EA has purchased Super Mega Baseball developer Metalhead Software. The two companies will combine to grow Metalhead’s Super Mega Baseball franchise, marking EA’s first venture back into the realm of Major League Baseball since losing the rights to 2K in 2005. EA last published MVP 07: NCAA Baseball in 2007.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/12/super-mega-baseball-3-review"]

Terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed, so it remains to be seen how much money EA spent on the acquisition.

The Super Mega Baseball franchise began with 2014’s first game, garnering high praise for its easy to learn controls and difficulty options. Super Mega Baseball 3, released in May 2020, similarly features an unlicensed take on baseball that isn’t as deep as MLB The Show, but is nonetheless fun and interesting to play. Despite the cartoonish avatars of baseball players, the series is less NFL Blitz and more accessible simulation, but doesn't feature any actual licensed MLB teams or products.

EA has been busy acquiring multiple studios known for their work in sports games. EA acquired Dirt series developer Codemasters for $1.2 billion in early 2021, acknowledging plans to release a new racing game every year. Codemasters also owns the Project cars and GRID franchises. EA Sports previously announced its return to developing officially licensed NCAA football games for the first time since 2013.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/11/super-mega-baseball-3-gameplay-trailer"]

“We put together a deliberate growth strategy for EA Sports that includes getting into a number of new sports that we haven’t been in, in a while, and placing our bets in certain places,” Cam Weber, senior vice president in charge of EA Sports, told Polygon. “One of those things was re-establishing a presence in baseball, and looking at our options there.”

If you’re wondering what EA’s involvement means for future installments of Super Mega Baseball, Weber says the publisher intends on keeping the goofy aesthetic and sense of humor.

“My belief is that Super Mega Baseball is well differentiated from MLB The Show, and I think it has its own spot in the marketplace,” Weber told Polygon.

As for official MLB licensing, things are still up in the air. Weber told Polygon that Super Mega Baseball may “possibly” become the basis for other MLB-licensed games, but declined to comment on further specifics.

“Obviously, we’re just completing the acquisition this week,” Weber told Polygon. “We’re going to sit down together and map out the future, and map out what we can do to expand and build up. I would like to build out Super Mega Baseball, at depth, and kind of fully realize what the team’s vision is for the game. And then, like I said, we will explore other sports as well and grow the studio. I think when it comes to licensing, we will look at what — for each individual game they work on, including Super Mega Baseball — we will look at what’s the best path forward to realize the vision.”

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/22/the-5-biggest-takeaways-from-xboxs-bethesda-acquisition"]

EA also acquired Glu Mobile, makers of the mobile game TapSports Baseball ‘20 (among others) in early 2021 for $2.1 billion, making it one of the most expensive acquisitions in games industry history. Weber says that porting the Super Mega Baseball experience to mobile is not in EA’s short-term plans.

EA is currently working on a new next-gen PGA Tour game, saying that more news is coming in the near future. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/pinch-hitter for IGN.

After numerous production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, HBO's Succession is finally getting back on track. Last year's Emmy winner for Best Drama Series has added Adrien Brody to its cast for Season 3. Brody will guest star throughout Season 3 as Josh Aaronson, a billionaire activist and investor who becomes entangled in the Roy family's power struggle over the ownership of Waystar. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/30/hbo-max-streaming-service-review"] Brody is only the latest addition that Succession has made to its cast. Earlier this week, Alexander Skarsgård was announced for the upcoming season in the role of a tech CEO named Lukas Matsson. Skarsgård was last seen on HBO in the first season of Big Little Lies. Succession is the second HBO project that Brody has signed on for in recent months. The actor is also set to play basketball coach Pat Riley in the network's upcoming series dramatizing the professional and personal lives of the 1980's Los Angeles Lakers. Brody's last television role was on Peaky Blinders. The actor guest-starred as Italian gangster Luca Changretta throughout Season 4 of the crime show. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=everything-coming-to-hbo-max&captions=true"] HBO has not announced a premiere date for Season 3 of Succession, though production is now underway in New York. The series originally planned to film Season 3 in the early months of 2020, but those plans were put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In our 2019 year-end awards, IGN named Succession the Best Drama TV Series and the Best TV Ensemble. [poilib element="accentDivider"] J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer. (Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images)

A new and strange video uploaded to the official Stranger Things YouTube channel seems to be teasing something related to Season 4 of the Netflix show. It's been nearly two years since Season 3 of Netflix's Stranger Things and with no official release date in sight for Season 4, the teases continue to roll out. This time around, a new video has appeared on the Stranger Things YouTube channel that has to do with Hawkins National Laboratory, the lab heavily featured in the show's first season. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/06/what-will-happen-in-stranger-things-season-4"] "Due to technical difficulties, Hawkins National Laboratory will be closed until further notice," the video's description reads. "We will be back in service tomorrow at 9 a.m. ET." If you watch the video, you'll see what appears to be a bottom-up view of seven television screens. A strange, operatic song plays throughout the nearly two-minute video and occasionally throughout it, the screens flash video feeds. What's shown on the feeds gets progressively darker. At first, it appears to be video of a children's play area in the laboratory, or at least, an area decorated with comfy chairs, rainbows, and more. As the video goes on, we're shown chess pieces on a table followed by a bloody 8-ball. After that, one of the screen flashes what appears to be the floor of the room covered in blood. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/04/stranger-things-season-3-post-credits-scene-explained"] What all of this could mean is unknown. Perhaps it has something to do with Hopper, who is still alive, although his whereabouts are unknown. Maybe it's about another child with Eleven-like abilities who escaped from the laboratory in a bloody way. For now, we'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, read this story about a "huge" backstory reveal happening in Season 4 related to Hopper and then check out this story about Stranger Things Season 4 adding Robert Englund to its cast. Catch up on our thoughts on the latest season of the show in IGN's Stranger Things Season 3 review after that. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

With just over a week left to go before the launch of Mass Effect Legendary Edition, EA has confirmed that the Xbox Series X can run the game at 120fps, while the PlayStation 5 will run the game at 60fps. Up until now, it was unknown how the classic trilogy of games would run on the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Legendary Edition director, Mac Walters, told IGN in an interview earlier this year that the team has "some targeted unleashing of the game so that it will leverage a little bit more power of the next-gen series beyond just the faster load times you'd expect from the SSD." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/02/mass-effect-legendary-edition-our-first-impressions"] Now we know exactly how the Legendary Edition will run on next-gen consoles, both in the game's "Favor Quality" mode and the "Favor Framerate" mode thanks to an update posted today by EA. Here's what you can expect:

• PlayStation 5: Up to 60fps at 4K in Favor Quality, Up to 60fps at 1440p in Favor Framerate
• Xbox Series X: Up to 60fps at 4K in Favor Quality, Up to 120fps at 1440p in Favor Framerate
• PlayStation 4 Pro: Up to 30fps at 4K in Favor Quality, Up to 60fps at 1440p in Favor Framerate
• Xbox Series S/Xbox One X: Up to 30fps at 4K in Favor Quality, Up to 60fps at 1440p in Favor Framerate
• PlayStation 4: Up to 30fps at 1080p in Favor Quality, Up to 60fps at 1080p in Favor Framerate
• Xbox One: Up to 30fps at 1080p in Favor Quality, Up to 60fps at 1080p in Favor Framerate

As you can see, only the Xbox Series X will be able to play Mass Effect Legendary Edition at 120fps. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/02/mass-effect-legendary-edition-official-trailer"] If you're looking at the PS5's Mass Effect specs and wondering why it plays the game at 60fps in both the Favor Quality and the Favor Framerate mode, with the only difference between the two being a lesser resolution in the Favor Framerate mode, don't worry — we did too, and after reaching out to EA for clarification, we were directed back to the spec sheet on the blog post. According to EA's post, the Favor Quality mode "prioritizes achieving the highest visual fidelity possible in exchange for a lower target framereate," while the Favor Framerate mode "prioritizes the highest framerate possible by scaling native resolution and reducing some graphical features." It's unclear at this point why anyone would choose to play the game in the Favor Framerate mode on PlayStation 5, but hey, you do you. Eslewhere in the Milky Way, the company also revealed that the bonus download content available in the Deluxe Editions of Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 is now available for download ahead of the Legendary Edition's launch next week. It's a 1.7GB download that also includes the first soundtrack of Mass Effect, as well as a new Legendary Edition track, two PDF art books, two PDF comic books, and a Normandy digital lithograph. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/06/mass-effect-legendary-edition-changes-original-vs-remastered-performance-preview"] Mass Effect Legendary Edition launches next week on May 14. While waiting for that, read about all of the gameplay tweaks that were made and then read about why PS5 and Xbox Series X editions of the game aren't being released. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

Xbox vice president Lori Wright has been called to testify in the Epic vs. Apple court case as a third-party witness and give insight into the gaming market as a console partner. Her testimony has shed light on some of Xbox's internal workings including how Xbox has never made a profit off of hardware through any of the Xbox iterations. During an examination, Epic's lawyer Wes Earnhardt began a line of questioning on the profitability of console hardware. Earnhardt asks Wright, "How much margin does Microsoft earn on the sale on the Xbox consoles?" To which Wright responds, "We don't. We sell the consoles at a loss." "Just to be clear, does Microsoft ever earn a profit on the sale of an Xbox console?" Wright follows-up. "No," Wright says. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-xbox-series-x-games&captions=true"] Wright explains that Microsoft keeps selling consoles at a loss because its business model is set up to deliver "an end-to-end gaming experience," and that hardware is "critical to us delivering that gaming experience." These experiences include services like games, Xbox Live Gold, and Xbox Game Pass. As noted by Protocol, Epic's questions regarding hardware profitability were in order to show that while video game console makers have a justification for its 30% revenue share as it is a primary revenue source for them, smartphone makers like Apple don't have as strong reasoning for their revenue share models. Video game hardware has always typically been sold at a loss, save for a couple of instances. Nintendo, for example, has historically not tried to take a loss on hardware and makes a profit on systems sold, including the Nintendo Switch. Sony's PS4 was also profitable, according to analyst Daniel Ahmad.  

Same Microsoft document has a breakdown of hardware revenue / profit estimates for Sony and Nintendo.

Hardware generating a loss for Sony, but profit for Nintendo.https://t.co/hOqyjeKQcv pic.twitter.com/mPBKABWHRD — Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) May 5, 2021

Even now, analysis from documents revealed during the trial suggests that both Sony and Xbox are taking a loss on the hardware, while Nintendo doesn't as per its long-running strategy. Meanwhile, Microsoft currently generates over a billion dollars in revenue from software and services, just as Wright testified. Console sales are just one piece of the profit pie and it's not as if these companies are in the red for selling hardware at a loss. Both Microsoft and Sony are profitable after all, and in the case of Microsoft, the Xbox division is just one of its many departments. But although hardware losses have been known throughout the industry, the Epic vs. Apple trial continues to put on record many of these open secrets. As part of Wright's testimony, other documents from Xbox show some of the company's inner workings including Xbox's analysis of The Last of Us Part 2 from rival PlayStation, as well as some of the company's expectations regarding rival releases like how it believed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 was set to be released in 2020. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor.

Hanna John-Kamen has been cast as Red Sonja in the upcoming sword-and-sorcery feature film. This news comes by way of The Hollywood Reporter, which reports that John-Kamen, who played the villainous Ghost in Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp, will star in the forthcoming spinoff of Conan the Barbarian. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/02/11/red-sonja-production-on-hold-following-bryan-singer-controversy"] Joey Soloway is directing the movie and and co-writing the script alongside Tasha Huo, who is the screenwriter that's executive producing and serving as the showrunner for Netflix's upcoming animated Tomb Raider series, as noted by THR. "Hannah is a very talented actress who we've been following for years and she IS Red Sonja," Soloway told THR in a statement. "Her range, sensibilities, and strength are all qualities we have been looking for and we couldn't be more excited to embark on this journey together." Anyone following Red Sonja knows that's it's been through quite a ride getting to the point of casting. It was originally announced in 2008 as a remake starring Rose McGowan and directed by Robert Rodriguez. Then, in 2015, it was revealed that Christopher Cosmos had been hired to develop a script for it and then The Expendables producer, Millennium Media, joined to produce the film in 2017. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2008/07/29/red-sonja-movies-rose-mcgowan-robert-rodriguez-sdcc-08"] X-Men: Apocalypse director Bryan Singer was confirmed as the director a year later. The entire film's production was put on hold in February of 2019 due to the controversy surrounding Singer, and just over a month later, it was announced that he was no longer be directing Red Sonja. That was one of the last time's anyone had publicly heard about this film before today's news that John-Kamen had been tapped to play Red Sonja. While waiting to hear more about Red Sonja, check out this story about 33 movies that were supposed to come out last decade but didn't, including Red Sonja, and then check out IGN's list of the top 25 fantasy films after that. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

A narrative designer at Sumo Digital has revealed that she's working on one of the "world's best known and best-loved fantasy franchises." This news comes, oddly enough, by way of MCV/Develop's 2021 30 Under 30 list, which is comprised of 30 people considered "the best young talent in the industry." One of those 30 is Sarah Longthorne of Sumo Digital. She's a narrative designer at the developer's Nottingham studio, which is one of Sumo's eight UK studios, and her 30 Under 30 bio reveals that she's worked the past year as a narrative designer on a fantasy franchise, as pointed out by Luke_wal on Resetera.

THAT'S ME, THAT IS pic.twitter.com/aCw1Wm9ScM

— SJ Longthorne (@sarahlongthorne) May 5, 2021

"The majority of Sarah Longthorne's work over the past year has been as a narrative designer on a triple-A title based on one of the 'world's best known and best-loved fantasy franchises,' with Longthorne's role making up a crucial part of the game's development," the bio reads. This in and of itself doesn't reveal too much — there are plenty of fantasy franchises that people would call some of the world's best-known and best-loved — but some possibilities are lurking out there. For example, Sumo Digital has worked with Playground Games in the past, namely Forza Horizon 4, and we know that this studio is currently at work on the new Fable game for Xbox. Perhaps Sumo Digital is helping out with that title. Only time will tell, though, as what this game is will likely remain unknown for some time. In the meantime, read our thoughts on Sumo Digital's latest game in IGN's Sackboy: A Big Adventure review. After that, read this story about Sumo Digital concluding its work on Dead Island 2 in 2019 and then watch this teaser of Playground Games' Fable game currently in development. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

A narrative designer at Sumo Digital has revealed that she's working on one of the "world's best known and best-loved fantasy franchises." This news comes, oddly enough, by way of MCV/Develop's 2021 30 Under 30 list, which is comprised of 30 people considered "the best young talent in the industry." One of those 30 is Sarah Longthorne of Sumo Digital. She's a narrative designer at the developer's Nottingham studio, which is one of Sumo's eight UK studios, and her 30 Under 30 bio reveals that she's worked the past year as a narrative designer on a fantasy franchise, as pointed out by Luke_wal on Resetera.

THAT'S ME, THAT IS pic.twitter.com/aCw1Wm9ScM

— SJ Longthorne (@sarahlongthorne) May 5, 2021

"The majority of Sarah Longthorne's work over the past year has been as a narrative designer on a triple-A title based on one of the 'world's best known and best-loved fantasy franchises,' with Longthorne's role making up a crucial part of the game's development," the bio reads. This in and of itself doesn't reveal too much — there are plenty of fantasy franchises that people would call some of the world's best-known and best-loved — but some possibilities are lurking out there. For example, Sumo Digital has worked with Playground Games in the past, namely Forza Horizon 4, and we know that this studio is currently at work on the new Fable game for Xbox. Perhaps Sumo Digital is helping out with that title. Only time will tell, though, as what this game is will likely remain unknown for some time. In the meantime, read our thoughts on Sumo Digital's latest game in IGN's Sackboy: A Big Adventure review. After that, read this story about Sumo Digital concluding its work on Dead Island 2 in 2019 and then watch this teaser of Playground Games' Fable game currently in development. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

Sorry Pokemon fans, a sequel to Detective Pikachu doesn't seem to be happening, at least according to one of the movie's stars. Speaking to Inverse about his career, Detective Pikachu star, Justice Smith, who played Pikachu's newfound friend Tim Goodman in the film, said he doesn't know if a sequel is happening. He's not exactly sure if a sequel is definitively not happening, but he's buried his hopes for such a movie. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-pokemon-in-the-detective-pikachu-movie&captions=true"] "I would love to participate in Detective Pikachu 2," Smith told Inverse. "I don't know if it's going to happen. I think we have to just kind of bury our hopes. I don't think it's going to happen. I really hope so though. Honestly, I'm such a huge fan, who knows, who knows? I hope so." This isn't great news for anyone hoping to see more furry and sometimes creepy live-action Pokemon in a sequel to the 2019 film starring Smith and Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu, but not all is lost. Ali Mends, a producer for Legendary Entertainment, which is the studio behind Detective Pikachu, told IGN back in 2019 that there are a lot of opportunities in the Pokemon universe. "[Pokemon is] is such a rich universe," Mendes said. "There are so many ways you can go inside of it. We're trying to get the first movie right, and then once we've done that, we'll see where we go from there, but absolutely. There are a lot of opportunities." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/05/10/pokrap-for-all-pokmon-in-detective-pikachu"]   While waiting to find out if Smith's decision to bury hope was the right call, check out our thoughts on the movie, which grossed $433 million at the box office, in IGN's Detective Pikachu review. Read about the possibilities of a Pokemon cinematic universe after that and then check out this list of every live-action Pokemon that appears in Detective Pikachu. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

Sorry Pokemon fans, a sequel to Detective Pikachu doesn't seem to be happening, at least according to one of the movie's stars. Speaking to Inverse about his career, Detective Pikachu star, Justice Smith, who played Pikachu's newfound friend Tim Goodman in the film, said he doesn't know if a sequel is happening. He's not exactly sure if a sequel is definitively not happening, but he's buried his hopes for such a movie. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-pokemon-in-the-detective-pikachu-movie&captions=true"] "I would love to participate in Detective Pikachu 2," Smith told Inverse. "I don't know if it's going to happen. I think we have to just kind of bury our hopes. I don't think it's going to happen. I really hope so though. Honestly, I'm such a huge fan, who knows, who knows? I hope so." This isn't great news for anyone hoping to see more furry and sometimes creepy live-action Pokemon in a sequel to the 2019 film starring Smith and Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu, but not all is lost. Ali Mends, a producer for Legendary Entertainment, which is the studio behind Detective Pikachu, told IGN back in 2019 that there are a lot of opportunities in the Pokemon universe. "[Pokemon is] is such a rich universe," Mendes said. "There are so many ways you can go inside of it. We're trying to get the first movie right, and then once we've done that, we'll see where we go from there, but absolutely. There are a lot of opportunities." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/05/10/pokrap-for-all-pokmon-in-detective-pikachu"]   While waiting to find out if Smith's decision to bury hope was the right call, check out our thoughts on the movie, which grossed $433 million at the box office, in IGN's Detective Pikachu review. Read about the possibilities of a Pokemon cinematic universe after that and then check out this list of every live-action Pokemon that appears in Detective Pikachu. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.