Sony paid $3.5 million to put Ark: Survival Evolved on PlayStation Plus for one month, while Microsoft paid $2.5 million to put it on Xbox Game Pass for six months.

As spotted by Kotaku reporter Ethan Gach on Twitter (below), a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by Snail Games USA (the parent company of Ark developer Studio Wildcard) revealed the values paid by each company to feature the game in their "free games" line-up.

Ark appeared on PlayStation Plus in March 2022 and was therefore free for subscribers in the five week period ranging from March 1 to April 4, a deal that Sony paid $3.5 million for.

Sony paid $3.5 million to make ARK: Survival Evolved a March PS Plus game.

Microsoft paid $2.5 million to keep it on Game Pass for the first half of this year, and $2.3 million to bring ARK 2 to the service when it launches.

Via September SEC filing. https://t.co/dl1VZOpXE8 pic.twitter.com/RSouPcAfyZ

— AmericanTruckSongs8 (@ethangach) October 11, 2022

Neither Sony or the developers involved have previously revealed how much these deals go through for, and while this could be a complete outlier and not representative of a standard agreement, its the first insight into the financial backend of PlayStation Plus that we've had since it began in 2010.

Microsoft, on the other hand, had reached an agreement to feature Ark on Xbox Game Pass for three years starting in 2019. Extending the deal later, the filing revealed that it paid the $2.5 million to feature Ark on Xbox Game Pass until June 30, 2022.

Looking forward, Microsoft also paid $2.3 million to guarantee that Ark 2 would be featured on Xbox Game Pass for three years after it's released next year.

Similar to Sony's PlayStation Plus deals, little is known about Microsoft's agreements with developers for Xbox Game Pass, meaning this is also one of the first real insights we've had into how the process works.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Sony paid $3.5 million to put Ark: Survival Evolved on PlayStation Plus for one month, while Microsoft paid $2.5 million to put it on Xbox Game Pass for six months.

As spotted by Kotaku reporter Ethan Gach on Twitter (below), a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by Snail Games USA (the parent company of Ark developer Studio Wildcard) revealed the values paid by each company to feature the game in their "free games" line-up.

Ark appeared on PlayStation Plus in March 2022 and was therefore free for subscribers in the five week period ranging from March 1 to April 4, a deal that Sony paid $3.5 million for.

Sony paid $3.5 million to make ARK: Survival Evolved a March PS Plus game.

Microsoft paid $2.5 million to keep it on Game Pass for the first half of this year, and $2.3 million to bring ARK 2 to the service when it launches.

Via September SEC filing. https://t.co/dl1VZOpXE8 pic.twitter.com/RSouPcAfyZ

— AmericanTruckSongs8 (@ethangach) October 11, 2022

Neither Sony or the developers involved have previously revealed how much these deals go through for, and while this could be a complete outlier and not representative of a standard agreement, its the first insight into the financial backend of PlayStation Plus that we've had since it began in 2010.

Microsoft, on the other hand, had reached an agreement to feature Ark on Xbox Game Pass for three years starting in 2019. Extending the deal later, the filing revealed that it paid the $2.5 million to feature Ark on Xbox Game Pass until June 30, 2022.

Looking forward, Microsoft also paid $2.3 million to guarantee that Ark 2 would be featured on Xbox Game Pass for three years after it's released next year.

Similar to Sony's PlayStation Plus deals, little is known about Microsoft's agreements with developers for Xbox Game Pass, meaning this is also one of the first real insights we've had into how the process works.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Publisher 2K has confirmed that players' personal information was obtained in the hack that affected its support section last month, though there is "no indication" that financial data was taken.

An update on 2K's support website revealed that details including users' email addresses, gamertags, and console details were stolen and put up for sale. "There is no indication that any of your financial information or password(s) held on our system were compromised," it added.

2K has been emailing users affected by the hack, which itself saw emails sent from its official support section that contained malicious links asking for personal information. The publisher immediately shut down its support website and asked users not to open these emails but, as they were from the official account and not just a spoof account spending fake emails, some users did.

pic.twitter.com/yOXC8pC4SV

— 2K Support (@2KSupport) September 23, 2022

Though it doesn't believe the hack accessed information from linked accounts like PlayStation or Xbox profiles, 2K still warned users to "look out for suspicious activity across your accounts and be vigilant for unauthorized third parties trying to leverage the incident to harm you."

All users affected have been contacted by 2K already, with the publisher confirming that its emails are once again secure. The same support website has suggestions on what to do if the malicious email was accessed. It recommended at the time that users immediately change passwords saved in web browsers (like Chrome auto-fill), install anti-virus software, enable multi-factor authentication where possible, and check that no email account forwarding settings have been changed.

2K wasn't the only major video game company that suffered a hack in September, as Rockstar Games had around 90 videos of Grand Theft Auto 6 gameplay leaked.

Uber was also victim to a hack, allegedly by the same individual that targeted Rockstar, and the company is now working with the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the issue. Blizzard also suffered from a breach as more than 40 minutes of Diablo 4 gameplay appeared online.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Publisher 2K has confirmed that players' personal information was obtained in the hack that affected its support section last month, though there is "no indication" that financial data was taken.

An update on 2K's support website revealed that details including users' email addresses, gamertags, and console details were stolen and put up for sale. "There is no indication that any of your financial information or password(s) held on our system were compromised," it added.

2K has been emailing users affected by the hack, which itself saw emails sent from its official support section that contained malicious links asking for personal information. The publisher immediately shut down its support website and asked users not to open these emails but, as they were from the official account and not just a spoof account spending fake emails, some users did.

pic.twitter.com/yOXC8pC4SV

— 2K Support (@2KSupport) September 23, 2022

Though it doesn't believe the hack accessed information from linked accounts like PlayStation or Xbox profiles, 2K still warned users to "look out for suspicious activity across your accounts and be vigilant for unauthorized third parties trying to leverage the incident to harm you."

All users affected have been contacted by 2K already, with the publisher confirming that its emails are once again secure. The same support website has suggestions on what to do if the malicious email was accessed. It recommended at the time that users immediately change passwords saved in web browsers (like Chrome auto-fill), install anti-virus software, enable multi-factor authentication where possible, and check that no email account forwarding settings have been changed.

2K wasn't the only major video game company that suffered a hack in September, as Rockstar Games had around 90 videos of Grand Theft Auto 6 gameplay leaked.

Uber was also victim to a hack, allegedly by the same individual that targeted Rockstar, and the company is now working with the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the issue. Blizzard also suffered from a breach as more than 40 minutes of Diablo 4 gameplay appeared online.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Image Comics' Monstress is easily one of the most critically acclaimed comics of in recent memory, racking up several Eisner Awards over the years. Now creators Marjorie Liu and Sana takeda are back with a new graphic novel trilogy called The Night Eaters, and IGN has an exclusive preview of the first volume.

The Night Eaters Book 1: She Eats the Night introduces Milly and Billy, two failure-prone twins fighting to keep the lights on at their failing restaurant. When their disapproving parents force the twins to clean a house that was once home to a horrific murder, Milly and Billy are drawn into a terrifying ordeal that reveals just how unusual their family truly is.

Check out the slideshow gallery below for an exclusive look inside The Night Eaters Book 1:

"I’m not sure any adult child likes being told by a parent that they suck at life, but that probably happens more often than most of us want to admit, and the twins, Milly and Billy, have just gotten an earful," Liu tells IGN. "Their mom, Ipo, isn’t happy with the choices they’ve made, and because there’s no manipulation like parental manipulation, they’ve agreed to help her out with some gardening — in the yard of a house they don’t own. Which doesn’t make sense to them. But when has that ever stopped children from following the directives of a parent they secretly are too afraid to disobey? A parent they also crave approval from?"

The Night Eaters trilogy is being published through Abrams ComicArts, who also recently released Alex Ross' visually stunning Fantastic Four: Full Circle graphic novel. Book 1 has already sold over 100,000 copies leading up to its release, which could very well make it the top-selling graphic novel of 2022.

The Night Eaters Book 1: She Eats the Night is priced at $24.99 and is available in stores now.

In other comic book news, Marvel is teasing the next year's worth of major crossover events, and Joe Quesada is making the surprise move to DC after 22 years at Marvel.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Image Comics' Monstress is easily one of the most critically acclaimed comics of in recent memory, racking up several Eisner Awards over the years. Now creators Marjorie Liu and Sana takeda are back with a new graphic novel trilogy called The Night Eaters, and IGN has an exclusive preview of the first volume.

The Night Eaters Book 1: She Eats the Night introduces Milly and Billy, two failure-prone twins fighting to keep the lights on at their failing restaurant. When their disapproving parents force the twins to clean a house that was once home to a horrific murder, Milly and Billy are drawn into a terrifying ordeal that reveals just how unusual their family truly is.

Check out the slideshow gallery below for an exclusive look inside The Night Eaters Book 1:

"I’m not sure any adult child likes being told by a parent that they suck at life, but that probably happens more often than most of us want to admit, and the twins, Milly and Billy, have just gotten an earful," Liu tells IGN. "Their mom, Ipo, isn’t happy with the choices they’ve made, and because there’s no manipulation like parental manipulation, they’ve agreed to help her out with some gardening — in the yard of a house they don’t own. Which doesn’t make sense to them. But when has that ever stopped children from following the directives of a parent they secretly are too afraid to disobey? A parent they also crave approval from?"

The Night Eaters trilogy is being published through Abrams ComicArts, who also recently released Alex Ross' visually stunning Fantastic Four: Full Circle graphic novel. Book 1 has already sold over 100,000 copies leading up to its release, which could very well make it the top-selling graphic novel of 2022.

The Night Eaters Book 1: She Eats the Night is priced at $24.99 and is available in stores now.

In other comic book news, Marvel is teasing the next year's worth of major crossover events, and Joe Quesada is making the surprise move to DC after 22 years at Marvel.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Google's ambitions to make gaming-focused Chromebooks are now coming to fruition.

In a new press release, Google announced that it has partnered with Acer, Asus, and Lenovo to make these gaming-focused Chromebooks designed for cloud gaming subscription services like Nvidia GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Acer's Chromebook 516 GE features a 120Hz WQXGA display with an anti-ghosting RGB keyboard, WI-Fi 6E connectivity, and force-canceling and DTS speakers. The laptop offers a few configuration options for the RAM (up to 16GB of LPDDR4X), storage (up to 256GB of NVMe SSD), along with two CPU options (Intel Core i5-1240P or i7-1260P). Acer's Chromebook 516 GE starts at $649.99 and will be available at Best Buy.

The Asus Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip features a 144Hz FHD display, an anti-ghosting keyboard, Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, a 720p camera, and Harmon Kardon-certified dual speakers. Asus notes that you can configure the laptop with up to an Intel Core i7 (11th Gen) CPU, 16GB of LPDDR4X RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage.

Lenovo's IdeaPad Chromebook offers a 120Hz WQXGA display, an RGB anti-ghosting keyboard, 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, and a four-speaker system with Wave audio tuning. The laptop offers an option to receive either an Intel Core i3 or i5 CPU (both 12th Gen) and includes a few storage options: 128GB of eMMC SSD or M.2 PCIe 2242 in either 256GB or 512GB. Lenovo's IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook will be available sometime this month with a starting MSRP of $599.

The announcement of gaming laptops designed for cloud gaming services comes at an interesting time, as Google recently announced that it would shut down its own cloud gaming service, Stadia, early next year. Additionally, Logitech announced a few weeks ago that it was working on a Wi-Fi-only handheld that is dedicated to cloud gaming and would retail for $350.

While the inclusion of a gaming-centric Chromebook designed more for cloud gaming seems redundant, these may appeal to those who are subscribed and avid cloud gaming players and don't want to spend a ton of cash on laptops built for gaming beyond the cloud.

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

Star Trek: Picard recently unveiled the Odyssey-class USS Enterprise F — a starship originally designed by a fan for the Star Trek Online game.

New York Comic Con 2022's Star Trek Universe panel gave fans a teaser of what's to come in Star Trek: Picard's third and final season. The latest trailer offered more details about the upcoming story while also despatching a new Enterprise into canon, as fans spotted the Odyssey-class USS Enterprise F cruising through a shot at around the 1:51 mark.

If the ship's design seems familiar, that's because it's from the MMO video game Star Trek Online. As Giant Freakin Robot points out, the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-F was initially drawn by a fan called Adam Ilhe as part of a contest held for the game back in 2011. Thomas Marrone recently rebuilt the 3D model that the Picard VFX team then worked into the show.

The trailer also gave fans a new glimpse at the returning crew members of Star Trek: The Next Generation, including the likes of Gates McFadden's Dr. Beverly Crusher, LeVar Burton's Geordi La Forge, Michael Dorn's Worf, Marina Sirtis' Deanna Troi, Brent Spiner's Lore, Daniel Davis' Professor James Moriarty, and Jonathan Frakes' Commander William Riker.

Showrunner Terry Matalas said the forthcoming season of Picard will very much draw inspiration from the film Crimson Tide, with Amanda Plummer playing a key role in the action. She'll be stepping out as Vadic, "a mysterious alien captain of the Shrike, a warship that has set its sights on Jean-Luc Picard and his old crewmates from his days on the Enterprise."

Star Trek: Picard's final season will premiere on February 16, 2023, with new episodes debuting each Thursday. The first two seasons are available to stream right now, but we felt let down by the crew's last adventure. In our Season 2 review, we said it was a "disappointing entry in the legendary captain's journey, and possibly the worst season of Star Trek ever."

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

DICE was forced to turn off Battlefield 2042's The Liquidators limited-time event less than one hour after it went live due to serious bugs.

The event went live on time at 9am UK time but, as of 9:32am, had been taken offline after DICE discovered that its progression system wasn't working.

"We are temporarily disabling The Liquidators mid-season event", the official Battlefield Direct Communication account said on Twitter (below). "We're seeing that the unlock rewards and progress for the event are not tracking correctly, and cannot be equipped when showing as unlocked."

We are temporarily disabling the The Liquidators Mid-Season Event.

We're seeing that the Unlock Rewards and Progress for the Event are not tracking correctly, and cannot be equipped when showing as Unlocked.

We'll follow-up once we're ready to turn the Event back on. pic.twitter.com/XmyyEN9w35

— Battlefield Direct Communication (@BattlefieldComm) October 11, 2022

Those looking to play the event, which adds the Tactical Conquest mode alongside new missions and rewards, seemingly won't have too long to wait, however, as DICE said in a follow-up tweet that it aims to have The Liquidators back online later today.

"We're working to ensure all players can progress towards and receive the unlock rewards for The Liquidators event before we turn it back on," it said.

Battlefield 2042 hasn't had the smoothest first year on the market, only launching its Season 1 in June (seven months after launch) as it was delayed to focus on more pressing issues such as including a scoreboard, but this update was also delayed.

Publisher EA admitted around the same time that Battlefield 2042 did not meet expectations, and soon after a petition asking for refunds started online that more than 230,000 players have now signed. Battlefield 2042's numbers had diminished in the meantime, as in early March it had fewer players on Steam than Battlefield 1, 4, and 5.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

If you watched last weekend’s episode of House of the Dragon, you’ll know it was full of emotional highs and lows. But one of the episode’s best moments was created entirely by accident.

Spoilers for House of the Dragons Episode 8 below…

According to Entertainment Weekly, the emotional scene where a weakened Viserys is helped to his throne by his estranged brother/son-in-law, Daemon, was an instantly popular scene among the creators of the show, and one that happened by accident during rehearsal.

“When we were shooting that — I think the rehearsal again, the first day — the crown fell off of Paddy’s head and Matt picked it up and we just kept going. We didn’t stop [filming],” says House of the Dragon director Greeta Patel. “There was a discovery there of this moment.”

The original plan was for Matt Smith’s Daemon to deliver a toast at the family dinner later in the episode, but the actors and director felt something special about the crowning scene during rehearsal. So the team shot both Daemon’s speech and the crown scene and decided to cut Daemon’s toast for time, while keeping the improvised shot.

"I was so thankful that accident happened, that the crown fell off because it proved to be, at least for me, quite a heavy moment and quite a turning point for a storyline that had started in the pilot: Hey, I want your crown and by the end here I'm gonna put the crown back on your head and I'm gonna help you to your throne."

House of the Dragon episode 8, “The Lord of the Tides” was all set to be another showdown between the series’ Black faction led by Rhaenyra, and the Green faction led by the Hightower family. But instead, it became the last hurrah for the ailing Viserys who even in the last few episodes did not seem long for Westeros.

But while the tender moment between the brothers would be just one of the warm, familial highlights of episode 8 it did not last as Viserys’ sickness catches up to him by the end of the episode and sets up the civil war we’ve been waiting for to befall House Targaryan.

With two episodes left, the power vacuum is ready to blow. Check out IGN’s review of House of the Dragon episode 8 and analysis of Viserys’ final scene.

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