Thanks to a weekend trial of Predator: Hunting Grounds, I got to follow up on the couple of matches I played of Illfonic’s upcoming multiplayer shooter last fall to find out if the experience could stand the test of time. And I’m happy to report that after a few hours of play, several matches as both humans and the Predator, I’m eager to jump back in and find out if it still bleeds, so I can kill it. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/predator-hunting-grounds-preview-mostly-captures-the-thrill-of-the-hunt"]

Hunter and Hunted

I broke down a bit of the difference in playing as either the Predator or the elite, human squad out in the field during my PAX West 2019 Predator: Hunting Grounds preview, but as a brief recap: Predator pits four humans on a set of various missions (find drugs, find bad men who probably sell drugs, kill men and their drugs) while racing against both the clock and AI enemies. All the while, the dreadlocked alien has one goal — kill this group of soldiers. To steal from my coworker Tom Marks, Predator takes the smart approach that other recent asynchronous multiplayer games do — by giving the humans a mission other than killing the big bad, the added purpose makes every role feel vital even when you’re not the obviously very cool teched out alien. The missions, at least in the trial, are often samey and rather boring, moving you and your team from one pertinent location to the next while mowing down relatively simple AI enemies. But the hook of having something to do other than fear the Predator adds a nice cadence and purpose to matches that made the Predator’s hunt more unpredictable match to match. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=big-ps4-ps5-games-coming-in-2020&captions=true"] And that unknowable fear is key to the experience — the Predator is out there in the jungle, somewhere, and I often scanned Illfonic’s lush jungles (which look beautiful from afar but don’t quite hold up when close up against a tree or decaying structure) fruitlessly hoping to catch a glimpse of my foe running amongst the trees. Illfonic has captured a really intriguing blend of constant dread and the player’s need to compartmentalize that dread until it can’t be helped. For my first few matches I was a skittish, unhelpful squadmate, and I’m sorry to all of the strangers I played with. I feared the Predator could be behind any tree, around the corner of any dilapidated building, and I often met my end because of that. An unseen batch of AI foes, or, more commonly, the Predator finding me because I strayed away from the group. I quickly had to get the idea of the Predator’s might out of my head — it would eventually come to kill us, and that’s when I could worry about its superior strength. Instead, I focused on being a more present player, and a more active teammate, and I often saw more success because of it. Hunting Grounds rewards teams working together. Any time myself or someone else strayed from the pack, it was almost always to our detriment. But even when playing with strangers, and omitting voice chat, we could still complete our mission, or even take down the Predator, by sticking together, pointing out trouble with a quick ping system, and responding quickly to call in all our firepower when the Predator appeared. Whereas fighting the human AI is a matter of getting the jump on them and using cover well, the Predator can move so quickly, and so unexpectedly, that it’s often about finding the ideal window to unleash hell on it. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/predator-hunting-grounds-5-player-gameplay"] And when playing as the Predator, how you respond to those firefights often determines the flow of a match in an instant. You can try to fight from afar, shooting down from the tree branches and using camouflage to avoid being spotted. Or, you can jump right into the fray, using melee attacks to swipe at foes while also opening yourself up to a lot more potential damage. Though trust me, few things have frightened me like being a human player inside a room as the Predator speeds in through the doorframe. There’s no way to win, then. Finding balance is the key to winning as Predator, both in when to go full force on attacking or hang back in the shadows like a forest Batman, especially when you don’t know whether humans are packing grenade launchers or pistols. And all of your abilities are tied to a single energy gauge, so while firing off a few full-force blasts from your shoulder cannon could knock an enemy out, you might have no energy left to turn invisible and flee afterward. The Predator is, no doubt, a strong opponent to best, but at least with my time so far, it feels like there is enough in balance that defeating it feels achievable in every match, at least at first. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/9-minutes-of-predator-hunting-grounds-predator-gameplay"]

Ranking Up

The biggest change from playing two matches of Hunting Grounds to playing a weekend of it was getting a chance to understand how progression works. With an overarching level tied to XP gained from both matches played as the Predator and humans, I unlocked “field lockers” — Predator’s version of loot boxes, that come with a host of weapon and character skins for customization. You’ll unlock more boxes as you level up, and can use currency to buy them as well, both in-game and real world. But for now, it seems these loot boxes are cosmetic only, and I obviously hope they stay that way. But there is progression to characters as well. While I unfortunately didn’t get to play around with the different human characters, I was able to add perks and change loadouts for both humans and the Predator as I leveled up, with a clear bit of additional armament ready to be unlocked at higher levels. Keeping up with those upgrades is essential, as they can change how quickly a Predator’s energy reloads or improve the ability of muddy camouflage to hide from the Predator as a human. I noticed a marked improvement in my ability to handle the unexpected as I outfitted my character with more perks, and was eager to see what else I could unlock at higher levels and how it might make matches more varied, especially when so much can hinge on the more boring human AI enemies. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/predator-hunting-grounds-be-the-predator-trailer"] I’m glad Predator: Hunting Grounds had this trial weekend, because the entire weekend was saddled with disappointing queue times, with it sometimes taking over four minutes to kick me into a match. The first day of the trial I was being matched with only a single human squadmate as well, too, or even having to go it alone against the Predator. Unsurprisingly, I didn’t do too well in those first matches. By the end of the weekend, match load times were down, but I still waited a couple of minutes before getting kicked into a match, and had to back out to the menu a number of times as the Predator because I was not being matched with any opponents. Of course, this being a test weekend, I’m glad Illfonic is taking the time to see how Predator works out in the wild. I think there’s a strong core in the matches — everything playing to its source material as being a Predator game still feels fun and worth diving into match after match. I do hope Illfonic can find a better balance to making the other objectives a bit more interesting, but outside of its technical issues, Predator shows plenty of promise by sticking to its franchise guns. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's senior news editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

A fake Flipnote for Switch app designed for April Fools’ that started making the rounds online ended up causing more anger than amusement. So much so that the ensuing harassment forced its creators to go into social media lockdown. James (who asked IGN to withhold his last name for the story) is part of a community that reverse-engineers legacy online services like Flipnote Studio, an app for the DSi released in 2008 that let players create and send custom animations. “From a technical perspective, we found them to have rather convoluted technical innards (particularly Flipnote Studio 3D,” James told IGN in an email. “So we had a long-running joke where we speculated about what Nintendo could possibly throw at us next.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2013/03/13/flipnote-studio-3d-nintendo-direct-mini"] The community made the idea of a new Flipnote app for the Switch an in-joke, but the impetus to create fake screenshots for April Fools’ didn’t materialize until five days before April 1. “Towards the end of March, somebody who apparently wasn’t aware of the joke started to get on our case about [Flipnote Switch] rather aggressively, thinking we were intentionally tricking the community.” As a response, James created a quick mock-up in Sketch, a design program, and presented it to the community. While the community member in question wasn’t very pleased with the glib response, another developer on the channel was briefly fooled. That spurred the developers to try and flesh out the concept and present fake screenshots of a “leaked” Flipnote Switch app for the community’s annual April Fool’s joke. [caption id="attachment_2331024" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Mock-ups for the fake Flipnote app for Switch created for April Fools. Art Credit: Calcium; UI: James; Translation: Liss[/caption] James organized the effort and designed fake UI. Other contributors included Calcium who created the artwork, Liss who contributed a fake Japanese translation, and Austin and Rob from Sudomemo, a website dedicated to sharing Flipnote creations long after the service was shuttered officially. Together, the team created several “leaked” screenshots of a new Flipnote App coming to the Switch, complete with a fake title screen. You can check out some of the assets in the gallery below. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-fake-flipnote-for-switch-april-fools-joke&captions=true"] James told IGN he has no idea how the screenshots leaked from their Discord server, but the images were soon being picked up by Nintendo fansites as legitimate leaks. “It was wild that any outlets picked it up at all to be honest, especially when the first few [sites] cited the source as being ‘some random people on a Discord server.’ Like, that wouldn’t normally strike you as being remotely trustworthy, right?” James said. “But in the following days the telephone-game effect kicked in and soon enough the source was somehow ‘an insider at Nintendo of Japan.’ Things got a little scary then.” The team released the “leaks” online three days before April 1 with a plan to reveal themselves on April Fools’. By then the screenshots had already made their way to sites like r/NintendoSwitch on Reddit and 4chan. Then on April Fools’ James revealed the joke. “Initially it seemed to go as expected,” James said. “Of course we knew people would be disappointed and that there would be a few harsh responses but it felt relatively light-hearted for the most part.” While the early comments were more finger-wagging than malicious, that soon changed. “Gradually the responses became more intense[.] People started bringing out the slurs and calling for us to be doxxed and/or murdered. While we’re usually fairly laid back, it was clear that people were taking this worse than we imagined.” “Honestly, go f*** yourself. Why not spend your time creating something useful instead of misleading a bunch of people into thinking something good is around the corner?” read one comment in response to the joke reveal. [caption id="attachment_2331038" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Mock-ups for the fake Flipnote app for Switch created for April Fools. Art Credit: Calcium, UI: James, Translation: Liss[/caption] “In hindsight, it was a bad time to pull a stunt like this with everything that’s been going in the world recently,” James told IGN. “Everyone’s already a lot more stressed out than usual and it was extremely uncool of us to give them the false hope of something exciting on the horizon.” James also regretted the decision to stagger the timing of the joke by releasing the screenshots early and revealing the joke three days later. What began as an in-joke quickly spiraled out of control, thanks to a combination of the internet’s ability to obfuscate information and the video game community’s fixation on leaks and rumors. “Ultimately there was no malicious intent or anything like that, just an in-joke that was handled very poorly," James concluded. "It should go without saying that we’re definitely not doing anything like this again.” [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

Though Sony and Naughty Dog announced The Last of Us Part 2 has been delayed indefinitely, a new set of screenshots showcases a beautiful look at the sequel. Check out the gallery below to see new screenshots from TLoU2, as spotted by Nibel on Twitter. (The images are currently unavailable on the Last of Us official website.) [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-last-of-us-part-2-new-screenshots&captions=true"] The screenshots offer new looks at Joel and Ellie, as well as the return of Tommy and brand new characters. Some of the scenes in the screenshots were not what we saw when we went hands-on with The Last of Us Part 2 last year, but unfortunately no additional story details accompanied the new images. The Last of Us Part 2 first received a release date of February 22, 2020 late last year, but soon after Naughty Dog announced a delayed Last of Us Part 2 release date to May 29, and most recently confirmed the sequel is delayed "until such a time where we can solve these logistic issues." Naughty Dog's latest announcement noted last of Us Part 2 is "nearly done," but that concerns over all players getting to play at launch, when the spread of COVID-19 has caused many stores to temporarily close and states and nations to adopt lockdown protocols, has led to the decision to delay. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/02/the-last-of-us-part-2-delayed-indefinitely-ign-now"] For more on the upcoming sequel, we spoke to Druckmann about Joel's role in The Last of Us Part 2, why The Last of Us Part 2 isn't an open world game, as well as how dogs affect stealth and combat in The Last of Us sequel. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's senior news editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.  

The cancellation of the SXSW 2020 Film Festival last month due to the coronavirus pandemic was among the first of now dozens of entertainment industry events delayed or outright postponed by COVID-19. On Thursday, SXSW and Amazon Prime Video announced their plan to launch an online film festival -- “Prime Video presents the SXSW 2020 Film Festival Collection” -- for filmmakers who were in this year's SXSW lineup. This one-time event will play exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. for 10-days. According to the official press release, the films "will be available in front of the Prime Video paywall and free to all audiences around the country, with or without an Amazon Prime membership, all that is needed is a free Amazon account." Participating filmmakers will receive a screening fee for streaming their film over the 10-day period. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=10-best-free-movies-to-watch-online&captions=true"] “Ever since SXSW was cancelled by the City of Austin, we’ve been focused on how we could help the incredible films and filmmakers in the SXSW 2020 Film Festival lineup,” said Janet Pierson, Director of Film, SXSW, in a statement. “We were delighted when Amazon Prime Video offered to host an online film festival, and jumped at the opportunity to connect their audiences to our filmmakers. We’re inspired by the adaptability and resilience of the film community as it searches for creative solutions in this unprecedented crisis.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/19/amazon-prime-video-review-2019"] While no official launch date has been set yet, SXSW and Prime Video said they are aiming for late April.

Despite what could have been an April Fools' joke pointing to its existence, Cellar Door Games has confirmed today that Rogue Legacy 2 is officially in the works. "Your Legacy continues," Cellar Door Games wrote in a tweet revealing the sequel, while also revealing a first look at the sequel. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=rogue-legacy-2-first-screenshots&captions=true"] No release date or projected platforms have been announced by Cellar Door Games yet, but the tweet today confirms a tease Cellar Door posted yesterday indicating a sequel might be in the works. And Cellar Door has confirmed more info is set to be revealed soon. "Yes, it's official. Rogue Legacy 2 is in development! We'll be releasing a lot more info in the coming days," the company's tweet confirms. Rogue Legacy is a 2D rogue-lite with an ancestral twist — players take on the role of a knight going through a randomly generated castle, but with every permanent death, that knight's heir would be the next to journey into the castle. Players would choose after each death from one of three different possible heirs, with different classes and abilities, that would then let players try to venture deeper into Rogue Legacy's world. IGN praised Rogue Legacy in our review when it debuted, calling it "a hugely compelling mix of 2D action-platforming and Roguelike game design, with excellent pixel art and just the right level of challenge." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2013/07/31/rogue-legacy-review-commentary"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's senior news editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

The Stardew Valley publisher is teasing a new look for Witchbrook, a new game set in a magical world of witches in training. Chucklefish revealed three new screenshots and a slightly updated logo available in our slideshow below. Alongside the new content, it also launched a website for Witchbrook that has a short FAQ with new information. The developers are billing Witchbrook as a "Stardew Valley meets Harry Potter" vibe with a focus on learning spells, growing magical crops, and building relationships with other students. The new screenshots tease what appears to be a garden, a classroom, and outside a bakery. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=witchbrook-3-new-screenshots&captions=true"] "Forge your own identity as a witch-in-training on the road to graduation," via the Witchbrook website. "Build relationships with fellow students and townsfolk, develop your magical abilities by attending classes and completing assignments. Participate in extracurricular activities such as fishing, growing magical crops and foraging strange mushrooms. Master secret spells, make friends for life and unravel the mysteries of the school..." Chucklefish addressed a couple of common questions such as when will Witchbrook release and what platforms will it be available on. As of right now, both answers are unknown with the developer saying it's a while off and the studio has a zero-crunch policy. While there aren't any confirmed platforms for release at this time, there's likely to be a PC release. It's also possible it may come to the Nintendo Switch. Whether that's on launch or not, is unknown. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-2020-video-game-release&captions=true"] Learn more about the inspirations that led Chucklefish to create Witchbrook. And if you want to see what it originally looked like, take a look at old screenshots here. This article originally called Chucklefish the developer of Stardew Valley when in fact the company was its original publisher. IGN regrets the error. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jeffrey Lerman is a Freelance News Writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @Snakester95.

The Obi-Wan Kenobi series set for Disney+ has brought Joby Harold on to write, Variety reports. Paramount Pictures recently selected Harold to write the script for a new Transformers film that's supposed to revamp the franchise. In 2017, he was chosen to completely re-write the script for The Flash movie. He was also recently the executive producer for John Wick: Chapter 3. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/24/obi-wan-disney-plus-series-on-hold"] Harold is taking over for Hossein Amini, who left the project in January. The entire show's production was put on hold in January because Lucasfilm president and Obi-Wan producer Kathleen Kennedy was reportedly not happy with the current scripts. However, star Ewan McGregor told IGN that the Obi-Wan show's unannounced release date was not impacted by the filming delay. "I’ve read about eighty, ninety percent of what they’ve written so far, and it’s really, really good," McGregor said. "Instead of shooting this August, they just want to start shooting in January, that's all." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/09/10/what-could-the-disney-obi-wan-kenobi-series-be-about"] Disney has a slate of Star Wars shows planned for its streaming service, including Season 2 of The Mandalorian and a Cassian Andor show. Additionally, the final season of The Clone Wars is currently airing on Disney+. Those clamoring for another Star Wars movie will have to wait a bit longer, as the next Star Wars film isn't set to release until December 2022. For more, read about why one writer said a Solo sequel isn't in the cards for Disney. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/05/15/solo-a-star-wars-story-review"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Logan Plant is a news writer for IGN, and the Production Assistant for Nintendo Voice Chat, IGN's weekly Nintendo show. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.

The Obi-Wan Kenobi series set for Disney+ has brought Joby Harold on to write, Variety reports. Paramount Pictures recently selected Harold to write the script for a new Transformers film that's supposed to revamp the franchise. In 2017, he was chosen to completely re-write the script for The Flash movie. He was also recently the executive producer for John Wick: Chapter 3. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/24/obi-wan-disney-plus-series-on-hold"] Harold is taking over for Hossein Amini, who left the project in January. The entire show's production was put on hold in January because Lucasfilm president and Obi-Wan producer Kathleen Kennedy was reportedly not happy with the current scripts. However, star Ewan McGregor told IGN that the Obi-Wan show's unannounced release date was not impacted by the filming delay. "I’ve read about eighty, ninety percent of what they’ve written so far, and it’s really, really good," McGregor said. "Instead of shooting this August, they just want to start shooting in January, that's all." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/09/10/what-could-the-disney-obi-wan-kenobi-series-be-about"] Disney has a slate of Star Wars shows planned for its streaming service, including Season 2 of The Mandalorian and a Cassian Andor show. Additionally, the final season of The Clone Wars is currently airing on Disney+. Those clamoring for another Star Wars movie will have to wait a bit longer, as the next Star Wars film isn't set to release until December 2022. For more, read about why one writer said a Solo sequel isn't in the cards for Disney. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/05/15/solo-a-star-wars-story-review"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Logan Plant is a news writer for IGN, and the Production Assistant for Nintendo Voice Chat, IGN's weekly Nintendo show. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.

PlayStation and Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that Iron Man VR will also be delayed, alongside The Last of Us Part 2. Neither game has revised release dates. Iron Man VR was originally set to be released in February before it was delayed to May 14 for PlayStation VR. Developed by Camouflaj, Iron Man VR puts players inside the Iron Man suit as they blast enemies and fly through various levels.

Update: SIE has made the difficult decision to delay the launch of The Last of Us Part II and Marvel's Iron Man VR until further notice. Logistically, the global crisis is preventing us from providing the launch experience our players deserve.

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) April 2, 2020

PlayStation announced that the delays were caused by logistic issues from the global COVID-19 crisis. In a statement, PlayStation wrote, “Logistically, the global crisis is preventing us from providing the launch experience our players deserve.” Sony also announced that there are no other delays to report, but will keep players updated. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=big-ps4-ps5-games-coming-in-2020&captions=true"] The other game delayed by SIE today was the highly anticipated The Last of Us Part 2. In a separate statement, Naughty Dog announced that while development on The Last of Us sequel is complete, the same logistic issues prevented the studio from hitting its original May release date. One game absent from the delay list is Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima, which is still slated for its June 26 release date on PlayStation 4. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/04/02/iron-man-vr-hands-on-impressions"] Check out IGN’s preview of Iron Man VR here, and our interview with its developers on creating an original Tony Stark story. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

PlayStation and Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that Iron Man VR will also be delayed, alongside The Last of Us Part 2. Neither game has revised release dates. Iron Man VR was originally set to be released in February before it was delayed to May 14 for PlayStation VR. Developed by Camouflaj, Iron Man VR puts players inside the Iron Man suit as they blast enemies and fly through various levels.

Update: SIE has made the difficult decision to delay the launch of The Last of Us Part II and Marvel's Iron Man VR until further notice. Logistically, the global crisis is preventing us from providing the launch experience our players deserve.

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) April 2, 2020

PlayStation announced that the delays were caused by logistic issues from the global COVID-19 crisis. In a statement, PlayStation wrote, “Logistically, the global crisis is preventing us from providing the launch experience our players deserve.” Sony also announced that there are no other delays to report, but will keep players updated. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=big-ps4-ps5-games-coming-in-2020&captions=true"] The other game delayed by SIE today was the highly anticipated The Last of Us Part 2. In a separate statement, Naughty Dog announced that while development on The Last of Us sequel is complete, the same logistic issues prevented the studio from hitting its original May release date. One game absent from the delay list is Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima, which is still slated for its June 26 release date on PlayStation 4. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/04/02/iron-man-vr-hands-on-impressions"] Check out IGN’s preview of Iron Man VR here, and our interview with its developers on creating an original Tony Stark story. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.