as Shooting Hoops, Teeter Up, and Card Blast, which can be accessed via the "Games" tab in the Netflix app on Android devices. The service is currently available to Netflix subscribers in Spain, Italy, and Poland.

Netflix is mainly experimenting with what works right now, which evidently includes the decision to acquire Night School Studio.

For now, Night School says work will continue on Oxenfree 2, which was announced earlier this year. "The Netflix team has shown the utmost care for protecting our studio culture and creative vision. We'll keep making [Oxenfree 2]. We’ll keep cooking up new game worlds," Krankel wrote.

Oxenfree 2 is set to release later this year on Nintendo Switch and PC. Meanwhile, the original Oxenfree is still receiving updates tied to the sequel. You can read our full review here.

Netflix big foray into games is now underway in earnest, and one of its first major acquisitions is a darling from the indie space. In a blog post on its official site, Night School Studio announced it would be bringing its adventure game expertise to the streaming service.

"Night School wants to stretch our narrative and design aspirations across distinctive, original games with heart," Night School co-founder Sean Krankel wrote. "Netflix gives film, TV, and now game makers an unprecedented canvas to create and deliver excellent entertainment to millions of people. Our explorations in narrative gameplay and Netflix’s track record of supporting diverse storytellers was such a natural pairing. It felt like both teams came to this conclusion instinctively."

It's a natural fit. Night School Studio found fame with games like Oxenfree and Afterparty — story-driven adventures that mesh well with Netflix's approach. Oxenfree is likewise a supernatural coming-of-age story, which is exactly the kind of story that is apt to play with Netflix's audience.

Netflix first announced it would be getting into gaming over the summer, tapping former video game executive Mike Verdu to become its new vice president of game development. Its early efforts have mainly consisted of more casual mobile games such as Shooting Hoops, Teeter Up, and Card Blast, which can be accessed via the "Games" tab in the Netflix app on Android devices. The service is currently available to Netflix subscribers in Spain, Italy, and Poland.

Netflix is mainly experimenting with what works right now, which evidently includes the decision to acquire Night School Studio.

For now, Night School says work will continue on Oxenfree 2, which was announced earlier this year. "The Netflix team has shown the utmost care for protecting our studio culture and creative vision. We'll keep making [Oxenfree 2]. We’ll keep cooking up new game worlds," Krankel wrote.

Oxenfree 2 is set to release later this year on Nintendo Switch and PC. Meanwhile, the original Oxenfree is still receiving updates tied to the sequel. You can read our full review here.

Sam Raimi is showing his support for Alfred Molina's Doc Ock appearing in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Molina's beloved interpretation of the character originates from the movie Spider-Man 2, which was released in 2004 and directed by Raimi. When asked about the return of his classic villain by SYFY WIRE, Raimi praised the new movie's animation.

"That was beautiful," Raimi said. "He looks great, the animation’s great. I’m assuming it’s not puppeted because when we did Doc Ock, we had puppets and animation for his octopus tentacles. But it was smooth and powerful and I loved his costume they kept [from the original]. I think it’s gonna be a great movie."

Spider-Man: No Way Home is scheduled to hit theaters in December and is directed by Jon Watts. Raimi returned to Marvel as the director of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which hits theaters in March 2022. It's Raimi's fourth movie based on Marvel comics after the three Spider-Man movies starring Tobey Maguire.

When asked by SYFY WIRE if he could reveal any Doctor Strange 2 details, Raimi had to be tight-lipped. "They won’t let me say anything," Raimi said. "I guess not... I’m sorry."

It's a good time to be a Spider-Man fan. A Spider-Man fan recently recreated the Spider-Man 2 movie poster using assets from the Spider-Man video games on PlayStation 5 and an MCU special is coming to Disney+ in November.

In the meantime, the estate of Marvel artist Steve Ditko is trying to regain the copyrights to Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and more Marvel characters.

Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN.

Sam Raimi is showing his support for Alfred Molina's Doc Ock appearing in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Molina's beloved interpretation of the character originates from the movie Spider-Man 2, which was released in 2004 and directed by Raimi. When asked about the return of his classic villain by SYFY WIRE, Raimi praised the new movie's animation.

"That was beautiful," Raimi said. "He looks great, the animation’s great. I’m assuming it’s not puppeted because when we did Doc Ock, we had puppets and animation for his octopus tentacles. But it was smooth and powerful and I loved his costume they kept [from the original]. I think it’s gonna be a great movie."

Spider-Man: No Way Home is scheduled to hit theaters in December and is directed by Jon Watts. Raimi returned to Marvel as the director of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which hits theaters in March 2022. It's Raimi's fourth movie based on Marvel comics after the three Spider-Man movies starring Tobey Maguire.

When asked by SYFY WIRE if he could reveal any Doctor Strange 2 details, Raimi had to be tight-lipped. "They won’t let me say anything," Raimi said. "I guess not... I’m sorry."

It's a good time to be a Spider-Man fan. A Spider-Man fan recently recreated the Spider-Man 2 movie poster using assets from the Spider-Man video games on PlayStation 5 and an MCU special is coming to Disney+ in November.

In the meantime, the estate of Marvel artist Steve Ditko is trying to regain the copyrights to Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and more Marvel characters.

Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN.