April Fools' Day has once again arrived and has brought with it some hilarious video game pranks. While most can be found to be fake for a laugh, there are a few clever ones that catch us by surprise and become actual new games or updates to existing titles that are just as wild as the day they are released.

It can be hard to keep track of all the best video game pranks on April Fools' Day, so we are here to gather all the best ones in this roundup! Let us know which prank is your favorite below!

We'll also be updating this article throughout the day, so be sure to check back for the latest additions!

The Super Mario Bros. Movie Voices + Nintendo Switch Online Announcement

To kick off the April Fools' Day festivities, IGN presented to the world the latest Nintendo Direct, where Shigeru Miyamoto revealed all the voices from The Super Mario Bros. Movie would be coming to your favorite games. Yes, this includes Chris Pratt voicing Mario in the original Super Mario Bros., Seth Rogen's Donkey Kong laughing his way through Donkey Kong Country, Anya-Taylor Joy's Peach dominating the competition in Mario Kart 8, Jack Black's Bowser destroying everything in his path in Super Mario Odyssey, and much more.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog Is a Real Game You Can Play Now

The Sonic Social team proudly presents: The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog!

A brand new Sonic game. Available right now. On Steam. For FREE! pic.twitter.com/qOsvdwCU2b

— Sonic the Hedgehog (@sonic_hedgehog) March 31, 2023

While this technically came out a day early, SEGA had a very special treat planned for Sonic fans with the actual release of The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, a free murder mystery visual novel game on Steam that stars Sonic and his friends.

Among Us Brings Back Horse Mode For Another April Fools' Day

🐎 APRIL FOOLS IS HERE 🐎

YEEEEEEEEEEHAW!!

Crewmates are now Horsemates in both Classic and Hide n Seek game modes!

🤠 Horse Wrangling Mode: Seekers are now Ranchers, with new animation & music
🐴 Classic Horse Mode: Neighhh

This is only around until April 2, so ride on now! pic.twitter.com/wEj3OZTMTB

— Among Us (@AmongUsGame) April 1, 2023

From March 31 - April 2, Innersloth has brought back Horse Mode to Among Us, which turns player into either a horse or a rancher to compete in two modes - Horse Wrangling Mode and Classic Horse Mode. While the classic mode is very similar to a normal game, Horse Wrangling Mode is a new version of Hide N Seek with the Seeker becoming the Rancher and the crewmates becoming Horsemates.

Overwatch 2's 'Very Serious' Patch Notes Brings a New Level of Fun to Arcade Mode

Say hello to flying tanks and spring-loaded kicks 🦶

Check out the VERY serious patch notes to see the updates to all our Heroes’ ability kits in Arcade Mode only (for now) ✨

👀 https://t.co/i04TAxw51R pic.twitter.com/h5897MJQWg

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) March 31, 2023

In celebration of this special day, Overwatch 2 has released some "very serious" patch notes that reveal some new additions to Arcade Mode. Not only are there googly eyes and new hilarious Ultimate Voice Lines, but each Hero has also been buffed in certain ways to make each match more chaotic and fun.

PUBG's New Bizarre Battle Royale Mode Features Super Powers, Zombies, and a Monster Chicken

Ever dreamt of having superpowers? Grab your superpower using OP Coin and get ready to dominate the Battlegrounds in Bizarre Battle Royale.#PUBG #BATTLEGROUNDS #BizarreBattleRoyale pic.twitter.com/xb1Jlktn3i

— PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS (@PUBG) April 1, 2023

PUBG's latest April Fools' Day mode is called Bizarre Battle Royale and it brings in super powers, zombies, and a monster chicken that will give you the fight of your life.

League of Legends Will Let You Stack Hats Upon Hats To Get In the Holiday Spirit

👒
🎓
🎩
🧢
⛑
🤠
Up your hat game in any blind pick match until EOD midnight April 2 in your local timezone 🫡 pic.twitter.com/ogIlvvrSrn

— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) March 31, 2023

If you hate the thought of just one hat on your head, League of Legends is here for you. Until midnight on April 2 in your local timezone, you will be able to "up your hat game in any blind pick match." This means you can wear A LOT of hats at once.

Become 'Legend-Dairy' in Baldur's Gate 3 and Cheese Your Way Through Encounters

We’ve heard your feedback on cheesing encounters, and are proud to announce a brand-new way to play Baldur’s Gate 3 😌 pic.twitter.com/lWpL8oXUvx

— Larian Studios is releasing BG3 on August 31st 🥳 (@larianstudios) April 1, 2023

Some online have said you can cheese your way through certain encounters in Baldur's Gate 3, and Larian Studios took that to heart. To make the community happy, it is happy to announce on April Fools' Day that an actual wheel of cheese will be a new character and will allow the cheesing to go to a whole new level.

The Razer Razer Is the 'World's First Shaving Mouse Powered by Rare Chroma RGB'

Put on your best game face with the Razer Razer—the world’s first shaving mouse powered by Razer Chroma RGB. Get out of the hairiest situations with an ultra-clean shave that brings out your A-game: https://t.co/PwapphqPub pic.twitter.com/2DggYdIZsq

— R Λ Z Ξ R (@Razer) March 31, 2023

If you need more RGB in your life, Razer has your facial hair covered with the brand-new Razer Razer, the "world's first shaving mouse powered by Razer Chroma RGB." Not only can you get a perfect shave, but you can do so without ever leaving your computer.

HyperX Cloud20 Is a New Headset That Will Keep You Hydrated by Spraying Water in Your Face

cooked up this headset so y'all can stop telling us to STAY HYDRATED 💦

>> https://t.co/LePQivoDKI pic.twitter.com/ZFSiB71FMe

— HyperX (@HyperX) March 31, 2023

It can be hard to stay hydrated while gaming, and HyperX wants to solve that problem with the new Cloud20 headset that will spray your with water from time to time to keep you as healthy as possible! Oh, and the video is a real winner.

Developing...

Capcom has alerted Resident Evil 4 Remake players that a rare game-breaking bug has been found at the beginning of Chapter 12 that could stop your progress if you attack with your knife right after obtaining a key item.

Capcom shared the news on Twitter, saying that this issue affects players on all platforms and that it "intends to fix this issue in a future update and apologize for any inconvenience." Luckily, the fix will allow players who were impacted by this bug to continue their current save.

As for the bug itself, Capcom has detailed what it is and how to avoid it in a non-spoilery way;

"A cutscene will play at the beginning of Chapter 12, after which the player will receive a key item," Capcom wrote. "Please refrain from attacking with the knife until the notification for obtaining this item is displayed in the upper right of the screen.

"After obtaining the item, it will appear in the Key Items & Treasures menu in the attache case. If it has not appeared, please reload saved data from before the start of Chapter 12."

This bug aside, the Resident Evil 4 Remake has been a joy for many of us to play. In our 10/10 Resident Evil 4 Remake review, we said it is "Only the most relentlessly exciting Resident Evil adventure of all time that’s been rebuilt, refined, and realised to the full limits of its enormous potential."

For more, check out how to get the most money for your treasure and gemstone combinations, the news that RE4 Remake sold three million units in two days, and why getting the new bolt thrower is our most important RE4 Remake tip.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The Super Mario Movie is due to release next week, and Nintendo is celebrating by bringing Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, and the rest of the voice cast from the big screen to the small screen.

Shigeru Miyamoto appeared in a special April 1st Nintendo Direct to announce that "your favorite Mario games" will be adding a special "movie mode" featuring the voice talents of the Super Mario Bros. Movie cast. Supported games include Luigi's Mansion 3, Mario Kart 8, and even the original Super Mario Bros. for the NES.

Activating the new "movie mode" will replace the existing voices with movie cast members, or if there are no voices, add them in. Want to hear "Mushroom Kingdom, here we come!" after Mario clears a level in the original Super Mario Bros.? Now you can!

"It's a whole new way to enjoy the Mario games you know and love," Miyamoto said.

'A dream come true'

In a statement released to the media, Pratt expressed his excitement over having his voice appear in the original Super Mario Bros.

"This is a dream come true after spending hours of my life stomping on Koopas," Pratt said.

Pratt's appearance alongside a star-studded cast include Seth Rogen and Jack Black sent shockwaves through the gaming industry when it was revealed. Anticipation has only grown since then, to the point that some analysts think it may be the highest grossing movie of 2023.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie releases April 5. As for the Mario DLC featuring their voices, a release date has not yet been revealed.

Alongside revealing that the legendary DK Rap from Donkey Kong 64 will be featured in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Seth Rogen has also jokingly called it "objectively, one of the worst rap songs of all time."

Rogen, who voices Donkey Kong in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, appeared on the film's official Twitter to share the exciting news and react to watching the original DK Rap from the opening of 1999's Donkey Kong 64.

DK Rap is straight-up 🍌🍌🍌#SuperMarioMovie pic.twitter.com/SVKzaTSB7z

— The Super Mario Bros. Movie (@supermariomovie) March 30, 2023

Rogen also confirmed that his version of Donkey Kong will be introduced with the DK Rap in the film before calling it, as previously mentioned, "one of the worst rap songs of all time." However, he finds more things to love as the song continues and even gives it a "10/10 bananas" rating at the end.

Grant Kirkhope, who was the composer of Donkey Kong 64 and the person responsible for the DK Rap, responded to the video in the best way.

"If you'd told me in '97, when I wrote the worst rap track in the history of rap tracks, that it would go on to be in a Mario Bros movie I'd [sic] would've burst with excitement! Long live the DK Rap!" Kirkhope wrote.

Fans won't have to wait long to see the DK Rap come to life on the big screen as The Super Mario Bros. Movie will be released in theaters on April 5, 2023.

For more, check out Rogen's comments on how he'd be "excited" to voice Donkey Kong again after this film, why Mario voice actor Chris Pratt said to "get ready for a lot of these movies," and Keegan-Michael Key on how he maintained Toad's high-pitched voice throughout the movie.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Sources have confirmed that Disney has chosen newcomer Maia Kealoha to star as Lilo in its upcoming live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch.

As reported by Knight Edge Media and THR, Kealoha will be joining a cast that also features Zach Galifianakis, who has yet to have his role officially revealed.

Kealoha doesn't have any big acting credits to her name as of yet, but she has participated in multiple Little Miss Kona Coffee pageants, and you can see her in one below.

Not much else is known about the Lilo & Stitch remake, which will bring the 2002 animated classic to life in a new way, but we do know that Marcel the Shell With Shoes On's Dean Fleischer Camp will be directing the film that was previously said to premiere on Disney+.

Filming for the live-action version of Lilo & Stitch was originally planned to begin in 2020, but delays pushed it back.

While it may be some time until we see Kealoha in Lilo & Stitch, fans won't have to long to wait to see two of Disney's live-action projects, as Peter Pan & Wendy will fly to Disney+ on April 28 and The Little Mermaid will swim to theaters on May 26.

For more, check out all the Disney live-action remakes in the works and if the original Lilo & Stitch made our list of the top 25 Disney films.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Today, Studio WildCard announced that Ark 2, the sequel to 2017's Ark: Survival Evolved, is getting delayed a second time into 2024 - but in the meantime, a next-gen version of the original game is coming out in August to keep us busy.

In a community blogpost offering a development roadmap, Studio WildCard explained that the reason for Ark 2's delay to next year was due to challenges working with Unreal Engine 5:

"Our goal is to make ARK 2 the best game it can be and provide a truly exceptional and rewarding experience for players. Unreal Engine 5 is incredibly new technology to us (and all developers), and we aim to use this cutting-edge tech to its fullest potential while creating a game with never-before-achieved scope at Studio Wildcard. As we learn more about the engine and develop the sequel, we have adapted our workflows and adjusted our pipelines to accommodate this new next-generation paradigm, and because of everything that involves, we need more time for development."

Additionally, Studio WildCard acknowledged that these challenges also mean that Ark 2 will not be backward compatible. So that means no release of Ark 2 on Xbox One or PS4.

But there's some good news for Ark 1 fans. Because Ark 2 has "some pretty significant design changes from the original game" and may not appeal to those who prefer "Souls-like combat, primitive-only weaponry, and strict third-person mechanics – and an overall “very serious” tone," Studio WildCard is releasing a current-gen version of Ark 1 on PC, Xbox Series, and PS5 in August of 2023 "to ensure that fans can continue to enjoy the ARK they know for years to come."

It's called Ark: Survival Ascended, and comes with The Island, battle royale spinoff Survival of the Fittest, and "all the 'non-canon DLC maps'". As well as graphical and performance upgrades, it also includes cross-platform multiplayer and cross-progression, and cross-platform modding supported by Overwolf.

That's a lot of content, but the purchasing scheme is a bit confusing. Xbox Series X, S, and PC players can only get it by purchasing the Ark Respawned Bundle for $49.99, which includes both Ark: Survival Ascended and Ark 2, and will grant access to an exclusive one-month closed beta of Ark 2 in 2024. The bundle will only be available for the first year after launch of Survival Ascended, after which both games will be available separately.

Meanwhile, PS5 players can purchase Survival Ascended as a standalone game at launch for $39.99. DLC packs will also be available separately on both platforms.

Finally, Studio WildCard has a new canonical story DLC planned for release in Q4 of 2023 including four new creatures.

Ark 2 was first announced via a fancy Vin Diesel cameo at The Game Awards back in 2020, at the time with a 2022 release date, but it was later delayed into 2023. We gave the original Ark: Survival Evolved a 7.7/10 review, praising its strategic moments and combat but noting its AI bugs and grind.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Niantic introduced Remote Raids to Pokémon Go, which allowed people to access raids from the comfort of their own homes. Remote Raids allowed people to continue playing during lockdowns and kept Pokémon Go alive during a time when people weren’t really going outside at all. As players’ focus shifted away from the pandemic, however, Remote Raids remained a way to make Pokémon Go more accessible for all, especially for disabled people and those who live in rural communities.

Three years after the pandemic began, Niantic is now hiking prices and putting caps on Remote Raid Passes to encourage people to play the game the way it was played before the pandemic — but the Pokémon Go community is pushing back.

Yesterday, in a blog post, the Pokémon Go team revealed adjustments to the way Remote Raids work, including substantial price increases for Remote Raid Passes and rewards for players who participate in in-person raids. The update will also introduce a cap on Remote Raids, allowing players to participate in a maximum of five per day, and will go live on April 6 at 11 a.m. PT.

Naturally, fans took to Twitter and Reddit to speak out against Niantic’s decision to make an accessibility feature… less accessible.

The push to reverse these changes has largely been led by disabled fans, many of whom rely on Remote Raids to play. AbleGamers senior director Steven Spohn referred to the price increase as a “disability tax,” noting that the update essentially charges some disabled players more to play in a way that's accessible to them.

To summarize, Niantic is doubling the cost of playing Pokémon GO remotely, and limiting how much you can play.

This is what we call a disability tax. If you can't leave your home or live in an inaccessible area, you can play, but it's going to cost you, and you can't play much. https://t.co/hDPj3QmACD

— Steven Spohn (Spawn) (@stevenspohn) March 30, 2023

“In this case, remote play is great for anybody that might prefer to play that way, but for someone who has mobility challenges or is unable to leave the house or lives in a rural/inaccessible area, it's literally the only way that they can play,” Spohn said via Twitter DMs. “Limiting the amount of times that you can engage with raids to only five times per day is just limiting the content for the sake of trying to convince people to play a different way, but again, what do you do if you literally cannot?”

As pointed out by Kotaku, these changes also disproportionately impact people who live in rural areas where Pokéstops, Gyms, and raids are sparse. But fans with physical access to raids are up in arms, too. Reddit user octocode, who lives in a large city, simply prefers the flexibility and convenience of Remote Raids, which can come in handy for people with time commitments.

“I love the ‘go’ aspect of this game, but this system isn’t it,” octocode said via Reddit DMs. “This just rewards going to specific locations at specific times, there is no exploration involved. I just want to play on my own schedule.”

Beyond convenience, for some fans, the update even signals the loss of a community.

“Remote raiding has essentially changed my life,” Twitter user Qshinys said via DMs. “I’ve made so many friends around the world and here in the states because of it. With the nerf, I essentially can’t enjoy the game and play it with my friends anymore. It is absolutely too expensive.”

With a little than a week left until the update launches, fans are now convening to try to convince Niantic to change course. One Reddit user encouraged players to strike by not purchasing Remote Raid Passes and limiting in-person raids, while other players have started contacting Niantic and leaving poor reviews.

A few players are even quitting for good, or at least until Niantic reverses the decision. And some Pokémon Go fans, especially many of the game’s disabled fans, don’t really have a choice.

“Niantic needs to realize not everyone can just drop everything to go outside,” octocode said. “Sometimes we physically can’t. We need some flexibility.”

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they've contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

While Chris Pratt and Seth Rogen practically use their regular voices for Mario and Donkey Kong in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Movie, Keegan-Michael Key developed his own interpretation of Toad’s classic high-pitched voice for the CG-animated film.

“It was a fun challenge. It just took like, you know, a gallon of Earl Grey tea with some honey and some lemon and some really tight pants. That’s what it [takes] to get up there,” Key told IGN with a laugh during a recent interview.

The actor then revealed his technique for maintaining Toad’s voice.

“What I had to do is just literally use my imagination and tell myself, all right, I am sucking on a helium balloon and that is how I'm going to impersonate what I thought I would sound like if I was on helium,” he said. “And then that just helped me stay up there and stay up there, and I [kept] reminding myself, ‘Helium helium, helium, helium.’”

The Super Mario Bros. Movie brings many beloved Mushroom Kingdom characters to life on the big screen. In addition to Key as Toad, the star-studded cast includes Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Rogen as Donkey Kong, Jack Black as Bowser, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike, and Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek.

When asked why Toad is the best ride or die, Key said, “I think it’s because he’s been waiting for an adventure like this his entire life, and he had no idea that bumping into Mario was gonna be the adventure that it became. And I think that’s why he also loves the Mushroom Kingdom so much. He has so much civic pride in where he’s from, that what he wants more than anything is to be able to defend his land, or at least show how much he loves his land. And so that’s why he’s like gung ho, ready to go on the adventure.”

The Super Mario Bros. Movie premieres in theaters April 5.

Michaela Zee is a freelance news writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @michaelakzee.

In keeping with HAL Laboratory’s philosophy, Kirby games have gained a reputation as fun and approachable for the entire family. They’re full of cleverly hidden collectibles and the occasional biblically-accurate angel of a final boss to challenge folks who want something tricky, but you can also finish them easily enough with a kid riding shotgun as Waddle Dee. But maintaining the challenge and the approachability can be a difficult balance, perhaps as demonstrated in Kirby and the Forgotten Land.

Kirby franchise director Shinya Kumazaki tells me at the Game Developers Conference last week that he himself of a player of difficult games, and has his own personal standards of what’s fun and what’s not in terms of difficulty. But Kumazaki isn’t working with his own standards when designing Kirby games: Kirby is fundamentally intended to be extremely approachable for everyone, so you can’t expect it to be like a Dark Souls game.

But that doesn’t mean they’re devoid of challenge, Kumazaki continues. HAL wants to make sure more skilled players are still rewarded – Kirby’s for everyone. Not just skilled gamers, but not just newcomers, either.

“When you're thinking about maybe your childhood experience playing video games, there might have been games where you just feel like it's impossible to beat because it's so difficult,” he says. “And I think the idea is that to be able to provide something that you can enter easily and is approachable, but also provide that sense of achievement in that you might have an experience where you're playing a game as a younger self, or even now. There comes a moment when you achieve something or you did something and you're like, ‘Okay, I can get it now. I did it.’ And that sense of achievement is as a result of the person playing the game – their skill level is going up, and also becoming used to how to play that game.”

The top of the wall

For Kirby then, Kumazaki says the team wants to create a slow, gradual increase of difficulty – but with a spike at the end so “there’s this kind of wall that you can challenge.” At the top of the wall, he says, it a sense of achievement, whether you’re playing alone or with others.

That said, while Kumazaki is proud of what the team did to make Forgotten Land approachable, he admits that maybe the final boss could have been just a bit too difficult to meet their standards.

“For the first time in the Kirby series, we provided two different difficulty levels to really try to also provide an option for the experienced gamer audience to get a more fulfilling gameplay experience. And I think we were able to do that. But perhaps the steep uphill curve towards the end of the game, especially the final boss, might've been something that's maybe slightly too steep, and perhaps we can look into maybe balancing it out a little bit. That's something that I want to continue to explore.”

We also spoke to Kumazaki and Tatsuya Kamiyama about how Kirby and the Forgotten Land was a “Breath of the Wild moment” for the Kirby franchise, as well as whether or not we might see more remakes of Kirby games like Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Just under three years after its release, support for Marvel's Avengers is winding down. Today, Crystal Dynamics released Patch 2.8 for Marvel's Avengers, which adds some final features and bug fixes to the game before it gets delisted later this year.

Crystal Dynamics revealed the patch via a blog post, which thanks players for their support. The patch focuses on introducing some final features to the game and includes a host of new bug fixes.

Patch 2.8 makes many of the game's cosmetics more accessible, fully removing the Shipments and Hero Challenge Cards systems from the game and instead putting their rewards in the Marketplace. The update also automatically converts players' Credits balances into in-game resources and turns Hero's Catalysts and Fragment Extractors into a permanent 1.5x multiplier on earned Fragments and XP.

Additionally, players who earned at least one Trophy before April 1 will receive Iron Man's Variable Threat Response Battle Suit as a thank you gift.

The patch notes, which can be read in full on the Crystal Dynamics website, also detail quite a few bug fixes that address everything from combat to certain animations.

Official support for Marvel's Avengers is slated to end on September 30, and the game will then be delisted. We gave Marvel's Avengers a 6 in our review, praising its campaign but criticizing its loot-based endgame and limited mission variety at launch. Since then, Crystal Dynamics has added quite a few new characters and features, but a former creative director still apologized for the game last month.

Marvel's Avengers Patch 2.8 Notes Summary

New Features

• The Marketplace has been unlocked! What does this mean?
  • Nearly all MCU- and non-MCU-inspired Outfits, Emotes, Takedowns, and Nameplates are now automatically available on your Hero Card.
  • Items that are earned through the campaign, however, or purchased through the Cosmetic Vendor must be earned or purchased, respectively, as they always have been.
  • Both the Shipments system and Hero Challenge Cards have both been completely removed from the game. Items that were previously earnable from Shipments and Hero Challenge Cards are included in the hundreds of Marketplace items that are automatically granted when you update to v2.8.
  • You do not need to be connected to the internet to be able to access all of the unlocked Marketplace content after updating to v2.8.
• As a thank-you to players who’ve been with us on the journey, we’re granting a special Founder’s Gift – Iron Man’s ‘Variable Threat Response Battle Suit.’ This Outfit will be automatically granted to any player who has earned at least one Trophy/Achievement before April 1.
• All existing Credits balances have been converted to in-game resources.
• Owned Hero’s Catalysts and Fragment Extractors have been completely removed from the game. In their place, there is now a permanent 1.5x multiplier on Fragments earned and XP gained. There will be a small hotfix, Update 2.8.1, that goes live on April 4 to address a Known Issue

Bug Fixes

• Several fixes for the Reassemble Campaign and Avengers Initiative, including an issue with AI companions targeting Kate Bishop's Decoy
• Several fixes for issues with combat mechanics
• Minor adjustments to endgame mission rewards, gear upgrading, and gear stats
• Adjustments to user interface, including missing features and placeholder text
• Fixes for animations displaying incorrectly during combat

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they've contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe's upcoming Fantastic Four movie has a new writer.

According to a report from THR, Avatar: The Way of Water story writer Josh Friedman will write the Fantastic Four's first entry in the MCU. The writer's other credits include the War of the Worlds movie adaptation and the television series Snowpiercer, and Friedman is also writing the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes film. Friedman contributed to the story and worldbuilding of Avatar 2, and will also contribute to the three Avatar sequels.

Jeff Kaplan (no, not that one) and Ian Springer were previously on board to write the movie. The pair is also working together on Warner Bros.' Disaster Wedding. The reason for their departure was not included in the report, although Friedman's experience working on science fiction compared to Kaplan and Springer's comedy experience may have played a part.

Matt Shakman is set to direct Fantastic Four. The filmmaker revealed he walked away from Star Trek 4 for the MCU opportunity, saying it was the right move to return to Marvel. While Shakman hasn't yet directed an MCU film, he directed all nine episodes of Disney+'s WandaVision series.

Fantastic Four will kick off Phase 6 of the MCU when it hits theaters on November 8, 2024. The sixth phase marks the end of the MCU's Multiverse Saga, culminating in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. Little is known about the upcoming movie, except that it won't be an origin story, and that John Krasinski said he hasn't been asked back as Reed Richards.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Emilia Clarke will play a radicalized Skrull in the upcoming Disney+ show Secret Invasion, a new Vanity Fair cover story reveals. And you have seen her character before.

In an interview, Samuel L. Jackson told Vanity Fair that Clarke, best-known for her role as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, will be playing G'iah, a Skrull who made a brief appearance at the end of Captain Marvel as a little girl. According to Clarke, G'iah is a "refugee kid" who has become embittered by Nick Fury's lofty promises failing to be kept.

"It's hardened her, for sure. There's a kind of punk feeling that you get from this girl," Clarke said. "She's a refugee kid who's had Talos for a dad, you know what I mean? Maybe the fact that we didn't know he had a kid up until this point tells you everything you need to know about their relationship."

Game of Thrones star @EmiliaClarke is new to @Marvel, but her #SecretInvasion character has been seen before. "There's a kind of punk feeling that you get from this girl." (Spoiler warning)

🔗: https://t.co/TtxWFobazl pic.twitter.com/IrSD7vQSBU

— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) March 31, 2023

G'iah isn't the only new character being introduced in Secret Invasion. Olivia Colman will be making her MCU debut as an MI6 agent who wants to protect England's national security interests throughout the show. It was previously reported that Fury will come with a few familiar faces, such as Martin Freeman's Everett K. Ross, who has made appearances in the Black Panther films and Captain America: Civil War, as well, Rhodey (War Machine), played by Don Cheadle, and Maria Hill, who's played by Cobie Smulders.

'It's part of his vulnerability now'

Throughout Secret Invasion, Fury finds himself uncertain of his actions, and it's a large reason why he's been off-world ignoring calls. In the series, he's no longer wearing his eye patch, and this is to show he's not the man he used to be.

"It's part of his vulnerability now. You can look at it and see he's not this perfectly indestructible person. He doesn't feel like that guy," Fury said.

In the Secret Invasion show, many of the Skrulls believe that Nick Fury and Talos failed them by promising that "they were going to find them a planet or somewhere they could be. And that's not going so well." Jackson said. Now an extremist group of Skrulls has formed, and they believe that the Secret Invasion is the answer they've been looking for.

Secret Invasion was originally a 2008 comic book story where the Skrulls invaded Earth. Similar to what's being hinted at in the show, by the time the heroes find out about the invasion, it's already too late. In the comics the only one who was prepared and ready for this was Nick Fury.

For more Marvel news, check out our story on how Loki and Secret Invasions will be the only two MCU shows for 2023.

Luis Joshua Gutierrez is a freelance writer who loves games. You can reach him at @ImLuisGutierrez on Twitter.

Sega loves to surprise Sonic fans, so they surprised everyone by releasing The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, a new murder mystery title featuring the Blue Blur and his friends, for free on Steam.

Sonic's social media team announced the shocking new game today with the launch trailer, showing the game in visual novel form. The team wrote that the game "has been a labor of love from the Sonic Social team and a host of amazingly talented people who are just as passionate about Sonic as we are."

In The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, Amy Rose is throwing a murder mystery-themed birthday party for all of her friends aboard the Mirage Express. When Sonic suddenly dies, you play as a new character who just so happens to be a new crew member starting their first day aboard the train and work with Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Rouge, and more characters to solve the mystery behind Sonic's murder.

You get to interrogate everyone, including the host herself, about what happened to Sonic, play mini-games on the handheld, and meet a Conductor who's set to retire after several years of service on the Mirage Express. As the game progresses, you start to question if Sonic's death was part of the game or if there are malicious intentions.

The Sonic Social team proudly presents: The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog!

A brand new Sonic game. Available right now. On Steam. For FREE! pic.twitter.com/qOsvdwCU2b

— Sonic the Hedgehog (@sonic_hedgehog) March 31, 2023

The mysterious game comes after Sega teased that it was taking Sonic in a new direction. No one ever thought a new Sonic game would be a visual novel — no less on the eve of April Fool's Day.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is now available to download from Steam.

Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. She has contributed her work to various publications, including Digital Trends, TheGamer, Twinfinite, Mega Visions, and The Escapist. To paraphrase Calvin Harris, she wears her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on her sleeve like a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15.

Kirby fans have been feasting lately, between the critical and fan success of Kirby and the Forgotten Land, the silliness of Kirby’s Dream Buffet, Kirby’s Dream Land 2 arriving on Nintendo Switch Online earlier this year, and recent remake Kirby’s Return to Dream Land: Deluxe. It seems like there’s more Kirby than ever, both new and old. But does this mean fans of classic Kirby might see even more remakes and ports in the future alongside brand new Kirby games?

Speaking to IGN at the Game Developers Conference, Kirby director Shinya Kumazaki told us that while he couldn’t share any concrete plans for the future of Kirby, HAL Laboratory’s goal is always to “provide a new gameplay experience.” The developers won’t just remake Kirby games for the sake of it – only if there’s something new they can add. In Return to Dream Land Deluxe, that new experience is the Merry Magolor theme park with mini-games, as well as the extra Magolor Epilogue at the end of the game.

I also asked Kumazaki if we could expect a mix of 2D and 3D Kirby games going forward, existing side-by-side like Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe. Again, Kumazaki wasn’t giving anything away about the future, but did confirm that having 2D games, 3D games, or even “something completely different” are all “within scope” for HAL Laboratory’s future.

Then he offered what may have been a tiny, additional hint about his thoughts on the future:

“You might have experienced it if you played Forgotten Land, in that it's not quite open world. It's really a 3D game that really utilizes, kind of inherits the playfulness and the ease of play of 2D Kirby games. And that's a unique 3D experience that we want to provide. And so what we want to do moving forward is continue to provide that unique 3D experience, and not necessarily be caught within the boundaries of existing genres.”

We also spoke to Kumazaki and Tatsuya Kamiyama about how Kirby and the Forgotten Land was a “Breath of the Wild moment” for the Kirby franchise, as well as whether or not the final boss of Forgotten Land was too challenging (or not challenging enough) for players given Kirby’s approachable nature.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has concluded its investigation of a case the Communication Workers of America filed against Activision Blizzard, opting to file a complaint with charges alleging the company illegally surveilled employees and violated labor laws by threatening to shut down company communication channels. However, the NLRB also dismissed a charge that the company violated Section 7 laws by shutting down a chat channel during an all-hands meeting last summer.

The three charges

The charge of surveillance goes back to July 21, 2022 when employees staged a walkout in protest of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, demanding protections from a growing strain of anti-abortion laws in the US, as well as labor-neutrality commitment from Activision Blizzard amid growing unionization efforts and repeated reports of company union busting. The CWA alleges in its filing that Activision Blizzard illegally surveilled employees "through managers and security" while they were engaged in protected labor activities.

The second charge moving forward relates to alleged threats that Activision Blizzard threatened to cut off access to certain internal communication channels "because employees are discussing wages, hours, and working conditions."

Meanwhile, the dismissed charge is related to an all-hands meeting "where employees were discussing wages, hours and working condition," with the CWA alleging that Blizzard violated Section 7 rights protecting employee organizing efforts by cutting off access.

The news was shared with employees today in a Slack message from Activision Blizzard chief administrative officer Brian Bulatao, where he claims that chat for future all-hands meetings was disabled following feedback that the chat in one particular meeting "was particularly disruptive after some employees used the chat to disparage the work of the Diablo Immortal team and others."

He goes on to claim that "Blizzard leadership" then "suggest[ed] a future change to Blizzard's Slack policy to limit harassing content in company-wide channels." Finally, he states that Blizzard presence at the walkout consisted of "communications teams (to assist with press) and security (to ensure a safe environment)".

His message continues:

We stand by our Slack and Workplace Integrity policies, and we stand by you and your right to opt-out of channels not directly related to your job function should you choose to. We continue to support employees' rights to express their views and values. you have the right to express those views on public and private company-provided communications channels - but abusive behavior is never okay.

Blizzard vs. the CWA

In an official statement from Blizzard, the company claims that the shutdown of the all-hands chat was done in the name of protecting employees from "toxic workplace behavior," and refers to the remaining allegations as "false claims."

“We strongly believe employees shouldn't have to be subjected to insults and put downs for their hard work – especially on company communications platforms," the statement concludes.

IGN has reached out to the CWA for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.

This is one of multiple ongoing NLRB complaints that Activision Blizzard is involved in. Others include charges for allegedly illegally firing two QA workers while another, filed in late October, alleges illegally coercive actions and statements. The company remains embroiled in the fallout of a number of controversies beginning with a 2021 lawsuit alleging the company fostered a hostile company culture where women were subject to unequal pay and harassment, and including multiple labor actions such as walkouts and the organization of Raven Software QA employees last year.

Notably, Activision Blizzard reportedly sent multiple messages to employees and held a town hall discouraging the employees from unionizing, and repeatedly (but unsuccessfully) attempted to delay the unionization of QA workers at Blizzard Albany. A third group of Activision Blizzard workers at acquired subsidiary Proletariat filed and then later withdrew their petition for a union this past January.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

If Tetris were a song, it would be Happy Birthday — at least according to The Tetris Company co-founder Henk Rogers.

"All the other games are going to go out of fashion and Tetris is still going to be here," Rogers tells IGN. "People ask me if it was a song, what song would it be? And I would say it would be Happy Birthday. Because everybody still sings Happy Birthday. Everything else goes in and out of style, but Happy Birthday continues on and everybody sings it."

Rogers and Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov recently saw themselves adapted into Hollywood through Apple TV+'s Tetris movie, which tells a dramatized version of Rogers trying to work with Pajitnov to bring Tetris to the masses.

It's a story that dates back over thirty years, but Tetris still remains relevant today through beloved modernizations like Tetris Effect and Tetris DS. In an interview with IGN, Pajitnov and Rogers each took a moment to look ahead to the future of the iconic block-falling puzzle game.

"I will say as an advocate of the game itself, I really expect — in terms of esport[s] and other stuff — I really expect the very good version of versus Tetris, two player or multiplayer Tetris will appear in the future because frankly, I don't feel we are there yet," Pajitnov says. "Tetris is a very resource-consuming game. You drive all your attention, all your possibility to play into the game. So you literally have no possibility to see what's going on on your opponent's screens and stuff.

"Basically all the two-player versions of Tetris fall apart into two solitaire games, which people just rarely exchange by the scoring or some kind of very episodic impacts or whatever. It's not a real two-player game. I really expect something to be done in design of [a] real two-player game. That's my big hope. The other hope that artificial intelligence will come to the scene. In which kind of role, or how, I have no idea, but I'm pretty sure it'll get there."

Using Tetris in the Medical Field

Rogers isn't as keen on AI playing a role in Tetris' future, telling IGN, "I don't know what AI can do to improve" the game. Rogers agreed that esports is the "bigger picture" for Tetris, but he also has his own ideas for the classic game moving forward.

"There's a couple of places where I think Tetris is very relevant," Rogers says. "One is they did a study back in the early 2000s at Oxford about PTSD. So I think Tetris has a life as a medical device, not only for the prevention of PTSD, but also for monitoring brain function. I think that as we get better at understanding brain function, we should be able to tell what's going on in somebody's mind by watching them play Tetris. It's a very simple device to see."

Rogers says those with Alzheimer's disease and people recovering from strokes are groups that could potentially benefit from a Tetris medical device.

Tetris has been through highs and lows over the past few decades — Pajitnov calls the N64's Tetrisphere "embarrassing" while Rogers says he told Nintendo "there was no way this game was going to be popular" — but the pair's ideas make it clear that they believe Tetris will always have a place in the gaming landscape.

Elsewhere in our interview, Pajitnov and Rogers talk about the accuracy of the events shown in the Tetris movie.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Final Fantasy 14 Online is nearly 10 years old, but it doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. During today's Live Letter 76 broadcast, director Yoshi-P and the team behind FFXIV revealed details about the massive Patch 6.4, which is called The Dark Throne and will be released at some point in late May.

Patch 6.4 will continue the game's Main Scenario Quest, adding onto the story of the player's journey throughout Eorzea. It will also add the new Pandæmonium: Anabaseios raid, an icy dungeon called The Aetherfont, and the "challenging" Voidcast Dais trial.

Other modes of the game will also change significantly — PvP Series 4 and Crystalline Conflict season 7 will kick off with the launch of this patch.

Yoshi-P also teased details of Patch 6.45 during the broadcast, including a higher level cap for Blue Mages, another new dungeon, Somehow Further Hildibrand Adventures, and weapon and tool enhancement quests.

Other recent updates to the game have included the Stardew Valley-like Island Sanctuary and more tools for solo players. Of course, FFXIV's community has continued to keep things fresh, too, forming everything from in-game bands to collections of resources for players looking to take on the game's daunting housing market.

In our 2013 review, we gave FFXIV an 8.6, calling it "one of the most sincere and effective apologies in gaming history."

Final Fantasy 6.4 Patch Notes

• New Main Scenario Quests – The next chapter in the story of the Warrior of Light.
• New Raid – Pandæmonium: Anabaseios - The final instalment of the Pandæmonium raid series.
• New Dungeon – New challenges await in The Aetherfont.
• New Trials - The Voidcast Dais - A challenging new battle at both Normal and Extreme difficulties.
• New Unreal Trial – Containment Bay Z1T9 (Unreal)
• New Side Story Quests – Tartaru’s Grand Endeavour continues.
• Duty Support System Update – Support for a number of Stormblood™ main scenario dungeons (The Sirensong Sea, Bardam’s Mettle, Doma Castle, Castrum Abania and Ala Mhigo) will be added, meaning they can be completed alongside a party of NPC allies.
• Ocean Fishing Update – Explore the new route towards Kugane!
• Island Sanctuary Updates – A number of quality-of-life improvements including the ability to place outdoor housing furniture, new ranks, crops, animals, and more.

Player Versus Player Updates:

• Crystalline Conflict - PvP Series 4 begins alongside season 7 of Crystalline Conflict.
• Frontline – Adjustments made to the rules of The Fields of Glory (Shatter) and the inclusion of a new UI element, displaying the match time and score.
• Miscellaneous Updates – Various updates including a new Allagan tomestone, Job icons will now be displayed in the chat log and on player nameplates, market board quality-of-life improvements, the ability to glamour Scholar faeries and more.

Yoshida also shared the first details of Patch 6.45 during the broadcast, including:

• Blue Mage Update – Level cap raised to 80, new blue mage-exclusive gear, new enemies to challenge and more.
• New Variant & Criterion Dungeon – Mount Rokkon – Three levels of difficulty: Normal, Criterion, and Criterion (Savage)
• Somehow Further Hildibrand Adventures
• Weapon Enhancement Quests - Manderville Weapons
• Tool Enhancement Quests - Splendorous Tools

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they've contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

The thickest of loot boys, Xûr, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get your some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further.

Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he's got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians.

We've rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP.

Where Is Xûr Located Today?

Xûr's location can be found at Winding Cove in the EDZ on March 31 through April 3. To reach him, travel to the landing point at Winding Cove. When you arrive, make for the rock cliffs at the far end of the cove and look for a cave winding up to a platform next to some Fallen. There you'll find the retail monster who inspires us all.

What's Xûr Selling Today?

Exotic Engram

Trinity Ghoul - Exotic Combat Bow

Gwisin Vest - Exotic Hunter Chest Armor

• 14 Mobility
• 15 Resilience
• 6 Recovery
• 2 Discipline
• 10 Intellect
• 17 Strength
• Total: 64

One-Eyed Mask - Exotic Titan Helmet

• 19 Mobility
• 7 Resilience
• 8 Recovery
• 9 Discipline
• 6 Intellect
• 17 Strength
• Total: 66

Apotheosis Veil - Exotic Warlock Helmet

• 7 Mobility
• 8 Resilience
• 18 Recovery
• 6 Discipline
• 20 Intellect
• 6 Strength
• Total: 65

Exotic armor this week is underwhelming across the board! Unfortunately our highest roll, the Titan helmet, has high stats in Mobility, rendering the item useless. Hard pass this week, everyone!

Exotic Weapons

Hawkmoon - Exotic Hand Cannon

• Paracausal Shot
• Hammer-Forged Rifling
• Alloy Magazine
• Eye of the Storm
• Combat Grip

Dead Man's Tale - Exotic Scout Rifle

• Cranial Spike
• Hammer-Forged Rifling
• Steady Rounds
• Moving Target
• Composite Stock

Both of the rolls for these two iconic exotic weapons are, sadly, not very exciting. It's hard to get a bad roll of Hawkmoon, but Eye of the Storm is about as situational as you can get, and DMT is similarly underwhelming.

Legendary Weapons

Ignition Code - Grenade Launcher

• Linear Compensator/Smart Drift Control
• Proximity Grenades/Spike Grenades
• Surplus
• One For All
• Reload Speed Masterwork

True Prophecy - Hand Cannon

• Fastdraw HCS/Crossfire HCS
• Tactical Mag/Flared Magwell
• Overflow
• Explosive Payload
• Reload Speed Masterwork

Corsair's Wrath - Linear Fusion Rifle

• Full Bore/Polygonal Rifling
• Accelerated Coils/Enhanced Battery
• Outlaw
• Kill Clip
• Charge Time Masterwork

Cold Denial - Pulse Rifle

• Fluted Barrel/Hammer-Forged Rifling
• Armor-Piercing Rounds/Light Mag
• Zen Moment
• Swashbuckler
• Range Masterwork

Tears of Contrition - Scout Rifle

• Fluted Barrel/Full Bore
• Accurized Rounds/Extended Mag
• Well Rounded
• Vorpal Weapon
• Extrovert
• Handling Masterwork

Seventh Seraph CQC-12 - Shotgun

• Smoothbore/Corkscrew Rifling
• Tactical Mag/Light Mag
• Auto-Loading Holster
• Snapshot Sights
• Reload Speed Masterwork

Eternity's Edge/Crown-Splitter/Quickfang - Class Sword

• Sword & Perks vary by class

Although this week's weapons are mostly slim pickings, my top pick would have to be Cold Denial with Zen Moment and superb range. That said, even that roll has Swashbuckler which has practically no synergy with the rest of the weapon, so...meh. Also, if you haven't gotten your class sword, like Eternity's Edge for Titans, now's the time to do so!

Warlock Legendary Armor

For Warlocks, Xûr is selling the Sovereign set which includes:

Sovereign Gauntlets

• 12 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 16 Recovery
• 13 Discipline
• 14 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 59

Sovereign Chest Armor

• 17 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 9 Recovery
• 6 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 22 Strength
• Total: 58

Sovereign Helmet

• 15 Mobility
• 14 Resilience
• 2 Recovery
• 15 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 15 Strength
• Total: 63

Sovereign Leg Armor

• 9 Mobility
• 6 Resilience
• 16 Recovery
• 24 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 59

Sovereign Bond

The only interesting roll for Warlocks this week is the helmet, which unfortunately has a pretty terrible distribution of stats, with high Mobility and nothing that's really spikey.

Titan Legendary Armor

For Titans, Xûr is selling the Sovereign set which includes:

Sovereign Gauntlets

• 16 Mobility
• 10 Resilience
• 2 Recovery
• 16 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 12 Strength
• Total: 58

Sovereign Chest Armor

• 15 Mobility
• 14 Resilience
• 2 Recovery
• 13 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 14 Strength
• Total: 60

Sovereign Helmet

• 19 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 11 Recovery
• 16 Discipline
• 7 Intellect
• 6 Strength
• Total: 61

Sovereign Leg Armor

• 6 Mobility
• 12 Resilience
• 10 Recovery
• 6 Discipline
• 24 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 60

Sovereign Mark

Titans have absolutely nothing worth considering. Move along.

Hunter Legendary Armor

For Hunters, Xûr is selling the Sovereign set which includes:

Sovereign Gauntlets

• 16 Mobility
• 10 Resilience
• 2 Recovery
• 12 Discipline
• 13 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 55

Sovereign Chest Armor

• 7 Mobility
• 15 Resilience
• 9 Recovery
• 23 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 58

Sovereign Helmet

• 6 Mobility
• 9 Resilience
• 16 Recovery
• 13 Discipline
• 12 Intellect
• 8 Strength
• Total: 64

Sovereign Leg Armor

• 6 Mobility
• 25 Resilience
• 2 Recovery
• 2 Discipline
• 12 Intellect
• 15 Strength
• Total: 62

Sovereign Cloak

Finally some good food! Hunters have a single piece of armor worth checking out -- their high stat helmet, which doesn't have any spikey stats worth getting jazzed about, but at least is worth looking at.

That's a wrap on Xûr for this week, Guardians! What did you think of the end of the seasonal story this week? Let us know in the comments! For more on Destiny, check out some of the new weapons and gear you can find in Lightfall or our walkthrough of Lightfall's campaign.

Travis Northup is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @TieGuyTravis and read his games coverage here.

Be sure to visit IGN’s YouTube page this Monday, April 3, at Noon PT where director Robert Rodriguez (Alita: Battle Angel, Sin City) will be answering your questions about his new action-thriller Hypnotic, starring Ben Affleck. IGN will exclusively debut the Hypnotic trailer across all of our platforms at that time, but you’ll only be able to chat with Rodriguez on our YouTube channel.

So what exactly is Hypnotic about?

“Determined to find his missing daughter, Austin detective Danny Rourke instead finds himself spiraling down a rabbit hole while investigating a series of reality-bending bank robberies where he will ultimately call into question his most basic assumptions about everything and everyone in his world,” according to the official plot synopsis.

“Aided by Diana Cruz, an unnervingly gifted psychic, Rourke simultaneously pursues and is pursued by a lethal specter - the one man he believes holds the key to finding the missing girl - only to discover more than he ever bargained for.”

In addition to Ben Affleck as Rourke, Hypnotic’s ensemble cast includes Alice Braga (Predators, The Suicide Squad) as Diana Cruz; JD Pardo (Mayans M.C.) as Rourke’s partner, Nicks; Hala Finley (Paradise Highway) as his missing daughter, Minnie; Dayo Okeniyi (Rise) as tech wiz cum conspiracy theorist, River; Jeff Fahey (Lost) as Carl; Jackie Earle Haley (Alita: Battle Angel) as the reclusive expat Jeremiah, and William Fichtner (The Dark Knight) as the enigmatic figure Rourke pursues to unravel the mystery behind it all.

Hypnotic is produced by Mark Gill, Guy Botham, Lisa Ellzey, Jeff Robinov p.g.a, John Graham, Racer Max and Robert Rodriguez p.g.a.. The executive producers are: James Portolese, Joshua Throne, Maitreya Yasuda, Crystal Bourbeau, Vincent Bruzzese, Beth Bruckner O’Brien, Peter Touche, Christelle Conan, Gareth West, Chris Milburn, Artur Galstian, Vahan Yepremyan, Walter Josten, Patrick Josten and Jordan Wagner. The co-executive producers are Ryan Basford, Court Coursey and Caylee Cowan. Solstice Studios, Ingenious Media, and Studio 8 present the Double R production.

Hypnotic, which debuted at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, opens in theaters on May 12, 2023.

After the first official trailer for Fast X premiered in February, viewers were quick to take note of a fistfight scene between returning cast members Michelle Rodriguez and Charlize Theron. Nearly two months later, Rodriguez has revealed that this scene was filmed without a director.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Rodriguez discussed her role in Fast X, revealing that this sequence was filmed while the movie was in between directors.

"Can I just tell you — no pun intended, but Charlize is a monster," Rodriguez said. "We shot our [Fast X] fight sequence with no director."

As Vanity Fair pointed out, the movie's original director Justin Lin left early on in the production process, reportedly due to a fight with Vin Diesel. His departure left the movie without a director for a week before Louis Leterrier stepped in.

"Bro, like, hands down, drop mic, we nailed it," she continued. "We were there, we don’t need [a director], let’s do this. Second unit director, come on. We kept that train running until Louie came in and took over. And she is a consummate professional, sharp elbows, her work ethic is beyond."

Fast X will be released on May 19, and it will be the second to last film in the franchise. This week, Vin Diesel teased that the series will say goodbye to the late Paul Walker's character in Fast X, and Brie Larson also revealed the identity of her character.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they've contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.