Netflix has announced that it has declined to raise its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery, meaning Paramount Skydance now has a clear path to win the bidding war for the company in charge of Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, the DC Universe, and much more.
Netflix shared a memo today that included its response to WB's board of directors, who said Paramount's latest proposal was "superior" to the existing merger agreement it had with Netflix.
"The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval," Netflix's co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters wrote. "However, we've always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance's latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid.
"Warner Bros. is a world-class organization, and we want to thank David Zaslav, Gunnar Wiedenfels, Bruce Campbell, Brad Singer and the WBD Board for running a fair and rigorous process. We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.' iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the U.S. But this transaction was always a 'nice to have' at the right price, not a 'must have' at any price.
"Netflix's business is healthy, strong and growing organically, powered by our slate and best-in-class streaming service. This year, we'll invest approximately $20 billion in quality films and series and will expand our entertaining offering. Consistent with our capital allocation policy, we'll also resume our share repurchase program.
"We will continue to do what we've done for more than 20 years as a public company: delight our members, profitably grow our business, and drive long-term shareholder value."
Paramount's latest $31 per share also offer gives shareholders extra cash for each quarter the deal would fail to close after this year (about $650 million), and it would cover the $2.8 billion it would owe Netflix for walking away from the existing agreement.
So, as it ends, Netflix's nearly $83 billion deal couldn't quite match the roughly $111 billion deal from Paramount.
Secretlab recently opened up preorders for its highly anticipated lineup of Titan Evo Pokémon gaming chairs, and what better time to pick up one of these coveted chairs than on Pokemon Day. None of these chairs are discounted (and I don't expect any sale to happen in 2026), but you don't have very many options anyway. In fact, this is the only officially licensed Pokemon themed gaming chair that's sold in the United States.
Preorder the Secretlab Titan Evo Gaming Chair for Pokemon Day
These chairs showcase one of three iconic Pokémon - Gengar, Pikachu, and Eevee - with ostentatious use of color, patterns, and figures. My personal favorite is the Eevee edition, with its detailed embossing of Eevee's myriad evolutions; it also seems to be the top seller, since it's already on its third wave of preorders. You do pay a premium for the branding. The Titan Evo normally sells for $599, but the Pokemon models add on an $85 surcharge. Honestly though, if you're a Pokémon superfan, it's totally worth it considering the fact that this is a high quality officially licensed product.
Unusual for a collab, Secretlab opted to go with its Softweave Plus fabric instead of leatherette, and I for one am happy with that decision. Fabric ages more gracefully, feels softer, and doesn't stick to your sweaty skin on hot days. Titan Evo features a solid steel frame with aluminum wheelbase, firm and supportive cold-cure foam for the seat base, four-way adjustable lumbar system, full length backrest with 165 degrees of recline, full metal 4D armrests with magnetically attached PU cushions, and a memory foam headrest pillow.
The Titan Evo is an excellent gaming chair
It's no secret that we love our Secretlab gaming chairs. Three of the eight chairs in our best gaming chair roundup are Secretlab models. Of all the gaming chairs we covered in our "Budget to Best" roundup video earlier, my colleague Akeem Lawanson considered the Titan Evo to be the most comfortable. No good chair comes cheap and Secretlab chairs definitely cost a premium, but we think the craftsmanship, materials, and customizability are worth it.
In our Secretlab Titan Evo review, Chris Coke wrote that "after two years of daily use, the Secretlab Titan Evo has proven that it can stand the test of time and still be one of the best gaming chairs you can buy. Meaningful ergonomics paired with Secretlab’s wide selection of designs, it remains a fantastic option, especially for fans of bright colors or designs."
Treat yourself to Secretlab's new recliner add-on
Secretlab's recently released recliner add-on is a quality of life upgrade. It installs easily onto the Titan Evo chair without any tools required, offers 80 degrees of adjustability, and is filled with cushy memory foam. If you recline often in your chair, you'll finally be able to kick your legs up without the need to buy a separate stool. In our recliner review, Chris Coke wrote that "while both comfort and value are subjective things, the recliner is able to take the Titan Evo and transform it from one of the best racing style gaming chairs to standing head and shoulders above the competition at its price point."
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
It's that time of year: filing your tax return. It's a good day for people who overpay their taxes throughout the year and receive a nice fat check in return. It's not so good of a day for people who have claimed too many exemptions. Whatever the case, most Americans will need to file a tax return no later than April 15 and that's just two months away.
File Your Federal and State Tax Returns for Free
TurboTax is offering a great incentive where you can file both your federal and state returns for $0, guaranteed, with no hidden fees through Turbotax's DIY mobile app. There are a list of requisites to be eligible:
You didn't file with TurboTax last year (or didn't file at all)
You must file your tax return no later than February 28
You must file through TurboTax's DIY mobile app
This only applies to Do it Yourself, not TurboTax's Expert products
The best part about this deal - besides the fact that it's free - is that it works for any tax situation, for example even if you have to report cryptocurrency or stocks (Schedule D), freelance business income (Schedule C), or rental income (Schedule E). That makes it even better than TurboTax's Free Edition software, which only works for customers with simple Form 1040 tax situations. The mobile app also supports automated data entry; you can snap a photo of your W-2 and TurboTax will import the data from over 1 million employers automatically. Give it a try, since it won't cost you anything.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Spoilers follow for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Episode 8, “The Life of the Stars,” which is available on Paramount Plus now.
It’s a funny thing with Starfleet Academy. While the show has often had me raising an eyebrow Vulcan-style when trying to compute some of the story or in-universe developments, by the time the closing credits roll that stuff typically winds up not mattering that much to me. I think this is because the bigger story and emotional stakes involving our core group of cadets just work so well that any nerdy inconsistencies like, say, “why is a dead starship the spot for a training exercise,” or “would they really bring back a lieutenant all the way from Beta Quadrant just to help heal a traumatized group of students” just become non-issues.
Such is the case in “The Life of the Stars,” where we find Caleb (Sandro Rosta) and the gang still dealing with the tragic events which took place onboard the USS Miyazaki a few episodes back, with Zoë Steiner’s Tarima and Kerrice Brooks’ Sam confronting particularly rough circumstances. That this is framed around an amateur reading of the 1938 Thornton Wilder play Our Town is ultimately beside the point because of how resonant the episode winds up being.
That’s where Mary Wiseman’s Lt. Sylvia Tilly comes in, formerly of Star Trek: Discovery and sort of a changed character here. Or maybe “matured” is the better way of putting it? Yes, she’s still quirky and fun at times, but she also has a harder edge in some of her moments with the cadets, particularly Tarima, who has returned after her convalescence on Betazed and has been transferred to the Academy and out of the War College. Tarima is confused and hurting after the Miyazaki incident where she saved the day, but had to injure herself – and unleash her powers – to do so. She’s also all up in her feelings about her relationship with Caleb, and the two of them are more confused than anything right now.
Here’s the part of this review where I confess that I am not an expert on Our Town – not only am I not an expert, but I’ve never read it, I’ve never seen a production of it, and my knowledge of it is pretty minimal. Still, the notion of the “stage manager” being the actual stage manager of the theater where the play is being performed but also a character in said play is intriguing, and certainly one can see how the meta aspect of the play was of interest to episode writers Gaia Violo and Jane Maggs (Violo is also the creator of Starfleet Academy). And that’s what takes us to the Sam and The Doctor part of the story.
Robert Picardo’s return as his beloved Voyager character on Starfleet Academy has been mostly played for laughs so far – at first glance, his eternally annoyed but still lovable hologram doesn’t seem to have changed that much from his days with Captain Janeway. But Episode 8 finally delves a bit deeper into how the essentially immortal Doctor has suffered in the years – rather, centuries – since he first came into existence.
Episode 8 finally delves a bit deeper into how the essentially immortal Doctor has suffered in the centuries since he first came into existence.
And so his reluctance to connect to or take Sam in and accept her request that he mentor her is understandable, even while it’s tough to observe (The Doctor refusing to hold her hand in her darkest hour is a rough moment). He’s protecting himself here, and Sam too – or so he thinks – from the pain of eventually having to lose one other, just as he has lost so many friends and loved ones over the past 800 years. (Yes, even Harry Kim musta stung… a bit.) Picardo nails The Doctor’s inner turmoil in these scenes.
So that’s The Doctor as stage manager, and Ake too to a lesser degree, as she too is extremely long-lived. But the thing is, what kind of a life is it when you’re unwilling to connect to anyone or anything, but will only sort of exist from a remote, unattached vantage point? The Doctor finally comes to realize the mistake he’s been making in this regard for God knows how long, just as the cadets back at the Academy – Tarima included – take the first step on a similar path of healing as well.
That Sam’s “death” and “rebirth” don’t have that much impact is ultimately because this story is The Doctor’s and not Sam’s; no, she gets more of a “death between commercial breaks” that would’ve happened on the 1960s show since she’ll presumably be mostly unaffected by the event. (Unless of course her being raised by The Doctor for 17 years here changes her character in some substantial way. But I’d be surprised if that happens since the show has only just established her.)
Questions and Notes from the Q Continuum:
Tilly, who started as a cadet on Disco, is now teaching cadets. It’s already been touched upon on Discovery, but still, it’s nice to see such continuity in the Trek universe.
That said, how exactly does Tilly know Holly Hunter’s Captain Ake? I don’t believe we have a specific date as to when Ake left Starfleet in the wake of young Caleb’s disappearance, but we do know she went to Bajor to become a teacher. It seems likely that would’ve been during the same period that Tilly jumped forward into the 32nd century onboard the Discovery, and subsequently had her interactions with the Academy… so basically Tilly wouldn’t really know Ake from the Academy at all, right?
The episode of Voyager which featured The Doctor creating a holo-family was called “Real Life,” and he did indeed “lose” his holo-daughter in that story.
Regarding Sam’s planet Kasq… can a planet actually be shaped like that? Or is it artificial?
Anyone who's been paying attention to PC hardware over the last few months probably isn't surprised that graphics card prices are going through the roof right now, mostly due to the ongoing RAM crisis. However, in its latest investors call, Nvidia has warned that the GPU shortage – at least for consumers – isn't going to end any time soon.
In the company's earnings call (via PCMag), Nvidia CFO Colette Kress explained that while gaming revenue for fiscal Q4 2026 was up 47% over Q4 2025, revenue for the segment dropped by 13% when compared to Q3 2026 likely due to the shrinking memory stock over the last few months. Kress further explained that "We expect supply constraints to be a headwind to gaming in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 and beyond".
Nvidia's fiscal year 2027 ranges from February 2026 to January 2027, which means we're in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 right now. You can open up Newegg and just look at GPU prices right now to see the immediate effect of these "supply constraints", but it's the "and beyond" that is concerning.
I've spoken to a couple of analysts over the last couple of months, and I've heard the same thing from them. Back when I spoke to Principal Analyst at Moor Insight and Strategy, Anshel Sag, he told me that he expects the memory shortage to extend into 2027 or 2028. From what Nvidia's CFO is saying here, it's starting to feel more likely that this is the reality we have to live with for the next year or so.
I've reached out to Nvidia for comment on this story, and I'll update this article if and when I hear back.
More Than Graphics Cards
It's important to note that this ongoing shortage affects more than just graphics cards. Because basically every piece of modern technology needs RAM to function, the shortage is likely to affect the entire gaming hardware landscape – likely leading to higher prices across the board.
Just a couple weeks ago Mat Piscatella, Senior Director and Video Game Industry Advisor at Circana posted on Bluesky that the average selling prices for gaming hardware has skyrocketed in the last year. While this is likely due to more premium gaming devices entering the scene – like the Xbox Ally X and the PS5 Pro – increased hardware prices are already here.
I reached out to Piscatella for comment, and he reassured me that "given how quickly things are changing and evolving when it comes to component pricing and availability, setting firm expectations would be, in all honesty, a bit of a silly thing to do". But he followed that up by saying "a reasonable expectation would be the potential for sporadic out of stocks, the likelihood of further price increases and delays or pricing and availability adjustments for any new devices currently planned to be released."
We've already seen some of the latter happening. After all, just a couple weeks ago, Valve delayed the Steam Machine due to supply and pricing constraints. We're still a ways out from the next generation of consoles, but even if Sony and Microsoft were planning on putting those out any time soon, it's likely that they're at least considering pushing them back a bit.
It's still too early to know anything for sure, and I agree with Piscatella that setting firm expectations would be silly. But either way, gaming seems like its going to get at least a little bit more expensive this year.
Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra
If you enjoy listening to music while you run, then this headphone deal is right up your alley. Best Buy has just discounted its inventory of open box "excellent condition" Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 Open-Ear Wireless Sport Headphones to just $107.99. "Good" and "fair" condition units are also available for an even lower price. This headphone normally retails for $180 new. The OpenRun Pro 2 is the best non-earbuds headphones for running. While the AirPods Pro might be an excellent all-around earbud, the OpenRun Pro is a superior sport headphone when you need to be aware of your surroundings.
Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 Sport Headphones for $107.99
The OpenRun Pro 2 is more headphone than earbud, with a lightweight titanium band connecting the two ear pieces and wrapping around the back of your head. It does an excellent job of keeping everything in place, which is important because the buds need to be positioned precisely. Instead of the traditional method of sending sound vibrations to your eardrums, the OpenRun Pro uses bone conduction technology to send vibrations through your cheekbones directly to your inner ear. As such, the headphones are actually placed in front of your ear instead of on your ear. The biggest advantage is that you can fully hear your surroundings; if you like running on streets, for example, you'll be aware of everything that's going on around you and still be able to hear your music perfectly well.
I have a pair of AirPods Pro that I use regularly, but I always set them aside for the OpenRun Pros when I run. The Transparency mode on the AirPods Pro does work well for most situations, but they still can't compare to the awareness you get without having any buds plugging up your ears. In my experience these headphones stay in place extremely well and the sound quality is good compared to other bone conduction headphones I've tried.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
The LEGO Pokémon Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise, which is available exclusively at the LEGO Store, is not the only LEGO Pokémon set hitting shelves; there is also a LEGO Pikachu and an adorable LEGO Eevee. But this Kanto Starter set is the biggest one (both in price and piece count) as well as the most ambitious.
The set comes in three separate boxes. Each contains one of the three Kanto Starters, plus its native environment. Venusaur poses in a jungle. Blastoise poses on a beach. And Charizard poses on an active volcano.
With this set, the LEGO designers have outdone themselves.
It might be hard to tell from the photos, but the Venusaur model is significantly larger than the other two, even before you add the plant elements onto its back. The designers hid the size contrast by how they positioned the Pokémon relative to one another. Venusaur's body hugs close to the low ground, Blastoise rides a mid-sized wave, and Charizard flies overhead. In Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, the Imagineers designed Cinderella's Castle with an optical illusion; the bottom floors of the castle are taller than the top floors of the castle, which had the cumulative effect of making the castle appear bigger, rather than making the floors seem disproportionate. The same basic principle of forced perspective applies here.
This build is varied and engaging. The environments use basic building principles we've seen many times before, but because you're building them in alternation with the Pokémon, the process never feels redundant or tedious. The decorative elements, like the flowers in the jungle and the eddies in the beach water, are a nice, varied touch.
The three Pokémon are a joy to build. There's a mounting excitement to building the torso and the limbs of these creatures, seeing familiar silhouettes begin to take shape. And finally, when you build the head of each Pokémon, you feel the unmistakable twinge of childish glee and recognition. This is exactly what you imagined a three-dimensional, physical Pokémon would look like, and it's amazing.
This set contains zero stickers; every graphic is printed directly onto the bricks themselves (or in Charizard's case, onto the cloth elements attached to his wings). It's a small concession, but for the amount we pay for sets of this magnitude and scope, it's a reasonable one.
There's a cool Easter egg buried inside each Pokémon's chest cavity; a symbol of their respective type. Charizard, for instance, has a little flame in his chest, and Squirtle has a water droplet. It reminds me of Build-a-Bear, which also imbues each of its animals with a sentimental heart.
While building this set, I appreciated how the designers' prior gems have paved the way for this one. The plating on Blastoise's shell is the same as the plating on The Mighty Bowser's shell, and the chunky limbs of all three Pokémon also recall LEGO Bowser's design. The cresting water elements are similar to the waterfalls in LEGO Rivendell. Even the rock formations have precedence; the fur on LEGO Chewbacca used a multi-color layering technique to create the illusion of depth, just as Charizard's environment differentiates between hot lava, cooling lava, and newly formed rock.
Once it's complete, you can pose the individual Pokémon separately – each mounted in its respective biome – or you can merge the biomes together to create an eye-popping centerpiece.
Six-hundred-fifty dollars is a lot to pay. But the time-honored "10 cents per brick" rule means a set like this would typically go for $700, and possibly as high as $750. LEGO kept the price proportionally low, even with a third-party partnership. It's surprising, but hopefully a harbinger of things to come.
In short, LEGO Pokémon Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise is a phenomenal set – one of the finest the company has designed. This is a hard-earned result; LEGO has always excelled in its design of buildings, spaceships, and living spaces, but less so with non-architectural builds, dominated by rounded surfaces and gentle curves. But no longer. With this set, the LEGO designers have outdone themselves, bringing all their recent innovations to bear on a single, incredible outcome.
LEGO Pokémon Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise, Set #72153, retails for $649.99, and it is composed of 6838 pieces. It is available exclusively at the LEGO Store.
Kevin Wong is a contributing freelancer for IGN, specializing in LEGO. He's also been published in Complex, Engadget, Gamespot, Kotaku, and more. Follow him on Twitter at @kevinjameswong.
AMC Theatres is once again testing the waters to see if moviegoers are willing to pay higher prices for better seats at its theaters.
News of the chain’s plans to revise its seating strategy arrived in a message shared by CEO Adam Aron during a recent earnings call (via The Hollywood Reporter). After facing backlash for its now-cancelled Sightline initiative, which would have seen better seats made more expensive, the movie theater company says its preferred premier seating will reserve spots for A-List and Stubs Premiere members when it rolls out later this year.
“AMC will introduce preferred premier seating, where we will block and reserve the best seats in the house in our theaters to be accessed first by our A-List and our Stubs Premiere members — that’s the two VIP tiers within our Stubs program — at no added charge,” Aron said. “At AMC, we will assure that the best seats in our auditoriums are [held] — at first, anyway — for our best customers. We think it will be a considerable consumer benefit that our most frequent guests will notice and greatly appreciate, further cementing their brand loyalty to AMC.”
AMC’s “best customers” are those who pay a premium price to access benefits made available at supported theaters, including size upgrades for concessions, waived fees, rewards points, and, on the high end, access to four movie showings a week. Of its four available member tiers, Aron says only its most expensive offerings – the $18/month Premiere Stubs and the $20 to $28/month A-List – will be able to take advantage of preferred seating.
His comment suggests the “best seats” will eventually be made available for all movie fans regardless of their status. However, it’s unclear how long viewers would need to wait to land their preferred spots without paying extra.
Meanwhile, notable blockbuster movie experiences often sell out theaters weeks before they premiere, with many others likely to at least see spots located in the middle of the auditorium filled first. Like Avengers: Endgame before it, the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday will surely see moviegoers hopping into queues to try and nab the best seats. The new strategy will make securing spots opening weekend even more complicated, especially for those who can’t afford to spend the extra cash for better seats.
AMC has continued to experiment with its version of the theater experience in recent years. The company announced in 2025 it would be cutting Wednesday ticket prices in half in an effort to fill more auditoriums during the week. It followed that announcement by revealing that viewers would sit through more commercials ahead of their chosen movies before eventually announcing it would also be trimming its preshows.
Last February, AMC raised prices for its A-List members while altering benefits by allowing subscribers to see four movies per week instead of three. As the company introduces its preferred premier seating, it’s unclear if it also intends to increase prices yet again.
Photo by Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images.
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).
2026 has already seen surges in the cost of RAM and GPUs. Unfortunately, this also affects the price of gaming PCs. Obviously this isn't an ideal time to be buying a new PC, but fortunately, there are still good deals to be found. If you're looking for a future-proof system, an RTX 5080 PC is powerful enough to set you up for 4K gaming for years to come.
The Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 gaming PC has dropped to as low as $2,229.99 with free delivery after a $600 instant discount. This is currently one of the least expensive RTX 5080 prebuilts you'll be able to get right now. Most other RTX 5080 prebuilts are currently priced at $2,500 and up.
For a limited time, get 2X rewards (6% back) when you sign in with a free Dell Rewards account. That's up to $150 back on your next purchase at Dell. This offer should be automatically applied when you checkout.
Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5080 Gaming PC for $2,230
The $2,130 system is equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 7 265F CPU, GeForce RTX 5080 GPU, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265F is a 20-core processor with a max turbo frequency of 5.3GHz. It's cooled by a 240mm all-in-one liquid cooling system. The 1,000W power supply gives you headroom for upgrades down the road.
The GeForce RTX 5080 GPU will run any game in 4K
Performance-wise, the RTX 5080 is no slouch. It's one of the fastest cards on the market, bested only by the $2,000 RTX 5090 and the discontinued $1,600 RTX 4090. This is a phenomenal card for playing the latest, most demanding games in 4K resolution at high settings and ray tracing enabled. The recent DLSS 4.5 update has further optimized multi-frame gen and upscaling so you can push really high framerates even in 4K. More games are supporting this feature, including Doom: The Dark Ages, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Borderlands 4, Stellar Blade, and Battlefield 6. Check out our Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 FE review for our hands-on impressions.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Bungie has just launched the Server Slam Playtest for its new PvPvE survival extraction FPS, Marathon. This Server Slam Test will let you take your first real steps on Tau Ceti, help us stress test the servers, and earn rewards for launch. Marathon’s Server Slam Playtest is available now on Steam. You can go ahead … Continue reading Marathon Server Slam is now available for download on PC→
Liquid Swords has announced that its story-driven third-person action adventure, Samson, will be released on April 8th. To celebrate this announcement, the team has also shared a new trailer that you can find below. In Samson, players will uncover what broke Samson’s family and what it takes to fix it before time runs out. The … Continue reading Story-driven third-person action adventure, Samson, is coming out on April 8th→
Limited Run Games has announced that He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Dragon Pearl of Destruction will be released on April 28th. To celebrate this announcement, the publisher shared a new trailer that you can find below. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Dragon Pearl of Destruction is a two-player, retro-style 2D magic … Continue reading He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Dragon Pearl of Destruction Releases on April 28th→
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