We already knew the star of The Terminator — Sarah Connor, of course… aka Linda Hamilton — would be joining the Stranger Things Cinematic Universe for Season 5. But now, we’re getting a glimpse, albeit a small one, into her character from the Duffer Brothers themselves.
“She’s hyper-intelligent and intimidating,” Matt Duffer told Empire of the character Dr. Kay, a government agent hunting down Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven, in their new Stranger Things Season 5 issue.
And it looks like she’s probably going to be using those smarts to, quite frankly, kick some ass. “She’s a scientist but if she needs to, she can get into a fight and shoot a gun,” Matt added.
That’s all we have to go on at this point when it comes to Hamilton’s character, and we have even less information about the plot of season 5 itself. It'll be interesting to eventually see all the facets of her character and how she affects the greater story. That said, the Duffer Brothers have opened up a little bit about what fans can expect throughout the season.
The cocreator and showrunner of the series recently opened up to Variety, alongside brother Ross Duffer, about making sure the final season would explain “about what the Upside Down was.” He added: “Every season would be like, ‘Should we talk about it?’ And we’d go, ‘No, let’s wait.’ And then finally, we’re like, ‘Well, we have to now!’”
Another thing fans can expect is a complete story. “It doesn’t feel like we dropped a storyline — it all connects,” Ross told Variety in the recent chat, while Matt noted: “We do every last remaining thing we wanted to do with the Demogorgons and Mind Flayer and Vecna and the Upside Down and Hawkins and these characters. This is a complete story. It’s done.”
Stranger Things season 5 will be released on Netflix in three parts: four episodes on November 26th for the Thanksgiving holiday, another three episodes on Christmas, and the final episode of the series on New Year’s Day.
After all that, will this really be the end of Stranger Things? Of course not. Netflix already has plans for animated series and at least one spinoff.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
A brand new special edition DualSense is joining the PlayStation family. The Icon Blue PS5 DualSense wireless controller is now available to pick up from Walmart, and it's only available to buy from Walmart. This exclusive controller is currently listed for $84 at the retailer, and is bursting with bright blue colors that are "Inspired by PlayStation’s storied heritage," according to the PlayStation Blog.
If this vibrant new Walmart-exclusive controller has caught your eye, you can pick it up at the link below.
PS5 DualSense Wireless Controller (Icon Blue) at Walmart
PlayStation's Leo Cardoso from the Color, Material and Finish design team had plenty to say about this new controller in the PlayStation Blog: "Inspired by PlayStation’s iconic shades of blue, this design captures the feeling of anticipation and wonder every time you pick up the controller." Alongside the blues all around the controller itself, it also features a fun pattern of PlayStation shapes on the touch pad.
On top of its colorful design, Cardoso also adds that, "As a nod to our origins, we added Katakana characters on the back that spell our name the Japanese way: Pureisutēshon." If PlayStation is your go-to console, this is sure to be a stunning addition to your setup.
If you've dropped cash on this controller and are now looking for some good PlayStation deals to jump on next, the good news is Black Friday is coming up fast. While the sale event itself doesn't officially start until November 28, deals will sometimes start dropping right from the start of the month. So, if you're looking for discounts on PS5 games or more accessories, it's worth it to keep an eye out over the next few weeks for any that pop up at various retailers, including Walmart.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
The Apple iPhone is one of the most influential pieces of technology ever. Since its first model in 2007, Apple has released a new iPhone almost every year. While the features of each new model largely change each year, Apple always provides a faster processor and other quality-of-life updates. An iPhone is no cheap purchase, with the base model starting at $799. For most users, this is a purchase you need to plan for, and any discount is a major help.
Luckily, you can save on the best iPhone models if you purchase at the right time. There are some periods throughout the year when we recommend not buying an iPhone, mainly since a new model is on the horizon. This means you will likely not see any discounts. If you are searching for the best time to buy an iPhone, check out our guide below to plan out your purchase and save some money in 2025.
Best Times to Buy an iPhone
Right at Release
Surprisingly, the best time to buy an iPhone might be at release. Since many phone providers offer substantial trade-in discounts, often the cheapest you can get a new iPhone is in the few weeks following its release. This is largely due to the amount of trade-in deals, where you can trade in your current phone for a massive discount on the latest iPhone.
To find the best trade-in deals, you should pay close attention to emails from your current provider and adverts online. Many providers like AT&T and T-Mobile run countless ads detailing their deals for new iPhones, so pay close attention right around the weeks leading up to and following an iPhone launch (we rounded up what's available for the iPhone 17). It's important to keep in mind that some of these offers will be dependent on whether or not you currently own a newer iPhone to trade in, but many providers do offer deals without any stipulations.
Additionally, there are also many deals for the older iPhone models around the release of new iPhones. The day new iPhone models drop, Apple will drop the price of older models permanently. Right now, you can expect to save on iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro since we just got our hands on the new iPhone 17 lineup. Since Apple usually reduces inventory of these units, you can usually get a great deal at this time at other retailers.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Like all technology, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are excellent events to purchase a new iPhone. Since they occur just weeks after the release of a new iPhone, discounts are usually still active. You can expect to see the same great discounts and even new ones at retailers and phone providers.
The Black Friday and Cyber Monday long weekend also provides one of the best opportunities to purchase discounted iPhones online. Anything from new models to refurbished models are almost always available on sale, so you can save a good amount of money by holding off until these sales events.
Holiday Weekends
Historically, Apple has offered some substantial discounts on iPhones for both Mother's Day and Father's Day. With these holidays quickly approaching, now is the time to pay close attention to the promotions for these weekends. Retailers like Best Buy, Amazon, and Walmart will likely promote deals in the coming weeks via social media and email newsletters. You can find a list of what upcoming sales will offer on each retailer's website.
Additionally, other holiday weekends throughout the year are solid options. Columbus Day, for example, is right in the time period after a standard iPhone release. You can usually score a great discount from a phone provider here. On the other hand, early year holidays like President's Day are also good picks, as new iPhone models are still over six months away.
However, not all holidays are good for iPhone deals. The same cannot be said for holiday weekends in the summer. As we outlined above, the middle of summer is the worst time to buy an iPhone, so do not expect to see any deals during Memorial Day sales or Independence Day sales. Though Amazon's Prime Day in July could be an exception to that rule.
Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium. His favorite series include Xeno and Final Fantasy.
The PlayStation 5 is one of the best gaming systems you can purchase in 2025, but the console is nowhere near cheap. In fact, prices have actually increased this year. Starting at $500 for the PS5 Slim and $649 for the PS5 Pro, it is a purchase you will need to plan for. If you want to play titles like Stellar Blade and Astro Bot, it's a purchase worth making. Beyond games, the PS5 is also great for streaming 4K content to your TV. Luckily, you can find some discounts or bundles on PlayStation 5 consoles throughout the year if you know when to look.
Whether you're looking for the PS5 Slim or the more powerful PS5 Pro, we've compiled the best times you can buy a PlayStation 5 throughout 2025 and beyond. From holidays to sales events, there are quite a few opportunities to pick up the console. Each retailer offers different deals and discounts, but we've outlined the events you need to pay attention to. The best time to buy a PlayStation 5 is when it is discounted or bundled with a free game, so keep these sale event dates in mind to get the best deal possible.
When Should You Buy a PS5?
Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Overall, your best bet to purchase a discounted PlayStation 5 is Black Friday or Cyber Monday. The annual holidays occur just after Thanksgiving in November, with Black Friday 2025 currently set for November 28. This event mainly refers to in-store deals, with major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and Target participating. Some of the best PlayStation 5 offers will only be available in stores on Black Friday.
The other major sales event alongside Black Friday is Cyber Monday. This event is set annually on the Monday following Black Friday, which is Monday, December 2 this year. Cyber Monday focuses on electronics and is exclusively available online. Following last year, we expect to see major PlayStation 5 deals on this day.
Nowadays, the Black Friday sales event extends from a few weeks before Black Friday to a few weeks after, which ultimately spans the entire holiday season. Major PlayStation 5 bundles are usually up for purchase around this time of year, so you can expect great discounts alongside dozens of discounted PS5 games. If you are operating on a budget for the PlayStation 5 consoles and games together, Black Friday is the best time of year by far to pick up a console.
Amazon Prime Day
Prime Day is also an excellent time to purchase a PlayStation 5 every year. Alongside this, many PS5 games are likely to be priced low as part of the sale, so you can pick up more games as well. Other retailers besides Amazon will also hold sales around Prime Day, so this only increases the chance that a PlayStation 5 deal will be available. Sometimes, this means an extended 4th of July sale or a surprise weekend sale. If you're not in a rush to purchase a PS5, Prime Day is a great time to buy one.
Prime Big Deal Days
The Prime Big Deal Days sale is a sort of second Amazon Prime Day that will sometimes have discounts on consoles. It isn't quite as big as Prime Day, but it's a similar Prime-exclusive event that has had traditionally had some pretty good gaming deals since it first began back in 2022. The event took place on October 7-8 this year, and while we didn't seen any major discounts on PS5 consoles, Amazon did have some decent price cuts on PS5 games.
Around Major Releases
Sony tends to make console bundles for some of its major releases. This also extends to third-party exclusives like Final Fantasy XVI. Sony tends to discount these PlayStation 5 bundles around the releases of major titles, as it incentivizes customers to pick up a system and check out the new game. Additionally, you can find these PS5 bundles on sale once the included game has been out for a few months, as Sony looks to clear inventory of the bundle. Previous bundles included a copy of Spider-Man 2 or NBA 2K25, with the most recent bundle including Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Throughout the Summer
Another great time to buy a PlayStation 5 is summer. Following the major gaming events like Summer Game Fest, Sony and other companies usually hold sales events to celebrate the summer This includes deals on games, accessories, controllers, and consoles, which includes PlayStation 5. The PlayStation Summer Sale usually starts around July and runs through August, making it a great time to buy video games as well. Though this year's Days of Play sale has already come to an end.
Late summer is also a great time, as retailers tend to begin preparations for the Fall season. Inventory on older console models is cleared, leading the way for new bundles. PlayStation 5 consoles and other items will likely be available discounted at this time.
Should You Get a PlayStation 5 Pro?
Nowadays, consoles tend to last anywhere from six to eight years. The PlayStation 5 released in November of 2020, meaning we're already over five years into the cycle of this generation. As such, it's worth noting that you may want to think about purchasing the PS5 Pro instead.
The PlayStation 5 Pro was released in November 2024 and features upgraded internals. The PS5 Pro release led to discounts on the existing PS5, including a $70 discount on the PS5 Slim over the holidays. If you're happy with the capabilities and game releases on the PS5, keeping an eye out for more price drops is probably one of the most budget-friendly ways to grab a new console. If you want a console that's prepped and ready for the next generation of games, it may be worth waiting for Black Friday discounts and bundles on the PS5 Pro.
Noah Hunter is a freelance writer and reviewer with a passion for games and technology. He co-founded Final Weapon, an outlet focused on nonsense-free Japanese gaming (in 2019) and has contributed to various publishers writing about the medium. His favorite series include Xeno and Final Fantasy.
If you’re looking to upgrade your gaming PC, buying one of the best graphics cards can end up being one of the most expensive components. With that in mind, sometimes it’s worth holding off and waiting for the best time to buy a new GPU; but when is that?
Now that we've gotten our hands on the newest generation of chips from Nvidia and AMD, we though we'd break down some of the best times to buy a graphics card every year.
This might seem obvious to some, but if you play games that are less GPU intensive such as Roblox and Minecraft, you might want to consider steering away from a high-end, next-generation RTX 5090 card and focusing your budget on something a little less… monstrous.
If you’re on a budget, and you don’t need a NASA-certified graphics card, the best option is to look at older budget graphics cards, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6600 or Nvidia’s equivalent offering, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050.
If you don’t plan to play GPU-intensive games, or you’re a lover of indie games, you could consider a cheaper option. Buying the latest GPU for these games is like bringing a nuke to a knife fight, whereas a budget GPU would offer better value over a high-end GPU that the games you play most likely won’t fully utilize.
In many cases, games are more CPU-intensive than they are GPU-intensive. You might be better off looking at the best CPUs to upgrade your gaming PC instead.
But if you’re looking to rock some ray tracing eye candy, you’re going to need to splash out on something a little more powerful. Buying the previous generation of GPUs is often a great way to pick up a bargain.
Sales Events Such as Black Friday and Prime Day
As Tobey Maguire once said, with great power comes great responsibility. While I’m fairly sure he wasn’t talking about the price of GPUs, it does ring true in this case. If you want a powerful GPU, be responsible with your money and wait for the right sale to come along.
Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Prime Day are perfect for picking up a range of bargain graphics cards. Not only can you find the previous generations at a more affordable price, but you can often find the latest cards at a price that won't require a second mortgage to buy.
While historically sales such as Black Friday and Prime Day have seen some pretty good discounts on GPUs, it’s not guaranteed that the exact graphics card you want will be on sale. If you want a great price you might need to be open to buying a slightly different model, or a GPU from a different manufacturer than what you were hoping for.
Wait for the Next Generation of GPUs to Drop
If you’ve already got a GPU in mind, but it currently costs too much, you could wait for the next generation of GPUs to be announced. Nvidia announced their 50-series graphics cards at CES 2025, with the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 cards now available. Meanwhile, AMD's RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT hit the market this past March.
As soon as a new line of graphics cards is announced, most retailers tend to drop their prices in an attempt to make room for the next-generation GPUs. Once the new range of GPUs is officially released, you will often find that the price of last-gen GPUs often goes down again. So if you've been holding for the something from Nvidia's 40-series, like an RTX 4090 or RTX 4070 Super, expect prices to go down throughout 2025. That said, demand for Nvidia chips is only going up with the AI boom, so discounts might not be as big as they used to be.
Of course, if you've decided you need a next-gen GPU that just released, you’re back to square one and will need to wait for a sale.
Are You Going to Bottleneck Your Machine?
When looking for the best time to buy a new GPU, it’s not just the price you need to consider, it’s your current build too. For example, if you’re sporting an Intel Core i5, you’re not going to want to pair that with a beefy AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX, as you’re more than likely going to cause a bottleneck.
You might also want to check that your current power supply is up to the task of powering a next-gen GPU. The best power supplies should not only have enough wattage to power your new GPU, but they should also have a sufficient rating to ensure better performance. When it comes to PSUs, there’s no such thing as overkill, a gold or platinum PSU will offer much better efficiency.
When you’re looking to upgrade your graphics card, you essentially want to make sure that no other parts are seriously outdated. If even one component is too far behind the rest of your gaming computer, you could be causing a potential bottleneck.
Is This GPU Overkill Right Now?
The last thing to consider when thinking about the best time to upgrade your GPU is the gaming market. For example, when a new engine is released, such as the fairly recent release of Unreal Engine 5, you will likely find yourself waiting a while before games come out that will push the limits of your next-gen GPU. Nvidia's RTX 4090 features DLSS 4, but only some games will be able to take advantage of the AI upscaling. You can check out the full list of DLSS 4 launch titles here.
Top Budget GPU's You Can Buy Right Now
If you're ready to upgrade sooner rather than later, but aren't looking to spend a fortune on the newest generation of cards, we highly recommend the Intel Arc B580. Check out more recommendations from our full guide to the best budget graphics cards on the market right now.
Marvel star Mark Ruffalo has said he's still keen for a solo Hulk movie — though isn't sure if it will ever happen.
Ruffalo has a string of appearances as Bruce Banner under his alter ego's oversized belt, but has never starred in his own solo Hulk film. 2008's The Incredible Hulk is considered part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but featured Edward Norton in the title role.
Still, after appearing in everything from The Avengers to Captain Marvel, Thor: Ragnarok to Shang-Chi, isn't it time Ruffalo finally got the spotlight all to himself?
"I'd love to have a solo Hulk movie," Ruffalo told GQ, launching into an explanation of why it's been a contractually difficult prospect in the past. "I don't know if you know the story of that, but [The Hulk's movie rights are] not really owned by Marvel. It's a Universal property."
Fans have long known of this fact, which is believed to have complicated ideas for a new Hulk solo project while at the same time still allowing the character to co-star in other heroes' films, as well as The Avengers team-up movies. However, Ruffalo continued by saying this situation hasn't stopped Marvel discussing solo ideas.
"We keep talking about it, what it would be," he continued. "There's been so many Hulk movies already, it's like, does anyone really want another one? But I'd love one, and I do think the audiences would be into it if we could crack the nut of it."
The last time viewers saw The Hulk was in Disney+ show She-Hulk, which follows the exploits of Banner's lawyer-turned-Hulk cousin, Jennifer Walters. Its season finale featured Banner revealing that he had fathered a son, a younger-looking Hulk named Skaar — a plot thread that the MCU is yet to return to.
Since then, Captain America: Brave New World also featured Harrison Ford as Red Hulk, meaning there are now at least four Hulks running around somewhere (or stuck in prison, until the MCU ever revisits their plotlines again). Could this end up leading to something? Fans have long hoped for an adaptation of the World War Hulk comics plotline, though to date nothing more than rumors have ever materialized.
The third instalment of Frontier Developments' moreish dinosaur park sim, Jurassic World Evolution 3, is almost here. You'll get to manage your very own park full of dinosaurs in this much-anticipated park management simulator sequel that yes, really does feature the Megalodon this time. Gulp.
Jurassic World Evolution 3 will be open its doors again for players on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S on October 21. As a global release, it'll unlock simultaneously for all players regardless of where they are in the world — here's when that will be in your timezone (and unfortunately, no, there's no way to unlock the game in early access ahead of its street date).
"Just about everything I've seen so far of Jurassic World Evolution 3 has me excited to thrill my guests and make my lawyers nervous," we wrote in IGN's Jurassic World Evolution 3's final preview. "From dino breeding to dramatic and different new park locations to extremely robust customization tools, it feels like it truly deserves its spot at the table with Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster now, rather than relying on the, you know, freakin' dinosaurs to make up for some of what it was missing."
Jurassic World Evolution 3 Launch Times
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
PDT (San Francisco):
7am
EDT (New York):
10am
BST (London):
3pm
CEST (Paris, Rome, Berlin):
4pm
EEST (Turkey):
5pm
HKT (Hong Kong):
8pm
CST (Beijing):
8pm
JST (Tokyo):
11pm
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
AEST (Sydney):
12am midnight
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Escape from Duckov is an unlikely hit on Steam after half a million sales and big concurrents over the weekend.
The parody of extraction shooter Escape from Tarkov is riding high with 173,394 peak concurrent players on Valve’s platform. That’s enough to make it the sixth most-played game on Steam right now. Only Delta force, Battlefield 6, PUBG, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike 2 are more popular right now.
Escape from Duckov is a PVE top-down looter-shooter game in which you scavenge for resources, build your hideout, and upgrade your gear. “Start from nothing and rise to the top,” reads the official blurb. “Outwit hostile ducks, survive, or make it out alive.”
Following its launch on October 16, Team Soda’s game sold an additional 500,000 copies over the weekend. Its Steam user review rating is sitting pretty at 'Overwhelmingly Positive.' “At this moment, the entire dev team is quacking with joy and flapping our wings in excitement!” reads a statement.
Escape from Tarkov, meanwhile, hits Steam on November 15. It will be interesting to see if it beats Escape from Duckov’s concurrent player peak on the platform. A console version is in the works.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
You don't have to look far to find an action-oriented comic book. But what if just any old action story won't do? What if you crave truly excessive amounts of blood and violence? That's a niche creator Tyler Kirkham aims to fill with his new Image Comics series Final Boss, a book that's billed as equal parts BRZRKR and DC K.O.
With Final Boss #1 hitting stores soon, IGN can debut a new preview of the series. Check out the slideshow gallery below to see the previously revealed covers and interior pages from issue #1, along with exclusive new character designs, black and white pages, and covers to Final Boss #3:
Final Boss is written and drawn by Kirkham, whose previous superhero work includes Green Lantern, Phoenix: Warsong, and The Amazing Spider-Man. The book also features art contributions from Ifan Noor and David Miller, along with covers by Kirkham, Ryan Ottley, V. Ken Marion, and Jae Lee. Here's the official logline for Final Boss #1:
From the dynamic creator and artist, Tyler Kirkham (Amazing Spider-Man, Green Lantern), comes an action-packed new series in the upcoming ongoing, Final Boss. The premiere issue will boast variant covers by such fan-favorite artists as: V. Ken Marion, Ryan Ottley, Jae Lee, and Kirkham himself. Prepare for this over-the-top adventure that's a high-octane nod to classic action stories. Trying to forge a new path, Tommy Brazen uses his newfound powers for various paid enforcer gigs and street fights, only to uncover a past far more complex than he ever imagined.
"This is your fix. FIGHT. POWER-UP. REPEAT," Kirkham tells IGN. "FINAL BOSS has the drama, the depth, and the VIOLENCE you've been waiting for!"
Final Boss #1 will be released on November 19. You can preorder a copy at your local comic shop.
Despite the blockbuster reception to Sandfall's RPG, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 co-director Naoki Hamaguchi says that decisions about Part 3's gameplay will be "based on the director's decision himself," and it had not been "pre-determined yet."
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which boasts traditional JRPG-inspired turn-based combat, recently confirmed sales of 5 million copies in five months, making it one of the biggest hits of the year. But Hamaguchi isn't letting his head be turned by current trends, it seems, and is focused instead on "what game experience fans will enjoy."
"Essentially for the Final Fantasy numbered series, the game design is based on the director's decision himself," Hamaguchi told TheGamer. "For the new title, whether it's action or turn-based, that's not pre-determined yet.
"If you would ask me, 'Is [my next game] going to be an RPG?', yes, there is definitely a possibility. But is it going to be a turn-based RPG? We're taking this aside from the fact that Expedition 33 was received well, we received a lot of 'JRPGs are back' comments. For me, I'm thinking about what game experience fans will enjoy. That's the most important point."
In July, Naoki Yoshida, the director/producer of Final Fantasy 14 and producer of Final Fantasy 16, was asked in an interview with AnimeNewsNetwork whether mainline Final Fantasy games could go back to being turn-based, in the wake of Clair Obscur's success.
"With this question of turn-based versus action, it tends to isolate the gameplay to just the battle system," said Yoshida. "That doesn't take into account what kind of game the creators want to deliver to players. For example, based on a certain graphical quality we want to present to our players, or the narrative we want to deliver to our players, it relates to how we set up the game's systems around it. This includes the battle system, game design, and gameplay feel. It's not a clear-cut answer, whether it will become all turn-based, or if it's going to become more action-based.
"[I'm] not necessarily going to be on Final Fantasy 17, so we also don't want to obstruct or limit our future director or whomever will be producing the games like 17 or even 18," Yoshida continued. "We don't want to put them on a rail."
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 game director Guillaume Broche, producer Francois Meurisse, and technical director Tom Guillermin, as well as publisher Kepler Interactive's CEO Alexis Garavaryan, took the trip out to visit the Final Fantasy publisher's offices. In a social post, Hamaguchi described it as a "creatively rich exchange of visions and ideas."
Hamaguchi, meanwhile, has also assured fans that the team working on the highly anticipated final instalment is "striking a balance" between keeping the story moving and tightening the pacing. Though he disagreed that some sections of FF7 Rebirth were "longer than necessary," he said: "As we work on the conclusion to the trilogy, we are striking a balance on how story arcs are told and spread out so as to ensure that the game feels a bit more concise."
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
The first draft of the script for the movie adaptation of Sleeping Dogs is "done."
That's according to Marvel star Simu Liu, who revealed over the weekend that the script for the film was complete, albeit carefully redacting some details from the screenshot. He marked the news by sharing a photo of his own sleeping dog.
in honour of our sleeping dogs script draft being done, here’s my sleepy dog 👍 pic.twitter.com/l1KsFNDj5V
When a commenter responded to the good news and asked if the actor and producer had "worked things out" with the game's publisher and IP-holder Square Enix, Liu said: "They’re absolutely great, it’s the studios that don’t seem to understand how important this IP is BUT we will get them there."
If you were hoping for more, I'm afraid Liu shared little else, but it should be good news nonetheless given the adaptation has been languishing in development hell for at least eight years.
As IGN has reported, Story Kitchen is leading the Sleeping Dogs live action feature film project, with Simu Liu, who plays Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, producing and set to play the lead role of Wei Shen. Story Kitchen has form when it comes to video game adaptations, having worked on everything from the Sonic the Hedgehog films to Netflix’s animated Tomb Raider series.
Sleeping Dogs was first released in 2012 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC and tells the story of detective Wei Shen as he infiltrates one of Hong Kong's notorious Triad crime syndicates. While it failed to meet publisher Square Enix's lofty sales expectations, it is much-loved by fans and sequel hopes have followed it ever since. We thought Sleeping Dogs was great, writing in IGN's Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition review: "Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition doesn't mess much with what made the original game so great. And that's a good thing." It returned an 8.5.
A sequel was canceled in late 2013 just before it entered production, and its original developer, United Front Games, shut down three years later.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
IShowSpeed has slammed AI-powered Sora 2 deepfakes that show the streaming star doing and saying things he hasn’t.
During a recent livestream, the hugely popular internet personality watched increasingly outlandish Sora 2 videos users had created with his likeness. After watching deepfakes in which the 20-year-old, who has 44.9 million subscribers on YouTube, kisses a fan, races against a cheetah (something he plans to do in real life in the future), and appears in a country he hasn’t yet visited (Nepal), IShowSpeed came across scores of videos in which he comes out to his fans as gay.
🚨| WATCH: Speed had to shut down his Sora AI account after fans created AI videos of him coming out as gay and claiming he’s visiting countries he isn’t 💀😭😭 pic.twitter.com/hGGHopYu4V
An increasingly angry IShowSpeed, real name Darren Jason Watkins Jr., tells his viewers that he’s “turning this s**t off,” before realising he would have to manually delete each video in which his likeness is used.
“This s**t is getting turned off,” he said. “No more. Why does this look too real? Bro, no, that’s like, my face.”
“Why do I keep coming out?! Why do I keep coming out?!”
OpenAI’s Sora 2 app lets users create videos using the likeness of celebrities who are alive if they opt in, something IShowSpeed evidently did. During the livestream, he hit out at his chat for suggesting he do so. “That was not the right move to do,” he said. “Whoever told me to make it public, chat, you’re not here for my own safety, bro. I’m f***ed, chat.”
The last deepfake video he views online before giving up and ending the stream sees IShowSpeed show off his newborn baby alongside an unknown woman. The video describes the baby as trans.
The comments come after OpenAI blocked Sora 2 from making videos portraying Dr Martin Luther King Jr, following a request from his estate. According to the BBC, the company acknowledged the app had created "disrespectful" content about the civil rights campaigner.
OpenAI said it would pause images of Dr King "as it strengthens guardrails for historical figures" — but it continues to allow people to make clips of other high profile individuals. Videos featuring figures such as President John F. Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth II, and Professor Stephen Hawking have been shared widely online.
“Please, just stop sending me AI videos of Dad,” wrote Williams in a message posted via Instagram. “Stop believing I wanna see it or that I’ll understand, I don’t and I won’t. If you’re just trying to troll me, I’ve seen way worse, I’ll restrict and move on. But please, if you’ve got any decency, just stop doing this to him and to me, to everyone even, full stop. It’s dumb, it’s a waste of time and energy, and believe me, it’s not what he’d want.”
Sora 2, which OpenAI launched on October 1, is capable of generating 20-second long videos at 1080p resolution, complete with sound. Soon after its release, social media was flooded with videos generated by the app, many of which contained depictions of copyrighted characters including those from popular anime and game franchises such as One Piece, Demon Slayer, Pokémon, and Mario.
Reuters reported on September 29 that OpenAI had contacted studios and talent agencies a week before Sora 2’s launch, giving them the option to opt out. But in an October 4 blog post on Sora 2 (previously reported on by IGN), OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that changes would be made to the fledgling video generation app in the near future. “First, we will give rightsholders more granular control over generation of characters, similar to the opt-in model for likeness but with additional controls," Altman confirmed, adding OpenAI will give rightsholders “the ability to specify how their characters can be used (including not at all).” In the same blog post, Altman called Sora 2 videos that use copyrighted characters “interactive fan fiction.”
Nintendo has warned it would take “necessary actions against infringement of our intellectual property rights.”
Disney and Universal have sued the AI image creator Midjourney, alleging that the company improperly used and distributed AI-generated characters from their movies. Disney also sent a cease and desist letter to Character.AI, warning the startup to stop using its copyrighted characters without authorization.
“A lot of the videos that people are going to generate of these cartoon characters are going to infringe copyright,” Mark Lemley, a professor at Stanford Law School, told CNBC. “OpenAI is opening itself up to quite a lot of copyright lawsuits by doing this.”
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.
Capcom's upcoming, unannounced Resident Evil Zero remake will reportedly launch in 2028 and feature the lead actor from Square Enix's Guardians of the Galaxy video game.
Now, MP1st has suggested that the Code Veronica remake is targeting a Q1 2027 release window, while Resident Evil Zero will follow a year after. And there's word, too, of Zero remake's codename — "Project Chamber" — which is also listed on the resume of Far Cry 5 and Guardians of the Galaxy (video game) actor Jon McLaren.
McLaren's resume describes Project Chamber as an "upcoming AAA video game", for which he is providing performance capture at Beyond Capture Studios. The codename would be an obvious nod to Resident Evil Zero's Rebecca Chambers, while MP1st notes that Beyond Capture Studios was previously used by Capcom for both the Resident Evil 4 Remake and Street Fighter 6.
Resident Evil Zero originally launched in 2002 on GameCube, and served as a prequel to franchise's classic first entry. It covers the events surrounding the S.T.A.R.S. Bravo Team in the Arklay Mountains, with the player switching between Chambers and escaped convict Billy Coen. (This is, presumably, who McLaren is playing.)
This new remake is expected to add fresh scenes to the original game's story — in a similar manner to how Capcom has fleshed out its previous Resident Evil remakes. In Zero, it's reported that this will include a larger role for the conductor in the game's infamous train sequence.
There's likely still plenty of time to go before fans see anything of Capcom's new Resident Evil Zero remake for themselves, though today's fresh report provides a little more detail of what to expect — and when.
Connexion
