Video game development is, by its nature, a very secretive business. However, Sucker Punch Productions has peeled back the curtain a bit and discussed how the game that ended up as Ghost of Tsushima could have been a game about pirates, Rob Roy MacGregor the Scottish folk hero, or the Three Musketeers. Co-founder of Sucker Punch Productions Brian Fleming took to the PlayStation.Blog to describe the studios thought process in figuring out what its next game would be following inFamous Second Son and First Light. "Early on, we concluded that we wanted to build a large, open world experience — and one that featured melee combat," Fleming said. "But beyond that we were uncertain. Pirates? Rob Roy? The Three Musketeers? All these were considered — but we kept coming back to feudal Japan and telling the story of a samurai warrior. Then one fateful fall afternoon we found a historical account of the Mongol invasion of Tsushima in 1274, and the entire vision clicked into place." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/14/ghost-of-tsushima-review"] While many can envision a pirate game sharing similarities with Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, a tale about Rob Roy could be focused on his "Robin Hood" persona. He was an outlaw who had a larger-than-life story written about him called Highland Rogue while he was alive. This actually helped lead to a Royal Pardon in 1726 while he was still alive, making him a "legend in his own lifetime." The Three Musketeers is obviously the classic tale by Alexandre Dumas about d'Artagnan and his hope to join the Musketeers of the Guard. There have been smaller games focused on this story, such as WiiWare game The Three Musketeers: One for All!, but it has yet to get a AAA re-telling. In the end, Sucker Punch decided to choose the Mongol invasion of Japan that was led by Kublai Khan of the Yuan dynasty following its victory in the Korean kingdom of Goryeo. It knew it wanted to tell the story of the only samurai who survived that initial assault at Tsushima, but wanted to make sure the story had weight. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=ghost-of-tsushima-concept-art&captions=true"] Not only did Sucker Punch want to tell a story that featured a "relatable, human experience," it also had to figure out a way to build a world with no technology. This meant "no cellphones to help us communicate with the player," and "no glitzy super-powers to create visual spectacle." One of these workarounds Sucker Punch arrived on was the Guiding Wind feature, that has the in-game wind helping the player find where they need to go, a blend of using modern technology to create a natural solution. All these challenges were made greater by the scale of the game that was "5x, 10x, 20x, even 40x [bigger than inFamous Second Son] in some cases. And none of the tools from inFamous were up to the task... except for our visual effects system." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/15/7-things-to-know-about-ghost-of-tsushima"] Fortunately for us, Sucker Punch made it through the six-year process to bring Ghost of Tsushima to life. In our review of Ghost of Tsushima, we said it is "an enormous and densely packed samurai adventure that often left me completely awestruck with both its visual spectacle and excellent combat." [poilib element="accentDivider"] 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.

Video game development is, but its nature, a very secretive business. However, Sucker Punch Productions has peeled back the curtain a bit and discussed how the game that ended up as Ghost of Tsushima could have been a game about pirates, Rob Roy MacGregor the Scottish folk hero, or the Three Musketeers. Co-founder of Sucker Punch Productions Brian Fleming took to the PlayStation.Blog to describe the studios thought process in figuring out what its next game would be following inFamous Second Son and First Light. "Early on, we concluded that we wanted to build a large, open world experience — and one that featured melee combat," Fleming said. "But beyond that we were uncertain. Pirates? Rob Roy? The Three Musketeers? All these were considered — but we kept coming back to feudal Japan and telling the story of a samurai warrior. Then one fateful fall afternoon we found a historical account of the Mongol invasion of Tsushima in 1274, and the entire vision clicked into place." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/14/ghost-of-tsushima-review"] While many can envision a pirate game sharing similarities with Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, a tale about Rob Roy could be focused on his "Robin Hood" persona. He was an outlaw who had a larger-than-life story written about him called Highland Rogue while he was alive. This actually helped lead to a Royal Pardon in 1726 while he was still alive, making him a "legend in his own lifetime." The Three Musketeers is obviously the classic tale by Alexandre Dumas about d'Artagnan and his hope to join the Musketeers of the Guard. There have been smaller games focused on this story, such as WiiWare game The Three Musketeers: One for All!, but it has yet to get a AAA re-telling. In the end, Sucker Punch decided to choose the Mongol invasion of Japan that was led by Kublai Khan of the Yuan dynasty following its victory in the Korean kingdom of Goryeo. It knew it wanted to tell the story of the only samurai who survived that initial assault at Tsushima, but wanted to make sure the story had weight. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=ghost-of-tsushima-concept-art&captions=true"] Not only did Sucker Punch want to tell a story that featured a "relatable, human experience," it also had to figure out a way to build a world with no technology. This meant "no cellphones to help us communicate with the player," and "no glitzy super-powers to create visual spectacle." One of these workarounds Sucker Punch arrived on was the Guiding Wind feature, that has the in-game wind helping the player find where they need to go, a blend of using modern technology to create a natural solution. All these challenges were made greater by the scale of the game that was "5x, 10x, 20x, even 40x [bigger than inFamous Second Son] in some cases. And none of the tools from inFamous were up to the task... except for our visual effects system." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/15/7-things-to-know-about-ghost-of-tsushima"] Fortunately for us, Sucker Punch made it through the six-year process to bring Ghost of Tsushima to life. In our review of Ghost of Tsushima, we said it is "an enormous and densely packed samurai adventure that often left me completely awestruck with both its visual spectacle and excellent combat." [poilib element="accentDivider"] 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.

Microsoft has officially stopped selling 12-Month Xbox Live Gold Plans, possibly hinting at a stronger focus on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or a new service that could be on the way in-time for the launch of Xbox Series X. Microsoft confirmed the change to TrueAchievements, stating that even though the 12-month plan is not being sold "at this time," the 3-month and 1-month plans are still available for purchase. "At this time, Xbox has decided to remove the 12 months Xbox Live Gold SKU from the Microsoft online Store." A Microsoft representative said. "Customers can still sign up for a one month or three month Xbox Live Gold subscription online through the Microsoft Store." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/16/everything-we-know-about-the-xbox-series-x"] Microsoft gave no further reason as to why it made this change, but earlier this week, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer announced that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members will automatically be entitled to Project xCloud services in September 2020 at no extra cost. Could this mean Microsoft will phase out its Xbox Live Gold plans and put all the focus on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which includes both Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass? [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-xbox-series-x-games&captions=true"] Additionally, Microsoft also said that it was stopping production on both the Xbox One X and the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition. While we don't yet know the answer to what all this could mean, more may be revealed at the Xbox Series X First-Party Games Showcase on July 23 or at a future event. There is also a chance Microsoft's new plan for its online service will be revealed during the Xbox Series S (or Project Lockhart) event that is reportedly planned for August 2020. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=23-best-xbox-game-pass-games&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] 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.

Microsoft has officially stopped selling 12-Month Xbox Live Gold Plans, possibly hinting at a stronger focus on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or a new service that could be on the way in-time for the launch of Xbox Series X. Microsoft confirmed the change to TrueAchievements, stating that even though the 12-month plan is not being sold "at this time," the 3-month and 1-month plans are still available for purchase. "At this time, Xbox has decided to remove the 12 months Xbox Live Gold SKU from the Microsoft online Store." A Microsoft representative said. "Customers can still sign up for a one month or three month Xbox Live Gold subscription online through the Microsoft Store." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/16/everything-we-know-about-the-xbox-series-x"] Microsoft gave no further reason as to why it made this change, but earlier this week, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer announced that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members will automatically be entitled to Project xCloud services in September 2020 at no extra cost. Could this mean Microsoft will phase out its Xbox Live Gold plans and put all the focus on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which includes both Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass? [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-xbox-series-x-games&captions=true"] Additionally, Microsoft also said that it was stopping production on both the Xbox One X and the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition. While we don't yet know the answer to what all this could mean, more may be revealed at the Xbox Series X First-Party Games Showcase on July 23 or at a future event. There is also a chance Microsoft's new plan for its online service will be revealed during the Xbox Series S (or Project Lockhart) event that is reportedly planned for August 2020. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=23-best-xbox-game-pass-games&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] 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.

At the Skybound Xpo virtual panel today it was announced that Zachary Quinto (NOS4A2, Star Trek) and Khary Payton (The Walking Dead) have joined the voice cast of Amazon Studios’ upcoming animated series Invincible, based on Robert Kirkman’s comic book of the same name. Quinto will be voicing the role of Robot while Payton will be voicing Black Samson. Two years ago, we learned that Kirkman's first project as part of his overall deal with Amazon would be an "adult animated" take on Invincible, which follows a teenager named Mark Grayson whose father is the most powerful superhero on the planet. Following this, it was revealed that Mark Hamill, Zazie Beetz, The Walking Dead's Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, and Seth Rogen (and more) had joined the voice cast. Along with today's addition of Quinto and Payton, Kirkman also revealed which characters some of the previously announced voice actors would portray on the series. Here's a list of those voice players and their Invincible characters:

• Zazie Beetz will voice Amber Bennett
• Chris Diamantopolous will voice Doc Seismic
• Walton Goggins will voice Cecil Steadman
• Grey Griffin will voice Shrinking Rae & Amanda (Monster Girl as Girl)
• Mark Hamill will voice Art
• Gillian Jacobs will voice Atom Eve
• Melise will voice Dulpi-Kate
• Jason Mantzoukas will voice Rex Splode
• Andrew Rannells will voice William Clockwell
• Kevin Michael Richardson will voice Mauler 1, Mauler 2 & Monster Girl (as Monster)
• Seth Rogen will voice Allen the Alien

Simon Racioppa (Teen Titans) will serve as showrunner, with Justin and Chris Copeland (Ultimate Spider-Man) are serving as supervising directors. Kirkman, Racioppa, David Alpert (The Walking Dead), and Catherine Winder (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) are executive producing. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/06/19/robert-kirkmans-invincible-animated-series-lands-at-amazon"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

At the Skybound Xpo virtual panel today it was announced that Zachary Quinto (NOS4A2, Star Trek) and Khary Payton (The Walking Dead) have joined the voice cast of Amazon Studios’ upcoming animated series Invincible, based on Robert Kirkman’s comic book of the same name. Quinto will be voicing the role of Robot while Payton will be voicing Black Samson. Two years ago, we learned that Kirkman's first project as part of his overall deal with Amazon would be an "adult animated" take on Invincible, which follows a teenager named Mark Grayson whose father is the most powerful superhero on the planet. Following this, it was revealed that Mark Hamill, Zazie Beetz, The Walking Dead's Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, and Seth Rogen (and more) had joined the voice cast. Along with today's addition of Quinto and Payton, Kirkman also revealed which characters some of the previously announced voice actors would portray on the series. Here's a list of those voice players and their Invincible characters:

• Zazie Beetz will voice Amber Bennett
• Chris Diamantopolous will voice Doc Seismic
• Walton Goggins will voice Cecil Steadman
• Grey Griffin will voice Shrinking Rae & Amanda (Monster Girl as Girl)
• Mark Hamill will voice Art
• Gillian Jacobs will voice Atom Eve
• Melise will voice Dulpi-Kate
• Jason Mantzoukas will voice Rex Splode
• Andrew Rannells will voice William Clockwell
• Kevin Michael Richardson will voice Mauler 1, Mauler 2 & Monster Girl (as Monster)
• Seth Rogen will voice Allen the Alien

Simon Racioppa (Teen Titans) will serve as showrunner, with Justin and Chris Copeland (Ultimate Spider-Man) are serving as supervising directors. Kirkman, Racioppa, David Alpert (The Walking Dead), and Catherine Winder (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) are executive producing. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/06/19/robert-kirkmans-invincible-animated-series-lands-at-amazon"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

The Walking Dead comic book series is returning to the stands in October 2020, and it's getting a literal new coat of paint in the process. As revealed at Skybound Xpo today, Image Comics will begin reprinting all 193 issues of Robert Kirkman's wildly popular zombie series in full color. Now dubbed "The Walking Dead Deluxe," each issue will be painstakingly colored by Dave McCaig (American Vampire). You can get a taste of the series' new look in the slideshow gallery below: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-walking-dead-lives-again-in-color&captions=true"] McCaig's colors aren't the only new element in The Walking Dead Deluxe. Each issue will include a new supplementary section called "The Cutting Room Floor," featuring creator commentary and story insights from Kirkman. Each issue will also feature new variant covers from artists David Finch, Tony Moore, Julian Totino Tedesco and Arthur Adams, giving fans new perspectives on key events from the series. The Walking Dead Deluxe #1 will debut on October 7, with the series shipping twice-monthly beginning in November. According to Skybound, there are no immediate plans to collect the series in trade paperback format. Bad news for anyone who had gotten used to reading the series via those oh-so-affordable Walking Dead Compendiums. This news comes shortly after the release of Negan Lives #1, a standalone epilogue issue that reveals the final fate of the reformed villain. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/25/why-the-walking-dead-season-10-finale-is-delayed-ign-now"] In other recent comic book news, DC just announced Rorschach, a new sequel to Watchmen set 35 years after the events of the original comic. DC will also publish American Vampire 1976, the long-awaited finale to the long-running horror saga. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

The Walking Dead comic book series is returning to the stands in October 2020, and it's getting a literal new coat of paint in the process. As revealed at Skybound Xpo today, Image Comics will begin reprinting all 193 issues of Robert Kirkman's wildly popular zombie series in full color. Now dubbed "The Walking Dead Deluxe," each issue will be painstakingly colored by Dave McCaig (American Vampire). You can get a taste of the series' new look in the slideshow gallery below: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-walking-dead-lives-again-in-color&captions=true"] McCaig's colors aren't the only new element in The Walking Dead Deluxe. Each issue will include a new supplementary section called "The Cutting Room Floor," featuring creator commentary and story insights from Kirkman. Each issue will also feature new variant covers from artists David Finch, Tony Moore, Julian Totino Tedesco and Arthur Adams, giving fans new perspectives on key events from the series. The Walking Dead Deluxe #1 will debut on October 7, with the series shipping twice-monthly beginning in November. According to Skybound, there are no immediate plans to collect the series in trade paperback format. Bad news for anyone who had gotten used to reading the series via those oh-so-affordable Walking Dead Compendiums. This news comes shortly after the release of Negan Lives #1, a standalone epilogue issue that reveals the final fate of the reformed villain. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/25/why-the-walking-dead-season-10-finale-is-delayed-ign-now"] In other recent comic book news, DC just announced Rorschach, a new sequel to Watchmen set 35 years after the events of the original comic. DC will also publish American Vampire 1976, the long-awaited finale to the long-running horror saga. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

The Child's Play horror movie franchise, which includes seven films (and last year's reboot), is headed to TV and the first teaser has been released. Titled Chucky, the series hails from franchise creator Don Mancini (who wrote on all seven films) and Channel Zero's Nick Antosca, and will share continuity with the film series, acting as a continuation of that story. Brad Dourif, the voice of Chucky in all the moves except the reboot (where Chucky was voiced by Mark Hamill), will play the role of Chucky on the series as well. The official synopsis for Chucky reads: "After a vintage Chucky doll turns up at a suburban yard sale, an idyllic American town is thrown into chaos as a series of horrifying murders begin to expose the town's hypocrisies and secrets. Meanwhile, the arrival of enemies and allies from Chucky's past threatens to expose the truth behind the killings, as well as the demon doll's untold origins as a seemingly ordinary child who somehow became this notorious monster." Check out the teaser...

AN EVIL TOO GREAT TO PLAY ON JUST ONE NETWORK @USA_Network @SYFY #Chucky #2021 pic.twitter.com/EaRYONmfVS

— Don Mancini (@RealDonMancini) July 16, 2020

Jennifer Tilly, who has appeared in every Child's Play film since Bride of Chucky, as Tiffany, is back as well. No other casting has been announced at this time. The Chucky series will air on both USA and Syfy in 2021. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-15-best-horror-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

The Child's Play horror movie franchise, which includes seven films (and last year's reboot), is headed to TV and the first teaser has been released. Titled Chucky, the series hails from franchise creator Don Mancini (who wrote on all seven films) and Channel Zero's Nick Antosca, and will share continuity with the film series, acting as a continuation of that story. Brad Dourif, the voice of Chucky in all the moves except the reboot (where Chucky was voiced by Mark Hamill), will play the role of Chucky on the series as well. The official synopsis for Chucky reads: "After a vintage Chucky doll turns up at a suburban yard sale, an idyllic American town is thrown into chaos as a series of horrifying murders begin to expose the town's hypocrisies and secrets. Meanwhile, the arrival of enemies and allies from Chucky's past threatens to expose the truth behind the killings, as well as the demon doll's untold origins as a seemingly ordinary child who somehow became this notorious monster." Check out the teaser... [youtube clip_id="7khZQGkydak"] Jennifer Tilly, who has appeared in every Child's Play film since Bride of Chucky, as Tiffany, is back as well. No other casting has been announced at this time. The Chucky series will air on both USA and Syfy in 2021. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-15-best-horror-tv-shows-of-the-last-10-years&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.