Scalpers are taking advantage of a McDonald's loophole to snap up Pokemon 25th anniversary trading card packs inside Happy Meals, then selling them online for extortionate prices, leaving fans disappointed. McDonald's customers (as reported by Kotaku and Polygon) have taken to social media to vent their fury at the practice, which has seen boxes of Pokemon cards posted on websites, such as eBay, for eyewatering fees of up to $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

The limited-edition packs, which are being sold at select McDonald's restaurants as part of the franchise's landmark birthday, are supposed to come as part of McDonald's Happy Meals. Per the Pokemon website's official announcement, Happy Meal purchasers will receive a 25th anniversary trading card booster pack that contains four exclusive cards. There are 50 cards for fans to collect - all 24 starter Pokemon and Pikachu in standard and foil versions - but, like other Pokemon trading cards packs, the ones you get are entirely random. Buying McDonald's Happy Meals should be the only way to collect them all, but scalpers are bypassing this, via a loophole, that allows them to buy the packs in bulk. According to Kotaku, each McDonald's restaurant seems to have a different policy on how these packs are being sold, which is enabling scalpers to get their hands on them with relative ease. Some are buying Happy Meals en masse to get the packs before throwing the food away. Others, meanwhile, are simply showing up at McDonald's and asking to buy whole boxes, or turning up at 5 AM so they can purchase packs before anyone else. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/29/pokmon-sword-and-shield-the-crown-tundra-dlc-review"] Naturally, angry parents and other trading card fans have taken to Twitter to express their dismay at how the packs are being sold. Clearly, there's only a certain amount of stock to go around, and children and other ardent Pokemon fans are missing - or even being priced - out of acquiring the cards for themselves. Some Twitter users, including @The3Composer, have claimed that some McDonald's outlets are restricting people to five packs at a time, but even those limits have only been put in place after one scalper bought over 450 packs in a single visit.

My mom works at a McDonalds in southern Indiana, and her store is limited to only selling 5 packs per person per day, because someone bought 3 cases (around 450~ packs) from another area store, which was all they had

— Jake Jacobson (@Th3Composer) February 9, 2021

Plenty of Twitter users have demanded that McDonald's implements a company wide limit on how many packs one person can purchase, but so far their efforts have fallen on deaf ears. We've contacted McDonald's for comment. In other 'extremely expensive Pokemon cards' news, a box of original Pokemon TCG booster packs recently sold for $400,000, and rapper Logic bought a single shiny Charizard for over $200,000 last year. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Tom Power is a UK-based freelance writer. Follow him on Twitter.

Watchmen TV director Nicole Kassell has been enlisted to helm a "fresh take" of The Wizard of Oz for New Line Cinema. As Deadline reports, New Line Cinema selected Kassell, the visual architect of HBO's Watchmen, to direct the feature adaptation of L. Frank Baum's beloved novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, after conducting an extensive search to find a visionary filmmaker who the studio felt would be capable of pulling back the curtain to reimagine the classic tale for the big screen. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=watchmen-all-the-comic-book-references-in-the-hbo-series&captions=true"] "I am incredibly honored to join Temple Hill and New Line in bringing this beloved classic to the screen," Kassell said. "While the 1939 musical is part of my DNA, I am exhilarated and humbled by the responsibility of re-imagining such a legendary tale. The opportunity to examine the original themes — the quest for courage, love, wisdom, and home — feels more timely and urgent than ever. These are profoundly iconic shoes to fill, and I am eager to dance alongside these heroes of my childhood as we pave a newly minted yellow brick road." Kassell will be joined by Temple Hill partners Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey, who are on board as producers together with Marc Platt, while Isaac Klausner will be serving as an executive producer on the project. Previous script drafts were penned by Darren Lemke and the writing duo of Neil Widener and Gavin James, however, no further details about the reimagined story have been shared at this time. While we may have to travel further down the yellow brick road to find out more yet, Deadline notes that Kassell's feature film has been given free rein to draw upon elements from the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie, such as Dorothy's prized ruby red slippers, because Warner Bros. owns the rights to the celebrated Judy Garland-starring fantasy musical. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/10/14/cinefix-the-wizard-of-oz-whats-the-difference"] The 1939 feature adaptation is widely regarded as one of the most beloved movies of all time, adored by children and adults alike, with songs people still sing, and dialogue people still quote. Consequently, it's often a surprise for people to learn that not only was the movie released to lukewarm box office receipts, it also never picked up an Oscar for Best Picture. Surprised? Find out about some of the other classic movies that never won Best Picture at the Oscars. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Treyarch has banned a number of items from Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's League Play, just a day after the competitive mode launched. League Play was introduced on Monday this week, and the developer issued a patch a day later restricting a number of items, responding to player feedback about the mode. You can check the full patch notes here on the Treyarch website. Molotovs and Suppressors have been banned, alongside the Armor and War Machine Scorestreaks, the Jammer Field Upgrade and the Gung-Ho perk. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/12/black-ops-cold-war-multiplayer-gameplay-pc"] A series of specific attachments have also been restricted as of the February 9 patch. "We've been monitoring feedback and known issues since yesterday’s launch, and today’s update introduces a handful of new fixes and restrictions that go beyond the current CDL 2021 ruleset," the blog post reads. "We’ll continue to monitor feedback and game data to ensure a fun and competitive experience with regard to rules and content restrictions in League Play. Our ultimate goal is to deliver a more varied experience for players by offering certain variations on the rules while providing an experience similar to what the pros are playing in the CDL (Call of Duty League)." League Play is a new mode for Cold War that lets players engage with the same rules, modes and maps that the Call of Duty League esports professionals play on. It's a skill-based matchmaking system that has players competing against those within their Skill Division, rising through 30 in-game ranks. Players will need to complete five placement matches before they will be placed into a ladder and a division based on their in-game performance. League Play Events will also occur biweekly where competitive players will get a chance to climb the Division Ladder and place highly to improve their chances of a promotion in the rankings. In other Call of Duty news, Activision recently confirmed that a new Call of Duty game is coming this year, during Activision Blizzard's Q4 2020 earnings call. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Ubisoft has revealed that it may be renaming Rainbow Six: Quarantine, but insists the long-delayed game will arrive this year. During Ubisoft's third-quarter earnings call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot announced that the company was asked whether the studio was concerned about releasing a game with 'quarantine' in the title given the global pandemic that arrived after the game's reveal: "On Rainbow Six: Quarantine, we are creating a product that is actually – as it’s named today – it is something we are evaluating and we'll see what comes in the future on that product," Guillemot said in response. This suggests we may see the game under a new moniker in the future. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/06/10/rainbow-six-quarantine-reveal-trailer"] Elsewhere in the call, Ubisoft also clarified that Quarantine will arrive before September 30, 2021, which shortens the previous window of April 2021 to March 2022. Several games, including Quarantine, were previously delayed in October 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19. Rainbow Six Quarantine has been described as a "three-player, tactical co-op shooter" set in the future, where agents must enter a quarantine zone and fight a mutated alien parasite that is infecting human hosts and their surroundings. It's based somewhat on Rainbow Six Siege's popular Outbreak limited-time mode. During the call, the company also said it was planning to move away from relying on new AAA games, using free-to-play and existing games to help bolster its revenue. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.    

Legal documents indicate that Microsoft intends to create a new wholly-owned subsidiary called Vault to complete its ZeniMax Media acquisition deal. It's not clear if ZeniMax will be known as Vault after the deal closes. The European Union is currently deciding whether to approve the $7.5 billion acquisition that was revealed back in September 2020. Documents seen on the European Union Law website EUR-Lex refer to the logistics of the acquisition, mentioning a "merger pursuant to which a newly created Microsoft subsidiary (‘Vault’) will be merged with and into ZeniMax." While it's not clear exactly how this will work, the 'Vault' subsidiary would be a good way to house Microsoft's new acquisitions under one quasi-independent banner, affording ZeniMax's studios (which includes Bethesda, Arkane, MachineGames, and more) a level of freedom while still being owned by Microsoft. The text explicitly says that Microsoft will acquire "sole control of the whole of ZeniMax," regardless, but the document suggests they will be accomplishing this via the Vault subsidiary. We'll be sure to learn more once the deal gets the all-clear from the European Union. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/21/microsoft-to-buy-bethesda-and-parent-company-zenimax-media"] It's a different approach to Microsoft's previous acquisitions, such as Obsidian, Ninja Theory and Double Fine, which were formally made a part of Microsoft and housed under its Xbox Game Studios brand. Whether ZeniMax's studios become known as part of Vault or not, the move to create a Microsoft subsidiary to complete the merger seems to mark a level of independence compared to other acquired companies. This tallies with previous reporting about Bethesda's semi-independence under Microsoft. Phil Spencer told CNET in September that "they're not about becoming us," in reference to the deal. Bethesda SVP of global marketing Pete Hines backed this up, saying in a statement that "we're still working on the same games we were yesterday, made by the same studios we’ve worked with for years, and those games will be published by us," around the same time. We still haven't heard how the acquisition will work in regards to the exclusivity of future Bethesda games. However, Bethesda head honcho Todd Howard recently said that it's "hard to imagine" a game like Elder Scrolls 6 being Xbox-exclusive. Arkane's Deathloop will launch later this year as a timed PS5 exclusive, with Microsoft honouring the deal after acquiring Arkane as part of the ZeniMax acquisition. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Update 2/9 4:31 pm PT: The group Riot Workers United, a collective of workers currently at Riot Games advocating for change has issued a statement regarding the news of Sharon O'Donnell's lawsuit. The group, which helped organize the walkout in 2019, says that "Inappropriate relations combined with the threat of power is a harm inherent to any company where leaders are not held accountable. Historically, Riot is a company where leaders have not been held accountable." Read the full statement below:

On the news of the allegations against Riot’s CEO: pic.twitter.com/bHcVeILyfe

— Rioters For Change (@Rioters4Change) February 10, 2021

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Original Story: Former Riot Games executive assistant Sharon O'Donnell has filed suit against Riot CEO Nicolo Laurent and the company at large, alleging that during her three years at the company Laurent sexually harassed her, discriminated against her, and retaliated against her when she complained about his behavior to HR. Per a lawsuit obtained by Vice, O'Donnell was hired at Riot in October of 2017 as an executive assistant to Laurent. Shortly after she was hired, she says that Laurent began harassing her, and continued to do so until she alleges she was wrongfully terminated in July of 2020. Specific incidents mentioned in the suit include Laurent calling O'Donnell "beautiful" and telling her his wife was jealous of beautiful women, criticizing O'Donnell's tone by calling it "abusive" and saying she should be "more feminine," yelling at and speaking to O'Donnell in a condescending way, staring at her while describing his underwear and underwear size, suggesting women employees should handle COVID-19 stress by having kids, asking O'Donnell not to let his wife know how close they were, putting his arm around her, asking her she "could handle him when they were alone at his house," and telling O'Donnell she should "cum" over to his house while his wife was away. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/05/06/employees-of-riot-games-to-walkout-in-protest-monday"] In addition, O'Donnell alleges that Laurent both explicitly and implicitly made various job benefits a condition of her acceptance of sexual conduct. She says that after she refused the offer to visit Laurent's house, his "hostility and anger increased," she was subjected to more yelling, and had various job duties taken away. She alleges a complaint to HR only resulted in more criticism, and she was eventually let go from the company. O'Donnell is also suing Riot not only for failure to prevent harassment but also for failure to pay wages in a timely manner, claiming she was not paid for all hours worked including overtime. She also alleges the company failed to provide legally mandated rest and meal breaks. In a statement shared with IGN, a Riot spokesperson said the following: "Over the past several years, workplace culture has been one of our top priorities and we're proud of the steps we've taken to make Riot Games a great place to work. Core to giving Rioters confidence in our commitment to culture transformation is taking all allegations of harassment or discrimination very seriously, thoroughly investigating claims, and taking action against anyone who is found to have violated our policies. "In this case, because some of the claims relate to an executive leader, a special committee of our Board of Directors is overseeing the investigation, which is being conducted by an outside law firm. Our CEO has pledged his full cooperation and support during this process, and we're committed to ensuring that all claims are thoroughly explored and appropriately resolved." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/04/riot-games-to-pay-10m-in-gender-discrimination-lawsuit-ign-daily-fix"] The spokesperson added that O'Donnell was "dismissed from the company over seven months ago following over a dozen complaints from both employees and external partners," and Riot goes on to say, "Any suggestion otherwise is simply false." O'Donnell's lawsuit describes a "male-dominated culture" at Riot where women are "discriminated against, harassed, and treated as second class citizens," and specifically references an ongoing series of legal and collective fights against Riot Games' work culture, which in 2018 numerous sources described as toxic and sexist. Riot has since tried to address the workplace culture issues with various policy changes and the hiring of its first chief diversity officer, but the issues have remained in the spotlight since due to a class-action lawsuit filed by then-current and former employees alleging gender discrimination. The lawsuit ran into hurdles, with Riot alleging those bringing suit were not legally able to do so due to them having signed forced arbitration clauses in their contracts, which led employees to stage a walkout in 2019 in solidarity with those filing the suits and against such clauses. Riot eventually tried to settle the lawsuit by paying out $10 million in damages, but the settlement was later withdrawn after the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) and the Department of Labor Standards & Enforcement (DLSE) deemed the amount too low. Then, just last month, Riot moved to put the lawsuit back into arbitration -- resulting in the DFEH and DLSE issuing a joint statement last week alleging that Riot Games had violated the law in discriminating against women employees. The agencies declared they would proceed with enforcement action in court against the company on behalf of all the women involved, including those who had signed arbitration agreements. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

This week in Red Dead Online, score special Valentine's Day gifts, special bonuses for the Tumbleweed Series, and so much more.

Lance McDonald, AKA ManFightsDragon, AKA the guy who’s known for data mining games like P.T., Bloodborne, and the Dark/Demon Souls series for cut or hidden content, has officially released his 60 frames per second mod for Bloodborne.

McDonald previously announced he had created a 60 FPS mod back in October, 2020, but was waiting for Sony to clarify if it had any future plans for Bloodborne.

The patch allows players to alter the 1.09 version of Bloodborne (the latest update) and modify the game engine to increase the framerate cap to 60 FPS, and optionally lower the resolution to 1280x720.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/11/16/demons-souls-review-ps5"]

In a previous video demonstrating the 60 FPS mod (which you should absolutely watch), McDonald shared that accessing Bloodborne’s debug mode and altering the framerate only served to speed up everything in the game to twice the speed, creating a comical Benny Hill effect. The PS4 Pro afforded some older games a boost mode that improved framerate and other performance metrics, but Bloodborne appeared to be locked behind what McDonald calls an “arbitrary” 30 FPS framerate, something Dark Souls 3 and Sekiro weren’t restricted by on the Pro. IGN has reached out to McDonald to clarify how well this patch could work on a base PS4, if at all.

You can find McDonald’s mod and instructions on his Patreon, but make sure you know what you’re doing. Altering your PS4 console in such a way will almost certainly void any warranty you have should something go awry. You’ll have to mod it to run homebrew software in the first place.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/30/beyond-plays-bloodborne-episode-1"]

McDonald is an old hat when it comes to modding and data mining beloved games. He was originally the one to discover that P.T.’s ghost is programmed to always be behind the player, that the ghost actually walks around while you’re locked in the bathroom, and managed to explore the spooky Silent Hill city seen in the ending cutscene featuring Norman Reedus.

Don’t get your hopes up for an official 60 FPS patch from FromSoftware or Sony anytime soon, as neither company has even alluded to any intention of revisiting the game’s code. Considering the Demon’s Souls remake looks astounding at 60 FPS, we can still only hope they’ll see fit to do so.