Less than a week after launch, one Half-Life: Alyx player has discovered a way to get the VR exclusive game working without the need for a headset. Tyler McVicker, the person behind Valve News Network and well-known investigator of the developer’s games, held a livestream where he datamined Half-Life: Alyx. The stream shows him exploring environments using a floating camera, all without using any VR equipment. His key discovery, however, is the existence of a developer console command “vr_enable_fake_vr_test”, which when inputted causes Alyx’s hands to appear in the world, and allows weapons to be fired. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/23/half-life-alyx-review"] This is a very, very early step - the hands are awkwardly placed on screen, the guns fire despite being unloaded, and the camera still floats freely through walls and objects - but the existence of the console command suggests that Valve has a set of tools built into the game to allow the game to be played without a VR headset. It’s likely this has been included to allow developers to test certain elements of the game without strapping on a headset every time something has been tweaked. This is very early days for non-VR modding potential, but the fake_vr_test command may make the journey easier for those who wish to embark upon it. Combined with the traditional FPS HUD that is used in Alyx’s spectator mode, there’s some groundwork for a proper non-VR mod. Valve itself knows that a non-VR mod for Half-Life: Alyx is inevitable. Talking to Polygon, designer Robin Walker said “I know it’s going to happen.” Walker says there are people at Valve concerned about a non-VR mod, but that he himself is not worried. “It will clearly demonstrate to people why we did this in VR,” he said. Basically, he believes Alyx won’t be as much fun as a traditional FPS. “I think people will [after playing a non-VR mod] then hopefully have an even greater understanding of why we decided to build the product in VR than they do now,” he added. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-valve-game-review&captions=true"] For more Half-Life: Alyx, take a look at the Death Stranding Easter egg that’s been found in the game, and this math teacher who performed a lecture from inside the game. If you’re just about to play, here’s the things the game doesn’t tell you that you really should know, and if you’ve already finished then here’s our (spoiler filled) breakdown of the ending. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter. 

Less than a week after launch, one Half-Life: Alyx player has discovered a way to get the VR exclusive game working without the need for a headset. Tyler McVicker, the person behind Valve News Network and well-known investigator of the developer’s games, held a livestream where he datamined Half-Life: Alyx. The stream shows him exploring environments using a floating camera, all without using any VR equipment. His key discovery, however, is the existence of a developer console command “vr_enable_fake_vr_test”, which when inputted causes Alyx’s hands to appear in the world, and allows weapons to be fired. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/23/half-life-alyx-review"] This is a very, very early step - the hands are awkwardly placed on screen, the guns fire despite being unloaded, and the camera still floats freely through walls and objects - but the existence of the console command suggests that Valve has a set of tools built into the game to allow the game to be played without a VR headset. It’s likely this has been included to allow developers to test certain elements of the game without strapping on a headset every time something has been tweaked. This is very early days for non-VR modding potential, but the fake_vr_test command may make the journey easier for those who wish to embark upon it. Combined with the traditional FPS HUD that is used in Alyx’s spectator mode, there’s some groundwork for a proper non-VR mod. Valve itself knows that a non-VR mod for Half-Life: Alyx is inevitable. Talking to Polygon, designer Robin Walker said “I know it’s going to happen.” Walker says there are people at Valve concerned about a non-VR mod, but that he himself is not worried. “It will clearly demonstrate to people why we did this in VR,” he said. Basically, he believes Alyx won’t be as much fun as a traditional FPS. “I think people will [after playing a non-VR mod] then hopefully have an even greater understanding of why we decided to build the product in VR than they do now,” he added. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-valve-game-review&captions=true"] For more Half-Life: Alyx, take a look at the Death Stranding Easter egg that’s been found in the game, and this math teacher who performed a lecture from inside the game. If you’re just about to play, here’s the things the game doesn’t tell you that you really should know, and if you’ve already finished then here’s our (spoiler filled) breakdown of the ending. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter. 

A hacker has reportedly stolen the Xbox Series X graphics source code and is holding it to ransom. The news arrives through a blog post on the AMD website, where the hardware company explained the situation. "We were contacted by someone who claimed to have test files related to a subset of our current and future graphics products," the statement reads. According to a report from TorrentFreak, this stolen data was found in a hacked computer and includes source code for AMD's Big Navi and Arden GPUs. The latter is rumoured to be the Xbox Series X 12 teraflop GPU. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/16/xbox-series-x-full-specs-revealed-ign-news"] Segments of code have been posted on GitHub, and subsequently removed. The hacker is asking for $100 million for the code and is threatening to dump the entirety of the stolen data if a buyer isn't found. The fact that AMD has issued a DMCA takedown notice on the repository where the data was being held would suggest that this is a legitimate breach. Later in the official statement, AMD made it clear that the stolen data "is not core to the competitiveness or security of our graphics products." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/16/xbox-series-x-loading-times-tech-demo"] You can read the details of the DMCA request over on GitHub where it is noted that the data has been 'forked' (copied) to other repositories after the first set was taken down. In lighter Xbox Series X news, the console's full specifications were revealed earlier in the month. If you'd like to compare it to its main competition, the PS5, you can check out our Xbox Series X vs PS5 comparison chart here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

A hacker has reportedly stolen the Xbox Series X graphics source code and is holding it to ransom. The news arrives through a blog post on the AMD website, where the hardware company explained the situation. "We were contacted by someone who claimed to have test files related to a subset of our current and future graphics products," the statement reads. According to a report from TorrentFreak, this stolen data was found in a hacked computer and includes source code for AMD's Big Navi and Arden GPUs. The latter is rumoured to be the Xbox Series X 12 teraflop GPU. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/16/xbox-series-x-full-specs-revealed-ign-news"] Segments of code have been posted on GitHub, and subsequently removed. The hacker is asking for $100 million for the code and is threatening to dump the entirety of the stolen data if a buyer isn't found. The fact that AMD has issued a DMCA takedown notice on the repository where the data was being held would suggest that this is a legitimate breach. Later in the official statement, AMD made it clear that the stolen data "is not core to the competitiveness or security of our graphics products." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/16/xbox-series-x-loading-times-tech-demo"] You can read the details of the DMCA request over on GitHub where it is noted that the data has been 'forked' (copied) to other repositories after the first set was taken down. In lighter Xbox Series X news, the console's full specifications were revealed earlier in the month. If you'd like to compare it to its main competition, the PS5, you can check out our Xbox Series X vs PS5 comparison chart here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Half-Life: Alyx has only been released for two days and players have already found a hidden Death Stranding Easter egg. Over on the Half-Life subreddit, Redditor KnightzIX stumbled across a dark box with the Bridges logo that any Death Stranding player would recognize, given the corporation's prominence to the PS4 and PC exclusive's story. If you haven't seen the Easter egg yet, take a look at the picture below, courtesy of KnightzIX. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="3840"] Photo credit to Redditor KnightzIX.[/caption] The Half-Life: Alyx secret also has yellow tape wrapped around the box saying, "Void if tampered." Another Redditor verified the picture above with their own screenshots here as well. The collaboration between developers Valve and Kojima Productions isn't all that surprising with a Half-Life crossover coming to the PC version of Death Stranding. 505 Games announced the Death Stranding PC release date with Sam Porter Bridges wearing a headcrab hat and seemingly rocking Gordon Freeman glasses too. A little over a week after 505 Games revealed the crossover, Hideo Kojima tweeted about the gravity gloves from Half-Life: Alyx being in Death Stranding. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/02/death-stranding-pc-release-date-trailer"] Kojima also confirmed earlier this month that the planned photo mode for PC will be available for PS4 players too. According to his Twitter, he's aiming for it to hit PS4 by the end of March. If you're wondering how well Half-Life works as a VR game, be sure to check out our Half-Life: Alyx review. However, if you're already playing and need a few tips and tricks, the wiki team has a full walkthrough and more at the wiki guide. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jeffrey Lerman is a Freelance News Writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @Snakester95.

A Mortal Kombat 11 e-mail has seemingly leaked that Ash Williams from the Evil Dead franchise, specifically from Army of Darkness, will be arriving soon in Mortal Kombat 11 as a DLC fighter. In an e-mail received by IGN, which you can see below, all of the DLC characters from third-parties, including Terminator, Joker, and Spawn, appear with their company names and trademarks. Alongside these characters is a line referring to "'ASH' character from 'ARMY OF DARKNESS,'" who has yet to be announced. This wouldn't be the first game Ash, who is played by Bruce Campbell, has appeared in, as he also was introduced as a playable character in Dead by Daylight. Ash was one of the characters that was part of a massive Mortal Kombat 11 leak back in April 2019 from dataminers who dug through the game's files and uncovered a list of the names of potential new fighters. The latest Mortal Kombat 11 DLC fighter, Spawn, was released earlier this month. In our review, we said "Spawn doesn't quite dethrone Joker as the best of the Kombat Pack, but his unique and versatile moveset is a blast." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/03/28/bruce-campbell-introduces-ash-williams-to-dead-by-daylight"] You can check out our reviews for all the other DLC characters, including Shang Tsung, Nightwolf, Terminator T-800, Sindel, and Joker. Mortal Kombat 11 won our award for Best Fighting Game of 2019, and in our review, we said "It’s a rare fighting game that hits just about every note as strongly as Mortal Kombat 11 does. Everything from its methodical and deep combat to its fantastically absurd story mode and its rock-solid netcode, right down to its extraordinarily comprehensive tutorial is absolutely exceptional." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-mortal-kombat-game-review&captions=true"] IGN has reached out to WB for a comment. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

On this week's episode of IGN's PlayStation show Podcast Beyond!, host Jonathon Dornbush is joined by Brian Altano and Max Scoville to celebrate Bloodborne's 5th anniversary, reminiscing on why the game is still so beloved for PS4 players, what it's like to jump into the game now, and more. Plus, we discuss the latest updates to Sony's PS5 backward compatibility stance, PS5's messaging overall, PS Plus games leaking for April, and much more. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=fa059e54-c178-4c52-81bf-444ee4caf865"] And, we've got a little teaser of our Bloodborne let's play to come. Have a That One Thing or Memory Card story to share? Write in to beyond@ign.com! [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=big-ps4-ps5-games-coming-in-2020&captions=true"] Download or listen to the show on these platforms:

• Direct Download

• YouTube

• Apple Podcasts/iTunes

• Spotify

• Stitcher

• PlayerFM

• Podbay

• TuneIn

• Podbean

• Feedburner

Podcast Beyond! is live every Wednesday at 3 p.m. PT. For the latest on PS5, check out the PS5 full specs list, why we're excited about PS5's 3D audio focus, an analysis of what teraflops really mean for the PS5 and Xbox Series X, and check out images of the allegedly PS5 dev kit and controller. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

The Batman v Superman four-year anniversary is today, March 25, and fans came out in droves to show their support of the Zack Snyder movie with some of their favorite shots from the movie. Zack Snyder's last complete DC movie, Batman v Superman, hit theaters four years ago on March 25, 2016, and fans have the hashtag #BvS4Years trending on Twitter as a result. With new tweets going up every few seconds featuring stills from the movie, custom art, apparel, and feel-good stories about personal connections to the movie. We've created a slideshow of just a handful of the movie stills and accompanying words shared on Twitter that you can check out below. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=batman-v-superman-four-year-anniversary&captions=true"] Some fans are using this opportunity to voice their support of specific scenes or shots. Others are sharing their thoughts on the movie, calling it "severely underrated," "absolutely beautiful," and the "best comic book movie ever made." You won't find negativity in this thread and it's clear that fans of the movie are still thinking about it four years later. Others are using the trending moment to voice their support of Zack Snyder's fabled cut of Justice League using the now-famous hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut. This cut of the movie seemingly exists if the original director of the movie's Vero posts is anything to go by. Stars of that movie have even voiced their support of this cut with Ben Affleck commenting on it as recent as last month. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2016/03/25/5-ways-superman-could-destroy-batman"] Whether or not the Snyder Cut ever amounts to anything more is unknown, but one thing that is known is that fans of Batman v Superman absolutely adore the movie and still look back on it fondly four years later. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

AMC Theaters has announced that the company has furloughed its corporate employees, including its CEO Adam Aron. The decision was made after the COVID-19 pandemic forced AMC to close 634 move theater locations across the U.S. and Canda. “At this time, AMC is not terminating any of its corporate employees, however, we were forced under the circumstances to implement a furlough plan, which is absolutely necessary to preserve cash and to ensure that AMC can reopen our doors once this health crisis has dissipated,” the company said in a statement to Variety. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true"] The theater closures impacted 27,000 U.S. employees. During this time, AMC announced that it would pay those employees “as much as we can possibly afford to pay them,” while also providing those who qualify to continue to have health-care benefits. AMC maintains that it intends to bring back its employees once the movie theaters re-open. AMC previously tried to keep theaters open at 50% capacity, but ultimately ended up closing theaters. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a massive disruption in the U.S. workforce, resulting in a wave of layoffs for non-essential staff, or new work situations that discourages direct contact and mass gatherings. Retailers like GameStop announced stores would be closed in favor of online orders and curbside pick-ups. Check out IGN’s resource on how to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Michael Rooker is the butt -- or perhaps more accurately the face -- of his friend and Guardians of the Galaxy franchise director James Gunn's recent cheeky social media post. Gunn, who is staying at home like nearly everyone else during the coronavirus pandemic, revealed that he's had to break into his stash of prank toilet paper rolls featuring the face of his frequent cast member and pal Rooker. "I bought a bunch of these rolls of toilet paper as a joke when Rooker came over for Christmas a couple years ago - I put them in all the bathrooms of the house," Gunn tweeted. "I never thought we were actually going to have to use them, but here we are." Gunn and Rooker have collaborated on a number of films Gunn either produced or directed, including Guardians of the Galaxy Volumes 1 and 2, Super, Slither, Brightburn, and The Belko Experiment. Gunn and Rooker's next collaboration is the 2021 DC movie The Suicide Squad. After that film, Gunn will segue to directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 for Marvel Studios. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/05/25/james-gunn-and-elizabeth-banks-respond-to-ign-comments] Would you use a roll of toilet paper with Michael Rooker's face on it? Let us know in the comments.