Ahead of Tenet releasing in some regions of the world, IGN was able to attend an online Q&A session with director Christopher Nolan, producer Emma Thomas, as well as the cast and score composer. It was a rare opportunity to learn more about Tenet, which has - in the traditional Nolan way - had its secrets kept firmly in the shadows during production and marketing. We’ve finally learned a few new details, though, and so we couldn’t not share them with you. Here’s everything new that we’ve learned about Tenet. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/21/tenet-review"]

It’s a Bond-like spy thriller with a global threat

It’s long been known that Christopher Nolan has been inspired by the James Bond films, but Tenet is the first of his films that actually is a proper spy film. And, in true Bond style, it’s a movie that takes its characters to numerous places across the world. The international nature of Tenet - which involves countries like Ukraine, Mumbai, and Norway - isn’t just there as homage to 007; it actually informs the underlying threat of the narrative. “What we’re exploring in Tenet is a threat to the entire world,” says Nolan. “And I think by showing more of the world and the people of the world, you are constantly reminded of the scale of the threat. It’s not localised, it’s something that threatens all of us around the world.” That’s not to say there isn't a lighthearted side to exploring beautiful locations that may be foreign to many in the audience. The international playground element of espionage cinema is something that has enthralled Nolan since he saw The Spy Who Loved Me at the age of seven. “What I remember and what I try to retain from that experience is the feeling of possibility,” he says. “That you could jump through the screen and go anywhere in the world and see amazing things. I’ve spent a lot of my career trying to get back to that feeling and try to give that feeling to audiences.”

The time-inverted sequences were inspired by a graphic artist

Tenet’s inverted approach to time is influenced by an unlikely source. Rather than a philosopher or scientist, Nolan was actually inspired by the works of dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher. “I actually take a lot of visual inspirations from M.C. Escher,” says Nolan. “I tend to think in diagrammatic terms when I’m writing, and try and lay out directions of time and how they might fold in on each other. I cite Escher as a main inspiration on the script, actually.” Escher is famous for his mathematical lithographs, and is arguably most well known for his endless staircase; an idea that is directly featured in Inception as a component used in dream architecture. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=tenet-images&captions=true"]

The main characters are driven by faith and chaos

Tenet’s two leads, John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, may work together in the film, but they bring two very different energies to the mission. “I led with faith, and the belief in humankind and the ability for human beings to evolve,” says John David Washington of his process in bringing The Protagonist to life. “He was willing to die for that belief, that central tenet. I imagine him being recruited at an early age because he had that drive and love for people then. He uses his vulnerability as a strength and as a weapon.” Washington began with combat in order to craft his interpretation of the character. The start of “Nolan University” began with intense fight training, rather than any dialogue-based rehearsal. “I’d never worked that way before,” he says, “letting the physicality of the man dictate how I would approach it.” In opposition to Washington’s faith-led Protagonist is Robert Pattinson’s Neil, who could perhaps be described as ‘chaotic good’ in his approach. “Once I sort of realised that you can play Neil as someone who enjoys the chaotic situation he’s in, that seemed to be a touchstone for the rest of the character,” says Pattinson. “Neil is just one of those people who’s like ‘I love this, I love living in a nightmare’.” He’s also much more aware of his own situation than The Protagonist. “There are so many layers to the characters, and you have to make it a part of the character’s consciousness,” says Pattinson. “He’s strangely aware of the layers of his own character.”

The villain has “struck a devil’s bargain”

Keneth Branagh plays the film’s antagonist, Andrei Sator; a Russian oligarch who Branagh describes as having struck “a devil’s bargain.” He likens Sator’s arc to that of the legend of Faust, the German character who leads a highly successful but unsatisfying life, and so trades his soul with the devil in exchange for knowledge and pleasure. “It grants him this terrifying power, but it also curses him with this terrifying loneliness,” he explains. Quite if that loneliness makes Sator a sympathetic character remains to be seen, especially considering how Branagh describes the eventual outcome of his master plan: “He’s a man who plays fast and loose with his own soul, and the consequences for humanity are absolutely appalling.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/22/tenet-official-trailer-2"]

Christopher Nolan’s breathing is part of the soundtrack

Inception has its brahms. Dunkirk has the ticking clock. And Tenet has… erm… Christopher Nolan breathing. Yes, as part of creating Tenet’s soundscape for its original score, composer Ludwig Göransson made use of the director’s own breath. “We use some human sounds from someone breathing into a microphone very heavily,” he says. “Part of [the sounds used for the antagonist] is actually Chris’s breath that I took and manipulated, turned it around, and made it into this really uncomfortable, raspy sound.”

A real plane was crashed at a real airport

You may be aware that Syncopy, Christopher Nolan’s production company, purchased a real Boeing 747 for an explosive action sequence in Tenet. What you may not be aware of is that, as if that wasn't audacious enough, the scene itself was filmed not in an empty field or studio lot... but an actual airport. “That sequence in particular took an awful long time to prep just from a logistical standpoint,” recalls producer Emma Thomas. “We were doing something at an airport, which is a working airport, and that’s not traditionally what they do at that airport,” she laughs. [poilib element="accentDivider"] For more on Christopher Nolan's latest, check out our Tenet review and round up of the critics' thoughts, as well as the new poster and Nolan's discussion on how few visual effects shots there are in the film. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Frogwares, the developer behind The Sinking City and the Sherlock Holmes game series, has explained why The Sinking City has been removed from sale across multiple platforms, accusing publishers Bigben Interactive and Nacon of repeatedly breaching contract, withholding at least €1 million in royalties, falsely implying ownership of the IP, and more. In a lengthy open letter, a Frogwares spokesperson explained that, in 2017, the company signed a licensing agreement with Bigben (which subsequently merged with and became known as Nacon) in which the publisher would sell and commercialize The Sinking City, with Frogwares retaining the intellectual property. Frogwares has provided IGN with documents from the 2017 agreement that make clear that the developer retains ownership of the IP. That deal would see Frogwares earn a revenue share on sales of the game, with additional payments for a series of production milestones. During production, Frogwares alleges that Bigben/Nacon repeatedly paid for those production milestones around 40 days later than agreed, with formal notices for payment served by the developer on several occasions. The developer also alleges that Bigben/Nacon demanded that it be given the source code for the game and, when Frogwares didn't comply (as the terms of the agreement stated that the publisher only sell the game), stopped providing any payments for four months. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/06/25/the-sinking-city-review"] Upon the game's release in June 2019, Bigben/Nacon reportedly canceled all previously approved milestone payments. Speaking to IGN, Frogwares CEO Wael Amr said that Bigben/Nacon attempted to cancel out any royalties owed by alleging "various imaginary damages." Upon this move, Frogwares began a legal battle against Bigben/Nacon in August 2019. After the initial lawsuit began, the publisher restarted sending income reports, which Frogwares says were "incomplete and undocumented", meaning the developer couldn't correctly calculate revenue, or even see how many units had been sold. One report allegedly explained that an unnamed console manufacturer had itself not paid royalties in 5 months - but that same console manufacturer had paid royalties, during that period, directly to Frogwares for its other games. Frogwares says that Bigben/Nacon owes approximately €1 million in royalties. However, Amr adds that, "The one million is only the royalties declared by BBI / Nacon. We have questions and are suing over damages for at least €4.5 million additionally." Amr also tells IGN that, while it fully controls the Sherlock Holmes series of games, 2016's Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter remains licensed by Bigben/Nacon for another 9 months. Amr tells IGN that Frogwares has, "serious doubts over reports and royalties for this title since we found numerous mistakes over the 4 years of licensing." Alongside the alleged non-payments, Frogwares also claims that Bigben/Nacon attempted to create a perception that the game was not owned or created by the developer through various means, including:  

• Removing Frogwares' logo from the front of game boxes and store art, and listing the developer as a "Technical partner".
• Buying Sinking City and Sherlock Holmes domain names without notifying Frogwares.
• Creating a Sinking City tabletop RPG without informing Frogwares.
• Listing The Sinking City as a Nacon IP when the company went public.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=We%20only%20have%20one%20goal%3A%20helping%20to%20banish%20bad%20practices%20by%20speaking%20freely%20about%20them%2C%20instead%20of%20remaining%20subject%20to%20the%20code%20of%20silence."]In February 2020, PC game subscription service Utomik announced that it would begin to include the game in its subscription, despite Frogwares' contract with Bigben/Nacon only including sales on Xbox One, PS4, Steam, and Epic Games Store. Frogwares says this amounts to game piracy, and blocked the move. Amr tells IGN that, despite attempting to contact the publishers during this period, Bigben/Nacon hasn't replied to any of Frogwares' direct questions about any of these issues since July 2019. On April 20, Frogwares moved to terminate its contract with Bigben/Nacon. The publisher reportedly attempted to block the termination by invoking French emergency laws set up to protect businesses during the COVID-19 crisis - a move that Frogwares says triggers a Force Majeure clause in the original contract and allows it to terminate for an entirely separate reason. Frogwares says a judge upheld that termination in July of this year. That termination - and reported ongoing confusion among platform holders as to who was due the royalties on Sinking City game sales - led Frogwares to remove the game from any platform it doesn't have an express agreement with. Explaining the move, Amr tells IGN, "Platforms who signed an agreement with Frogwares only are selling the game with our permission. That includes Origin and Gamesplanet. The platforms which BBI / Nacon had temporary commercialization rights [PlayStation, Steam, more] are the ones where delisting has had to occur either by us or by the platforms themselves when they could not get clarity on who owns the game now." Many had noticed that The Sinking City had been removed (something Frogwares has acknowledged previously) but this marks the first time the developer has spoken out on why. The developer explains that it wants the game to become available on those platforms, but offers no timetable for when that could happen. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="legacyId=20051789&captions=true"] I asked Amr how the company had been affected by Bigben/Nacon's alleged non-payments: "It's impossible for such situations to not have some affect on development or morale. So much time and effort that could be spent on more productive things has gone into fighting these issues. Furthermore, we didn’t try to hide the situation from our development team so they were aware of it throughout the process. "In all honesty this has been going on for years though. The culmination was during the summer of 2019 were we were simultaneously attacked by Focus Home Interactive who delisted 9 of our store listings, cutting off a major source of our revenue and then by Nacon who refused to report and pay millions of euros in owed royalties. "But we fought back and Frogwares is quite meticulous in terms of finances and so we accumulated a strong cash autonomy over our 20 year existence. We’re surviving and will continue to try our best every time. So despite all this, we’re going to try to celebrate our 20th birthday with pride and determination and just hope we'll continue to find the support of the players with our current and next titles." As for why it's chosen to make this such a public feud after so long, Frogwares ends its letter by saying: "It is a shame that in such a creative industry there is so much energy wasted because of such practices. That’s why we decided to write this open letter. We hope that this transparency will help everyone to be aware of what is really going on behind the scenes. We only have one goal: helping to banish bad practices by speaking freely about them, instead of remaining subject to the code of silence. We know that we are not the only ones in this situation. This is our way to bring a stone to the building to make the videogame industry more ethical." IGN has contacted Nacon for comment. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Frogwares, the developer behind The Sinking City and the Sherlock Holmes game series, has explained why The Sinking City has been removed from sale across multiple platforms, accusing publishers Bigben Interactive and Nacon of repeatedly breaching contract, withholding at least €1 million in royalties, falsely implying ownership of the IP, and more. In a lengthy open letter, a Frogwares spokesperson explained that, in 2017, the company signed a licensing agreement with Bigben (which subsequently merged with and became known as Nacon) in which the publisher would sell and commercialize The Sinking City, with Frogwares retaining the intellectual property. Frogwares has provided IGN with documents from the 2017 agreement that make clear that the developer retains ownership of the IP. That deal would see Frogwares earn a revenue share on sales of the game, with additional payments for a series of production milestones. During production, Frogwares alleges that Bigben/Nacon repeatedly paid for those production milestones around 40 days later than agreed, with formal notices for payment served by the developer on several occasions. The developer also alleges that Bigben/Nacon demanded that it be given the source code for the game and, when Frogwares didn't comply (as the terms of the agreement stated that the publisher only sell the game), stopped providing any payments for four months. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/06/25/the-sinking-city-review"] Upon the game's release in June 2019, Bigben/Nacon reportedly canceled all previously approved milestone payments. Speaking to IGN, Frogwares CEO Wael Amr said that Bigben/Nacon attempted to cancel out any royalties owed by alleging "various imaginary damages." Upon this move, Frogwares began a legal battle against Bigben/Nacon in August 2019. After the initial lawsuit began, the publisher restarted sending income reports, which Frogwares says were "incomplete and undocumented", meaning the developer couldn't correctly calculate revenue, or even see how many units had been sold. One report allegedly explained that an unnamed console manufacturer had itself not paid royalties in 5 months - but that same console manufacturer had paid royalties, during that period, directly to Frogwares for its other games. Frogwares says that Bigben/Nacon owes approximately €1 million in royalties. However, Amr adds that, "The one million is only the royalties declared by BBI / Nacon. We have questions and are suing over damages for at least €4.5 million additionally." Amr also tells IGN that, while it fully controls the Sherlock Holmes series of games, 2016's Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter remains licensed by Bigben/Nacon for another 9 months. Amr tells IGN that Frogwares has, "serious doubts over reports and royalties for this title since we found numerous mistakes over the 4 years of licensing." Alongside the alleged non-payments, Frogwares also claims that Bigben/Nacon attempted to create a perception that the game was not owned or created by the developer through various means, including:  

• Removing Frogwares' logo from the front of game boxes and store art, and listing the developer as a "Technical partner".
• Buying Sinking City and Sherlock Holmes domain names without notifying Frogwares.
• Creating a Sinking City tabletop RPG without informing Frogwares.
• Listing The Sinking City as a Nacon IP when the company went public.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=We%20only%20have%20one%20goal%3A%20helping%20to%20banish%20bad%20practices%20by%20speaking%20freely%20about%20them%2C%20instead%20of%20remaining%20subject%20to%20the%20code%20of%20silence."]In February 2020, PC game subscription service Utomik announced that it would begin to include the game in its subscription, despite Frogwares' contract with Bigben/Nacon only including sales on Xbox One, PS4, Steam, and Epic Games Store. Frogwares says this amounts to game piracy, and blocked the move. Amr tells IGN that, despite attempting to contact the publishers during this period, Bigben/Nacon hasn't replied to any of Frogwares' direct questions about any of these issues since July 2019. On April 20, Frogwares moved to terminate its contract with Bigben/Nacon. The publisher reportedly attempted to block the termination by invoking French emergency laws set up to protect businesses during the COVID-19 crisis - a move that Frogwares says triggers a Force Majeure clause in the original contract and allows it to terminate for an entirely separate reason. Frogwares says a judge upheld that termination in July of this year. That termination - and reported ongoing confusion among platform holders as to who was due the royalties on Sinking City game sales - led Frogwares to remove the game from any platform it doesn't have an express agreement with. Explaining the move, Amr tells IGN, "Platforms who signed an agreement with Frogwares only are selling the game with our permission. That includes Origin and Gamesplanet. The platforms which BBI / Nacon had temporary commercialization rights [PlayStation, Steam, more] are the ones where delisting has had to occur either by us or by the platforms themselves when they could not get clarity on who owns the game now." Many had noticed that The Sinking City had been removed (something Frogwares has acknowledged previously) but this marks the first time the developer has spoken out on why. The developer explains that it wants the game to become available on those platforms, but offers no timetable for when that could happen. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="legacyId=20051789&captions=true"] I asked Amr how the company had been affected by Bigben/Nacon's alleged non-payments: "It's impossible for such situations to not have some affect on development or morale. So much time and effort that could be spent on more productive things has gone into fighting these issues. Furthermore, we didn’t try to hide the situation from our development team so they were aware of it throughout the process. "In all honesty this has been going on for years though. The culmination was during the summer of 2019 were we were simultaneously attacked by Focus Home Interactive who delisted 9 of our store listings, cutting off a major source of our revenue and then by Nacon who refused to report and pay millions of euros in owed royalties. "But we fought back and Frogwares is quite meticulous in terms of finances and so we accumulated a strong cash autonomy over our 20 year existence. We’re surviving and will continue to try our best every time. So despite all this, we’re going to try to celebrate our 20th birthday with pride and determination and just hope we'll continue to find the support of the players with our current and next titles." As for why it's chosen to make this such a public feud after so long, Frogwares ends its letter by saying: "It is a shame that in such a creative industry there is so much energy wasted because of such practices. That’s why we decided to write this open letter. We hope that this transparency will help everyone to be aware of what is really going on behind the scenes. We only have one goal: helping to banish bad practices by speaking freely about them, instead of remaining subject to the code of silence. We know that we are not the only ones in this situation. This is our way to bring a stone to the building to make the videogame industry more ethical." IGN has contacted Nacon for comment. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Update: A leaked snippet from Call of Duty: Warzone appears to confirm that Sergeant Frank Woods from Call of Duty: Black Ops will be arriving in the game as a 'Demon Dogs' Operator. According to Call of Duty Tracker, the Frank Woods Operator will be a pre-order bonus available to players who purchase the 'Ultimate Edition' of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which will also apparently give players early access to the Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War Open Beta, and provide a set of in-game cosmetics.

Sergeant Frank Woods will be joining the Demon Dogs in #ModernWarfare and #Warzone as a pre-order bonus for #BlackOpsColdWar!https://t.co/ktWxz3XWtb pic.twitter.com/mqbF8CJJ0K

— Call of Duty Tracker (@CODTracker) August 25, 2020

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Game files found in a new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare update seem to have revealed that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a direct sequel to 2010's Call of Duty: Black Ops. As spotted by COD Tracker, the game's description has been found in the datamined files following an update that arrived to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on August 24. The description notes that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is "the direct sequel to the original and fan-favorite Call of Duty: Black Ops." "Black Ops Cold War will drop fans into the depths of the Cold War’s volatile geopolitical battle of the early 1980s," reads the leaked description. "Nothing is ever as it seems in a gripping single-player Campaign, where players will come face-to-face with historical figures and hard truths, as they battle around the globe through iconic locales like East Berlin, Vietnam, Turkey, Soviet KGB headquarters and more. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/19/call-of-duty-black-ops-cold-war-teaser-trailer"] As elite operatives, you will follow the trail of a shadowy figure named Perseus who is on a mission to destabilize the global balance of power and change the course of history. Descend into the dark center of this global conspiracy alongside iconic characters Woods, Mason and Hudson and a new cast of operatives attempting to stop a plot decades in the making. Beyond the Campaign, players will bring a Cold War arsenal of weapons and equipment into the next generation of Multiplayer and Zombies experiences." As teased in the 'Know Your History' trailer, it looks like the Black Ops Cold War campaign will be grounded in history, featuring "historical figures and hard truths" while also bringing back fan favourite characters like Woods, Mason and Hudson, who will join a new cast in tracking down Perseus. The description also appears to confirm that there will be a Zombies mode present in the game and that Cold War weaponry will be brought to the next-generation of Multiplayer. Given Black Ops Cold War's ties to Call of Duty: Warzone, perhaps this is suggesting that Warzone will benefit from some of the new weapons and items introduced in this year's Call of Duty. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was officially confirmed last week, with the vibrant cover art revealed in tandem. The game is set to be fully revealed by Activision on August 26. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Update: A leaked snippet from Call of Duty: Warzone appears to confirm that Sergeant Frank Woods from Call of Duty: Black Ops will be arriving in the game as a 'Demon Dogs' Operator. According to Call of Duty Tracker, the Frank Woods Operator will be a pre-order bonus available to players who purchase the 'Ultimate Edition' of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which will also apparently give players early access to the Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War Open Beta, and provide a set of in-game cosmetics.

Sergeant Frank Woods will be joining the Demon Dogs in #ModernWarfare and #Warzone as a pre-order bonus for #BlackOpsColdWar!https://t.co/ktWxz3XWtb pic.twitter.com/mqbF8CJJ0K

— Call of Duty Tracker (@CODTracker) August 25, 2020

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Game files found in a new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare update seem to have revealed that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a direct sequel to 2010's Call of Duty: Black Ops. As spotted by COD Tracker, the game's description has been found in the datamined files following an update that arrived to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on August 24. The description notes that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is "the direct sequel to the original and fan-favorite Call of Duty: Black Ops." "Black Ops Cold War will drop fans into the depths of the Cold War’s volatile geopolitical battle of the early 1980s," reads the leaked description. "Nothing is ever as it seems in a gripping single-player Campaign, where players will come face-to-face with historical figures and hard truths, as they battle around the globe through iconic locales like East Berlin, Vietnam, Turkey, Soviet KGB headquarters and more. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/19/call-of-duty-black-ops-cold-war-teaser-trailer"] As elite operatives, you will follow the trail of a shadowy figure named Perseus who is on a mission to destabilize the global balance of power and change the course of history. Descend into the dark center of this global conspiracy alongside iconic characters Woods, Mason and Hudson and a new cast of operatives attempting to stop a plot decades in the making. Beyond the Campaign, players will bring a Cold War arsenal of weapons and equipment into the next generation of Multiplayer and Zombies experiences." As teased in the 'Know Your History' trailer, it looks like the Black Ops Cold War campaign will be grounded in history, featuring "historical figures and hard truths" while also bringing back fan favourite characters like Woods, Mason and Hudson, who will join a new cast in tracking down Perseus. The description also appears to confirm that there will be a Zombies mode present in the game and that Cold War weaponry will be brought to the next-generation of Multiplayer. Given Black Ops Cold War's ties to Call of Duty: Warzone, perhaps this is suggesting that Warzone will benefit from some of the new weapons and items introduced in this year's Call of Duty. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was officially confirmed last week, with the vibrant cover art revealed in tandem. The game is set to be fully revealed by Activision on August 26. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Microsoft has tapped top talent from Bungie and Crystal Dynamics to join its mysterious 'AAAA' studio, The Initiative. Among the 16 new hires revealed on LinkedIn by studio head Darrell Gallagher, we can see that Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Marvel's Avengers director Remi Lacoste has made the jump to The Initiative to work as an Experiental Director. Destiny 2 narrative lead Christine Thompson has also joined the studio in a lead writer position. We're yet to learn what the studio is working on, with our latest clue arriving from Xbox head Phil Spencer, who revealed The Initiative is "challenging themselves to do new things (and old things) in new ways,", whatever that means. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/25/xbox-series-x-official-optimized-for-xbox-series-x-trailer"] Microsoft revealed it had founded The Initiative in Santa Monica as part of its E3 2018 conference, where it announced a slew of acquisitions. The studio is being led by Darrell Gallagher, who previously worked at Rockstar Games, Crystal Dynamics and later Activision, overseeing the development of games like GTA IV, Tomb Raider and Destiny 2. At the time, Spencer touted Gallagher's abilities, calling him a "visionary storyteller." According to Santa Monica job listings found on the Microsoft website later that year, the studio was calling for experience in "shipping high quality titles at AAAA standards" and a "knowledge and understanding of the process of building new IP." The studio went on to hire God of War lead producer Brian Westergaard and Christian Cantamessa, who was the lead writer on Red Dead Redemption. The 'AAAA' studio then picked up Sunset Overdrive director Drew Murray. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Microsoft has tapped top talent from Bungie and Crystal Dynamics to join its mysterious 'AAAA' studio, The Initiative. Among the 16 new hires revealed on LinkedIn by studio head Darrell Gallagher, we can see that Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Marvel's Avengers director Remi Lacoste has made the jump to The Initiative to work as an Experiental Director. Destiny 2 narrative lead Christine Thompson has also joined the studio in a lead writer position. We're yet to learn what the studio is working on, with our latest clue arriving from Xbox head Phil Spencer, who revealed The Initiative is "challenging themselves to do new things (and old things) in new ways,", whatever that means. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/25/xbox-series-x-official-optimized-for-xbox-series-x-trailer"] Microsoft revealed it had founded The Initiative in Santa Monica as part of its E3 2018 conference, where it announced a slew of acquisitions. The studio is being led by Darrell Gallagher, who previously worked at Rockstar Games, Crystal Dynamics and later Activision, overseeing the development of games like GTA IV, Tomb Raider and Destiny 2. At the time, Spencer touted Gallagher's abilities, calling him a "visionary storyteller." According to Santa Monica job listings found on the Microsoft website later that year, the studio was calling for experience in "shipping high quality titles at AAAA standards" and a "knowledge and understanding of the process of building new IP." The studio went on to hire God of War lead producer Brian Westergaard and Christian Cantamessa, who was the lead writer on Red Dead Redemption. The 'AAAA' studio then picked up Sunset Overdrive director Drew Murray. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Apple has taken an early victory in its legal battle with Epic Games, as the court ruled it doesn't have to "immediately reinstate" Fortnite on its App Store. As reported by Bloomberg, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers made the ruling late Monday night, but it wasn't a total loss for Epic Games as she also granted Epic's request for "a temporary order blocking Apple from limiting the game developer's ability to provide Unreal Engine, key graphics technology, for other apps." Rogers was very clear in saying that the case isn't a "slam dunk" for either Apple or Epic Games, and that these temporary ruling will not "dictate the final outcome of the litigation." There will be another hearing on September 28 to discuss a "longer-term solution." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/13/apple-removes-fortnite-from-ios-app-store"] This legal battle between Apple and Epic Games began when Epic altered the price of Fortnite V-Bucks and implemented a new direct payment system that would get around Apple and Google's "exorbitant" app store fees. Shortly after, Fortnite was removed from both the Apple App Store and Google Play store, and Epic followed those moves by filing a complaint against both companies. Microsoft filed a statement in support of Epic, saying that "ensuring that Epic has access to the latest Apple technology is the right thing for gamer developers & gamers," as the Unreal Engine is used by many developers, Microsoft included. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=games-that-came-back-from-the-brink-of-disaster&captions=true"] This decision by the courts is an unfortunate one for Fortnite players on iOS devices, as Fortnite's Chapter 2, Season 4 will launch on August 27 and will lock out those iPhone and iPad players who won't be able to update the game. [poilib element="accentDivider"] 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.