Babylon 5 On the Verge Of Being Rebooted By Its Original Creator

The long, twilight struggle for a Babylon 5 reboot could be finally coming to an end. The Hollywood Reporter reports that a "from-the-ground-up reboot" of the 90s cult favorite sci-fi classic is in development for The CW with original creator Joe Michael Straczynski as writer and executive producer.

The new version will reportedly revolve around series protagonist John Sheridan as he takes command of Babylon 5 — a diplomatic station built in the wake of a devastating war with an advanced alien race. Notably, the concept doesn't appear to include original protagonist Jeffrey Sinclair, who exited the series as a regular after the first season but continue to have a role in the story.

Babylon 5 originally aired from 1993 to 1998, earning several awards along the way, including a Hugo. It was notable for its ambitious five-year story arc — a rarity in an era where syndicated television prized standalone episodes. Straczynski, affectionately known as JMS by his fans, was also something of an online trailblazer, interacting with fans through newsgroups and other early internet forums. The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 remains a fascinating early internet time capsule in that respect.

JMS has since moved on to various other projects, working on comics, an aborted World War Z script, and Sense8. The last major Babylon 5 project was the direct-to-DVD Lost Tales, which received mixed to poor reviews from critics.

While beloved in its day, Babylon 5 has been overshadowed in recent years by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which enjoyed bigger budgets and better production values than its competitor. Babylon 5 has likewise been hampered by its computer-generated special effects — once revolutionary, but now rather poor on high-definition televisions due to various mastering issues. All of these elements have had fans crying out for a reboot for many years now, which finally seems to be coming to fruition at The CW.

Stracynski is currently working on the reboot alongside Warner Bros., which helped produce the original Babylon 5, and will help pen the script. In the meantime, you can catch a remastered version of the original show on HBO Max, which cleans up the original special effects at the expense of returning to the original 4:3 aspect ratio.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN.

“New Version” of D&D Coming in 2024

The Dungeons & Dragons team has announced that the next iteration of the tabletop fantasy RPG will debut in 2024.

Revealed at D&D Celebration 2021, the next iteration of Dungeons & Dragons - though not officially named as D&D 6e - will launch with new versions of the core rulebooks to coincide with D&D's 50th anniversary. "Earlier this year, we began work on the next evolution of Dungeons & Dragons," said D&D's Executive Producer Ray Winninger during the "Future of D&D" panel, where they also outlined new sourcebooks focusing on both classic and brand new game settings (similar to this year's Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft or 2019's Ebberon: Rising from the Last War) coming in 2022 and '23.

Winninger says the new ruleset will still be compatible with Fifth Edition books and supplements, and will be largely designed based on community feedback for 5e. "We really really appreciate that feedback," Winninger said, continuing "we're doing our best to give you the version of the game that you really want.

While there weren't many concrete details discussed during the D&D Live panel – apart from that there may be a digital component or supplement involved – it sounds like we can expect a lot more information about what to expect once the team is a little further along in the development process next year. "We can't really say much more yet about what our plans are, we're still making them," Winninger said when asked about the development of this next iteration. "Next year we'll have lots more to say about the future of D&D ... and, probably most importantly, when we're ready to talk more about our plans next year, we'll have a lot more to say about how the fans can contribute and help shape this game into all that it can be."

JR is a Senior Producer at IGN, you can follow him on Twitter for more video games and tabletop RPG shenanigans.

Game Scoop! 644: Nintendo’s Shocking Direct

Welcome back to IGN Game Scoop!, the ONLY video game podcast! This week your Omega Cops -- Daemon Hatfield, Tina Amini, Sam Claiborn, and Justin Davis -- are discussing that big Nintendo Direct, Kirby, Metroid Dread, Castlevania Advance, Zookeeper World, and more. And, of course, they play Video Game 20 Questions.

Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service.

Listen on:

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Find previous episodes here!

Squid Game Knockoffs Are Blowing Up on Roblox

One of the biggest shows currently on Netflix is the South Korean import Squid Game. Now fan-made Squid Game experiences are popping up all over Roblox.

Squid Game was released on September 17 and has quickly become one of the most buzzed-about shows on Netflix, becoming the first South Korean television show to hit the number one spot in Netflix’s Top 10.

This popularity seems to be reaching across mediums as in recent days fan-made games based on the same deadly challenges seen in Squid Game have begun cropping up all over Roblox. There are already several Squid Game Roblox remakes on the site’s “Popular” section, which is impressive as a recent investigation by People Make Games reveals just how difficult it is to get your game featured on Roblox’s front page.

The Squid Game Roblox remakes are sometimes listed under different names like “Fish Game” or “Hexa Game,” but these experiences straight-up lift the costumes and challenges directly from the Netflix series. A quick search for ‘Squid Game’ on Roblox’s site reveals even more remakes that haven’t broken into Roblox’s most popular categories.

Squid Game is a nine-episode South Korean thriller where everyday people are gathered on a remote island to play deadly children’s games for the chance to win a big cash prize and escape poverty.

These challenges include playground games like Red Light, Green Light, or Tug-of-War, only the consequences for losing are deadly. While many have highlighted its similarities to older survival movies like Battle Royale, as well as the show's critiques of capitalism which is a popular topic in South Korean media, Squid Game's style and gore makes it a unique take on the genre.

The full first season is available to watch now on Netflix.

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

Thumbnail Image Credit: Roblox, Artist @Zyleth, GOODJUJU

Horizon Forbidden West’s Gear Provides Aloy With New Skills

Outfits in Horizon Forbidden West will have skills attached to them, Guerrilla Games has revealed.

In a post on the PlayStation Blog discussing how Horizon Zero Dawn's lead protagonist Aloy will shape up in the franchise's upcoming sequel, Guerrilla Games Community Lead Bo de Vries spoke about the range of outfits that will be available to Aloy throughout Horizon Forbidden West and how the studio is building up versatility within this aspect of the game.

"Horizon Forbidden West will have a range of outfits for Aloy to benefit from; similar to and perhaps familiar from the first game, outfits allow for protection against a variety of dangers that Aloy encounters and can be purchased from Merchants or found in the world," says de Vries.

"A new addition to the system is that outfits in Horizon Forbidden West have skills attached to them, so players can boost their abilities in different ways. Maximizing these skills happens through a new and improved Skill Tree, something we will tell you more about some other time."

In Horizon Zero Dawn, each outfit provides different base values of resistance to unique types of damage which could then be augmented via additional modifications. Armor across the game could be purchased from various merchants and would range from basic armor types which offered little in the way of base stats to fire and frost resistant sets that could be utilized in various situations.

It isn't yet clear how Forbidden West will integrate this system into the game's new and improved skill tree; the wording doesn't make it clear if outfits will unlock whole new skills, or help enhance skills that players have already unlocked. But these changes do sound like they could allow for more versatility in the way that players are able to adapt their build of Aloy as they approach various situations within the game.

Elsewhere in the article Guerrilla delved further into how the development and release of the PlayStation 5 has allowed the studio to add even more detail to Aloy and other character models across Forbidden West. "We can create finer details such as peach fuzz, smooth contouring, or finer texture details and accurate materials expression, to name a few," says Guerrilla Lead Character Artist Bastien Ramisse.

"And not only do visual aspects benefit from the new PlayStation 5 hardware — we have also increased the number of skeletal joints to bring our deformations and facial expressions to a whole new level for more credible and immersive character performance."

Despite this, the studio was quick to reassure fans that its focus on pushing the boundaries of Forbidden West on PS5 won't leave its PlayStation 4 counterpart compromised. “We actually developed and tested the game simultaneously on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5," says Ramisse. "Because it’s very important to us as a studio to ensure PlayStation 4 players get an equally immersive experience."

Horizon: Forbidden West is slated for release on February 18, 2022. For more Horizon news, make sure to check out our comprehensive rundown of (nearly) everything we know about the game so far.

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

The Search for the Next James Bond Will Begin in 2022

James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has said the search for Daniel Craig's successor will begin next year.

Broccoli appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 4's Today program alongside her half-brother and fellow Eon producer Michael G. Wilson to discuss all things 007 ahead of the upcoming release of No Time to Die. According to Deadline, the two producers said they would not be giving any thought to Daniel Craig's James Bond replacement until 2022.

"We're not thinking about it at all," Broccoli admitted after being quizzed on whether a decision had been made about who would take over the role of the iconic British spy following Craig's fifth and final outing as the MI6 agent. "We want Daniel [Craig] to have his time of celebration. Next year we'll start thinking about the future."

Broccoli credited Craig for bringing different facets of the character to the surface in a way that allowed them to "really explore the emotional life of Bond and go into the person and complexity and conflicts that happen within the Bond character." Wilson similarly praised Craig's performance as he acknowledged that he was leaving behind some "big shoes to fill."

Craig first portrayed Bond in the 2006 film Casino Royale. He reprised the role in 2008's Quantum of Solace, 2012's Skyfall and 2015's Spectre, all of which have collectively grossed more than $3.1 billion at the worldwide box office. Craig is officially bidding farewell to the 007 franchise with No Time To Die, which is the longest James Bond movie to date.

Craig previously offered some frank advice to the next actor that considers playing Bond in the blockbuster film franchise, and while we currently have no idea who that person might be, it's not likely to be a woman. Craig recently echoed the sentiments of the Bond producers as he shared his view that studios should go further than simply casting a female James Bond.

Craig's final outing as Bond is almost upon us, with the world premiere of No Time To Die set to take place at the Royal Albert Hall on September 28 following a number of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film will then feature its theatrical release in the UK on September 30 before releasing in the US on October 8 and in Australia on November 11.

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

Overwatch 2: Blizzard Reveals New Abilities For Bastion and Sombra

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.

Overwatch 2's Game Director Aaron Keller and Lead Hero Designer Geoff Goodman have revealed substantial character reworks for Bastion and Sombra that have been made for the upcoming sequel.

As well as sporting a charismatic new cap and slightly streamlined design, Bastion will see a number of changes in Overwatch 2 to make the battle automaton play rather differently.

"For starters, he no longer has his Self-Repair button at all. It's just gone," says Goodman. "Instead, he now has a brand-new ability that's bound to alternate fire. This ability fires a projectile that can bounce off of walls and stick to players, and does a ton of damage, has a really big radius, and is super fun to fire."

Goodman then went on to explain that Bastion's Recon form weapon has also changed, with his machine gun arm now more precise as it won't feature any spread at all. However, to compensate for this, players will notice that the weapon's fire rate has been significantly reduced. Goodman says the changes mean that Bastion will now be able to "poke at much longer ranges and play a little more like a pseudo-sniper".

In Sentry form, Bastion will now also be able to move around the map. Movement in this form seems to be similar to that of the character's tank-based ultimate in the original Overwatch, although at a much-reduced speed. In an attempt to ensure that the mobility of Bastion's Sentry form doesn't make the character too overpowered, the developers confirmed that it will feature a cooldown so that players won't be able to use it all the time.

Perhaps the most notable change for Bastion comes with its ultimate. As part of a complete overhaul, Bastion's tank-based ultimate has been traded out in Overwatch 2 for a brand new artillery mode. When deployed, players will gain a top-down perspective of the map from which they can pinpoint three zones that Bastion will then rain down rockets upon.

For Sombra's rework, Keller says that her crowd control abilities have been reduced, and her potential damage has been increased. Sombra's key ability, Hack, now lasts for eight seconds and has a reduced three-second cooldown, but will now include two components to it.

"The first component of the ability works exactly like it does in Overwatch 1, disabling abilities," says Goodman. "However, that effect has been reduced to one second. The second component of Hack is a brand-new effect that reveals Hack targets to Sombra and her team through walls and it lasts the entire duration of the hack."

While this might initially seem to be a poor trade-off for greater crowd control options, Sombra's passive has gained the ability to do 50% more damage to hacked targets. If that isn't enough to convince players of this rework, it has also been revealed that the Sombra will now also be able to use Hack while in stealth mode. Although using the ability will briefly reveal Sombra to opposing players, she will then quickly re-enter stealth mode as opposed to removing stealth completely.

Similar to Bastion, Sombra has also seen changes to her ultimate. "For her ultimate ability, we tweaked it so it no longer removes all shields," explains Goodman. "But instead, it now just deals damage to enemies up to 40% of their current health. Combined with her new passive effect this gives her even more finishing potential."

With Overwatch 2 set to feature a number of other changes including a switch in team sizes from 6v6 to 5v5, fans will be eager to see how character tweaks and reworks create changes to the game's overall flow and pacing in the upcoming sequel.

At present, Overwatch 2 does not yet have an official release date. However, for more Overwatch news, make sure to check out this article detailing how Overwatch League's 2022 Season will use an early build of Overwatch 2.

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

Riddick 4: Vin Diesel Says Furya Might Be ‘Closer Than You Think’

Vin Diesel has suggested that Furya, the fourth film in The Chronicles of Riddick series, might not be as far off as people think.

Diesel teased the return of Riddick on Instagram this past weekend when he posted an old photo of himself in character as the franchise's titular anti-hero. In the caption, he revealed he had completed an "incredible meeting" with a team that he wouldn't name. He ended the post by suggesting that the fourth film in the sci-fi franchise is "maybe closer than you think."

The first installment of the series, Pitch Black, was released in 2000 and eventually birthed an entire franchise, collectively known as The Chronicles of Riddick, that spanned multiple live-action sequels, video games, and a direct-to-DVD animated film — all centered around gruff convict Riddick, an exceptional fighter with superhuman abilities and perfect night-vision.

Diesel announced back in 2014 that Universal Studios had expressed interest in developing the next installment in the Riddick film series. The following year, Diesel posted a video on Facebook in which he showed himself speaking with director David Twohy about a Riddick origin story, exploring "where it all started, where it all began" with the eponymous character.

News surrounding Furya fell quiet for a while, though that shouldn't come as a surprise as Diesel has been busy working on several other projects. He is confirmed to be appearing in James Cameron's Avatar sequels and has also returned to voice Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, as well as reprising his role as Dominic Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise.

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

Marvel’s Avengers Spider-Man DLC Will Have Story and Cutscenes

Crystal Dynamics, the developer behind Marvel's Avengers, has confirmed that the PlayStation-exclusive Spider-Man DLC will have story content and cutscenes when it makes its long-awaited debut.

As spotted by MP1ST, Crystal Dynamics' Senior Producer Dan Matlack responded to a fan's question on the official Marvel's Avengers Discord server that asked whether or not everyone's favourite webhead would come with his own storyline. "Spider-Man is what we call an 'event' so he will have cutscenes and a story for sure," Matlack replied.

Matlack then went on to give fans a further glimpse at details of the game's first ever Raid, in which players will battle with Klaw, the primary villain of the Marvel's Avengers' last expansion, War for Wakanda. As part of the discussion, Matlack reassured fans that while the Raid may feature some familiar environments it will be a "unique" experience.

Marvel's Avengers first confirmed that Spider-Man would be coming to the game - albeit controversially as a PlayStation exclusive character - in August of last year. At the time, the character was understood to be coming during an early 2021 release window. However, fans' concerns increased when Spider-Man's introduction was delayed and a lengthy silence from the studio fell surrounding the character.

Earlier this month, however, a new roadmap for Marvel's Avengers confirmed that the developer was on track to release Spider-Man sometime before the end of 2021.

For more on Marvel's Avengers, make sure to check out our review of the game where we praised its campaign for being "fun and endearing" but criticized its "loot-based post-game" for being "unrewarding and overly repetitive".

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

Resident Evil 4 VR Hands-On Preview

Resident Evil 4 — like Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim and Grand Theft Auto 5 — is one of those all-time great games that has been re-released on nearly every platform. But the upcoming Resident Evil 4 VR for the Oculus Quest 2 might be the first time since 2005 that Capcom’s seminal survival horror game feels new again.

Resident Evil 4 VR isn’t some sampler running you through the best parts of the 2005 classic. This is the full game remade in virtual reality and you’ll be able to experience every area, puzzle, and boss fight in a new light. And I’ll be the first to tell you that this might be the first time in a long while that I’ve been excited to play through the entirety of Resident Evil 4 again.

Resident Evil 4 is best known for modernizing the Resident Evil formula and pivoting the series towards a more action-oriented direction. Gone were the slow-pace controls and sluggish gunplay, Resident Evil 4 introduced a new, faster third-person combat system while expanding the arsenal with new weapons and melee attacks.

All of this translates well in virtual reality. If you’ve played a first-person shooter in VR you’ll know that if there’s one genre VR excels at and potentially surpasses on the console experience, it’s a shooter. To this end, much of the original Resident Evil 4 experience has been remade to be interacted with.

Weapons are a good example of this. All the tools a player needs will be somewhere on their person and can be grabbed as necessary. Need to pull out a gun? Grab it from your waist. Need to heal yourself? Your health items can be grabbed from your left shoulder. Pull out a knife? It's holstered on your chest.

Similarly, reloading your weapon is done in real-time as well. Your ammo is in a pouch on your left side and you’ll need to physically pull out ammo cartridges and load them into your weapon.

This might be the first time in a long while that I’ve been excited to play through the entirety of Resident Evil 4 again.

The whole experience has a learning curve — I can’t tell you how many times I needed a health item only to accidentally grab my knife — but once you develop the muscle memory it’s almost second nature.

Puzzles have also been remade so they can be interacted with. One puzzle in the church requires players to move different colored lights correctly to form the right shape. On the console, players would interact with this using a controller, but in VR you’ll press virtual buttons on a machine to move around the lights the right way.

Likewise, your items are now handled in a full-sized, virtual window where you can pick up items and re-arrange them by physically moving them around. And saving your game is done on a fully interactive virtual typewriter and it might be my favorite thing ever.

Not everything is in VR though. All the cutscenes in the game aren’t viewed in first-person, but rather on a virtual theater screen in front of the player. Not only that, but anytime Leon does an action like climb a ladder or jump through a window RE4 VR switches from a first-person perspective to the same cutscene theater view.

It’s not a very elegant transition, but I understand why it was done. No doubt converting every cutscene in the game will add countless development hours, and I doubt jumping and rolling out a second-story window will be pleasant in VR.

The more serious issue is how some of the combat encounters translate into the new format. Resident Evil 4 as previously stated was a more action-oriented turn for the series and that included adding a lot more intense mob encounters.

On consoles and PC, this wasn’t a problem but in VR the intensity and the difficulty of these encounters are substantially increased. On the one hand, fighting a wave of enemies by pulling your weapons from holsters and reloading them in real-time can be incredibly thrilling.

But if you’re partial to motion-sickness like me, you’ll likely be playing using the teleportation controls, and getting away from a mob with this kind of movement while physically managing your inventory was quite the challenge.

But whereas mob fights are tough and a bit frustrating, boss fights elicit a different reaction altogether. There’s nothing quite like fighting El Gigante in virtual reality, staring up at his towering figure while shooting him with everything you have.

Between boss fights and enemies is Resident Evil 4’s beautiful, gloomy world. While I’ve seen this world many times over the years, there’s nothing quite like seeing it in VR. The constant overcast becomes physically oppressive, and you can almost smell the rot and blood in the village. But there are also moments of serene beauty and you can see it for the first time only in VR.

If you’ve skipped every re-release of Resident Evil 4 because of the incremental changes made for each version, Resident Evil 4 VR is the most substantially different take on the game I’ve seen in a long while and I’m eager to fully revisit this exhilarating nightmare when Resident Evil 4 VR is released this October. At least until the rumored Resident Evil 4 Remake is finally announced.

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