Ah, the licensed video game. Once a collection of underwhelming retellings of big-screen blockbusters, littered with haunting polygonal nightmares (Hagrid, that’s you) and aimless Atari attempts (yes, E.T., that’s you), we’ve seen an uptick in actually good adaptations in recent years, with the upcoming Terminator 2D: No Fate looking like a promising attempt at turning James Cameron’s classic into some enjoyable retro action. So, we thought we’d pick out the best of the bunch.

We do have a few little rules, though, that stop just any old film-adjacent game from making the list. They need to either be:

• A direct translation or adaptation of a feature film
• An official movie sequel or prequel.
• Or a game that attempts to continue the story or provide backstory and additional canonical lore.

So, for example, Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man is not eligible as it takes place in a Marvel universe separate from the movies and is much more rooted in the original comic books, but the PS2’s Spider-Man 2 would be allowed due to it being directly based on the Sam Raimi film of the same name. Make sense? I hope so. Let’s rank the top 10 best licensed games based on movies.

10. Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie

Console launch games come with the power to stun thanks to the leap in technology they inherently are unlocked by. The Xbox 360’s Peter Jackson’s King Kong definitely benefited from this, as the Lord of the Rings’ director’s epic retelling of the classic monster movie made a huge splash at the dawn of gaming’s HD era. With Rayman and Beyond Good and Evil creator Michel Ancel helming it at Ubisoft Montpellier, King Kong felt more than a standard movie tie-in thanks to its many interesting and novel ideas. You had the freedom to explore its vast jungle spaces, which offered an unprecedented sense of cinematic immersion and was a breathtaking contrast against the previous generation’s more limiting, corridor-like spaces. King Kong not only ushered in a whole new generation of hardware but also a new way of thinking about how licensed games could be approached.

9. Scarface: The World is Yours

Scarface: The World is Yours has balls. Not only does a “Balls Meter” fill up as Tony Montana causes mayhem across an open-world ‘80s Miami, allowing for him to slow down time, enter first-person mode, and gain infinite ammo as he guns down as many gang rivals as possible, but it also has an audacity to position itself as a sequel to a film in which its protagonist dies at the end. In this alternative universe, Al Pacino’s antihero coke fiend survives the ambush at his mansion thanks to a certain little friend and escapes out of the back door, free to continue building his drug-running empire. Yes, it's largely a GTA-clone, as was commonplace in the era — see the also actually quite good The Godfather adaptation for further evidence — but its wild concept alone is enough for it to deserve a place on this list.

8. Rockstar’s The Warriors

In terms of creating immersive worlds and capturing a tone, not many do it quite like Rockstar. The Warriors comes from an era when we’d get more than one game a decade from the developer, and sometimes multiple in one year. A much smaller-scale project than the likes of GTA: San Andreas or Vice City, The Warriors acts as both a prequel and a retelling of the cult ‘70s thriller of the same name, focusing on the titular New York gang. Taking the form of a beat 'em up, it successfully drenches you in the seedy underworld alleyways that its characters inhabit, as Rockstar once again displayed their world-class world-building credentials. And that grimy tone is what The Warriors achieves most successfully, making it an adaptation that shouldn’t be overlooked, even when compared to the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption studio’s other headline-stealing projects.

7. Mad Max

Avalanche Studios’ Mad Max is the perfect example of taking the essence of a film series and turning that into the driving force behind a video game adaptation. In this case, it's the exhilarating car combat witnessed all the way back in the original 1979 movie, through Road Warrior, and into Fury Road’s landmark action. When Max is on foot in the 2015 game, it's perfectly good as it apes the successful melee formula concocted by Warner Bros. stablemate Rocksteady for its Batman Arkham series, but it's when the Australian drifter gets those hands out of raiders’ jawbones and behind the wheel of his iconic Interceptor that it really comes to life. Now a cult favourite, much like the original film that inspires it, Mad Max is one of a kind and a fantastic translation of George Miller’s vision in video game form.

6. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Years before the Rocksteady Batman: Arkham and Insomniac Marvel’s Spider-Man games, the prospect of a successful comic book game was bleak. Even rarer was the thought of a genuinely fun movie tie-in. Treyarch’s Spider-Man 2, based on the Sam Raimi film of the same name, flew in the face of both those ideas. An incredibly detailed New York City (for the time, at least) felt like a revelation to swing around in, and Peter Parker’s web-slinging provided a whole new way to explore the sort of 3D open world that the PS2’s Grand Theft Auto games had pioneered. In a legitimately impressive technical revelation, Treyarch’s Spidey actually attached his webs to buildings rather than empty skyboxes. Flying between skyscrapers and thumping petty criminals was a thrilling sensation back in 2004, and, while it has since been far eclipsed by more modern Peter Parker and Miles Morales adventures, it certainly paved the way for those to exist.

5. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

It’s difficult to think of a movie series that’s had more games to its name than Star Wars. Classics such as TIE Fighter and Rogue Leader were contenders for this pick, but we just think there’s nothing like the fulfillment of the Force fantasy that is delivered by Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Bridging the gap between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, this 2023 action-adventure is part of the official canon, with references to Order 66 and clashes with Darth Vader fuelling Cal Kestis’ story, but with an originality that doesn’t just lean on Star Wars cliches. An improvement in pretty much every way over its predecessor, Fallen Order, it's an easy pick for our representative of the most famous of film universes.

4. GoldenEye 007

It may not be the best to play now, but there’s just no denying the impact that GoldenEye 007 had when it arrived in 1997 on the Nintendo 64. Perfect Dark, shortly after, would go on to expand on the ideas established in its campaign, and games like TimeSplitters would borrow from its revolutionary approach to FPS multiplayer, making it so much more than just a movie adaptation. Yes, it featured a whole host of famous James Bond heroes and villains — including a truly broken Oddjob, who takes the term “sharply dressed” to its extreme —- and successfully captured the globetrotting exploits of 007 as much as a console with the limited power of the N64 could at the time, but it also shaped the next three decades of online shooters. This makes it so much more than just a movie tie-in, and something developer Rare should never be forgotten for achieving.

3. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

A video game prequel to the 2000 Vin Diesel vehicle, Pitch Black, has no right to be as good as The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, yet here we are. Taking a heap of Half-Life campaign design and a healthy dose of Thief-like stealth, the Swedish Starbreeze Studios and Vin Diesel’s own Tigon Studios transformed a perfectly decent film series into a genuinely great video game, and one that many believe surpasses its source material. Its smart level design is enhanced by intelligent translations of Riddick’s abilities from the film, such as his trademark “eyeshine”, which lets you see in the dark, and a healthy amount of improvised blunt and sharp weaponry that fits perfectly with the movie’s grimy aesthetic. The plot’s premise — a prison escape — is fundamentally cinematic, but it's the ways in which Butcher Bay asks you to play intelligently in its world that pushes it beyond the big screen and into a truly great game.

2. Alien Isolation

The original Alien film from 1979 is a haunted house movie in space, with lone survivor of the Nostromo, Ripley, aiming to survive its dark corridors and the roaming Xenomorph threat until the credits hit. As such, it would become a natural inspiration for many survival horror greats, from Dead Space’s infested spaceship, to SOMA’s unnerving futurism, and, of course, Resident Evil 2’s stalking Mr X threat. So, naturally, when the time came for yet another Alien game to be made, survival horror seemed a logical choice for developer Creative Assembly, who would be the next in a long line to take up the challenge of translating the unique atmosphere of Ridley Scott’s original film.

What the studio made was beyond what could have been expected, as it evolved the idea of RE 2’s Tyrant into an ever-present danger that scuttled along the map’s sprawling web of vents. The Xenomorph, and the tech powering it, are the jewel at the centre of Isolation’s crown, and are what make it such a faithful recreation of Alien. By stepping into her daughter’s shoes and sneaking around the Sevastopol, you get as close a feeling as to what it would’ve been like to be Ripley and walk those Nostromo hallways yourself. It may not quite make the number one spot on our list, but it is the entry that most successfully captures the overall tone of its source material, embracing its terror to astonishing effect.

1. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

We wouldn’t have the likes of Tomb Raider or Uncharted without Indiana Jones, and in 2024, the king came back to claim his throne. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle took everything that made the original trilogy of Steven Spielberg films so special and managed to translate it into a lovingly designed video game from Wolfenstein developer MachineGames — perhaps not so coincidentally, a studio formed by former Escape from Butcher Bay developers. Not only is The Great Circle a fantastic, stealthy, puzzle-filled action-adventure that really places an emphasis on the adventure part, but it borrows all of the archaeological intrigue and, crucially, humour that makes the likes of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade so special. So much, in fact, that the story told here would slot in nicely between them and act as a superior third of that trilogy than Temple of Doom ever did.

Throw in a fantastic pitch-perfect Harrison Ford impression from Troy Baker, a suitably swarmy performance from Marios Gavrilis for the villainous Emmerich Voss, and a healthy amount of Nazi punching, whipping, and shovel-smacking, and you’ve got all of the ingredients you need. But it’s so much more than just a playable film, instead grounding itself in flexible immersive-sim-esque gameplay systems that emphasise using brain over brawn. Violence is rarely considered a first option, and gained knowledge is always a much sharper weapon. It makes for a truly fantastic game in its own right, but one that is as referential as it is transformative, and a true-to-life version of what the Indiana Jones character is — a doctor, not a soldier. The Great Circle is as thought-out a licensed game based on a movie as you could wish for, and a perfect fit for the top of our list.

And those are our picks for the best games based on movies. What game that you love didn’t make the cut? Let us know in the comments! And for more licensed games, check out our list of the best Marvel games of all time.

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.

Doom co-creator John Romero has revealed that while his previous shooter was canceled, "elements" of it live on in his latest secret project.

Romero Games, the studio founded by John and Brenda Romero, was left "heartbroken" this summer after Microsoft reportedly pulled funding of its next project as part of the company's latest round of cuts and mass layoffs. The cuts also affected other internal Xbox studios, leading to the cancellation of the likes of Everwild and Perfect Dark, as well as other unannounced titles Microsoft had been funding.

Despite some reports, the studio did not close, and the Romeros assured fans they were "evaluating opportunities" from publishers that had been in touch since the funding issues were announced, but very little was known about the game other than it was a first-person shooter.

Now, in a new interview at Salón del Videojuego de Madrid (thanks, Eurogamer), John Romero revealed, to rapturous applause, that he had "survived the cancellation of a huge game." And while his current project "has nothing to do with the previous game," it "incorporates a lot of the elements that we had in the previous game."

"We're ahead — we're not starting at ground zero," he explained. "We have 50 million worth of a game. We can take pieces out and put [them] into a brand new indie game, so we have a lot of stuff to put in the game, and the design is completely different, but the team is really excited.

"It's a very much smaller game," he added. "It's more fun for us because the people working on it were all directors of different departments, and they didn't actually get to code or design or whatever — do it themselves — and so now we get to actually do that, do the thing that we're really good at ourselves. That's why small teams are great."

Fans believe we're just days away from our first proper peek at Avengers: Doomsday, as Marvel reportedly readies the movie's debut trailer.

A listing for the trailer has now popped up on the Korean Ratings Board, which mentions the look at Avengers: Doomsday with a runtime of 1 minute and 25 seconds.

The emergence of this rating, amid fevered speculation from Marvel production scoopers, certainly suggests our initial glimpse at Avengers: Doomsday footage is now imminent. And then there's the other solid reason why we're likely to get a trailer soon: next week's launch of fellow Disney blockbuster Avatar: Fire and Ash.

Attaching a new trailer for Avengers: Doomsday to the new Avatar movie would inevitably drive further interest in the blue alien threequel, with some cinemagoers likely attending just to see Robert Downey Jr. and co. on the big screen again after all these year.

And while Avatar: Fire and Ash is certainly expected to do well, there's added pressure for this chapter in the franchise to succeed. Recent comments from franchise creator James Cameron suggested the filmmaker would be content to step away from the series if Fire and Ash didn't do as well as expected, leaving plans for an Avatar 4 and 5 in doubt.

Avengers: Doomsday is now almost exactly one year away — another milestone that a trailer might celebrate. Due for release on December 18, 2026, the movie is expected to be Marvel's biggest launch since 2019's Avengers: Endgame — which itself will get a re-release next year to remind audiences of the MCU's last major climax.

With the return of Downey Jr. and directorial duo Anthony and Joe Russo, many fans believe Doomsday will be pitched as something of a direct sequel to Endgame (and, obviously, it is the first Avengers-branded follow-up since). Rumors abound that another major Endgame star has also been tempted back for a big role, inverting the relationship they had with Iron Man, now Downey Jr. is playing the villainous Doctor Doom.

To date, Marvel has only released its infamous cast reveal "chair" video showing off the film's enormous ensemble cast that takes in surviving members of the old Avengers, the Thunderbolts (AKA The New Avengers), the Fantastic Four and several high-profile members of the Fox-era X-Men. A few production photos have leaked out over the film's shoot, and fans certainly have their theories over where Doomsday's story is headed, but much of the movie remains officially under wraps.

Perhaps we'll get hints at all of that, when the first Avengers: Doomsday trailer does land... soon.

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

South Park looks set to bring Season 28 to a close with the long-awaited(?) delivery of Satan and Donald Trump’s ‘butt baby.’

Today, December 10, South Park Season 28 Episode 5 airs at 10pm ET / PT on Comedy Central, before streaming tomorrow, December 11 on Paramount+ from 6am ET / 3am PT. Episode 5 is expected to be the season finale and bring to an end South Park’s current biweekly schedule of new episode releases until the new season starts.

For the uninitiated, the overarching storyline in South Park Season 27 and Season 28 has been Trump trying and failing to convince Satan not to go through with having their baby, aka the Antichrist. Now it’s actually happening, although vice president J.D. Vance, who has conspired with Trump to try to murder the baby in recent episodes, may end up having the last laugh.

The episode itself is appropriately called The Crap Out, and Comedy Central's episode description declares: "Satan's due, Stan's praying, and only a Christmas miracle can deliver the Antichrist on time." How will Stan factor in all of this? It’s unclear, but the clip below shows Trump and J.D. Vance working as bell ringers for the Salvation Army, so there is that...

Watch an all-new episode of South Park December 10th at 10/9c on Comedy Central and stream next day on Paramount+. pic.twitter.com/s7wYziizaJ

— South Park (@SouthPark) December 9, 2025

Also unclear is what happens with South Park from here. South Park abruptly brought Season 27 to an end after just five episodes, and the expectation is that Season 28 will end with the same number. Could we see Season 29 sooner rather than later?

Traditionally, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone create each episode week by week, which makes for a chaotic production but topical shows. Comedy Central had delayed the Season 27 ender just hours before it was due to air, with Parker and Stone insisting the blame lay at their door. “Apparently when you do everything at the last minute sometimes you don’t get it done,” the pair told Variety. “This one’s on us. We didn’t get it done in time. Thanks to Comedy Central and South Park fans for being so understanding. Tune in next week!”

As far as we at IGN are aware, Parker and Stone had missed the scheduled release of South Park just once before, due to a power outage, but never for not getting an episode done in time.

It’s worth noting that during their San Diego Comic-Con 2025 panel, which took place the day after the Season 27 opener aired, Parker said he and Stone were unsure what the next episode would be, revealing the decision was “super stressful.”

South Park has enjoyed big ratings and sparked much debate ever since the Donald Trump-skewering Season 27 opener in July, which you can read the details of here. It roasted Trump to such an extent that it sparked a rebuttal from the White House. Parker and Stone have said they were attracted to “new taboos” and a fear of speaking out against the Trump administration.

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.

Netflix has admitted it did not attribute any value to Warner Bros.’ video game business in its $82.7 billion acquisition deal, sparking concern for the future of everything from Mortal Kombat to Hogwarts Legacy.

While Warner Bros. is best known for its movie and TV business, Warner Bros. Games includes a number of well-known video game developers and brands. Batman Arkham developer Rocksteady, LEGO games developer Traveller's Tales, Hogwarts Legacy developer Avalanche Software, and Mortal Kombat maker NetherRealm are all on Warner Bros. Games’ books.

And despite the fact some of Warner Bros. games, in particular smash hit Hogwarts Legacy, have sold tens of millions of copies and generated billions of dollars in revenue, as far as Netflix is concerned, they’re pretty much an afterthought in this mega deal.

Speaking during a conference presentation about the deal reported on by Pocket Gamer, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters responded to a question about whether buying Warner Bros. would accelerate its own gaming plans.

He said that while Warner Bros. had done “great work in the game space, we actually didn’t attribute any value to that from the get-go because they’re relatively minor compared to the grand scheme of things."

“Now we are super excited because some of those properties that they’ve built, Hogwarts is a great example of that, have been done quite well, and we think that we can incorporate that into what we’re offering.

“They’ve got great studios and great folks working there. So we think that there’s definitely an opportunity there. But just to be clear, we haven’t built that into our deal model.”

While Warner Bros. Games does have some big hitters under its belt, it has struggled since the release of Hogwarts Legacy. In January, previous games boss David Haddad exited the company following the costly failures of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and MultiVersus. Soon after, Warner Bros. Games announced plans to shutter Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. San Diego alongside the cancelation of its Wonder Woman game. And in June, Warner Bros. Games announced a restructure to focus on four key franchises: Mortal Kombat, Harry Potter, DC, and Game of Thrones.

Indeed, 2024 was a brutal year for Warner Bros. Games, with Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League sparking a $200 million hit to revenue, and then Smash Bros.-style brawler MultiVersus flopping to the tune of $100 million. Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, meanwhile, failed to make an impression. Speaking in a financial call, Warner Bros. Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav said: "We recognise [the games business] is substantially underperforming its potential right now.”

So what’s next for Warner Bros. Games while it awaits its fate? The promising Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is set to launch at some point in 2026, and given Netflix's deal may not close until summer 2027, this one feels safe.

Elsewhere, there's a Hogwarts Legacy sequel in the works and a single-player Batman game from Rocksteady reportedly in development, but neither is announced nor do we have release windows. NetherRealm has yet to announce its next project, having ceased work on Mortal Kombat 1 updates. Will it make another Mortal Kombat game or another game in the DC fighting game series, Injustice? Gotham Knights developer WB Games Montreal, meanwhile, reportedly pitched a John Constantine game but it was never approved. A Flash game was scrapped after the DCU Flash film bombed. It’s now allegedly helping out with other games and is reportedly working on a pitch for a new Game of Thrones game.

Will Netflix be interested in any of this? So far, Netflix has seen mixed results from its video game efforts, with a number of high-profile hires and subsequent studio closures. It’s currently focused on narrative games based on Netflix shows, games for children, social party games, and Grand Theft Auto ports.

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.

Two more titles headed to the PlayStation Plus catalog for Extra and Premium members have reportedly been revealed, and are due to become available next week.

That's according to the ever-reliable Dealabs, which has reported that both Assassin's Creed Mirage and Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty will arrive for subscribers on Tuesday, December 16.

Mirage is the enjoyable, city-sized Assassin's Creed game that launched in 2023 as a brief respite from the sprawling, country-sized epics the series now regularly delivers. Its tighter gameplay, set across the rooftops and alleyways of a historical Baghdad, was well received.

Last month, Mirage received a major update adding a further six hours of gameplay — set in what is now modern day Saudi Arabia, and reportedly funded by modern day Saudi Arabian interests. The game has also recently been added to Xbox Game Pass, as Ubisoft seeks to get the game in front of as many players as possible.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, meanwhile, is the 2023 historical action role-player from Nioh maker Team Ninja, which is loosely based on the Chinese epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

In addition to these, Dealabs reported that Soulcalibur 3 is "expected" to be included in the PlayStation Plus Premium Classics Catalog, after it was previously confirmed as on its way during September's State of Play broadcast. We'll know for certain soon.

Sony is expected to officially reveal its PlayStation Plus selection for December later today. We'll update this post with any further titles then.

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

Arc Raiders has a "cold snap" on the way, and it's set to arrive on December 16.

As already confirmed by developer Embark Studios, the Cold Snap December update adds a new map condition called Snowfall, a new event called Flickering Flames, new quests, and a new raider deck (Arc Raiders' equivalent of a battle pass).

What does the Snowfall map condition mean, exactly? We're not sure, but Embark shared the image, below, showing what appears to be a dead raider in the snow, suggesting the frigid weather could be more deadly than merely inconvenient. As one fan quipped in response: "I can’t wait to have all of my s**t stolen from people camping in basements on extraction points covered in snow."

16.12.25 pic.twitter.com/UxQH0nAP1L

— ARC Raiders (@ARCRaidersGame) December 9, 2025

Cold Snap is the last update listed as part of Arc Raiders' 2025 content roadmap, and Embark has yet to outline what's coming in 2026. The previous update, rolled out at the end of November, involved a "very hot fix for the locked room exploits," and it turned out they weren’t kidding after some players had been cheating their way into locked rooms as before.

Arc Raiders sold over 4 million copies worldwide within two weeks of launch, cementing its commercial success. Nexon also revealed that the extraction shooter had reached a huge concurrent count of 700,000 players across all platforms. It's done so well it's crossed over into the world of South Park with a surprise appearance that was put together in just a few days.

IGN's Arc Raiders review, returned a 9/10. We said: "With polished gunplay and an irresistible grind, ARC Raiders sets a new standard for extraction shooters."

If this has tempted you into jumping into Arc Raiders, check out our guide to the best settings, find out what skills we recommend unlocking first, and see how to earn loot by delivering field depot crates.

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.

An HBO Max subscriber has filed a class-action lawsuit over Netflix’s proposed $72 billion acquisition of Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.-owned streaming platform HBO Max includes everything from Game of Thrones to Harry Potter, James Gunn's DC Universe to Barbie, and its content is expected to be added to Netflix if and when the deal goes through.

The lawsuit, filed by a Las Vegas-based HBO Max subscriber who has never been a Netflix subscriber, argues that the deal threatens to reduce competition in the U.S. subscription video-on-demand market, and seeks to block the acquisition.

Netflix’s proposal has sparked a tough response from some members of Congress, and it is expected to face significant scrutiny under antitrust laws. Paramount, meanwhile, has launched a hostile bid worth $108.4 billion in the hope of stealing Warner Bros. out from under Netflix.

According to the LA Times, HBO Max subscriber Michelle Fendelander alleged in her lawsuit, filed in a U.S. District Court in San Jose, that if Netflix’s deal were to go through it would decrease competition in the subscription streaming market. The lawsuit asks the court to issue an injunction to prevent the merger from happening.

“American consumers — including SVOD purchasers like Plaintiff, an HBO Max subscriber — will bear the brunt of this decreased competition, paying increased prices and receiving degraded and diminished services for their money,” Fendelander’s lawsuit claims.

“The elimination of this rivalry is likely to reduce overall content output, diminish the diversity and quality of available content, and narrow the spectrum of creative voices appearing on major streaming platforms.”

In a statement, Netflix hit out at the lawsuit, saying: “We believe this suit is meritless and is merely an attempt by the plaintiffs’ bar to leverage all the attention on the deal.”

Last week, Netflix sent subscribers an email of reassurance following the news of its $82.7 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros., amid concern over potential price rises.

The email — reviewed by IGN — promises subscribers that nothing is changing “today,” and confirms that HBO Max and Netflix will continue to operate separately until the deal closes. Netflix goes on to say that there are a number of steps it needs to complete before the deal closes, including regulatory and shareholder approval. Netflix’s email does not rule out future price rises, but does promise that current membership plans will remain in place at least until the deal goes through. As for when that will be, Netflix said it expects to close the transaction in 12-18 months. So, at the earliest, December 2026, but it could be as late as summer 2027. It seems likely that Warner Bros. shows will arrive on Netflix when the deal closes, and when that happens a price rise seems inevitable.

But will the deal make it through? Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren has called on the Justice Department to examine Netflix's buyout of Warner Bros., branding the deal "like an anti-monopoly nightmare." Netflix has said acquiring Warner Bros. would provide better value to subscribers and shareholders, but Warren insisted a Netflix-owned Warner Bros. risked job losses and higher subscription prices, and said that the Justice Department must now enforce the country's anti-monopoly laws "fairly and transparently."

In an investor call last week attended by IGN, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos struck a confident tone when asked about the deal’s chance of success. "We're highly confident in the regulatory process," he said. "This deal is pro-consumer, pro-innovation, pro-worker, it's pro-creator, it's pro-growth.”

As part of the same call, Sarandos said Netflix would continue to release Warner Bros. movies in theaters for now, though expected theatrical release windows to shorten over time to become "more user friendly."

One report has claimed Netflix is particularly keen to obtain Warner Bros.' vast content library as the streamer ramps up its potential to offer AI-generation tools and content in the future, just weeks after Disney boss Bob Iger confirmed it would imminently begin rolling out AI content and capabilities via Disney+.

Photo by Vincent Feuray / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images.

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.

Today's release of Pokémon Legends: Z-A DLC Mega Dimension has seen the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 adventure receive its version 2.0.0 update — and a list of all-new Mega Pokémon evolutions.

Nintendo had previously shown off a handful of Mega Dimension's new Mega Evolutions, but also kept many back for players to find as they explore the game — or, inevitably, discover online as the update was immediately datamined.

Mega Dimension adds a fresh story campaign to Pokémon Legends: Z-A, starring a donut chef and the Mythical Pokémon Hoopa. Notably, it takes players into a Hyperspace version of Lumiose City where the franchise's typical level 100 cap can be surpassed. But, for many, collecting all of the series' brand-new Mega Evolutions will be the core attraction.

We'll leave details of the new Mega Pokémon species under spoiler tags below, for those who wish to discover them during gameplay, ahead of the game's latest patch notes.

For now, these look to be the last additions likely for Pokémon's ninth generation era, before the franchise moves forward to its highly-anticipated 10th generation of games, expected by fans to arrive next year in line with Pokémon's overall 30th anniversary.

That said, several curious designs have popped up in the most recent trailer for upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 spin-off Pokémon Pokopia, including a pale Pikachu named Peakychu and an overgrown-looking Snorlax named Mosslax. The exact nature of these designs is still to be determined, and they currently have fans split whether they are one-off variants or all-new regional forms.

For now, anyway, here's everything to look forward to in Mega Dimension, which is now available to play.

Mega Evolutions added in Pokémon Legends: Z-A Mega Dimension:

• Mega Raichu X
• Mega Raichu Y
• Mega Chimecho
• Mega Absol Z
• Mega Staraptor
• Mega Garchomp Z
• Mega Lucario Z
• Mega Heatran
• Mega Darkrai
• Mega Chandelure
• Mega Golisopod
• Mega Golurk
• Mega Meowstic
• Mega Crabominable
• Mega Magearna
• Mega Zerora
• Mega Scovillain
• Mega Glimmora
• Mega Tatsugiri
• Mega Baxcalibur

Pokémon Legends: Z-A: Version 2.0.0 patch notes (December 9, 2025):

Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension DLC Additional Story Content Now Available:

• Players who have purchased the Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension DLC (sold separately) can now enjoy its additional story content.
• To progress through the story of the Mega Dimension DLC, you must first have completed the main story of Pokémon Legends: Z-A. For more details about Mega Dimension, please visit the official website: https://legends.pokemon.com/en-us/dlc

New Pokémon:

• Players who have not purchased the Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Mega Dimension DLC can still encounter or obtain the Pokémon added to Mega Dimension via communication features.

Fixes Applied:

• Several issues have been fixed.

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

Finding the perfect gift for someone who only likes tech stuff can be a challenge. Partially because the best tech gifts tend to be inherently expensive. If you're buying someone new technology for Christmas this year, it has the potential to be the only gift that truly gets them excited while also blowing a massive hole in your budget.

There are exceptions to this, of course. Plenty of high-quality tech and gaming accessories are surprisingly affordable and practical. If you're looking for ideas of what to get the tech nerd in your life this year, we've rounded up 10 gifts we love and recommend buying in 2025 to help get you started.

1. Ecoflow Rapid Pro Power Bank