Marvel's Iron Man VR has gone gold, developer Camouflaj announced today. And after a couple of delays this year, plus the recent release of a Marvel's Iron Man VR demo, the PSVR exclusive is set to be released on July 3. Speaking to IGN ahead of the gold status announcement, Iron Man VR Game Director Ryan Payton discussed how the studio adjusted to working from home amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly as the studio is located in Seattle, one of the earliest sites in the United States majorly affected during the spread of COVID-19. "We took [the pandemic] very seriously and we worked really quickly to make sure that our team was safe," Payton said. "Thankfully our team has been healthy and safe throughout this whole pandemic. And the other thing we're thankful for is that we were in close contact with both Sony and Marvel. We told them that we're going make sure that the team safety is paramount and the highest priority, and we don't know what's going to happen to the game's production. They said that's fine. Let's take care of the team, we'll make things work," he continued.

After years of hard work, we are proud to announce that MARVEL’S IRON MAN VR has officially gone gold! We can’t wait for everyone to #SuitUp when the game releases exclusively for PlayStation VR on July 3. pic.twitter.com/NZnsG12Pgy

— Camouflaj (@Camouflaj) May 28, 2020

Payton noted that, given the timeline of the game's development, as the team acclimated to working from home, it actually lined up with the team's core focus — rather than needing to ideate on VR gameplay ideas, the Camouflaj team could be heads down, hard at work on fine tuning, bug fixing, and polishing the final game. "Strangely enough, in the final months of development, especially now that we've gone gold, it's mainly been focused on bug fixes and final polish and is interestingly compatible with remote work," he explained, while also noting the team has been able to use this time to actually respond and improve the game based on player feedback from the demo. "The one thing that we were looking forward to seeing is how really enthusiastic and hardcore PlayStation VR community was going to respond to the game," he explained. "So seeing the reaction to the game was really encouraging. They also had a lot of specific feedback to the degree that they wanted to tweak the comfort settings. We do have a pretty robust array of settings already in our game, but we're actually adding a number of additional options based on what that really passionate PlayStation VR community is asking for." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/22/iron-man-vr-demo-the-first-19-minutes"]

Exploring Iron Man's World in VR

Payton also explained how the team has been able to refine, polish, and integrate a series of "superhero actions" throughout the game that help exemplify the dream of being Iron Man...in VR, at least. "When you're interacting with the jet [in the demo], you can do these things we call superhero actions, where you can extinguish the fire, you can repair the wing, you can release the landing gear. And that was a feature that came in relatively late into the development of the game," Payton explained. "We just started sprinkling the whole game with a lot of those unique, one-off experiences that really leverage the strengths of VR." The demo, which you can check out gameplay of above, allows players to jump into two early missions in Iron Man VR, which we demoed and enjoyed last year, as well as additional combat challenge missions. Combat challenges will appear in the main game, and as Payton explained, they've allowed the team to take advantage of the large — including larger than you've yet seen — environments in the campaign. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="legacyId=20095320&captions=true"]

Iron Man VR New Gameplay Details

"These are optional missions that we do sprinkle throughout the game. that give the game more breadth. They take advantage of these large environments that we've been building beyond what you've seen. Malibu and the private jet missions are probably the two smallest environments that we have in the game," Payton explained. These missions aren't just there to challenge players either — you'll be able to earn research points from them, which can then in turn be used to upgrade the Impulse Armor Tony Stark has in the game. Players can unlock and advance new abilities, hone in on specific parts of the suit, and more. This upgrading is all done in Tony's garage, an environment that Payton explained helps players live out both the Tony Stark and Iron Man experiences. "One of the first things on our list [for playing as Tony] was allowing players to spend a lot of time in Tony's garage and in between missions, not only see your suit first person, but also to get to inspect the Impulse Armor to see all the incredible work that the team has put into it," he said. "Through those research points, players are able to hone in on certain aspects of the suit, upgrade certain elements to go faster, to upgrade the HUD, and unlock all these auxiliary weapons, which is one of the features that I snuck into the demo." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/19/marvels-iron-man-vr-behind-the-scenes-learning-to-fly-video"] Payton described how one of the upgrades players can acquire, missiles launched from the suit's arms, in another attempt to make the best use out of this being a VR game. "Initially we had a button change for when you're shooting with your pulsars, and then you would change to missiles, and a number of people on the team said, 'That's stupid Ryan, why would you do that? Why use a button when you're in VR and you're Iron Man,'" he joked. "Iron Man would just move his arms down. So that's how the players access these auxiliary weapons...by just moving the Move controllers down horizontally," he explained. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/04/02/iron-man-vr-hands-on-impressions"] As for that balance between a Tony and Iron Man story, having a villain that can speak to both aspects of the character was key for this original tale, and Payton explained why Ghost was such a good fit for his and the team's story goals. "When we sat down with Marvel and started thinking about the game's story, they really encouraged us to create an original story that really paired nicely with the game that we wanted to create and for VR in particular. One of the story challenges we knew we needed to overcome is that we knew we wanted to tell a where a classic Iron Man story... That's why we got to this idea of finding these deadly machines that Tony had created back when he was an arms dealer," he said. "So you then start asking yourselves these questions, 'Who would get access to these old machines that he used to create before he was a superhero, who would hack those devices? And who would then want to attack Tony using them?' And the moment I posed that question to Marvel, it almost sounds like I'm making this up, [Marvel Games'] Bill Rosemann and a bunch of other people at Marvel looked at each other and at the same time they said, 'Ghost.'" While we'll have to wait longer to see more of how Ghost and Tony face off in Marvel's Iron Man VR you can check out the PSVR bundle announced for the game ahead of its July 3 launch. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond! and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

Marvel's Iron Man VR has gone gold, developer Camouflaj announced today. And after a couple of delays this year, plus the recent release of a Marvel's Iron Man VR demo, the PSVR exclusive is set to be released on July 3. Speaking to IGN ahead of the gold status announcement, Iron Man VR Game Director Ryan Payton discussed how the studio adjusted to working from home amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly as the studio is located in Seattle, one of the earliest sites in the United States majorly affected during the spread of COVID-19. "We took [the pandemic] very seriously and we worked really quickly to make sure that our team was safe," Payton said. "Thankfully our team has been healthy and safe throughout this whole pandemic. And the other thing we're thankful for is that we were in close contact with both Sony and Marvel. We told them that we're going make sure that the team safety is paramount and the highest priority, and we don't know what's going to happen to the game's production. They said that's fine. Let's take care of the team, we'll make things work," he continued.

After years of hard work, we are proud to announce that MARVEL’S IRON MAN VR has officially gone gold! We can’t wait for everyone to #SuitUp when the game releases exclusively for PlayStation VR on July 3. pic.twitter.com/NZnsG12Pgy

— Camouflaj (@Camouflaj) May 28, 2020

Payton noted that, given the timeline of the game's development, as the team acclimated to working from home, it actually lined up with the team's core focus — rather than needing to ideate on VR gameplay ideas, the Camouflaj team could be heads down, hard at work on fine tuning, bug fixing, and polishing the final game. "Strangely enough, in the final months of development, especially now that we've gone gold, it's mainly been focused on bug fixes and final polish and is interestingly compatible with remote work," he explained, while also noting the team has been able to use this time to actually respond and improve the game based on player feedback from the demo. "The one thing that we were looking forward to seeing is how really enthusiastic and hardcore PlayStation VR community was going to respond to the game," he explained. "So seeing the reaction to the game was really encouraging. They also had a lot of specific feedback to the degree that they wanted to tweak the comfort settings. We do have a pretty robust array of settings already in our game, but we're actually adding a number of additional options based on what that really passionate PlayStation VR community is asking for." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/22/iron-man-vr-demo-the-first-19-minutes"]

Exploring Iron Man's World in VR

Payton also explained how the team has been able to refine, polish, and integrate a series of "superhero actions" throughout the game that help exemplify the dream of being Iron Man...in VR, at least. "When you're interacting with the jet [in the demo], you can do these things we call superhero actions, where you can extinguish the fire, you can repair the wing, you can release the landing gear. And that was a feature that came in relatively late into the development of the game," Payton explained. "We just started sprinkling the whole game with a lot of those unique, one-off experiences that really leverage the strengths of VR." The demo, which you can check out gameplay of above, allows players to jump into two early missions in Iron Man VR, which we demoed and enjoyed last year, as well as additional combat challenge missions. Combat challenges will appear in the main game, and as Payton explained, they've allowed the team to take advantage of the large — including larger than you've yet seen — environments in the campaign. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="legacyId=20095320&captions=true"]

Iron Man VR New Gameplay Details

"These are optional missions that we do sprinkle throughout the game. that give the game more breadth. They take advantage of these large environments that we've been building beyond what you've seen. Malibu and the private jet missions are probably the two smallest environments that we have in the game," Payton explained. These missions aren't just there to challenge players either — you'll be able to earn research points from them, which can then in turn be used to upgrade the Impulse Armor Tony Stark has in the game. Players can unlock and advance new abilities, hone in on specific parts of the suit, and more. This upgrading is all done in Tony's garage, an environment that Payton explained helps players live out both the Tony Stark and Iron Man experiences. "One of the first things on our list [for playing as Tony] was allowing players to spend a lot of time in Tony's garage and in between missions, not only see your suit first person, but also to get to inspect the Impulse Armor to see all the incredible work that the team has put into it," he said. "Through those research points, players are able to hone in on certain aspects of the suit, upgrade certain elements to go faster, to upgrade the HUD, and unlock all these auxiliary weapons, which is one of the features that I snuck into the demo." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/19/marvels-iron-man-vr-behind-the-scenes-learning-to-fly-video"] Payton described how one of the upgrades players can acquire, missiles launched from the suit's arms, in another attempt to make the best use out of this being a VR game. "Initially we had a button change for when you're shooting with your pulsars, and then you would change to missiles, and a number of people on the team said, 'That's stupid Ryan, why would you do that? Why use a button when you're in VR and you're Iron Man,'" he joked. "Iron Man would just move his arms down. So that's how the players access these auxiliary weapons...by just moving the Move controllers down horizontally," he explained. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/04/02/iron-man-vr-hands-on-impressions"] As for that balance between a Tony and Iron Man story, having a villain that can speak to both aspects of the character was key for this original tale, and Payton explained why Ghost was such a good fit for his and the team's story goals. "When we sat down with Marvel and started thinking about the game's story, they really encouraged us to create an original story that really paired nicely with the game that we wanted to create and for VR in particular. One of the story challenges we knew we needed to overcome is that we knew we wanted to tell a where a classic Iron Man story... That's why we got to this idea of finding these deadly machines that Tony had created back when he was an arms dealer," he said. "So you then start asking yourselves these questions, 'Who would get access to these old machines that he used to create before he was a superhero, who would hack those devices? And who would then want to attack Tony using them?' And the moment I posed that question to Marvel, it almost sounds like I'm making this up, [Marvel Games'] Bill Rosemann and a bunch of other people at Marvel looked at each other and at the same time they said, 'Ghost.'" While we'll have to wait longer to see more of how Ghost and Tony face off in Marvel's Iron Man VR you can check out the PSVR bundle announced for the game ahead of its July 3 launch. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond! and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

Director Christopher Nolan has had a tradition of screening the films that inspired his latest movie to his casts before they begin filming, such as showing Heat to the cast of The Dark Knight or screening All Quiet on the Western Front before shooting Dunkirk. But it's a tradition Nolan broke with for his upcoming time-bending espionage thriller Tenet. Nolan explained to Total Film that he didn't want his cast to draw from any specific film for Tenet but rather from their innate understanding of how the espionage/spy thriller genre operates. “Interestingly, this is one of the first films I’ve ever made where we didn’t do any screenings,” Nolan said. “And the reason was, I think we all have the spy genre so in our bones and in our fingertips. I actually wanted to work from a memory and a feeling of that genre, rather than the specifics.” [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/22/tenet-official-trailer-2] Nolan, a huge aficionado of the James Bond film franchise, has repeatedly and specifically cited 007 as an influence on him, particularly for Inception. In the new Total Film interview, he credits the Bond character and franchise with his overall passion for spy movies. However, as /Film points out, Nolan admits that, for Tenet, he hasn't revisited the 007 series. “This is definitely the longest period of time I’ve ever gone in my life without watching a James Bond film.” He added that he didn't feel the need to as, “It’s totally in my bones." “I don’t need to reference the movies and look at them again. (Tenet's) about trying to re-engage with your childhood connection with those movies, with the feeling of what it’s like to go someplace new, someplace fresh," Nolan explained. "It actually has to take them somewhere they haven’t been before, and that’s why no one’s ever been able, really, to do their own version of James Bond or something. It doesn’t work. And that’s not at all what this is. This is much more my attempt to create the sort of excitement in grand-scale entertainment I felt from those movies as a kid, in my own way.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=tenet-images&captions=true"] For more on Tenet, watch the latest trailer, find out why Nolan decided to blow up a real 747 rather than use visual effects, and learn what star John David Washington had to say about the plot. Barring any postponement due to ongoing theater closures, Tenet is slated to hit theaters on July 17.

Director Christopher Nolan has had a tradition of screening the films that inspired his latest movie to his casts before they begin filming, such as showing Heat to the cast of The Dark Knight or screening All Quiet on the Western Front before shooting Dunkirk. But it's a tradition Nolan broke with for his upcoming time-bending espionage thriller Tenet. Nolan explained to Total Film that he didn't want his cast to draw from any specific film for Tenet but rather from their innate understanding of how the espionage/spy thriller genre operates. “Interestingly, this is one of the first films I’ve ever made where we didn’t do any screenings,” Nolan said. “And the reason was, I think we all have the spy genre so in our bones and in our fingertips. I actually wanted to work from a memory and a feeling of that genre, rather than the specifics.” [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/22/tenet-official-trailer-2] Nolan, a huge aficionado of the James Bond film franchise, has repeatedly and specifically cited 007 as an influence on him, particularly for Inception. In the new Total Film interview, he credits the Bond character and franchise with his overall passion for spy movies. However, as /Film points out, Nolan admits that, for Tenet, he hasn't revisited the 007 series. “This is definitely the longest period of time I’ve ever gone in my life without watching a James Bond film.” He added that he didn't feel the need to as, “It’s totally in my bones." “I don’t need to reference the movies and look at them again. (Tenet's) about trying to re-engage with your childhood connection with those movies, with the feeling of what it’s like to go someplace new, someplace fresh," Nolan explained. "It actually has to take them somewhere they haven’t been before, and that’s why no one’s ever been able, really, to do their own version of James Bond or something. It doesn’t work. And that’s not at all what this is. This is much more my attempt to create the sort of excitement in grand-scale entertainment I felt from those movies as a kid, in my own way.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=tenet-images&captions=true"] For more on Tenet, watch the latest trailer, find out why Nolan decided to blow up a real 747 rather than use visual effects, and learn what star John David Washington had to say about the plot. Barring any postponement due to ongoing theater closures, Tenet is slated to hit theaters on July 17.

EA has announced that it has renewed its partnership with the NFL and the NFL Players Association ensuring several more years of Madden NFL games from EA Sports. According to a press release, the multi-year renewal of the partnership means more football simulation games from EA, as well as “additional, innovative ways to play through new genres, expanded esports programs, arcade-style and enhance mobile experiences, and more, across platforms.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/07/madden-nfl-21-next-gen-announcement-trailer"] This means that, for the next couple of years, EA Sports will be the home of authentic football sims. 2K Games recently signed a deal to bring back NFL 2K, but those are specifically non-simulation games and don’t directly compete with EA Madden. Another focus in the renewed partnership is on international growth. EA will work with the NFL and NFLPA to deliver real-world NFL experiences to share worldwide. EA has found particular success with its online offerings like Ultimate Teams, which allow players to create and collect virtual dream teams. Ultimate Teams are also available for other EA Sports titles like FIFA. EA recently announced Madden NFL 21, the first EA Madden game for next-gen systems. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

EA has announced that it has renewed its partnership with the NFL and the NFL Players Association ensuring several more years of Madden NFL games from EA Sports. According to a press release, the multi-year renewal of the partnership means more football simulation games from EA, as well as “additional, innovative ways to play through new genres, expanded esports programs, arcade-style and enhance mobile experiences, and more, across platforms.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/07/madden-nfl-21-next-gen-announcement-trailer"] This means that, for the next couple of years, EA Sports will be the home of authentic football sims. 2K Games recently signed a deal to bring back NFL 2K, but those are specifically non-simulation games and don’t directly compete with EA Madden. Another focus in the renewed partnership is on international growth. EA will work with the NFL and NFLPA to deliver real-world NFL experiences to share worldwide. EA has found particular success with its online offerings like Ultimate Teams, which allow players to create and collect virtual dream teams. Ultimate Teams are also available for other EA Sports titles like FIFA. EA recently announced Madden NFL 21, the first EA Madden game for next-gen systems. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Universal Studios’ collaboration with Nintendo on a new Mario-themed section of its theme park is almost complete, and an enterprising photographer managed to capture an aerial photo of the park during construction. It’s the best look at Universal’s Super Nintendo World, which looks near complete. A Japanese photographer captured a shot of the park during construction and posted it online. Based on the picture alone you can see that many of the structures already look complete from the outside. And thankfully the different structures are pretty distinct, making it easy to speculate on the coming attractions. Based on the photo alone you can see the classic Mario transportation pipes leading into different Mario-themed buildings. The largest looks like a structure based on Mario’s World 1-1 stages, but there are also some pyramids towards the north end of the compound. To the east is a series of pink columns which is likely Princess Peach’s castle, and towards the southwest is a pretty ominous structure that could be Bowser’s Castle. The partnership between Nintendo and Universal Studios Japan was announced back in 2017 when the two companies announced a new theme park attraction based on Nintendo’s popular characters would be coming to Universal parks. The Super Nintendo World attractions in Japan are set to expand to other Universal parks, including theme parks in the United States. Universal promised that aside from physical attractions, the Nintendo parks will integrate with digital wristbands, and even possibly Nintendo consoles. The first Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios Japan is scheduled to be opened in summer 2020 and was supposed to coincide with the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. However, the Olympics have been postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Universal Studios’ collaboration with Nintendo on a new Mario-themed section of its theme park is almost complete, and an enterprising photographer managed to capture an aerial photo of the park during construction. It’s the best look at Universal’s Super Nintendo World, which looks near complete. A Japanese photographer captured a shot of the park during construction and posted it online. Based on the picture alone you can see that many of the structures already look complete from the outside. And thankfully the different structures are pretty distinct, making it easy to speculate on the coming attractions. Based on the photo alone you can see the classic Mario transportation pipes leading into different Mario-themed buildings. The largest looks like a structure based on Mario’s World 1-1 stages, but there are also some pyramids towards the north end of the compound. To the east is a series of pink columns which is likely Princess Peach’s castle, and towards the southwest is a pretty ominous structure that could be Bowser’s Castle. The partnership between Nintendo and Universal Studios Japan was announced back in 2017 when the two companies announced a new theme park attraction based on Nintendo’s popular characters would be coming to Universal parks. The Super Nintendo World attractions in Japan are set to expand to other Universal parks, including theme parks in the United States. Universal promised that aside from physical attractions, the Nintendo parks will integrate with digital wristbands, and even possibly Nintendo consoles. The first Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios Japan is scheduled to be opened in summer 2020 and was supposed to coincide with the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. However, the Olympics have been postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.