Bungie has left members of the Destiny 2 community concerned after publicly targeting changes to the game ahead of the addition of full crossplay later this year - possibly signalling that it will merge mouse-and-keyboard and controller players in matchmaking. In the latest Bungie blogpost, senior community manager dmg04 writes, "This Season, we’re making some targeted changes to weapon archetypes that need some love as well as beginning some preparations for crossplay." The major change involves increasing recoil on certain weapon types solely for mouse-and-keyboard players, bringing the level of recoil closer to that of the same weapons when used on controller. While this might seem a relatively small change, the mention that the move is being made with crossplay in mind has led community members to wonder if it means that Destiny 2 PvP will matchmake a mixed pool of PC and console players by default, or even as the only option. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/24/destiny-2-beyond-light-review"] It plays into longstanding problems for players across platforms, with mouse-and-keyboard play seen as offering an innate advantage, particularly in shooters (although Destiny 2's heavy aim-assist for controller players complicates that theory a little in this case). Cheating is also generally more prevalent on PC versions of games. Many current crossplay games offer controller-using players the choice to play only with other controller players, but Bungie hasn't specified Destiny 2's approach as yet. With crossplay due later this year but details still somewhat hazy, players are speculating what approach Bungie will take - and even trying to alter the developer's course. At time of writing, one of the most popular posts on the popular DestinyTheGame subreddit is titled 'Do NOT mix the console and PC PvP player pool (by default)'. "These are exactly my thoughts as well," replies 1Soulbrotha, "I was really nervous to read about the recoil changes for PC. If they go the route of everyone being lumped into the same queues for PVP then this coming recoil change is just a lazy way to 'balance' things." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=how-to-get-destiny-2-beyond-lights-exotic-weapons-and-armor&captions=true"] While many console players are concerned about being put at a disadvantage, PC players are also concerned about Bungie's balances impacting the game they know. In a separate thread, SilverCervy writes, "It just creates a situation where the game has to be dumbed down for some to make things more fair for others. PC players should not have to deal with gameplay nerfs for the sake of console players." We've contacted Bungie for comment. Destiny 2's Beyond Light expansion already added cross-generation play within console families, with the promise of full crossplay to come. We awarded Beyond Light a 7/10 review, calling it a "solid expansion to the ever-evolving shooter that you know and love, but falls prey to the same content scarcity and repetitious grind it’s always had" [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Bungie has left members of the Destiny 2 community concerned after publicly targeting changes to the game ahead of the addition of full crossplay later this year - possibly signalling that it will merge mouse-and-keyboard and controller players in matchmaking. In the latest Bungie blogpost, senior community manager dmg04 writes, "This Season, we’re making some targeted changes to weapon archetypes that need some love as well as beginning some preparations for crossplay." The major change involves increasing recoil on certain weapon types solely for mouse-and-keyboard players, bringing the level of recoil closer to that of the same weapons when used on controller. While this might seem a relatively small change, the mention that the move is being made with crossplay in mind has led community members to wonder if it means that Destiny 2 PvP will matchmake a mixed pool of PC and console players by default, or even as the only option. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/24/destiny-2-beyond-light-review"] It plays into longstanding problems for players across platforms, with mouse-and-keyboard play seen as offering an innate advantage, particularly in shooters (although Destiny 2's heavy aim-assist for controller players complicates that theory a little in this case). Cheating is also generally more prevalent on PC versions of games. Many current crossplay games offer controller-using players the choice to play only with other controller players, but Bungie hasn't specified Destiny 2's approach as yet. With crossplay due later this year but details still somewhat hazy, players are speculating what approach Bungie will take - and even trying to alter the developer's course. At time of writing, one of the most popular posts on the popular DestinyTheGame subreddit is titled 'Do NOT mix the console and PC PvP player pool (by default)'. "These are exactly my thoughts as well," replies 1Soulbrotha, "I was really nervous to read about the recoil changes for PC. If they go the route of everyone being lumped into the same queues for PVP then this coming recoil change is just a lazy way to 'balance' things." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=how-to-get-destiny-2-beyond-lights-exotic-weapons-and-armor&captions=true"] While many console players are concerned about being put at a disadvantage, PC players are also concerned about Bungie's balances impacting the game they know. In a separate thread, SilverCervy writes, "It just creates a situation where the game has to be dumbed down for some to make things more fair for others. PC players should not have to deal with gameplay nerfs for the sake of console players." We've contacted Bungie for comment. Destiny 2's Beyond Light expansion already added cross-generation play within console families, with the promise of full crossplay to come. We awarded Beyond Light a 7/10 review, calling it a "solid expansion to the ever-evolving shooter that you know and love, but falls prey to the same content scarcity and repetitious grind it’s always had" [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

After an extended period of being almost silent, developer Experiment 101 recently announced a May release date for Biomutant, its long-awaited open-world action game. That silence was for good reason - studio head Stefan Ljungqvist tells us that parts of the game have become bigger and more complex, but with only 20 people to make all that extra work happen. Rather than ship a buggy game, Ljungqvist says Experiment 101 has been taking its time to quietly build a truly finished product. “It's a big game, a big bite for 20 people to chew off,” says Ljungqvist. While Biomutant’s map may be just eight square kilometers, it’s packed with warring tribes, conquerable outposts, strange creatures to fight, and a protagonist who can mutate into new forms to overcome obstacles. As we’ve said before, Biomutant looks bananas, and its many moving parts are a challenge for the studio behind them. That 20-person team, established by ex-Avalanche Studios employees, is determined to stay small. But while that helps keep the studio nimble, it also imposes some restrictions. “At the end of the project, there's only a certain amount of bugs that you can physically fix during the course of the day,” says Ljungqvist. And that’s what much of Biomutant’s last year of development has been: bug squashing. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/24/biomutant-10-minutes-of-new-gameplay-footage"] “It’s been a huge amount of work for QA, because it's not easy in an open-world game to find them,” explains Ljungqvist. “And then once they've been found, we have to fix them, and that's put some additional challenge on us, being a small team.” Ljungqvist is realistic about being able to ship Biomutant completely bug free - a game with so many systems in its sandbox world is difficult to deliver without the odd problem - but he wants it to arrive in players' hands as solid as possible. “Any game is going to ship with [smaller] bugs, but I'm talking about bugs that are truly disruptive to the game experience,” he says. “We don't want to ship with that. I think that's what caused us to just wait until we were ready to do it.” Quality assurance isn’t the only thing that’s been happening at Experiment 101 over the last year, though. Biomutant has, well, mutated in that period, too. “If you look at the script, by the end of 2019 I think it was about 80-85,000 words. Pretty much a novel,” recalls Ljungqvist. “But in the final game, it's closer to 250,000 words. That was a big thing, to wrap that script.” Those new words are scattered across many different areas of the game, which in turn has demanded further development work on those features. Ljungqvist notes that, as a result of the expanded script, players can expect a reactive karma system called Aura, which will change NPC dialogue based on your light or dark allegiance. There’s also a better tutorial system, which more effectively communicates Biomutant’s overflowing toy box of ideas. On top of the additional script forming the basis of these features, the game will be available in 13 different languages, 10 of which are fully voiced, and so localisation is required on all those added words. It’s safe to say it’s been a busy year for Experiment 101. Ljungqvist has been careful to pace the studio, though. “I've been doing this for quite some time,” he says, referring to his almost decade-long tenure at Avalanche Studios. “I myself was burned out. I learned a lot on those themes, on those subjects. I learned to recognize it.” This goes some way to explain the studio’s ‘ready when it’s done’ approach, and lack of constant public updates. It’s an approach that has been supported by publisher THQ Nordic, Ljungqvist says, at a level he’s “never had before”. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/08/22/new-biomutant-gameplay-demo-gamescom-2018"] The lack of pressure from THQ Nordic to ship Biomutant has been a blessing, as the negative outcome of crunch would be destructive to both individual staff and the studio overall, Ljungqvist explains. “I mean, the studio, we are 20 people and we can't afford to have [staff] leave the studio, or be destroyed during development. That would be devastating.” “For certain pushes, you might do it in a limited form,” he acknowledges. “But the most important thing is you get paid, which is not common in our industry, crazily enough. And also you get ‘recap time’, because you have to have rest. If you're just doing this constantly for 12-14 hours a day, you will eventually have to pay for it.” “I think it's part of the DNA of the studio to not do it,” he concludes. “That's why I think for us, if we do it, it's controlled, and it has been rare. I guess now moving into the release, we're prepared to do it for some days, but it's not the constant thing. It will kill you.” With the announcement of the May 25 release date, some fans may have been surprised to see that PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are not listed as platforms that Biomutant will launch on. It is, afterall, easy to assume Experiment 101’s silence and the continued development was due to the team preparing Biomutant for next-generation systems. Ljungqvist confirms this is not the case - Biomutant is a ‘last-gen’ game - but there’s good reason for that. “When we developed the game, we lead on the last-gen,” says Ljungqvist. “And if you look at it from a development perspective, that's really important because it's easier to scale up than to scale down.” “I think for us, as a team, we would like as many as possible to be able to play the game,” he adds, noting the currently small install bases for PS5 and Xbox Series consoles. “So, if we just release it for ‘next-gen’, I think that would not have been a good way forward.” Despite this, Biomutant still takes advantage of high-spec hardware. “There is a high-end version of Biomutant already made for PC high-end versions,” Ljungqvist says. “I mean, the game already in some form exists in what you would expect on the current-gen platforms.” “Are you going to be able to play it on those consoles?” he asks himself of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, teasing the future of Biomutant. “Definitely. We will see moving forward what's going to happen, but you will definitely be able to play it on those consoles.” [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

After an extended period of being almost silent, developer Experiment 101 recently announced a May release date for Biomutant, its long-awaited open-world action game. That silence was for good reason - studio head Stefan Ljungqvist tells us that parts of the game have become bigger and more complex, but with only 20 people to make all that extra work happen. Rather than ship a buggy game, Ljungqvist says Experiment 101 has been taking its time to quietly build a truly finished product. “It's a big game, a big bite for 20 people to chew off,” says Ljungqvist. While Biomutant’s map may be just eight square kilometers, it’s packed with warring tribes, conquerable outposts, strange creatures to fight, and a protagonist who can mutate into new forms to overcome obstacles. As we’ve said before, Biomutant looks bananas, and its many moving parts are a challenge for the studio behind them. That 20-person team, established by ex-Avalanche Studios employees, is determined to stay small. But while that helps keep the studio nimble, it also imposes some restrictions. “At the end of the project, there's only a certain amount of bugs that you can physically fix during the course of the day,” says Ljungqvist. And that’s what much of Biomutant’s last year of development has been: bug squashing. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/24/biomutant-10-minutes-of-new-gameplay-footage"] “It’s been a huge amount of work for QA, because it's not easy in an open-world game to find them,” explains Ljungqvist. “And then once they've been found, we have to fix them, and that's put some additional challenge on us, being a small team.” Ljungqvist is realistic about being able to ship Biomutant completely bug free - a game with so many systems in its sandbox world is difficult to deliver without the odd problem - but he wants it to arrive in players' hands as solid as possible. “Any game is going to ship with [smaller] bugs, but I'm talking about bugs that are truly disruptive to the game experience,” he says. “We don't want to ship with that. I think that's what caused us to just wait until we were ready to do it.” Quality assurance isn’t the only thing that’s been happening at Experiment 101 over the last year, though. Biomutant has, well, mutated in that period, too. “If you look at the script, by the end of 2019 I think it was about 80-85,000 words. Pretty much a novel,” recalls Ljungqvist. “But in the final game, it's closer to 250,000 words. That was a big thing, to wrap that script.” Those new words are scattered across many different areas of the game, which in turn has demanded further development work on those features. Ljungqvist notes that, as a result of the expanded script, players can expect a reactive karma system called Aura, which will change NPC dialogue based on your light or dark allegiance. There’s also a better tutorial system, which more effectively communicates Biomutant’s overflowing toy box of ideas. On top of the additional script forming the basis of these features, the game will be available in 13 different languages, 10 of which are fully voiced, and so localisation is required on all those added words. It’s safe to say it’s been a busy year for Experiment 101. Ljungqvist has been careful to pace the studio, though. “I've been doing this for quite some time,” he says, referring to his almost decade-long tenure at Avalanche Studios. “I myself was burned out. I learned a lot on those themes, on those subjects. I learned to recognize it.” This goes some way to explain the studio’s ‘ready when it’s done’ approach, and lack of constant public updates. It’s an approach that has been supported by publisher THQ Nordic, Ljungqvist says, at a level he’s “never had before”. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/08/22/new-biomutant-gameplay-demo-gamescom-2018"] The lack of pressure from THQ Nordic to ship Biomutant has been a blessing, as the negative outcome of crunch would be destructive to both individual staff and the studio overall, Ljungqvist explains. “I mean, the studio, we are 20 people and we can't afford to have [staff] leave the studio, or be destroyed during development. That would be devastating.” “For certain pushes, you might do it in a limited form,” he acknowledges. “But the most important thing is you get paid, which is not common in our industry, crazily enough. And also you get ‘recap time’, because you have to have rest. If you're just doing this constantly for 12-14 hours a day, you will eventually have to pay for it.” “I think it's part of the DNA of the studio to not do it,” he concludes. “That's why I think for us, if we do it, it's controlled, and it has been rare. I guess now moving into the release, we're prepared to do it for some days, but it's not the constant thing. It will kill you.” With the announcement of the May 25 release date, some fans may have been surprised to see that PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are not listed as platforms that Biomutant will launch on. It is, afterall, easy to assume Experiment 101’s silence and the continued development was due to the team preparing Biomutant for next-generation systems. Ljungqvist confirms this is not the case - Biomutant is a ‘last-gen’ game - but there’s good reason for that. “When we developed the game, we lead on the last-gen,” says Ljungqvist. “And if you look at it from a development perspective, that's really important because it's easier to scale up than to scale down.” “I think for us, as a team, we would like as many as possible to be able to play the game,” he adds, noting the currently small install bases for PS5 and Xbox Series consoles. “So, if we just release it for ‘next-gen’, I think that would not have been a good way forward.” Despite this, Biomutant still takes advantage of high-spec hardware. “There is a high-end version of Biomutant already made for PC high-end versions,” Ljungqvist says. “I mean, the game already in some form exists in what you would expect on the current-gen platforms.” “Are you going to be able to play it on those consoles?” he asks himself of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, teasing the future of Biomutant. “Definitely. We will see moving forward what's going to happen, but you will definitely be able to play it on those consoles.” [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

PlayStation has filed a patent for technology that lets audience members participate in virtual reality content, making decisions for the active player. Or, you know, just messing with them. The patent was filed in October of 2020 but was recently published. You can find the front page with a useful illustration of the technology in action on the US Patent and Trademark Office website. [caption id="attachment_246714" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Audience Participation Trademark Imagery[/caption] The patent's copy talks about how audience members will be able to participate in games while another user is immersed within virtual reality. They will be able to make decisions for the player via "spectator devices," probably mobile phones, in a manner similar to PlayStation's PlayLink technology, used in games like Hidden Agenda and That's You. It looks like you'll be able to help or screw over the main player in virtual reality, depending on the available choices. According to the patent, this will "augment the VR scene based on the spectator inputs in response to the interactive content of the audience participation content." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/30/psvr-patent-filed-for-ads-in-your-vr-headset-ign-daily-fix-"] In the provided example, we can see one user inside of virtual reality, while four friends are on the sofa behind them. On the screen visible to the audience is a voting prompt, which allows them to pick between a sword, a monster or a soup ladle. This choice is registered on the spectator devices and then sent to the player inside of virtual reality, who sees the prompt "spectators have given you a soup ladle." It's not clear whether the VR user knows about the options available or not, but that would certainly add to the mischievous nature of this interesting technology. The idea immediately conjures images of spectators being able to send unwitting players down bad paths in a horror game or making story decisions for them in a narrative experience. Honestly, it just sounds really fun. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=top-25-psvr-games&captions=true"] As with all patents, the fact this was filed doesn't necessarily indicate that Sony will go any further with development, but it's another indication that the company is actively thinking about where to go next with its VR products. In other PlayStation patent news, a patent revealed in September of 2020 suggested that the next PSVR headset could have Oculus-esque inside-out tracking. As of writing, the PSVR is only available on the PlayStation 5 via backwards compatibility, with Sony's plans for the platform going forward still shrouded in mystery. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

PlayStation has filed a patent for technology that lets audience members participate in virtual reality content, making decisions for the active player. Or, you know, just messing with them. The patent was filed in October of 2020 but was recently published. You can find the front page with a useful illustration of the technology in action on the US Patent and Trademark Office website. [caption id="attachment_246714" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Audience Participation Trademark Imagery[/caption] The patent's copy talks about how audience members will be able to participate in games while another user is immersed within virtual reality. They will be able to make decisions for the player via "spectator devices," probably mobile phones, in a manner similar to PlayStation's PlayLink technology, used in games like Hidden Agenda and That's You. It looks like you'll be able to help or screw over the main player in virtual reality, depending on the available choices. According to the patent, this will "augment the VR scene based on the spectator inputs in response to the interactive content of the audience participation content." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/30/psvr-patent-filed-for-ads-in-your-vr-headset-ign-daily-fix-"] In the provided example, we can see one user inside of virtual reality, while four friends are on the sofa behind them. On the screen visible to the audience is a voting prompt, which allows them to pick between a sword, a monster or a soup ladle. This choice is registered on the spectator devices and then sent to the player inside of virtual reality, who sees the prompt "spectators have given you a soup ladle." It's not clear whether the VR user knows about the options available or not, but that would certainly add to the mischievous nature of this interesting technology. The idea immediately conjures images of spectators being able to send unwitting players down bad paths in a horror game or making story decisions for them in a narrative experience. Honestly, it just sounds really fun. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=top-25-psvr-games&captions=true"] As with all patents, the fact this was filed doesn't necessarily indicate that Sony will go any further with development, but it's another indication that the company is actively thinking about where to go next with its VR products. In other PlayStation patent news, a patent revealed in September of 2020 suggested that the next PSVR headset could have Oculus-esque inside-out tracking. As of writing, the PSVR is only available on the PlayStation 5 via backwards compatibility, with Sony's plans for the platform going forward still shrouded in mystery. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

UPDATE: HBO Max has now confirmed that Zack Snyder's Justice League will be released as a "full-length Max Original feature film" when it premieres on the streaming platform on March 18, which finally puts to rest the speculation over whether the movie will release as a single four-hour feature or four-parts. This announcement came with the debut of three new teaser posters - outlined in our original story below. [poilib element="accentDivider"] ORIGINAL STORY: Zack Snyder has officially confirmed that his cut of Justice League will be released on HBO Max on March 18. The filmmaker took to Twitter on Friday to share three new monochrome posters for his version of Justice League, captioned "fallen," "risen," and "reborn." The first poster features a shattered Justice League symbol whilst the second image draws inspiration from 1992's The Death of Superman cover. The final poster shows a film canister with Snyder's name emblazoned on the front, highlighted in red. [caption id="attachment_2467154" align="alignnone" width="1080"] Image credit: Twitter/ZackSnyder[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2467156" align="alignnone" width="1080"] Image credit: Twitter/ZackSnyder[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2467157" align="alignnone" width="1080"] Image credit: Twitter/ZackSnyder[/caption] The posters also confirm that Snyder's Justice League will be available to stream on HBO Max from March 18, 2021. The movie is currently expected to drop as a single feature with a four-hour runtime, as Snyder previously suggested that his Justice League cut would be released as a "one-shot" movie, seemingly opposed to the limited multi-part series that was announced at DC FanDome last summer. Snyder's comments aren't entirely black-and-white, though. It's very possible that he phrased the Justice League release plans in such a way as to indicate that all four hour-long episodes will be dropping simultaneously, giving viewers the option to watch the Snyder Cut in one continuous block rather than splitting it up and releasing the episodes one-by-one as part of a streaming schedule. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/21/the-true-story-behind-the-snyder-cut"] With the release date now locked in, we can expect more details to emerge over the coming weeks, as the movie's marketing campaign steadily picks up pace. We've already been served a slice of the action in an updated trailer for the movie, which debuted a few blink-and-you'll-miss-them moments from the likes of Darkseid, Superman, and Cyborg. Altogether, the Snyder Cut of Justice League is said to include around 150 minutes of unseen footage, comprised of "four or five minutes of additional photography", original footage from the theatrical release, and elements that ended up on the cutting room floor. It has also been made clear that it will not feature a "single frame" from Joss Whedon's reshoots. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=justice-league-snyder-cut-all-the-known-differences-from-the-theatrical-version&captions=true"] There are several confirmed differences that the Snyder Cut will offer, click through our slideshow above for more details or read our individual stories about the new design for Darkseid's herald Steppenwolf, the cut dialogue from Superman and Batman's confrontation, and Joe Manganiello's role as Deathstroke in the Justice League reshoots, which reportedly cost $70 Million. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

UPDATE: HBO Max has now confirmed that Zack Snyder's Justice League will be released as a "full-length Max Original feature film" when it premieres on the streaming platform on March 18, which finally puts to rest the speculation over whether the movie will release as a single four-hour feature or four-parts. This announcement came with the debut of three new teaser posters - outlined in our original story below. [poilib element="accentDivider"] ORIGINAL STORY: Zack Snyder has officially confirmed that his cut of Justice League will be released on HBO Max on March 18. The filmmaker took to Twitter on Friday to share three new monochrome posters for his version of Justice League, captioned "fallen," "risen," and "reborn." The first poster features a shattered Justice League symbol whilst the second image draws inspiration from 1992's The Death of Superman cover. The final poster shows a film canister with Snyder's name emblazoned on the front, highlighted in red. [caption id="attachment_2467154" align="alignnone" width="1080"] Image credit: Twitter/ZackSnyder[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2467156" align="alignnone" width="1080"] Image credit: Twitter/ZackSnyder[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2467157" align="alignnone" width="1080"] Image credit: Twitter/ZackSnyder[/caption] The posters also confirm that Snyder's Justice League will be available to stream on HBO Max from March 18, 2021. The movie is currently expected to drop as a single feature with a four-hour runtime, as Snyder previously suggested that his Justice League cut would be released as a "one-shot" movie, seemingly opposed to the limited multi-part series that was announced at DC FanDome last summer. Snyder's comments aren't entirely black-and-white, though. It's very possible that he phrased the Justice League release plans in such a way as to indicate that all four hour-long episodes will be dropping simultaneously, giving viewers the option to watch the Snyder Cut in one continuous block rather than splitting it up and releasing the episodes one-by-one as part of a streaming schedule. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/21/the-true-story-behind-the-snyder-cut"] With the release date now locked in, we can expect more details to emerge over the coming weeks, as the movie's marketing campaign steadily picks up pace. We've already been served a slice of the action in an updated trailer for the movie, which debuted a few blink-and-you'll-miss-them moments from the likes of Darkseid, Superman, and Cyborg. Altogether, the Snyder Cut of Justice League is said to include around 150 minutes of unseen footage, comprised of "four or five minutes of additional photography", original footage from the theatrical release, and elements that ended up on the cutting room floor. It has also been made clear that it will not feature a "single frame" from Joss Whedon's reshoots. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=justice-league-snyder-cut-all-the-known-differences-from-the-theatrical-version&captions=true"] There are several confirmed differences that the Snyder Cut will offer, click through our slideshow above for more details or read our individual stories about the new design for Darkseid's herald Steppenwolf, the cut dialogue from Superman and Batman's confrontation, and Joe Manganiello's role as Deathstroke in the Justice League reshoots, which reportedly cost $70 Million. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Update 01/29/2021: The European Commission has confirmed that it will consider complaints into Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Drift, potentially launching further investigation and "coordinated action". Speaking to IGN, a European Commission (EC) spokesperson explained: "The European Commission will carefully consider all the elements brought forward by BEUC together with the national consumer authorities in the coming weeks to assess the need for further investigation into the matter and a possible coordinated action as foreseen under the Consumer protection cooperation (CPC) regulation." Asked what that coordinated action could involve, the EC spokesperson pointed to previous cases, in which companies were compelled to change their practices after being deemed to have broken EU consumer law. The original complaint called for Nintendo to offer free repairs to existing Joy-Cons, and to change the design in future models to prevent drift – the EC has made no mention of what it could enforce. Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice provided a statement on the investigation centring on the idea of early obsolescence, in which companies are seen to create products that begin failing early, necessitating replacement or repair: “Early obsolescence is a growing concern for all consumers. The Commission is determined to act against such trends and to empower consumers in the green transition. We are preparing a new legislative initiative aiming to provide consumers with better information on products’ sustainability, including durability, and better protection against certain practices, such as early obsolescence.” It's not the first time Nintendo's fallen under EC scrutiny. In 2002, the Commission imposed a €149 million fine against the company for price-fixing, which was later reduced to €119 million on appeal. The EC has also recently levied fines on a number of game companies, including Valve, for geo-blocking games on digital services. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/23/nintendos-non-response-to-joy-con-drift-ign-now"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] The European Consumer Organization has submitted a complaint to the European Commission about Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Drift, and is calling for a "Europe-wide investigation" into the issue. The European Consumer Organization (BEUC) revealed the news on the organization's website, noting that "nearly 25,000" complaints have been filed from Switch-owning consumers across Europe. If you're unfamiliar with Joy-Con drift, it's when the analog sticks on the console's controllers register movements without input from the player. The article reports that, according to testimonies from consumers, "in 88% of cases, the game controllers broke within the first two years of use." This has led the BEUC to submit a complaint to the European Commission and national consumer protection authorities "for premature obsolescence and misleading omissions of key consumer information." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/14/joy-con-drift-is-still-a-huge-issue-nvc-508"] The BEUC is further calling for a "Europe-wide investigation" into the Joy-Con Drift issue, asking Nintendo to "urgently address the premature failures of its product." The article also suggests that the faulty controllers should be repaired for free by Nintendo. Per the complaint letter submitted, the BEUC is asking the European Commission to "call on the national authorities to investigate Nintendo’s practices in their countries, launch a coordinated enforcement action and issue a joint position, which should request the company to change the design of their product, to effectively prevent its early obsolescence, and until then, to repair this product for free and properly inform consumers about the limited lifespan of the Joy-Con controllers." "Consumers assume the products they buy to last an appropriate amount of time according to justified expectations, not to have to pay for expensive replacements due to a technical defect," said Monique Goyens, Director of the BEUC. "Nintendo must now come up with proper solutions for the thousands of consumers affected by this problem." Nintendo has been facing legal trouble over the issue in Europe, Canada and the US recently, with Canadian law firm lambert Avocat filing an application to bring a class-action suit against Nintendo in January of this year. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

An engineer working on Halo Infinite has explained how the game will be optimized to run well on all platforms, and not just Xbox One. In the latest 'Inside Infinite' development blog for January 2021, Game Foundation Architect Danielle Giannetti discussed how the studio rebuilt the "engine multi-threading solution" to ensure the game runs optimally across every device that it is launching on - Xbox One, Xbox Series X & S, and PC. "For Halo Infinite, we rebuilt the engine multi-threading solution to ensure high execution efficiency across all platforms and PCs, instead of running optimally just on Xbox One," Giannetti explained. "We used this new system to transition the renderer to a massively parallel multi-threaded framework to support the increased cost of all our new rendering features and achieve high graphics efficiency on PC CPUs of various size as well as Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One X/S hardware." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/11/halo-infinite-delayed-to-2021"] What this suggests is that even though the game will be launching on last-gen consoles, players shouldn't expect too many compromises on more powerful devices because of that. On the flip side, back in 2019, the Halo's Franchise Development Director Frank O'Connor said that the Xbox One "is not going to be a second-class citizen" when it comes to how the last-gen console will run Halo Infinite. Gianetti's explanation doubles down on 343's promise and gives us an idea of how that works from a technical perspective. Clearly, it's still something of great importance to the team as the game soldiers on through development, as the team has completely rebuilt some of its tools to ensure you won't miss out if you haven't got a next-gen console or a PC.  "We are doing our very best to make sure Halo Infinite runs optimally on any device you may choose to play on," Giannetti added. It's particularly important after an initial look at Halo Infinite drew criticism for its visual quality. Elsewhere in the blog, we learned that Halo Infinite will feature a rebuilt, customizable control scheme. The game is currently slated to launch in Fall 2021, after being delayed out of the launch window for the Xbox Series X and S. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.