With just over a week left to go before the launch of Mass Effect Legendary Edition, EA has confirmed that the Xbox Series X can run the game at 120fps, while the PlayStation 5 will run the game at 60fps. Up until now, it was unknown how the classic trilogy of games would run on the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Legendary Edition director, Mac Walters, told IGN in an interview earlier this year that the team has "some targeted unleashing of the game so that it will leverage a little bit more power of the next-gen series beyond just the faster load times you'd expect from the SSD." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/02/mass-effect-legendary-edition-our-first-impressions"] Now we know exactly how the Legendary Edition will run on next-gen consoles, both in the game's "Favor Quality" mode and the "Favor Framerate" mode thanks to an update posted today by EA. Here's what you can expect:

• PlayStation 5: Up to 60fps at 4K in Favor Quality, Up to 60fps at 1440p in Favor Framerate
• Xbox Series X: Up to 60fps at 4K in Favor Quality, Up to 120fps at 1440p in Favor Framerate
• PlayStation 4 Pro: Up to 30fps at 4K in Favor Quality, Up to 60fps at 1440p in Favor Framerate
• Xbox Series S/Xbox One X: Up to 30fps at 4K in Favor Quality, Up to 60fps at 1440p in Favor Framerate
• PlayStation 4: Up to 30fps at 1080p in Favor Quality, Up to 60fps at 1080p in Favor Framerate
• Xbox One: Up to 30fps at 1080p in Favor Quality, Up to 60fps at 1080p in Favor Framerate

As you can see, only the Xbox Series X will be able to play Mass Effect Legendary Edition at 120fps. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/02/mass-effect-legendary-edition-official-trailer"] If you're looking at the PS5's Mass Effect specs and wondering why it plays the game at 60fps in both the Favor Quality and the Favor Framerate mode, with the only difference between the two being a lesser resolution in the Favor Framerate mode, don't worry — we did too, and after reaching out to EA for clarification, we were directed back to the spec sheet on the blog post. According to EA's post, the Favor Quality mode "prioritizes achieving the highest visual fidelity possible in exchange for a lower target framereate," while the Favor Framerate mode "prioritizes the highest framerate possible by scaling native resolution and reducing some graphical features." It's unclear at this point why anyone would choose to play the game in the Favor Framerate mode on PlayStation 5, but hey, you do you. Eslewhere in the Milky Way, the company also revealed that the bonus download content available in the Deluxe Editions of Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 is now available for download ahead of the Legendary Edition's launch next week. It's a 1.7GB download that also includes the first soundtrack of Mass Effect, as well as a new Legendary Edition track, two PDF art books, two PDF comic books, and a Normandy digital lithograph. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/06/mass-effect-legendary-edition-changes-original-vs-remastered-performance-preview"] Mass Effect Legendary Edition launches next week on May 14. While waiting for that, read about all of the gameplay tweaks that were made and then read about why PS5 and Xbox Series X editions of the game aren't being released. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

Xbox vice president Lori Wright has been called to testify in the Epic vs. Apple court case as a third-party witness and give insight into the gaming market as a console partner. Her testimony has shed light on some of Xbox's internal workings including how Xbox has never made a profit off of hardware through any of the Xbox iterations. During an examination, Epic's lawyer Wes Earnhardt began a line of questioning on the profitability of console hardware. Earnhardt asks Wright, "How much margin does Microsoft earn on the sale on the Xbox consoles?" To which Wright responds, "We don't. We sell the consoles at a loss." "Just to be clear, does Microsoft ever earn a profit on the sale of an Xbox console?" Wright follows-up. "No," Wright says. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-xbox-series-x-games&captions=true"] Wright explains that Microsoft keeps selling consoles at a loss because its business model is set up to deliver "an end-to-end gaming experience," and that hardware is "critical to us delivering that gaming experience." These experiences include services like games, Xbox Live Gold, and Xbox Game Pass. As noted by Protocol, Epic's questions regarding hardware profitability were in order to show that while video game console makers have a justification for its 30% revenue share as it is a primary revenue source for them, smartphone makers like Apple don't have as strong reasoning for their revenue share models. Video game hardware has always typically been sold at a loss, save for a couple of instances. Nintendo, for example, has historically not tried to take a loss on hardware and makes a profit on systems sold, including the Nintendo Switch. Sony's PS4 was also profitable, according to analyst Daniel Ahmad.  

Same Microsoft document has a breakdown of hardware revenue / profit estimates for Sony and Nintendo.

Hardware generating a loss for Sony, but profit for Nintendo.https://t.co/hOqyjeKQcv pic.twitter.com/mPBKABWHRD — Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) May 5, 2021

Even now, analysis from documents revealed during the trial suggests that both Sony and Xbox are taking a loss on the hardware, while Nintendo doesn't as per its long-running strategy. Meanwhile, Microsoft currently generates over a billion dollars in revenue from software and services, just as Wright testified. Console sales are just one piece of the profit pie and it's not as if these companies are in the red for selling hardware at a loss. Both Microsoft and Sony are profitable after all, and in the case of Microsoft, the Xbox division is just one of its many departments. But although hardware losses have been known throughout the industry, the Epic vs. Apple trial continues to put on record many of these open secrets. As part of Wright's testimony, other documents from Xbox show some of the company's inner workings including Xbox's analysis of The Last of Us Part 2 from rival PlayStation, as well as some of the company's expectations regarding rival releases like how it believed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 was set to be released in 2020. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor.

Hanna John-Kamen has been cast as Red Sonja in the upcoming sword-and-sorcery feature film. This news comes by way of The Hollywood Reporter, which reports that John-Kamen, who played the villainous Ghost in Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp, will star in the forthcoming spinoff of Conan the Barbarian. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/02/11/red-sonja-production-on-hold-following-bryan-singer-controversy"] Joey Soloway is directing the movie and and co-writing the script alongside Tasha Huo, who is the screenwriter that's executive producing and serving as the showrunner for Netflix's upcoming animated Tomb Raider series, as noted by THR. "Hannah is a very talented actress who we've been following for years and she IS Red Sonja," Soloway told THR in a statement. "Her range, sensibilities, and strength are all qualities we have been looking for and we couldn't be more excited to embark on this journey together." Anyone following Red Sonja knows that's it's been through quite a ride getting to the point of casting. It was originally announced in 2008 as a remake starring Rose McGowan and directed by Robert Rodriguez. Then, in 2015, it was revealed that Christopher Cosmos had been hired to develop a script for it and then The Expendables producer, Millennium Media, joined to produce the film in 2017. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2008/07/29/red-sonja-movies-rose-mcgowan-robert-rodriguez-sdcc-08"] X-Men: Apocalypse director Bryan Singer was confirmed as the director a year later. The entire film's production was put on hold in February of 2019 due to the controversy surrounding Singer, and just over a month later, it was announced that he was no longer be directing Red Sonja. That was one of the last time's anyone had publicly heard about this film before today's news that John-Kamen had been tapped to play Red Sonja. While waiting to hear more about Red Sonja, check out this story about 33 movies that were supposed to come out last decade but didn't, including Red Sonja, and then check out IGN's list of the top 25 fantasy films after that. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

A narrative designer at Sumo Digital has revealed that she's working on one of the "world's best known and best-loved fantasy franchises." This news comes, oddly enough, by way of MCV/Develop's 2021 30 Under 30 list, which is comprised of 30 people considered "the best young talent in the industry." One of those 30 is Sarah Longthorne of Sumo Digital. She's a narrative designer at the developer's Nottingham studio, which is one of Sumo's eight UK studios, and her 30 Under 30 bio reveals that she's worked the past year as a narrative designer on a fantasy franchise, as pointed out by Luke_wal on Resetera.

THAT'S ME, THAT IS pic.twitter.com/aCw1Wm9ScM

— SJ Longthorne (@sarahlongthorne) May 5, 2021

"The majority of Sarah Longthorne's work over the past year has been as a narrative designer on a triple-A title based on one of the 'world's best known and best-loved fantasy franchises,' with Longthorne's role making up a crucial part of the game's development," the bio reads. This in and of itself doesn't reveal too much — there are plenty of fantasy franchises that people would call some of the world's best-known and best-loved — but some possibilities are lurking out there. For example, Sumo Digital has worked with Playground Games in the past, namely Forza Horizon 4, and we know that this studio is currently at work on the new Fable game for Xbox. Perhaps Sumo Digital is helping out with that title. Only time will tell, though, as what this game is will likely remain unknown for some time. In the meantime, read our thoughts on Sumo Digital's latest game in IGN's Sackboy: A Big Adventure review. After that, read this story about Sumo Digital concluding its work on Dead Island 2 in 2019 and then watch this teaser of Playground Games' Fable game currently in development. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

A narrative designer at Sumo Digital has revealed that she's working on one of the "world's best known and best-loved fantasy franchises." This news comes, oddly enough, by way of MCV/Develop's 2021 30 Under 30 list, which is comprised of 30 people considered "the best young talent in the industry." One of those 30 is Sarah Longthorne of Sumo Digital. She's a narrative designer at the developer's Nottingham studio, which is one of Sumo's eight UK studios, and her 30 Under 30 bio reveals that she's worked the past year as a narrative designer on a fantasy franchise, as pointed out by Luke_wal on Resetera.

THAT'S ME, THAT IS pic.twitter.com/aCw1Wm9ScM

— SJ Longthorne (@sarahlongthorne) May 5, 2021

"The majority of Sarah Longthorne's work over the past year has been as a narrative designer on a triple-A title based on one of the 'world's best known and best-loved fantasy franchises,' with Longthorne's role making up a crucial part of the game's development," the bio reads. This in and of itself doesn't reveal too much — there are plenty of fantasy franchises that people would call some of the world's best-known and best-loved — but some possibilities are lurking out there. For example, Sumo Digital has worked with Playground Games in the past, namely Forza Horizon 4, and we know that this studio is currently at work on the new Fable game for Xbox. Perhaps Sumo Digital is helping out with that title. Only time will tell, though, as what this game is will likely remain unknown for some time. In the meantime, read our thoughts on Sumo Digital's latest game in IGN's Sackboy: A Big Adventure review. After that, read this story about Sumo Digital concluding its work on Dead Island 2 in 2019 and then watch this teaser of Playground Games' Fable game currently in development. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

Sorry Pokemon fans, a sequel to Detective Pikachu doesn't seem to be happening, at least according to one of the movie's stars. Speaking to Inverse about his career, Detective Pikachu star, Justice Smith, who played Pikachu's newfound friend Tim Goodman in the film, said he doesn't know if a sequel is happening. He's not exactly sure if a sequel is definitively not happening, but he's buried his hopes for such a movie. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-pokemon-in-the-detective-pikachu-movie&captions=true"] "I would love to participate in Detective Pikachu 2," Smith told Inverse. "I don't know if it's going to happen. I think we have to just kind of bury our hopes. I don't think it's going to happen. I really hope so though. Honestly, I'm such a huge fan, who knows, who knows? I hope so." This isn't great news for anyone hoping to see more furry and sometimes creepy live-action Pokemon in a sequel to the 2019 film starring Smith and Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu, but not all is lost. Ali Mends, a producer for Legendary Entertainment, which is the studio behind Detective Pikachu, told IGN back in 2019 that there are a lot of opportunities in the Pokemon universe. "[Pokemon is] is such a rich universe," Mendes said. "There are so many ways you can go inside of it. We're trying to get the first movie right, and then once we've done that, we'll see where we go from there, but absolutely. There are a lot of opportunities." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/05/10/pokrap-for-all-pokmon-in-detective-pikachu"]   While waiting to find out if Smith's decision to bury hope was the right call, check out our thoughts on the movie, which grossed $433 million at the box office, in IGN's Detective Pikachu review. Read about the possibilities of a Pokemon cinematic universe after that and then check out this list of every live-action Pokemon that appears in Detective Pikachu. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

Sorry Pokemon fans, a sequel to Detective Pikachu doesn't seem to be happening, at least according to one of the movie's stars. Speaking to Inverse about his career, Detective Pikachu star, Justice Smith, who played Pikachu's newfound friend Tim Goodman in the film, said he doesn't know if a sequel is happening. He's not exactly sure if a sequel is definitively not happening, but he's buried his hopes for such a movie. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-pokemon-in-the-detective-pikachu-movie&captions=true"] "I would love to participate in Detective Pikachu 2," Smith told Inverse. "I don't know if it's going to happen. I think we have to just kind of bury our hopes. I don't think it's going to happen. I really hope so though. Honestly, I'm such a huge fan, who knows, who knows? I hope so." This isn't great news for anyone hoping to see more furry and sometimes creepy live-action Pokemon in a sequel to the 2019 film starring Smith and Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu, but not all is lost. Ali Mends, a producer for Legendary Entertainment, which is the studio behind Detective Pikachu, told IGN back in 2019 that there are a lot of opportunities in the Pokemon universe. "[Pokemon is] is such a rich universe," Mendes said. "There are so many ways you can go inside of it. We're trying to get the first movie right, and then once we've done that, we'll see where we go from there, but absolutely. There are a lot of opportunities." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/05/10/pokrap-for-all-pokmon-in-detective-pikachu"]   While waiting to find out if Smith's decision to bury hope was the right call, check out our thoughts on the movie, which grossed $433 million at the box office, in IGN's Detective Pikachu review. Read about the possibilities of a Pokemon cinematic universe after that and then check out this list of every live-action Pokemon that appears in Detective Pikachu. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

For all its monetary success with the Switch and Animal Crossing and even with the global pandemic, some fans were frustrated when yet another holiday season went by in 2020 with no whisper of Breath of the Wild 2, Metroid Prime 4, or Bayonetta 3. And it turns out, Microsoft may have been a bit perplexed as well. As part of the ongoing Epic v. Apple trial, a new document was published as evidence that included a rough outline of both "high-profile" Xbox One releases for the third and fourth calendar quarters of 2020, as well as the company's understanding of its competition's biggest upcoming releases. The presentation, which is from August 2020, reveals that at the time Xbox believed Nintendo's slate for October through December 2020 included The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, Bayonetta 3, Metroid Prime 4, and Shin Megami Tensei 5 — none of which ended up coming out during that window. It also mentions a few other titles we know got pushed but that did end up launching in 2021, such as No More Heroes 3 and Bravely Default 2. And it has a big ol' redacted bar under a footnote about launch titles for the PS5, possibly indicating that Microsoft knew about an additional game originally planned for the PS5 launch which hasn't yet been shown. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/13/nintendo-needs-to-hop-on-the-fortnite-battle-bus"] Also interesting is Xbox's own strategy. Under their own release plan, Xbox has a total of three games redacted from its documents: one planned for the third calendar quarter of last year, and two from the first quarter. It also has huge swaths blocked off from the first quarter of this year, indicating that there are quite a few Xbox games that are either unannounced or with details that haven't yet been highlighted that the company had expected would have already been out for six months or more by this time. This data does include both first and third-party games, and as Xbox itself says in the document, its release dates are based on the information it's been given from its publishing partners. It adds that it expects to see "significant movement" both due to the first quarter typically being very changeable every year, but also due to COVID-19. It's worth noting is that there seem to be multiple typos as well across the document, notably conflating 2020 with 2021 in several places. Ultimately, all of this is just internal speculation based on publicly available data, with Xbox's knowledge of specific release windows likely less and less precise the further they are from the companies involved. But given Microsoft's position in the industry, it's interesting that their available knowledge as of last August had them planning their own release strategy around all three of those massive Nintendo titles coming by the end of the year. And critically, the entire presentation highlights both the constantly fluctuating release cycle of games, as well as at least some of the impact of COVID-19 on everyone's release plans. We currently have no release dates for Breath of the Wild 2, Metroid Prime 4, or Bayonetta 3, though Breath of the Wild 2 at least is expected to get some kind of news announcement "this year," as is Bayonetta 3. Metroid news is still quiet, though Epic v. Apple did offer a curious look at Epic Games' plans to put Samus in Fortnite (though it's still not clear if Nintendo will ever let them). We're also seeing other interesting tidbits from the trial, such as what Xbox thinks of The Last of Us Part 2. We'll continue to cover news from the trial as it continues over the next three weeks. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

For all its monetary success with the Switch and Animal Crossing and even with the global pandemic, some fans were frustrated when yet another holiday season went by in 2020 with no whisper of Breath of the Wild 2, Metroid Prime 4, or Bayonetta 3. And it turns out, Microsoft may have been a bit perplexed as well. As part of the ongoing Epic v. Apple trial, a new document was published as evidence that included a rough outline of both "high-profile" Xbox One releases for the third and fourth calendar quarters of 2020, as well as the company's understanding of its competition's biggest upcoming releases. The presentation, which is from August 2020, reveals that at the time Xbox believed Nintendo's slate for October through December 2020 included The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, Bayonetta 3, Metroid Prime 4, and Shin Megami Tensei 5 — none of which ended up coming out during that window. It also mentions a few other titles we know got pushed but that did end up launching in 2021, such as No More Heroes 3 and Bravely Default 2. And it has a big ol' redacted bar under a footnote about launch titles for the PS5, possibly indicating that Microsoft knew about an additional game originally planned for the PS5 launch which hasn't yet been shown. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/13/nintendo-needs-to-hop-on-the-fortnite-battle-bus"] Also interesting is Xbox's own strategy. Under their own release plan, Xbox has a total of three games redacted from its documents: one planned for the third calendar quarter of last year, and two from the first quarter. It also has huge swaths blocked off from the first quarter of this year, indicating that there are quite a few Xbox games that are either unannounced or with details that haven't yet been highlighted that the company had expected would have already been out for six months or more by this time. This data does include both first and third-party games, and as Xbox itself says in the document, its release dates are based on the information it's been given from its publishing partners. It adds that it expects to see "significant movement" both due to the first quarter typically being very changeable every year, but also due to COVID-19. It's worth noting is that there seem to be multiple typos as well across the document, notably conflating 2020 with 2021 in several places. Ultimately, all of this is just internal speculation based on publicly available data, with Xbox's knowledge of specific release windows likely less and less precise the further they are from the companies involved. But given Microsoft's position in the industry, it's interesting that their available knowledge as of last August had them planning their own release strategy around all three of those massive Nintendo titles coming by the end of the year. And critically, the entire presentation highlights both the constantly fluctuating release cycle of games, as well as at least some of the impact of COVID-19 on everyone's release plans. We currently have no release dates for Breath of the Wild 2, Metroid Prime 4, or Bayonetta 3, though Breath of the Wild 2 at least is expected to get some kind of news announcement "this year," as is Bayonetta 3. Metroid news is still quiet, though Epic v. Apple did offer a curious look at Epic Games' plans to put Samus in Fortnite (though it's still not clear if Nintendo will ever let them). We're also seeing other interesting tidbits from the trial, such as what Xbox thinks of The Last of Us Part 2. We'll continue to cover news from the trial as it continues over the next three weeks. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

The latest internal documents revealed in the Epic vs Apple court case appear to be from Xbox, including an internal analysis Xbox conducted of The Last of Us Part 2, one of the biggest video game releases from its console rival, PlayStation. This analysis reads like a review and is the closest you'll get to see what Xbox thinks of PlayStation's major release. Companies often gather extensive data on their products, the video game industry is no different. While companies sometimes hold mock reviews of their own games, Xbox's documents show that it also analyzes rival games as well. So what did Xbox think of The Last of Us 2? For the most part, their analysis was overwhelmingly positive. Spoilers for The Last of Us Part 2 below [poilib element="accentDivider"] [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-naughty-dog-game-review&captions=true"] "The last of Us Part 2 is the exceedingly rare video game where what it accomplishes in moving forward the art of narrative storytelling in video games as a medium ultimately outweighs whether or not everyone 'likes' it or even if everyone has 'fun' playing it," Xbox writes in an internal analysis acquired by IGN from the Epic vs. Apple court trial. Xbox praises The Last of Us Part 2's gameplay as a "notable improvement" over the first game and calls the visual quality and attention to detail "absolutely best-in-class in basically every area, and the overall presentation is significantly ahead of anything that other teams have been producing on console and PC." The internal team at Xbox says they "were frequently stunned by the quality of the game's visuals, something that sadly seldom happens these days." As for the choice to split the narrative between Elli and Abby, Xbox says players have "every right" to their feelings on Naughty Dog's two protagonists and the game's "final contentious outcome," but ultimately for folks who care about "the evolution and expansion of what storytelling in interactive entertainment CAN BE [emphasis Xbox's], those things ultimately matter less than how incredibly well Naughty Dog has crafted and delivered the story that THEY [emphasis Xbox's] wanted to tell." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/27/8-minutes-of-the-last-of-us-part-2-gameplay"] Sounds like the team that analyzed The Last of Us Part 2 at Xbox was overall keen on Naughty Dog's major sequel. If there's one criticism, the team at Xbox says their biggest "gripe" was with the inventory system and the lack of any "quick switch" between items during moment-to-moment gameplay. Furthermore, Xbox was critical of the gun combat writing, "Naughty Dog still can't seem to make decent gun combat in any of their games, and this one is no exception." Ouch. Epic's court case with Apple continues to unearth a trove of internal documents, some of them confirming what we already knew like Sony's hesitance to enable cross-play. As the trial continues, check back with IGN for all the latest updates. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor.