Oculus has announced it will be hosting the first ever Oculus Gaming Showcase on April 21 at 3pm PT/6pm ET/11pm BST, and it will feature updates on Pistol Whip, Lone Echo 2, Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge, and more. Oculus revealed details of the showcase in a blog post, promising that this event is "wholly dedicated to the stellar games across the Oculus Platform." Alongside updates for Cloudhead Games' Pistol Whip, Ready at Dawn's Lone Echo 2, and ILMxLAB's Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy's Edge, there will also be never-before seen footage from unreleased games and "a few surprises." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/08/pistol-whip-review"] This news follows Facebook's confirmation that, since its launch in October 2020, the Oculus Quest 2 has outsold every other Oculus headset combined. In our Oculus Quest 2 review, we said that it "improves over its predecessor in a lot of little ways, with a few small drawbacks like the enlarged controllers and cheaper strap. But its wireless nature, ease of use, and accessible price still make it a killer VR headset." Despite its success, the Oculus Quest 2 came with a bit of controversy as it quickly became known that if you were to delete your Oculus-linked Facebook account, you would lose all access to your games, purchase, and progress. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/21/star-wars-tales-from-the-galaxys-edge-official-trailer"] [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.

The King of Queens and Paul Blart: Mall Cop's Kevin James is set to play New Orleans Saints' head coach Sean Payton in Netflix's Home Team, a film that will be produced by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions. As reported by NBC's Peter King, Home Team's story will begin in 2012 when Payton was suspended by NFL commissioner Roger Godell for the Saints' bounty scandal. [caption id="attachment_249910" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Image Credit: Left (Sean Payton) - Sean Gardner/Getty Images. Right (Kevin James) - Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images.[/caption] In order to "re-assess his life and put it in some perspective," Payton becomes the offensive coach for the Liberty Christian Warriors, his son's sixth-grade football located in Dallas, Texas. King mentions that Payton has already read the script and has made some corrections, and that filming should begin later this year. Payton spoke to ESPN, and believes this movie will have a "humorous Adam Sandler" spin on the real story and will be more of an "inspired by" tale than an exact retelling. He also said the idea came to be after his daughter Meghan reported the true story of his time with the Warriors for NFL Network. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2008/10/27/paul-blart-mall-cop-movie-trailer-trailer"] Meghan's boyfriend, Christoper Titone, is Sandler's brother-in-law and an actor who works with Happy Madison. After discussing the idea with Sandler, he gave the go-ahead and entrusted Titone to help produce the script. When asked about Kevin James playing him, Payton responded by saying, "listen, I'm at that age where I don't really care." However, he enjoyed talking to James about the role, and knows that James and Happy Madison do a "great job." For those unfamiliar, the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, informally known as Bountygate, was an incident in which members of the Saints were accused of paying out bonuses/bounties for their players to injure opposing team players. [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.

In sad news for the movie industry, Decurion has announced that ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theaters will be closing for good. As reported by Deadline, Arclight Cinemas and Pacific Theaters closed their doors over a year ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and "despite a huge effort that exhausted all potential options, the company does not have a viable way forward." [caption id="attachment_249909" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Image Credit: Robert Mora/Getty Images[/caption] "After shutting our doors more than a year ago, today we must share the difficult and sad news that Pacific will not be reopening its ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theatres locations," Decurion said in a statement. "This was not the outcome anyone wanted, but despite a huge effort that exhausted all potential options, the company does not have a viable way forward. "To all the Pacific and ArcLight employees who have devoted their professional lives to making our theaters the very best places in the world to see movies: we are grateful for your service and your dedication to our customers. To our guests and members of the film industry who have made going to the movies such a magical experience over the years: our deepest thanks. It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve you." Deadline notes that it heard the chain was shooting for reopening its theaters around Memorial Day weekend with A Quiet Place Part II and Cruella, but it appears that hope has run out. The news is that much more unfortunate as California governor Gavin Newsom's June 15 wide-open order is expected to allow Los Angeles County to have movie theaters operating at 100%. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true"] The Hollywood Arclight multiplex on Sunset Boulevard and its 58-year old Cinerama Dome is one of Decurion's most well-known theaters, and was featured in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It is also one of the highest-grossing movie theaters in the nation. According to Deadline, Decurion has "handed the keys back to the landlords on all their Arclight and Pacific properties." This is all part of a thick lease negotiation, and the landlord will be able to decide "which keys to keep and which they’d like to return to the exhibitor." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/14/are-movie-theaters-about-to-go-extinct"] Considering the Cinerama Dome, which was constructed in 1963, has become such an important part of the Los Angeles movie scene, there may be hope for some other company like AMC to come in and give at least that theater another chance at life, although there has been no word of a potential sale as of yet. One of the many reasons the Cinerama Dome is worth saving is that it is the only concrete geodesic dome on Earth, and it also houses the largest contoured motion picture screen in the world, measuring in at 32 feet high and 86 feet wide. [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.

NASA has released a new image of Mars' blue dunes and it looks more like an alien planet from Mass Effect than one from our very own solar system. Despite the image being new to our eyes, it's actually quite an old photo. The image below was made using multiple photos captured by NASA's longest-working Mars spacecraft, the Mars Odyssey orbiter, in between December 2002 and November 2004. More specifically, it's an image created by combining multiple photos captured by the Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System and while it might not be obvious when looking at it, the image below covers 19 miles of the Red Planet's landscape. [caption id="attachment_2499060" align="alignnone" width="720"] Mars' Blue Dunes, Photo Credit: NASA[/caption] "A sea of dark dunes, sculpted by the wind into long lines, surrounds Mars' northern polar cap and covers an area as big as Texas," NASA's post about the image reads. "In this false-color image, areas with cooler temperatures are recorded in bluer tints, while warmer features are depicted in yellows and oranges. Thus, the dark, sun-warmed dunes glow with a golden color." Despite the dunes not being actually blue as the image might suggest, it's still another great look at the landscape of Mars, which has been NASA's focus lately. NASA landed its latest Mars rover, Perseverance, on the Red Planet less than two months ago and one day later, NASA released the first images from Perseverance to the world. Because Perseverance is equipped with microphones, we now know what the surface of Mars sounds like too and spoilers, there's no heavy metal to be heard despite what Doom has led us to believe. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=sights-and-sounds-of-mars-from-nasas-perseverance-rover&captions=true"] NASA kept people talking about Mars by hiding a secret message on the parachute of Perseverance. Between that secret message, hearing the surface of Mars for the first time, and seeing its blue dunes, it's a great time to be someone interested in the Red Planet. Just in case that's not enough, NASA's first-ever Mars helicopter is scheduled to make its initial flight in two days, which will give everyone back on Earth a new 15-feet-up perspective of the planet [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer, guide maker, and science guru for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

BioShock 4 developer Cloud Chamber is hiring, and a new job description for a senior writer may give us some hints as to what’s in store for the franchise.

The new job listing, first reported by PCGamesN, is specifically targeted at applicants “who can weave impactful, character-driven stories in an open-world setting.” The senior writer will also assist in crafting “primary and secondary mission content,” suggesting this new BioShock will allow players to veer off the main path throughout the game. The role will be charged with assisting in the “creation and execution of the core story including the writing of dialogue and other narrative elements as directed.”

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Side content isn’t necessarily a revolutionary concept for the BioShock franchise, which has deep roots in the typically open-ended immersive sim genre. Even the more straightforward BioShock Infinite has several missable side quests in order to encourage exploration, such as the hidden button that opens up the backroom of a bar known as the Salty Oyster.

All that said, a few buzzwords such as “open-world” and “secondary mission content” can mean a lot of different things depending on the game, and the scope and style of a game can easily evolve over the course of a years-long project. BioShock 4, which was announced by publisher 2K in December 2019, appears to still be very much in those early stages. Kelley Gilmore, a game development veteran of 20 years on titles like XCOM and Sid Meier’s Civilization, is directing the new project. Gilmore previously told IGN that original BioShock creator Ken Levine is not associated with the project in any way.

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However, a number of BioShock vets are still attached for the sequel. Hoagy de la Plante (BioShock 1 and 2) is serving as creative director, original art director Scott Sinclair is reprising his role, and BioShock Infinite art team creative director Jonathan Pelling is working as design director. Despite that history, the new BioShock may not take place in the undersea Rapture or skybound Columbia.

In any case, if you’re a game writer with at least two shipped projects under your belt, apply away.

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/big daddy for IGN. Would you kindly follow him on Twitter?

The CW has revealed a first look at the Powerpuff Girls live-action series, starring Chloe Bennet as Blossom, Dove Cameron as Bubbles, and Yana Perrault as Buttercup. Take a look at the first official image from the show: The show will still include the characters in their "official" Powerpuff uniforms, but The CW says we should only expect to see the costumes in flashbacks to their teenage years. The show will primarily focus on the characters as, "disillusioned twenty-somethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime fighting." Donald Faison will appear in the show as Professor Drake Utonium, along with Nicholas Podany as Jojo Mondel and Robyn Lively as Sara Bellum. The live-action version of the popular Cartoon Network show began development last summer, with producers who previously worked on the Veronica Mars revival, iZombie, and Juno. The CW ordered a pilot for the series earlier this year. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2015/06/10/former-powerpuff-girls-voice-actress-calls-being-replaced-a-stab-in-the-heart-ign-news"] The Powerpuff Girls originally ran for six seasons and 78 episodes between 1998 and 2005. A movie came out in 2002, and a reboot of the series aired on Cartoon Network in 2016. For more, check out our list of the best adult cartoon TV shows. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-25-best-adult-cartoon-tv-series&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Logan Plant is a news writer for IGN, and the Production Assistant for Nintendo Voice Chat, IGN's weekly Nintendo show. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.

A French court has overturned a 2018 ruling that said a former Quantic Dream employee qualified for unfair dismissal from their position at the company. The original court decision, as reported at the time by Eurogamer, revolved around a French law that allows employees who choose to quit their jobs due to harmful work environments to petition for unfair dismissal and receive benefits as a result. In Quantic Dream's case, the employee claimed they left the company due to its toxic culture. This case occurred around the same time as a series of articles in the French press alleging that studio head David Cage had an "autocratic" style of working and would frequently make inappropriate, racist, or sexist remarks at work. They additionally reported a "cache" of around 600 Photoshopped images on the company servers, which included Quantic Dream employees in sexual positions, incorporated homophobic or sexist slurs, or superimposed onto figures wearing Nazi clothing. The employee in the 2018 case included these as reasons for their departure. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/04/23/quantic-dream-reportedly-suing-over-negative-coverage"] At the time, Quantic Dream denied the allegations in a formal statement, and later sued two of the three French papers that printed the allegations for defamation, in cases that are still ongoing. Now, per GamesIndustry.biz's report, the Paris Court of Appeals has overturned the former ruling, stating that the employee did not have a right to receive benefits after all. The ruling determines that none of the Photoshopped images that the specific employee was involved in were "degrading, homophobic, or racist" as was alleged. Additionally, contrary to the employee's original argument that they were unaware of the existence of the images until the media reports, the ruling says that the employee was included on the original emails when they circulated — demonstrating a "tacit acceptance" of the image content when they were received, according to the court. Essentially, the French court has determined that there is no connection between the inappropriate images and the employee's departure from the company, and the employee must pay €10,138 (about $12,000) in damages to the company. Notably, the court did not make any kind of broad, overall ruling about the culture at Quantic Dream or the veracity of the media reports from 2018; rather, its focus was on whether the one employee in question was legally eligible for benefits given any specific impact on them as an individual. At least one other employee has received a separate payout from Quantic Dream in a similar ruling, having quit their job after seeing a photoshopped image of themselves circulated that made them appear to be performing a Nazi salute. In response to the ruling, Quantic Dream has published an official statement that appears to take the decision on the employee's benefits as a judgment on the studio's culture as a whole:

These objective, factual and verifiable elements, confirmed by the competent judicial or administrative institutions, show indisputably that the allegations contained in these articles were untrue and likely to damage the studio’s honor and reputation. Quantic Dream has chosen to make these elements public today in order to set the record straight. Quantic Dream reaffirms once again the values that the studio has always defended in its games and within the company, which are values of humanism, inclusiveness, and the right for individuals to express themselves uniquely. We will continue to defend them with the same passion and determination as always. Quantic Dream remains firmly committed to continuing to work with its employees to create a serene work environment conducive to the professional and personal development and fulfillment of everyone.

IGN recently spoke with Quantic Dream founder and CEO David Cage, Co-CEO Guillaume de Fondaumière, and the head of Quantic Dream's newly-formed Montreal studio Stéphane D’Astous about the company's upcoming goals and ambitions, during which Cage similarly denied the allegations, and gave a brief overview of how workplace issues might be handled at the new location. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

The Borderlands movie announced that it is adding Janina Gavankar to the cast. She will be playing Commander Knoxx, a new character created for the movie. Commander Knoxx will be introduced in the Borderlands movie but she will be related to an existing character from the games, General Knoxx the star of The Secret Armory of General Knoxx DLC for the first Borderlands. According to Randy Pitchford, Commander Knoxx is the general's daughter and a member of Atlas' private army the Crimson Lance. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=live-action-versions-of-video-game-characters&captions=true"] Further details on Gavankar's role in Borderlands are being kept under wraps, but she is not the first original character to be introduced in the upcoming movie. Haley Bennett has been cast in an unnamed role for an original character who has ties to Lilith, played by Cate Blanchett. Additionally, Edgar Ramirez has been cast as Atlas, who is not new to the Borderlands franchise, but hasn't appeared in the games as a character before. Gavankar has been seen in films such as Blindspotting and The Way Back, as well as the lead character Iden Versio in Star Wars: Battlefront 2. She is a noted video game fan and has even made uncredited appearances in The Mandalorian as a puppeteer. Gavankar joins Blanchett, Bennett, Ramirez, as well as Kevin Hart as Roland, Jamie Lee Curtis as Tannis, Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, and Jack Black who will voice Claptrap. According to a plot synopsis, Lilith will form a team with all of these wayward hunters in order to rescue Atlas' missing daughter. The Borderlands movie will be directed by Eli Roth based on a screenplay by Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin, who's also working on HBO's live-action The Last of Us series starring Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Other video game adaptations currently in the works include the Uncharted movie starring Tom Holland, and the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot which will premiere in theaters, and HBO Max. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Lucy Liu has joined the upcoming Shazam: Fury of the Gods, New Line and DC announced Monday according to The Wrap.

Even better, Liu (Chicago, Kill Bill, Elementary) has been cast as the villainous god Kalypso, the sister of Helen Mirren’s character Hespera and daughter to Atlas. Neither Hespera nor Kalypso are featured in the actual DC comics, but Atlas has appeared to duel members of the Justice League and is one of the sources of Shazam’s powers. Atlas serves as a sort of amalgamation of ancient Greek deities, possessing immense wisdom and strength. It’s thought that Hespera and Kalypso could be based on the Hesperides, the nymph daughters of the actual Atlas, depending on how you read the Greek myths.

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The post-credits scene for the first Shazam film saw the villain Doctor Sivana meet an alien named Master Mind. Whether or not that plotline will play into Fury of the Gods remains to be seen.

Liu is also joining West Side Story star Rachel Zegler, who is playing a currently unknown role. Much of the original cast and production crew is set to return, including Zachary Levi as Shazam and Asher Angel as his young alter ego Billy Batson. David F. Sandberg is also returning to direct.

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Liu wrapped work on the successful Elementary in 2019, and most recently joined CBS’ Why Women Kill anthology series. Funny enough, Liu worked within the MCU previously, but as a director of a season two episode of Luke Cage.

Despite being deeply connected throughout the comics, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Black Adam film also won’t interact with Shazam. Shazam: Fury of the Gods is scheduled to premier in theaters on June 2, 2023. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.

The late Chadwick Boseman will not make any sort of cameo appearance (via CG or unused footage) in Black Panther 2, Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore said to Vanity Fair.

“No. I can say. That is not going to happen,” Moore said. “I would be honest if it was. Chad’s passing is a whole life thing, and I loved the guy as much as the character. I think we have to be very careful and thoughtful about when he appears, because he meant so much to a lot of people as much as he meant to us. But yeah, we wouldn’t use that as a ‘Come next week; maybe you’ll see Panther!’ We wouldn’t, and he’s not.”

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This isn’t the first time Marvel Studios has shot down the possibility that Boseman might appear in the MCU posthumously. Boseman died of stage IV colon cancer in August 2020. Late last year, Marvel Studios executive producer Victoria Alonso summarily dismissed the idea of using CG to recreate Boseman.

“No. There's only one Chadwick, and he's not with us. Our king, unfortunately, has died in real life, not just in fiction, and we are taking a little time to see how we return to history and what we do to honor this chapter of what has happened to us that was so unexpected, so painful, so terrible, really," Alonso said in November.

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Since the actor’s untimely death, the possibility of a CG Boseman has been in the back of many Marvel fans minds, especially considering Disney has previously used CG to resurrect the long-dead Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One, alongside a brief CG appearance of a young Princess Leia. Disney then used archival footage of actress Carrie Fisher to insert her into scenes in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker following her sudden death.

Disney and Marvel seem particularly reluctant to repurpose Boseman, who served as one of the most popular characters in the entire MCU, and sparked a resurgence of interest in the Wakandan hero. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige has previously said that King T’Challa won’t be recast, and the recently announced Wakanda TV series may give Marvel the room to explore other characters that could stand alongside Black Panther. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.