The Umbrella Academy Season 3 has unveiled the cast line-up for The Sparrow Academy, and it includes a telekinetic cube named Christopher. Netflix announced that Justin Cornwell, Britne Oldford, Jake Epstein, Genesis Rodriguez, and Cazzie David will be appearing as the alternate crew in the next season of The Umbrella Academy, together with Justin H. Min who is set to return as Ben but not the one that we know. They will star alongside Christopher, a mysterious cube that serves as a loyal oracle of the Sparrows. Meet the cast of The Sparrow Academy in our slideshow below: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-umbrella-academy-season-3-the-sparrow-academy-cast&captions=true"] Cornwell will portray Marcus, aka Sparrow No. 1, who is described as being "charming, chiseled and colossus," as well as "honest, virtuous and demanding." According to Netflix, he will play an important role in the family dynamic as he will ultimately help to keep them all together. "Graceful but lethal, calculated but compassionate, he is as smart as he is strong," says the streamer. "Marcus is disciplined, rational, and in control. He oozes confidence and leadership without ever having to raise his voice." Min will return as Ben, Sparrow No. 2 in Season 3, but it's "not the sweet Ben we know and love." In his alternate role, Ben is said to be "a Machiavellian tactician, wrapped up in a pretty boy body with a rumbling inner-squid." He is described as being "vicious, pragmatic, and hyper-vigilant" as he focuses on gaining his status as the leader, whatever the cost. Oldford will play Fei, Sparrow No. 3, a character that "sees the world in a special way" and "comes across as a misanthrope who would rather be alone than spend even a second with you," however, beneath that tough exterior, Fei wishes she had a friend. Rather than socialising with pals, she spends most of the time being "the smartest person in the room." Netflix says she is a sedulous individual who is "willing to work things out" and "won't stop until the job is done." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/01/the-umbrella-academy-season-2-ending-explained"] Epstein's Alphonso is Sparrow No. 4, a person whose face and body are scarred with "countless visual reminders of his battles" from his years of crime-fighting. Externally, he may be bruised but internally he is "armed with a caustic and biting sense of humor." According to the streamer, "the only thing he likes better than verbally battering anyone foolish enough to get in his face, is a good pizza and a six-pack of beer." Rodriguez will star as Sloane, Sparrow No. 5, "a romantic and a dreamer who feels a higher cosmic calling leaving her eager to see the world and experience a life beyond her upbringing." Yet her obligations to her family keep her tethered to the Academy, as does her fear of crossing the family line. "But Sloane has plans," Netflix reveals. "And one day she might just be brave enough to act on them." David's Jayme, aka Sparrow No. 6, is described as being "a loner hidden under a hoodie," though she does have a friend in Alphonso who she enjoys spending time with when she isn't busy giving out her "fear-inducing snarls." Apparently, if you catch a glimpse of it, you would want to "run across the street to avoid what follows." Finally, an existential dread-inducing psykronium cube will join the motley crew as Sparrow No. 7. "Christopher is a telekinetic cube of unknown origin," per Netflix. "He can turn the room freezing cold and induce paralyzing fear. He acts as the Sparrows' consulted oracle who hands out incredible advice and serves as the family mediator. Trustworthy, loyal, and is treated by the Sparrows like any other sibling, Christopher is a force to be reckoned with." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/31/the-umbrella-academy-season-2-review"] Production on The Umbrella Academy Season 3 is set to kick off in Toronto next month. In the meantime, be sure to check out our review of The Umbrella Academy: Season 2, including this deep dive explainer of the ending and what it means for Season 3. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Microsoft has revealed a new Pulse Red Xbox Wireless Controller colourway. The striking peripheral was revealed on the Xbox blog, and is set to launch on February 9 "in most Xbox markets", but will launch in China tomorrow, on January 12. Microsoft has said that purchase of the controller will include a 14-day trial of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in select markets. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=xbox-wireless-controller-pulse-red-images&captions=true"] The Pulse Red controller will cost $64.99 and features all of the same controller innovations introduced with the launch of Xbox's next-gen console, such as a USB-C port and a dedicated Share button. It's very similar in design to the Shock Blue colourway which arrived with the next-gen launch, given its white back case, black bumpers and D-pad. Similarly, the ABXY buttons are coded red on this model, so there's a nifty little motif in between them to show the original corresponding colours which may be displayed on-screen. In other peripheral news, Microsoft recently issued a survey to Series X and S owners asking if they wish PS5 DualSense features were present in the Series X controller. You can check out our review of the Xbox Series X controller here, which we called a "positive evolution" from last gen's Xbox One controller. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Microsoft has revealed a new Pulse Red Xbox Wireless Controller colourway. The striking peripheral was revealed on the Xbox blog, and is set to launch on February 9 "in most Xbox markets", but will launch in China tomorrow, on January 12. Microsoft has said that purchase of the controller will include a 14-day trial of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in select markets. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=xbox-wireless-controller-pulse-red-images&captions=true"] The Pulse Red controller will cost $64.99 and features all of the same controller innovations introduced with the launch of Xbox's next-gen console, such as a USB-C port and a dedicated Share button. It's very similar in design to the Shock Blue colourway which arrived with the next-gen launch, given its white back case, black bumpers and D-pad. Similarly, the ABXY buttons are coded red on this model, so there's a nifty little motif in between them to show the original corresponding colours which may be displayed on-screen. In other peripheral news, Microsoft recently issued a survey to Series X and S owners asking if they wish PS5 DualSense features were present in the Series X controller. You can check out our review of the Xbox Series X controller here, which we called a "positive evolution" from last gen's Xbox One controller. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Ghost of Tsushima fans helped contribute to the restoration of a real-life Torii gate on the Japanese island of Tsushima. As reported by Siliconera, the crowdfunding project to restore the gate at Watatsumi Shrine ended on January 10, amassing over 27 million yen. According to an article from Famitsu, many Ghost of Tsushima fans rallied behind the funding drive, and in the end, it managed to achieve 542% of the initial 5 million yen target. The Watatsumi Shrine gate had been partially destroyed by a typhoon in September 2020, and repairs should begin in April 2021, although pandemic-related delays could slow that process. The project's creator thanked fans of the game for their contributions in one of the activity reports as the campaign progressed, and a commemmorative stone will include the names of all those who pledged more than 10,000 yen (approximately $95 USD / £71 / $125 AUD). [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/14/ghost-of-tsushima-review"] Torii gates are typically used to mark the entrance to a Shinto temple, and even helped inspire the creation of Star Fox. The Watatsumi Shrine is based in Toyotama, one of the three regions featured in Ghost of Tsushima. In other Ghost of Tsushima news, the PlayStation exclusive recently beat The Last of Us II and Hades to score the Player's Voice award at The Game Awards 2020. We reviewed Ghost of Tsushima back in July of 2020, scoring it a 9 and calling it "an excellent action game". If you're making your way through the game right now on PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5, check out our complete Ghost of Tsushima walkthrough to make sure you find all of the collectables and pick up every upgrade. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Much to his surprise, Kevin Sullivan has been reading all the comments recently. As the creative director and writer on Season – the gorgeous, Ghibli-esque ‘adventure bicycle road trip game’ teased at The Game Awards last month – he has every reason to. Underneath IGN’s upload of the trailer alone, you’ll repeatedly see words like “stunning”, “amazing”, “captivating”, and “getting a cozy apocalypse vibe”. If you were showing your cozy, apocalyptic game for the very first time, it’s more or less exactly what you’d hope for.

“The response has been super generous, and really friendly, and quite touching,” Sullivan tells me on a video call. “Because there's not a lot of context and the teaser is basically a minute long.” He laughs and gives an unexpectedly neat explanation of quite how good those comments have been: “My mom reads the comments on Season stuff. I don't think people on the internet are thinking that these people's moms are reading this.”

He stops himself for a moment and adds some sage advice: “Before you post the comment, imagine that the person's mom reads it.”

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/11/season-announcement-trailer"]

Delighted mothers aside, perhaps the most interesting thing about that warm reception, though, is how little was shown of the game itself to provoke that response. From the teaser, the official website from developer Scavengers Studio, and a PS Blog post, we can surmise that Season revolves around cycling through a world on the brink of a cataclysm, and recording its culture and nature using a video camera, a tape recorder, and a sketchbook. That’s about it.

And that haziness of concept is what makes up what you might call the second layer of Season comments – people love the vibe, and the suggestions as to what it might be, but they also really want to know what kind of game Season will be beneath that sun-dappled veneer (myself included, thus the call).

Sullivan’s noticed a very particular split in the guesses around that gameplay: “When I'm reading the YouTube comments, people seem to either think that it's like Breath of the Wild, or that it’s like Journey,” he explains. “And it’s in between.”

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=When%20I'm%20reading%20the%20YouTube%20comments%2C%20people%20seem%20to%20either%20think%20that%20it's%20like%20Breath%20of%20the%20Wild%2C%20or%20that%20it%E2%80%99s%20like%20Journey.%20And%20it%E2%80%99s%20in%20between."]

“We're an indie studio, the emphasis is really more on the quality. Everything you're doing has a heightened attention in the way of, like, a Journey, but it's not that linear, or that strict. It's not a AAA open world game and it's also not a corridor art game. It's in between.” The idea (and this is more intuition from me than information from Sullivan) seems to be that you’ll be travelling through a world with a start, and end, and a road to travel down, but with the ability to take your own detours along the way.

Another common response to the teaser has been to guess that this will be something like Gone Home, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, or other games about soaking up the story of a world, more than interacting with it. Sullivan’s far more straightforward about that perception:

“I guess I'd say, given that we made [Battle Royale game] Darwin Project, we have a lot of gameplay-oriented developers on the project. It's not going to be a walking simulator – as much as I love those games where there's no gameplay.”

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=season-9-screenshots&captions=true"]

As if to prove that this is a mechanically sound game as much as it is a story to tell, Sullivan tells me he’s been working on this idea since 2016 and that the team, “just did whatever we could to try to articulate what the game would be like even before stepping into the engine at all.” Sullivan created video essays to convince his colleagues of its base idea, built mood videos out of movie influences to set tone, and even went as far as working with the production director to build a fully functional board game version, to demonstrate how it could work in practice. “It got to the point where it was almost D&D style,” he explains. “I needed to be there administering the board game.”

That doesn’t mean it’s merely a case of bringing that physical game to virtual life, however. Sullivan makes extremely clear, repeatedly, that Season is mid-development, and that many ideas are still being finessed and worked out behind the scenes at Scavengers. However, he offers enough details to build a much clearer picture of what this could end up looking like.

While story specifics remain unknown, you’ll set off through Season’s world, exploring its various locations, meeting its inhabitants and using the aforementioned recording tools to document what you find – each of which will require different gameplay mechanics to use. You’ll also have choices to make along the way that will determine what you can record. The quest at the heart of all of this is to learn the history of this world, uncover its hidden stories, and preserve them after the end of the titular season, when a still-unspecified catastrophe arrives and, according to the game’s website, “washes everything away”.

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=It's%20not%20going%20to%20be%20a%20walking%20simulator%20%E2%80%93%20as%20much%20as%20I%20love%20those%20games%20where%20there's%20no%20gameplay."]

Sullivan says the game was partly inspired by his own travels through Asia, trying to make sense of places he visited and things he saw, while being unable to speak the language. “There's basically these levels of mystery and story that are going on that you're trying to unfold and understand,” he explains. “Your mission of recording stuff and talking to people is how you uncover that history. There's things that are happening in the present that are important, and there are things that have happened there in the past that are important, and you're uncovering that. As much as it is like a road trip, it's more like the idea of being a stranger in a strange land and trying to understand and do something there. It's not just blowing past stuff on a bike and being like, ‘That looks cool. That looks cool.’”

It’s also been inspired by a real-world fear of climate change, and how the very places he’s travelled to, and the things he saw there, could one day be washed away themselves, leaving only memories and chosen recordings behind. Sullivan refers to Season as a pre-apocalyptic game, and you might think the incoming cataclysm, and the in-built time limit implied by the game’s name, could make this something like a narrative roguelike, asking you to make choices, find new things, and piece together the world’s story over multiple runs.

“That's definitely not the core idea,” says Sullivan when I put that interpretation to him. “We're attentive to people's time and trying to just get to what we want people to feel as directly and strongly as possible. If you play through it once, you'll get what you're supposed to get, but there are definitely choices you'll make where you want to know what would happen otherwise.” He stops for a second and jokes, “Given the theme of the project, ideally the game would delete itself off of your computer when you play it once.”

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=season-art-and-concepts&captions=true"]

Everything Sullivan tells me builds a picture of a one-off idea built out of true passion for the subject – something he’s thought about making for half a decade, drawing up ideas in the gaps allowed between other work. “We spent a long time building the world of Season,” he tells me, “and then everything came together to make it a reality in the last few years.” So, after all that planning, what made now the right time?

That choice comes down in part to Scavengers’ current choice of platforms, with next-gen tech allowing for Season to emerge without the compromise it might have required a year or two ago (although, it must be said, Sullivan doesn’t rule out thinking about other platforms down the line).

“We're focused on the PS5 and the PC because it really will let us give the best experience possible,” he explains. “There's always a tradeoff in everything, especially in a game that's visually oriented in a lot of ways and also has exploration in it. Having the processing power of a PS5 is a huge relief because it changes everything with optimization and the way we're able to lay out the maps. We want to make the best looking, smoothest and most immersive experience we can.”

[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=People%20seem%20to%20really%20get%20the%20tone%2C%20the%20mood%2C%20and%20the%20feeling%20that%20we're%20trying%20to%20evoke."]

It will likely be some time before we get to play through that experience ourselves – Sullivan and Scavengers are very much not talking about a release date right now – but it’s been an encouraging start for the team making Season.

“It's scary to put something out into the world that doesn't have a lot of context,” says Sullivan, thinking back to the feeling of seeing that first teaser go out, “because the mystery of it could be construed in all kinds of different ways – but people seem to really get what we were hoping it would establish, which is the tone, the mood, and the feeling that we're trying to evoke.”

Given what we’ve now learned about Season, it feels almost appropriate – almost like practice – that so much of its introduction to the world has involved decoding messages about the kind of game it aims to be. I can’t help but think that, when Scavengers can show more, we’ll be revelling in more clues, more mysteries, and getting closer to the heart of where this adventure will take us, and what we’ll discover along the way.

[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.

Cyberpunk 2077's ongoing development, and CD Projekt Red's approach to refunds, are being investigated and monitored by Poland's consumer protection agency, which has the power to fine the company up to 10% of its yearly income. Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reports that UOKiK, Poland's Office of Competition and Consumer Protection is looking into "confusion" around the game's launch, and has asked CD Projekt Red for an explanation into what occurred. A UOKiK spokesperson (translated by IGN Poland) explained: "We are asking the company for explanation regarding problems with the game and actions taken by them. We will check how the developer is working on patches or solving issues preventing playing on various consoles, but also what steps [the company] is planning to take regarding people [who requested refunds] and are not happy with their purchase because they can't play the game on owned hardware, despite assurances by the producer." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/5-best-pc-mods-to-help-fix-cyberpunk-2077"] UOKiK will await CD Projekt's explanation, and then decide on next steps. Those next steps could be significant. UOKiK could choose to fine the company up to 10% of its income for the last financial year. Per the report, UOKiK could alternatively ask the developer to issue "digital bonuses" to those who bought the game for last-gen consoles. How the latter could be organised, or how that would affect players outside of Poland, is yet to be seen. Perhaps most worryingly for CD Projekt, the report adds that the refund policy organised in the aftermath of launch could still be deemed unsatisfactory, leading to those measures. IGN contacted CD Projekt Red about the report, which refused to comment. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/cyberpunk-2077-publisher-will-undertake-vigorous-action-against-class-action-lawsuit-ign-news"] It's the latest in a series of setbacks for Cyberpunk 2077, which has seen huge performance problems on last-gen consoles for which the developer has promised multiple fixes. We've seen the game removed from the PlayStation Store, with CD Projekt Red offering refunds. A class-action lawsuit has since been filed against publisher CD Projekt S.A., which the company says it will defend itself against. The developer recently denied a slate of rumoured development details, but there have been reports of internal conflict between developers and CDPR leadership. The game has, among all of this, remained commercially successful, selling over 13 million copies across all formats, even accounting for refunds. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=cyberpunk-2077-portraits-photo-mode-gallery&captions=true"] [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.

The long-awaited console edition of Facepunch Studio's Rust has been rated by the ESRB for Xbox One and PS4. The ESRB rating mentions that the game will be coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with no mention of the next-gen consoles, though the game will likely be playable on the PS5 and Series X/S via backwards compatibility. With ratings announcements usually coming shortly before release, it seems likely we'll get an official release announcement in the near future. The announcement that Rust would be coming to consoles in November of 2019 came during the XO19 conference, with a planned release date of 2020. The popular survival game slipped outside of that window, with port studio Double Eleven shifting estimations towards 2021 in a December 2020 update. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/15/rust-console-announcement-trailer"] "We’re sorry that we haven’t been able to bring you Rust on console in 2020 as planned," the blog post reads. We know from all of the messages that you’re excited to play it and we hope that with the dawn of 2021 we can restore your trust as we edge closer to being able to share something with you." Rust originally launched all the way back in 2013, at the start of the survival game boom. It has recently seen a massive resurgence on Twitch, with top streamers like Hasan Piker and Limmy playing the game live. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

One of Ash's greatest rivals, Gary Oak, is seemingly returning to the Pokemon anime as the rival can be spotted in a new opening sequence for Pokemon Journeys that aired in Japan today. Pokemon Journeys is the latest iteration of the long-running Pokemon anime and it sees Ash Ketchum and his companion, Goh, travel around the world of Pokemon visiting classic regions like Kanto and the newer regions like Galar, the setting of Pokemon Sword and Shield. A new opening sequence for the anime aired recently in Japan and it features a montage of characters Ash is expected to meet in the upcoming episodes – one of those people appears to be Ash's first rival, Gary Oak. A tweet from the official Pokemon Anime Twitter account seems to confirm the Gary's reappearance. When translated, it mentions 'Satoshi's childhood friend' (Satoshi being the Ash's name in Japan), and leaves the question of him being a rival again hanging. [caption id="attachment_2459942" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Gary Oak in the new Pokemon Journeys intro.[/caption] Gary Oak was introduced as Ash's childhood friend and rival, and is the grandson of Professor Oak, who gave both boys their start as Pokemon trainers. Gary was one of Ash's key competitors in the first Pokemon anime and remained one for quite some time. The two eventually ended up becoming friends and Gary retired from the life of Pokemon training to become a Pokemon researcher like his grandfather. Gary later made an appearance in Pokemon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, but hasn't been seen since, which is why his inclusion in the new Pokemon Journeys opening sequence is significant. Pokemon Journeys will mark the character's first appearance in the English version of the anime since 2010 . [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/15/top-5-pokemon-show-seasons-power-ranking"] The Pokemon anime was put on hold last year due to COVID-19, but it seems new episodes of the show are on the way. In the meantime, check out Pokemon: Twilight Wings, which is finally complete and ready for binging, and then check out this Looney Tunes-style Pokemon short released by The Pokemon Company last year. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

Episode 2 Act 1 of Valorant is set to kick off on January 12, and with it arrives a new Infiltrator Duelist named Yoru. As reported by Eurogamer, Yoru is a stealthy agent who can turn invisible and send out fake footsteps to confuse and distract enemies. Riot released a new cinematic featuring Yoru and the descriptions of all of his abilities, which are as follows;

• C: Fakeout - Equip an echo that mimics footsteps when activated. Fire to activate and send the echo forward. Alt fire to place an echo in place. Use the inactive echo to send it forward.
• E: Gatecrash - Equip to harness a rift tether. Fire to send the tether out moving forward. Alt fire to place a tether in place. Activate to teleport to the tether's location.
• Q: Blindside - Equip to rip an unstable dimensional fragment from reality. Fire to throw the fragment, activating a flash that winds up once it collides with a hard surface in world.
• X: Dimensional Drift - Equip a mask that can see between dimensions. Fire to drift into Yoru's dimension, unable to be affected or seen by enemies from the outside.

"When we started talking about the goals for this agent we knew it was time to shake things up in Valorant," said Valorant product lead John Goscicki. "The idea of 'Stealthly Infiltration' is something we toyed around with for years, but could never fit in the game. We felt that if we started from the ground up, we could create an agent that revolved around the idea of 'Stealthly Infiltration' in some way. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/05/valorant-review"] "With that in mind we also wanted Yoru to be an agent that could create some really high moments throughout the game. The kind of rounds where if you pull everything off correctly you feel like the greatest player ever. The team has been super stoked to get this guy in players' hands, he is definitely going to cause some disruption within the game." Valorant's newest season will come with a new Battle Pass and a Run-It-Back bundle that includes some of the best cosmetics from Valorant's first episode. [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.

Constantin Liétard has created a way for Twitter to play Pokemon Red through his profile picture. Much like how Twitch Plays Pokemon let the world comment and control a game of Pokemon, Liétard's pinned tweet asks for people to comment either Up, Down, Left, Right, A, B, Start, or Select to control an emulated game of Pokemon Red.

Comments are pulled every 15 seconds, according to Liétard, and the most commented input is sent to the game. The current game state is then automatically made into Liétard's 400x400 Twitter profile picture. As of this writing, Liétard's level 6 Spearow is battling a level 11 Oddish. Unfortunately, Spearow is currently losing, so hopefully Twitter can find a way to work together to save the bird Pokemon. Oh, and in case you were curious, Twitter did somehow pick Squirtle as the starting Pokemon. Liétard has restarted the game a few times to add more features as it rises in popularity, and Liétard logs on manually to the game each night to save and ensure progress isn't lost. There is also an official Discord server that allows those interested to chat about the progress in this particular game of Pokemon Red. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/03/05/10-best-legendary-pokemon"] There have been over 30,000 comments so far, and it will be very interesting to see how many it takes to triumph over the Elite Four. [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.