We already knew the star of The Terminator — Sarah Connor, of course… aka Linda Hamilton — would be joining the Stranger Things Cinematic Universe for Season 5. But now, we’re getting a glimpse, albeit a small one, into her character from the Duffer Brothers themselves.

“She’s hyper-intelligent and intimidating,” Matt Duffer told Empire of the character Dr. Kay, a government agent hunting down Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven, in their new Stranger Things Season 5 issue.

And it looks like she’s probably going to be using those smarts to, quite frankly, kick some ass. “She’s a scientist but if she needs to, she can get into a fight and shoot a gun,” Matt added.

That’s all we have to go on at this point when it comes to Hamilton’s character, and we have even less information about the plot of season 5 itself. It'll be interesting to eventually see all the facets of her character and how she affects the greater story. That said, the Duffer Brothers have opened up a little bit about what fans can expect throughout the season.

The cocreator and showrunner of the series recently opened up to Variety, alongside brother Ross Duffer, about making sure the final season would explain “about what the Upside Down was.” He added: “Every season would be like, ‘Should we talk about it?’ And we’d go, ‘No, let’s wait.’ And then finally, we’re like, ‘Well, we have to now!’”

Another thing fans can expect is a complete story. “It doesn’t feel like we dropped a storyline — it all connects,” Ross told Variety in the recent chat, while Matt noted: “We do every last remaining thing we wanted to do with the Demogorgons and Mind Flayer and Vecna and the Upside Down and Hawkins and these characters. This is a complete story. It’s done.”

Last week, star Finn Wolfhard admitted the fear that Stranger Things might tank its reputation with a dodgy finale was a concern for the show's cast after seeing Game of Thrones' final season brutally "torn to shreds."

Stranger Things season 5 will be released on Netflix in three parts: four episodes on November 26th for the Thanksgiving holiday, another three episodes on Christmas, and the final episode of the series on New Year’s Day.

After all that, will this really be the end of Stranger Things? Of course not. Netflix already has plans for animated series and at least one spinoff.

Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.

A brand new special edition DualSense is joining the PlayStation family. The Icon Blue PS5 DualSense wireless controller is now available to pick up from Walmart, and it's only available to buy from Walmart. This exclusive controller is currently listed for $84 at the retailer, and is bursting with bright blue colors that are "Inspired by PlayStation’s storied heritage," according to the PlayStation Blog.

If this vibrant new Walmart-exclusive controller has caught your eye, you can pick it up at the link below.

PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller (Icon Blue) at Walmart

The Apple iPhone is one of the most influential pieces of technology ever. Since its first model in 2007, Apple has released a new iPhone almost every year. While the features of each new model largely change each year, Apple always provides a faster processor and other quality-of-life updates. An iPhone is no cheap purchase, with the base model starting at $799. For most users, this is a purchase you need to plan for, and any discount is a major help.

Luckily, you can save on the best iPhone models if you purchase at the right time. There are some periods throughout the year when we recommend not buying an iPhone, mainly since a new model is on the horizon. This means you will likely not see any discounts. If you are searching for the best time to buy an iPhone, check out our guide below to plan out your purchase and save some money in 2025.

Best Times to Buy an iPhone

Right at Release

Surprisingly, the best time to buy an iPhone might be at release. Since many phone providers offer substantial trade-in discounts, often the cheapest you can get a new iPhone is in the few weeks following its release. This is largely due to the amount of trade-in deals, where you can trade in your current phone for a massive discount on the latest iPhone.

To find the best trade-in deals, you should pay close attention to emails from your current provider and adverts online. Many providers like AT&T and T-Mobile run countless ads detailing their deals for new iPhones, so pay close attention right around the weeks leading up to and following an iPhone launch (we rounded up what's available for the iPhone 17). It's important to keep in mind that some of these offers will be dependent on whether or not you currently own a newer iPhone to trade in, but many providers do offer deals without any stipulations.

Additionally, there are also many deals for the older iPhone models around the release of new iPhones. The day new iPhone models drop, Apple will drop the price of older models permanently. Right now, you can expect to save on iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro since we just got our hands on the new iPhone 17 lineup. Since Apple usually reduces inventory of these units, you can usually get a great deal at this time at other retailers.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Like all technology, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are excellent events to purchase a new iPhone. Since they occur just weeks after the release of a new iPhone, discounts are usually still active. You can expect to see the same great discounts and even new ones at retailers and phone providers.

The Black Friday and Cyber Monday long weekend also provides one of the best opportunities to purchase discounted iPhones online. Anything from new models to refurbished models are almost always available on sale, so you can save a good amount of money by holding off until these sales events.

Holiday Weekends

Historically, Apple has offered some substantial discounts on iPhones for both Mother's Day and Father's Day. With these holidays quickly approaching, now is the time to pay close attention to the promotions for these weekends. Retailers like Best Buy, Amazon, and Walmart will likely promote deals in the coming weeks via social media and email newsletters. You can find a list of what upcoming sales will offer on each retailer's website.

Additionally, other holiday weekends throughout the year are solid options. Columbus Day, for example, is right in the time period after a standard iPhone release. You can usually score a great discount from a phone provider here. On the other hand, early year holidays like President's Day are also good picks, as new iPhone models are still over six months away.

However, not all holidays are good for iPhone deals. The same cannot be said for holiday weekends in the summer. As we outlined above, the middle of summer is the worst time to buy an iPhone, so do not expect to see any deals during Memorial Day sales or Independence Day sales. Though Amazon's Prime Day in July could be an exception to that rule.

Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium. His favorite series include Xeno and Final Fantasy.

The PlayStation 5 is one of the best gaming systems you can purchase in 2025, but the console is nowhere near cheap. In fact, prices have actually increased this year. Starting at $500 for the PS5 Slim and $649 for the PS5 Pro, it is a purchase you will need to plan for. If you want to play titles like Stellar Blade and Astro Bot, it's a purchase worth making. Beyond games, the PS5 is also great for streaming 4K content to your TV. Luckily, you can find some discounts or bundles on PlayStation 5 consoles throughout the year if you know when to look.

Whether you're looking for the PS5 Slim or the more powerful PS5 Pro, we've compiled the best times you can buy a PlayStation 5 throughout 2025 and beyond. From holidays to sales events, there are quite a few opportunities to pick up the console. Each retailer offers different deals and discounts, but we've outlined the events you need to pay attention to. The best time to buy a PlayStation 5 is when it is discounted or bundled with a free game, so keep these sale event dates in mind to get the best deal possible.

When Should You Buy a PS5?

Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Overall, your best bet to purchase a discounted PlayStation 5 is Black Friday or Cyber Monday. The annual holidays occur just after Thanksgiving in November, with Black Friday 2025 currently set for November 28. This event mainly refers to in-store deals, with major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and Target participating. Some of the best PlayStation 5 offers will only be available in stores on Black Friday.

The other major sales event alongside Black Friday is Cyber Monday. This event is set annually on the Monday following Black Friday, which is Monday, December 2 this year. Cyber Monday focuses on electronics and is exclusively available online. Following last year, we expect to see major PlayStation 5 deals on this day.

Nowadays, the Black Friday sales event extends from a few weeks before Black Friday to a few weeks after, which ultimately spans the entire holiday season. Major PlayStation 5 bundles are usually up for purchase around this time of year, so you can expect great discounts alongside dozens of discounted PS5 games. If you are operating on a budget for the PlayStation 5 consoles and games together, Black Friday is the best time of year by far to pick up a console.

Amazon Prime Day

Prime Day is also an excellent time to purchase a PlayStation 5 every year. Alongside this, many PS5 games are likely to be priced low as part of the sale, so you can pick up more games as well. Other retailers besides Amazon will also hold sales around Prime Day, so this only increases the chance that a PlayStation 5 deal will be available. Sometimes, this means an extended 4th of July sale or a surprise weekend sale. If you're not in a rush to purchase a PS5, Prime Day is a great time to buy one.

Prime Big Deal Days

The Prime Big Deal Days sale is a sort of second Amazon Prime Day that will sometimes have discounts on consoles. It isn't quite as big as Prime Day, but it's a similar Prime-exclusive event that has had traditionally had some pretty good gaming deals since it first began back in 2022. The event took place on October 7-8 this year, and while we didn't seen any major discounts on PS5 consoles, Amazon did have some decent price cuts on PS5 games.

Around Major Releases

Sony tends to make console bundles for some of its major releases. This also extends to third-party exclusives like Final Fantasy XVI. Sony tends to discount these PlayStation 5 bundles around the releases of major titles, as it incentivizes customers to pick up a system and check out the new game. Additionally, you can find these PS5 bundles on sale once the included game has been out for a few months, as Sony looks to clear inventory of the bundle. Previous bundles included a copy of Spider-Man 2 or NBA 2K25, with the most recent bundle including Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

Throughout the Summer

Another great time to buy a PlayStation 5 is summer. Following the major gaming events like Summer Game Fest, Sony and other companies usually hold sales events to celebrate the summer This includes deals on games, accessories, controllers, and consoles, which includes PlayStation 5. The PlayStation Summer Sale usually starts around July and runs through August, making it a great time to buy video games as well. Though this year's Days of Play sale has already come to an end.

Late summer is also a great time, as retailers tend to begin preparations for the Fall season. Inventory on older console models is cleared, leading the way for new bundles. PlayStation 5 consoles and other items will likely be available discounted at this time.

Should You Get a PlayStation 5 Pro?

Nowadays, consoles tend to last anywhere from six to eight years. The PlayStation 5 released in November of 2020, meaning we're already over five years into the cycle of this generation. As such, it's worth noting that you may want to think about purchasing the PS5 Pro instead.

If you’re looking to upgrade your gaming PC, buying one of the best graphics cards can end up being one of the most expensive components. With that in mind, sometimes it’s worth holding off and waiting for the best time to buy a new GPU; but when is that?

Now that we've gotten our hands on the newest generation of chips from Nvidia and AMD, we though we'd break down some of the best times to buy a graphics card every year.

For the Best Time to Buy a GPU, Keep in Mind:

• What Type of Games You Play
• Sales Events Such as Black Friday and Prime Day
• When Is the Next Generation of GPUs Due to Be Released
• What Hardware You Currently Own
• Budget GPUs We Recommend

What Type of Games You Play

This might seem obvious to some, but if you play games that are less GPU intensive such as Roblox and Minecraft, you might want to consider steering away from a high-end, next-generation RTX 5090 card and focusing your budget on something a little less… monstrous.

If you’re on a budget, and you don’t need a NASA-certified graphics card, the best option is to look at older budget graphics cards, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6600 or Nvidia’s equivalent offering, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050.

If you don’t plan to play GPU-intensive games, or you’re a lover of indie games, you could consider a cheaper option. Buying the latest GPU for these games is like bringing a nuke to a knife fight, whereas a budget GPU would offer better value over a high-end GPU that the games you play most likely won’t fully utilize.

In many cases, games are more CPU-intensive than they are GPU-intensive. You might be better off looking at the best CPUs to upgrade your gaming PC instead.

But if you’re looking to rock some ray tracing eye candy, you’re going to need to splash out on something a little more powerful. Buying the previous generation of GPUs is often a great way to pick up a bargain.

Sales Events Such as Black Friday and Prime Day

As Tobey Maguire once said, with great power comes great responsibility. While I’m fairly sure he wasn’t talking about the price of GPUs, it does ring true in this case. If you want a powerful GPU, be responsible with your money and wait for the right sale to come along.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Prime Day are perfect for picking up a range of bargain graphics cards. Not only can you find the previous generations at a more affordable price, but you can often find the latest cards at a price that won't require a second mortgage to buy.

While historically sales such as Black Friday and Prime Day have seen some pretty good discounts on GPUs, it’s not guaranteed that the exact graphics card you want will be on sale. If you want a great price you might need to be open to buying a slightly different model, or a GPU from a different manufacturer than what you were hoping for.

Wait for the Next Generation of GPUs to Drop

If you’ve already got a GPU in mind, but it currently costs too much, you could wait for the next generation of GPUs to be announced. Nvidia announced their 50-series graphics cards at CES 2025, with the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 cards now available. Meanwhile, AMD's RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT hit the market this past March.

As soon as a new line of graphics cards is announced, most retailers tend to drop their prices in an attempt to make room for the next-generation GPUs. Once the new range of GPUs is officially released, you will often find that the price of last-gen GPUs often goes down again. So if you've been holding for the something from Nvidia's 40-series, like an RTX 4090 or RTX 4070 Super, expect prices to go down throughout 2025. That said, demand for Nvidia chips is only going up with the AI boom, so discounts might not be as big as they used to be.

Of course, if you've decided you need a next-gen GPU that just released, you’re back to square one and will need to wait for a sale.

Are You Going to Bottleneck Your Machine?

When looking for the best time to buy a new GPU, it’s not just the price you need to consider, it’s your current build too. For example, if you’re sporting an Intel Core i5, you’re not going to want to pair that with a beefy AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, as you’re more than likely going to cause a bottleneck.

You might also want to check that your current power supply is up to the task of powering a next-gen GPU. The best power supplies should not only have enough wattage to power your new GPU, but they should also have a sufficient rating to ensure better performance. When it comes to PSUs, there’s no such thing as overkill, a gold or platinum PSU will offer much better efficiency.

When you’re looking to upgrade your graphics card, you essentially want to make sure that no other parts are seriously outdated. If even one component is too far behind the rest of your gaming computer, you could be causing a potential bottleneck.

Is This GPU Overkill Right Now?

The last thing to consider when thinking about the best time to upgrade your GPU is the gaming market. For example, when a new engine is released, such as the fairly recent release of Unreal Engine 5, you will likely find yourself waiting a while before games come out that will push the limits of your next-gen GPU. Nvidia's RTX 4090 features DLSS 4, but only some games will be able to take advantage of the AI upscaling. You can check out the full list of DLSS 4 launch titles here.

Top Budget GPU's You Can Buy Right Now

If you're ready to upgrade sooner rather than later, but aren't looking to spend a fortune on the newest generation of cards, we highly recommend the Intel Arc B580. Check out more recommendations from our full guide to the best budget graphics cards on the market right now.

Marvel star Mark Ruffalo has said he's still keen for a solo Hulk movie — though isn't sure if it will ever happen.

Ruffalo has a string of appearances as Bruce Banner under his alter ego's oversized belt, but has never starred in his own solo Hulk film. 2008's The Incredible Hulk is considered part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but featured Edward Norton in the title role.

Still, after appearing in everything from The Avengers to Captain Marvel, Thor: Ragnarok to Shang-Chi, isn't it time Ruffalo finally got the spotlight all to himself?

"I'd love to have a solo Hulk movie," Ruffalo told GQ, launching into an explanation of why it's been a contractually difficult prospect in the past. "I don't know if you know the story of that, but [The Hulk's movie rights are] not really owned by Marvel. It's a Universal property."

Fans have long known of this fact, which is believed to have complicated ideas for a new Hulk solo project while at the same time still allowing the character to co-star in other heroes' films, as well as The Avengers team-up movies. However, Ruffalo continued by saying this situation hasn't stopped Marvel discussing solo ideas.

"We keep talking about it, what it would be," he continued. "There's been so many Hulk movies already, it's like, does anyone really want another one? But I'd love one, and I do think the audiences would be into it if we could crack the nut of it."

The last time viewers saw The Hulk was in Disney+ show She-Hulk, which follows the exploits of Banner's lawyer-turned-Hulk cousin, Jennifer Walters. Its season finale featured Banner revealing that he had fathered a son, a younger-looking Hulk named Skaar — a plot thread that the MCU is yet to return to.

Since then, Captain America: Brave New World also featured Harrison Ford as Red Hulk, meaning there are now at least four Hulks running around somewhere (or stuck in prison, until the MCU ever revisits their plotlines again). Could this end up leading to something? Fans have long hoped for an adaptation of the World War Hulk comics plotline, though to date nothing more than rumors have ever materialized.

For now, Ruffalo is set to return as the original Hulk in next year's Spider-Man: Brand New Day — though isn't yet confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday. This week, Ruffalo was spotted on the Spider-Man: Brand New Day set for the first time, alongside Stranger Things star Sadie Sink, who's been cast in a mystery role.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

The third instalment of Frontier Developments' moreish dinosaur park sim, Jurassic World Evolution 3, is almost here. You'll get to manage your very own park full of dinosaurs in this much-anticipated park management simulator sequel that yes, really does feature the Megalodon this time. Gulp.

Jurassic World Evolution 3 will be open its doors again for players on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S on October 21. As a global release, it'll unlock simultaneously for all players regardless of where they are in the world — here's when that will be in your timezone (and unfortunately, no, there's no way to unlock the game in early access ahead of its street date).

"Just about everything I've seen so far of Jurassic World Evolution 3 has me excited to thrill my guests and make my lawyers nervous," we wrote in IGN's Jurassic World Evolution 3's final preview. "From dino breeding to dramatic and different new park locations to extremely robust customization tools, it feels like it truly deserves its spot at the table with Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster now, rather than relying on the, you know, freakin' dinosaurs to make up for some of what it was missing."

Jurassic World Evolution 3 Launch Times

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

PDT (San Francisco):

• 7am

EDT (New York):

• 10am

BST (London):

• 3pm

CEST (Paris, Rome, Berlin):

• 4pm

EEST (Turkey):

• 5pm

HKT (Hong Kong):

• 8pm

CST (Beijing):

• 8pm

JST (Tokyo):

• 11pm

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

AEST (Sydney):

• 12am midnight

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Escape from Duckov is an unlikely hit on Steam after half a million sales and big concurrents over the weekend.

The parody of extraction shooter Escape from Tarkov is riding high with 173,394 peak concurrent players on Valve’s platform. That’s enough to make it the sixth most-played game on Steam right now. Only Delta force, Battlefield 6, PUBG, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike 2 are more popular right now.

Escape from Duckov is a PVE top-down looter-shooter game in which you scavenge for resources, build your hideout, and upgrade your gear. “Start from nothing and rise to the top,” reads the official blurb. “Outwit hostile ducks, survive, or make it out alive.”

Following its launch on October 16, Team Soda’s game sold an additional 500,000 copies over the weekend. Its Steam user review rating is sitting pretty at 'Overwhelmingly Positive.' “At this moment, the entire dev team is quacking with joy and flapping our wings in excitement!” reads a statement.

Escape from Tarkov, meanwhile, hits Steam on November 15. It will be interesting to see if it beats Escape from Duckov’s concurrent player peak on the platform. A console version is in the works.

Extraction shooters might be having a moment, particularly on PC. Arc Raiders, for example, recently enjoyed big Steam concurrents during its 'Server Slam' playtest, which bodes well for its late October release date. Then we'll have Escape from Tarkov join the fun half a month later.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

You don't have to look far to find an action-oriented comic book. But what if just any old action story won't do? What if you crave truly excessive amounts of blood and violence? That's a niche creator Tyler Kirkham aims to fill with his new Image Comics series Final Boss, a book that's billed as equal parts BRZRKR and DC K.O.

With Final Boss #1 hitting stores soon, IGN can debut a new preview of the series. Check out the slideshow gallery below to see the previously revealed covers and interior pages from issue #1, along with exclusive new character designs, black and white pages, and covers to Final Boss #3:

Final Boss is written and drawn by Kirkham, whose previous superhero work includes Green Lantern, Phoenix: Warsong, and The Amazing Spider-Man. The book also features art contributions from Ifan Noor and David Miller, along with covers by Kirkham, Ryan Ottley, V. Ken Marion, and Jae Lee. Here's the official logline for Final Boss #1:

From the dynamic creator and artist, Tyler Kirkham (Amazing Spider-Man, Green Lantern), comes an action-packed new series in the upcoming ongoing, Final Boss. The premiere issue will boast variant covers by such fan-favorite artists as: V. Ken Marion, Ryan Ottley, Jae Lee, and Kirkham himself. Prepare for this over-the-top adventure that's a high-octane nod to classic action stories. Trying to forge a new path, Tommy Brazen uses his newfound powers for various paid enforcer gigs and street fights, only to uncover a past far more complex than he ever imagined.

"This is your fix. FIGHT. POWER-UP. REPEAT," Kirkham tells IGN. "FINAL BOSS has the drama, the depth, and the VIOLENCE you've been waiting for!"

Final Boss #1 will be released on November 19. You can preorder a copy at your local comic shop.

Kirkham's past work is also being celebrated in the art book The Marvel Art of Tyler Kirkham.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

Despite the blockbuster reception to Sandfall's RPG, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 co-director Naoki Hamaguchi says that decisions about Part 3's gameplay will be "based on the director's decision himself," and it had not been "pre-determined yet."

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which boasts traditional JRPG-inspired turn-based combat, recently confirmed sales of 5 million copies in five months, making it one of the biggest hits of the year. But Hamaguchi isn't letting his head be turned by current trends, it seems, and is focused instead on "what game experience fans will enjoy."

"Essentially for the Final Fantasy numbered series, the game design is based on the director's decision himself," Hamaguchi told TheGamer. "For the new title, whether it's action or turn-based, that's not pre-determined yet.

"If you would ask me, 'Is [my next game] going to be an RPG?', yes, there is definitely a possibility. But is it going to be a turn-based RPG? We're taking this aside from the fact that Expedition 33 was received well, we received a lot of 'JRPGs are back' comments. For me, I'm thinking about what game experience fans will enjoy. That's the most important point."

In July, Naoki Yoshida, the director/producer of Final Fantasy 14 and producer of Final Fantasy 16, was asked in an interview with AnimeNewsNetwork whether mainline Final Fantasy games could go back to being turn-based, in the wake of Clair Obscur's success.

"With this question of turn-based versus action, it tends to isolate the gameplay to just the battle system," said Yoshida. "That doesn't take into account what kind of game the creators want to deliver to players. For example, based on a certain graphical quality we want to present to our players, or the narrative we want to deliver to our players, it relates to how we set up the game's systems around it. This includes the battle system, game design, and gameplay feel. It's not a clear-cut answer, whether it will become all turn-based, or if it's going to become more action-based.

"[I'm] not necessarily going to be on Final Fantasy 17, so we also don't want to obstruct or limit our future director or whomever will be producing the games like 17 or even 18," Yoshida continued. "We don't want to put them on a rail."

It later emerged that several members of the Clair Obscur team recently visited Square Enix's offices and met with some of the development leads there, including Hamaguchi and Visions of Mana director Ryosuke Yoshida.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 game director Guillaume Broche, producer Francois Meurisse, and technical director Tom Guillermin, as well as publisher Kepler Interactive's CEO Alexis Garavaryan, took the trip out to visit the Final Fantasy publisher's offices. In a social post, Hamaguchi described it as a "creatively rich exchange of visions and ideas."

Hamaguchi, meanwhile, has also assured fans that the team working on the highly anticipated final instalment is "striking a balance" between keeping the story moving and tightening the pacing. Though he disagreed that some sections of FF7 Rebirth were "longer than necessary," he said: "As we work on the conclusion to the trilogy, we are striking a balance on how story arcs are told and spread out so as to ensure that the game feels a bit more concise."

We know development of Part 3 started as early as June 2022, with Square Enix saying last year that its goal was to see it launch by 2027, but RPG fans have been on the hunt for news about the next entry in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy since its last installment, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, launched in early 2024. Excitement for the third and final chapter in the trilogy grew even more when the team revealed that it had completed its story earlier this year.

Hamaguchi also recently assured fans that despite Square Enix admitting last year that Rebirth "did not meet expectations," the second part of the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy has been "doing very well" on both PC and PS5, and the team has been able to channel that success into a "high-quality third instalment." While we wait, you can read up why the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 team “will not cheat” when it comes to Final Fantasy 7’s iconic airship.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

The first draft of the script for the movie adaptation of Sleeping Dogs is "done."

That's according to Marvel star Simu Liu, who revealed over the weekend that the script for the film was complete, albeit carefully redacting some details from the screenshot. He marked the news by sharing a photo of his own sleeping dog.

in honour of our sleeping dogs script draft being done, here’s my sleepy dog 👍 pic.twitter.com/l1KsFNDj5V

— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) October 18, 2025

When a commenter responded to the good news and asked if the actor and producer had "worked things out" with the game's publisher and IP-holder Square Enix, Liu said: "They’re absolutely great, it’s the studios that don’t seem to understand how important this IP is BUT we will get them there."

If you were hoping for more, I'm afraid Liu shared little else, but it should be good news nonetheless given the adaptation has been languishing in development hell for at least eight years.

As IGN has reported, Story Kitchen is leading the Sleeping Dogs live action feature film project, with Simu Liu, who plays Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, producing and set to play the lead role of Wei Shen. Story Kitchen has form when it comes to video game adaptations, having worked on everything from the Sonic the Hedgehog films to Netflix’s animated Tomb Raider series.

The original adaptation was announced in 2017 with Donnie Yen set to star, but the film disappeared a year later and, earlier this year, Yen himself confirmed it had been scrapped, saying: "I spent a lot of time and did a lot of work with these producers, and I even invested some of my own money into obtaining the drafts and some of the rights." Just a few weeks later, however, Liu tweeted to say he was working with the rights holders to bring the much-loved video game to the big screen.

Sleeping Dogs was first released in 2012 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC and tells the story of detective Wei Shen as he infiltrates one of Hong Kong's notorious Triad crime syndicates. While it failed to meet publisher Square Enix's lofty sales expectations, it is much-loved by fans and sequel hopes have followed it ever since. We thought Sleeping Dogs was great, writing in IGN's Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition review: "Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition doesn't mess much with what made the original game so great. And that's a good thing." It returned an 8.5.

A sequel was canceled in late 2013 just before it entered production, and its original developer, United Front Games, shut down three years later.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

IShowSpeed has slammed AI-powered Sora 2 deepfakes that show the streaming star doing and saying things he hasn’t.

During a recent livestream, the hugely popular internet personality watched increasingly outlandish Sora 2 videos users had created with his likeness. After watching deepfakes in which the 20-year-old, who has 44.9 million subscribers on YouTube, kisses a fan, races against a cheetah (something he plans to do in real life in the future), and appears in a country he hasn’t yet visited (Nepal), IShowSpeed came across scores of videos in which he comes out to his fans as gay.

🚨| WATCH: Speed had to shut down his Sora AI account after fans created AI videos of him coming out as gay and claiming he’s visiting countries he isn’t 💀😭😭 pic.twitter.com/hGGHopYu4V

— Speedy HQ (@IShowSpeedHQ) October 19, 2025

An increasingly angry IShowSpeed, real name Darren Jason Watkins Jr., tells his viewers that he’s “turning this s**t off,” before realising he would have to manually delete each video in which his likeness is used.

“This s**t is getting turned off,” he said. “No more. Why does this look too real? Bro, no, that’s like, my face.”

“Why do I keep coming out?! Why do I keep coming out?!”

Capcom's upcoming, unannounced Resident Evil Zero remake will reportedly launch in 2028 and feature the lead actor from Square Enix's Guardians of the Galaxy video game.

Last year, IGN verified a report by noted Resident Evil leaker Dusk Golem that claimed Capcom would continue remaking its classic Resident Evil back catalog with new versions of both Resident Evil Code Veronica and Resident Evil Zero in development.

Now, MP1st has suggested that the Code Veronica remake is targeting a Q1 2027 release window, while Resident Evil Zero will follow a year after. And there's word, too, of Zero remake's codename — "Project Chamber" — which is also listed on the resume of Far Cry 5 and Guardians of the Galaxy (video game) actor Jon McLaren.

McLaren's resume describes Project Chamber as an "upcoming AAA video game", for which he is providing performance capture at Beyond Capture Studios. The codename would be an obvious nod to Resident Evil Zero's Rebecca Chambers, while MP1st notes that Beyond Capture Studios was previously used by Capcom for both the Resident Evil 4 Remake and Street Fighter 6.

Resident Evil Zero originally launched in 2002 on GameCube, and served as a prequel to franchise's classic first entry. It covers the events surrounding the S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team in the Arklay Mountains, with the player switching between Chambers and escaped convict Billy Coen. (This is, presumably, who McLaren is playing.)

This new remake is expected to add fresh scenes to the original game's story — in a similar manner to how Capcom has fleshed out its previous Resident Evil remakes. In Zero, it's reported that this will include a larger role for the conductor in the game's infamous train sequence.

There's likely still plenty of time to go before fans see anything of Capcom's new Resident Evil Zero remake for themselves, though today's fresh report provides a little more detail of what to expect — and when.

In the meantime, of course, Capcom is busy getting ready for the launch of next year's Resident Evil Requiem — which is set to arrive on February 27, 2026 in time for the franchise's 30th anniversary. The game is designed to act as something of a send-off for some of the series' long-running plotlines, including the fate of the Umbrella Corporation and Raccoon City. But will Leon S. Kennedy return?

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

The executive producer of Doctor Who has hit back at "rude" comments from a former writer who claimed the show was now "as dead as we've ever known it" during its current production hiatus.

Jane Tranter, co-founder of Doctor Who production company Bad Wolf, said that the comment by Doctor Who writer was "really untrue," though went on to suggest that fans will just have to "wait patiently to see" when the show might eventually return, and how it will "change" when it does.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales, as reported by Deadline, Tranter was asked for her response to recent comments made by Robert Shearman, who wrote classic 2005 episode Dalek and numerous Doctor Who novels.

Shearman's comments, made earlier this month, arrived amid a time of huge uncertainty for Doctor Who in general, following a mixed response to the series' recent era and the departure of lead actor Ncuti Gatwa, whose exit scenes were added in reshoots.

Specifically, Shearman had been commenting on the shock return of former Doctor Who actress Billie Piper in the closing seconds of the series' most recent finale, a last-minute addition by Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies. Piper's unexplained appearance — presented on-screen as a new incarnation of the Doctor, though deliberately left ambiguous — has placed the franchise in narrative limbo, Shearman suggested, until a time it is explained.

"That's really rude, actually. And really untrue," Tranter said, responding to Shearman's suggestion. "The plans for Doctor Who are really simply this: the BBC and BBC Studios had a partnership with Disney+ for 26 episodes. We are currently 21 episodes down into that 26-episode run. We have got another five episodes of [spin-off] The War Between The Land And The Sea to come.

"At some point after that, decisions will be made together with all of us about what the future of Doctor Who entails," Tranter concluded.

It's worth breaking down what Tranter has said here in a bit more detail. Fans have known for some time that Disney's initial Doctor Who deal was for two seasons of the main show, plus its upcoming UNIT-based spin-off The War Between The Land And The Sea (which has been filmed, though is yet to be broadcast).

But the way the deal is being described seems to imply that Doctor Who would have always been left within this current period of production hiatus, which contrasts oddly with Russell T Davies' 2023 promise of "annual Doctor Who, no gap years, lots of content, on and on and on."

With no word on when The War Between The Land And The Sea will air, and no word on the future of Doctor Who until after that, it seems highly unlikely the show will be returning to screens in time for a fresh season next year.

Indeed, Tom Spilsbury, the former editor of the official Doctor Who Magazine has suggested the show could remain off-air for the rest of the decade if Disney ultimately decided not to renew its deal and a fresh production partner needed to be found.

"I suspect the show will indeed come back at some point, but as of right now, nothing is commissioned and nothing is guaranteed," Spilsbury wrote back in July. "Those are the facts. Time will tell, of course, but I don't get the sense of much optimism for anything very soon from anyone I've spoken to.

"Everything is moving much more slowly in television at the moment," he continued. "On the assumption that Disney doesn’t renew before its option officially expires, that will be the point when the BBC can start to shop the show around. And that process could take a fair bit of time - it may require more than one partner just to raise the money needed."

Months later, Tranter concluded by saying fans would need to continue to be patient for more news, as and when it materializes — though suggested "change" would be part of any new Doctor Who era.

“It’s a 60-year-old franchise," she concluded. "It’s been going for 20 years nonstop since we brought it back in 2005 [when I worked at the BBC]. You would expect it to change, wouldn’t you? Nothing continues the same always, or it shouldn’t continue the same always. So it will change in some form or another. But the one thing we can all be really clear of is that the Doctor will be back and everyone, including me, including all of us, just has to wait patiently to see when — and who.”

Image credit: BBC.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 co-director Naoki Hamaguchi has assured fans that the team working on the highly anticipated final instalment is "striking a balance" between keeping the story moving and tightening the pacing.

Talking to ScreenRant, the director reflected on criticism of the series's pacing and lengthy instalments. Asked if he agreed with the feedback that "certain sections" in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth felt a little long, he disagreed, saying: "Regarding time management in certain sections, especially in FF7 Rebirth, I honestly don’t believe that they were longer than necessary. I feel like nowadays, players just have too much to do and too much to play; so they often feel the urge that something has to be concluded quickly."

That said, Hamaguchi is at least mindful of the criticism, adding: "As we work on the conclusion to the trilogy, we are striking a balance on how story arcs are told and spread out so as to ensure that the game feels a bit more concise."

In the same interview, Hamaguchi — who was inspired to become a developer after playing 1994's Final Fantasy VI — spoke of other games that have provided inspiration, including The Witcher series and Fable. He's particularly taken with Ghost of Yotei at the moment, admitting: "I can't wait to get home to continue playing it."

RPG fans have been on the hunt for news about the next entry in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy since its last installment, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, launched in early 2024. We know development started as early as June 2022, with Square Enix saying last year that its goal was to see it launch by 2027. Excitement for the third and final chapter in the trilogy grew even more when the team revealed that it had completed its story earlier this year.

Hamaguchi also recently assured fans that despite Square Enix admitting last year that Rebirth "did not meet expectations," the second part of the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy has been "doing very well" on both PC and PS5, and the team has been able to channel that success into a "high-quality third instalment." Co-director Tetsuya Nomura similarly acknowledged he'd heard the cries for updates on Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 and Kingdom Hearts 4 last month, and happily reported that development was “progressing really smoothly.”

While we wait, you can read up why the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 team “will not cheat” when it comes to Final Fantasy 7’s iconic airship.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Prolific streamer Emiru has urged fellow creators to "seriously consider not attending" future TwitchCon events after she was publicly assaulted.

Posting on X/Twitter, Emiru, real name Emily-Beth Schunk, explained how a man crossed multiple barriers at TwitchCon in San Diego Convention Center in an attempt to grab her face and forcibly kiss her during a meet and greet.

In a livestream shortly after the assault, the 27-year-old streamer and cosplayer described what had happened.

"I see out of the corner of my eye, there's a guy walking around the side of the Meet and Greet and he crosses in front of the Meet and Greet of the person to the left of me, which is a VTuber. So he's able to walk up and in front of another streamer's Meet and Greet, and then he walks up to me and he's walking with a purpose, you know what I mean? And then he leans in like he's going to tell me something, so maybe it's like he's TwitchCon staff or something, but I'm freaked out because he grabbed me. That's not normal. And then he grabs my face, and he leans in, lips puckered, and tries to kiss me and I start screaming. You can't hear it in the clip, but I'm f***ing screaming my head off.

"Twitch security is nowhere near me. I can see them, but they don't do anything. My security jumps up and shoves the guy away from me, and he's allowed to walk away and leave. No one in Twitch staff came up to me to see what was going on."

A shocking video, below, caught the interaction where the man walks over to Emiru and grabs her before her bodyguard shoves him back. The man is then seen walking away, unescorted. There is no sign of event security, although Emiru alleged: "Twitch security were also behind the booth afterwards, joking about how they didn't even see what happened and immediately laughing and moving on to talking about something else."

"No one was checking if I was okay or if I needed anything and they let the guy run away initially, I have no idea what anyone hired to keep the event safe was doing," she added.

So some freak just assaulted Emiru at @TwitchCon . This behavior is fucking disgusting. I’m amazed that she still came back to finish the Meet and Greet line, honestly she deserves the utmost of respect. THIS HAS TO STOP!!!@EmiruUpdatess @emiru pic.twitter.com/pyO2QHQ9Pv

— BaconCrumbz 🥓 @TwitchCon SD (@BaconCrumbz) October 18, 2025

Though Emiru told her followers that she was "okay" after the incident, fans and attendees alike are concerned about how close the assailant was able to get before someone intervened.

Twitch also responded with a statement, writing: "The safety and security of all those attending TwitchCon is our highest priority. The behavior displayed by the individual involved in the incident yesterday involving a high-profile streamer was completely unacceptable and deeply upsetting."

The streaming giant also said that "in line with existing TwitchCon security protocols, law enforcement and event security were on site and responded to the incident. We immediately blocked this individual from returning to the TwitchCon premises, and they are banned indefinitely from Twitch, both online and in-person events. We are coordinating with the impacted creator’s team and, per our standard protocols, continue to cooperate with any law enforcement investigations."

One of the standout characters from the The Mandalorian and Grogu trailer was Rotta the Hutt, son of Jabba the Hutt — despite the fact we only got a single second look at him. Rotta, last seen in The Clone Wars as Rotta the Huttlet, is now all grown up and, clearly, a big fan of the gym.

The trailer shows Rotta the Hutt in a sort of gladiator arena, either hyping the crowd up as host or involved in a fight himself. Mando and Grogu are in the audience, watching on.