Epic Games has just released the next version of Unreal Engine 5, Unreal Engine 5.7. Unreal Engine 5.7 comes with lots of new features, including Nanite Foliage and an improved version of the Procedural Content Generation framework. So, let’s take a closer look at it. The Procedural Content Generation system now makes it easier to … Continue reading Unreal Engine 5.7 Released & Fully Detailed→
The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has filed legal claims against Rockstar Games, the group announced today, alleging that the dismissal of 31 Rockstar employees earlier this month constituted "trade union victimisation and blacklisting."
In a statement put out by IWGB, the group references the firing in early November of 31 Rockstar employees, which the group says were all targeted due to their involvement in a private chat group on Discord focused on unionization and organizing activities:
We are representing employees who were dismissed by Rockstar Games in circumstances that we believe amount to victimisation and collective dismissal linked to trade union activity.
Despite our representation and attempts to meet with Rockstar to resolve the matter through negotiation, Rockstar have declined and persisted to terminate members of the union in a manner that is unacceptable and unlawful. Accordingly, we have now issued formal legal claims against Rockstar on behalf of the Claimants.
Our members allege that Rockstar’s conduct constitutes trade union victimisation and blacklisting.
The group claimed at the time of the firings earlier this month that this constituted "blatant" and "ruthless" union busting. The IWGB's claim has been submitted to the Tribunal, and will await a date for an initial hearing where it will be determined if the claimants are eligible for interim relief.
Rockstar disputed the union busting accusations after they were made, first stating that the employees were fired for "gross misconduct, and for no other reason," and later specifying they were fired for leaking "confidential information in a public forum." IWGB has disputed this claim, saying that the only non-Rockstar employees in the Discord were union organizers.
All of this comes just as GTA 6 has been delayed for the second time, being pushed out to November of 2026 in an announcement made as part of Take-Two's quarterly earnings report. When we spoke to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick ahead of this release, he defended the company's culture, saying Take-Two was "incredibly proud of our labor relations."
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.
New photos from the set of HBO's upcoming Harry Potter TV series have given fans their first look at the show's cast in Hogwarts robes — which have been given a makeover from the previous movies.
Harry Potter actor Dominic McLaughlin can be seen wearing a burgundy cloak, rather than the plain black coloring seen in the franchise's big-screen adaptation.
Is this color a nod to the house colors of Gryffindor? It's hard to tell, though a glimpse of Lox Pratt, the young who plays Draco Malfoy, gives the impression he's wearing a slghtly different color indicative of Slytherin.
FIRST LOOK at Harry, Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom in their Hogwarts robes in the HARRY POTTER TV series! pic.twitter.com/rfGHqQVBQh
These latest images, posted on social media by Wizarding World Direct, appear to show the filming of the first book's flying lesson scene, in which Draco steals Neville's Remembrall.
The photos also provide our first look at Sherlock actress Louise Brealey in character as Madam Hooch, Hogwarts' broomstick instructor, who was previously potrayed by Zoë Wannamaker in the Harry Potter movies. Brealey is dressed in what looks to be a wizard-like version of a waterproof tracksuit — quite a different design to the dark robes Wannamaker wore.
FIRST LOOK at Madam Hooch during flying lessons in the HARRY POTTER TV series 🧹 pic.twitter.com/nQygxYrSae
Early Black Friday deals have taken over the month of November. If you've been hoping to save on video games during the seasonal sale event this year, there's already been plenty of worthy offers popping up. Battlefield 6 is one that's crossed our radar recently, as its PS5 version has received its first discount of 10% off at Amazon (see it here). This has dropped its price from $69.99 to $62.99, allowing you to save a few bucks on it ahead of the holidays.
Battlefield 6 for PS5 on Sale at Amazon
In particular, if you're looking for a multiplayer game to jump into over the holidays, we're very big fans of Battlefield 6's. Our 8/10 Battlefield 6 multiplayer review from Justin Koreis said its action is, "expertly crafted, wrapped in a wonderful layer of destructibility that both looks great and materially affects the flow of combat." On top of that, "The gunplay is excellent, with weapons that are accurate enough to reward skilled shooting, but have just enough sway to promote a bit of careful thought while you take aim."
For a full breakdown of which retailers are participating this year and other deals we're expecting to see, even outside of games, check out our Black Friday 2025 hub page. We also have a helpful page of 8 online shopping tips for Black Friday to help you on your shopping adventure this year.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
Our first look at the follow-up to The Super Mario Bros. Movie is here! So, we’ve cast our beady eyes over the new Super Mario Galaxy Movie trailer to find all of the characters, secrets, and details we could spot. Nintendo and Illumination’s sequel is out on April 3, 2026, so there’s not long to wait. In the meantime, let us know what you’ve spotted in the trailer that we might have missed, as well as some of your best theories on where the film might take us. But first up, here is everything we spotted in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie trailer!
New Characters
Two new familiar Mario characters from the games are making their way into the movie universe for the sequel. First up, we have Princess Rosalina, who is being voiced by Captain Marvel herself, Brie Larson. Rosalina is the watcher of the cosmos and someone who helps Mario out on his adventures. She was originally designed to be related to Princess Peach — an idea that never came to fruition, but does explain their similar appearances. Rosalina made her debut in 2007’s Super Mario Galaxy, so we always expected her to turn up here, and she does so with a bang, taking on what looks like one of Galaxy’s bosses, Megaleg.
Megaleg is a giant foe partly inspired by a much more common enemy, the Sniffit. An automated robot in the game, Megaleg, looks like it’s being piloted in the movie. We wouldn’t be surprised at all if the character sitting inside is Bowser Jr., as Bowser’s son is the other big new addition to the roster this time around. He will be voiced by Oppenheimer actor and Uncut Gems and The Smashing Machine director, Benny Safdie. You could’ve given me 500 guesses, and I would never have landed on that.
Bowser Jr. appears to be using some wonder abilities later on in the trailer, as his purple-armoured look is very close to how he’s presented in 2023’s Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Wonder Bowser Jr looks to be on a balcony of Peach’s Castle near the end of the trailer, and is demanding his father’s freedom. He’s also holding his magic paintbrush, which was first introduced in Super Mario Sunshine. Incidentally, the sound effect that accompanies his arrival is eerily close to the one that follows Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’s Prowler (another purple-armoured character) around that movie. A nice little nod or just a pure coincidence? You be the judge.
Returning Characters
Bowser has seemingly been kept in the confines of a miniature castle by Mario and Luigi ever since he shrank after eating a Mini Mushroom at the end of the first movie. Bowser can be heard humming his Mario 64 theme as he makes his way upstairs and past his piano. Peaches round two, anyone?
Mario’s arch nemesis is evidently an avid painter, too, with frames full of colour littered around his tiny palace. Not only has he been imagining a fleshless Mario (a skeleton outfit from Super Mario Odyssey), but he’s also naturally obsessed over the reunification of himself and his love, Princess Peach. In the room that the castle is housed in, if you’re eagle-eyed, you can spot a location or two from the games. There’s one that looks very much like the Yoshi Island level from the SNES’ Super Mario World. Speaking of Yoshi, we didn’t get a look at him here, but do not fear, we know he’s going to be in the movie, thanks to a leaked box of cookies courtesy of the baked goods lads over at Pillsbury.
We also get a very quick glimpse at a few more of Bowser’s portraits, including Bowser Jr. inside his Koopa Clown Car, as seen in Super Mario World and Paper Mario, among others. In fact, it may be that Paper Mario is being teased by the sheer amount of painting Bowser has been getting up to, and his relationship with the Mario Bros. He’s clearly not on the best of terms with Mario at this juncture, but is much warmer when greeting Luigi. Could this softer side be setting up a Paper Mario spin-off, sequel, or change of animation style during the movie? Bowser does occasionally team up with Mario when faced with a greater threat, after all.
Also returning are Princess Peach and Toad, who look set to be going on their own adventure separately from Mario and Luigi. Peach can be seen here flying off into the night sky with her trusty umbrella beside Toad, who is sporting his Captain Toad backpack — the absolute best version of our toadstool-headed friend, and I’ll fight anybody who dares disagree.
Locations
But where are they going? Well, we’re given a few looks at some familiar worlds from the Mario games during this trailer. It seems like Peach and Toad are headed towards a version of Super Mario Galaxy’s Beach Bowl Galaxy, with its sandy locales and palm trees clearly evident. Among its coral reefs, common Mario creatures, Bloopers, can be seen. And behind that planet, a distant ring can be seen, which kinda looks like the ring-shaped object from Galaxy’s Gusty Garden Galaxy, albeit brown instead of grey.
Later on, it looks like Peach has gotten herself into a bit of trouble in what we’re guessing is an interpretation of Super Mario 3D World’s Bowser’s Casino or King Boo’s Casino from Super Mario Sunshine. The large roulette wheel that she’s battling all of these Ninjis on would certainly suggest the odds of this are likely.
As for Mario and Luigi, it looks like they’re zooming their way toward one of the inverted pyramids from Super Mario Odyssey’s Sand Kingdom. Further evidence of this is the fact that on their motorcycles, stickers can be found relating to the town of Tostarena, which is inspired by Mexican culture. We certainly wouldn’t say no to a fun little visit here during the movie, as personally, sombrero Mario was one of my favourite looks for the little plumber in Odyssey. Earlier on, we can also see him sitting on the rooftop of what looks like Peach’s castle with the princess herself, and enjoying the Star Festival from the opening of Galaxy.
And lastly, going all the way back to Rosalina’s face-off with Megaleg, it looks like this might be taking place near the Star Observatory from Super Mario Galaxy. It would just make sense, wouldn’t it?
That’s everything we spotted in the first full trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. What do you think we missed? Will Bowser ever be a big boy again? Let us know in the comments below.
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
The Battlefield Studios team says REDSEC has plenty of time to regain lost ground with fans after the free-to-play offshoot was hit with a review-bombing campaign by Battlefield 6 players at launch.
IGN spoke with design director Justin Wiebe and creative director Thomas Andersson earlier this week to learn more about REDSEC, how it got started, and what its future holds. We also asked about the team’s response to the initiative that sought to bring down its user review score on storefronts like Steam.
Even as online fan feedback bounces between endless praise and targeted negativity, Wiebe says BF Studios is “extremely passionate and proud” of what it has done so far and is only looking forward to the future. The main thing fans should note, though, is the developers are “always listening.”
“I mean, as soon as the game launched, we had people kind of looking at all forms of player communication, and taking notes and saying, ‘OK, well, we had planned to do this in live service, but we're hearing that this is a problem for the community,’” he explained. “If it's a problem for the community, then let's talk about it. Let's see how we can prioritize that.”
Wiebe adds that BF Studios has engaged in “mad note-taking” in the wake of REDSEC’s launch as it pivots to prioritize fixes for problems that can be quickly patched. One example he calls attention to involves challenges and challenge requirements in Battlefield 6, with many of the more problematic issues in this area already addressed in an update last week.
“For me, I always say, live service, you have a big clock,” he explains, “and every time there's a player issue, you start the clock and you measure and value your time to the player, so that you can make sure that the player and the community knows that we're listening, and we're going to be able to do what we can to react.
If it's a problem for the community, then let's talk about it. Let's see how we can prioritize that.
“But we're also weighing that against our future ambitions of all the different content and experiences we want to create from live services, because this is just the beginning of the experience, and we want to make sure that we're addressing player feedback, and we're also adding new and exciting experiences for players to play.”
REDSEC will continue to coexist alongside Battlefield 6, meaning players can expect seasonal updates to introduce new content to both experiences. The REDSEC Season 1 roadmap has already provided a taste of what’s to come, teasing a new vehicle-based Gauntlet mission called Rodeo for November 18 and an Ice Lock Gauntlet limited-time event for December 9.
We asked if seasonal updates could impact REDSEC’s map, Fort Lyndon, as Battlefield 6, battle royale, Gauntlet, and Portal updates roll out. BF Studios isn’t ready to talk map updates just yet, but when changes like that eventually arrive, don’t expect the developers to deliver surface-level changes.
“For me, when we do map updates, if we're going to spend a bunch of time working on the map, I want to make sure that it's additive to the player experience,” Wiebe said. “That it's not just a quick cosmetic hit, right? That there's new fun things to explore there. It adds to gameplay in new and meaningful ways. I think, for me, that's the important component moving forward.”
He adds that Gauntlet, the new game mode the Battlefield 6 community has welcomed with open arms, will continue to be a “tool in our toolbelt” when it comes to thematic seasonal content, calling the mode “the perfect, ultimate live-service game mode.”
“It's not always looking at, ‘What do we do with the battle royale or Fort Lyndon map?’ but also, ‘How do we leverage Gauntlet and utilize it in fresh and unique ways to also hit some of those live service, thematic beats?’” Wiebe said.
Battlefield 6 and REDSEC launched into Season 1 October 28. The three-part introductory season will introduce new modes, maps, and weapons throughout its run.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
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