After 35 days of 35 different PogChamps, Twitch will let its audience vote on a new permanent face for the hype emote tomorrow in a livestream. In a tweet today, Twitch announced that a stream will take place February 12 on the main page of Twitch at 3 pm ET / 12 pm PT / 8 pm UK / 7 am AET (on February 13), in which viewers will be able to vote between the 35 former Pogchamps that Twitch has highlighted, one a day, since early January. PogChamp candidates will include numerous popular streamers such as UnRooolie (the first person named PogChamp for a day after Twitch began the initiative), UmiNoKaiju, Omega 'CriticalBard' Jones, TheGrefg, Kahlief Adams, Deere, Loserfruit, Zayuri, Techniq, today's PogChamp SteveInSpawn, and a lizard emoji that is not attributed to an actual person's channel known as KomodoHype. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/07/twitch-removes-pogchamp-emote-following-tweets-by-gooteks-ign-news"] The PogChamp emote was previous the face of streamer Ryan 'Gootecks' Gutierrez making a shocked expression, typically used platform-wide to indicate hype or excitement for something going on in a stream. However, Twitch removed the PogChamp emote in early January after an insurgency took place on Capitol Hill, citing tweets Gutierrez made that appeared to call for further violence at the event as the reason for his removal. Following this, several streamers came forward with interest in becoming the new face of the popular emote, before Twitch opted to keep the emote substituting a different streamer's face every 24 hours. However, while Twitch made an effort to feature a diverse group of faces as PogChamp, many of the featured streamers suffered from harassment as a direct result of their promotion as PogChamp, with streamers such as Jones and Deere reporting numerous racist and transphobic remarks, respectively. In recent weeks, Twitch appears to have tried to curb these attacks by no longer promoting each new daily PogChamp on its official Twitter account, [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

In a development that can only be described as the Hitchcock and Scully of bad news, NBC has both postponed the return of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and confirmed the upcoming Season 8 will mark the end of the beloved sitcom. This is the latest in a series of delays for Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 8. The season was originally expected to begin in Fall 2020, but finished episodes of Season 8 were officially scrapped in June, as showrunner Dan Goor revealed the crew opted to "start over" in light of ongoing protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd. NBC later revealed the series would return in 2021, but the network now confirms Season 8 has been reduced to 10 episodes and won't premiere before 2022. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-tv-show-cancelled-or-announced-to-be-ending-in-2021&captions=true"] Goor released the following statement online, indicating his support for the decision:

"I’m so thankful to NBC and Universal Television for allowing us to give these characters and our fans the ending they deserve. When Mike Schur and I first pitched the pilot episode to Andy [Samberg], he said, ‘I’m in, but I think the only way to tell this story is over exactly 153 episodes,’ which was crazy because that was exactly the number Mike and I had envisioned." “I feel incredibly lucky to have worked with this amazing cast and crew for eight seasons. They are not only among the most talented people in the business, they are all good human beings who have become a family. But most of all, I feel lucky that we have had the best fans in the world. Fans who literally saved us from cancellation. Fans who fill us with joy. Ending the show was a difficult decision, but ultimately, we felt it was the best way to honor the characters, the story and our viewers. I know some people will be disappointed it’s ending so soon, but honestly, I’m grateful it lasted this long. Title of my sex tape.” 

The silver lining to this news is that Season 8 will mark the show's third outing on NBC since Brooklyn Nine-Nine was originally canceled by Fox  in 2018. The series very nearly ended much sooner. Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 8 will be released in 2022 on NBC and NBCUniversal's streaming platform Peacock. Barring any future casting changes, we're expecting the full regular cast to return for Season 8, which includes Andy Samberg, Andre Braugher, Stephanie Beatriz, Terry Crews, Melissa Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio, Joel McKinnon Miller and Dirk Blocker. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/08/peacock-streaming-service-review"] Find out more about how streaming is saving your favourite shows from cancellation. [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.

This week in GTA Online, score triple rewards in Till Death Do Us Part and Shotgun Wedding, double rewards in DJ Missions, and much more.

The feature-length animated film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Digital starting April 27 and on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Blu-ray on May 11.

With both national chains and independent movie theater owners struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic, another existential crisis may be rearing its head. As Variety reports, theater owners are raising the alarm about the potentially catastrophic impact of a federal minimum wage increase. This fear comes as Congress weighs the prospect of more than doubling the federal minimum wage by the year 2025, from $7.25 an hour to $15. Many theaters would also be impacted by a proposed end to the tipped minimum wage, which currently allows employers to pay waiters and other tipped workers $2.13 an hour. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=everything-coming-to-hbo-max&captions=true"] “That would kill us,” Foothills Entertainment owner Byron Berkley told Variety. “We couldn’t justify raising our admission prices and concession prices to compensate for that kind of increase and still expect people to patronize the business. It would be disastrous.” As of yet, it's unclear whether this minimum wage increase will actually be ratified. The wage increase is currently bundled with the Biden administration's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, but as Variety notes, President Biden himself has voiced doubts as to whether the increase will remain in the final version of that bill. Still, if a minimum wage hike remains a top priority for Congressional Democrats, theaters, restaurants, and other businesses may well be required to adapt to significantly higher payroll costs by 2025. Theater chains have faced plummeting ticket sales over the past year, particularly in the US where few blockbuster movies have seen a wide release since the pandemic began. AMC theaters have been hit particularly hard, with the company reporting a staggering 90.9% drop in revenue in its fiscal third quarter last November. Companies like AMC and Regal Cinema have repeatedly criticized movie studios for pivoting to streaming releases, particularly in light of WarnerMedia's announcement that many 2021 movie releases will debut simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/14/are-movie-theaters-about-to-go-extinct"] "Clearly, Warner Media intends to sacrifice a considerable portion of the profitability of its movie studio division, and that of its production partners and filmmakers, to subsidize its HBO Max startup," AMC's CEO and president Adam Aron told The Hollywood Reporter in December. "As for AMC, we will do all in our power to ensure that Warner does not do so at our expense. We will aggressively pursue economic terms that preserve our business." Despite criticism from theater chains and even directors like Christopher Nolan, WarnerMedia has shown no sign of backing down from its hybrid theatrical/streaming release strategy. Wonder Woman 1984 was the first of these day-and-date releases, and Godzilla vs. Kong will follow on March 31. [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.

HBO's House of the Dragon, a prequel to Game of Thrones, has added Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, and Sonoya Mizuno. These actors and actresses join Paddy Considine's King Viserys Targaryen, Olivia Cooke's Alicent Hightower, Matt Smith's Prince Daemon Targaryen, and Emma D'Arcy's Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen in this new show from George R.R. Martin, Ryan Condal, and Miguel Sapochnik. House of the Dragon is based on Martin's Fire & Blood and is set 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/10/30/game-of-thrones-prequel-series-house-of-the-dragon-coming-to-hbo"] Toussaint, who starred in Red, White and Blue, will take on the role of Lord Corlys Velaryon, who comes from a Valyrian bloodline that is as old as that of House Targaryen. Known as "The Sea Snake," Lord Corlys is known as the most famous nautical adventurer in Westeros and built a house that is richer than even the Lannisters. Furthermore, the Velaryon house is said to have the biggest Navy in the land/sea. Ifans, who was The Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man, will play Otto Hightower, who also happens to be the Hand of the King. Ser Otto is loyal to the king and his realm, and believes the greatest threat to both is the King's brother, Daemon, who is the current heir to the throne. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=house-of-the-dragon-images-and-concept-art&captions=true"] Best, who is well known for her roles in Nurse Jackie and The King's Speech, will play Princess Rhaenys Velaryon, a dragonrider and the wife to Lord Corlys Velaryon. She is also known as "The Queen Who Never Was," as she was "passed over as heir to the throne at the Great Council because the realm favored her cousin, Viserys, simply for being male." Mizuno, who recently starred in Devs, is cast as Mysaria, who arrived at Westeros with nothing but her name and has been "sold more times than she can recall." Instead of giving up, she rose up to become the most trusted ally of Prince Daemon Targaryen. For more on House of the Dragon, which will likely premiere on HBO in 2022, check out our explainer of this Game of Thrones prequel and new dragon art for the series. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/01/game-of-thrones-cast-on-how-the-series-conquered-the-world"] [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.

Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts series is coming to PC. The publisher confirmed the main Kingdom Hearts games are coming to the Epic Games Store exclusively on March 30, 2021. Epic Games confirmed that Kingdom Hearts 1 and Kingdom Hearts 2 Remix editions, Kingdom Hearts 3, and the rhythm game Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory will be coming to PC exclusively through the Epic Games Store next month. Kingdom Hearts, the long-running RPG series that combines the worlds from Square Enix and Final Fantasy with Disney, is finally coming to PC starting with a brand new PC collection. The series began on the PlayStation and the series is typically associated with Sony platforms, though spinoffs were released on Nintendo handhelds and mobile. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/11/20/kingdom-hearts-iii-together-trailer"] Kingdom Hearts 3 was a multi-platform release and the series’ debut on the Xbox, but none of the Kingdom Hearts games were released on PC, until now. The series stars (usually) a young boy named Sora as he travels different Disney-inspired worlds to fight a dark force that threatens the universe. He is joined by companions like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy, as well as iconic Disney characters like Elsa and Woody. You can read IGN’s Kingdom Hearts 3 review here. Although it was the first mainline Kingdom Hearts game in 14 years, the series isn’t done yet as creator Tetsuya Nomura says there are more stories left to be told in the Kingdom Hearts universe. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a News Editor at IGN.

Lionsgate has announced that Jack Black has been cast as Claptrap in the upcoming Borderlands live-action movie. Black will provide voice acting for the yellow robot, which has long been seen as the mascot of the Borderlands series. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/20/its-official-borderlands-movie-to-be-directed-by-eli-roth"] “I am so excited to reunite with Jack, this time in the recording booth,” said Eli Roth, director of Borderlands. “Claptrap is the funniest character in the game, and Jack is perfect to bring him to the big screen.” Black joins a cast that already includes heavyweights Cate Blanchett as Lilith, Kevin Hart as Roland, and Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Tannis. Last year, director Eli Roth also said he hoped for fans to be added to the cast, too, as extras that can be killed off in humorous ways. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-video-game-movie-in-development-almost&captions=true"] The Borderlands movie’s current screenplay draft has been penned by Craig Mazin, previously writer on HBO’s Chernobyl and currently the developer behind HBO’s The Last of Us. The big video game TV adaptation also announced major casting news this week, with actors assigned to Joel and Ellie. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

McDonald's has revealed it is "working quickly" to restock Pokemon 25th Anniversary trading cards following reports that scalpers are profiting from the limited-edition packs – and is "strongly encouraging" restaurants to set a limit on how many packs they sell to individual customers. Yesterday, it was revealed that the commemorative Pokemon cards, which are only supposed to be attainable when customers buy a McDonald's Happy Meal, were being purchased in bulk by scalpers and sold for ridiculously high sums online. In some instances, full boxes of the packs were being posted on sites including eBay for over $1,500.

@McDonalds @Pokemon I sure hope you do some form of inventory control for your promo Pokémon cards as some of your stock is being sold in sealed boxes which means they’re not even making it to your stores Though same thing happened with Tim Hortons Hockey too. Retail $1.99 pic.twitter.com/kX8qZyRX2V

— redphoenixsportscards (@redphoenixcards) February 9, 2021

Responding to IGN's request for comment, a McDonald's spokesperson said the restaurant franchise is moving to distribute more packs to its outlets, and said that restaurants would be 'strongly encouraged' to limit how many packs they can sell to individual customers. McDonald's statement reads: "We love seeing fans’ passion for our limited-time Happy Meal promotion celebrating 25 years of Pokemon. With such significant demand for our promotional Pokemon TCG cards, and some fans even going to extreme lengths to get them, we’re working quickly to address shortages and also strongly encouraging restaurants to set a reasonable limit on Happy Meals sold per customer. We want to offer the full Happy Meal experience to as many families as possible, and help ensure everyone is able to get in on the fun!” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/29/pokemon-sword-and-shield-crown-tundra-expansion-pass-trailer"] McDonald's confirmed that the company is working with its supply chain to help restock at restaurants that have sold out of Pokemon card packs, and does not condone reselling Happy Meal bonuses for profit. However, some restaurants will seemingly be allowed to offer standalone pack purchases in unspecified cases. Happy Meals with back-up toys will be offered if restaurants run out of Pokemon trading cards, and we McDonald's made clear its policy that full boxes of Happy Meal toys should not be sold to customers, and that toys must be distributed in stores by employees only. In light of Pokemon's 25th birthday, The Pokemon Company had teamed up with McDonald's to distribute 50 limited-edition trading cards while stocks last. The packs, which contain four random cards, celebrate the franchise's heritage with all 24 starter Pokemon and series icon Pikachu in standard and foil versions. In other Pokemon news, Post Malone will perform a virtual concert on February 27 as part of the franchise's year-long anniversary plans. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Tom Power is a UK-based freelance writer. Follow him on Twitter.

Update: Snyder has released another tease ahead of the new  Zack Snyder's Justice League trailer coming this weekend. The latest tease offers a brief glimpse at Darkseid in the film, and he appears to not be alone with some other foes flanking him in an intriguing new glimpse.

In 2 Days #ZackSnydersJusticeLeague#SnyderCutpic.twitter.com/OWYGPojcHM

— Zack Snyder (@ZackSnyder) February 12, 2021

The latest trailer for the film will debut on Feb. 14 ahead of the film's March 18 release on HBO Max. Original story follows: [poilib element="accentDivider"] As Zack Snyder's Justice League draws nearer, we've gotten more teases of everything new Snyder is bringing to his version of the film, and the latest tease offers another look at Superman in his black suit. The latest tease, which you can watch below, offers a brief snippet of what fans can expect from the new trailer, which is set to premiere on Sunday, February 14. Among the footage is Steppenwolf, the Batmobile, and Superman clad in his black suit, shooting heat vision at someone off screen.

“The bell’s been rung.” #SnyderCut pic.twitter.com/B9hT2veXFs

— Zack Snyder's Justice League (@snydercut) February 11, 2021

The tease comes shortly after we got new photos of Jared Leto's Joker and his new look in Justice League and after Snyder confirmed the date for the new trailer with a glimpse at Victor Stone's life before becoming Cyborg. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/release-date-new-posters-confirmed-format-for-justice-league-snyder-cut"] Zack Snyder's Justice League is set to hit HBO Max on March 18 and will be R-rated in this new version. But if you're looking for more of the film ahead of its release, be sure to stay tuned to IGN Fan Fest later this month, where Zack Snyder will be answering our and your questions about the film. As for what the new cut of the film will bring, it reportedly will include about 150 minutes of unseen footage, of which "about four minutes or five minutes [are] additional photography." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=justice-league-snyder-cut-all-the-known-differences-from-the-theatrical-version&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.