Naughty Dog has revealed new The Last of Us Part 2 collectible concept art, another Ellie statuette, and a PS4 dynamic theme that you can download right now - not to mention announcing the game's first public hands-on.

First off, the new concept art is said to explore the two sides of Ellie's journey throughout the game. As Naughty Dog puts it, "from the relative peace she’s found when the story begins to the relentless pursuit of vengeance that follows." You can download this concept art as wallpaper for any of your devices.

If you're into dynamic themes then there's now a The Last of Us Part 2 one available for PS4. It transitions from day to night based on your PS4's clock and is available for free on the PlayStation Store. You just need to enter the code that corresponds to your region (note that the codes expire on February 11, 2021).

Americas: 4FMP-BBNM-J5L3

Europe/AU/NZ/Russia/Middle East/Africa/India: 9DEK-PKNG-N445

If you want something more physical, you could always order the new art prints which will soon be available at Cook & Becker. Naughty Dog says these new prints are different to the ones that were released last year, so keep an eye out for those.

The other physical option is to pre-order the second The Last of Us Part 2 statuette that has been produced with Dark Horse. The first one had Ellie with a bow and arrow, but this second one makes her look much more vicious as she's angrily wielding a machete.

This statuette is having a limited production based on the number of pre-orders Dark Horse receives before March 13, 2020. So if you want one you'll need to order it before that date. Bear in mind that you can't order more than two per person.

The final announcement today is that the first-ever public demo of The Last of Us Part 2 will be available to play at PAX East 2020. "From 27th February until 1st March, attendees will have an opportunity to play “Patrol”, featuring an early area of the game where Ellie and Dina must venture out of Jackson into the surrounding areas to clear out infected," Naughty Dog said.

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The demo is said to have an hour of gameplay altogether and will "provide just a small glimpse into what awaits you in the full game." This is the demo that we got to play last year so head over and read our The Last of Us Part 2 impressions to get an idea of what you'll experience, unless you want to avoid spoilers, of course.

IGN Game Scoop at PAX East

As if you needed another excuse to visit Boston at the end of the month, we'll be there doing a live recording of Game Scoop on Saturday, February 29 at 7:30 pm in the Dragonfly Theater. We'll also be out and about on the floor, and will most certainly be looking to talk to you about The Last of Us Part II, so if you're going to be there and you see one of us, make sure to say "hi!"

The Last of Us Part II is due to come out for PS4 on May 29, 2020. Among many changes to the first game are dogs, which are much harder to kill than humans, it turns out.

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Chris Priestman is a freelancer who writes news for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

2K Games has officially announced the name of 2K Silicon Valley, a development studio founded in 2019 by ex-Sledgehammer Games co-founder Michael Condrey. Going forward it will be called 31st Union, and the studio is already working on a new IP. “31st Union is off to an incredible start with a passionate and talented team, and intentioned culture that champions inclusivity and greater representation, an ambitious and inspired new IP that we’re extremely excited about,” said Condrey in a statement. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=all-the-big-games-coming-in-2020&captions=true"] 31st Union is working on a single new IP, though details haven’t been revealed. Furthermore, the studio has announced plans to expand to a second European location in Spain. “We believe diverse perspectives and experiences are crucial to creating a truly global entertainment experience with a deep connection to passionate fans,” added Condrey. The studio joins other development teams under the 2K brand including the recently announced Cloud Chamber which has locations in California and Canada. Other 2K teams with an international presence include Hangar 13 which now operates a third location in Brighton, UK, as well as Visual Concepts. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/11/08/call-of-duty-ww2-review"] 2K Games has a growing stable of studios working on projects that are both announced and unannounced. As previously mentioned, Cloud Chamber is working on a new BioShock, but the team says it will be several years before development is complete. Likewise, 31st Union is working on an unnamed IP, while Visual Concepts has worked on the studio’s 2K Sports games. Hangar 13 is also reportedly working on a new IP. It could be several years before we see any of the new projects currently in development. But IGN will have the latest coverage for every announced project. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

2K Games has officially announced the name of 2K Silicon Valley, a development studio founded in 2019 by ex-Sledgehammer Games co-founder Michael Condrey. Going forward it will be called 31st Union, and the studio is already working on a new IP. “31st Union is off to an incredible start with a passionate and talented team, and intentioned culture that champions inclusivity and greater representation, an ambitious and inspired new IP that we’re extremely excited about,” said Condrey in a statement. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=all-the-big-games-coming-in-2020&captions=true"] 31st Union is working on a single new IP, though details haven’t been revealed. Furthermore, the studio has announced plans to expand to a second European location in Spain. “We believe diverse perspectives and experiences are crucial to creating a truly global entertainment experience with a deep connection to passionate fans,” added Condrey. The studio joins other development teams under the 2K brand including the recently announced Cloud Chamber which has locations in California and Canada. Other 2K teams with an international presence include Hangar 13 which now operates a third location in Brighton, UK, as well as Visual Concepts. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/11/08/call-of-duty-ww2-review"] 2K Games has a growing stable of studios working on projects that are both announced and unannounced. As previously mentioned, Cloud Chamber is working on a new BioShock, but the team says it will be several years before development is complete. Likewise, 31st Union is working on an unnamed IP, while Visual Concepts has worked on the studio’s 2K Sports games. Hangar 13 is also reportedly working on a new IP. It could be several years before we see any of the new projects currently in development. But IGN will have the latest coverage for every announced project. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

Muppets Most Wanted director James Bobin has reportedly been identified as an early target to direct Ryan Reynold's upcoming movie adaptation of the classic board game Clue. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bobin is currently in talks to helm the project after Jason Bateman (who was previously on board to direct and co-star in the murder-mystery) stepped out of the frame due to scheduling conflicts with his Netflix series Ozark. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/05/04/ryan-reynolds-responds-to-ign-comments"] After starting out in television, Bobin made his feature film directorial debut in 2011 with Disney's Muppets reboot; he then also penned and directed the 2014 sequel. Following the puppet pictures, he took the reins on a selection of other family-friendly fares, including Disney's Alice Through the Looking Glass and Paramount's Dora and the Lost City of Gold, released in 2019. Per the report, Deadpool scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are still working on the script for the Clue reboot, which will be produced by Allspark Pictures, the film division of Hasbro, alongside Reynolds' own Maximum Effort production label. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-craziest-movie-gimmicks&captions=true"] Paramount previously released a big-screen take on the beloved board game in 1985, which turned out to be an all-star comedic farce that eventually earned cult classic status. In its initial theatrical run, it had a gimmick where different theatres were issued different endings to the film, in which various characters were singled out as the murder culprit. When the film released on home video, the endings were cut together to fake out the audience before uncovering the truth. At this stage, it is unclear whether the upcoming Clue reboot will reinstate the format of randomized endings but it's not worth getting your moustache in a twist over it. Instead, check out our breakdown of best virtual reality adventure movies to watch before Free Guy, Reynolds' next movie, opening in theatres on July 3, 2020. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Muppets Most Wanted director James Bobin has reportedly been identified as an early target to direct Ryan Reynold's upcoming movie adaptation of the classic board game Clue. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bobin is currently in talks to helm the project after Jason Bateman (who was previously on board to direct and co-star in the murder-mystery) stepped out of the frame due to scheduling conflicts with his Netflix series Ozark. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/05/04/ryan-reynolds-responds-to-ign-comments"] After starting out in television, Bobin made his feature film directorial debut in 2011 with Disney's Muppets reboot; he then also penned and directed the 2014 sequel. Following the puppet pictures, he took the reins on a selection of other family-friendly fares, including Disney's Alice Through the Looking Glass and Paramount's Dora and the Lost City of Gold, released in 2019. Per the report, Deadpool scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are still working on the script for the Clue reboot, which will be produced by Allspark Pictures, the film division of Hasbro, alongside Reynolds' own Maximum Effort production label. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-craziest-movie-gimmicks&captions=true"] Paramount previously released a big-screen take on the beloved board game in 1985, which turned out to be an all-star comedic farce that eventually earned cult classic status. In its initial theatrical run, it had a gimmick where different theatres were issued different endings to the film, in which various characters were singled out as the murder culprit. When the film released on home video, the endings were cut together to fake out the audience before uncovering the truth. At this stage, it is unclear whether the upcoming Clue reboot will reinstate the format of randomized endings but it's not worth getting your moustache in a twist over it. Instead, check out our breakdown of best virtual reality adventure movies to watch before Free Guy, Reynolds' next movie, opening in theatres on July 3, 2020. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Cliff Bleszinski, lead designer on the first three Gears of Wars games, revealed that he almost made an Aliens first-person shooter a couple of years ago that would have had a grown-up Newt as the main character.

Bleszinski shared the news on Twitter, saying that he was in talks to make an Aliens FPS with Fox, who own the Aliens franchise, but when the film company and game publisher was bought by Disney the game was "lost in the shuffle."

Ripley would be alive and be your "Cortana/Anya." You'd play as grown Newt. On Earth. Weyland-Yutani are weaponizing the aliens in a Black Mesa style facility and, of course, all hell breaks loose.

Your robotic pal i.e. Bishop? A new one named "Casey" after her doll in Aliens. — Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) February 10, 2020

 

You would have played as Newt, the young girl from the 1986 film, on Earth after xenomorphs break out of a Weyland-Yutani facility that was trying to weaponize the deadly aliens.

To make this happen, all of the canon after the second Aliens film would have been ignored, as Newt dies in transit between the second and third film. Ellen Ripley would have been alive and acted as your Cortana-style guide throughout the game.

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Newt would also have had a robotic pal, similar to Bishop from the film, but would have been called Casey after the doll Newt has in Aliens.

This Aliens game would have been made by the studio that Bleszinski founded in 2014, Boss Key Productions, which closed down in 2018 due to poor sales of its games. Boss Key only made two games, LawBreakers and Radical Heights, both of which were online shooters.

Bleszinski's Aliens game isn't the only one that's known to have been lost. Last year, Chris Avellone talked about Aliens: Crucible, an RPG that was prototyped by The Outer Worlds developer Obsidian before being cancelled.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/01/21/what-does-your-dream-alien-game-look-like"]

In better news, the Aliens shooter that's being made by Cold Iron Studios, is still thought to be in active development. Fingers crossed it comes out one day.

There's also Alien: Isolation, which has recently come to Nintendo Switch, and Alien: Blackout, which launched for smartphones in 2019, so you can play those if you need an Aliens game fix.

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Chris Priestman is a freelancer who writes news for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Cliff Bleszinski, lead designer on the first three Gears of Wars games, revealed that he almost made an Aliens first-person shooter a couple of years ago that would have had a grown-up Newt as the main character.

Bleszinski shared the news on Twitter, saying that he was in talks to make an Aliens FPS with Fox, who own the Aliens franchise, but when the film company and game publisher was bought by Disney the game was "lost in the shuffle."

Ripley would be alive and be your "Cortana/Anya." You'd play as grown Newt. On Earth. Weyland-Yutani are weaponizing the aliens in a Black Mesa style facility and, of course, all hell breaks loose.

Your robotic pal i.e. Bishop? A new one named "Casey" after her doll in Aliens. — Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) February 10, 2020

 

You would have played as Newt, the young girl from the 1986 film, on Earth after xenomorphs break out of a Weyland-Yutani facility that was trying to weaponize the deadly aliens.

To make this happen, all of the canon after the second Aliens film would have been ignored, as Newt dies in transit between the second and third film. Ellen Ripley would have been alive and acted as your Cortana-style guide throughout the game.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-xenomorph-and-alien-from-the-alien-movies&captions=true"]

Newt would also have had a robotic pal, similar to Bishop from the film, but would have been called Casey after the doll Newt has in Aliens.

This Aliens game would have been made by the studio that Bleszinski founded in 2014, Boss Key Productions, which closed down in 2018 due to poor sales of its games. Boss Key only made two games, LawBreakers and Radical Heights, both of which were online shooters.

Bleszinski's Aliens game isn't the only one that's known to have been lost. Last year, Chris Avellone talked about Aliens: Crucible, an RPG that was prototyped by The Outer Worlds developer Obsidian before being cancelled.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/01/21/what-does-your-dream-alien-game-look-like"]

In better news, the Aliens shooter that's being made by Cold Iron Studios, is still thought to be in active development. Fingers crossed it comes out one day.

There's also Alien: Isolation, which has recently come to Nintendo Switch, and Alien: Blackout, which launched for smartphones in 2019, so you can play those if you need an Aliens game fix.

[poilib element="accentDivider"]

Chris Priestman is a freelancer who writes news for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Warner Bros. has changed the title of their latest DC movie: “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” is now called “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.” The title change is already reflected on movie ticketing sites across the web. While Warner didn’t release a statement about why they made the change, it’s presumably part of a strategy to help the film perform better at the box office after it had the lowest opening weekend for any DCEU movie to date. IGN reached out to WB for comment and will update this story with any information we learn. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=birds-of-prey-comparing-the-characters-looks-through-the-years&captions=true"] Harley Quinn is immensely popular compared to the likes of Huntress, Renee Montoya, and Black Canary, so it makes sense why Warner Bros. would pivot in an attempt to cash in on the character’s name recognition. Instead of burying her name at the end of an obscenely long title, causing many people to not even include her name when referring to the movie, it has now been moved to the front. The absurd original title was very much in-character for Harley Quinn, but it seems the studio wants to eschew that in favor of being crystal clear with viewers. Not to mention, Harley Quinn is the star of the film, with the Birds of Prey acting as supporting characters in her wild and zany narrative, so this new title better reflects that. For more on Birds of Prey... er... Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, check out why star Margot Robbie decided to not include Joker in the film, what you need to know about the closing credits scene, and if you haven't already, be sure to read our review of the movie. To see Harley in action, watch this clip from the movie showing Black Mask interrogating Harley Quinn: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/30/birds-of-prey-you-lost-something-right-clip"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joshua is Senior Features Editor at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.

Warner Bros. has changed the title of their latest DC movie: “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” is now called “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.” The title change is already reflected on movie ticketing sites across the web. Update: A Warner Bros. spokesperson told IGN that the official title remains the same, and this new title is only being used by ticket sites to help search expansion. The original had "Harley Quinn" at the end of a very long title, so this new title is designed to help people better find the movie when searching for "Harley Quinn." The original story continues below. While Warner didn’t release a statement about why they made the change, it’s presumably part of a strategy to help the film perform better at the box office after it had the lowest opening weekend for any DCEU movie to date. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=birds-of-prey-comparing-the-characters-looks-through-the-years&captions=true"] Harley Quinn is immensely popular compared to the likes of Huntress, Renee Montoya, and Black Canary, so it makes sense why Warner Bros. would pivot in an attempt to cash in on the character’s name recognition. Instead of burying her name at the end of an obscenely long title, causing many people to not even include her name when referring to the movie, it has now been moved to the front. The absurd original title was very much in-character for Harley Quinn, but it seems the studio wants to eschew that in favor of being crystal clear with viewers. Not to mention, Harley Quinn is the star of the film, with the Birds of Prey acting as supporting characters in her wild and zany narrative, so this new title better reflects that. For more on Birds of Prey... er... Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, check out why star Margot Robbie decided to not include Joker in the film, what you need to know about the closing credits scene, and if you haven't already, be sure to read our review of the movie. To see Harley in action, watch this clip from the movie showing Black Mask interrogating Harley Quinn: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/30/birds-of-prey-you-lost-something-right-clip"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joshua is Senior Features Editor at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.

Sony has submitted a patent for an AI that may be able to help players stuck in a game by pointing them towards items or weapons that may help them overcome their obstacle. This can either be an in-game item or if need be, an item available for purchase. In a patent filing for something called the “In-Game Resource Surfacing Platform,” Sony describes a scenario in which a player is stuck in a video game that they may need help to overcome. “Many video-games have hundred of thousands of individual items for users to earn, find, or purchase and use within the video game,” it says in the patent description. The AI tool that Sony is hoping to patent would help search and identify “in-game resources that assist a player based on contextual data and data from a community of similar players.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=igns-top-25-playstation-4-games&captions=true"] Sony lays out three variations of this tool. One is where the AI identifies the “current state” the player is in while in a game and cross-references it with other players who’ve successfully moved past that point. “[T]he method provides an operation for selecting a resource that is usable by the player to complete the objective based on the one or more resources utilized by respective other players during said successful attempt of completing the objective[.]” [caption id="attachment_2300616" align="alignnone" width="720"] This figure illustrates how Sony's tool might suggest microtransactions to help the player get through a difficult section of a game.[/caption] Meaning the AI will find out how other players completed the obstacle and point the stuck players towards that solution. The AI tool may also point players towards an item in a store, in-game or online, that can help complete the objective or even advance the game to a point past the obstacle (a skip, maybe?). The use of AI during a game session is not new. Ubisoft has rolled out an AI service called Sam which can track progression in games, or check in-game stats. Google Stadia has also promised a feature in the future where players may be able to directly interact with Google Assistant for in-game help. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/07/next-gen-console-watch-how-powerful-ps5-xbox-series-x-may-be"] Sony’s patent seems at first more localized towards getting players past a certain obstacle, either through in-game or purchasable methods. But there’s a chance the service could expand to provide deeper help. Though there’s always the IGN Wiki guides if you need a leg-up on how to get past certain game obstacles. The patent was filed last year and published recently. There’s been no public announcement of a new AI tool for Sony games, so this may be a next-gen feature for the PlayStation 5. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.