Amazon has announced that it will delay the release of its upcoming MMO, New World, until August 25, 2020, as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The New World CLosed Beta has also been delayed to July, pushed back from its original April 2020 launch. In a new blog post, Amazon Games announced that despite developers working on the game from home, “developing an ambitious MMO like New World remotely has introduced some challenges.” This is why the developers opted to delay the launch “to reach our quality bar as we work remotely for the foreseeable future.” New World is an upcoming MMO from Amazon Game Studios. Set in a fictional world, players will take up the role of colonists exploring a new land terrorized by supernatural monsters. Players will scavenge for resources and build settlements that they’ll then have to defend from monsters and other players. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=new-world-screens&captions=true"] The Alpha for New World will remain open as development continues, and Amazon is promising more information and updates between now and the August launch. The developers also shared new details about a mechanic called “Invasion.” In Invasion, monster hordes will build up power and numbers before laying siege on a Fort that’s become too powerful. Players must work together to defend the Fort against invaders. Failure will result in the Territory losing some upgrades, like Crafting Stations, and other assets. Invasion appears to be co-operated PvE events that take place every four days. A Governor of the Territory can choose 10 heroes for the Invasion, and the remaining 40 slots will be filled randomly from a pool of players who signed up to take part in the next invasion. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/12/amazons-new-world-mmo-everything-we-know-so-far] An Invasion is split into multiple phases. During Preparation, players will need to use special Battle Tokens to purchase ammo and potions, and other weapons to help fight off the monsters. The enemies will arrive in hordes, first trying to tear down the gate. Players will either successfully defend the Fort or be overrun. Amazon says this is a level 50 activity, so it will be reserved for high-level players. Read IGN’s hands-on preview for New World, or check out our interview with Amazon Game Studios about the company’s first major video game launch. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Director Matt Reeves may be eager to resume shooting The Batman -- its production was shut down last month due to the coronavirus pandemic -- "when the time is right" but says for now "there are bigger things" that he and his team "have to do to make our loved ones and the people that we care about safe." "The whole thing is quite surreal. As much as we wanted to proceed, we wanted to make sure we were safe," Reeves said of his film getting put on hold over a global pandemic in an interview with the New York Times. "We didn’t want anyone on our crew to get sick. But there was a crew member who actually got it, an incredible dialect coach named Andrew Jack, and he passed away. We were all in utter shock and heartbroken. It’s been weeks since we shut down, so I don’t think it was passed among the crew. But it’s very, very upsetting." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=7-detective-stories-the-batman-could-adapt&captions=true"] Reeves also allayed any concerns about whether Warner Bros. shared his vision for The Batman -- which he previously said was a noir-style, detective-driven story -- by saying he wouldn't have made the film just to make another Batman movie. And as Joker took inspiration from the early films of Martin Scorsese, Reeves cited two classic 1970s detective films when explaining what he was going for with The Batman. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/the-batman-camera-test"] Reeves said he told the studio "I want to do something that has some emotional stakes. My ambition is for it to be incredibly personal using the metaphors of that world. It feels like this really odd throwback to the movies I came up on from the ’70s, like Klute or Chinatown. I’m not saying we’re achieving anything like that. Those are masterpieces. But that’s the ambition." For more on The Batman, check out Reeves' picks for his favorite Batman movies, learn what composer Michael Giacchino had to say about scoring the film, and trace the origins of the new Batmobile.

Button Mash, an arcade and bar located in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighborhood, has teamed up with video game collectibles company iam8bit to help raise funds to keep the restaurant alive during the COVID-19 pandemic. Button Mash is a bar fitted up with a room full of arcade machines and games, including pinball and video game cabinets. The restaurant already furloughed most of its 33 employees, but need help raising funds to last through the mass shop closures in California. Enter iam8bit which created the Button Mash Quarantine Boredom Pack that lets supporters purchase fundraising packages that include games, comics, soundtracks, arcade tokens, and more. Prices range from $25 to $1,000 with different merchandise available at each prize level. Iam8bit is a video game collectible company known for publishing physical copies of indie games, soundtracks, and more. You might know them for the super cool and gross collector’s edition of Inside which IGN unboxed. iam8bit was also tapped to serve as a creative director for this year's E3 before the show was canceled. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/19/insiderealdoll-collectors-edition-unboxing"] “The incredible staff at Button Mash, many of whom have been there since opening night, have been serving us for years,” Button Mash writes on its fundraising page. “They’ve been there for us — and now it’s time for us to step up for them.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=inside-collectors-edition&captions=true"] Button Mash and iam8bit are offering five different reward packages whose profits will go towards supporting its employees. They are: Level 1 - $25

• $5 in tokens (local redemption)
• Samurai Gunn - Steam (from Scrambler)
• Button Mash Recipes by Starry Kitchen
• Button Mash Coloring Book by Joseph Harmon ft. Amanda Visell
• Iam8bit 20% OFF Coupon (for a future purchase, not applicable for a pre-order product)

  Level 2 - $50

• $10 in tokens (local redemption)
• Iron Brigade - Steam (from Double Fine)
• Stacking - Steam (from Double Fine)
• Hyper Light Drifter - Steam (from Heart Machine)
• Absu - Soundtrack by Austin Wintory
• A Guide to Dogs by Jon Vermilyea - Digital Comic
• Cat Agent by Kent Osborne - Digital Comic
• Menestrel by Valentin Seiche - Digital Comic
• Plus all rewards from level 1 except tokens

  Level 3 - $100

• $20 in tokens (local redemption)
• Costume Quest - Steam (from Double Fine)
• The Banner Saga Trilogy - Soundtracks by Austin Wintory
• Journey - Soundtrack by Austin Wintory
• A Fine Day to Be by Jon Vermilyea - Digital Comic
• J+K: Eggy’s Party by John Pham - Digital Comi
• Plus all rewards from Level 2 except tokens.

  Level 4 - $500 (limited 8 available)

• Unlimited tokens for one night (local redemption)
• X1 Random Steven Universe collectible zine
• Plus all rewards from level 1, 2, and 3 except tokens

  Level 5 - $1000 (limited 15 available)

• Unlimited tokens for one night
• Plus all rewards from level 1, 2, and 3 except tokens

  And one of the following prizes at random:

• Steven Universe Set of x3 Different Zines
• Personalized Drawing by Chris Prynoski, founder of animation studio Titmouse (Big Mouth, The Midnight Gospel, The Venture Bros, The Legend of Vox Machina)
• Personalized Family Guy portrait ft. Stewie or Peter by Show Director Greg Colton

  You can check out the various prize packs at iam8bit. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Warning: spoilers follow for both Final Fantasy 7 Remake and the original game. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Final Fantasy 7 Remake isn’t just a straight retelling of the original game’s story. Instead, it turns the first few hours of that tale into a massive JRPG in its own right, expanding on ideas and even adding a few new ones. Want to know what’s different? These are the seven biggest changes to Final Fantasy 7’s story in the remake. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/03/final-fantasy-7-remake-vs-final-fantasy-7-early-scenes-compared"]

Avalanche is huge, and has a spy in Shinra

Unlike in the original game, Avalanche is not just a tiny rag-tag band of warriors. Instead, it’s a much larger organisation with multiple cells, of which our heroes are just one. Barret’s team isn’t much loved by Avalanche’s leaders, though, hence their independent-like status. The organisation at large is surprisingly well equipped, with an arsenal of weapons and even helicopters. Both of these come in handy as Avalanche basically has to bail out Cloud and his pals at a couple of points in the story. More helpful, though, is the fact that Avalanche has a man on the inside at Shinra: Midgar’s Mayor Domino. Dissatisfied with being demoted to little more than a librarian, Mayor Domino helps Cloud with his attack on Shinra HQ.

Shinra blows up its own reactor

Unlike the original game, the bomb Cloud and Barret set in the Sector 1 reactor in Remake does not blow the facility up. Instead, Shinra does the dirty work itself, causing an explosion far bigger and more devastating than Avalanche had planned. But why did the company do this? Surely they’d want to keep the Mako reactors working, in order to generate electricity and profit? Well, turns out the one thing that makes more profit than energy is war. Shinra wants to encourage the population of Midgar to support a second war with the nation of Wutai, and so it begins to spread propaganda that Avalanche is in allegiance with them. In the original, Wutai is never brought up in relation to Avalanche, and the only direct sabotage of Midgar by Shinra is when they drop the Sector 7 plate, which remains here. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="legacyId=20028754&captions=true"]

Jessie’s mission

One of few completely new locations in Final Fantasy 7 Remake is the Sector 7 Employee Housing Area, a residential zone on Midgar’s upper plate. Here we get to see how the wealthier people of the city live, as well as visit Jessie’s family home. Turns out her mom is very, very good at making pizza. Apart from this entire mission being new, including the attack on a Shinra warehouse to secure more explosives, we’re also introduced to a whole new villain in the form of Roche, a flamboyant member of Shinra’s elite SOLDIER division. This marks Roche’s first and only appearance in the whole game, but it’s pretty memorable thanks to some absurd motorbike acrobatics and a boss fight that sees Cloud 1v1 him within a circle of Shinra guards, as if they were in a Midgar underground sword-fighting club.

Sector 7’s hidden lab

We’ve already established that Shinra is pretty evil, but did you know they’re evil as in secret-underground-lab-conducting-human-expeirments evil? After the company drops an entire sector of the upper city on the slums to try and wipe out Avalanche, the party discovers a hidden laboratory that’s been operating in secret beneath Sector 7 – something that doesn’t exist (or at least is never mentioned) in the original. While exploring its tunnels in search of Wedge, Barret and Tifa discover practically a whole army of fishman-like creatures who attack them on sight. These creatures are failed experiments, and appear to be Remake’s answer to the original game’s Makonoids; humans who have been saturated with Mako to the point that they have become monsters. These creatures were not revealed until Cloud’s later flashback to the Nibelheim Incident in the original game, but bringing a similar story into Remake helps cement Shinra as the big bad that it is. Well, until Sephiroth takes on that job, of course. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/06/final-fantasy-7-remake-review"]

Whispers of Fate

The most frequently appearing new element in Remake’s story are the Whispers. These hooded spirits seemingly prevent Cloud from dying after falling from Sector 5, and protect Aerith from being captured by Reno and his Shinra guards. And, in one of the biggest changes from the original, Barret is not only killed by Sephiroth, but these spectres restore him to life, too. Red XIII explains that these entities are Whispers of Fate, and their entire existence is dedicated to ensuring Destiny (yes, with a capital D) plays out according to plan. Red XIII only learns of their nature after connecting with Aerith, and so it stands to reason that the Whispers may be connected to the Ancients. In the penultimate boss battle, the team battles against their own destinies in a fight against the gigantic Whisper Harbinger within a singularity. The Harbinger is joined by three additional Whispers; one armed with a sword, another with a gun, and a third with melee fist attacks. Just like Cloud, Barret, and Tifa. Yup, it all gets a bit meta. Or, as our review puts it, “Some Kingdom Hearts BS”.

Sephiroth and Jenova

It’s not a huge surprise that Remake’s final boss is Sephiroth - who better for a final clash? - but his appearance is an important change as he never makes an on-screen appearance during the Midgar section of the original game. Despite him now being around, his role isn’t really expanded, just reinforced: he’s a really evil guy who wants to destroy the planet. What has changed is his link with Aerith; rather than Cloud, it is she who convinces the group that Sephiroth must be stopped, and she seemingly has much more knowledge about him than she has been letting on. In addition to Sephiroth, we also get a new battle with his ‘mother’, Jenova. After Sephiroth breaks into the Shinra building using his clones to steal the creature’s body, he unleashes it against Cloud in the form of Jenova Dreamweaver. Again, this is almost identical to how Sephiroth uses Jenova in the original game, it just happens much earlier in the story in order to stage it during the timeframe Remake is set in. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=final-fantasy-7-remake-over-100-screenshots&captions=true"]

Zack is alive

Here we go: the biggest - and no doubt most controversial - change to Final Fantasy 7’s story is the reveal that Zack Fair, Cloud’s war buddy and Aerith’s ex, is alive. Sort of. During the original game, Zack and Cloud escape from the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim after being subject to human experiments as part of Professor Hojo’s Jenova Reunion project. Dragging a barely conscious Cloud, Zack walks towards Midgar in hope of building a new life as a mercenary. As he reaches the city’s borders, he is brutally gunned down by Shinra guards. Left to die by the soldiers, Cloud crawls to his body and takes up the Buster Sword. This scene is also seen in the PSP prequel Crisis Core, albeit made more dramatic and flamboyant. In Remake, however, Zack fights off a whole squad of Shinra soldiers, leaving them dead at his feet. He then picks Cloud back up and continues his journey towards Midgar, very much not dead. Importantly, it appears that this all happens in an alternate timeline. A chips packet blows past in the wind, and as the camera focuses on for just a couple of seconds, you can see that it features the hat-wearing dog mascot frequently seen during Cloud’s journey through Midgar. However, rather than a helmet-wearing beagle, the dog is now a cap-wearing border terrier, which points to an alternate reality. Quite how this ties into Cloud’s reality remains to be seen. [poilib element="accentDivider"] And those are the biggest changes from the original story in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. There's plenty more, but they are the seven with most impact. For more, why not check out our breakdown of how long the Remake is, our unboxing of the expensive Collector's Edition featuring Cloud on his bike, and our pick of the weirdest parts of the original game. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter. 

This week in Grand Theft Auto Online, claim GTA$500,000 for logging in, complete 10 Daily Objectives to claim a J Lager Beer Hat and GTA$1,000,000, and more.

Deliberate ranked match disconnects in Pokemon Sword and Shield could now get you permanently banned the online portion of the game. The Pokemon Company released a statement (translated via Google) on April 8 indicating that future disconnectors could be banned if it discovers the disconnect is deliberate, especially in instances where a player disconnects before the match is over to stop them from incurring a loss on their record. Based on the statement, it seems this is now in effect. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=25-most-wanted-pokemon-not-in-sword-and-shield&captions=true"] The statement explains that, after repeated disconnects from online battles, players will be excluded from any future ranked battles and competitions (live or online). It goes on to say that the company may go onto temporarily or permanently ban offenders too. "In the future," it concludes, "we will continue to monitor and continue to respond to malicious operations and inconveniences caused by intentional internet disconnections so that players can enjoy the game with peace of mind." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/20/every-new-pokemon-in-sword-and-shield"] Deliberate disconnects have been a problem in Pokemon Sword and Shield for months now. If you take a stroll through the Pokemon subreddit, you'll find players confused about this happening, and others upset that it's not been met with consequences. These players will hopefully soon not need to worry about deliberate disconnects any longer. How these bans will be determined or enacted is unknown at this time. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=pokemon-sword-and-shield-legendaries&captions=true"] If you haven't yet read about Pokemon Sword and Shield's newest Pokemon, Zarude, now is the perfect time as new details about it were revealed recently. You can also read about Pokemon Home and how to trade Pokemon in Pokemon Sword and Shield using Pokemon Home. And if you just want to smile, watch this adorable little girl win a major Pokemon championship in Australia. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for both Final Fantasy 7 Remake and the original Final Fantasy 7.  [poilib element="accentDivider"] Final Fantasy 7 Remake is not the 'full game'. That is to say, while it is a complete RPG in its own right, it does not cover the whole plot of the 1997 original. Instead, it is just the first in a multi-part series of games that will tell the full story. With that in mind, it’s understandable if the first question you thought of is ‘where does Final Fantasy 7 Remake end?’ especially if you’ve played the original PlayStation game. If answers are what you seek, then this is the place to find them. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/06/every-limit-break-in-final-fantasy-7-remake"] As Square Enix has stated several times before, Final Fantasy 7 Remake is just the Midgar section of the original game. That means the two Mako reactors, the slums, Wall Market, and the towering Shinra HQ building. Nothing beyond the borders of the steel city is shown at all, aside from in the odd flashback. The very final scene of Remake sees Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Aerith, and Red XIII walking away from Midgar into the world of Gaia, with plans to stop Sephiroth from destroying the planet. It’s almost exactly as it was at the end of the Midgar section of the original game. That means that you don’t get to see the town of Kalm or anywhere from the original game’s open world, but you do get to play through iconic moments like the fight with Rufus on top of the Shinra building, the escape down the highway on Cloud’s bike, and the big battle with the Motor Ball tank. That’s not to say everything in the finale of Final Fantasy 7 Remake is the same as it was in the original, though. This is, after all, a reimagining and heavily expanded version of the story, and so there are new surprises to experience. If you want to see the finale with fresh eyes, then turn away now, because spoilers are coming. Warning: more detailed spoilers follow for the finale of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=final-fantasy-7-remake-over-100-screenshots&captions=true"] The final chapter of Final Fantasy 7 Remake is around an hour of entirely new story beats, involving two major boss battles and the introduction of a key new plot thread. The final boss is Sephiroth, which is understandable considering his status as the story’s big bad, but the boss preceding him directly ties into Remake’s new and expanded narrative. So while the final scene may be taken from the original game, almost everything else in the last chapter of Remake is brand new. By concluding just after the party escapes Midgar, it leaves a sequel to pick up as they proceed to Kalm, Fort Condor, Junon Harbour, the glittering domes of the Gold Saucer, and beyond. Don’t expect that journey to be exactly as you remember it, though; Remake’s new narrative additions mean we’ll likely be seeing all of this in a brand new light. So that’s where Final Fantasy 7 Remake ends, and it’ll take you anywhere between 30 and 40 hours to get there. That’s a far cry from the five or so hours it takes when playing the original game. If you’re looking for more Final Fantasy 7 Remake, then why not check out our review, or see why Final Fantasy is the biggest RPG of all time. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter. 

The Pokemon Company has revealed a powerful new AoE healing ability for upcoming Mythical Pokemon, Zarude.

Infamous horror movie Cannibal Holocaust will live on thanks to a video game sequel, launching this November on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Steam. Ruggero Deodato, Cannibal is being created to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Cannibal Holocaust, a cult horror film that debuted in 1980. The premise of the film involves a rescue mission to save a group of filmmakers who were attempting to create a documentary about a cannibal tribe in the Amazon rainforest. It was banned in a variety of countries upon its release due to its violent content - many were convinced at the time that it was a snuff film due to its realism. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/cannibal-reveal-trailer"] The film was one of the arbiters of the found footage genre, which was further popularized by the likes of The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield. As per the game's website, Ruggero Deodato, Cannibal will deliver the themes that have popularised the movie saga: "natives lives, told in its rawness, and cannibalism, powerful metaphors that reveal the most disturbing and deep impulses in our society." The game is an "interactive horror graphic adventure" and is being made in Unity with direction from Ruggero Deodato. "The player will take control of different characters, to reveal, little by little, the background that led them to a desperate expedition to the virgin jungles of Borneo," the game's website reads. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/02/15/apocalypse-now-game-quits-kickstarter-asks-for-5-million"] The game will be available starting in November 2020 on Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC and select mobile devices. It's not as unusual a situation as it might seem – back in 2017, a set of developers took to Kickstarter to pitch an Apocalypse Now game, which they described as "like Fallout: New Vegas on acid in Vietnam." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.