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UPDATE: The Ash White (Red & Blue) special edition Pokémon Snap printer is out of stock at Amazon, but you can still order one. Amazon will then email you when it ships. So if you really want to get your hands on this cool little device, you can, it's just a matter of when. The special edition bundle is not yet available, but we're keeping our eyes on the page. With the upcoming release of New Pokémon Snap, and the loss of Blockbuster Video's dedicated Pokémon Snap Stations to print your grainy captures, it seemed like there was no way to get the Pokémon from your snaps and into your hands as physical photos. Thankfully Fujifilm teamed up with Nintendo to create an app specifically designed for use with the Fujifilm Instax Mini Link line of portable smartphone cameras and your Nintendo Switch. That means every budding Henri-Cartier Bresson out there can now print off their own decisive moments from New Pokémon Snap using their smartphone, their Switch, and one of the Instax Mini Link printers. There's a special edition scheduled to release with the game in "Ash White (Red&Blue)" that isn't available yet at Amazon, but rest assured, I will update this article as soon as I can when it does become available. In fact, the Fujifilm Instax Mini Link is sold out pretty much everywhere for the time being, most likely because everyone is super pumped to make Pokémon stickers come Friday.

Hitman developer IO Interactive is reportedly working on a dragon-themed fantasy game, potentially as an Xbox exclusive. First reported by Windows Central, the rumour suggests that IO is partnering with Xbox Game Studios on a brand new fantasy-themed game that involves dragons in some capacity. Subsequently, Eurogamer said its sources have corroborated that information, adding that the game will be AAA in scope. Both reports mention that the game is in early development, and years away from release. IO's unannounced third project has been mentioned before, with CEO Hakan Abrak telling IGN, " I should mention we're working on something else, as well. Something completely new...

The FIFA and Football Manager teams have joined a social media boycott being held across huge swathes of the footballing world in protest against racist abuse and other hate speech, and the lack of action being taken by platforms it's hosted on. From Friday, April 30 until Monday May 3, the entire English Football League will halt any posts on social media. The boycott is in protest against abuse, and social media companies' inaction on preventing that abuse. Both EA Sports and Sports Interactive have today joined the boycott. EA Sports wrote: "We stand strong with English football in the fight against racism, online hate, and any form of discrimination."

Football is for everyone. Our social channels will be silent from 15:00 (UK) on Fri. April 30 until 23:59 (UK) on Mon. May 3.

No #TopBinsLive Community stream this week. pic.twitter.com/KN0i0T3XMD — EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) April 30, 2021

Sports Interactive wrote, "Today, we join the EFL and English football in a united stand against online abuse. Social media companies must do more to #StopOnlineAbuse. Join us and switch off too, as we collectively demand change." The boycott follows repeated racist and discriminatory hate speech used towards football players, and the boycott aims to put pressure on social media platforms to do more to clamp down on abuse.

Today, we join the EFL and English football in a united stand against online abuse.

Update: Activision Blizzard has shared a statement with IGN denying that the company had undergone layoffs. "There has not been a reduction in personnel recently at the studio," said a company spokesperson. "The development team is operating fully and has a number of full-time job openings at this time.  The studio is excited to continue supporting Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, and more recently provide additional development support to Call of Duty: Warzone.” IGN has reached out to Nicholas Kole for more detail on his statement about employees being let go. Original Story: Toys for Bob, the developer of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, has been assigned to support development on Call of Duty: Warzone – and seems to have suffered lay-offs as a result. The studio, which was acquired by Activision in 2005, announced the news on Twitter, saying, "Toys for Bob is proud to support development for Season 3 of Call of Duty #Warzone, and look forward to more to come." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/01/crash-bandicoot-4-its-about-time-review"] It's a somewhat surprising move for a studio traditionally focused on games for younger audiences and, as Eurogamer points out, appears to have come with a number of staff exits, both voluntary and involuntary. Character designer Nicholas Kole explained that he's left the studio, adding that "everyone I interfaced with and worked along was let go".

Here's how many Pokemon there are in New Pokemon Snap, with a complete Pokemon list!

Learn how to find and unlock the Atropian Blade and Blade Balancer artifact in order to destroy all mysterious energy barriers in Returnal.

Tips on taking the best photos with a guide on how scoring works and more in New Pokemon Snap.

From using Alt-Fire mode, mastering the art of dashing, or even saving during the middle of a great run, IGN has you covered in our complete Tips and Tricks guide to surviving the planet of Atropos in Returnal.

New Pokémon Snap is out today, and while we've gotten some good looks at most of the game's main characters and a number of its Pokémon, The Pokémon Company has remained rather precious about a major cameo that happens early in the game.

It's in the first couple of hours, but if you don't want to be spoiled at all, don't read on.

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It's the appearance of Todd Snap.

If you're not familiar with Mr. Snap, he's the main protagonist from the original Pokémon Snap, who also makes a few appearances in the Pokémon anime and manga. Back in the original Pokémon Snap days, Todd was a goofy kid with a big camera who Professor Oak hired to take photos of wild Pokémon. Over the course of the game, he discovered mysterious "Pokémon Signs" that Professor Oak somehow connected to constellations in the night sky, leading him to send Todd to space (???) to take photos of Mew.

In New Pokémon Snap, those Mew photos have launched a promising career for Todd, and now he's a world-famous photographer. He's also an adult now, with marginally better hair and far better fashion sense than he had as a kid in those giant cargo shorts.

New Pokémon Snap is out now, and chock full of impressive, exciting, cute, and funny Pokémon reveals. However, one of its more impressive moments is so appropriately enormous that it slows the Pokémon down noticeably for a few moments while it tries to settle into place. I am talking here of Wailord: the biggest of all Pokémon, given appropriately huge treatment in New Pokémon Snap's Reef level. Warning: If you don't want to be spoiled on any of the cool Pokémon reveals in New Pokémon Snap, you probably shouldn't watch the video below or read on. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/30/new-pokemon-snaps-wailord-appearance-is-hugeand-slow"] Wailord's appearance midway through the Reef is an incredible surprise when it first happens, with the absolutely gigantic Pokémon slowly breaching the surface of the ocean and splashing water up into the player's camera. On later versions of the level, once the player has more experience visiting the Reef, more Wailord will appear in the distance shortly after with similar splashes and reactions, enabling you to get even cooler photos. It's a truly wow-worthy moment, dampened somewhat by the fact that Wailord's enormous size combined with the water effects going on as it breaches slows the Pokémon's framerate for a few moments until he's settled in on the surface. It's less pronounced in the clip above, which is taken on Research Level 2 of the Reef -- other appearances can appear a bit slower depending on how close you are to the Wailord when it breaches. To be clear, New Pokemon Snap largely runs just fine for the most part, and even in this particular moment everything around the Wailord still seems to be doing okay. But you can see the Wailord struggle to emerge in the moment and snap into place in a spot too, just due to the sheer size of its animation. Honestly? The fact that Wailord is so big it momentarily struggles to get out of the water is kinda cool.

New Pokémon Snap actually has a number of twists on how it handles "Legendary" Pokémon. For one, it features a number of "boss battles" with Illumina Pokémon — giant Pokémon that glow when exposed to a special kind of flower unique to the Lental Region. You've likely already seen one of these Pokémon, Meganium, in the trailers. But there's far more to New Pokémon Snap's treatment of legendaries than initially meets the eye, and while the choice of what Pokémon to feature is rather surprising if you're familiar with how Pokémon normally handles legendaries, it's also very, very cool. Warning: What follows below this video is major spoilers for the end of New Pokémon Snap. Scroll past at your own risk. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/28/new-pokemon-snap-review"] Aside from Meganium, there are a number of other Pokémon that also get the Illumina treatment. These include Milotic, Steelix, Volcarona, and Wishiwashi. All of these Illumina encounters take place on special Illumina courses, where the Illumina Pokémon is thrown into the spotlight similar to how Mew was the sole focus of Pokémon Snap's Rainbow Cloud course. Though other Pokémon can and do appear in these stages, their appearances are incidental to the Illumina Pokémon's. Your goal is to get the coolest shots possible of the big, glowing creature, and it will often require careful timing and clever puzzle-solving to get them. Your encounters with these Illumina Pokémon all eventually lead to a special encounter with a legendary Illumina Pokémon, and this is where New Pokémon Snap really surprised me.

Need a change of pace for your ballplayer ? Check out this MLB The Show 21 guide.

Get your weapon ready for these new monsters in Monster Hunter Rise.

Welcooome to Nintendo Voice Chat! After two decades, Pokemon Snap is finally getting a sequel with New Pokemon Snap on Nintendo Switch. Join host Casey DeFreitas, reviewer Rebekah Valentine, Pokemaniac Miranda Sanchez, and bow tie-wearing Tom Marks as they discuss the surprise sequel. Plus, hear about Super Mario Party's online multiplayer update, new content in Monster Hunter Rise, and a lot more. Timecodes:

• 00:00:00 Welcome! New Pokemon Snap!
• 00:26:18 Super Mario Party's surprise update
• 00:39:45 More news!
• 00:59:45 What we're playing
• 01:02:58 Question Block

NVC is available on your preferred platform!

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You can also Download NVC 558 Directly Here

You can listen to NVC on your preferred platform every Thursday at 3pm PT/6pm ET. Have a question for Question Block? Write to us at nvc@ign.com and we may pick your question! Also, make sure to join the Nintendo Voice Chat Podcast Forums on Facebook. We're all pretty active there and often pull Question Block questions and comments straight from the community.

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We got a fresh look at Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart's gameplay during today's PlayStation State of Play stream, with Insomniac releasing 15 minutes of commentary featuring a glimpse at its traversal mechanics, boss fights, and of course, Rivet. The presentation gave us a glimpse of what it's like to play as the brand new Lombax, who finally received a name earlier this week. It features footage of Rivet battling bug enemies with an energy pistol, with Clank strapped to her back. At one point she hops into a dimensional pocket, where she rides a Speetle across crates and ramps. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/29/ratchet-clank-rift-apart-gameplay-overview"] Traversal will be a big point of emphasis in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Insomniac says. Apart from riding Speetles, it will be possible to evade, wall run, and dash. The traversal drew comparisons to Sunset Overdrive on Twitter, another Insomniac joint released at the beginning of the previous generation. As previously revealed, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will also take advantage of PS5's complete feature set. That includes taking advantage of the DualSense's haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, as well as the SSD. In the course of a boss battle against a Nefarious Juggernaut, Ratchet beams to not just another arena, but another world — a moment made possible by the PS5's SSD hard drive. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=ratchet-clank-rift-apart-state-of-play-screenshots&captions=true"] Beyond that, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will feature special armor, pocket dimensions to explore, a "slew" of accessibility features, open areas to explore, and of course, a photo mode.

InnerSloth's Among Us will finally arrive on PS5 and PS4 in 2021 with an exclusive Ratchet & Clank skin, hat, and pet. Announced during Sony's latest State of Play, PlayStation owners will soon be able to backstab their friends and become the ultimate imposter. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/29/among-us-playstation-4-and-playstation-5-announcement-trailer"] Among Us on PS4 and PS5 will have crossplay with all other platforms and will feature everything from the other versions, including the brand new Airship map. Among Us is currently available on PC, mobile devices, Nintendo Switch and via Xbox Game Pass for PC. It will also be released on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One later this year. InnerSloth recently discussed why updates, new maps, and new platforms have taken so long, and it all boils down to the team only being around five people. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/26/among-us-airship-trailer"] The studio wants to grow responsibly and focus on caring for its team members instead of becoming too big before it can handle it properly. This means it takes a bit longer to test everything, and to make sure it all works on all the platforms Among Us is on and will be on. For more on Among Us, check out every new task in The Airship Map and the Fall Guys costumes that have mysterious, "unique" features. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story?

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is set to release exclusively for PlayStation 5 on June 11. Like its predecessor, Rift Apart is a third-person shooter developed by Insomniac Games, featuring lots of whacky weaponry. It's also meant to showcase many of the PS5's flagship features. You can preorder a copy for yourself right now (see it at Amazon, or Amazon UK). You can go with the standard edition or, if you want some downloadable extras, pick up digital deluxe edition. Below, you'll find full details on what comes in each edition, as well as what preorder bonuses you can expect.

Returnal launches tomorrow exclusively on PlayStation 5 and Housemarque co-founder and CEO, Ilari Kuittinen, has written a heartfelt blog post thanking Sony for its support on the game. The blog post, which was published on Housemarque's site, details the struggles of getting to tomorrow's launch day for Returnal, a game with a history that spans back six years to the initial concept's beginning. After Nex Machina, which Kuittinen writes was one of the best reviewed new games of 2017 on Metacritic, had "disappointing" sales numbers, he published the studio's now infamous #arcadeisdead post. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/29/returnal-review"] This post detailed that the studio was "ending (its) long standing commitment to the arcade genre," but Kuittinen says that didn't mean the team was giving up on its "deep commitment to fast-twitch action gameplay." In steps Returnal, which Kuittinen says is the team's attempt to translate its "arcade 2D gameplay expertise into a [third-person] action game." "It was still very uncertain if we'd be able to move past the prototype phase and convince Sony to keep on funding a new, unproved concept [Returnal]," Kuittinen wrote. "The concept was ridiculously ambitious and looking back, we as a company really weren't totally appreciating the challenge ahead of us and how hard it could be to tackle it." "In the age when game publishers are taking less and less creative risks, we are truly thankful to our publishing partner Sony, who has given us an opportunity to work on something very risky and has given fantastic support during the whole project.

Returnal is a very good game. Our review, which went up earlier today, called its moment-to-moment gameplay "sublime." It's currently sitting at 86 on Metacritic, which isn't too shabby for a brand new series. But as reviewer Mitchell Saltzman also noted, it has one particular sticking point — its runs are very long, and there's no way to save in the middle of them. "That saps the desire to immediately return and try again after a failure, though not enough to grind it to a halt," Saltzman writes.

I am VERY excited for Returnal but reading that the average run can last 90+ minutes and there is no way to save midway (aside from Rest Mode) makes me really wish that PS5 had Xbox's Quick Resume feature.

May is right around the corner and with that comes the beginning of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Also known as AAPI Heritage Month, this nationwide event is a month-long commemoration of the culture, history, and achievements of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. In an effort to support the AAPI community and take action against the rise in xenophobic crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, IGN is joining forces with Stop AAPI Hate and hosting a charity stream where we’ll be playing Fall Guys and raising funds for an incredibly important cause alongside (55!) of our friends.

How to Watch the IGN x Stop AAPI Hate Charity Stream

The IGN x Stop AAPI Hate charity stream will take place on May 6 and start at 7pm PDT/ 10pm EDT. If you’re watching from the UK or Australia, that’s May 7 at 3am BST/ 12pm AEST. You can watch this charity stream (and most other charity streams we host) on nearly all of our platforms, including here, the homepage of IGN.com, and on many of our social channels.

This week in GTA Online, players can score several freebies, double rewards in Bunker Series Adversary Modes and Bunker Sell Missions, and much more.

Update 04/29/2021: After it leaked last month, Disney has officially confirmed that Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will receive a free next-gen upgrade for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, which will arrive this summer. On StarWars.com, a small update explains that the upgrade will bring "a number of technical improvements" to the game on next-gen consoles. More details are coming soon, apparently. As part of the announcement, the game received a 70% discount on its standard and deluxe editons for PS4, Xbox One, Origin and Steam – so you can buy it cheap now and get your free upgrade this summer, if you need to. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/15/star-wars-jedi-fallen-order-review"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order could be getting a native next-gen console release, after the German ratings board listed new PS5 and Xbox versions. As reported by Gematsu, USK, the German video game classification system, has rated Fallen Order on PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Xbox. These are new listings alongside the existing last-gen ratings, and suggest that a full, native next-gen upgrade of the game could be on the way. As you'd expect, those age ratings haven't changed. The Xbox classification doesn't mention a specific console, but given that there's already a classification for the Xbox One version of the game, it's thought that this relates to the Series S and X family of consoles.

A GDC survey of over 3000 games industry professionals revealed that game delays have gotten worse as the pandemic progressed, but many game studios have also grown in tandem. The Game Developers Conference 2021 State of the Industry Survey notes that 44% of the developers it spoke to said they had a game delayed during the pandemic. This is up on last summer's survey, which reported that 33% (or a third of all game developers) had delayed a game due to the impact of COVID-19. While many of those delays will be internal, we've seen a large numbe rof games publicly shift their dates already this year – check out every game delay announced in 2021 so far. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/12/halo-infinites-delay-is-the-right-movebut-a-painful-one"] Yet at the same time, almost half of game studios have also grown considerably. 47% of studios surveyed said that they had expanded their staff over the past year, and 66% said that productivity and creativity had stayed the same or even increased. This suggests studios are starting to adapt to working from home - 41% of those who responded to last year's survey said that productivity had been damaged by the move to remote working conditions. You can view the results of the full survey here, which is available as a free download. In the same survey, it was revealed that the PS5 is the most popular console to develop for, while PC remains the most popular platform for developers overall.

Microsoft has announced that Halo Infinite will support multiplayer cross-play and cross-progression across PC (on Microsoft Store and Steam), Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Announced on Xbox Wire, the move is being pitched by Microsoft as a way of "building communities around games, not devices", and will see customisation and game progress follow you across all platforms, as well as let you play with anyone on any available platform. As previously confirmed, multiplayer in Halo Infinite will be free-to-play. Microsoft also revealed that the game will come with some popular PC features, including ultrawide and super ultrawide screen support, triple keybinds, advanced graphics options, and more. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/you-can-knock-enemies-off-the-halo-ring-in-halo-infinite"] It's another move from Microsoft that shows its interest in getting Xbox games onto multiple devices, with Phil Spencer recently going so far as to say console tribalism is “one of the worst things about” the video game industry. Developer 343 is clearly taking a cross-platform version of Halo Infinite seriously, with an engineer recently explaining how the game is being optimised for multiple platforms.

On this week's episode of Podcast Beyond!, IGN's weekly PlayStation show covering the biggest PS5 and PS4 games and news, host Jonathon Dornbush is joined by Mark Medina and Mitchell Saltzman to discuss Housemarque's PS5 exclusive Returnal. We discuss why Returnal is such a great PS5 exclusive and shows off what the console can do, from the included haptics and 3D audio functionality to fast loading and impressive gameplay. And of course, for more Returnal, be sure to check out Mitchell's Returnal review on IGN for his full thoughts. The conversation stays spoiler-free, as we answer viewer and listener questions about Returnal's difficulty, its arcade roots, just how big of an experience it actually is, and much more. Watch the new episode above! [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-ps5-games&captions=true"]

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Fast and frantic action, a dazzling display of thousands of bullets in a multitude of shapes and sizes, and glorious, glorious particle effects. These hallmarks are what Housemarque games are all about, and Returnal certainly checks all of those boxes. But it’s also their most ambitious effort yet: a PS5-exclusive third-person shooter with an incredible sense of exploration and discovery, rich atmosphere on par with Dead Space or Metroid Prime, and shootouts that remain fresh and rewarding throughout the multiple playthroughs needed to beat its roguelike campaign and unlock the secrets that remain beyond the credits. A good run takes a bit too long for something you have to complete in one sitting, but the reward for making that commitment is more than worthwhile.

Returnal tells the story of Selene Vassos after she crash-lands on an alien planet called Atropos. As she emerges from her ship and tries to locate the origin of a mysterious signal, things start to get very weird and time-loopy very quickly. Of course, this all serves to contextualize the fact that this is a roguelike and built on the idea of repeated runs through the same environments, but it’s also a clever storytelling device. Selene is able to find logs left by her former selves, which slowly starts to peel back the layers of Returnal’s central questions. Housemarque even goes a step further by incorporating a number of surreal and chilling PT-esque first-person segments where Selene must explore her memories and nightmares.

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A new report from Game Developer Conference (GDC) has suggested that the PS5 is the most popular console to develop for, while PC remains the most popular platform with developers overall. GDC’s 2021 State of the Game Industry report is based on a survey of over 3,000 games industry professionals. Of the people polled, 44% said they were most interested in the PlayStation 5 from a developer perspective. That positions it as the most popular console in the survey, ahead of the Nintendo Switch (38%), the Xbox Series X|S (30%). It's also ahead of VR platforms (27%), too. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/06/playstation-5-review"] While developer interest in the PS5 is significantly higher than the Xbox Series X among those polled, all consoles paled in comparison to the PC, which commands 58% of the vote. GDC's 2020 survey also saw the PC lead the platform pack, which is overall unsurprising considering the continued player interest in PC gaming and the open development nature of the platform. As for the platforms where developer interest is barely there, just 4% said they were interested in PlayStation Now, and only 6% expressed interest for Google Stadia. Xbox’s Project xCloud came in a little higher at 8%, but - at least as this survey goes - it appears that developer appetite for video game streaming is far from high. GDC is usually a major live event of the year, but due to COVID-19 it has been an all-digital event for two years running.

Monster Hunter World: The Board Game has seen massive success on Kickstarter, and developer Steamforged Games is adding a limited edition Poogie miniature for some Kickstarter backers to celebrate.

IGN can exclusively reveal that a Kickstarter-exclusive, limited-edition figure of Poogie – the well-known little pig present throughout Monster Hunter’s history – will be included in rewards for all Core Pledge and All-In Pledge backers of Monster Hunter World: The Board Game “to say thanks to those who’ve backed the project so it can come to life,” said Charlotte Cloud, Steamforged Games' PR manager.

See an exclusive image of the Poogie miniature and other beautiful, exclusive renders of Monster Hunter World: The Board Game figures in the slideshow below! 

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The official tabletop adaptation of Capcom’s Monster Hunter: World is being crowdfunded on Kickstarter until Friday, April 30 with a goal of $208,120, which was met in just ten minutes. Monster Hunter World: The Board Game currently has over $4 million pledged from more than 16,000 backers at time of writing.

Monster Hunter World: The Board Game is a cooperative arena combat board game with an open world, and includes figures for different hunters wielding a variety of weapons from Bow to Great Sword, as well as figures and stats for a variety of well-known monsters straight from the video game. You can download a work-in-progress version of Monster Hunter World: The Board Game’s ruleset here.

Outer Wilds, the magnificent time-looping adventure game, could be getting DLC titled Echoes of the Eye if a Steam database entry is anything to go by. As pointed out by Simon Carless on Twitter, SteamDB has scraped an entry for 'Outer Wilds - Echoes of the Eye', which is listed with Outer Wilds as a 'parent' entry. That points to this being DLC or an expansion, rather than a full sequel. The entry was last updated today, April 29, meaning there's a chance we'll see a formal reveal soon. Although not a formal confirmation, both publisher Annapurna Interactive and developer Mobius Digital have playfully responded to Carless' tweet:

https://t.co/p3ZanK7Pp9

Lost Soul Aside, the gorgeous 'fast-action' game first announced in 2016, is coming to PlayStation 5. The Lost Soul Aside Twitter account announced the new platform, which joins the game's previously announced PC and PS4 releases. Earlier this week we revealed 17 minutes of gameplay from Lost Soul Aside, which features the main character taking part in intense, Devil May Cry-esque brawls. We first heard of Lost Soul Aside all the way back in 2016. At the time, it was revealed to be in development for PC via Unreal Engine 4, and was being made by just one person, Yang Bing. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/27/lost-soul-aside-17-minutes-of-gameplay"] However, it looks like the team has grown beyond just one developer in the years since its announcement, as the UltiZero Games website features a trio of open positions. The studio is looking for a Level Designer, an Animation Designer and a Senior 3D Character Modeller at the moment.

Jeff Goldblum is joining the voice cast of the popular Dungeons & Dragons podcast Dark Dice for their upcoming season. Goldblum has worn several different hats throughout his acting career, having played everything from Jurassic Park's world-famous mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm to Thor: Ragnarok's Grandmaster and ruler of Sakaar, plus so much more, but his next big project will see him embark on an entirely new adventure, voicing the elven sorcerer Balmur on the second season of the D&D podcast Dark Dice. Balmur will make his debut on May 12, when the next season of the award-winning podcast launches. He will be featured as one of the five player-characters in the improvised audio drama, where the outcome of the story is determined by the fated rolling of dice. As part of the quest, Goldblum's team will be stalked by a deceptive being known as The Silent One who must be identified before it's too late. [caption id="attachment_2507074" align="alignnone" width="534"] Image credit: Fool and Scholar Productions[/caption] Akin to an audio movie, the role-playing podcast features immersive soundscapes, a diverse international cast, and an original soundtrack featuring an orchestra, over thirty medieval instruments, and a live choir singing in Infernal, Icelandic, and Elvish.

According to a new deposition made public as part of Epic's case against Apple, it has been revealed that Epic is the one holding back Fortnite from becoming available on Xbox Cloud Gaming as it sees that service as competition. As reported by The Verge, Epic's vice president of business development Joe Kreiner was asked why Fortnite isn't yet available on Xbox Cloud Gaming, which was previously known as Project xCloud. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/27/top-10-battle-royales"] Kreiner responded and said, "we viewed Microsoft's efforts with xCloud to be competitive with our PC offerings." The court documents look to also include more of Kreiner's explanation of Epic's decision to block Fortnite from the service, but that part of the questioning has been redacted. Fortnite is free-to-play on Xbox consoles, but the only way to currently play the game on an iPhone is via Nvidia's GeForce Now cloud gaming service. Epic partnered with Nvidia to make this happen, and ensured that "all of the revenue from the original game’s purchase or any in-app purchases goes back to Epic rather than Nvidia." Microsoft currently doesn't allow for rival game stores to be on Xbox or Xbox Cloud Gaming, and all transactions would go through Microsoft.

After more than 500 days, Google Stadia, the game streaming platform that is owned by the creator of the gold standard of search engines, is finally getting a search bar. As detailed in the latest Stadia update, the team confirmed that the search bar on Stadia for Web is rolling out now to all players this week. There will also be a new updated UI along with better library sorting that will let players keep track of their purchased, free, and Pro games. The Stadia team also shared work-in-progess screenshots of upcoming features, including an Activity Feed that will show off your best video captures, help friends find your game states with State Share, and explore content from other players. Players will also soon be able to access Stadia directly through an Android web browser rather than only through the Stadia app.

Sony has announced that a new State of Play will be airing on April 29, 2021 that will give us a brand new look at PS5's Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and updates on two upcoming indie games. IGN is carrying the stream and, as usual, this watch guide will provide you with everything you need to know to watch the show, including when it starts, a list of places you can watch it with us, and what you can expect to see at the show. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/ratchet-clank-rift-apart-gameplay-trailer"]

PlayStation State of Play Start Time

The upcoming State of Play takes place on Thursday, April 29, and will start at 2pm PT, 5pm ET, 10pm BST. If you’re tuning in from Australia, that translates to Friday, April 30 at 7am AEST. It’s expected to contain "more than 15 minutes of fresh gameplay" for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and updates on two upcoming indie games.

Where to Watch the PlayStation State of Play (April 2021)

If you’re interested in watching the upcoming State of Play, we’ll be hosting the stream here and across our many channels on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, and more.

NES Tetris players are using a new technique called Rolling to set new world records by achieving button presses of over 20 times per second. YouTuber aGameScout detailed this new up-and-coming playstyle that is taking the Tetris community by storm. Prior to this, DAS and Hypertapping were the two standards for Tetris pros, but Rolling allows for a high amount of button presses per second without the "superhuman finger speeds" needed for Hypertapping, modified controllers, or any gloves - which also makes it is perfectly legal for tournament play. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2016/05/23/the-top-7-tetris-blocks"] This technique, which is also called Flyheccing, was popularized by Hector "Fly" Rodriguez, who used Rolling on arcade cabinets to achieve higher speeds on Track and Field. However, the buttons on arcade cabinets are much larger than an NES controller, making it hard for it to translate to Tetris on Nintendo's first console, up until now. Cheez_Fish finally discovered a way to make it work on the NES after a viewer thought he was rolling his hands due to the slow framerate of his webcam. He took that to heart and watched a YouTube tutorial on button mashing where a player was getting extra taps by pushing the controller into the finger over the controller from the other side. [caption id="attachment_2506943" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Image Credit: aGameScout on YouTube[/caption] You can the Rolling technique here, as it is easier to grasp when watching it in action.

Returnal is set to release exclusively for PS5 on April 30 (see it at Best Buy). You don't have to wait until then to lock in a copy for yourself - assuming you were lucky enough to buy a PlayStation 5. It's available in two editions, and you can preorder it right now at a variety of retailers. Returnal is a third-person shooter that kicks off when an astronaut named Selene crash lands on a mysterious planet that's home to spooky, ferocious alien creatures. When these monstrosities inevitably kill her, she wakes up again right before crashing on the same planet - only now the surroundings have changed. It's effectively a terrifying version of Groundhog Day, with procedurally generated environments, a full story, and new weapons and items available each run.

The Xbox compatibility team delivers again by boosting a ton of fairly recent EA games -- including Battlefield V and Titanfall 2 -- up to 120fps on Xbox Series X. Plus: Respawn incubates a new game, It Takes Two gets off to a well-deserved great start, we debate the effect of Sony delisting Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store on the game's Xbox sales, and more! (Note: this episode was recorded prior to Microsoft's Q3 earnings call.) Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our new YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 download of this week's episode. For more awesome content, check out the latest episode of IGN Unfiltered, featuring an interview with IO Interactive CEO and co-owner Hakan Abrak, who talks candidly about reviving Hitman, leaving Square Enix and almost running out of money, starting the studio's new James Bond 007 project, and much more: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/06/hitman-studio-boss-talks-hitmans-future-the-new-james-bond-game-and-more-ign-unfiltered-57"] Oh, and feel free to leave us a video Loot Box question on Twitter by tagging Ryan at the handle below! For more next-gen coverage, make sure to check out our Xbox Series X review, our Xbox Series S review, and our PS5 review. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.

Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach has been delayed a second time into late 2021, but its creator has released a free spin-off game in the style of Streets of Rage as an apology. In a Reddit post today, developer Scott Cawthon explained that the second delay (following its initial move from end of 2020 to early 2021) was due to the game's scope continuing to get bigger and bigger as work on it progressed. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/16/five-nights-at-freddys-security-breach-reveal-trailer"] "As you all know, Security Breach was originally planned to come out at the end of 2020, but as we kept working on it and kept adding to it, it just kept getting bigger and bigger and needed more time to finish," Cawthon said. "And now, again, I've made the decision to put more time and money into it to make sure it's finished properly, and that means a late 2021 release instead of an early 2021 release like I had originally wanted. It will be worth it!" As an apology, Cawthon has released a new free game entitled Security Breach: Fury's Rage on Game Jolt. Fury's Rage is a beat-em-up featuring Five Nights at Freddy's characters looking quite a bit beefier than normal, and has you walking through city streets, and well, beating up various enemies. Meanwhile, we're still a bit in the dark as to details about Security Breach itself, which was announced for PS5, PS4, and PC back in September 2020 and got a new trailer at Sony's State of Play this past February. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN.

Thanks to an explosion of popularity, battle royales have flooded the market in the past few years and become one of the most talked-about genres today. Of course, one of their marquee features generally involves tossing dozens of players into a map to scavenge for resources, weapons, and gear, while trying to outlast the rest and become the last one standing.

While this gameplay is still at the core of most battle royales, many have added additional features to spice things up, and the best of the best have earned a spot on this list.

To lay some ground rules: we’re only looking at modern battle royales, or games that are currently still available to play. So, while they were good during their time, we won’t be featuring games like H1Z1 or The Culling. We’re also not including any games that feature a smaller battle royale mode as a side dish to its main offerings like Fallout 76’s Nuclear Winter mode or Civilization VI’s Red Death mode.

So, without further ado, let’s commence the battle royale of battle royales in our ranking of the top 10 battle royales.

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When we were first introduced to Yuffie in Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade's reveal, she was wearing an adorable moogle hood. According to FF7 Remake co-director Motomu Toriyama, this was inspired by Dirge of Cerberus and is used by Yuffie on covert missions, even if it's not very subtle. Square Enix recently sat down with Toriyama-san and his co-director Naoki Hamaguchi to talk more about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Episode Intermission, Yuffie, the aforementioned moogle suit, and more. PS2's Vincent Valentine-focused Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII also featured Yuffie, and she made her grand entrance in a similar moogle outfit. According to Toriyama-san, this was brought forward to this new episode, and shows more of Yuffie's personality. "Actually, the moogle hood draws its reference from the time it was used in [Dirge of Cerberus] — and Yuffie wears it whenever she is on a covert mission." Toriyama-san said. "She might think she’s perfectly disguised, but it actually makes her stand out even more in a metropolis like Midgar. I feel that’s just very ‘her’, and probably why I like it so much!" Dirge of Cerberus is a notorious game among Final Fantasy 7 fans. It turned the original RPG into a third-person shooter, and while it improved many of the shortcomings of the original Japanese version, it still fell short. Our original Dirge of Cerberus review was more positive than most, though. "Is Dirge of Cerberus the best use of the Final Fantasy VII universe? Definitely not. Is it a decent game with a strong story and occasionally-engaging rifle blasting?