Monthly Archives: December 2022

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Sifu Live-Action Adaptation Announced With John Wick Creator Derek Kolstad

John Wick creator Derek Kolstad and Story Kitchen are set to adapt the Kung-Fu third-person action game Sifu into a live-action feature film.

As reported by Deadline, Story Kitchen has partnered with Sifu developer Sloclap after a "competitive pursuit" to bring this game to the big screen.

Kolstad will be adapting the script, and he will produce alongside Story Kitchen's Dmitri M. Johnson, Mike Goldberg, Dan Jevons, Timothy I. Stevenson, and Jeff Ludwig.

For those unfamiliar, Sifu puts you in the shoes of a young Kung-Fu student who is on a brutal journey of revenge. One of the unique parts of Sifu is that players will age every time they die and go from student to master and see their skills improve.

In our Sifu review, we said its "brutal learning curve and unique structure that requires you to beat it in just one lifetime are significant barriers to overcome, but on the other side is truly one of the best modern action games around."

Before Sifu fights its way to theaters, Kolstad will finish his work on John Wick 4, which is set to be released in theaters on March 24, 2023.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf In-Game Cinematic Focuses on Solas and Sets the Stage for the Upcoming RPG

In celebration of Dragon Age Day 2022, BioWare has released an in-game cinematic from Dragon Age: Dreadwolf that sets the stage for the adventures to come.

The cinematic is all about Solas, a playable character in Dragon Age: Inquisition who is clearly one of the main driving forces in the upcoming RPG.

Varric, another playable character who first appeared in Dragon Age 2, narrates the video and tells the story of Solas, who was once known as Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf.

"I knew him as Solas, a thoughtful mage obsessed with dreams, but long ago, he had a different name - Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf," Varric narrates. "Ancient Elven God of Lies or heroic rebel against tyranny, depending on which story you believe. In his final fight with the Elven Gods, Solas imprisoned them and created a veil that split our world from the raw magic of the fade. But now, he wants to tear down that veil and destroy the world, and we're the only ones who can stop him."

While we still have no release date for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, BioWare did confirm the much-anticipated RPG recently completed its Alpha milestone, meaning the game is now playable from start to finish. That being said, there is still a lot of work and polish to go.

BioWare had a few other surprises in store for Dragon Age Day 2022, including new character posters from Dragon Age: Absolution, the new series set to hit Netflix on December 9, 2022. You can check them out in the slideshow below and a trailer for the show and more details here.

BioWare is also raising money for the Trans Empowerment Project, a "a non-profit organization with a focus on supporting the most marginalized people in the queer community, such as disabled and trans people of color." BioWare is collecting donations through Tiltify for the non-profit and you can help by clicking here.

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.

Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 1 Adds The Hulk, Geralt, Doom Slayer, and Next-Gen Unreal Engine 5 Features

Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 1 has officially arrived and promises to add The Hulk, The Witcher's Geralt of Rivia, Doom's Doom Slayer, and next-gen graphics and features powered by Unreal Engine 5.1.

Fortnite's latest chapter is taking players to a whole new realm and, alongside the previously mentioned additions, will also bring with it dirt bikes, the ability to roll in a snowball, a way to launch yourself into the sky and attack enemies with a Shockwave Hammer, a new hurdle mechanic, Reality Augments, and so much more.

As for the new Outfits that will be available in the Item Shop and Battle Pass, players will have a lot to look forward to. While The Hulk will join the Item Shop at a later date, the other characters will be part of the Battle Pass to unlock as the season progresses.

While Doom Slayer and Geralt of Rivia may be the highlights of the Battle Pass, players will also be able to unlock "Star of the Show" Selene, Massai, Dusty, Nezumi, Helsie, and The Ageless. The launch trailer for Chapter 4 Season 1 also teases that My Hero Academia's Deku will be joining the fight soon as well.

The new next-gen Unreal Engine 5.1 features will usher in a "generational leap in visual fidelity, bringing an unprecedented level of detail to game worlds like the Battle Royale Island." This will be done be using Nanite, Lumen, Virtual Shadow Maps, and Temporal Super Resolution on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and cloud gaming.

Nanite provides "highly-detailed architectural geometry," Lumen provides "high-quality ray traced reflections on glossy materials and water," Virtual Shadow Maps allow for "highly detailed shadowing," and Temporal Super Resolution (TSR) allows for "high-quality visuals at a high framerate."

Reality Augments are another way gameplay is changing and, at certain intervals in every game, players will be given a randomized choice of two of these boons. The longer you stay alive, the more Reality Augments you'll earn and they will stick with you until the end.

Chapter 4 Season 1 will launch with 22 Reality Augments, and more will be added in the future. The already revealed augments are as follows;

  • Light Fingers: Makes your weapons using Light Ammo reload faster.
  • Mechanical Archer: Gives you a Mechanical Explosive Blow & Mechanical Shockwave Bow.
  • Aerialist: Grants you Glider redeploy for the rest of the match.
  • Supercharged: Your vehicles won't consume fuel and they’ll have increased Health.
  • Soaring Sprints: While sprinting, you’ll be able to jump much higher — and jump with lower gravity.

There is so much more to learn about Chapter 4 Season 1, and players can check out the full Fortnite blog for all the changes, including some of the new weapons like the Ex-Caliber Rifle - a powerful, semi-automatic rifle that "fires a ballistic blade at your enemies... that detonates mere moments later."

For more on Fortnite, check out the full Chapter 3 finale event and our look at how Fortnite is the antidote to Metaverse skepticism.

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.

The Boys College-Based Spin-Off Series Gen V Gets a First Look Trailer

The Boys college-based spin-off series Gen V has received its first look trailer, and it's filled with all the blood and superpowers you'd expect from The Boys. Oh, and also what appears to be a gory version of Sesame Street.

Gen V, which has been described as "part college show, part Hunger Games," takes place at Vought Internationa's Godolkin University, the only college that is made exclusively for young adult superheroes.

Throughout its episodes, which will debut in 2023, the series will explore "the lives of hormonal, competitive Supes as they put their physical, sexual, and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the school’s top ranking."

Gen V will star Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo, Lizze Broadway, Shelley Conn, Maddie Phillips, London Thor, Derek Luh, Asa Germann, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Marco Pigossi. The spin-off's cast will also be bolstered by Clancy Brown, Alexander Calvert, and Jason Ritter.

Furthermore, the trailer confirmed guest appearances from The Boys' Jessie T. Usher (A-Train), Colby Minifie (Ashley Barrett), and P.J. Byrne (Adam Bourke), who will be reprising their roles from the main series.

Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters are serving as showrunners and executive producers. Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Ori Marmur, Pavun Shetty, Ken Levin, Jason Netter, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Craig Rosenberg, Zak Schwartz, Erica Rosbe, and Michaela Starr will also step into executive producer roles.

This new series will hopefully help with the wait for The Boys Season 4, which currently has no premiere date. However, Prime Video has revealed the new cast members for the upcoming season and confirmed that Simon Pegg will be returning.

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.

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Gets an Amazing Image and a Trailer Release Date

Alongside an amazing new image of Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy hanging upside-down in New York City, the team behind Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse has confirmed that a new trailer will be released on December 13, 2022.

The image was released as part of a Tweet that simply said, "A new view from across the #SpiderVerse coming 12.13."

While this is hardly the first time Miles or Gwen have hung upside-down, it does bring to mind the iconic "leap of faith" scene from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse where Miles jumps off a tall building in the city and it looks as though he is rising towards it.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will swing its way into theaters on June 2, 2023, and it seeks to 'wow' audiences with six major art styles.

Three of these include one from Earth-50101 that is based on an Indian comic book look, another from Spider-Man 2099's Nueva York that is based on a Syd Mead-style idea of what the future could look like, and the third is a watercolor style on Gwen's Earth-65.

For more, check out our breakdown of the film's first trailer, how Spider-Verse 2's villain is "one of the deepest cuts in Spider-Man's Rogues gallery," and a merch leak that appears to confirm a major Spider-Variant.

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.

The Last of Us TV Series Gets a Thrilling Official Trailer That Features a Terrifying Bloater

HBO Max's The Last of Us has received its first official trailer and it has given us our best look yet at the adaptation of the PlayStation classic, including looks at many of the characters from the game, plot details, and a terrifying Bloater at the end.

The trailer is a treat for fans of the original PlayStation game, but it also does a good job of setting up exactly what this new series will be about for those who aren't familiar with the source material.

There are people on the west coast and Bella Ramsey's Ellie somehow didn't turn into a monster when infected, and she may be the key to saving humanity. Pedro Pascal's Joel is tasked with taking her across the country to help find this cure, and this is where our story begins.

However, we very well may be getting flashbacks as well, because we get a glimpse of scenes pulled straight from The Last of Us: Left Behind DLC.

As for the Bloater, that terrifying enemy is one of the most powerful enemies in the games and is one of the most advanced stages of the Cordyceps brain infection. It appears at the end of the trailer and hints that the journey west won't be an easy one.

The trailer follows character posters that give us a great look at the cast of the series, and all of these are helping us prepare for the show to arrive on HBO Max on January 15, 2023.

Season 1 will consist of 10 episodes and looks to mainly cover the events of the first game. However, the creators have confirmed there will be certain parts that "deviate greatly" from what came before.

If the wait is too long, be sure to check out our review of The Last of Us Part I for PS5 to see if it may be worth picking up before the show drops on HBO.

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.

Michelle Yeoh Was a ‘Big Fan’ of The Witcher Before Joining Netflix’s Blood Origin

The Witcher: Blood Origin will mark Michelle Yeoh’s introduction to The Witcher universe, but the iconic action star, who will play Scian in the upcoming series, is already well-acquainted with the popular fantasy franchise.

“So I was already a big fan of The Witcher series because I love this world of fantasy and science fiction and monsters and the ability to do magic and all that,” Yeoh told IGN in a new interview.

Yeoh called writer Declan De Barra “very exciting” when he approached her to play Scian, a very skilled swordsman from the elven Ghost tribe. But Yeoh didn’t need that much convincing to join the new show – she was already “very attached to this genre.”

“I was completely drawn into it, because this is the original story – why do we have the Witcher? Why did we have to sacrifice a hero or heroine to create this Witcher that is able to save us all? And why did we get to this path?” Yeoh said “The elf kingdom was the golden age. How did we not manage to stay there? And I found that fascinating because this is a story that is a thousand, two, three hundred years ago prior to The Witcher. And for me that's always fascinating, mysterious, and interesting. So well, how do you say no to that?”

Bringing Scian to live in The Witcher: Blood Origin

Yeoh stars alongside Sophia Brown and Laurence O’Fuarain in the upcoming prequel to the hit Netflix series. The Witcher: Blood Origin will take place 1200 years before the original series and depict the creation of the first Witcher as well as the lead-up to the so-called “Conjunction of the Spheres” – the moment monsters slipped into the series’ world. It will be a four-part miniseries.

Talking about the process of bringing Scian to life, Yeoh described working closely with the show’s stunt coordinator to develop a style she describes as fluid and stealthy.

“She's the gel that brings her team together. And all the things that are done is not just a singular performance, it has to work as a team,” Yeoh says. “So the thing is how she works with Fjall and with Éile is how they move with and together. So it's the fluidity that makes this character and makes the style of fighting very, very different from like Crouching Tiger or even Emperor Georgiou.”

Despite the differences, Yeoh doesn’t really compare the characters, saying every one of the characters have their own place.

So I was already a big fan of The Witcher series because I love this world of fantasy and science fiction and monsters and the ability to do magic and all that

“I mean it's so fun,” Yeoh said. “You get to put on the ears and those amazing tattoos that tell the story of its own and those eyes that completely transforms…that you don't see whether it's Crouching Tiger, a warrior, or you don't see an aging woman who's trying to get her taxes done. And you just see this very spiritual elf.

“And that's what I love about being an actor is being able to step into different shoes and find things that are challenging. And hopefully every single time you find something completely different so that you're not just trying to repeat the same things again and again. And it's boring for you too.”

The Witcher: Blood Origin is set to release December 25. Go here to learn more about The Witcher: Blood Origins’ cast in the run-up to release.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

The Witcher: Blood Origin’s Latest Trailer Teases the Arrival of Joey Batey’s Jaskier

The Witcher: Blood Origin's latest trailer has revealed that Joey Batey's Jaskier, he of 'Toss a Coin to Your Witcher' fame, will be part of the 4-part event prequel series.

The latest trailer for The Witcher: Blood Origin was revealed at CCXP in Brazil and gives us a great look at the "origin of the Witcher saga," and Jaskier surprisingly appears right at the end in front of Minnie Driver's Seanchaí.

"You're a bard. I'm a storyteller. I need you to sing a story back to life," Seanchaí says.

Jaskier then responds with, "Are you sure you've got the right man for this?"

While the arrival of Jaskier is great news for fans of The Witcher, it's also a bit of an interesting development as this new series takes place 1,200 years before the original series. The trailer talks about monoliths that are causing tears between worlds, so they could be responsible for Jaskier's role in the story.

However, there are some theories online that Jaskier is actually immortal, especially considering he hasn't really aged throughout the over two decades we have already seen of Netflix's The Witcher.

As for the rest of the trailer, we catch another glimpse of the seven main heroes of our story, who are all outcasts and strangers to each other who must come together to fight an "unstoppable empire."

Speaking of that empire, we also see more of Lenny Henry's Chief Sage Balor and the tease of his powerful beast. This beast also appears to be the key to creating the first Witcher as it appears the team will attempt to merge the beast's power with one of the heroes to use the enemy's greatest weapon against them.

Netflix also shared new key art of the series, and it features the seven heroes of The Witcher: Blood Origin, including Michelle Yeoh's Scian, Sophia Brown's Eile, and Laurence O'Fuarain's Fjall.

For more on The Witcher: Blood Origin, check out the last trailer for the series that showed off bloody combat, and our breakdown of The Witcher's timeline.

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.

Blue Beetle Live-Action Movie Gets Its First Poster at CCXP 2022

The first poster for DC's Blue Beetle movie starring Xolo Maridueña as Jamie Reyes has been revealed at CCXP 2022.

The poster, which you can see below, features the alien scarab that gives Reyes his powers and allows him to become the Blue Beetle.

Blue Beetle is DC Films' first superhero movie to star a Latino character and follows Reyes, who will be the third character to take on the Blue Beetle Mantle in the film's universe.

Blue Beetle was originally developed for HBO Max, but it was then shifted to a theatrical release and will now premiere on August 18, 2023. We still don't know too much about the movie, but we did get a look at concept art for the live-action Blue Beetle suit.

We also know that Academy Award-winner Susan Sarandon has replaced Sharon Stone and will play Victoria Kord, a new character that will serve as the villain of Blue Beetle. Joining Maridueña and Sarandon will be Bruna Marquezine, Belissa Escobedo, Harvey Guillén, George Lopez, Adriana Barraza, Elpidia Carrillo, Damián Alcázar, and Raoul Max Trujillo.

Blue Beetle was one of the projects that were deemed safe after Batgirl's cancellation alongside multiple James Gunn projects. Speaking of Gunn, that particular piece of news was announced even before it was revealed that Gunn and Peter Safran would be leading DC Films as co-CEOs.

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.

Valve Will Give Away Almost Two Hundred Steam Decks at The Game Awards

It's been a big year for Valve — after its Steam Deck launched in February, Valve has finally cleared up supply chain issues and stopped requiring reservations, making the handheld PC a lot easier to get than it was at launch.

To celebrate, Valve is giving free Steam Decks away to a handful of lucky Game Awards viewers. For every minute of the Game Awards, Valve will give one 512GB Steam Deck away, adding up to nearly 200 Steam Decks.

"It's been a fun year for Steam Deck, and we've been blown away by the response," Valve wrote in a post on the Steam News Hub.

To be eligible to win a Steam Deck during this giveaway, fans in the US, Canada, UK, or EU can register. They also have to have made a purchase on Steam between November 14, 2021, and November 14, 2022, and must be in good standing and not have a limited account.

Giving away 180 Steam Decks is a far cry from early on when Valve had to use a strict queue system in order to ensure everyone who wanted a Steam Deck could get one. As the year progressed, and supply-chain issues lessened, Valve began ramping up production and delivery of Steam Decks to customers, leading to the giveaway.

The giveaway will begin on December 8 at 5 PM PST when the main Game Awards show kicks off, though hopeful Steam Deck owners must also be watching Steam's official stream of the awards show to remain eligible.

This year, God of War: Ragnarok and Elden Ring lead the Game Awards, with ten and seven nominations respectively. Find the full list of nominees here.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they've contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

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