Nintendo fans are rejecting a new description found within Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment that describes Link and Princess Zelda as just friends.

An in-game journal entry from Zelda's ally Lenalia claims that the princesses' sword training was inspired by "a knight — and friend — from her own time." But while this description seems clear-cut, fans have compared it to the text found in the game's original Japanese language version — which simply refers to Link as a "familiar knight," without the explicit "friend" label.

This latest snippet has reignited the debate over whether Link and Zelda are more than just pals — something that Nintendo itself has kept mysterious for decades.

Of course, Lenalia's journal entry is just that — one character's recording of what she has been told by Zelda, who may or may not have been speaking truthfully. In one social media post that has now gone viral, Zelda fan IvyfulWorld put it thus: "she is not fooling ANYBODY."

"I guess one explanation could be she tried to downplay it out of shyness," replied big_asutaro.

"Nintendo of America's localization team has this thing for wanting to portray Link and Zelda's relationship as purely platonic by adding things that aren't even present in the original text," claimed another fan, verieas.

“and friend” she is not fooling ANYBODY pic.twitter.com/IwULR3vRhd

— Ivy | Sacred Stones (@IvyfulWorld) November 6, 2025

Throughout its almost 40-year history, The Legend of Zelda series has frequently suggested that Link and the princess are romantically involved. The pair hold hands in the finale of Spirit Tracks, and are implied to be settling down as a couple to found Hyrule at the end of Skyward Sword. Zelda even kisses Link (on the cheek) during Oracle of Ages, sending hearts fluttering from the swordsman's eyes.

Most recently, both Zelda and Link appear to be sharing a house in Tears of the Kingdom — which features the incarnations of Link and Zelda referenced in Age of Imprisonment.

Zelda voice actress Patricia Summersett, who has voiced the same incarnation of Zelda seen from Breath of the Wild onwards, raised eyebrows in 2023 when she stated that she believed the pair were definitively "in a relationship." However, Summersett swiftly walked back the comments just days later saying her words had been "misconstrued." (Nintendo did not comment on this kerfuffle at the time, though fans noted it had been unusual for anyone outside the company itself to discuss its characters in such a manner.)

So what has Nintendo itself said? Perhaps the clearest indicator of Link and Zelda's relationship status came from the series' legendary producer Eiji Aonuma, who told IGN the following in December 2023 when asked for an official ruling on the subject:

"I will leave it to everyone's imagination [whether Link and Zelda are in a relationship]. I don't think that Zelda is a type of game where the development team says, 'This is what Zelda is, this is what the story is, this is what the game is.' Everything that the development team wants to convey has already been placed into the game. And the rest is up to the player's imagination, and their reflection on how they feel… what they've experienced in the game."

Considering the most recent Zelda game features a house lived in by Link and Zelda (with Nintendo placing just a single bed into the bedroom), some fans took Aonuma's comment to be the clearest sign yet that Nintendo does indeed see the two as a couple — even if it doesn't want to explicitly apply that label in-game.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see how Nintendo handles the two characters in its upcoming The Legend of Zelda live-action movie, which recently began shooting in New Zealand following the casting of its two key roles earlier this year.

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

Sony has announced a special State of Play Japan, which will be broadcast online this week.

The show will air at 2pm Pacific / 5pm Eastern / 10pm UK time tomorrow, November 11 — or 7am Japan time on November 12 if you're watching from there.

PlayStation promises a show that will last for "more than 40 minutes" filled with updates on games created in Japan and across Asia "alongside a few other exciting updates."

In a break from Sony's usual State of Play format, the show will have a host — voice actor Yuki Kaji — and focus on games in development in a specific part of the world. The show will also only air in Japanese, though English subtitles will be available.

So, what do we expect? It'd be great to see more of Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, the fighting game set to be published by PlayStation that's due to launch in 2026. Announced back in June, the project is a collaboration between the Japan-based Arc System Works, Sony and Marvel Games, and is currently in the works for PlayStation 5 and PC.

Could this week be when we learn of a release date for Phantom Blade Zero, the wuxia action RPG coming to PC and PS5 that we're expecting to hear launch plans of very soon? And what about that Horizon MMO in the works at NCSoft?

Sony's previous State of Play for September 2025 offered both a gameplay trailer and release window for Marvel's Wolverine, as well as an extended look and release date for Housemarque's Saros. Join us tomorrow for this week's show — we'll report on all the reveals as they happen.

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

Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has discussed how his role has changed after stepping back from leading development on Nintendo's most famous video game series.

In a new interview, Miyamoto revealed he had now entrusted most of the work on new Mario games to others, though said he still played through the first half hour of new projects himself to ensure it felt "like Mario" to him.

Speaking in celebration of Super Mario Bros' 40th anniverary, the veteran designer, now 72, also said he hoped "to stay healthy until Mario's 50th anniversary" in a decade's time.

Kadokawa, the parent company of Elden Ring: Nightreign developer FromSoftware, has confirmed we'll get new DLC for the multiplayer game by the end of March 2026, as unhappy players leave negative reviews on Steam.

"We are aiming for further sales growth for Elden Ring Nightreign, original Elden Ring, and its DLC," the company said in its recent financial report to investors (thanks, GamesRadar+). "We have multiple game titles in the development pipeline. FromSoftware is currently developing Elden Ring Nightreign DLC (planned for release in FY2025) Elden Ring Tarnished Edition (planned for release in 2026 for Nintendo Switch 2), and The Duskbloods (planned for release in 2026)."

FY2025 in this instance means by the end of Kadokawa's current financial year, so by March 31, 2026. But while the financial report revealed that Nightreign had "performed well beyond initial expectations" and confirmed the DLC — described on the Steam storefront as being available "by Q4 2025" — is still on the way, recent user reviews for the Deluxe Upgrade Pack have dropped to a 'Mostly Negative' rating as players express their frustration at the lack of tangible news.

"We're mid-Q4 2025. No news, no teasers, total silence," wrote one negative reviewer on November 1. "If you're thinking about buying Deluxe Upgrade, wait until we get actual news about the content. I can't recommend you a promise." Another said: "It's been half a year now, still no dlc or any new characters in sight even though they got leaked a bit ago. Right now this is a complete scam, as even the soundtrack isnt even full."

Someone else said they would change their negative review to positive "once FromSoft announces something."

Nightreign's ultra-hard difficulty mode, Deep of Night, released back in September, having been discovered by dataminers back in August. Beyond that, though, there's been very little firm news on what additional content could be on the way. It's worth noting that even though the Kadokawa financial report guarantees the release of the Nightreign DLC by the end of March 2026, that doesn't necessarily mean it won't release before the end of calendar year 2025.

"When Elden Ring Nightreign is played exactly as it was designed to be played, it’s one of the finest examples of a three-player co-op game around," we wrote in IGN's 7/10 Elden Ring: Nightreign review. "But a lack of crossplay, duo matchmaking, and built-in communication tools makes it hard to create the conditions needed to have this kind of experience unless you’re bringing two real-life friends on every run."

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.

Marvel actor Jeremy Renner has denied allegations of harassment made by filmmaker Yi Zhou, after the pair worked together on a Disney documentary project.

In a Daily Mail interview published last week, Zhou claimed Renner became "violent" during a meeting at Renner's house in August where it's alleged the actor drank a bottle of wine. Zhou said she then locked herself in a room overnight for her safety. In a later text conversation, in which Zhou accused Renner of being a "pig" and sending her explicit photos, the Chinese director claimed Renner replied to her: "immigration will be notified of your..." — though the rest of the message is cut off.

"The allegations being made are totally inaccurate and untrue," a spokesperson for Renner stated to Variety.

Arc Raiders has had another bumper weekend, once again breaking its own concurrent record on Steam.

Within a day of its release, Embark Studio's new extraction shooter hit a Steam concurrent peak player count of 264,673, making it one of the biggest extraction shooters ever on Valve's platform. And now it's topped even that record over the weekend, hitting a concurrent peak of 462,488 players according to Valve's official figures.

Yesterday, November 9, Arc Raiders had a higher concurrent peak than Battlefield 6 (441,035), and placed behind only the eternally popular Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and PUBG. Of course, Arc Raiders' true concurrent player peak will be higher, given the game is also available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, but neither Sony nor Microsoft make their player numbers public.

As Arc Raiders tears up Steam's most-played games list, streamer Shroud has continued to call on his fans to vote for it as Game of the Year 2025 over Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, calling multiplayer gamers "the minority" (even though research shows that it's mostly multiplayer games that retain high player counts).

"I thought I was only going to play five or six hours of Arc Raiders on launch day before sitting down to write this initial review in progress, but after just a handful of matches, I suddenly couldn’t pull myself away – and before I realized it, I’d been playing for 10 hours," we wrote in IGN's Arc Raiders review-in-progress.

"This is without question the most hooked I’ve found myself on an extraction shooter (and I’ve played a lot of them), with clean and tense gunplay, a progression system that’s been incredibly satisfying so far, and a loot game that has me sweating over what to put in my backpack and what to leave behind."

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.

A special box of Super Mario Galaxy Movie cookie dough has provided our best look yet at Mario's dinosaur steed Yoshi, and strongly hinted at two other fan-favorite characters expected to turn up in the sequel.

The latest leak, which comes from box artwork now visible via retailers online, features Yoshi prominently — as the cookie kit is designed to let you create Yoshi egg cookies. Yum! As fans will remember, the first Mario movie's post-credits scene teased Yoshi's egg starting to crack open — though we never saw the dinosaur fully hatch.

Other clues exist on the Pillsbury's cookie box which point to a couple of other Mario characters, meanwhile — both of which are also yet to make their big screen introduction.

The front and back of the cookie box feature the Comet Observatory, the central hub within the original Mario Galaxy game that's also where Rosalina lives. It's hard to imagine a Mario Galaxy movie without its all-important space princess, but this is our strongest confirmation yet that Nintendo will introduce the character on the big screen in the upcoming sequel.

Finally, the rear of the cookie box shows a star map that features graffiti of Bowser Jr., a key antagonist in various Mario games — including both Mario Galaxy 1 and 2. Nintendo's first Mario movie made no mention of Bowser's offspring, though that all looks set to change for its follow-up.

The leak follows an earlier spill of information from a similar promotional tie-in with Old Spice — which saw The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's name first revealed via promotional cans of deoderant. As if further confirmation was needed of that leak's legitimacy, the Yoshi artwork shown in better detail on the Pillsbury cookie box now matches up with the one seen in that leak exactly.

Fans have long been hoping for Nintendo to feature more of both Rosalina and Bowser Jr. — and in both cases, for more to be revealed about their origins. Indeed, after a notable tease in the first Mario movie, Nintendo looks set to reveal more about Rosalina's link with Peach following years of fan debate over how they might be related.

Bowser Jr., meanwhile, also has questions surrounding his parentage. First introduced in Super Mario Sunshine, the mischievous offspring is initially presented as the result of a union between Bowser and Peach, though this is later revealed as a joke. Exactly who Bowser Jr.'s mother is, though, has never been made clear. (Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto once claimed in an interview he was the mother, though this was a joke too.)

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is currently slated for release in theaters on April 3, 2026. Hopefully then, all will be revealed.

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

Sydney Sweeney’s new movie, Christy, has suffered a brutal opening round at the box office with just $1.3 million from North American theaters.

The biopic sees the Madame Web star assume the role of boxer Christy Martin in what many consider to be an Oscar-bait performance. But the critical reception is mixed, with IGN’s Christy review returning a 7/10. We said: “Sydney Sweeney blazes trails and pulls no punches in a choppy biopic that falters at the finish.”

The R-rated Christy, though, is on the ropes right out of the gate, with $1.305 million from 2,011 theaters domestically. That’s a per-theater average (PTA) of just $649, and is one of the worst openings ever for a film in over 2,000 theaters.

It’s an even worse domestic launch than Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s biopic The Smashing Machine, which made $5.84 million from North American theaters during its opening weekend and was considered a disaster. The Smashing Machine ended up with a domestic box office total of just $11.38 million, which Christy looks set to struggle to match.

Last week, Sweeney broke her silence on the American Eagles jeans campaign kerfuffle from earlier this year, telling GQ that she refused to issue a statement in response because “I’ve always believed that I’m not here to tell people what to think.” The advert revolved around a pun on “great genes,” with the tagline: “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.”

Sweeney has a number of upcoming projects, including Euphoria Season 3, psychological thriller The Housemaid, and The Devil Wears Prada 2. She's also reportedly set to star in a live-action Gundam movie, the Split Fiction movie adaptation, and a movie version of a horror story posted on a Reddit thread.

Topping the domestic box office this weekend was Predator: Badlands. Sarah’s Oil starring Zachary Levi, Naya Desir-Johnson, and Sonequa Martin-Green grossed $4.459 million at the domestic box office this weekend. Nuremberg earned $4.1 million. Die My Love opened domestically to $2.8 million. Christy failed to crack the top 10.

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.

Spoilers follow for IT: Welcome to Derry Episodes 1-3.

Well, it didn’t take long for IT: Welcome to Derry to hit what feels like its first filler episode. The first two installments of this IT prequel packed a lot of plot and characters into two hours, so there’s an air of inevitability to this week’s episode feeling like it has to grind the proceedings to a halt in order to sort it all out. Disappointingly though, Episode 3 (Now You See It) resets the status quo with elements that aren’t all that different from the status quo it already had, leaving Welcome to Derry feeling like its spinning its wheels a little earlier into its run than anyone would want to see.

This episode feels like the first real stumble for the kids’ side of the story, which was undoubtedly the stronger element of the first two installments, immediately doubling back on one of last week’s more disturbing developments: Lilly (Clara Stack) being reinstitutionalized at Juniper Hill after her grocery store encounter with Pennywise. For as much time as that episode spends reinforcing how terrified she is of getting sent back to that place, Episode 3 starts with her being discharged, and from there there’s almost no time spent on exploring what effect going back had on her.

Lilly’s so far the most well-drawn of the young characters, so it was really disappointing to see a big development like that have to take a back seat to the plot, which has Lilly, Ronnie, Will, and Rich coming together to clear Hank Grogan’s name for the killings that ended the premiere. Since that brutal rug-pull took three Losers’ Club stand-ins off the board, Welcome to Derry has been working towards reassembling a gang of brave kids to fight Pennywise. But by the time Lilly’s bringing this new gang up to the hideout atop the Derry stand to discuss the source of their torment, it starts to feel like déjà vu all over again, and three episodes in, that’s not a promising sign.

Predator: Badlands looks like a hit after it secured the biggest global opening ever for a Predator movie — including the Alien vs. Predator films — at the box office.

Dan Trachtenberg, who revitalized Predator with 2022’s back to basics Prey and this year’s animated anthology Killer of Killer, has continued his hot streak with the PG-13 Predator: Badlands, which has enjoyed strong reviews from critics. (IGN’s Predator: Badlands review returned an 8/10.)

Disney said Predator: Badlands opened to $40 million domestically and $40 million internationally for a global opening weekend total of $80 million. That’s the biggest debut for a Predator movie ever at current rates. For context, 2018’s The Predator opened to $73.5 million.

Predator began with 1987’s much-loved Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Predator: Badlands is a very different film; less sci-fi horror, more mainstream sci-fi action. For the first time ever the Predator is the protagonist, with a Yautja called Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) out to prove himself to his father by killing a monster on a death planet. Along the way, he meets a Weyland-Yutani synth called Thia, played by Elle Fanning, in an Alien / Predator crossover.

It's a big swing for Predator and for Dan Trachtenberg, but he was uninterested in essentially remaking prior Predator movies for this new sequel. In a recent interview with IGN, Trachtenberg said he was inspired by Terminator 2 when it came to making Badlands. "Terminator 2: Judgment Day was like a movie my mom could watch," he said. "So that was a part of it for me, like how to make something that was bold and visceral but also emotional."

It’s a strong start, then, and hopefully a sign that Trachtenberg will be able to continue making more Predator movies, fleshing out his fledgling Predator cinematic universe and perhaps making good on that Dutch tease at the end of Killer of Killers. Could we perhaps see an all-star team up at some point?

Certainly, Predator: Badlands sets things up for a direct sequel. Check out IGN’s Predator: Badlands Ending Explained to find out what’s next for the series.

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.

We've rounded up the best deals for Sunday, November 9, below, so don't miss out on these limited-time offers.

Apple AirPods 4 for $89

Games Workshop has released a teaser trailer for upcoming Warhammer animations, revealing what subscribers to its streaming platform Warhammer Plus can expect in 2026.

There are a number of new animations teased in the video, below, but the one featured most prominently stars the Adepta Sororitas. We see a Battle Sister with a heavy bolter letting rip, with Devora Wilde confirmed to play one of the Battle Sisters. Wilde played Lae'zel in Baldur’s Gate 3, and for me is the perfect fit for the Sisters of Battle.

Elsewhere, there’s an animation that sees the Aeldari (in a post on Warhammer Community, Games Workshop confirmed these are from Saim-Hann, the fastest and among the most warlike of the Craftworlds) going up against the Imperial Navy in aerial battles.

And then perhaps the most exciting tease in the entire video: a Khorne Berzerker from the World Eaters Traitor Legion who is, Games Workshop said, “on the hunt.”

Some fans think this is actually a look at Astartes 2, the most hotly anticipated animation among the fandom. That’s because the Khorne Berzerker’s running style is similar to that we’ve already seen Space Marines perform in the original, much-loved Astartes. The original Astartes was created by superfan Syama Pedersen, who was subsequently brought into the fold to make the official sequel. Is this Khorne Berzerker from an entirely different animation, or Astartes 2?

Lieutenant Titus from Space Marine 2 has become one of the most recognizable faces in all Warhammer 40,000 following the enormous success of the video game. We’ve already seen Games Workshop double-down on the Ultramarines hero with merch, an appearance in the Warhammer 40,000 episode of Amazon's animated anthology, Secret Level, and various cameos across the setting. But now things have leveled up — not just for Titus as a Space Marine, but his place in the ongoing Warhammer 40,000 narrative.

This week, Games Workshop unveiled Captain Demetrian Titus, Master of the Watch, which means Titus has had a much-deserved promotion since the now canon events of Space Marine 2 and Secret Level. Titus is once again Captain of the Ultramarines Second Company, a position he had already held before he was taken into custody on suspicion of heresy by the Inquisition after the events of the first Space Marine game. What does Titus' promotion mean for Sevastus Acheran, the former captain of the Second Company and Master of the Watch who we see in Space Marine 2? Let’s be real here: he’s probably dead. I guess he couldn’t spare enough men.

For Titus, his promotion comes with bigger and tougher responsibilities: he’s been put in charge of defending the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, the realm of Space Marine poster boys, the Ultramarines. With Primarch Roboute Guilliman off gallivanting with his Indomitus Crusade, Titus is now in charge of keeping things safe and sound back home, where new Necron threats have emerged, as they always do.

Games Workshop released a new trailer, below, to hype up this narrative expansion, and it features Titus front and center as he accepts his new job title and what he calls his “impossible mission.” He’s had an eye-catching glow up since we last saw him, and he has a cool new model for use in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game to boot. Titus is joined by friends his fans will know well: Ancient Gadriel from Space Marine 2, and Veteran Sergeant Metaurus from Secret Level (he lives!).

500 Worlds: Titus is the name for the next major narrative expansion for Warhammer 40,000. According to a post on Warhammer Community, that includes a set of four books that will tell the story of the Ultramarian Reclamation and the embattled Vespator Front, where Titus and the Ultramarines Second Company "are locked in a desperate struggle against a Necron force rife with the Destroyer curse."

This is a big moment for Titus but also the Space Marine video game franchise. It is evidence of the importance of the character to Warhammer 40,000, and the seismic impact Space Marine 2 has had on the setting.

Speaking to IGN at gamescom 2025, Tim Willits, development chief at Saber Interactive, said Space Marine 2’s popularity had opened the door to the grimdark Warhammer 40,000 setting for an army of new fans who weren't necessarily clued up about the intricacies of the universe.

“I heard that lots of people now think that Thousand Sons are the only Chaos faction because that's what we had in the game,” Willits said, reflecting on Space Marine 2’s first year.

“And so people are like, ‘Oh, I guess Thousand Sons, they're Chaos.’ It's like, ‘Actually no it's not.’ They're actually just a small faction. But people are just like, ‘That's the one I played against.’”

This assumption about Chaos extends to the Space Marines themselves. The Ultramaines — the chapter used by Games Workshop itself when introducing newcomers to the tabletop via starter sets — are the protagonists of the Space Marine 2 campaign, although many other factions are available to play as in the PvE and PvP modes.

“People have assumptions about the Warhammer 40,000 universe that are not correct,” Willits continued. “Like Thousand Sons being the only Chaos faction. That is kind of humorous. And like, ‘Oh Space Marines are only blue!’ That has been quite humorous to be honest, which is good for us.”

One of the big questions going into the already confirmed Space Marine 3 is whether Saber will venture beyond the Ultramarines and the Thousand Sons in terms of the next campaign. The story seems to set up the addition of the Necrons, which at this point probably wouldn't come as much of a surprise for Space Marine 3. But could other Space Marine chapters also appear? Perhaps other Chaos factions, too? We asked Willits about Space Marine 3, but he remained tight-lipped.

But now Titus is firmly back in the fold, we have to wonder, what does the overly suspicious Chaplain Leandros think? He spent pretty much the entirety of Space Marine 2 threatening to end poor Titus at the first sign of corruption, and even after Titus’ heroics, a commendation from Chapter Master Marneus Calgar, and what some think was a word of encouragement from the Emperor himself, Leandros remained unconvinced. If Titus manages to complete this impossible task and defend the 500 worlds, will he finally win Leandros over? Somehow I doubt it.

All of this probably feeds into Space Marine 3 in some way. Assuming Space Marine 3 picks up after the events of 500 Worlds, we may well see Titus lead armies into battle, rather than a single squad.

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.

We've rounded up the best deals for Saturday, November 8, below, so don't miss out on these limited-time offers.

Gurren Lagann Complete Box Set Blu-ray for $109.99

Although Black Friday is still the best time to buy almost everything, many other seasonal sales events have become almost as big in recent years. With pretty much every retailer planning some sort of way to attract customers throughout 2025, there are plenty of sales to look forward to this year. With many tariffs in effect in the U.S. and more presumably arriving later this year, shoppers are looking for discounts wherever they can find them.

If you're hoping to save some money at any point this year, there are a few different sale dates worth marking on your calendar, the next big one being Black Friday deals in November. Outside of that, there are a few other upcoming sales events we know about to help you plan out your online (or in-store) shopping in 2025 and beyond. We'll be updating this page with the dates of event sales as soon as retailers start announcing them.

Sales Live Right Now

Target Early Black Friday Sale (Now - November 8)

Upcoming Sales Events

1. Walmart Early Black Friday sale (November 14-16)

The next big sale on the horizon is Walmart's early Black Friday sale, which officially kicks off on November 14 this year and will only run for a few days. Walmart+ members will get early access to the sale starting on November 13. Walmart has released a sneak peek of some of the deals you can expect from that sale.

2. Black Friday Sales (November 1–30)

Black Friday is the best time to buy pretty much everything, regardless of the category or retailer. It's the single biggest shopping event and if there are discounts to be had, it's almost definitely going to be sometime during this sale. Although Black Friday 2025 itself lands on November 28, the actual sale has a much larger window than that.

You can expect the first Black Friday deals to arrive soon now that October Prime Day sales are concluded, but the general rule of thumb is that all of November will have Black Friday pricing happening everywhere. Many of the best deals will still take place on Thanksgiving and the Friday afterwards.

In terms of when major retailers will start dropping their official Black Friday sales in 2025, we have already gotten confirmation about start dates for Best Buy, Costco, and Walmart. You can expect deals to start as early as November 20 this year.

3. Cyber Monday Sales (November 30–December 5)

Cyber Monday began back in 2005 as a way to offer shoppers online discounts after Thanksgiving weekend so they could avoid the in-store madness. With the majority of holiday sales moving to an online platform, it has since become just as big as Black Friday. Although there are sometimes differences between Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, they are generally the same thing. The only difference is when they actually happen.

You can expect Cyber Monday sales to kick off Sunday of Black Friday weekend, rather than actual Cyber Monday. And although the best deals will likely be on November 30 through December 1, many retailers extend their sale through the week by labeling the deals as part of Cyber Week.

4. Green Monday Sales (December 8–23)

Green Monday is actually a sales event created by eBay back in 2007. While it isn't nearly as big as Black Friday or Cyber Monday, it essentially represents the last stretch of sales before Christmas. The day itself was originally created as a way to promote the last day you could buy something online and get it shipped to you before the holidays, but thanks to faster shipping every year, that isn't necessarily as much of a problem for the bigger retailers.

In 2024, you can expect Green Monday sales to stretch pretty much right up until December 24 and maybe even through Christmas. Many retailers will label these as "last-minute" sales, but we've lumped them all into the same category.

5. New Year's Sales (December 26–January 1)

The final sales event of 2025 is centered around New Year's, but it usually starts just after Christmas. These discounts are a chance for retailers to take advantage of shoppers who are returning unwanted gifts and are now flush with extra cash. You can also expect some surprisingly good deals on older tech as these same retailers look to unload older models to make way for newer ones. Late December and early January are actually some of the best times to buy a TV or find a deal on a gaming monitor every year thanks to the proximity to CES, the annual Consumer Electronics Show.

Jacob has written for various different publications over his career covering commerce, tech, games, and entertainment. You can find the bulk of his previous work at Digital Trends and The Manual where he covered tech deals, Netflix, and food.

Frankenstein received a limited release in theaters starting on October 17 followed by a Netflix release on November 7.

Stories about generational trauma are nothing new – chronicles of the pain that is handed down from parent to child and, in time, right on down the line to the next child, never breaking the cycle. It’s, as Mrs. Potts once said, a tale as old as time. From Kronos eating his own lil’ ones, only to suffer the eventual wrath of those children under the leadership of Zeus – who would pass down his own messed-up issues to his myriad children – all the way to Michael Corleone’s fall into the very underworld that his father hoped he would rise above, the pain is real.

It’s also a great avenue for telling compelling stories. Which brings us to Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein.

Pretty much everyone knows the story of Frankenstein, and del Toro – who’s been trying to get a movie based on the iconic novel made for at least 20 years – doesn’t deviate from Mary Shelley’s work in any way that anyone but fans of the OG would notice. Some characters are missing, others are added, but the bones of the story remain intact: Man makes monster, man rejects monster, monster gets pissed off. But more than just intact, these bones are also seemingly pulled from (carved out of?) Dr. Frankenstein’s choicest picks, his finest specimens, because this iteration of Frankenstein is, like its Creature, a beautiful, haunting thing through which classic themes are made to feel fresh and new.

Not only is Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac) a monster for much of the film’s runtime – cue everyone’s favorite “who’s the real monster?” line – but he’s a monster who was spawned by a monster, his stringent and abusive father Leopold (played by Charles Dance, who at this point in his career is destined to play the same miserable asshole over and over again). So of course that generational pain continues to rear its ugly head – or perhaps in this case not so ugly – when Victor brings life to his creature, played by a scarred yet still movie-star-handsome Jacob Elordi.

Elordi is a marvel here (and his Creature exhibits Marvel-esque superhuman powers, which is fun), belying his turns as bad guys or unsympathetic characters in titles like Euphoria, Priscilla, and Saltburn. No, while the Creature in GDT’s Frankenstein will mess you up if need be – and does in fact mess up man and beast alike in spectacular fashion – del Toro writes him and Elordi plays him in the finest Karloffian vein, a sympathetic, sad-sack SOB who just wants a friend. That the actor also seems to be channeling the body work of GDT regular and creature-player extraordinaire Doug Jones only accentuates how different Elordi’s Creature is from past incarnations. He pivots his body, twists his waist, leans in and back, and cocks his head in such a way as to always remind us that, after all, the Creature’s body is actually a series of bodies that are still getting used to each other.

Isaac as Victor, on the other hand, runs the risk of becoming too unlikable at times. When his Creature is born, there are genuine moments of affection between the two. But the newborn’s apparent inability to evolve and grow – in terms of speech, he can’t get any further than saying “Vict-or” over and over again – frustrates the genius, and frankly, dickish doctor. Just as his father did before him, Victor punishes his child rather than nurtures him. And so the cycle continues, with the Creature never even having a chance at normalcy, his appearance notwithstanding. But the result is that Isaac’s Victor very nearly becomes the film’s villain, which perhaps isn’t a new concept in the Frankenstein mythos, but occasionally works against the film in the character’s darkest moments. (Colin Clive, who played the mad doctor opposite Boris Karloff’s monster, was always sympathetic, mind you, even when he was operating at peak Looney Tunes.)

And then there’s Mia Goth, who brings to the Elizabeth Harlander character an otherworldliness that has sort of become a trademark for the MaXXXine and Suspiria actress. Named Elizabeth Lavenza in the book, the character is adopted into the Frankenstein household and eventually marries Victor, but in this version she’s engaged to Victor’s brother William (All Quiet on the Western Front’s Felix Kammerer). William usually doesn’t make it to adulthood when he’s present in a Frankenstein story, falling victim to the Creature in a savage act of revenge. But again, del Toro tweaks and twists these plot elements, with William in the way of Victor’s traditional love interest while also giving Elizabeth an uncle in the person of Christoph Waltz’s Heinrich Harlander. And while Waltz is typically a welcome addition to any film, his character – a benefactor who pays for Victor’s experiments – ultimately doesn’t add much at all here beyond helping to make the film slightly longer than it needs to be.

Frankenstein is full of blood and gore and dismembered limbs and ripped-off jaws and crunched skulls, but it’s not a horror movie. Like the director’s 2015 Gothic romance Crimson Peak, this is a film that feels big, engulfing the viewer in a world where a sad wife’s deep-red gown is set against the stark backdrop of a foreboding castle. It’s a place where the city streets run red with slaughterhouse blood, where a frozen battlefield is marked by a horse covered in ice, still in mid-gallop with its rider astride. And yet at the same time, the beauty of creation itself is infectious, as when Elordi’s Creature first experiences the sun. As Vict-or tells him, “Sun is life.”

Some may say we are in a renaissance of video game adaptations as we've been treated to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a third Sonic the Hedgehog film, and TV series based on The Last of Us and Fallout, and will soon be getting adaptations of God of War, Mass Effect, and so many more. The best part? A lot of these look so much better than video game adaptations we’ve gotten in the past.

How many will actually make it through development and see the light of day remains to be seen, and only a fraction of these have actual release dates. But we're watching these projects, and we're tracking them!

For the purposes of this list, we classify a “video game movie” or "video game TV show" as an actual adaptation of an existing video game, so something like Wreck-It Ralph (which is just a movie about video games) wouldn’t qualify. They don’t have to be faithful adaptations – they just have to be based on a real game.

Click on through the slideshow below for a glimpse, or read on to find out about the biggest projects with definite details. And if you see something incorrect, missing, or in need of an update, let us know in the comments!

What Are the Next Video Game Movies and TV Shows Coming Out? 2025 and Beyond Release Dates

For those keeping track, here's the full lineup of upcoming video game movie and TV show adaptations:

Video Game Movies in 2025 and Beyond

• Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (December 5, 2025)
• Return to Silent Hill (January 26, 2026)
• The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (April 3, 2026)
• Mortal Kombat 2 (May 15, 2026)
• Resident Evil (September 18, 2026)
• Street Fighter (October 16, 2026)
• The Angry Birds Movie 3 (January 29, 2027)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 4 (March 19, 2027)
• The Legend of Zelda (May 7, 2027)
• A Minecraft Movie 2 (July 23, 2027)
• Elden Ring (TBA)
• Call of Duty (TBA)
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (TBA)
• Ghost of Tsushima (TBA)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (TBA)
• Grow a Garden from Roblox (TBA)
• Helldivers 2 (TBA)
• The Sims (TBA)
• Martha Is Dead (TBA)
• Riders Republic (TBA)
• Gears of War (TBA)
• Sleeping Dogs (TBA)
• Phasmophobia (TBA)
• Death Stranding (TBA)
• Death Stranding: Mosquito (TBA)
• Days Gone (TBA)
• Dredge (TBA)
• Pokemon: Detective Pikachu 2 (TBA)
• Stray (TBA)
• BioShock (TBA)
• El Paso, Elsewhere (TBA)
• Split Fiction (TBA)
• Space Channel 5 (TBA)
• Comix Zone (TBA)
• Watch Dogs (TBA)

Video Game TV Shows in 2025 and Beyond

• Fallout: Season 2 (December 17, 2025)
• Devil May Cry Anime Season 2 (2026)
• The Last of Us: Season 3 (2027)
• Ghost of Tsushima Anime (2027)
• The Witcher: Season 5 (TBA)
• God of War (TBA)
• Mass Effect (TBA)
• Live-Action Tomb Raider (TBA)
• Beyond: Two Souls (TBA)
• Gears of War (TBA)
• Assassin's Creed (TBA)
• Splinter Cell: Deathwatch (TBA)
• Overcooked Reality TV Show (TBA)

The following titles have been reported to be in development in the past but their status is currently unknown and they may no longer be actually happening:

Announced Video Game Movies (Status Unknown)

• Mega Man
• Just Cause
• Duke Nukem
• Gravity Rush
• Dead by Daylight
• It Takes Two
• Sifu
• Slime Rancher
• Ark: Survival Evolved
• Pac-Man
• Streets of Rage
• Sniper Elite
• Toe-Jam and Earl
• Jak and Daxter
• Half-Life
• Saints Row
• Portal
• Yakuza
• Beyond Good & Evil
• Firewatch
• Metal Gear Solid
• The Division
• Just Dance
• Dragon's Lair

Announced Video Game TV Shows (Status Unknown)

• Horizon Zero Dawn
• A Plague Tale
• Nier: Automata: Season 2
• Disco Elysium
• Hunt: Showdown
• Alan Wake
• System Shock
• Grounded
• Life Is Strange
• My Friend Pedro
• Skull & Bones

The following are the most definite projects that are currently in the works.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2

Release Date: December 5, 2025

Universal Pictures has confirmed that Five Nights at Freddy's 2 will make its way to theaters on December 5, 2025. This sequel will take place one year after the first film, which was Blumhouse Productions' most successful movie ever, and the events of what happened have turned into a campy local legend and has inspired the first ever Fazfest. Former security guard Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and police officer Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail) have tried to protect Abby (Piper Rubio) from going back to her animatronic "friends," and this sets off a horrifying adventure that will reveal secrets and horrors regarding the true origin of Freddy's.

Fallout: Season 2

Release Date: December 17, 2025, on Prime Video

The first season of Prime Video's Fallout series was a huge success. In our Fallout TV show review, we said, "A bright and funny apocalypse filled with dark punchlines and bursts of ultra-violence, Fallout is among the best video game adaptations ever made."

Fallout will be back for another season in December and it will bring us back to New Vegas, with familiar faces like Ella Purnell's Lucy, Walton Goggins' Ghoul, and the goodest girl Dogmeat alongside new faces like Justin Theroux's Mr. House and a 'crazy genius-type character' played by Macaulay Culkin.

Devil May Cry Anime Series Season 2

Release Date: 2026

Netflix's Castlevania showrunner Adi Shanker released a new anime series based on Devil May Cry in April, 2025. Season 2 was announced shortly thereafter, and now we know it will drop in 2026.

Return to Silent Hill

Release Date: January 26, 2026

Return to Silent Hill is the upcoming film based on Silent Hill 2 and is "a mythological love story about someone so deeply in love, they're willing to go to hell to save someone." The film will see Jeremy Irvine and Hanna Emily Anderson taking on the lead roles and a recent Silent Hill Transmission gave us a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the movie. A first look at the terrifying Pyramid Head was also revealed earlier this year.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

Release Date: April 3, 2026

September 2025's Nintendo Direct revealed the next Super Mario Bros. movie will be The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and we are very excited. A sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie must have been the easiest decision for Nintendo as was seen by over 168.1 million people worldwide and made over $1.349 billion at the global box office.

Mortal Kombat 2

Release Date: May 15, 2026

Mortal Kombat 2 will be released in theaters on May 15, 2026, and the synopsis teases that our "fan favorite champions—now joined by Johnny Cage himself—are pitted against one another in the ultimate, no-holds barred, gory battle to defeat the dark rule of Shao Kahn that threatens the very existence of the Earthrealm and its defenders."

Karl Urban plays Johnny Cage and Adeline Rudolph will be taking on the role of Kitana, and they'll be joined by Tati Gabrielle's Jade, Damon Herriman's Quan Chi, Martyn Ford's Shao Kahn, Desmond Chiam's Jerrod, Ana Thu Nguyen's Sindel, CJ Bloomfield's Baraka, Lewis Tan's Cole Young, Hiroyuki Sanada's Scorpion, Jessica McNamee's Sonya Blade, Mehcad Brooks' Jax, Ludi Lin's Liu Kang, Josh Lawson's Kano, Tadanobu Asano's Raiden, Chin Han's Shang Tsung, Joe Tsalim's Bi-Han, and more.

Resident Evil

Release Date: September 18, 2026

Zach Cregger's Resident Evil movie will be bringing us back to Raccoon City in 2026 and recent images posted online have confirmed filming is underway in Prague. This likely means the film will be set prior to October 1998 and the events depicted in Resident Evil 3 for reasons we won't spoil here.

Street Fighter

Release Date: October 16, 2026

Street Fighter will be making its way to the big screen next year from Bad Trip's Kitao Sakurai. As for who will star in the film, a recent trailer revealed the following;

• Noah Centineo as “Ken Masters”
• Andrew Koji as “Ryu”
• Callina Liang as “Chun-Li”
• Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i as “Akuma”
• David Dastmalchian as “M. Bison”
• Cody Rhodes as “Guile”
• Andrew Schulz as “Dan Hibiki”
• Eric André as “Don Sauvage”
• Vidyut Jammwal as “Dhalsim”
• Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as “Balrog”
• Jason Momoa as “Blanka”
• Orville Peck as “Vega”
• Olivier Richters as “Zangief”
• Hirooki Goto as “E. Honda”
• Rayna Vallandingham as “Juli”
• Alexander Volkanovski as “Joe”
• Kyle Mooney as “Marvin”
• Mel Jarnson as “Cammy”

“Set in 1993, estranged Street Fighters Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) are thrown back into combat when the mysterious Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for the next World Warrior Tournament: a brutal clash of fists, fate, and fury,” the official plot synopsis reads.

The Angry Birds Movie 3

Release Date: January 29, 2027

Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Rachel Bloom, and Danny McBride return as Red, Chuck, Silver, and Bomb for a third Angry Birds movies. John Rice (The Angry Birds Movie 1, Beavis & Butt-Head Do the Universe) directs from a screenplay by Thurop Van Orman (The Angry Birds Movie 2!).

Sonic the Hedgehog 4

Release Date: March 19, 2027

The Sonic movies are going strong (Sonic 3 is at the top of our best video game movies of all time list!), so it's no surprise that a fourth film is in the works. There aren't many details available about the project yet, but based on the Sonic 3 post-credits scene, expect Amy Rose and Metal Sonic to show up.

The Legend of Zelda

Release Date: May 7, 2027

The Legend of Zelda is officially getting the live-action film treatment and it's being produced by Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad, chairman of Arad Productions and former founder and CEO of Marvel Studios.

The film will be directed by Wes Ball and will star Bo Bragason as Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link. and it's all being co-financed by Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. Nintendo will be financing more than 50% of the movie and the theatrical distribution will be done by Sony.

"The Legend of Zelda follows Link, a young warrior destined to protect the magical kingdom of Hyrule from the forces of darkness," the official description reads. "The land is under threat from Ganon, a ruthless warlord who seeks the Triforce — an ancient relic said to grant limitless power. To stop him, Link must embark on a perilous journey, battling monstrous creatures, exploring treacherous dungeons, and solving intricate puzzles to uncover sacred artifacts that can aid him in his quest."

If, like us, you can't wait for The Legend of Zelda movie, be sure to check out that one time we predicted the film would eventually arrive via an April Fools' Day joke.

A Minecraft Movie 2

Release Date: July 23, 2027

Warner Bros. has officially confirmed A Minecraft Movie 2 will be released on July 23, 2027, and it makes sense as the original made over $957 million at the global box office. Will Jennifer Coolidge be back with her nitwit villager love interest? We can only hope!

The Last of Us: Season 3

Release Date: 2027

After a stellar first and second season, HBO's The Last of Us will be returning for a third season on HBO and it looks to, as the games did, switch the focus to Kaitlyn Dever's Abby for a while. Co-creator Craig Mazin confirmed this new season will be longer than Season 2.

While you wait, be sure to check out our explainer of the ending of Season 2 and how it sets up this next part of the tragic tale of The Last of Us.

The Witcher: Season 5

Release Date: TBA on Netflix

Netflix’s The Witcher returned for its fourth season, and it did so with a new Geralt of Rivia as The Hunger Games’ Liam Hemsworth replaced Henry Cavill. You can watch all of those episodes now while knowing a fifth and final season is also in the works.

God of War TV Series

Release Date: TBA on Prime Video

Prime Video has officially announced that a God of War live-action series is in the works from Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions. The show will follow the story that began in 2018’s God of War and will see Kratos and Atreus traveling to the highest peak in the nine realms of Norse mythology to spread the ashes of their late wife/mother.

At CES 2024, Sony confirmed writing was underway for the series. In October 2024, it was reported that Ronald D. Moore (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Battlestar Galactica, Outlander) had replaced the show's previous producers Rafe Judkins, Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus as showrunner.

Elden Ring

Release Date: TBA

A live-action Elden Ring movie is in the works from Ex Machina's Alex Garland, who will be directing and writing the movie. George R.R. Martin is on board as a producer. For those worried, Garland put together a 160-page draft script with 40 extra pages of images to convince Bandai Namco and FromSoftware to lead this project.

Call of Duty

Release Date: TBA

Activision and Paramount Pictures announced that Yellowstone creator Tyler Sheridan and Lone Survivor's Peter Berg are on board to lead the upcoming Call of Duty movie. Sheridan will write and produce and Berg will write, direct, and produce.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Release Date: TBA

Even before Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was out, it was confirmed the game would be getting a film adaptation. Developer Sandfall Interactive has partnered with Story Kitchen to bring this to life, but we don't know much else at this point.

Mass Effect

Release Date: TBA on Prime Video

A Mass Effect movie adaptation was in the works at least as far back as 2010, though it never wound up happening.

In December, 2021, however, it was reported that Amazon was working on a deal to adapt the game as a TV series. It once again took a while, but in November 2024, it was confirmed that Amazon MGM studios had begun development on the TV version. Daniel Casey (10 Cloverfield Lane) will write and executive produce the show, while other producers include EA/BioWare's Michael Gamble, who's leading development on the next Mass Effect game, and Avi Arad, who was part of that initial movie announcement all those years back.

Ghost of Tsushima

Release Date: TBA

Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions are developing a film adaptation of Ghost of Tsushima that will be helmed by John Wick director Chad Stahelski. We don’t know much about the project that is set to adapt the story of the game, but Stahelski has confirmed he wants the movie language and cast to be Japanese.

Stahelski also mentioned he is looking at ways to "expand further" into sequels and TV. So, expect a lot of Ghost of Tsushima in the future!

Ghost of Tsushima Anime

Release Date: 2027

A Ghost of Tsushima anime is on the way from Sony and Aniplex and it is set to launch exclusively on Crunchyroll in 2027. Instead of adapting the main game, this anime will instead focus on the Legends co-op multiplayer portion that was added post-launch.

Horizon Zero Dawn Movie and TV Show

Release Date: TBA

Horizon Zero Dawn has had both a movie and a TV show in the works, but the TV show has had a bit of a rocky road. In July 2024, it was reported that the series was no longer moving forward at Netflix. It may show up again in the future, but it wasn't a great sign.

As for the movie, Sony announced at CES 2025 that a big-screen adaptation of Aloy's adventure is currently very early in production. A recent report said the movie is planning on filming in 2026 and releasing at some point in 2027.

Live-Action Tomb Raider (Sophie Turner Series)

Release Date: TBA

Phoebe Waller-Bridge's live-action Tomb Raider series for Amazon Prime Video is back after appearing to be dead, and it will in fact star Sophie Turner as the legendary Lara Croft. Production will begin in January 2026 and Chad Hodge has signed on as co-showrunner alongside Jonathan van Tulleken as director and executive producer.

Beyond: Two Souls

Release Date: TBA

PlayStation and Quantic Dream’s Beyond: Two Souls could be getting a TV series from original star Elliot Page. Reports indicate that Page’s Pageboy Productions has acquired the rights tor the project, which is said to be in early development.

Helldivers 2

Release Date: TBA

At CES 2025, Sony announced that the wildly successful Helldivers 2 would be adapted into a major motion picture from Sony Productions and Sony Pictures.

The Sims

Release Date: TBA

EA's long-running life simulation series The Sims is getting the big-screen treatment from Loki season 1 director Kate Heron and Margot Robbie's production company Lucky Chap. We have yet to learn anything else about the project, but it should be welcome news for fans nonetheless.

Riders Republic

Release Date: TBA

Ubisoft's extreme sports game Riders Republic is getting a film adaptation from Bad Boys for Life's Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. Ubisoft said it is "poised to be an electrifying action movie, delivering non-stop thrills, humor, and spectacular stunts on the snowy slopes of the Alps."

Gears of War Movie and Animated Series

Release Date: TBA

Netflix has partnered with The Coalition to develop a Gears of War live-action movie and an adult animated series. The movie will arrive first and, if these projects do well, there is “potential for more stories to follow!”

In March 2023, it was announced that the Gears of War movie will be written by Dune and Doctor Strange's Jon Spaihts.

Sleeping Dogs

Release Date: TBA

MCU star Simu Liu got fans excited when he said he was working with the rights holders to bring Sleeping Dogs to the big screen, and it turns out he is actually set to produce the film and play the lead role of Wei Shen.

Death Stranding

Release Date: TBA

Hideo Kojima's Kojima Productions has partnered with A24 to adapt Death Stranding into a live-action feature film.

"The film promises to delve into the mysteries surrounding the apocalyptic event called the 'Death Stranding', which blurred the lines between life and death, and brought forth nightmarish creatures into a world on the brink of collapse," the official synopsis reads. It was also confirmed it will "tell a story you haven't seen in that world."

Death Stranding: Mosquito

Release Date: TBA

A new animated film called Death Stranding: Mosquito is on its way and it's, according to Kojima and animation director Hiroshi Miyamoto, follows the story of a guy who sucks.

Days Gone

Release Date: TBA

PlayStation Productions is reportedly developing a film based on Days Gone with X-Men: First Class story developer Sheldon Turner. The producers are said to be eyeing Outlander star Sam Heughan to play Deacon St. John.

Dredge

Release Date: TBA

Dredge, the part creature collector and part eerie horror Lovecraftian fishing game, will be getting a big screen adaptation from Story Kitchen. The media company wants fans to think of this film as "The Sixth Sense on the water. A grounded atmospheric cosmic horror blend of HP Lovecraft and Ernest Hemingway."

Overcooked Reality TV Show

Release Date: TBA

A24 and Netflix will be bringing us a reality TV show based on the chaotic cooking game known as Overcooked. It is said to be an unscripted format show like Nailed It! and Floor Is Lava, and the kitchen will have crazy obstacles pop up to impede the chef's progress in crafting the perfect meal.

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu 2

Release Date: TBA

Legendary Pictures announced a sequel to Detective Pikachu in January 2019, two months before the original hit theaters. 22 Jump Street's Oren Uziel wrote a draft of the screenplay, and in 2023 it was revealed that Jonathan Krisel is directing and Chris Galletta is the latest writer to take on the follow-up.

Stray

Release Date: TBA

Annapurna has confirmed that a Stray animated movie is in development, and it comes from the studios new animated division that is led by former Disney Animation executives Robert Baird and Andrew Millstein.

BioShock

Release Date: TBA

There's always a lighthouse, and apparently there's always a BioShock adaptation in the works. After a previous attempt to bring the beloved first-person shooter to film form fell apart at Universal years ago, Netflix and Take-Two announced in early 2022 that a BioShock film adaptation is in the works for the streaming service. Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence is on-board to direct the film and Logan and Blade Runner 2049 writer Michael Green will pen the script for the story that will be “really true to the game itself.”

In October 2023, it was confirmed the was still in the writing stage but that the team was very optimistic about how the project was going, and in July 2024 producer Roy Lee said the film was still in the works but with a reduced budget.

El Paso, Elsewhere

Release Date: TBA

Strange Scaffold's third-person neo-noir shooter, El Paso, Elsewhere, is getting the big screen treatment, and LaKeith Stanfield is said to be in talks to star and produce the project alongside Lorenzo di Bonaventura's Di Bonaventura Pictures and Colin Stark. The film would follow protagonist James Savage as he navigates a monster-filled world and tries to stop his vicious ex-girlfriend and the demons he is battling inside.

Split Fiction

Release Date: TBA

Earlier this year, Story Kitchen was in the process of gathering a team together to work on an adaptation of Hazelight Studios' Split Fiction. Reports say Sydney Sweeney may star in the film, Wicked director Jon M. Chu will direct, and Deadpool and Wolverine's screenwriter Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are also on board.

Watch Dogs

Release Date: TBA

Ubisoft's Watch Dogs film began filming in 2024, more than a decade after it was first announced. We haven't heard much more since then.

Assassin's Creed TV Series

Release Date: TBA on Netflix

Netflix has announced that it will produce a live-action Assassin's Creed series, executive produced by Ubisoft's Jason Altman and Danielle Kreinik, which will be the first of multiple new projects. The live-action series will be an "epic, genre-bending live action adaptation." The collaboration will "tap into the iconic video game’s trove of dynamic stories" to create live-action, animated and anime series.

Unfortunately, the series lost Die Hard writer Jeb Stuart back in January 2023.

Splinter Cell Movie and Splinter Cell: Deathwatch TV Series

Release Date: Presumed Cancelled for the Movie, TBA for the Series

Back in 2012, it was reported that Tom Hardy was going to be starring as Fisher in a film adaptation of Splinter Cell, but we haven't heard any meaningful updates since around 2015 when Hardy said filming would begin in early 2016. As for the show, in 2021 Netflix gave a first look at what the animated series adaptation would look like. It's titled Splinter Cell: Deathwatch and Liev Schreiber will reportedly voice Sam Fisher.

Which of these video game movie or TV show adaptations are you most looking forward to? Let's discuss in the comments!

Note: This story was updated on 11/7/2025. It was originally posted on 10/21/2021.

Microsoft has announced plans to put Halo Infinite into maintenance mode later this month so developer Halo Studios can focus on working on multiple new Halo games.

In a blog post, Halo Studios said Operation: Infinite, due out November 18, is the last major update currently planned for the Xbox and PC first-person shooter, but insisted it will support players with challenges, ranked rewards, and community events throughout next year and beyond. Operation: Infinite’s free, 100-tier Operation Pass and 100-tier Premium Pass have no planned expiration date.

One of the new Halo games Halo Studios is working on is Halo: Campaign Evolved, which is due out at some point in 2026 across PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 5. Halo Studios did not say what the other upcoming Halo games are.

“As we look back on four years of evolution and updates in Halo Infinite, we’d like to thank our community for your steadfast support,” Halo Studios said. “Without your feedback and enthusiasm, Halo Infinite multiplayer would not be the special place it is today: a robust arena for slaying and playing, with something for every Spartan.

“With multiple Halo titles in development, we’ll need our whole team's combined focus to deliver new experiences with the same passion and care that our community has given us. While we remain committed to supporting Halo Infinite on the road ahead, Operation: Infinite is the last major content update currently planned.”

Halo Studios, once called 343 Industries, leaves Halo Infinite behind four years after its delayed launch across Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and PC in December 2021. Microsoft had intended for it to be an Xbox Series X and S launch title and come out a year earlier, but pushed it back following negative feedback to a hotly anticipated gameplay reveal in July 2020.

Halo Infinite went through significant changes in the years following its release, including the rebranding of its developer, 343 Industries, to Halo Studios, and multiple rounds of layoffs. This came after player numbers for Halo Infinite dropped off dramatically after launch as fans expressed frustration over a lack of content, poor progression systems, and aggressive monetization. A "game changer" battle royale mode was scrapped.

Gamers are already pointing out that Halo Infinite hasn’t even managed to reach the halfway point of Microsoft’s well-documented 10-year plan for the game (it wasn’t called Halo: Infinite for nothing). In July 2020, IGN spoke with now former Halo Infinite Studio Head Chris Lee, who described Halo Infinite as “the start of our platform for the future.”

“We want Infinite to grow over time, versus going to those numbered titles and having all that segmentation that we had before,” he continued. “It’s really about creating Halo Infinite as the start of the next 10 years for Halo and then building that as we go with our fans and community.”

While continued updates have significantly improved the experience, Halo Infinite never quite managed to realize its potential. The focus now is on Halo: Campaign Evolved, although this, too, has suffered a bumpy ride since it was announced, with one of the key members of the original Halo development team at Bungie expressing concern about some of the changes made.

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.

Audible's holiday promotion for 2025 is now live. Through December 16, new and returning Audible subscribers can sign up for three months of Audible Premium Plus for just $0.99 per month. You will need to be logged into your Amazon Prime membershp to see this promotion. After the three months is up, your subscription will convert to the standard $14.95/mo, so make sure to cancel beforehand if you don't want to continue with the service. You also get a free audiobook of your choice for each of those three months that you get to keep indefinitely even after your subscription expires.

3 Free Months of Audible Premium Plus

Ahead of Black Friday, Dell is offering an Alienware Aurora R16 gaming desktop equipped with the GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card for as low as $2,099 with free delivery. Most RTX 5080 prebuilts you'll find elsewhere, including the more affordable brands you find on Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart, are priced closer to $2,400 and up. That's impressive considering Alienware usually commands a higher price premium. Such a system would have cost as much as $3,000 at the beginning of the year, but Nvidia GeForce RTX 50 prices have been trending downwards lately.

Alienware Aurora RTX 5080 Gaming PC From $2,065

The Samsung S84/S85 TVs boast all the advantages of OLED that makes them one of the best TVs for gaming, but at a much lower price tag than other OLED TVs. As part of its early Black Friday sale, Best Buy is offering a 2025 65" Samsung S84F 4K OLED Smart TV for just $899.99 with free deluxe delivery. This is the lowest price right now for a 65" OLED TV. The sale ends on Sunday, November 9, and then you won't have a chance to get in on this deal again until Black Friday.

65" Samsung S84F 4K OLED Smart TV for $899.99

Best Buy is offering a great deal on a powerful gaming laptop ahead of Black Friday. For this week only, you can pick up the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16s GeForce RTX 5070 Ti gaming laptop for just $1,599.99 with free delivery after a $300 instant discount. This is a well-equipped laptop, boasting a gorgeous 16" 240Hz OLED display and a high-end Intel Core Ultra 9 HX series processor. The RTX 5070 Ti is a powerful mobile GPU that can run any game you throw at it.

Update: This deal is expected to expire on Sunday, 11/9.

Acer Predator Helios Neo RTX 5070 Ti Laptop for $1,599.99

Black Friday deals season is fast approaching. It's the biggest shopping holiday of the year and overall the best time to find discounts on just about everything. If you're hoping to save some money on gifts and essentials in 2025, this upcoming sales event is your best bet.

With that in mind, Black Friday has evolved well beyond a single day of deals. While plenty of shoppers still tend to do the bulk of their actual shopping over Thanksgiving weekend, you will definitely be able to find good deals well before then. Best Buy has already launched its early Black Friday sale, so you don't even need to wait.

Early Black Friday Sales Live Now

When Do Black Friday Sales Actually Start?

Black Friday is November 28 this year, but we expect most sales to drop much earlier than that. Now that we're a full week into November, we're already seeing a ton of early sales go live at major retailers. These early sales are a great chance to save, but we expect the main Black Friday event to arrive later this month.

Best Buy was the first retailer to reveal its sale dates for 2025, and it looks like its Black Friday sales will start on Thursday, November 20 this year. Amazon was one of the first retailers to kick off the sale last year on the Thursday before Thanksgiving weekend, and it would seem that trend has caught on for 2025. Amazon will almost certainly match Best Buy's sale start time. Costco has also announced that part of its sale will begin on November 17 this year with more deals arriving online on Thanksgiving.

Best Buy, Costco, Target, and Walmart have all made an announcement about sale dates, so it's probably safe to say that you'll be able to do most of your online Black Friday shopping the weekend before Thanksgiving in 2025. For many brick-and-mortar stores, you may be able to expect the full discounts even earlier. Some sales will still only take place on actual Black Friday, like at the LEGO Store, but for the most part the discounts will start ahead of then.

What Deals to Expect From Major Retailers

With the ongoing tariffs and recent price increases in the U.S., it's difficult to predict exactly what discounts we'll see during the 2025 Black Friday season. The IGN Deals team has been covering shopping events all year and we have a decent idea of what you can expect, even if the prices will be higher than what we saw last year.

Amazon Black Friday

Amazon has one of the biggest Black Friday sales every year and tends to have discounts on just about everything. Based on previous Amazon sales like Prime Day and Prime Big Deal Days, you can expect the same discounts on Amazon devices we saw earlier this year. The lowest prices will most likely be on Kindles and Fire TV sticks, as well as Echo speaker bundles. Amazon has also been pushing a pretty steep discount on the Luna controller and subsequent bundles during every major sale this year. These particular discounts will most likely be exclusive to Prime members.

Outside of Amazon devices, the online retailer will also automatically match prices on popular products that are offered at other retailers. That means you can expect discounts on things like Apple devices, LEGO sets, laptops, TVs, and just about every other brand not exclusively owned by another major retailer. Amazon's Black Friday sale will usually be offering the same low price (or lower) as any of its competitors for these types of items.

To get a better idea of what to expect this year, you can take a look at last year's Amazon Black Friday ad.

Walmart Black Friday

After Amazon, the next biggest Black Friday sale you can expect is at Walmart. These discounts will be both in store and online, but the online savings should start a bit earlier. Walmart usually has some of the best deals on Apple devices like iPad and AirPods. You'll usually also find some of the lowest prices of the year on Walmart-exclusive products like Onn electronics, select Vizio TVs, some gaming PC configurations (see: the recent GeForce sale), and certain home appliances.

In the past, Walmart has also had some great Nintendo Switch deals that Amazon wasn't able to offer. We'd expect to see this again this year, most likely on newer Switch 2 games or Pokémon cards. Expect some of these discounts to be available early for Walmart+ members, which has been the case for other major sales this year.

In addition to popular tech and games, Walmart also tends to have deals on groceries, clothing, and toys. Walmart has been especially known to offer particularly good LEGO discounts, but stock tends to be fairly limited.

You can check out the full Walmart Black Friday ad from last year for more information. Walmart has also released an early deals preview for discounts starting on November 14 this year you can check out.

Best Buy Black Friday

The Best Buy Black Friday sale is usually the best collection of tech deals during the holiday season. Many of these discounts will be price-matched by Amazon and Walmart, but it will still likely have all of the same Apple devices, TVs, and video games on sale as everywhere else. You can also likely expect some sort of video game console deal on the PS5/PS5 Pro and Xbox Series X. With the continued price increases, this could just mean getting a free Best Buy gift card with your purchase, but it will still be a better deal than paying full price with no additional benefits.

In addition to consoles, video games, and video game accessories, Best Buy also tends to be one of the best places to buy handheld gaming PCs and laptops. With the recent release of the ROG Xbox Ally X, Best Buy has been the only retailer to keep stock. You can likely expect price cuts on the previous generation ROG Ally devices at Best Buy this year, as well as other popular handhelds. We also expect competitive pricing around newer laptops with the latest 50-series GPUs.

For more information on what to expect, check out the Best Buy Black Friday ad from last year. Best Buy has stated that it will have new doorbuster deals dropping every friday starting on Halloween this year, so expect more deals to arrive early as the sale continues.

When it comes to buying a new gaming PC, one of the main reasons to buy an off-the-shelf option rather than building one yourself is to get something reliable that is professionally put together. As good as my cable management skills are, they rarely measure up to what the pros can manage.

I want a good spread of hardware to choose from, though, which is why it’s encouraging to see such a broad swathe of configurations from the Asus ROG G700. If you want something modest and affordable, there are options for that. If you’d rather kit it out with the fastest CPU and GPU combination money can buy, that option’s there too. In any case, you get the same high build quality, sleek-looking, gaming PC with a roomy case, capable cooling, and attractive RGB lighting.

It’s a big’ old system, though. So you’ll want to ensure you have plenty of space on your desk or floor, and that you’re feeling strong on the day it arrives – or at least get someone to help you.

Design and Features

The G700 is a full-tower gaming PC measuring 18.88 inches tall and 20.05 inches long, and that doesn’t include the feet, which give it at least another inch of verticality. That means this system takes up a lot of space wherever you put it, but conversely also has plenty of internal volume which makes future maintenance or upgrades much easier.

In the more immediate term, however, it means you can enjoy a lot of the ROG branding that Asus covered this PC with. That’s going to be a love it or hate it thing for most folks, and it’s worth considering this PC is for gamers. That perhaps shouldn’t surprise considering it’s part of the ROG family, which of course stands for Republic of Gamers. This is no sleeper system, with RGB-lit ROG branding along the PSU shroud and on an acrylic panel just behind the front fans.

There’s even a multi-sentence mission statement of sorts on the PSU shroud which talks about how ROG kingdom gamers don’t conform and stand out from the pack. An interesting juxtaposition for a mass-produced gaming PC.

Cable management is excellent, with Asus seemingly adopting a design philosophy of hiding wires where it can, and making them flow with the natural lines of the system where it can’t. There’s a shroud for the 20+4 pin power connector, a PSU shroud that covers the entire base of the case, and the PWM fan cables and 12v-2x6 connector are as tucked away as they can be, giving everything a clean aesthetic.

It’s decidedly forward-looking in its design, lacking any kind of 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch drive bay space. There’s enough physical room for heaps of drives, but no mounting solutions. That makes bringing over older SATA drives from your previous PC a little tricky. You can wedge them in behind the PSU shroud with some double-sided tape, but there are no mounting holes for them.

It actually feels like Asus missed a trick there. It could easily have included some screw holes on the back of the motherboard tray for some 2.5-inch drives and there’s a clear spot at the front where a 3.5-inch drive could be fitted to the floor.

If you don’t care about such ancient standards, and most of the people buying this system off-the-shelf probably don’t, it’s no big deal, but it’s something worth bearing in mind if you’re upgrading and want to bring some of your storage with you.

Still, this is one system you’re going to want to dust regularly to keep that sleek and clear aesthetic alive. You won’t need to worry about GPU sag though, as Asus has installed a sturdy GPU bracket that fits the aesthetic without standing out.

Front panel connectors include a pair of USB-A 3.2 gen 1 and a single USB-C 3.2 gen 1, as well as mic and headphone inputs – plenty for most uses. Since this system uses a B860 motherboard, the back isn’t extensive, though you still get nine USB-A ports topping out at 3.2 Gen 2, and a USB-C 3.2 gen 2 port, as well as Gigabit ethernet, DisplayPort 1.4 for onboard graphics, and a trio of audio connectors. The 5070 Ti in this build has the standard three DisplayPorts and a single HDMI connector.

It has all the ports you need for standard peripherals like keyboards and mice, though if you’re the kind of person who does a lot of big data transfers to external drives you might want to invest in some faster ports via a PCIe card.

The PSUs is LiteON branded which is a well known OEM of strong-enough repute that I’m not concerned about it powering the components. At 850W and 80+ Gold rated, it’s got enough going for it that you shouldn’t need to upgrade any time soon. There’s nothing in the way of spare cables, though, so you’ll need adapters if you want to add any add-in cards that require external power.

Performance

AMD might get the most love for its gaming CPUs this generation, but the Intel’s Core Ultra 265K and combined with the 5070 Ti, this PC is more than capable of hitting high frame rates and punching above its weight. I wouldn’t typically consider the 5070 Ti a 4K graphics card, but in most of the games in our test suite, the ROG G700 delivered excellent performance.

It managed over 100 fps in many of the games we tested at 4K, including Forza Horizon 5, Black Ops 6, and Metro Exodus: Enhanced Edition – and that’s without frame generation, too. Even the more demanding games, like Cyberpunk and Black Myth Wukong were very playable considering their settings were almost completely maxed out, though DLSS certainly helped smooth out the FPS.

With frame generation enabled we saw much higher frame rates in those two super-demanding games, though with a bit of noticeable flicker in Black Myth Wukong, which would encourage me to play without it – but your mileage may vary. It’s much more of a useful option in Forza, though, where it took the fps very close to a buttery smooth 190 FPS.

Total War: Warhammer III is a great test, as it’s a demanding, but older, DirectX 11 game that doesn’t offer any kind of dynamic upscaling or frame generation support; It’s all pure, raw rasterized rendering. The ROG G700 performed admirably there, almost hitting 90 FPS which looks great on a high refresh rate display.

Unfortunately, when you start gaming quite hard the fans spin up enough that noise levels do become quite noticeable. You’ll probably want to game in headphones for more demanding games that push the heat and fan speed up.

The standard configuration is strong, though, with Asus holding back from filling the system with bloatware. Resizeable BAR is enabled by default too, which is nice to see, although oddly XMP wasn’t. That’s an easy fix, but seems like an odd oversight when so much thought and care seems to have gone into the rest of the system.

Then, during general office work, web browsing, and streaming, the Asus ROG G700 isit’s quiet and lacks any kind of obvious coil whine. Performance is strong, with everyday tasks feeling snappy and responsive