The MCU timeline reportedly won't be affected by the delayed release of Black Widow, the first film in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. According to Variety, a Marvel insider recently claimed that "pushing Black Widow affects nothing on the MCU timeline," even though the Cate Shortland-directed film was initially slated to be released on April 24, 2020, in the UK and on May 1, 2020, in the US, marking the official launch of Marvel Studios' Phase 4. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-phase-4-official-lineup&captions=true"] Originally, the new era was set to be ushered in with the release of Black Widow this year, followed by The Falcon and The Winter Soldier on Disney+ in August, 2020, then The Eternals in theatres on November 6, 2020, and WandaVision on Disney+ in December, 2020. The new slate is expected to offer a coherent collection of interconnected adventures, spanning both television and cinema, with that synergy initially being pushed by the announcement of Elizabeth Olsen's co-starring role as Scarlet Witch in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which will not only tie into her Disney+ show WandaVision, but also has a significant connection to the Loki series, which comes to Disney+ in Spring 2021. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/09/black-widow-official-final-trailer"] In these uncertain times, however, it is not clear whether Black Widow will find a release slot ahead of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier or whether other release dates will be shifted around in an attempt to maintain Phase 4's original order. It is also highly possible that the placement of the standalone Black Widow movie, starring Scarlett Johansson, may not be critical to the surrounding events of the other upcoming titles on the slate, especially as it's a prequel that will take place between Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, prior to the superhero's sacrificial act to save her friends and restore the Vanished in Avengers: Endgame. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true"] Whatever the case, Disney has currently put a pause on most of its live-action productions, including Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, as well as all of its upcoming Disney+ Marvel shows. Black Widow joins a growing list of movie and TV productions affected by COVID-19, including Universal's Fast 9, which will now be released in April 2021, almost a year later than originally planned, MGM's No Time to Die, which will now be released in November 2020, and Paramount's A Quiet Place: Part II, which currently does not have a new release date set. If you would like to read about how COVID-19 could affect the film industry, head here. More importantly, take a look at our list of recommendations to help, and stay safe, during the Coronavirus pandemic. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Animal Crossing and Doom Eternal fans, your awesome collaborative fanart has been seen and is greatly appreciated by Animal Crossing: New Horizons' director, Aya Kyogoku, and producer, Hisashi Nogami. In an interview with IGN, the two briefly lauded the unity that's grown between the two fanbases leading up to both games' March 20 release. "I definitely do notice and have noticed that there’s a lot of Doom and Animal Crossing collaboration art and illustrations that are being posted, and as I look through them I’m in awe of how much creativity our fans have," Kyogoku said. If you haven't seen much from this crossover, fans have often been depicting Doomguy interacting with Isabelle in sweet ways, like teaching her how to slay demons. It's glorious. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/29/march-2020s-biggest-game-releases"] "I think because there is a common denominator of this type of communication happening between Doom and Animal Crossing fans, and also the fact that Animal Crossing is a communication game, we’re very thankful and very thrilled to see all this," Kyogoku said. "We’re so excited at the same time to see how the two [fandoms] are coming together to celebrate this day." The major link between these two games is their release date and the support of their fandom, and Nogami is celebrating the crossover in a broader sense of what it means for games. "So Animal Crossing and Doom — obviously the game genres are completely different. We definitely do have something in common, and that is that they’re both video games, and come from that same subculture so to speak. It’s so great to see that these two different [fandoms] are coming together and hyping up the gaming [community] and gaming culture itself. It really is a great thing to see," Nogami said. Animal Crossing: New Horizons' review and Doom Eternal's single-player review are both live on IGN. For more on Animal Crossing, be sure to read the other part of IGN's interview with Kyogoku and Nogami on why New Horizons doesn't support cloud saves. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Miranda Sanchez is an executive editor at IGN. As a lover of cute things and FPS, she's also very into this crossover. You can chat with her about video games and anime on Twitter.

Doom Eternal does not feature a classic-style Deathmatch multiplayer mode because the idea of it is “eons old”, according to Bethesda Senior VP of Comms Pete Hines. Talking to Shack News, Hines said that he didn’t feel as if Doom Eternal was missing out on anything by not including deathmatch. “That mode is eons old,” he said. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/12/doom-eternal-12-minutes-of-battlemode-2v1-multiplayer-gameplay-ign-first"] The decision to leave the classic Doom feature behind came after reflecting on how distant Doom 2016’s multiplayer felt from the core experience. “Whether you're playing by yourself or with others, we want it to feel like you're all playing the same game,” Hines explained. “That's as opposed to, ‘I'm a badass demon slayer in single-player, but when I go over to multiplayer, there are no demons, and it's just Deathmatch.’ I don't know what that has to do with [Doom] other than that, well, a couple of decades ago we had that, so we should just have that again.” Id Software’s refusal to include deathmatch just because it has been long associated with the Doom name has resulted in a new asynchronous multiplayer game called Battlemode, which goes live with Doom Eternal’s campaign when it launches. Rather than just throwing a bunch of Doomguys into an arena together, this new mode pits a Slayer against two other players taking on the role of Doom Eternal’s hardiest demons. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=doom-eternal-january-2019-screenshots&captions=true"] For more on Doom Eternal, check out our review of the single-player campaign, our look at how speed is vital to survival, and how the Stadia version isn’t quite as promised. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter. 

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is on the way, but you won't be able to use cloud saves to protect your deserted island's progress. IGN spoke with Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ director, Aya Kyogoku, and producer, Hisashi Nogami, to clarify why this feature isn't compatible with their vision for the game, and the alternatives they're looking at to protect player's data. The answer came down to one thing: they want to prevent cheating. Nogami said that Animal Crossing: New Horizons is an online game that allows players anywhere to connect, and cheating is a huge concern in online games. Kyogoku added on that players could unfairly take advantage of the in-game economy if certain things like cloud saves are used improperly. Nogami explained that Nintendo Switch's cloud save service functions similarly to "SD data saves", and allows users to write their data on allotted network storage. Then, you can progress through your game and eventually roll back your data to the cloud save if you wanted and effectively cheat the game. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/10-cute-animal-crossing-new-horizons-multiplayer-and-museum-features"] But how does this differ from time-traveling, another way to cheat the system to visit holidays and quickly earn bells? Nogami clarified that, yes, while some players choose to manipulate their system's clock to skip around in Animal Crossing, it doesn't have the same impact as manipulating save data. The Animal Crossing team found that with cloud saves, users could potentially cheat by multiplying or increasing the number of a specific item. "It messes with the economy of Animal Crossing by getting the items or bells as much as they want. Trying to acquire items or money is something we do in real life too, and we also want the users to understand that there is hard work involved with doing these types of things just like real life,” Kyogoku said. “By putting in hard work, I think it creates value and love for that specific item you were able to gain. And at the same time, by creating an environment like that, fans who do put in the hard work, we wanted to make sure their hard work does not go in vain and we are able to support those players who put in that time and effort.” [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=%E2%80%9CBy%20putting%20in%20hard%20work%2C%20I%20think%20it%20creates%20value%20and%20love%20for%20that%20specific%20item%20you%20were%20able%20to%20gain."] Kyogoku is also hoping players don’t feel a need to time travel. She said, between adding an option to play in the northern or southern hemisphere and adding the DIY system that allows players to craft tools even after shops are closed, the impetus to do so should be lessened. In previous Animal Crossing games, shops sold tools at random and closed at a certain time each day. Holidays in New Horizons are also locked to free DLC updates, so time traveling has fewer incentives. "We believe that Animal Crossing is the type of game that is best played if it is synced to real-time because you are able to share that experience with your friends and family, and enhance that communication that you have with them in real life as well,” Kyogoku said. ”With all that said, I feel like we were able to create a game where users will be able to play and enjoy the game without having to change the system time clock." However, Kyogoku and Nogami reaffirmed that protecting saves for players is a priority. As previously mentioned in the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Nintendo Direct, Nogami said that the team is working on a system to recover saves if a player loses their Switch, or if it breaks. They’re also working on a system for transferring data. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="legacyId=20089295&captions=true"] "In terms of data transfer and moving, this has nothing to do with cheating. Switch hardware and Switch's systems have restrictions when transferring special data like Animal Crossing data because it's a little bit complex. In order to address those concerns, we are trying to create a transfer system that's special to Animal Crossing," Nogami said. IGN has more news from our interview with Kyogoku and Nogami. Stay tuned for that, and until then, be sure to check out the Animal Crossing: New Horizons review and maybe even the Doom Eternal single-player review. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Miranda Sanchez is an executive editor at IGN. She's hoping Roscoe moves to her island. You can chat with her about video games and anime on Twitter.

PlayStation 5 is a getting a system architecture 'deep dive' livestream today, hosted by Sony designer Mark Cerny - and we'll be watching it and updating you live. The PS5 'deep dive' will go live at 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern / 4pm UK (that's 3am AEDT on March 19), on the PlayStation Blog, or on YouTube. The show will be livestreamed, and we'll be updating this story live as we watch it, and we'll have the video on-site for you to watch as soon as it's available. As for what might be in the show, a now-deleted Sony tweet indicated that this would be a replacement for Sony's GDC showing. That show is developer-focused, perhaps indicating a more technical look at the console's specifications (as we saw from Microsoft's Xbox Series X earlier this week). Is it too much to hope we'll see what the non-devkit version looks like? Perhaps, but we can dream. [poilib element="accentDivider"]

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members will now get regular Perks, including DLC, in-game content and more, included as part of the membership subscription. As of today, March 18, Ultimate members can redeem the following four perks:  

• Phantasy Star Online 2: "Enter the world of one of Japan’s biggest online RPGs with a special content bundle, which includes unique emotes, in-game cosmetics including an Xbox jacket, a gold ticket Mission Pass and in-game currency with a Meseta Crystal. Available to members in the US and Canada only."
• World of Tanks: Mercenaries: "A global multiplayer free-to-play game dedicated to tank warfare in the mid-20th century. Start your journey with three powerful tanks and more!"
• Sea of Thieves: "The essential pirate experience, from sailing and fighting to exploring and looting – everything you need to live the pirate life and become a legend in your own right. With Perks, you get a free Ori-inspired Ancestral Sails, Figurehead, Hull, and Flag to adorn your ship."
• Smite: "Become divine in the #1 MOBA on Xbox, with a bundle that unlocks five Gods, special character skins and voice packs so you can ride into the battle of the Gods in style. With Smite, join a community of 30 million players and defend your portal in showdowns in the Collesium."

  New perks will be added alongside additions to the Game Pass catalog. You can find them within the Xbox Game Pass tab, in the new Xbox app on Windows 10 PC, or within the Xbox Game Pass mobile app. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/04/16/microsoft-announces-xbox-game-pass-ultimate"] Xbox Game Pass Ultimate combines the Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass subscriptions, and you can stock up on codes for one of the best deals in gaming right now. Your subscription will carry over to Xbox Series X, too. The announcement comes alongside a raft of upcoming additions to and removals from Game Pass for console and PC:

Joining Console

• Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
• Kona
• The Surge 2 – Xbox One X Enhanced
• Bleeding Edge – Xbox One X Enhanced / Xbox Play Anywhere
• Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid

Joining PC

• Astrologaster
• Bleeding Edge
• Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
• The Surge 2

Leaving Console

• Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
• Cities: Skylines
• The Golf Club 2
• LEGO Worlds
• Operencia: The Stolen Sun
• Vampyr

Leaving PC

• Battle Chef Brigade
• Cities: Skylines
• Kingsway
• Operencia: The Stolen Sun
• Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You
• Vampyr

[poilib element="accentDivider"]

Sony's Benelux PR Agency, BAAS, has said that the PlayStation 5 launch is not yet delayed by the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) outbreak. Speaking to LetsGoDigital, the Amsterdam PR agency - which represents PlayStation across the Benelux region - reportedly said the PS5 launch is still on target for its unspecified holiday release date. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/17/ps5-news-coming-tomorrow-march-18-ign-now"] Some have been clear to point out the "yet" in that wording - implying those discussions could be taking place - but it's not clear if the statement reported by LetsGoDigital is exactly what was written by a BAAS spokesperson, or if it's been paraphrased. Sony has not yet responded to IGN at time of writing. Whatever release PS5 ends up getting, we know that we're getting new information today, with system architect Mark Cerny presenting a 'deep dive' on the console at 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern / 4pm UK (that's 3am AEDT on March 19), on the PlayStation Blog. [poilib element="accentDivider"]

Lionsgate has indefinitely postponed the release of Spiral: From the Book of Saw, which was due out May 15, amid ongoing concerns over the coronavirus (COVID-19). Variety reports that the studio has also pushed back the release of Janelle Monae's Antebellum, which was slated to open April 24, and Sarah Paulson's Run, which was due out May 8. A new release schedule for these three titles will be shared at a later date. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/05/spiral-from-the-book-of-saw-official-trailer"] Lionsgate recently confirmed the announcement on Twitter, writing, "With theaters across the country closed, Lionsgate will be moving our upcoming releases of Antebellum, Run and Spiral. We look forward to having audiences experience our movies when this challenging moment is behind us. In the meantime, everyone please stay safe." The original seven Saw films were released between 2004 and 2010, and were followed seven years later by Jigsaw, which continued the horror franchise's story. Chris Rock's reboot, however, is expected to take the series in a new direction, with "a sprinkling of humour" and a cast comprised of Samuel L. Jackson, Marisol Nichols and Max Minghella. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true"] This release joins a growing list of movie and TV productions affected by COVID-19, including Universal's Fast 9, which will now be released in April 2021, almost a year later than originally planned, MGM's No Time to Die, which will now be released in November 2020, and Paramount's A Quiet Place: Part II, which currently does not have a new release date set. For more on how COVID-19 could affect the film industry, head here. More importantly, take a look at our list of recommendations to help, and stay safe, during the Coronavirus pandemic. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Two short video clips of what is reportedly a trailer for a Tales From The Borderlands re-release with added content has been posted online. The videos also tease a sequel to the Telltale episodic adventure series. First surfacing on Reddit, the two clips are videos of a trailer playing on a monitor. The clips fit together to make the whole trailer (both are under a minute as they are hosted on Imgur, which only allows videos of up to 60 seconds), which reveals a game called Tales From The Borderlands Redux. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2015/10/20/tales-from-the-borderlands-episode-5-the-vault-of-the-traveler-review"] If real, Redux will apparently include developer commentary for each episode, codex entries, new concept art, unused content from the original release, and a new “mini” episode. The trailer does say how many minutes of extra gameplay this episode will provide, but the framing of the shot cuts the digits out of frame. The trailer concludes on a 2020 date, which then flickers into a single digit - 2 - which could be seen as a teaser for a sequel or second season of Tales From The Borderlands. The studio logos at the start of the trailer include Telltale, 2K, Gearbox and, most interestingly, Adhoc Studio, a developer set up by ex-Telltale Games staff after the company originally shut down. Adhoc previously hinted that it would be working on a live-action project akin to Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch interactive episode, but if this leak proves true it also looks like it has been working with new Telltale to create Redux. Pierre Shorette, Adhoc Studio’s CCO, was senior lead writer for Tales From The Borderlands, so there is a link. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-borderlands-review&captions=true"] This trailer is the latest in a series of rumours that Telltale is looking to bring back Tales From The Borderlands, but the first one to provide any video evidence. No official confirmation from any of the studios reportedly involved has been announced, so for now this continues to be a rumour rather than definite project. As for that teased sequel, Borderlands 3 writer Sam Winkler has said that he’d love to write a second season of Tales From The Borderlands. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter. 

Hulu has released the first three episodes of its new eight-part limited series Little Fires Everywhere slightly earlier than intended, as more viewers become marooned at home in the wake of the response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Hulu confirmed the news via Twitter. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/02/the-new-tv-shows-we-cant-wait-for-in-2020"] Set in 1990s Ohio and based on Celeste Ng’s bestselling 2017 novel of the same name, Little Fires Everywhere stars Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. New episodes of Little Fires Everywhere will stream each Wednesday on Hulu. While the spread of COVID-19 has resulted in a considerable amount of upheaval within the entertainment industry, more importantly there are number of things you can do to stay safe during this pandemic. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=tv-shows-to-watch-in-2020&captions=true"]