"Fucking Idiots." In December of 2024, that is what Barbara Broccoli, the second generation steward of the most bankable MI6 agent there is, called her opposite numbers at Amazon who referred to the titular spy as “content” and didn’t think “Bond was a hero.”

"Fucking Idiots" is a quote I get to use without any editorializing on my part thanks to a producer who looked after James Bond for decades, single-handedly fending off Amazon because of at least some degree of perceived fucking idiocy.

Just two short months later, Amazon and Broccoli, along with co-producer Michael G. Wilson, reached a deal to cede creative control of Bond, James Bond, to a company owned by one of the richest men on the planet, one of the few alive with the potential to be an actual Bond villain in real life.

For now though, Jeff Bezos and his "fucking idiots" at Amazon will just be the villains of the storied franchise’s next chapter. Their weapon will not be a satellite riddled with lasers or an army of algorithm-infused nanobots or biological weapons developed at a Swiss allergy institute catering exclusively to hot young women from around the world. It won’t be anything cool at all.

Amazon is set to deploy the cruelest weapon of them all. One that’s been crumbling entertainment franchises for years now… IP slop.

Firstly, I want to make something clear. This is not Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson’s “fault.” The deal is reportedly worth a billion dollars and if anybody has a problem with somebody making a billion dollars for made up stories about a super spy, they should just stop.

While I was very much high-fiving from afar at the thought of Barbara Broccoli holding the 007 franchise hostage in the face of Amazon’s team of "fucking idiots," I also don’t blame her at all. Broccoli’s name has been on every Bond movie since 1979’s Moonraker, for which she was an additional assistant director. She took over the title of producer on 1995’s Goldeneye, a title she held until the recent Amazon deal. That’s just as long a stretch as her dad Albert Broccoli’s, who, along with Harry Saltzman, held the reins from Dr. No through License to Kill.

The point is, Bond has always been a family business, and the entire point of any family business is to one day sell it. It’s called a harvest strategy and anybody in their 60s who’s spent their entire adult life and professional career growing the family business ought to have one. So honestly, good for her.

For us Bond fans out here in the real world, who are not suddenly a billion dollars heavier, the outlook is much bleaker.

History Is Not on Bond’s Side

IP Slop is designed to make money via the path of least resistance, no matter how it might degrade the source material. Rights holders know there’s a large audience out there for their IP who are eager and willing to consume it, regardless of its quality. And that’s the key.

These “slop-mongers” are just throwing shit at the wall, and not in a way that’s looking for something that sticks. Instead it just seems to be an insistence on putting everything out there. The least insidious version of it sounds something like “here are all the names of characters you’re familiar with because we, the parent company, finally wrangled 60 years worth of them into one corporate structure. This is what you want, right?” The more villainous flavor says, “Actually, scratch that. This is what you want. No question mark.”

The same report that surfaced the "fucking idiots" quotes highlighted some of the ideas being tossed around the fulfillment center. They included spinoff series for Moneypenny or other Double-O agents and even referred to entries in a would-be Bond shared universe as “content.” But for a company for which this “content” will not be its primary source of revenue, that “content” effectively becomes something else. It begins to be in service of the primary source of revenue.

Ask Disney how it’s worked out for them. Marvel has been, with the exception of a few thrilling moments here and there, creatively bankrupt since Avengers: Endgame. It was a fabulous final act that’s become synonymous with sticking the landing and plainly impossible to replicate. Endgame was made because of careful groundwork laid in the MCU’s early days. Long gone, however, are the days of risky propositions like Robert Downey Jr. and headlines confounded by the casting of unknowns. Those days have been replaced with studio mergers, fan cast cameos and any name they want to lead their next project because they can afford it.

You could also ask Kathleen Kennedy about it. On top of being a producer with a resume decades long and full of movies that made a generation fall in love with movies, myself included, she’s reportedly nearing the end of her own tenure in the Disney IP mines with a baby Yoda and an imbalance of announced-but-unmade projects as part of her legacy. But Disney had cartoons to remake in live action and theme park tickets to sell and a streaming service to populate, so it would be naive to think there’s a sole culprit for Star Wars' recent rise in output and drop in relative quality.

Creatively speaking, there are few who will argue we’re in the midst of the glory days of either Marvel or Star Wars, but damn if Disneyland and their Avengers Campus and Galaxy’s Edge isn’t bursting at the seams with merch. This is the direct result of IP Slop, the late stages of a steady flow of middling, but well-populated movies.

Star Trek suffered a similar fate over on Paramount+. I would argue, though, that franchise has "slopped" more thoughtfully than they might have because Lower Decks was clearly not made by "fucking idiots." But with major franchises fueled by corporations wanting to cash in on every square inch of intellectual property they can get their bottom-line loving hands on, maybe George Lucas was a bit of a case study in “getting out at the right time” for Broccoli and Wilson? Lucas was famously ahead of the curve on securing merchandising rights, so he’s undoubtedly savvy enough to have seen the direction the corporate winds were blowing.

This is all of course “just business.” It’s nothing new for "fucking idiots" to aim for as big a return on their investments as possible. Marvel was notorious for licensing their IP to anybody willing to pay for decades before hitting it truly big as their own film studio. But few industries combine art and consumerism the way that Hollywood does, and just as few feature such devoted fan bases. Where IP Slop really begins shaping a franchise’s creative output is when the fans are considered something else… customers.

“Temporary People”

A spectacular quote Barbara Broccoli reportedly bandied about in her conversations about the "fucking idiots" at Amazon came from her father. “Don’t have temporary people make permanent decisions.”

The first thing Jeff Bezos did after the deal was announced was poll his customers on their preference for the next James Bond actor. Where businesses are concerned, more than executives, more than rank and file employees, the most temporary of all people in their equation are their customers.

The casting of Bond has always, to be fair, been the subject of much public scrutiny. You can place bets on it, actors often have odds assigned to the likelihood of their casting and countless listicles with headlines like “The Most Likely Actor to Be the Next Bond Is Not Who You Think It Is” get updated on the regular to keep the algorithm busy. But the truth is, Bond’s casting decisions have always lived with permanent people.

They’ve also been a pendulum of sorts, rocking back and forth between actors that make the role and actors who take it over. Sean Connery was a nobody; even Ian Fleming wanted somebody else. Two or three somebody elses depending on the story you believe. But Connery came to define the role and, more than that, define an archetype for an action star that’s a casting shorthand still used to this day.

After a quick stop to find another unknown in George Lazenby (one that actually worked out great where the character was concerned but ended after only one film for behind the scenes reasons) and another outing from a clearly disinterested, but well compensated, Connery, Roger Moore picked up the Walther PPK coming off of a well known and well liked stint on The Saint, stepping from one spy role immediately into another.

Moore was followed by Timothy Dalton, who wasn’t terribly famous at the time and definitely wasn’t when he’d originally been the choice to take over instead of Roger Moore, but he passed because he felt that he was too young for the role. The bit of intrigue with The Living Daylights though is that Pierce Brosnan was offered the tux but the popular series Remington Steele wouldn’t let him out of his contract to make the film. By the time 1995 and Goldeneye came around, he was everybody’s no-brainer choice to join MI6.

In 2006 Daniel Craig kept the pendulum swinging, by veering back into the category of “casting the unknown.” The uproar about him simply being blonde aside, Craig defines the end of the Bond actor spectrum that makes the role their own.

Barbara Broccoli explains it best. She’s talked about when she first realized Craig was the choice. It wasn’t Matthew Vaughan’s Layer Cake like many assumed, it was 1998’s Elizabeth. She said: “I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, he’s the guy,’ when he was in Elizabeth, walking down the corridor. I know that sounds crazy, but that was the moment I felt it in my gut. When your whole life is James Bond, some part of you is always looking for, who could play the role?”

That gut instinct is the first thing to go when IP slop takes over. Barbara Broccoli, who’s made Bond her life, sees something in an actor and just knows. But with Amazon, a room full of marketing people will weigh in, whole buildings full of people will have to sign off, even if it’s just rubber stamping the results of the online poll. It’s Bond by committee, and there’s not a single person on that committee who’ll be risking anything. They’re anonymously part of the process and not accountable for the results.

So now, with Bezos (my God, there’s a Z right in the middle of his name -- it looks and sounds like he’s got a cat in his lap at all times) looking to his most temporary people for guidance, the pendulum is once again going to swing back toward a known quantity and what I fear will be the most boring Bond has been to date.

But before we write off Bezos’ poll as just a cheeky bit of fun, we need to realize that fan input is all part of the IP slop formula. The evidence is in the course-correcting that’s happened over the years from Star Wars (The Last Jedi into The Rise of Skywalker), the nods to fan casting from Marvel (John Krasinski’s green screen cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness) and DC (The Snyder Cut being a thing in the first place). Fan backlash and fan expectations are 100% taken into account at all times in a corporate environment. Fans are, after all, customers.

On the other hand, there’s something that Daniel Craig’s successful run proved. Fans don’t always know what they want until they see it. The most dangerous thing about IP Slop is the idea that we never would’ve gotten Daniel Craig if we crowd-sourced every Bond. The fact that recent history is pointing toward this exact thing happening is actually something 007 is used to.

“No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Play Along…”

Oddly enough, this Amazon deal is fitting for Bond historically. As a franchise, 007 has always been very reactive. In 1977, The Spy Who Loved Me ended with “James Bond will return in For Your Eyes Only,” but after Star Wars took over the business, they audibled and made Moonraker next instead. Blacksploitation is a market we can make money in? Great, let’s make Live and Let Die, gritty reboots are a thing? Awesome, Casino Royale can do that. He became monogamous in the '80s during the AIDS epidemic, his chauvinism was brought to account during the '90s. Bond has always found his place in the current industry climate. The question has always been, what does Bond have to offer this particular moment?

And so now, in the age of IP Slop, Bond is subject to the whims of one of the world’s largest and most influential companies. It’s par for his course to go with the prevailing winds of the business. The Bond-verse is coming whether any of us like it or not. Thanks to a bunch of "fucking idiots."

Titan Comics is releasing their popular Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor comic in a trade paperback this March. At IGN Fan Fest 2025 we chatted with writer Dan Watters (Loki, Home Sick Pilots) and artist Kelsey Ramsay (Dark Spaces: Good Deeds, Joan Jett and the Black Hearts), who revealed new exclusives and talked about crafting the story for The Fifteenth Doctor in comic form.

Below, fans can also check out exclusive behind-the-scenes art from Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor comic.

Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor follows the TV series' incarnations of The Doctor and his companion, (Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson, respectively), as they explore a bizarre shopping mall during some of the final days on Earth. A terrifying new villain, the Scream Sommelier, comes in and classically ruins the day.

When it came to creating the Scream Sommelier, Watters said he had the idea in his head for a while, and was waiting for the right story to bring him to life.

"The idea (was) a godlike figure who was obsessed with bottling and savouring screams," Watters said. "When it was suggested we tie into the Pantheon, the godlike beings who’d been making the Doctor’s recent adventures even more difficult, he seemed like he’d be a good fit there. I was happy to exorcise him."

The ever-popular enemies from Doctor Who, Cybermen, who made their first appearance in the Doctor Who TV series in 1966, resurfaced in this comic, no doubt exciting fans. Watters said it was a natural decision to include them as enemies.

"They’re a great and tragic monster - driven by a very human impulse to survive, pushing themselves beyond the Uncanny Valley to something utterly inhuman. They’re more relevant today than
they were when they were first created," Watters said.

In terms of dream monsters the creators say they would like to bring to life in comic-form, Ramsay would like to illustrate the infamous Weeping Angels, while Watters would enjoy writing a Carrionite story. "Witches who perform linguistic magic from before the dawn of time? Sign me up," Watters said.

When it comes to their dream Doctor, Ramsay shared ever-popular choice, saying, "I think David Tennant feels like a classic to me, I watched more of his series than any other Doctor and sort of grew up with those Christmas specials."

Regarding the creation process, Watters said he likes every stage of it. "I enjoy dreaming up ideas. I enjoy the craft of communicating a scene on the page and collaborating with other creators. Every stage of taking an idea out of my head and working with others to turn it into words and images on a page with
other creators should never be taken for granted. What a thing to get to do."

Ramsay's design process is different, and her favorite part is creating the visual story step-by-step. "With drawing it would start with my favorite part, creating thumbnails visualising the story from the script – the most collaborative part. Then pencil/layout on larger paper and inking as the final stage – also my favorite as it usually requires the least amount of brain power for me. (It's) the most relaxing part."

Ramsay gave advice for aspiring comic artists, saying they should focus on their weakest subjects to create a vast design library throughout various generes, to not limit themselves, and to balance their work with what they love.

For writing, Watters said you simply have to make things. "Don’t worry about other people’s stories, beyond what you can learn from them. Don’t worry about what opportunities others are getting, or your dream jobs or aspirations. Make your thing. Become an artist, either with words or pictures. Absorb a lot more than just comics," he conitnued, "Read books, both fiction and nonfiction. Read novellas and short stories and poetry. Watch movies and focus on the cinematography. Stare at paintings and figure out how narrative is conveyed in a single image. There’s always narrative. Absorb as much of the world around you as you can. Solve et coagula."

The Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor trade paperback comes out on March 18, 2025, and you can scoop it up at your favorite comic shop.

HP has finally opened up preorders for its 2025 Omen Max 16 gaming laptop. It will be equipped with the latest and greatest hardware, including the upcoming Intel Core Ultra 9 HX-series processor and GeForce RTX 5080 mobile GPU. Orders are estimated to start shipping out on March 13. This will likely be HP's new flagship gaming laptop and will coexist alongside the standard Omen and the slim Omen Transcend gaming laptops.

Preorder the HP Omen Max 16" RTX 5080 Gaming Laptop

This morning, we got our first lengthy look at Pokemon Legends: Z-A, Game Freak's futuristic new Pokémon game set in the familiar Pokémon X/Y locale of Lumiose City. But even though we saw a number of features such as running on rooftops, changes to battling, and Mega Evolution, we still have loads of questions about exactly when Pokémon Legends Z-A takes place relative to the other Pokémon games, and which returning characters we might see in Lumiose City.

That's where the community comes in.

For context, while most Pokémon games tend to be standalone affairs, the first Pokémon Legends game dealt with time travel. It also heavily featured familiar locations from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl set hundreds of years in the past, numerous characters who were clearly ancestors of characters in other Pokémon games...or, in one case, just a Pokémon Black and White character plopped down in the past by Pokémon God themself. With that in mind, fans are eager to know when Pokémon Legends: Z-A is set, if there are any time traveling shenanigans, and if we'll see any familiar faces in Lumiose City whenever this game takes place.

In the last few hours since the trailer debuted, fans have been combing it for connections to other Pokémon games...and they've found a surprising amount. The most obvious connection is the presence of AZ, which is called out directly in the trailer. AZ is a character who was granted immortality 3000 years before the events of Pokémon X and Y, so it makes sense that regardless of when Z-A takes place, he'd be around. In Z-A, he seems to run a hotel in Lumiose City, and he looks a lot happier now that he's been reunited with his beloved Floette.

But there are far more subtle ties. One of my favorites that fans have discovered is the potential presence of the Looker Bureau in Z-A. Looker is a fan-favorite detective character who first appeared in Pokémon Black and White, but has since made appearances in several other games. Several eagle-eyed fans have noticed that one office shown in the trailer looks nearly identical to the Looker Bureau in past games, which they believe confirms the presence of either Looker or his protege Emma in Z-A's Lumiose City.

Another really bonkers theory floating around is the connection between the two main protagonists and some other familiar faces. Now that we've got full character art for the protagonists of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, fans have pointed out that the two characters look suspiciously similar to Ethan and Lyra, the two player characters from Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. This has led to speculation that Legends: Z-A may feature a time traveling scenario where Ethan and Lyra are pulled out of their version of Johto and sent to a futuristic Lumiose.

But another interesting, protagonist-related theory suggests a different origin story. Fans are also pointing out that the pair look somewhat similar to Kalos Pokémon scientist Professor Sycamore and the mother of the protagonist in Pokémon X and Y, named Grace. This one, especially the bit involving Grace, is a bit more of a stretch, but still a super interesting theory in light of past plays on ancestry in the Legends series:

What's most curious about all those theories is that some version of them could all be true at the same time. As multiple fans have pointed out, we have absolutely no idea where Pokémon Legends Z-A takes place in the timeline. Pokémon games over the years have had a very loosely sequential timeline that also occasionally involves alternate realities (don't worry about it, it's fine) and, again as in the case of Legends: Arceus, time travel back to the past. If AZ is running a hotel, fans are pointing out that this game must take place after the events of Pokémon X and Y.

But it's possible that could mean hundreds of years after, given AZ's immortality. The greatest evidence of this is Lumiose City itself, which is ginormous and futuristic in Legends Z-A in a way that would have taken decades to build. If that's true and this takes place that far into the future, that would mean the two protagonists, as well as whoever is running the Looker Bureau, are descedents several generations down the line of the characters they resemble.

There is one more character that fans are obsessing over, and that's this creepy woman from the key art:

This woman looks like a Hex Maniac, which was a trainer type that appeared in Pokémon X and Y. While a number of returning trainer types have been spotted in today's news, this girl is particularly interesting due to an ongoing Pokémon mystery: the Ghost Girl.

In Pokémon X and Y, there's a scene you can view by entering a building in Lumiose City and heading up to the second floor. When you arrive, the lights will flash, the music will stop, and a Hex Maniac will appear behind you, glide toward the front of the screen, and say, "No, you're not the one," before disappearing. It's a weird, creepy scene that to this day has absolutely no explanation. This girl is never seen again, does not unlock anything, and just appears to be a strange easter egg. So because that Hex Maniac has remained a mystery for years, the sight of one creepily wandering around Lumiose in Legends Z-A has a lot of fans hopeful this thread might finally lead somewhere. After all, if she's a ghost, she could have continued to haunt that building for hundreds of years...

In the coming days, there will almost certainly be more new discoveries, easter eggs, and connections found throughout all the footage, art, and news we received today about Pokémon Legends: Z-A. We have a bit of a wait for the game's release, as it's currently planned for "late 2025." But in the meantime at least we have lots of new information to obsess over. You can catch up on everything announced at today's Pokémon Presents, including Legends Z-A news, mobile gaming news, Pokemon Champions, and more, right here.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

From Chicken Jockeys to the Water Bucket Clutch, the newest trailer for Warner Bros., Legendary, and Mojang’s A Minecraft Movie is packed with Easter Eggs that should give fans a better idea as to how the revolutionary sandbox game has been adapted for the big screen.

The two-and-a-half-minute trailer, released today, doesn’t waste a second, bombarding viewers with references to the classic video game it’s based on from the very first frame. It comes with more story details, too, including a trip to the Nether and a first look at Jennifer Coolidge’s long-awaited first contact with a Villager.

Pandas spawn a baby panda after finding some bamboo, Jack Black’s Steve saves the day with a last-minute water bucket, Emma Myers’ Natalie crafts a lore-accurate Diamond Sword – it truly has it all. We can even see how the ragtag team leading A Minecraft Movie will adapt to its world of Piglins and Pillagers by utilizing tools like Redstone switches and an army of Iron Golems. It’s more than a simple treasure chest of Easter Eggs, though, as the trailer teases a film that director Jared Hess has crafted to be action-packed.

As Ghasts hurl fireballs at unsuspecting Villagers, this latest A Minecraft Movie trailer finally takes the time to properly introduce its main villain: a Piglin ruler known as Malgosha. It’s not quite the Herobrine reveal many were hoping for, but Malgosha does at least bring more star power to the Overworld thanks to voicework from Moana and Marvel veteran Rachel House.

A Minecraft Movie spawns into theaters April 4, 2025. It will no doubt attract audiences regardless of if they’re fans of Minecraft in general, but Mojang has revealed a special bonus for fans of the game who catch the film during its theatrical run. For a limited time, players who purchase tickets through Fandango will be granted access to an exclusive in-game jetpack for Minecraft: Bedrock Edition. You can see an image of the add-on below.

This review contains spoilers for Invincible Season 3, Episode 6 Review – “All I Can Say Is I’m Sorry”

It’s been a while since large-scale devastation mattered on Invincible. To date, season 3 has shrugged off any and all bloodshed, but with its flashback to the highly-effective season 1 finale – in which Nolan/Omni-Man uses Mark/Invincible as a battering ram to kill thousands of civilians – “All I Can Say Is I’m Sorry” sets the stage for an emotionally rigorous reversal of that trend. The destruction of Chicago is seen through the eyes of GDA employee Scott, whose sister and niece are revealed to be two of the minor characters Mark brutally and inadvertently killed. This sets Scott down a path where he first seeks justice – it turns out Earth’s laws remain too inadequate to deal with the intricacies of superheroics – and then, failing that, cold-blooded vengeance, even if it means putting his wife and son in harm’s way.

The events in Chicago, while horrific, were never really rooted in any specific, individual loss before. Now, they’re jumping-off point for a difficult reckoning. As the anniversary of the event approaches, Oliver questions why people aren’t ready to forgive his father – who he only knew as a benevolent leader on Thraxa – forcing Mark to verbalize a difficult answer. People are still holding on to a pain that he buried long ago(if only so he could better function as a superhero), but Scott ­– now the villain Powerplex – doesn’t have that luxury. Holding Mark responsible for his family’s deaths, he shows up to Chicago repeatedly in a suit that turns physical blows into electricity, quite literally channeling his pain into power. (It’s a dark echo of the character Speedball/Penance in Marvel’s Civil War comics; in addition to its myriad parodies and pastiches, Invincible continues to draw immense power from its sincere, grounded reinterpretions and remixes of other superhero comics. See also: The traces of Watchmen and Miracleman in “All I Can Say Is I’m Sorry.”) Scott keeps demanding Invincible’s presence, and it takes a particularly dangerous scheme for them to finally come face to face during the episode’s climax. In the meantime, the arriving Shapesmith – who finally comes into his own as the show’s version of DC’s uber-annoying Plastic Man – only makes Powerplex more irritated, and thus, more dangerous.

The show builds its other subplots with more skill and balance than it has in recent weeks. Despite only factoring into one scene each, the Robot-Monster Girl and Rex-Rae pairings are allowed enough time and breathing room to make significant dramatic headway. Robot’s Hail Mary play to stop Monster Girl from aging in reverse finally pays off thanks to a tech-savvy belt – a moment of much relief for Monster Girl – though this emotional upswing dovetails into relationship tension elsewhere. After their first proper date last week, Rae confesses to Rex that she’s ready to leave the Guardians; being the hot-headed jerk he is, he can’t help but take the timing personally.

Some of the episode’s more charming and heartwarming (not to mention its funniest) moments come from Paul, Debbie’s boyfriend and the new awkward addition to the Grayson household. As the only “normie” in the group – Mark, Oliver, and Eve have powers, while Debbie has long been the mother and (ex-)wife to superheroes – Paul is hilariously out of his depth, especially when they “take the car” from the suburbs to Chicago for the memorial (i.e. Paul and Debbie sit inside the car while Mark carries it through the air, with Eve and Oliver flying alongside him). Of course, this tongue-in-cheek transition leads to a much more somber occasion, involving the inauguration of a memorial with all 2,300-plus names of the people who died that day, forcing Mark to really sit with what happened.

So there’s an immense emotional heft added by having Powerplex re-appear during this moment of reflection. His eventual plot to lure Invincible out of the shadows – pretending to kidnap his wife and kid, which leads to them being violently killed in the climactic fight – similarly forces Mark to confront how an already dangerous situation can become more so just because Invincible is there. This also helps re-frame his recent crisis of morality: His belief that criminals all deserve to be locked up (end of discussion) is a way to avoid feeling like he has a hand in the things they get locked up for. Any emotional pieces that felt out of place this season have now firmly clicked, even though it’s taken even more brutality towards innocent bystanders for Mark to recognize other people’s pain.

“All I Can Say Is I’m Sorry” doesn’t acknowledge it directly, but making Mark and Oliver to face the direct fallout of Nolan’s actions also makes the reformed patriarch’s impending return all the more complicated. But since he’s still lightyears from Earth’s orbit, that’s a story for another day. A more immediate concern, as revealed in the mid-credits scene, is the fact that lurking supervillain Angstrom Levy appears to have gathered various different Invincibles from alternate universes, and seems all but ready to unleash them. One can only imagine what coming face-to-face with the worst possible versions of himself will do to Mark at this stage.

After an announcement last month that Forza Horizon 5 would be coming to PS5 this fall, we now have confirmation of an exact release date: April 25 for those who purchase the Premium Edition for $99.99, and April 29 for everyone else.

This comes from an announcement today on the official website, which also included news of an update arriving to the game on all platforms on April 25. The update, Horizon Realms, will include four new cars, a new racetrack layout at the Horizon Stadium, and a mixture of returning environments selected from past community favorites.

We learned last month that Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 will include all the same content as the Xbox and PC versions, including Car Packs, the Hot Wheels expansion, and the Rally Adventure expansion, will all be included too.

Forza Horizon 5 is just one of several previously Xbox-exclusive games that's headed to PlayStation, with Sea of Thieves and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle preceding it. While Xbox is the first of the three major platform holders to really push for cross-platform first-party releases like this, there's been increasing discussion in the industry as to whether or not exclusives really make sense for most major releases given how expensive games have become to make, and how exclusives can limit sales.

We gave Forza Horizon a coveted IGN 10/10 on its Xbox/PC launch, so needless to say we recommend PlayStation owners dig in. At the time, our reviewer said it's "the result of a racing studio at the peak of its craft and the best open-world racing game I’ve ever played."

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

There are a lot of really good smartphones on the market right now boasting gaming features. And while a lot of the newer phones are perfectly capable of playing games, they aren't necessarily built for gaming. That's where RedMagic phones thrive, and the company has been making some of the overall best gaming phones for years now.

The latest generation RadMagic 10 Pro is currently IGN's top pick for the best smartphone for gaming, and Amazon is offering it at its lowest-ever price right now. With a great display and consistent gaming performance, this deal is worth considering if you play a lot of games on your phone.

The Best RedMagic 10 Pro Deal at Amazon Today

Here are the best deals for Thursday, February 27. Highlights include 16% off the just-released Monster Hunter Wilds game for PC, 15% off Pokemon Go gift card in celebration of Pokemon Day, Xbox controllers for only $39 each, an Alienware RTX 5080 prebuilt gaming PC that's less expensive than any other brand, HDMI cables, and much more below.

Check out "the best deals under $30" for any impulse buys on items that you never knew you needed until you visited this page. Read on lower for some great deals that cost over $30 and may require a bit more involved decision-making.

16% Off Monster Hunter Wilds for PC

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is currently gearing up to start filming its third season this spring. When it does, it will add two new cast members to Middle-earth: Jamie Campbell Bower and Eddie Marsan.

Starting 28 February, Doritos is hosting a scavenger hunt across Great Britain, and you can win up to £10,000!

To celebrate its partnership with A MINECRAFT MOVIE, which will be in cinemas 4 April, Doritos is introducing square chips for a limited time. Between 28 February and 6 March, a total of 100 limited edition Chilli Heatwave Doritos 180g packs containing these rare square chips will be distributed to mystery stores. Finding those is your goal.

First, you’ll need to solve a riddle to determine the location of the store that has the special packs. Visit the store in person to buy a promotional pack of Chilli Heatwave Doritos for your chance to find the square Doritos.

The first store on 28 February will have 20 winning packs, with one cash prize of £10,000 available and 19 £250 cash prizes. The following week, new mystery stores will be selected and the process will repeat. Across the promotion, a total of five lucky people will win £10,000. If you’re not able to solve the riddle or find the square Doritos on the first day, you’ll have more opportunities to win next week.

Without further ado, here is the riddle you need to solve to find the first mystery store:

Our quest begins in Hertsmere, many films have been shot here.

Three parts, the first sounds like a male swine. The second – serve with eggs or brine.

The last, a place filled with trees. Now name this “EXTRA” store, please?

Think you’ve figured it out? Then go to that store on 28 February for your chance to find a winning pack — but hurry, because once they’re gone, they’re gone! There will be more opportunities to win next week, with new clues released each day between 3 March and 6 March. Head to Doritos' UK Instagram page to find more clues.

If you miss out on finding these rare square Doritos, don’t worry. You’ll still have a chance to take home some money with a digital on-pack promotion between now and 13 April. Just buy A MINECRAFT MOVIE promotional packs of Cool Original, Tangy Cheese, or Chilli Heatwave flavours of Doritos, scan the QR code on the bag, and follow the entry instructions. If you find a digital square Dorito, you’ll get a chance to win a cash prize up to £10,000. Other possible prizes include A MINECRAFT MOVIE cinema tickets and exclusive merch.

Visit this site starting 28 February to see the full rules and information about the scavenger hunt. For more information about all Doritos’ flavours on offer, visit their official website.

Nearly three years after the project was first announced, IGN Fan Fest can exclusively reveal the lead voice stars for the all-new scripted audio series Star Trek: Khan, which will stream on all major podcast platforms later in 2025.

Lost’s Naveen Andrews voices the iconic Khan Noonien Singh while For All Mankind’s Wrenn Schmidt voices his wife, Marla McGivers. Recording has now wrapped (see an exclusive photo of Andrews in the recording booth in the slideshow below).

Additional cast will be announced at a later date.

Star Trek: Khan is based on a story by Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan writer and director Nicholas Meyer. Kirsten Beyer and David Mack serve as writers on the series.

The official plot synopsis says the audio series “will explore the dramatic untold events that unfolded in the desolate world of Ceti Alpha V after Captain Kirk left Khan and his followers stranded there, paving the way for the iconic clash in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”

“History remembers Khan Noonien Singh as a villain, the product of a failed attempt to perfect humanity through genetic engineering whose quest to avenge himself on Admiral James T. Kirk led to unimaginable tragedy and loss. But the truth has been buried for too long beneath the sands of Ceti Alpha V. How did Khan go from a beneficent tyrant and superhuman visionary with a new world at his fingertips to the monster we think we know so well? Recently unearthed, the rest of Khan’s story will finally be told in Star Trek: Khan.”

As depicted in the classic original series episode titled Space Seed, Khan and his genetically engineered disciples were awakened from cryogenic sleep after two centuries only to then try to commandeer the USS Enterprise.

Lt. Marla McGivers was a Starfleet historian who fell in love with Khan and aided him in his attempted takeover. In the end, she opted to follow Khan into exile on Ceti Alpha V rather than face court martial. Those who have seen The Wrath of Khan know McGivers met a grim fate while marooned on Ceti Alpha V.

Star Trek: Khan is produced by CBS’ Eye Podcast Productions Inc. CBS Studio’s podcasting arm; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment. Executive producers include Alex Kurtzman, Aaron Baiers, Kirsten Beyer, Molly Barton, Fred Greenhalgh, Trevor Roth and Rod Roddenberry. Supervising producer is Robyn Johnson and the podcast was directed by Fred Greenhalgh. Realm serves as the production studio for the series.

For more coverage about where no one has gone before, find out how to watch Star Trek in chronological order, read our Star Trek: Section 31 review, and dive into our ranking of the best Star Trek series of the modern era.

Meanwhile, get all the latest reveals and news from IGN Fan Fest here.

It's a brand new year and it's already kicked off with some excellent PS5 deals. If you've been on the hunt for some discounts, you've come to the right place. Here we've gathered up some of the best PlayStation deals available at the moment, including a great discount on Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered at Best Buy. You can see that deal and so many more below. Here are IGN's top picks for the best PlayStation deals today.

Best PS5 Video Game Deals

If you've been looking to pick up some new PS5 games, now's a great time to do it with some excellent discounts available. From Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered to the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1, there are plenty of deals worth checking out right now across Amazon and Best Buy.

Best PlayStation VR 2 Deals

Best PS5 SSD Deals

Where to Buy: PS5 Pro

Where to Buy: PlayStation Portal

How to Trade in Your Old PlayStation Consoles

If you're looking to trade in your old PlayStation consoles, you can do so at select retailers in-store and online. Often, the most widely available retailers are GameStop and Best Buy. However, you can also trade your used devices online at retailers such as Amazon and Microsoft.

Some retailers will offer you cash for your used goods, while others may provide you with a gift card that can be used in-store and online. This is a great way to offload your old gaming gear and get some money that you can put towards a newer console and games.

While trading devices in at retailers will often net you the lowest amount for your used consoles, there are also online marketplaces such as eBay, Craigslist, and OfferUp that may fetch higher prices, but you'll often be responsible for packing and shipping costs, or be required to meet someone in person for the transaction. The latter of which poses its own risks.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Starting today, Dell is offering an Alienware Aurora R16 gaming PC equipped with the new GeForce RTX 5080 GPU for just $2,399.99 shipped. This is one of the best prices you can get right now for an RTX 5080 equipped prebuilt, especially since most other brands seem to be jacking up prices steadily since the RTX 50 series launch in January. The only other prebuilt you can get at Dell with an RTX 5080 GPU costs over $4,000. Good luck trying to find a standalone GPU to build out your own DIY PC; you'll probably spend as much for the GPU as you would this entire system.

Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 Gaming PC for $2,400

The Exploration Age in Civilization 7 is all about expanding your reach across the map while contending with rivals and allies at home and abroad. Building on the foundation you laid in the Antiquity age, this is your chance to get ahead and start looking at opportunities to set yourself up for eventual victory in the Modern age.

Of course, your choice of Exploration age civ is going to be extremely impactful. There are eleven Exploration age civs in the game, all with different traits and strengths. You may not have access to all of them every game, as they each have specific unlock requirements, but no matter how many options you're dealing with, our Civ 7 Exploration civs tier list can help you make that crucial decision.

Civ 7 Exploration Civs Tier List

S-tier - Mongolia, Shawnee, Norman

A-tier - Chola, Ming

B-tier - Abbassid, Hawai’i, Inca, Songhai

C-tier - Majapahit, Spain

S-Tier Exploration Civs

These are the best of the best Civilization 7 has to offer. Whether it's their particularly strong military units, or their very powerful resource access, you can largely dominate maps with these choices.

S-Tier: Mongolia

• Bokh - When you capture an opposing Settlement gain the strongest Cavalry Unit you can train, but -50% Production towards training Settlers. Gain 1 Point towards training Settlers. Gain 1 Point towards the Non Sufficit Orbis Legacy Path for controlled. Settlements in the Distant Lands and conquered Settlements in the Homelands. +30% Production towards constructing Erdene Zuu.
• Keshig - Mongolian Unique Ranged Unit. Has +1 Movement and heals 15 HP after defeating an enemy Unit. Counts as a Cavalry Unit and ignores Zone of Control.
• Noyan - Mongolian Unique Army Commander. +50% Flanking to Cavalry Units in the Command Radius.
• Örtöö- +5 Gold. Restores movement to any Mongol Unit at its location. Mongolian Unique Improvement. Ageless. Does not remove Warehouse Bonuses on a tile. Cannot be placed on Rough, River, or a tile with a Feature.

Mongolia is the perfect continuation of the Persia civilization’s ideals from the Antiquity Age - namely, bash your head against other civilizations aggressively to take their land. There’s nothing here that’s flashy, but as a show of brute strength, you will become the bully of a map when taking control of Mongolia.

One interesting thing about Mongolia is that it directly feeds into the Military Legacy Path by providing boosts for the Non Sufficit Orbis path. The more you take as well, the stronger your army grows with Cavalry, so you can snowball maps pretty hard, especially with the Keshig and Noyan adding extra firepower. If you are planning to go for a Military victory, Mongolia is a direct path to get there.

S-Tier: Shawnee

• Nepekifaki - Settlements built adjacent to Navigable Rivers gain +2 Food on River Terrain, but Cities not built adjacent to a Navigable River receive -10% Food. +30% Production towards constructing Serpent Mound.
• Kispoko Nena’to - Shawnee Unique Infantry Unit. +1 Combat Strength for every unique Empire Resource.
• Hoceepkileni - Shawnee Unique Missionary. +1 Movement and Rivers do not end movement.

The Shawnee unique trait of Nepekifaki is easy to keep active, as most Settlements will likely end up being built around rivers. By doing so, you will get a nice boost of Food, helping your population grow, and allowing you to grab even more land. You have to avoid having cities not on Navigable Rivers, but even in cases where you have a Town not on one, you can just leave it as a Town.

Elsewhere, the Kispoko Nena’to could become one of the strongest Infantry in the game under the right circumstances. If you get your hands on multiple Unique Resources, they will become very, very strong. This makes Shawnee a military force to be reckoned with, but also one that will be expanding its borders through population growth too.

S-Tier: Norman

• Normannitas - Land Units receive +1 Movement when Embarked and Land Units adjacent to Coast receive +5 Combat Strength. +30% Production towards constructing the White Tower.
• Chevaler - Norman Unique Cavalry Unit. +3 Combat Strength against slower Units. Ignores Zone of Control
• Sokeman - Norman Unique Settler. Civilian Unit capable of founding new Towns. Receive Medieval Walls in the City Center when a new Town is created.
• Donjon - Norman Unique Quarter. Created by constructing the Bailey and Motte in the same District. Receive a free Chevaler Unit when completed.
• Bailey - +4 Culture. +1 Culture Adjacency for Medieval Walls and Wonders. Norman Unique Culture Building and Fortification. Ageless. All Fortified Districts must be conquered to capture a Settlement.
• Motte - +4 Happiness. +4 Happiness if placed on Rough Terrain. Happiness adjacency for Wonders. Norman Unique Happiness Building and Fortification. Ageless. All Fortified Districts must be conquered to capture a Settlement.

The Normans are a great option for almost anyone in the Exploration Age as they provide buffs that feed into most of the age's Legacy objectives. Land Units receiving +1 movement when embarked is going to be super useful when trying to get a foothold in Distant Lands. Not only will you be able to get Settlers over faster, but you can move your Military Units quicker so you won’t be defenseless after you arrive. This makes them very nimble during this Age, which is surprisingly valuable.

They are also supported by a very good Cavalry Unit in the Chevaler, which will be strong against armies that rely heavily on Infantry units. By just creating the Unique District, the Donjon, you’ll get free one of those units, making the Normans a military force to be feared. On top of this, the Sokeman Army Commander gives new Towns automatic City walls, which feed into both the power of the Bailey and Motte.

A-Tier Exploration Civs

A-Tier: Chola

• Samayam - +1 Trade Route from the Improve Trade Relations Action. +30 % Production towards constructing the Brihadeeswarar Temple.
• Kalam - Chola Unique Naval Unit. +1 additional attack per turn if movement allows.
• Ottru - Chola Unique Naval Commander. Has +1 Movement and greater sight. Opposing Military Units in the Command Radius receive -3 Combat Strength.
• Five Hundred Lords - Chola Unique Quarter. Created by constructing the Anjuvannam and Manigramam in the same District. +5 Land Trade Route range and +15 Naval Trade Route range.
• Manigramam - +4 Happiness. +1 Gold Adjacency for Coastal Terrain, Navigable Rivers, and Wonders. +50% Production towards Naval Units. Chola Unique Gold and Military Building. Ageless. Must be placed adjacent to Coast.
• Anjuvannam - +5 Gold. +1 Gold Adjacency for Coastal Terrain, Navigable Rivers, and Wonders. +50% Production towards Naval Units. Chola Unique Gold and Military Building. Ageless. Must be placed adjacent to Coast.

The Exploration Age is where a strong Navy can dominate, and the Chola have access to some serious firepower in this regard. Kalam can attack twice in many instances, while the Ottru debuffs enemy units too. When used in tandem, there’s not many who will be able to withstand a sea-based assault like this.

The Chola also get access to a lot of Trade buffs, increasing the number of Trade Routes they can establish, and also their radius. You should be able to build quite a treasury and maintain decent relations with other civilizations with this. That said, the Chola will struggle to keep up with Science, so pacts will be important to stay relevant. On top of that, they are also not a civilization to pick if you ended up building a very landlocked empire in the Antiquity Age, as access to coasts is fairly essential.

A-Tier: Ming

• Great Canon of Yongle - +50% Science in the Capital. -15 Science per turn for each Social Policy, but not Tradition, slotted. +30% Production towards constructing the Forbidden City.
• Xunleich - Ming Unique Infantry Unit. +4 Combat Strength in Featureless tiles. Has a Ranged attack.
• Mandarin - Ming Unique Merchant. Civilian who can establish a Trade Route to import Resources from a foreign Settlement. +100 Gold when using the Create a Road Action.
• Ming Great Wall - +5 Culture. +1 Gold Adjacency for Fortification Buildings and Improvements. Ming Unique Improvement. Ageless. Counts as Fortification, +6 Combat Strength when defending. Does not remove Warehouse bonuses on a tile. Can only be built in a line. Cannot branch or fork.

The Ming civilization has enormous upsides. With some careful management, they can absolutely run away with technological advances in the Exploration Era, as they get a straight 50% buff to all Science in your Capital. However, you can end up hurting yourself. You get -15 Science for every Social Policy, so you will want to lean on Tradition wherever possible. If you manage this, though, the benefits are enormous.

The Ming Great Wall is a versatile building offering great fortification defense, as well as Culture and Gold. The Mandarin is also a great unit for a quick burst of Gold when building Roads, and while not the strongest military unit in the Age, the Xunleichong is a good option if you can station them on featureless terrain.

B-Tier Exploration Civs

In this tier, you'll find good civilizations with a decent amount of benefits. They're generally strong, and may be situationally extremely powerful, but tend to be more specialized.

B-Tier: Abbassid

• Madina - Receive 30 Gold for each Rural Population of the City when you create a Specialist. (Scales by Game Speed).+30% Production towards constructing the House of Wisdom.
• Mamluk - Abbasid Unique Cavalry Unit. When stationed in your territory, receive +1 Combat Strength for each Urban Population in that Settlement. Ignores Zone of Control. Has lower combat strength than other Cavalry units.
• ‘Alim - A Great Person with one charge. Can only be trained in Cities with an Ulema, and the specific ‘Alim receives is random. Each ‘Alim can only be received once. Cost increases per ‘Alim trained.
• Ulema - Abbasid Unique Quarter. Created by constructing the Madrasa and Mosque in the same District. +1 Science to all Specialists in this City.
• Madrasa - +5 Science. +1 Science Adjacency for Quarters, Science Buildings, and Wonders. Abbasid Unique Science Building. Ageless.
• Mosque - +4 Happiness. +1 Culture Adjacency for Happiness Adjacency for Cultural Buildings and Wonders. Unlocks the ability to found a Religion. Abbasid Unique Happiness Buiding. Ageless.

The Abbassid civilization can be excellent, and when used correctly, it offers a variety of benefits. But to get these benefits, you’re going to need to manage your Settlements and properly set them up. You get 30 Gold for each Rural Population of a city whenever you create a specialist. You can also boost Science quite a lot by completing the Ulema District, providing +1 Science for all Specialists in the city. The Mamluk are also decent and can become quite powerful defensively. The Cavalry gains +1 Combat Strength for every Urban population in a Settlement while stationed there.

This civilization is an excellent option if you’re confident in producing and placing Specialists while managing districts. However, if you’re less confident in how these mechanics work, many other, plug-in-and-play civilizations require less finessing.

B-Tier: Hawai’i

• Moananuiakea - Gain 25 Culture each time a Settlement expands to Marine Terrain.+1 Happiness on Fishing Boats. +30% Production towards constructing Hale o Keawe.
• Leiomano - Hawaiian Unique Infantry Unit. +3 Combat Strength against Infantry and Cavalry Units. Receives Culture from defeating enemy Units.
• Kahuna - Hawaiian Unique Missionary. Has an action to heal adjacent Units. Receive 25 Gold when you convert a Settlement.
• Lo’i Kalo - +3 Food and +2 Production. Adjacent Farms receive +1 Culture. Hawaiian Unique Improvement. Ageless. Does not remove Warehouse bonuses on a tile. Must be placed on Grassland or Tropical.

The Hawai’i civilization is a great choice for those who find themselves by the ocean. Considering the Exploration Age is all about getting in your boats and finding Distant Lands, this can synergise nicely. The Moananuiakea trait means you gain 25 Culture each time a Settlement expands in Marine Terrain. You’ll also get +1 Happiness on Fishing Boats. Neither is an enormous buff, but if you can incorporate a lot of sea into your borders, this will undoubtedly add up.

Elsewhere, the Leiomano is a very solid Infantry unit, getting a +3 combat buff against Infantry and Cavalry Units. Considering that’s the majority of land units they will be going up against, it’s just a nice edge that doesn’t require a complex initiation. The Lo’i Kalo is also just a solid producer of Food, Production, and Culture in most cases, making it a versatile building. There’s nothing particularly flashy or hard to use about Hawai’i past just being on a coast, but the civilization has a nice slew of solid benefits that are easy to get consistent value out of.

B-Tier: Inca

• Apus - Can work Mountain Terrain. +2 Food and +1 Production on Mountain Terrain. +30% Production towards constructing Machu Pikchu.
• Warak’q - Incan Unique Ranged Unit . Has +1 Movement and ignores movement penalties from Rough Terrain. +5 Combat Strength when attacking from Rough Terrain.
• Chasqui - Incan Unique Scout with +1 Movement. Has increased sight that ignores Mountains and Rough Terrain.
• Terrace Farm - +6 Food. Incan Unique Improvement. Ageless. Does not remove Warehouse bonuses on a tile. Must be placed on Rough Terrain adjacent to a Mountain.

The Inca civilization is best utilized with a bit of forethought, but if you build correctly, you can do a lot of really good things with them. Choosing this civilization is best if you’ve built your borders with them in mind in the Antiquity Age. This is because their power comes from utilizing mountain tiles. If you built your cities around big ranges though, you will get a lot from the Incas.

This civilization lets you work Mountain terrain, and get extra food and production when doing so. On top of that, the Terrace Farm improvement is just a significant +6 to Food, meaning you will be able to expand your borders even faster. The Chasqui scout is also great for exploring Distant Lands, getting extra movement, and ignoring mountains and rough terrain, allowing you to chart new continents really fast. That all said, if you don’t have a lot of mountains within your lands, you’re going to be missing out on a lot of value, making them quite situational.

B-Tier: Songhai

• Tarikh al-Sudan - +2 Resource Capacity in Cities on Navigable Rivers and your Trade Ships cannot be Plundered on Navigable Rivers. +30% Production towards constructing the Tomb of Askia.
• Gold Bangles Infantry - Songhai Unique Infantry Unit. +5 Combat Strength on Resource tiles. +100% Gold from pillaging Trade Routes.
• Tajio - Songhai Unique Merchant. Civilian who can establish a Trade Route to import Resources from a foreign Settlement. When you create a Trade Route receive 100 Gold if this is a Trade Route with at least 1 Navigable River.
• Caravanserai - +5 Gold. +1 Resource Adjacency for Navigable Rivers and Resources. Songhai Unique Improvement. Ageless. Does not remove Warehouse bonuses on a tile. Must be built on Desert or Plains.

The Songhai are all about making money. If you’re looking to make Gold, this Civilization will do it for you - that said, it’s relatively one-dimensional. The Tarikh al-Sudan trait that gives them +2 Resource Capacity in Cities on Navigable Rivers is nice as those slots do come at a premium. Also, the Caravanserai improvement as well as the Tajiro merchant are very good Gold generators.

That being said, there is no real variety here. Other yields like Influence, Happiness, Culture, and Science might struggle. Of course, you can buy these buildings in towns with all your Gold, but expect some difficulty keeping up with everyone else. Also, the Gold Bangles Infantry, which gets +5 combat on Resource tiles, is a decent defensive option if you set up like that specifically, but considering you’re at the whims of the map, and not your Settlement placement, it can be a little awkward to utilise fully.

C-Tier Exploration Civs

While not bad civilizations, these are often more situational civilizations or civilizations that require a unique playstyle that might be best for more experienced players.

C-Tier: Majapahit

• Negara - All Cities except the Capital receive +1 Specialist Limit. After the Exploration Age the Specialists become inactive until you increase the Limit. +30% Production towards constructing Borobudur.
• Cetbang - Majapahit Unique Naval Unit. +5 Combat Strength against Naval Units. Can pillage within 2 tiles for 1 Movement.
• Pedana - Mahapahit Unique Scout with +1 Movement. Has increased sight that ignores Mountains and Rough Terrain.
• Pura - Majapahit Unique Quarter. Created by constructing the Candi Bentar and Meru in the same District. Receive 1 Relic when completed.
• Meru - +5 Happiness. +1 Happiness Adjecency for Mountains and Wonders. +2 Happiness on Natural Wonders. Majapahit Unique Happiness Building. Ageless.
• Candi Bentar - +5 Culture. +1 Culture Adjacency for Coastal Terrain, Navigable Rivers, and Wonders. Majapahit Unique Culture Building. Ageless.

The Majapahit are a decent choice if you live in a relatively varied landscape. The Meru provides Happiness on Mountains, Wonders, and even more on Natural Wonders. The Candi Bentar is a great producer of Culture on Coasts, Rivers and Wonders. That said, it can be hard to really incorporate all of that, and even if you build the Pura district by combining both, receiving 1 relic isn’t often going to tip the scales for you. On top of that, the Negara does let you have an extra Specialist, but again, this likely isn’t going to be a massive deciding factor for you.

The Majapahit is not without merit. Altogether, it can be a decent producer of Culture if the circumstances are right, and if you get more Puras it can be a decent source of Relics. The Cetband Navel unit is excellent too, getting +5 combat strength against enemy Naval Units is strong in an Age when a lot of sailing is happening. That said, the Majaphat lack a little cohesiveness, and can be a touch situational, making it tougher to get full value out of them at all times.

C-Tier: Spain

• Siglo de Oro - +15% Gold towards converting a Town to a City, or +30% in Distant Lands. +30% Production towards constructing El Escorial.
• Tercio - Spanish Unique Infantry Unit. Has a higher Combat Strength. Adjacent Units receive +3 Combat Strength against Cavalry Units (bonus is only applied once.)
• Conquistador - A Great Person with one charge. Can only be trained in Cities with a Wharf, and the specific Conquistador received is random. Each Conquistador can only be received once and can only be activated in Distant Lands. Cost increases per Conquistador trained. Can always Embark in Ocean.
• Plaza - Spanish Unique Quarter. Created by constructing the Casa Consistorial and Casa de Contratacion in the same District. +2 Gold in this Settlement for every Settlement in Distant Lands.
• Casa Consistorial - +5 Culture. +1 Culture Adjacency for Quarters and Wonders. Spanish Unique Culture Building. Ageless. Must be built in the Homelands adjacent to the Coast.
• Casa de Contatacion - +5 Gold. +1 Gold Adjacency for Navigable Rivers, Resources, and Wonders. Spanish Unique Gold Building. Ageless. Must be built in the Homelands.

Spain is not a bad civilization by any means. They provide a lot of avenues for Gold, with the Plaza Quarters being a big source of it if you make a lot of Settlements in Distant Lands. However, outside of that, and considering a couple of other Civilizations have access to powerful Gold-generating facets, there’s not much that really sets Spain apart.

The cost reduction on turning Towns into Cities from the Siglo de Oro is nice to have but probably isn’t going to have a massive impact on how your Age goes. The Tercio is also a good unit against militaries that have gone a little too hard on Cavalry but are outpaced by many other strong military units of other civilizations in this Age.

Patrick is a freelance journalist with over 13 years of experience who loves going deep on games and getting into their systems. His four-figure hours into both Overwatch 2 and Destiny 2 are a testament to that.

Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, his wife and classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, and their dog were found dead in their Santa Fe, New Mexico home yesterday, February 27, 2025.

Details on the passing of Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 63, come from local authorities, who say that no foul play is suspected (via AP). They were discovered during a welfare check that took place at 1:45 p.m., according to Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Denise Avila. No cause of death has been revealed at the time of publication.

Update 9:27 a.m. PT: A follow up report from Variety reveals that the deaths of Hackman and Arakawa have been ruled "suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation" according to a search warrant affadavit. The warrant goes on to list a number of details leading to that ruling, including multiple healthy dogs on the property in addition to the deceased dog, the front door being unlocked and open, the heater being moved, pills scattered on the floor next to Arakawa, and no obvious signs of a gas leak.

When The Legend of Ochi hits theaters April 25, it will mark something of a departure for A24. Up until now, the studio best known for movies like Midsommar, Hereditary, Uncut Gems, and Civil War has released a distinctly grown-up slate of features.

Now, A24 aims to be everything, everywhere, all at once is trying something new. Enter: The Legend of Ochi, the studio’s first-ever (with all due respect to Marcel the Shell With Shoes On) movie geared toward families. The film tells the story of a teenage farm girl named Yuri (Helena Zengel) who encounters a juvenile ochi – a mythical and feared creature – and embarks on a quest to return it home.

Zengel, along with the film’s director Isaiah Saxon and co-star Finn Wolfhard, stopped by IGN Fan Fest 2025 to debut a new poster for the movie and tell us about stepping into the rich and imaginative world of Carpathia.

Shrek 5, coming to theatres this December, will feature a returning cast of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, as well as a new character with a new voice: Zendaya, playing Shrek and Fiona's daughter.

This news was announced in a clip from Universal Pictures today, which also gave us our first look at Zendaya's character, who appears to be a teenage ogre like her parents with Fiona's red hair and Shrek's eyes.