Monthly Archives: April 2021
The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls Card Game Gets Its First Expansion: Requiem
Like The Binding of Isaac itself, creator Edmund McMillen often embraces controlled, successful chaos.
He speaks to me over the phone just 34 hours before launching The Binding of Isaac: Repentance last week, in the middle of moving house, with no internet. He tells me stories of throwing together absurd, over-the-top Kickstarter stretch goals for the card game he launched in 2018, The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls, like when they added a tier for backers to get their names engraved on gravestones in McMillen's backyard. He had to hire befuddled movers to bring the gravestones along to his new place.
In the midst of all this, McMillen is gearing up for even more calculated mayhem. He's partnered with Maestro Media to launch the first major expansion to Binding of Isaac: Four Souls, called Requiem, on Kickstarter later this summer.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/06/27/the-binding-of-isaac-four-souls-how-to-play"]
According to McMillen, Requiem is almost the size of the original base Four Souls game, and will add numerous cards with references to enemies, items, bosses, and other scenarios from The Binding of Isaac that Four Souls didn't get to include the first time around. He's collaborating with comic artists like Sam Keith, Tom Bunk, Alex Pardee, Peach Momoko, and Agnes Garbowski to create art for the game. And yes, he's including new content from The Binding of Isaac: Repentance.
"I absolutely loved designing this," McMillen says. "Designing a board game after designing video games for so many years-- video games are like the most stupidly complicated art form. Like, literally they're the most in-depth art form there is. Because you basically take what you do in movies, and then you add game design to it. You add gameplay, game design, game design mechanics... It's this very long-winded, artistic expressions-type situation where I've got to wait four years for somebody to see something that will take them a few hours to beat.
[caption id="attachment_2496277" align="aligncenter" width="720"]
New art designed for The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls: Requiem, by Peach Momoko[/caption]
"But with Four Souls, it was literally sitting down with my friends and playing a card game over and over again, and just editing on the fly. I got to design this game with my wife, which I've never been able to do. I got to sit down and prototype the game with her.
"I think one of the reasons I started working on it was because I was kind of in a really low spot in video games in general, where I felt like I wasn't feeling it as much anymore. And I didn't know what I wanted to do. And working on the card game was a breath of fresh air. And it really got me back in that creative open thinking, like anything is possible."
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=A%20lot%20of%20the%20cards%20in%20this%20expansion%20force%20people%20to%20rock%20the%20boat.%20You're%20forced%20to%20make%20friends.%20You're%20forced%20to%20make%20enemies."]
McMillen isn't ready to reveal too much about the specifics of Requiem just yet, especially as he wants to avoid spoiling anything Repentance-related. But he did have a specific idea in mind early on for how he wanted Requiem to impact gameplay.
"The mechanics are more focused on pushing people into situations," he says. "I found in testing that sometimes people play pretty conservatively. They will just wait it out because they don't want to cause an issue early on, because they don't want to be the target of retaliation. Or they don't want to look like they're playing favorites by doing favors for different people because then other people will get jealous... And a lot of the cards in this expansion force people to rock the boat. You're forced to make friends. You're forced to make enemies. And then there are a bunch of cards that actually allow you to attack other players directly, which wasn't a mechanic at all in the original game. So it's like, 'Let's rock the boat really hard for you and then give people an option to kill you.'"
Requiem comes a few years after Four Souls Kickstarted its way to immediate, overwhelming success. According to Maestro Media's Javon Frazier, the over $2.7 million that Four Souls made on the platform in 30 days was "only a fraction" of the revenue done to date," and over 18,000 people are signed up to hear updates about future expansions to the game. McMillen tells me that it's gotten so big that the card game has its own fanbase now, distinct from the general Binding of Isaac fanbase. And he's even hired artists and editors from those fans to help him update old cards in preparation for a re-release of the original Four Souls.
Frazier says there's a kind of "magic" to the sort of connection McMillen has with the fan community that makes it really enjoyable to make things with him. He's worked with McMillen for three years now, first as a part of Studio71 on Four Souls, and now as Maestro Media for Requiem.
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=%5BThe%20first%20Kickstarter%5D%20felt%20like%20a%20party%20where%20we%20were%20just%20trying%20to%20have%20fun%20and%20celebrate%20The%20Binding%20of%20Isaac."]
Frazier is excited for the Kickstarter, and says that the goal of running a Kickstarter for this expansion is less about raising funds necessary for the game to exist at all, and more about bringing the community together around the announcement and the fun extras that follow from meeting goals.
McMillen agrees. "When it comes to our Kickstarter, it wasn't just, 'Hey, come put some money into funding this game.' It was more like, 'Hey, come tell us what you think of these things that I'm sharing with you. And let's all interact together and have fun.' It felt like a month-long party where we weren't so much just trying to make a bunch of money, but we were just trying to have fun and celebrate The Binding of Isaac, and then get hyped about this game that I'd come up with that I wanted everybody to play.
"I think originally Kickstarter really was about somebody who'd had absolutely no money and they had a cool idea and they wanted to do it. And I'd say that that's not so much what people use it for anymore,” McMillen adds. “It's still there, obviously, for that. But I think if you look, you'd mostly see like large IP companies that are utilizing it to kind of get a bunch of people in and gauge interest. But I think with ours, it was a communal thing."
McMillen and Frazier both confirm that weird stretch goals ala the tombstones from last time are on the table again this time, though they expect to come up with them on the fly as needed. McMillen quips that in a way, he's playing "financial improv," noting that some of the stretch goals they added during the first Kickstarter did not actually make them any money, even if they did result in cool merchandise or incentives.
The Requiem card game Kickstarter comes on the heels of the release of The Binding of Isaac: Repentance, which McMillen has said is the final update he'll do on the decade-old video game. He's said similar things before -- but this time, at least in terms of The Binding of Isaac video game, he emphasizes that he's really done.
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=I%20would%20like%20to%20be%20able%20to%20close%20the%20book%20on%20the%20video%20game%2C%20so%20it%20can%20be%20put%20on%20the%20shelf%20and%20you%20can%20look%20at%20it%20and%20ask%2C%20'Was%20this%20a%20classic%3F'"]
"I feel like Isaac never got its-- it's become a classic in a lot of people's eyes. Like, I'll get people messaging me saying, 'I played your game when I was eight years old. And now I'm 18 years old. I still play it every day.' It seems insane. But the thing is, the game has been in development for that long as well. It's kind of almost like Minecraft in that respect, where we're updating it constantly. And I would like to be able to close the book on the video game, so it can be put on the shelf and you can look at it and ask, 'Was this a classic? How do I feel about it? How does it compare five years from now?' I'd love to do a sequel in the future. But I would also love to do a lot of other stuff.
"I want it to age like fine wine. You've got to put it on the shelf and look at it for a little while, and stop adding to it and stop messing with it, so people can just experience and let the legacy lie, you know? And that's what I want to do for a while before I hop back in. As an artist too, it's very difficult to not see the potential in what a sequel could be if you start thinking about a sequel while you're still finishing up the first one. So I want that time to kind of reflect and figure out exactly what I would do with a sequel before I just jump in and make an almost sequel."
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/01/the-binding-of-isaac-repentance-launch-trailer"]
McMillen may be ready to walk away from the original Binding of Isaac game, but given his sequel teases, he's not at all ready to walk away from The Binding of Isaac universe as a whole. And neither is Frazier -- who teased other "variations, or other iterations" on The Binding of Isaac coming in the future -- suggesting these discussions were critical to what he wanted to do with Maestro Media as a whole.
Ultimately, McMillen believes that the power of The Binding of Isaac realistically lies in the video game's replayability -- therein lies the reason for the game's ongoing success and ability to generate spin-offs like Four Souls and now Requiem. But he hopes that its popularity has a bit more to it than that.
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=What%20I'd%20like%20to%20believe%20is%20that%20I%20put%20myself%20as%20honestly%2C%20and%20just%20raw%20as%20possible%20into%20this."]
"What I'd like to believe is that I put myself as honestly, and just raw as possible into this. I feel like The Binding of Isaac's themes, and mechanics, and the story and everything are the most true to who I am than anything I've ever done.
"It's almost ironic at this point. Because I made The Binding of Isaac as a free game. It was supposed to be a free game in Flash that was supposed to be my break from the structure. I had just gotten off of Super Meat Boy. And even though I didn't compromise a lot when it came to [Super Meat Boy], I still played it as safe as I possibly could because I invested many years and all of my savings in the project.
"...[But] with The Binding of Isaac, I went unbridled. I wasn't going to sell it, so what does it matter what I put in it? I can put whatever I want in, and I don't have to worry about anything and I can just go nuts. And that's what I did. And I didn't stop myself from anything I wanted to do. And that's what came out. And I'd like to think that people can feel that, and that it's so different than what a lot of other people have to offer."
[poilib element="accentDivider"]
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
New art designed for The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls: Requiem, by Peach Momoko[/caption]
"But with Four Souls, it was literally sitting down with my friends and playing a card game over and over again, and just editing on the fly. I got to design this game with my wife, which I've never been able to do. I got to sit down and prototype the game with her.
"I think one of the reasons I started working on it was because I was kind of in a really low spot in video games in general, where I felt like I wasn't feeling it as much anymore. And I didn't know what I wanted to do. And working on the card game was a breath of fresh air. And it really got me back in that creative open thinking, like anything is possible."
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=A%20lot%20of%20the%20cards%20in%20this%20expansion%20force%20people%20to%20rock%20the%20boat.%20You're%20forced%20to%20make%20friends.%20You're%20forced%20to%20make%20enemies."]
McMillen isn't ready to reveal too much about the specifics of Requiem just yet, especially as he wants to avoid spoiling anything Repentance-related. But he did have a specific idea in mind early on for how he wanted Requiem to impact gameplay.
"The mechanics are more focused on pushing people into situations," he says. "I found in testing that sometimes people play pretty conservatively. They will just wait it out because they don't want to cause an issue early on, because they don't want to be the target of retaliation. Or they don't want to look like they're playing favorites by doing favors for different people because then other people will get jealous... And a lot of the cards in this expansion force people to rock the boat. You're forced to make friends. You're forced to make enemies. And then there are a bunch of cards that actually allow you to attack other players directly, which wasn't a mechanic at all in the original game. So it's like, 'Let's rock the boat really hard for you and then give people an option to kill you.'"
Requiem comes a few years after Four Souls Kickstarted its way to immediate, overwhelming success. According to Maestro Media's Javon Frazier, the over $2.7 million that Four Souls made on the platform in 30 days was "only a fraction" of the revenue done to date," and over 18,000 people are signed up to hear updates about future expansions to the game. McMillen tells me that it's gotten so big that the card game has its own fanbase now, distinct from the general Binding of Isaac fanbase. And he's even hired artists and editors from those fans to help him update old cards in preparation for a re-release of the original Four Souls.
Frazier says there's a kind of "magic" to the sort of connection McMillen has with the fan community that makes it really enjoyable to make things with him. He's worked with McMillen for three years now, first as a part of Studio71 on Four Souls, and now as Maestro Media for Requiem.
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=%5BThe%20first%20Kickstarter%5D%20felt%20like%20a%20party%20where%20we%20were%20just%20trying%20to%20have%20fun%20and%20celebrate%20The%20Binding%20of%20Isaac."]
Frazier is excited for the Kickstarter, and says that the goal of running a Kickstarter for this expansion is less about raising funds necessary for the game to exist at all, and more about bringing the community together around the announcement and the fun extras that follow from meeting goals.
McMillen agrees. "When it comes to our Kickstarter, it wasn't just, 'Hey, come put some money into funding this game.' It was more like, 'Hey, come tell us what you think of these things that I'm sharing with you. And let's all interact together and have fun.' It felt like a month-long party where we weren't so much just trying to make a bunch of money, but we were just trying to have fun and celebrate The Binding of Isaac, and then get hyped about this game that I'd come up with that I wanted everybody to play.
"I think originally Kickstarter really was about somebody who'd had absolutely no money and they had a cool idea and they wanted to do it. And I'd say that that's not so much what people use it for anymore,” McMillen adds. “It's still there, obviously, for that. But I think if you look, you'd mostly see like large IP companies that are utilizing it to kind of get a bunch of people in and gauge interest. But I think with ours, it was a communal thing."
McMillen and Frazier both confirm that weird stretch goals ala the tombstones from last time are on the table again this time, though they expect to come up with them on the fly as needed. McMillen quips that in a way, he's playing "financial improv," noting that some of the stretch goals they added during the first Kickstarter did not actually make them any money, even if they did result in cool merchandise or incentives.
The Requiem card game Kickstarter comes on the heels of the release of The Binding of Isaac: Repentance, which McMillen has said is the final update he'll do on the decade-old video game. He's said similar things before -- but this time, at least in terms of The Binding of Isaac video game, he emphasizes that he's really done.
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=I%20would%20like%20to%20be%20able%20to%20close%20the%20book%20on%20the%20video%20game%2C%20so%20it%20can%20be%20put%20on%20the%20shelf%20and%20you%20can%20look%20at%20it%20and%20ask%2C%20'Was%20this%20a%20classic%3F'"]
"I feel like Isaac never got its-- it's become a classic in a lot of people's eyes. Like, I'll get people messaging me saying, 'I played your game when I was eight years old. And now I'm 18 years old. I still play it every day.' It seems insane. But the thing is, the game has been in development for that long as well. It's kind of almost like Minecraft in that respect, where we're updating it constantly. And I would like to be able to close the book on the video game, so it can be put on the shelf and you can look at it and ask, 'Was this a classic? How do I feel about it? How does it compare five years from now?' I'd love to do a sequel in the future. But I would also love to do a lot of other stuff.
"I want it to age like fine wine. You've got to put it on the shelf and look at it for a little while, and stop adding to it and stop messing with it, so people can just experience and let the legacy lie, you know? And that's what I want to do for a while before I hop back in. As an artist too, it's very difficult to not see the potential in what a sequel could be if you start thinking about a sequel while you're still finishing up the first one. So I want that time to kind of reflect and figure out exactly what I would do with a sequel before I just jump in and make an almost sequel."
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/01/the-binding-of-isaac-repentance-launch-trailer"]
McMillen may be ready to walk away from the original Binding of Isaac game, but given his sequel teases, he's not at all ready to walk away from The Binding of Isaac universe as a whole. And neither is Frazier -- who teased other "variations, or other iterations" on The Binding of Isaac coming in the future -- suggesting these discussions were critical to what he wanted to do with Maestro Media as a whole.
Ultimately, McMillen believes that the power of The Binding of Isaac realistically lies in the video game's replayability -- therein lies the reason for the game's ongoing success and ability to generate spin-offs like Four Souls and now Requiem. But he hopes that its popularity has a bit more to it than that.
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=What%20I'd%20like%20to%20believe%20is%20that%20I%20put%20myself%20as%20honestly%2C%20and%20just%20raw%20as%20possible%20into%20this."]
"What I'd like to believe is that I put myself as honestly, and just raw as possible into this. I feel like The Binding of Isaac's themes, and mechanics, and the story and everything are the most true to who I am than anything I've ever done.
"It's almost ironic at this point. Because I made The Binding of Isaac as a free game. It was supposed to be a free game in Flash that was supposed to be my break from the structure. I had just gotten off of Super Meat Boy. And even though I didn't compromise a lot when it came to [Super Meat Boy], I still played it as safe as I possibly could because I invested many years and all of my savings in the project.
"...[But] with The Binding of Isaac, I went unbridled. I wasn't going to sell it, so what does it matter what I put in it? I can put whatever I want in, and I don't have to worry about anything and I can just go nuts. And that's what I did. And I didn't stop myself from anything I wanted to do. And that's what came out. And I'd like to think that people can feel that, and that it's so different than what a lot of other people have to offer."
[poilib element="accentDivider"]
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.Borderlands Movie Casts Bodybuilder Olivier Richters as Krom
Dutch bodybuilder Olivier Richters has been cast as the turret-firing boss Krom in the upcoming Borderlands movie, IGN can exclusively reveal.
Richters is primarily known for his bodybuilding career and imposing height of 7'2", but has also held multiple acting roles in The King's Man, Black Widow, Nailed, and Gangs of London.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/05/borderlands-the-movie-gets-an-official-synopsis"]
Thus far, nothing further has been revealed about what Krom's place in the narrative of the movie will be, other than him being a leader for the psycho bandits terrorizing Pandora.
Though given the plot synopsis shared by Lionsgate yesterday, it seems likely he will be one of the notable enemies for protagonist Lilith (Cate Blanchett) to fight as she seeks the missing daughter of Atlas (Edgar Ramirez). Lilith is joined by Roland (Kevin Hart), Krieg (Florian Munteanu), Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), and Claptrap (Jack Black).
The Borderlands movie is being directed by Eli Roth and will have a screenplay written by Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin. It is currently in production, and a release date has not yet been shared.
[poilib element="accentDivider"]
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
Borderlands Movie Casts Bodybuilder Olivier Richters as Krom
Dutch bodybuilder Olivier Richters has been cast as the turret-firing boss Krom in the upcoming Borderlands movie, IGN can exclusively reveal.
Richters is primarily known for his bodybuilding career and imposing height of 7'2", but has also held multiple acting roles in The King's Man, Black Widow, Nailed, and Gangs of London.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/05/borderlands-the-movie-gets-an-official-synopsis"]
Thus far, nothing further has been revealed about what Krom's place in the narrative of the movie will be, other than him being a leader for the psycho bandits terrorizing Pandora.
Though given the plot synopsis shared by Lionsgate yesterday, it seems likely he will be one of the notable enemies for protagonist Lilith (Cate Blanchett) to fight as she seeks the missing daughter of Atlas (Edgar Ramirez). Lilith is joined by Roland (Kevin Hart), Krieg (Florian Munteanu), Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), and Claptrap (Jack Black).
The Borderlands movie is being directed by Eli Roth and will have a screenplay written by Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin. It is currently in production, and a release date has not yet been shared.
[poilib element="accentDivider"]
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
GTA 5 Is Coming Back to Xbox Game Pass This Week
Microsoft has announced that Grand Theft Auto V will be returning to Xbox Game Pass on April 8, 2021, for the first time since May 2020.
Announced on Xbox Wire, GTA V (Cloud and Console) is one of the seven other Xbox Game Pass games coming soon, including MLB The Show 21 (Cloud and Console - April 20), Zombie Army 4: Dead War (Cloud, Console, and PC - April 8), Disneyland Adventures (Cloud - April 8), Rush: A Disney/Pixar Adventure (Cloud - April 8), NHL 21 (Console - April 12), Rain on Your Parade (Cloud, Console, and PC - April 15), and Pathway (PC - April 15).
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/04/exclusive-ps5-xbox-series-x-content-coming-to-gta-online-ign-now"]
GTA V was added to Xbox Game Pass in January 2020 and was removed on May 7, 2020, the same day Red Dead Redemption 2 was added. Read Dead Redemption 2 was also on the service for only four months before it was removed in September 2020.
Microsoft also revealed that over 50 games on Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) are now playable with Xbox Touch Controls. You can check out the full list here, but some of the big games getting this update will be Sea of Thieves, Gears 5, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age, Slay the Spire.
While GTA V has yet to receive a full next-gen upgrade, it is obviously playable on Xbox Series X/S via backward compatibility. Rockstar did however reveal that, when GTA Online's next- gen version launches, it will arrive with exclusive content.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/11/grand-theft-auto-5-enhanced-edition-trailer-ps5-reveal-event"]
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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.
GTA 5 Is Coming Back to Xbox Game Pass This Week
Microsoft has announced that Grand Theft Auto V will be returning to Xbox Game Pass on April 8, 2021, for the first time since May 2020.
Announced on Xbox Wire, GTA V (Cloud and Console) is one of the seven other Xbox Game Pass games coming soon, including MLB The Show 21 (Cloud and Console - April 20), Zombie Army 4: Dead War (Cloud, Console, and PC - April 8), Disneyland Adventures (Cloud - April 8), Rush: A Disney/Pixar Adventure (Cloud - April 8), NHL 21 (Console - April 12), Rain on Your Parade (Cloud, Console, and PC - April 15), and Pathway (PC - April 15).
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/04/exclusive-ps5-xbox-series-x-content-coming-to-gta-online-ign-now"]
GTA V was added to Xbox Game Pass in January 2020 and was removed on May 7, 2020, the same day Red Dead Redemption 2 was added. Read Dead Redemption 2 was also on the service for only four months before it was removed in September 2020.
Microsoft also revealed that over 50 games on Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) are now playable with Xbox Touch Controls. You can check out the full list here, but some of the big games getting this update will be Sea of Thieves, Gears 5, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age, Slay the Spire.
While GTA V has yet to receive a full next-gen upgrade, it is obviously playable on Xbox Series X/S via backward compatibility. Rockstar did however reveal that, when GTA Online's next- gen version launches, it will arrive with exclusive content.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/11/grand-theft-auto-5-enhanced-edition-trailer-ps5-reveal-event"]
[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.
E3 2021 Plans Announced: Xbox and Nintendo Involved, No Sign of Sony
The Electronic Software Association has announced its plans for the first digital-only E3, which will include Nintendo and Xbox, but currently does not include Sony.
Taking place from June 12-15, E3 2021 is confirmed to include appearances from Nintendo, Xbox, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros. Games, Koch Media.
Sony is conspicuous by its absence on that list, and we've contacted the company for comment. Other major missing companies include EA (which has recently preferred to host its own EA Play events during E3's timing), Square Enix, Sega, Bandai Namco, Tencent, 505, and Activision Blizzard.
The ESA makes clear that the list of partners marks "early commitments", so other publishers and developers could come onboard at a later date. However, before the show's pandemic-related cancellation, Sony had confirmed that it had no plans to attend E3 2020.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/10/will-e3-still-have-a-big-impact-in-2021-plus-silent-hill-rumors-beyond-episode-687"]
After announcing that the show would return as a digital-only event, the E3 website promises "live press conferences and a four-day long video stream," and says the show will be "a reimagined and hyper-engaged digital experience."
Concrete details about the show remain thin on the ground, but ESA president Stanley Pierre-Louis used a press release to say: “We are evolving this year’s E3 into a more inclusive event, but will still look to excite the fans with major reveals and insider opportunities that make this event the indispensable center stage for video games.”
What we know for sure is that the event will be entirely free. After previous reports that parts of E3 2021 could be put behind paywalls, the ESA told IGN that "E3’s 2021 digital show is a free event for all attendees".
[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.
E3 2021 Plans Announced: Xbox and Nintendo Involved, No Sign of Sony
The Electronic Software Association has announced its plans for the first digital-only E3, which will include Nintendo and Xbox, but currently does not include Sony.
Taking place from June 12-15, E3 2021 is confirmed to include appearances from Nintendo, Xbox, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros. Games, Koch Media.
Sony is conspicuous by its absence on that list, and we've contacted the company for comment. Other major missing companies include EA (which has recently preferred to host its own EA Play events during E3's timing), Square Enix, Sega, Bandai Namco, Tencent, 505, and Activision Blizzard.
The ESA makes clear that the list of partners marks "early commitments", so other publishers and developers could come onboard at a later date. However, before the show's pandemic-related cancellation, Sony had confirmed that it had no plans to attend E3 2020.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/10/will-e3-still-have-a-big-impact-in-2021-plus-silent-hill-rumors-beyond-episode-687"]
After announcing that the show would return as a digital-only event, the E3 website promises "live press conferences and a four-day long video stream," and says the show will be "a reimagined and hyper-engaged digital experience."
Concrete details about the show remain thin on the ground, but ESA president Stanley Pierre-Louis used a press release to say: “We are evolving this year’s E3 into a more inclusive event, but will still look to excite the fans with major reveals and insider opportunities that make this event the indispensable center stage for video games.”
What we know for sure is that the event will be entirely free. After previous reports that parts of E3 2021 could be put behind paywalls, the ESA told IGN that "E3’s 2021 digital show is a free event for all attendees".
[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.
Timesplitters 2 4K Port Hidden Inside Homefront: The Revolution… But the Unlock Code Is Lost
A native 4K port of TimeSplitters 2 is tucked inside Homefront: The Revolution. There's just one problem – the code to unlock it has seemingly been lost.
During the Easter weekend, ex-Vlambeer developer Jan Willem Nijman asked fellow devs to point out their favourite Easter eggs hidden in their games. Matt Phillips, who previously worked at Homefront: The Revolution developer Dambuster, revealed a doozy: "My proudest moment. Fully playable, native 4K port of TimeSplitters 2 hidden in this arcade machine in Homefront: The Revolution."
We already knew that two levels of the classic shooter were hidden inside Homefront, and fans had previously found the full game in Homefront's files, but it remained unplayable by normal means. However, Phillips says that the game was "fully playable" with the use of an unlock code. And that's where it gets tricky, as Phillips no longer has the notebook where he wrote it down. Even worse, his previous attempts to spread it were shut down. Responding to a fan's request for how to unlock the rest, Phillips said: "The unlock code has been lost to time, I don't have the notebook with it in any more. I once gave it to a friend to leak in some Discord channel and they called him a liar and banned his account ahahah". [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2016/05/17/homefront-the-revolution-timesplitters-2-easter-egg"] Amazingly, Phillips even points out that he specifically designed Homefront's in-game arcade machine, which activates the TimeSplitters Easter egg, so that it would activate a multiplayer menu if placed in the same map as a second arcade machine. Making clear that it would only work in theory, Phillips wrote: "I ported the network stack to ride on top of [Homefront: The Revolution's] co-op mode. If, and that's a big if, anyone was able to hack two or more arcades into one of the co-op maps, it'll boot to the [multiplayer] menu." Phillips says he thinks there were two of the game's multiplayer maps included. Of course, the Internet is already looking for ways to find the code, with many players already combing the game's files for clues. Phillips says this may be a fruitless search: "To put you out of your misery," he wrote to several Twitter users, "there's nothing in the base game that even remotely hints at the cheat, sorry." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/08/14/new-timesplitters-saints-row-dead-island-2-updates-from-thq-nordic"] That likely won't stop fans looking for ways to circumvent the code (or go searching for someone who has it), however – TimeSplitters 2 is a cult classic to this day, and the lure of a 4K port is likely enough to keep the community scouring. As for how the entirety of TimeSplitters 2 was allowed into Homefront: The Revolution in the first place, Dambuster started life as TimeSplitters creator Free Radical, which held onto the source code and later gained the rights to use it. Given the fan response to this Easter egg, it doesn't seem like a terrible idea to just... release the port as a standalone game. We may see more TimeSplitters one day, too – Koch Media has previously hinted at a new project in the series, and brought on co-creator Steve Ellis to "plot the future course" of the franchise. [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.My proudest moment. Fully playable, native 4K port of TimeSplitters 2 hidden in this arcade machine in Homefront: The Revolution. https://t.co/U0ulGEW1A1 pic.twitter.com/a4UsyOw7eh
— Matt Phillips (@bigevilboss) April 4, 2021
Timesplitters 2 4K Port Hidden Inside Homefront: The Revolution… But the Unlock Code Is Lost
A native 4K port of TimeSplitters 2 is tucked inside Homefront: The Revolution. There's just one problem – the code to unlock it has seemingly been lost.
During the Easter weekend, ex-Vlambeer developer Jan Willem Nijman asked fellow devs to point out their favourite Easter eggs hidden in their games. Matt Phillips, who previously worked at Homefront: The Revolution developer Dambuster, revealed a doozy: "My proudest moment. Fully playable, native 4K port of TimeSplitters 2 hidden in this arcade machine in Homefront: The Revolution."
We already knew that two levels of the classic shooter were hidden inside Homefront, and fans had previously found the full game in Homefront's files, but it remained unplayable by normal means. However, Phillips says that the game was "fully playable" with the use of an unlock code. And that's where it gets tricky, as Phillips no longer has the notebook where he wrote it down. Even worse, his previous attempts to spread it were shut down. Responding to a fan's request for how to unlock the rest, Phillips said: "The unlock code has been lost to time, I don't have the notebook with it in any more. I once gave it to a friend to leak in some Discord channel and they called him a liar and banned his account ahahah". [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2016/05/17/homefront-the-revolution-timesplitters-2-easter-egg"] Amazingly, Phillips even points out that he specifically designed Homefront's in-game arcade machine, which activates the TimeSplitters Easter egg, so that it would activate a multiplayer menu if placed in the same map as a second arcade machine. Making clear that it would only work in theory, Phillips wrote: "I ported the network stack to ride on top of [Homefront: The Revolution's] co-op mode. If, and that's a big if, anyone was able to hack two or more arcades into one of the co-op maps, it'll boot to the [multiplayer] menu." Phillips says he thinks there were two of the game's multiplayer maps included. Of course, the Internet is already looking for ways to find the code, with many players already combing the game's files for clues. Phillips says this may be a fruitless search: "To put you out of your misery," he wrote to several Twitter users, "there's nothing in the base game that even remotely hints at the cheat, sorry." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/08/14/new-timesplitters-saints-row-dead-island-2-updates-from-thq-nordic"] That likely won't stop fans looking for ways to circumvent the code (or go searching for someone who has it), however – TimeSplitters 2 is a cult classic to this day, and the lure of a 4K port is likely enough to keep the community scouring. As for how the entirety of TimeSplitters 2 was allowed into Homefront: The Revolution in the first place, Dambuster started life as TimeSplitters creator Free Radical, which held onto the source code and later gained the rights to use it. Given the fan response to this Easter egg, it doesn't seem like a terrible idea to just... release the port as a standalone game. We may see more TimeSplitters one day, too – Koch Media has previously hinted at a new project in the series, and brought on co-creator Steve Ellis to "plot the future course" of the franchise. [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.My proudest moment. Fully playable, native 4K port of TimeSplitters 2 hidden in this arcade machine in Homefront: The Revolution. https://t.co/U0ulGEW1A1 pic.twitter.com/a4UsyOw7eh
— Matt Phillips (@bigevilboss) April 4, 2021
Playable Protoype Of Cancelled Dreamcast Castlevania 3D Platformer SeeminglyFound
A playable prototype of a cancelled Dreamcast Castlevania 3D platformer has seemingly been found.
As reported by Polygon, a YouTube video titled Castlevania Resurrection Exists has surfaced, showing a user booting and playing what appears to be an early prototype of the cancelled late '90s project.
According to Dreamcast preservationists, the build comes from before E3 1999 and features five 3D environments and a boss fight. You can read more about the game on Unseen64, which explains how it was cancelled due to "disagreements between the Japanese and American Konami teams." It would have been set in 1666 and featured Sonia Belmont (from Castlevania Legends) meeting new character Victor Belmont (who would later appear in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2).
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2013/06/06/castlevania-lords-of-shadow-2-interview"]
The anonymous owner boots the game from a disc marked "Sega confidential", dated 1999, and reading 'Castlevania Resurrection' in handwritten text. The owner then shows a number of levels from a "section select" developer menu, including Logo, Title, Courtyard, Stairs, Hall, Corridor and Chapel.
Movement appears intact as ghostly figures follow Sonia around a lava pit and a spooky chapel. If legitimate, it's a fascinating glimpse into a promising looking game that was never made, an all-too-common story in the games industry. IGN even wrote about the game before it was cancelled, playing an early version and appraising early images.
"Unlike the somewhat bland interface of the N64 version," IGN wrote, "this game looks like it might have what it takes to bring back the visual flair that once reigned supreme in the series, with a variety of creepy villains and a moody, light-sourced atmosphere that is a creepy as it is breath-taking."
While Victor Belmont eventually made his debut in 2014's Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, that also marked the last time we saw a new installment in the series. Konami has since been reluctant to develop new console games for its classic franchises – but it hasn't shut down its gaming division, despite some rumours.
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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.