Two new Masterminds and two new maps have been announced for Resident Evil: Resistance, the multiplayer component of the upcoming Resident Evil 3 remake. Alex Wesker and Ozwell E. Spencer will each be playable Mastermind characters, with an abandoned horror-themed park and a casino available to torment Survivors in. According to Capcom, Alex Wesker will have more traps compared to other Masterminds. She can set up barriers for Survivors like her plant-based bioweapon Yateveo. Yateveo doesn't move but can be placed in front of objectives to cause some trouble for Survivors. Resident Evil 3 and Resistance producer Peter Fabiano told PlayStation Blog that he's looking forward to seeing how players use Alex's bioweapon. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/18/project-resistance-5-player-gameplay-in-4k"] “You’ve got a few plant-based enemies in the Resident Evil series. Plant 42, Ivy, and the Huge Plant from the Outbreak games, for example. Yateveo doesn’t take direct influence from any of them – or maybe it indirectly does from all of them – but we thought it would be interesting to have a Mastermind use a creature that’s fixed in one spot," Fabiano said. "This could add a layer of strategy to how Masterminds could play.” Ozwell doesn't even have a bioweapon. Instead, the character can place down a Disintegration Field that causes massive damage to Survivors. But, don't worry, Fabiano said the Disintegration Field won't affect creatures and will have an advantage on cooldown rate compared to the bioweapons. "The cooldown is much shorter than other bioweapons, and only does damage to the Survivors – the creatures he places are unaffected. He’s able to constantly redirect Survivor movement to his advantage by changing the stage’s layout, and it also changes the pacing of gameplay with Spencer compared to other Masterminds," Fabiano said. "Instead of one big game changing moment, he slowly but steadily wears out the Survivors.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=resident-evil-3-remake-23-new-screenshots&captions=true"] Resistance is a non-canon multiplayer game that comes with the remake of Resident Evil 3, which is due out on April 3 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Resistance has four players as Survivors fighting their way through a map while a fifth player acts as a Mastermind. The Mastermind places traps and creatures all over the map in an effort to take out the four Survivors. Fabiano previously talked about how it's "impossible" for Resistance to be canon and here's everything else we know about the Resident Evil 3 remake. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN who will gladly pay $60 for Resident Evil 3, but really really wants Resident Evil 8.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the organization behind E3, has released a list of major publishers that will be attending this year's expo. That list includes Microsoft, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Bethesda, Take-Two, Square Enix, Capcom, Bandai Namco, Warner Bros., and SEGA, according to the ESA. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=e3-2020-confirmed-companies-attending-the-show&captions=true"] The news comes shortly after E3 Coliseum producer-host Geoff Keighley announced he won't be attending this year's show. In response to a question on Twitter, Keighley elaborated on his decision, saying he doesn't "really feel comfortable participating given what I know about the show as of today." Sony previously announced it's skipping E3 for the second consecutive year, as the company doesn't "feel the vision of E3 2020 is the right venue for what we are focused on this year" — a year that includes a console launch in PlayStation 5 this holiday season. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/11/27/why-e3-2020-is-critical-for-xbox"] The ESA also announced public registration for E3 2020 will open on February 15. The company said E3 2020 will feature new experiences for attendees and livestream viewers, including an "all-new floor experience that will be streamed to bring exclusive conversations with leading industry innovators and creators." A report published in September stated the ESA is looking to make E3 2020 a "fan, media, and influencer festival." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan is a freelance writer for IGN.

Actor Rick Moranis has signed on to appear in Disney's upcoming Honey, I Shrunk the Kids reboot, finally bringing an end to his long retirement. As reported by both Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, Moranis will reprise the role of bumbling inventor/family man Wayne Szalinski, having previously played the character in 1989's Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, 1992's Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and 1997's Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. Moranis also played the character in Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, a 3D film featured at several Disney theme parks between 1994 and 2010. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=20-actors-who-revived-iconic-roles&captions=true"] Following earlier reports that Josh Gad was in talks to star in the reboot, both Deadline and THR say Gad has officially signed on to play Wayne's son Nick, suggesting the new movie is more sequel than reboot. The original Honey, I Shrunk the Kids director Joe Johnston will return for the sequel, with Todd Rosenberg writing the script and David Hoberman producing. While previous rumors indicated the sequel the new movie would be exclusive to Disney+, Deadline is now reporting Disney is planning a full theatrical release. This will be Moranis' first live-action role since Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. Moranis famously retired from acting in 1997, later telling USA Today, "I'm a single parent and I just found that it was too difficult to manage to raise my kids and to do the traveling involved in making movies. So I took a little bit of a break. And the little bit of a break turned into a longer break, and then I found that I really didn't miss it. In the last few years I've been offered a number of parts in movies, and I've just turned them down. I don't know whether I'll go back to it or not." Moranis has appeared in a handful of voice-over roles since retiring from acting, including Rutt in 2003's Brother Bear and briefly reprising his Spaceballs role in a 2018 episode of The Goldbergs. However, Moranis has largely remained off the Hollywood radar in the past two decades, inviting comparisons to other intensely private celebrities like Calvin & Hobbes creator Bill Watterson and Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko. Moranis even turned down an offer to appear in 2016's Ghostbusters reboot. We also recently learned Moranis won't be appearing in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. That's what makes his return to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids such a welcome surprise. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/09/ghostbusters-afterlife-official-trailer"] Moranis may not be interested in busting ghosts, but most of the surviving cast from the 1984 original is coming back for Afterlife. Check out the first trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife and see all the clues pointing to the return of a major villain. Then see how we think Afterlife will stack up against 2020's biggest blockbusters. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

During his keynote talk at the annual DICE Summit, Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney argued to keep politics out of gaming and away from developers so that marketers can sell games from a “neutral ground.” In a talk that covered everything from loot boxes to cross-platform play, Sweeney ended his keynote by addressing discourse in gaming, and specifically involving politics. Tim began his talk by discussing the 1960 Harper Lee novel To Kill a Mockingbird and how art, like games, can serve as a discussion piece from politics. "If you think back to To Kill a Mockingbird and the impact that had on people's views in the time, I think that's a genuine outlet for games. It really makes people think about things." Sweeney changed lanes from the idea of games as a political medium and talked about the need for a “separation of church and state” model between politics and gaming companies. Sweeney argued that game companies “should get the marketing departments out of politics.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/08/19/epic-games-store-gamescom-trailer-gamescom-2019"] There’s a precedent in the industry to downplay the political nature of games in favor of marketability. For example, how Ubisoft continuously downplays or denies any politics within its games that cover everything from religious cults to paramilitary operations. Though not referencing those or any other cases where news and cultural sentiment has integrated within games directly, Sweeney instead argued for the removal of politics altogether. “The world is really screwed up right now. Right now our political orientations determine which fast-food chicken restaurant you go to [alluding to Chik Fil-A’s political affiliations and the cultural response to it]? And that’s really dumb,” said Sweeney. “There’s no reason to drag divisive topics like that into gaming at all.” He argued that a company or business should be “operating as neutral venues for entertainment and employees, customers — everybody else can hold their own views and not be judged by us for that.” “A company is a group of people who get together to accomplish a mission that is larger than what any one person can do. And a company’s mission is a holy thing to it, right? Epic’s mission is to build great technology and great games. And we can count on every employee at Epic — we can even demand every employee at Epic unite behind that mission. But every other matter we have to respect their personal opinions. And they may differ from management’s or each other’s or whatever.” Sweeney then referenced “controversy around political censorship” from foreign countries on domestic companies — likely referencing the controversy around Hong Kong-based player Blitzchung’s statement speaking in favor of the pro-democracy movement in the region. Sweeney says a solution to preventing similar incidents is to get companies to “divorce themselves from politics.” Although, Blizzard’s attempt to divorce themselves from politics by insisting that its punishment of Blitzchung was apolitical only further flamed criticism of the company. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-blizzard-china-controversy-explained&captions=true"] The climate around politics in games has been charged for some time now, both internally surrounding industry and business associations as well as the content of the games themselves. Even Epic Games has been accused of collaborating with the Chinese government through its business relationship with Tencent Games. Something Sweeney has denied. But this highlights just how politics has become an everyday topic. Sweeney admitted that these are tumultuous times, and there is no one answer to how people, customers, or developers should engage with politics in games. But it’s clear from Sweeney’s keynote that, in the case of Epic’s founder, there shouldn’t be a connection between the two at all. Update:  Tim Sweeney has responded to this story in a tweet embedded below.

Here’s one of the key views I shared at DICE. If a game tackles politics, as To Kill a Mockingbird did as a novel, it should come from the heart of creatives and not from marketing departments seeking to capitalize on division. https://t.co/x4eARz7Yyz

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 12, 2020

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter. (Photo by Rachel Luna/Getty Images)

With Vikings in its final season, you might be looking for a new drama series to get your Norse fix - luckily, HBO has an offering that should please the gods and genre fans. IGN has an exclusive first look at the trailer for HBO Europe's new sci-fi crime drama Beforeigners, a six-part series that will be released across HBO Now, HBO Go, and HBO's partner streaming platforms in the US on Tuesday, February 18. Check out the trailer below: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/12/beforeigners-trailer-first-look-at-hbos-new-time-travel-sci-fi-drama"] The premise sounds like an intriguing mash-up of genre mysteries like The 4400 and The Returned with historical dramas like Vikings and The Alienist. Here's how HBO describes Beforeigners: "A new phenomenon starts happening all over the world. Powerful flashes of light occur in the ocean, and people from the past appear from three time periods; the stone age, the Viking age, and the late 1800s. No one understands how this is possible, and the people from the past, called 'beforeigners,' have no memory of what’s transpired. A couple of years later, Alfhildr (Krista Kosonen) – who comes from the Viking Age – is teamed up with burned-out police officer Lars Haaland (Nicolai Cleve Broch) as part of the police department’s integration program. While investigating the murder of a woman with Stone Age tattoos, Lars and Alfhildr make unexpected discoveries." The show joins a number of international shows from HBO's global partners - including the chilling Asian horror anthology series Folklore - which are available in their entirety on HBO's streaming platforms. Beforeigners consists of six 45-minute episodes, which are written by creators Eilif Skodvin and Anne Bjørnstad, and directed by Jens Lien. Check out the poster for the series below, which features some clever nods to how these disparate time-travelers will settle into modern society. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/01/30/folklore-trailer-hbos-new-asian-horror-anthology-will-haunt-you"]

The Prince of Persia series is finally making a return, but as a VR escape room rather than the new video game many were likely hoping for.

Ubisoft announced Prince of Persia: The Dagger of Time on Wednesday, a co-operative escape room that utilizes VR set in the Prince of Persia universe. It’s the developer’s third location-based VR escape room after making two others based on the Assassin’s Creed series.

To be clear, these aren’t VR escape room games you can play on a personal headset at home – they are actual, physical escape rooms that incorporate VR into their puzzles and presentation, only playable in one of the 300+ locations Ubisoft has them setup.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/07/heres-what-ubisofts-5-promised-aaa-games-in-2020-2021-could-be"]

The Dagger of Time puts between two and four players in a “reimagined Fortress of Time,” a location originally from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. Unsurprisingly given its theme and location, players will need to use the time control powers of its titular dagger to solve puzzles and stop a sand army from being raised. Also similar to the games, Ubisoft says it has tried to incorporate some amount of the verticality and traps the games are known, but that the focus is on time control.

It’s been 10 years since the last proper Prince of Persia game, 2010’s Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, which was met with a slightly mixed but generally positive reception. Ubisoft told IGN back in 2013 that the Prince of Persia franchise had been “paused.”

And while this probably isn’t the follow-up fans were hoping for, The Dagger of Time is scheduled to launch this spring. Also, it almost certainly doesn’t count as one of the five AAA Ubisoft announced it has coming in the next year. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Tom Marks is IGN's Deputy Reviews Editor and resident pie maker. You can follow him on Twitter.

HBO has unveiled a new unsettling, foreboding poster for Westworld: Season 3, featuring the body of a Delos Incorporated android being metaphorically impaled by a towering skyscraper in the background. Westworld, which returns on March 15, adds Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul to the cast as a construction worker by day and criminal by night - who's life crosses paths with new-to-the-outside world Dolores. Check out the poster below, along with a new image of Evan Rachel Wood's host-with-the-most... [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=westworld-season-3-images&captions=true"] The key art's desolate sandy landscape seems to suggest a ruined world, as if Dolores' proposed A.I. uprising will hold dire consequences for the future. The tagline too, "Free Will is Not Free," is a tweaking of the "Freedom isn't Free" slogan used to express gratitude for the military. So just that sentence alone hints that a war is coming, and that lives will be lost in Dolores' quest to gain supremacy over humanity. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/21/how-leaving-westworld-changes-westworld-in-season-3-comic-con-2019"] Returning to the series, along with Wood, are Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Emmy-winner Thandie Newton, Ed Harris, and Luke Hemsworth. New cast members include Lena Waithe (Master of None, Ready Player One), Vincent Cassel (Ocean's Twelve, Black Swan), Kid Cudi, the Seattle Seahawks' Marshawn Lynch, John Gallagher Jr. (The Newsroom, 10 Cloverfield Lane), Michael Ealy (Almost Human, Stumptown), and Tommy Flanagan (Sons of Anarchy). Previously, Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy discussed how this newest season will be a "radical shift" from what came before. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/05/20/westworld-season-3-teaser-trailer"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

Researchers predict that the Sun will destroy our Solar System's asteroid belt in six billion years. A new study from the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (via Sci-News) predicts that when the Sun becomes a white dwarf, radiation from the star will be powerful enough to cause the asteroids in our Solar System to spin. Eventually, the spin rate will become overwhelming, causing the asteroids to break into smaller pieces. Sci-News explained that the asteroids will continuously break apart into smaller pieces until the rocks become too small to be affected. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-25-best-sci-fi-movies&captions=true"] The Sun will become a white dwarf after entering what scientists call the "branch phase," which happens after a star has burned all of its hydrogen fuel. During the branch phase, stars become hundreds of times bigger, and thousands of times brighter. The radiation the star gives off during this time is what kicks off this process. Scientists call this the YORP effect, and it is named after four of the scientists who helped develop this concept. For more news in the world of science, read about how scientists have detected a strange radio signal coming from outer space. Or, read a new study that shows that salty, mineral-filled water could once be found on Mars. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/07/25/did-scientists-find-liquid-water-on-mars"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Logan Plant is a news writer for IGN, and the Production Assistant for Nintendo Voice Chat, IGN's weekly Nintendo show. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.

Geoff Keighley has announced that he is skipping E3 2020, and will not be producing E3 Coliseum this year. This will be the first time in 25 years that Keighley will not be participating in the famous video game trade show. In a tweet from his personal Twitter account, Keighley announced that he will not be attending this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. "I have made the difficult decision to decline to produce E3 Coliseum. For the first time in 25 years, I will not be participating in E3." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/13/playstation-will-not-be-at-e3-2020-ign-now"] It appears the decision has not come easy for Keighley. "I've debated what to say about E3 2020," he said. "While I want to support the developers who will showcase their work, I also need to be open and honest with you, the fans, about precisely what to expect from me." "I look forward to supporting the industry in other ways and at other events in the future," he concluded. Keighley answered further questions people posed on Twitter. When asked what elements factored into his decision, he replied "A ton of factors, I just don't really feel comfortable participating given what I know about the show as of today."

A ton of factors, I just don't really feel comfortable participating given what I know about the show as of today.

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) February 12, 2020

Another user asked if E3 was still viable, considering both Keighley and companies such as Sony are distancing themselves from the event. "I think E3 needs to become more digital and global....it's a brand that means a lot to people, but it shouldn't just be a show floor," he replied. E3 Coliseum is the official show arranged by the company behind the larger E3 event. Keighley has hosted the show for the last three years. The show, much like IGN's own E3 livestreams, involves numerous developer guests being interviewed and streamed online. In the years prior, he has attended and worked at E3 in a variety of different forms. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=igns-top-25-playstation-4-games&captions=true"] Keighley is not the only E3 stalwart to skip this year's show; Sony has once again decided to not attend E3. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter. 

After months of teasing a followup to 2017's Dark Nights: Metal, DC Comics is finally peeling back the curtain on the next Justice League epic from writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo. It's called Dark Nights: Death Metal, and the DC Universe is about to get its collective face melted off. Death Metal is a new six-issue series reuniting the entire Metal creative team, including Snyder, Capullo, inker Jonathon Glapion and colorist FCO Plascencia. Check out the slideshow gallery below for a closer look at the covers and uncolored interior art from the first issue: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-justice-league-face-the-ultimate-evil-in-dark-nights-death-metal&captions=true"] While Death Metal is a sequel to Dark Nights: Metal, it also builds directly on the fallout of Snyder's Justice League run and the miniseries Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen. The Batman Who Laughs has triumphed in his war against Lex Luthor, and now he and his corrupted minions - Shazam, Supergirl, Donna Troy, Blue Beetle, James Gordon and Hawkman - rule over a world swallowed up by the Dark Multiverse. And pulling the strings of The Batman Who Laughs is none other than Perpetua, the self-proclaimed mother of the multiverse and perhaps the most powerful villain the Justice League have ever faced. As Snyder recently teased on Twitter, Death Metal is meant to be a Wonder Woman-driven story in the same way the original Metal was mostly Batman-focused. In this twisted version of the DCU, Wonder Woman and Flash have struck a Faustian bargain to preserve what remains of humanity, while Batman leads an underground resistance movement and Superman is trapped inside the heart of the sun. Only when a mysterious ally emerges with crucial new information is Wonder Woman able to rally the Justice League and take the fight to Perpetua herself. And, naturally, she's bringing her new Chainsaw of Truth along for the ride. “I’ve been waiting to do this story since we finished Dark Nights: Metal,” said Snyder in a statement. “As much as it was a complete event, we left some threads hanging there for sure. I’d hoped that if people liked the first series enough, we’d have a chance to set up something bigger, and that’s our plan for Death Metal.” “For all of us, Dark Nights: Death Metal is about the fun factor,” said Capullo. “Comics should be fun, bombastic, and over-the-top. This series is going to be exciting and jam-packed with great ‘metal-esque’ moments that will make fans lose their minds when they see them.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/08/wonder-woman-1984-official-trailer-1"] Dark Nights: Death Metal #1 will be released on Wednesday, May 13. The series will continue to ship monthly through November 2020, though it'll take a brief hiatus in August. DC is also teasing a series of "Metalverse" spinoff issues shipping this summer that expand on Snyder and Capullo's story. In addition to introducing The Batman Who Laughs and other nightmarish versions of Batman, Dark Nights: Metal is notable for featuring a rare crossover between the DCU and characters from The Sandman. We'll be eager to see what Snyder and Capullo have planned for a followup. Let us know what you want to see from Death Metal in the comments below. Death Metal isn't the only major DC superhero epic in the works for this summer. A new Batman storyline called Joker War will chronicle what could well be the final battle between Batman and his greatest nemesis. Meanwhile, DC is celebrating Free Comic Book Day with the release of Generation Zero, a game-changing new comic that transforms Wally West into the new Doctor Manhattan. Check out all of IGN's most anticipated comics of 2020 here. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.