Monthly Archives: August 2021

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl Will Let Your Pokémon Follow You Once Again

A new trailer for Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl today during a Pokémon Presents broadcast has revealed that the games will include the much-beloved feature that allows your Pokémon to follow you as you run through the world.

This feature has been included in a handful of games prior, and first introduced in Pokémon Yellow with only the player's Pikachu partner able to follow behind. It reappeared in the original Diamond and Pearl games, though it was only available for certain Pokémon in a certain area of the game. It was fully available in HeartGold and SoulSilver, and then again in Let's Go! Pikachu and Eevee and the DLC areas of Sword and Shield.

While Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl seem fairly close to the original games, we got a glimpse of several slight changes to the original formula, including the ability to customize your character's outfit.

We also got a look at some returning, revamped features from the original games, including a revamp of the Underground and Secret Bases that hides new Pokémon Hideaways, where wild Pokémon roam freely on the map as they did in Pokemon Let's Go!. There also appear to be changes to Super Contests, turning the event into more of a rhythm game.

Finally, the games are getting a special Nintendo Switch Lite Dialga & Palkia Edition, launching on November 5, 2021.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were first unveiled earlier this year at a February Pokémon Presents broadcast, where we got our first look at the game's chibi art style. Developer ILCA Inc has taken on the remakes from Game Freak, and are using a chibi art style intended as a "faithful remake" of the original games. We've since gotten a release date of November 19, 2021 for the pair, with the larger open-world Pokémon Legends Arceus coming the following January.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Biomutant Has Sold a Million Copies, Made Its Costs Back in a Week

Biomutant, the open world RPG from Experiment 101, has sold over one million copies and made its development costs back within its opening week.

As confirmed by the developer's parent company Embracer Group in its Q1 interim report, Biomutant acted as a key contributor to sales and revenue generated in the quarter.

Embracer Group confirmed the success of Biomutant in the report. "The main revenue driver in the quarter was the release of Biomutant from our internal studio Experiment 101." the report states. "So far, the game has sold more than one million copies. The full investment into development and marketing as well as the acquisition cost for Experiment 101 and the IP, was recouped within a week after launch," added Embracer Group.

Embracer Group said that it is pleased with its organic year-over-year growth which is supported by a wide back catalog and strong contribution from new releases. Overall, the net sales and operational EBIT performance of the first quarter set new records in line with the company's expectations. In addition to the release of Biomutant, Embracer Group also cited the addition of Easybrain and Gearbox as contributors to this success.

Despite Biomutant's financial success, the game launched with a number of performance problems across PlayStation and Xbox which ranged from low-quality textures to issues with framerate. Following community feedback, Experiment 101 has tweaked a wide range of aspects within the game across a number of subsequent patches. Aside from various bug fixes and tweaks, the developer has made additional changes to combat, loot variation, UI, quests, and even the game's narrator. The latest patch notes for Biomutant were tweeted out by the developer in June.

If you're currently playing through Experiment 101's mutant martial arts RPG, then make sure to check out our Biomutant review. For more on the game, you can take a scroll through our dedicated Biomutant page which features a range of the title's latest news.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Biomutant Has Sold a Million Copies, Made Its Costs Back in a Week

Biomutant, the open world RPG from Experiment 101, has sold over one million copies and made its development costs back within its opening week.

As confirmed by the developer's parent company Embracer Group in its Q1 interim report, Biomutant acted as a key contributor to sales and revenue generated in the quarter.

Embracer Group confirmed the success of Biomutant in the report. "The main revenue driver in the quarter was the release of Biomutant from our internal studio Experiment 101." the report states. "So far, the game has sold more than one million copies. The full investment into development and marketing as well as the acquisition cost for Experiment 101 and the IP, was recouped within a week after launch," added Embracer Group.

Embracer Group said that it is pleased with its organic year-over-year growth which is supported by a wide back catalog and strong contribution from new releases. Overall, the net sales and operational EBIT performance of the first quarter set new records in line with the company's expectations. In addition to the release of Biomutant, Embracer Group also cited the addition of Easybrain and Gearbox as contributors to this success.

Despite Biomutant's financial success, the game launched with a number of performance problems across PlayStation and Xbox which ranged from low-quality textures to issues with framerate. Following community feedback, Experiment 101 has tweaked a wide range of aspects within the game across a number of subsequent patches. Aside from various bug fixes and tweaks, the developer has made additional changes to combat, loot variation, UI, quests, and even the game's narrator. The latest patch notes for Biomutant were tweeted out by the developer in June.

If you're currently playing through Experiment 101's mutant martial arts RPG, then make sure to check out our Biomutant review. For more on the game, you can take a scroll through our dedicated Biomutant page which features a range of the title's latest news.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Suicide Squad Includes a Tribute To a Forgotten Action Game By Goichi Suda

James Gunn has revealed that a forgotten action game by Goichi Suda inspired Harley Quinn's breakout fight scene in The Suicide Squad.

During an interview with Collider, Gunn discussed the filmmaking process and his vision for the DC movie, revealing he drew inspiration for Harley Quinn's hallway fight from Lollipop Chainsaw, a 2012 hack-and-slash video game he helped to develop. He said he used the game as a visual reference to create the colorful yet gory "Harley-vision" for the sequence.

"I did a video game called Lollipop Chainsaw," Gunn explained, citing the game he worked on with Suda. "I always loved the way that the hearts and beautiful little things came out of people mixed with blood. So, a lot of it goes back to that, the aesthetic of mixing this horrible gore with Harley's starry-eyed way of looking at life and creating Harley-vision basically."

Gunn noted that the video game tribute was present in the first draft of the script and made it right the way through to production, where Gunn and the crew shot the standout scene, which explodes with bright flowers as Quinn charges into a violent rampage through a heavily fortified fortress, providing a memorable fight that blooms with brutality.

Lollipop Chainsaw is a zombie-hunting action title designed by Grasshopper Manufacture from a collaboration between game designer Suda51 and Gunn, who wrote the narrative with Masahiro Yuki. It offers a one-of-a-kind experience, following a cheerleader hero named Juliet Starling who must battle an army of the undead with charm and a chainsaw.

If you want to see the similarities between the game and the movie for yourself, The Suicide Squad is now playing in theaters and streaming on HBO Max. IGN scored the supervillain blockbuster a 9/10, calling its showcase of F-list DC villains "nothing short of brilliant," which makes for "a bloody, chaotic ride from start to finish" that is "endlessly shocking and funny."

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Shang-Chi IMAX Poster Offers Another Glimpse Of Its Dragon Character

Did you know there’s a dragon in the upcoming Marvel film Shang-Chi? Well, there is, and you can get a look at it in the new IMAX poster for the movie.

The Marvel origin movie will explore the new martial arts hero who will make his MCU debut in Phase 4, and a recent trailer revealed that Shang-Chi will include some familiar faces like Wong, Abomination, and more. The trailer also revealed a dragon many believe is Fin Fang Foom, a dragon-shaped alien from the Marvel comics.

While this is unconfirmed, you can get a closer look at an illustrated version of him and a second giant monster in the Shang-Chi IMAX poster. Check it out below.

Shang-Chi stars Simu Liu as the titular hero who is making a working-class living in San Francisco. However, Shang-Chi is actually the son of the Ten Rings leader Wenwu and Shang-Chi must return to his home to face his father.

While this is an origin story, the comics have featured some outdated tropes so it’s likely Marvel did some re-tooling with the character. Which is to say, this might be a very new take on Shang-Chi than we’ve seen in the comics.

Shang-Chi held its world premiere in Los Angeles, and while early social media reactions look positive we’ll hold our judgment until our official review when Shang-Chi premieres in September.

Just remember, Shang-Chi is slated to be a theatrical-only release and will not appear on Disney Plus Premier Access. However, it'll hit the streaming service after 45 days.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Fast & Furious 10 Will Release in April 2023

Fast & Furious 10 will release in April 2023, the product of a string of delays owed in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, Entertainment Weekly reports.

Originally slated to be released in 2021, Fast 10 was ultimately pushed back after the delay of F9. But while the delay was perhaps inevitable, the two year gap will be a long one for fans.

F10 is reportedly set to begin filming in January 2020. It will be the first in a two-part grand finale for the series, and could be filmed back-to-back with Fast 11.

We know little about the two films, save that Dwayne Johnson will not be part of them. We also know that series stalwart Justin Lin will once again be in the director's chair.

In the meantime, a sequel to 2019's Hobbs & Shaw is reportedly in development, which may help to fill the gap.

We gave F9 a positive review when it released back in May, praising it for its "bold twists" and "out-this-world action." Its physical release was announced earlier today, which will include a Director's Cut featuring seven minutes of additional footage.

As for the Fast 10, the penultimate entry in the series will be out April 7, 2023.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN.

Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake Series Coming to HBO Max

HBO Max has ordered Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake straight to series. The new show will follow Fionna and her magical cat Cake in a brand new, half-hour animated series.

Fionna and Cake were first introduced in the third season of Adventure Time as female versions of Finn and Jake. The musical episode also included alternate takes on other Adventure Time characters including Prince Gumball and Marshall Lee (a male version of Marceline).

The original episode was written and storyboarded by Adam Muto and Rebecca Sugar, and Muto will return as showrunner and executive producer for the Fionna and Cake spinoff.

According to a synopsis, Fionna and Cake will “embark on a multiverse-hopping adventure and journey of self-discovery. All the while a powerful new antagonist determined to track them down and erase them from existence, lurks in the shadows.”

No word yet on which other characters will appear in the show other than Simon Petrikov, the former Ice King. This seems to suggest that Fionna and Cake are set after the events of Adventure Time.

Furthermore, there have been no casting announcements so it’s unclear if Madeleine Martin will reprise her role as Fionna for the series.

Adventure Time ended its critically-acclaimed run on Cartoon Network in 2018 and HBO is getting ready to wrap up its special series Adventure Time Distant Lands on HBO Max. But with the new series announcement, it sounds like the company isn’t ready to leave the Land of Ooo just yet.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

EA’s Recent Delisting Of Classic Games ‘Didn’t Fully Consider Player’s Perspective’

Following EA's delisting Ultima Underworld 1+2, Syndicate Plus, and Syndicate Wars on GOG.com, the company has shared a bit of an explanation as to why this happened and how the decision "didn't fully consider player's perspective."

For those unaware, these three games were removed from GOG.com per the "publisher's request" on June 28. While the games would remain in the libraries of those who already purchased them, the games would be gone from the digital store for new purchase on that date.

This was met with a public outcry, and EA ended up changing course and announced on August 6 that the games would not only be returning to GOG, but that they would become free until September 3.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, EA's executive vice president for marketing, commercial and positive play Chris Bruzzo talked about this controversial move and how it was a result of "a breakdown in the publisher's process for managing the digital titles it has on sale." He also reassured fans that procedures have changed to ensure this doesn't happen again.

"When making decisions that affect players we take the time to review exactly what the potential impacts are and whether they serve the player's best interests," Bruzzo said. "When we delisted Syndicate and Ultima Underworld we missed that step and so didn't fully consider the player's perspective.

"From the level of interest players showed in delisting these games, it was clear that people still wanted them to be available, so we did two things. The first was to ensure that going forward we have a process in place that considers the player perspective in listing decisions. The second was to relist the games and make them available to as many people as possible with a month-long promotion."

He finished by saying that the team "saw so much love for these titles, more than twenty years after they originally launched we realised that we had to make them available again."

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss made our list of the Top 10 Dungeon Crawlers of All Time, so it's great to hear more people will have the chance to try it out if they haven't yet.

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.

Skyrim’s Iconic Cart Ride Was At One Point Derailed Due To Bees

Whether or not you played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, one of Besthesda Game Studios' most popular titles, you probably know of the iconic "you're finally awake" scene, which plays at the start of the game. While the scene is remembered fondly, a former developer recently detailed how the most iconic scene in the game caused headaches for the development team.

The news comes from Nate Purkeypile, a former developer at Bethesda, who created a Twitter thread explaining how Skyrim's intro caused many issues for the development team. Purkeypile explains how the developers could not figure out why the cart would suddenly lose control. "Something was telling that cart to just f*ck right off and to get off that road... Nobody knew what was going on at first," Purkeypile tweeted.

What was the culprit exactly? Well, it turns out that the issue was a bug — as in a virtual bug in the game and not a software bug — that was causing the cart to freak out and start flying off the road.

"So it turns out there was another bug where the bee in the game couldn't be picked up. So then some potions couldn't be made," he tweeted. "That bug got fixed. Only the type of collision put on the bee didn't just let it get picked up. It also made it collide into things."

The issue with this digital bee, as Purkeypile notes, is that it was an "immovable force of nature." Meaning that if the cart and the bee crossed paths at a particular moment in the game, it would cause the cart to freak out and get flung off the road, like a medieval rocket ship.

While the story is quite funny, I think it is important to express that this is a good example of why game development is no cakewalk.

Purkeypile never did explain how this literal bug was fixed, perhaps bees were removed from the area during the cutscene, but it's yet another story in Skyrim's saga. Read IGN's original Skyrim review here where we encountered no unmovable bees.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

F9 Director’s Cut Will Feature 7 Minutes Of New Footage

An upcoming Blu-ray release of F9: The Fast Saga will include a special Director's Cut, Universal revealed today. It headlines a package that will include the theatrical release as well as a host of bonus content.

According to Collider, the Director's Cut will feature seven minutes of new footage. It will include, "A deepened sibling rivalry between Dom and Jakob, more of Dom's evolution as a father, a never-before-seen-flashback featuring some of the franchise's most beloved characters, extended sequences featuring Tej and Roman, an additional Cardi B appearance, and an expanded action climax featuring the infamous Armadillo tank."

The additions will take F9 to a hefty 150 minutes. That's two-and-a-half hours worth of explosions and space cars. As for the bonus content, the release will include a gag reel, an "intimate look" at the making of the film, and a deep dive into the movie's cars hosted by John Cena.

F9 was first released back in May, with our review praising it for delivering "bold twists, grit-teethed gravitas, and out-of-this-world action." Plus, we finally got justice for Han.

The physical release will be available via 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD starting September 21, with the digital release available for purchase or rent starting September 7.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN.