Activision Blizzard is currently facing serious ongoing allegations of harassment and mistreatment of marginalized workers. To learn more, please visit our timeline as well as our in-depth report on the subject.

Activision has announced that all PS5 and PS4 players will be able to participate in the Call of Duty: Vanguard Alpha on August 27 and try out the brand-new Champion Hill game mode.

As revealed on PlayStation.Blog, the Alpha will run from 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm BST on August 27 through 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm BST on August 29.

The Call of Duty: Vanguard Alpha kicks off August 27 on PS5 and PS4. Details on the new Champion Hill Multiplayer mode and pre-load: https://t.co/VwVVtrgCn5 pic.twitter.com/dlT9Gs7bJK

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) August 22, 2021

Not only will PlayStation players not need to pre-order, but players in most countries will not even need PlayStation Plus to participate. PS4 and PS5 players in Germany will need a PlayStation Plus subscription due to the game's age rating, and a "nominal fee is required for PS4 and PS5 owners in Japan."

Preloading for the Call of Duty: Vanguard Alpha will begin on August 23 at 3am PT/6am PT/11am BST, and players of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Warzone, or Black Ops Cold War will be able to access it through the game's respective menus after its downloaded if they wish.

All participants in the Alpha will receive a Calling Card and an Emblem in Vanguard, as well as in Warzone following the integration of Vanguard.

Champion Hill is a multi-arena survival tournament where "tactics and strategy combine with quick-action, close-quarter gunplay." The Alpha will feature both Duo (2v2) and Trio (3v3) versions of Champion Hill, and players will compete in a round-robin tournament against seven other teams.

Each Squad will have a number of lives, and the goal is to be the last one standing in a series of timed Combat rounds. All players will start with the same Loadout, but cash you earn from killing other players or from picking up around the map will allow you to purchase new weapons and gear.

While this Alpha is only for PlayStation players, those who pre-order on all platforms will gain access to Call of Duty: Vanguard's Beta in September ahead of its release date of November 5, 2021.

For more on Call of Duty: Vanguard, check out all the new details on the game's campaign and multiplayer and the news of Warzone's new map and Anti-Cheat.

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.

Activision Blizzard is currently facing serious ongoing allegations of harassment and mistreatment of marginalized workers. To learn more, please visit our timeline as well as our in-depth report on the subject.

Activision has announced that all PS5 and PS4 players will be able to participate in the Call of Duty: Vanguard Alpha on August 27 and try out the brand-new Champion Hill game mode.

As revealed on PlayStation.Blog, the Alpha will run from 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm BST on August 27 through 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm BST on August 29.

The Call of Duty: Vanguard Alpha kicks off August 27 on PS5 and PS4. Details on the new Champion Hill Multiplayer mode and pre-load: https://t.co/VwVVtrgCn5 pic.twitter.com/dlT9Gs7bJK

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) August 22, 2021

Not only will PlayStation players not need to pre-order, but players in most countries will not even need PlayStation Plus to participate. PS4 and PS5 players in Germany will need a PlayStation Plus subscription due to the game's age rating, and a "nominal fee is required for PS4 and PS5 owners in Japan."

Preloading for the Call of Duty: Vanguard Alpha will begin on August 23 at 3am PT/6am PT/11am BST, and players of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Warzone, or Black Ops Cold War will be able to access it through the game's respective menus after its downloaded if they wish.

All participants in the Alpha will receive a Calling Card and an Emblem in Vanguard, as well as in Warzone following the integration of Vanguard.

Champion Hill is a multi-arena survival tournament where "tactics and strategy combine with quick-action, close-quarter gunplay." The Alpha will feature both Duo (2v2) and Trio (3v3) versions of Champion Hill, and players will compete in a round-robin tournament against seven other teams.

Each Squad will have a number of lives, and the goal is to be the last one standing in a series of timed Combat rounds. All players will start with the same Loadout, but cash you earn from killing other players or from picking up around the map will allow you to purchase new weapons and gear.

While this Alpha is only for PlayStation players, those who pre-order on all platforms will gain access to Call of Duty: Vanguard's Beta in September ahead of its release date of November 5, 2021.

For more on Call of Duty: Vanguard, check out all the new details on the game's campaign and multiplayer and the news of Warzone's new map and Anti-Cheat.

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.

Daniel Fedor, the lead technical artist on Dragon Age: Origins, has revealed some of the biggest "What-If" moments from the game's development, including that the first entry in the franchise could have had multiplayer and dungeon-master modes.

Speaking to TheGamer for their Oral History of Dragon Age: Origins, Fedor wondered aloud about what Dragon Age: Origins would have ended up being had they not switched engines in the middle of its development.

"One thing I often wonder is what Dragon Age might have been like if we didn’t switch engines mid-development," Fedor said. "Around the time I joined BioWare in 2004, Dragon Age was being demoed at E3 using a prototype they built in NeverWinter Nights.

"I was on a separate project, the Technical Architecture Group (TAG), working on a next-gen engine for BioWare games. Not long after, the Dragon Age and TAG teams merged, and work began on rebuilding DA in the TAG engine. I can’t help but think that set us back a long time."

The NeverWinter Nights engine offered the team a "number of battle-tested things" like multiplayer and dungeon-master modes, but those features were made much more difficult in the transition to the new engine. Fedor said that this left him with a lot of "what-ifs," especially after seeing The Witcher use the NeverWinter Nights engine to great effect.

"There were a number of battle-tested things the NWN engine did that we lost, like multiplayer and dungeon-master modes," Fedor continued. "And seeing what CD Projekt Red did with the NWN engine in The Witcher was really inspiring. Would DAO have come out sooner? Would it have supported multiplayer? Could we have reworked the rendering in NWN’s engine to meet the demands of the time? It’s easy to ask these questions now, in retrospect. But I’m sure at the time, these were really difficult decisions to make."

Despite these missing features, Dragon Age: Origins was a success when it was first released in 2009, and it spawned a franchise that is currently set to get its fourth entry.

In our review of Dragon Age: Origins, we said, "this is the kind of adventure that fantasy RPG fans have been hoping that BioWare would deliver – a game with a ton of re-playability and an incredibly vivid world that is the start of an impressive franchise."

For more on Dragon Age: Origins development, check out the story about how it was originally a game without any dragons.

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.

Daniel Fedor, the lead technical artist on Dragon Age: Origins, has revealed some of the biggest "What-If" moments from the game's development, including that the first entry in the franchise could have had multiplayer and dungeon-master modes.

Speaking to TheGamer for their Oral History of Dragon Age: Origins, Fedor wondered aloud about what Dragon Age: Origins would have ended up being had they not switched engines in the middle of its development.

"One thing I often wonder is what Dragon Age might have been like if we didn’t switch engines mid-development," Fedor said. "Around the time I joined BioWare in 2004, Dragon Age was being demoed at E3 using a prototype they built in NeverWinter Nights.

"I was on a separate project, the Technical Architecture Group (TAG), working on a next-gen engine for BioWare games. Not long after, the Dragon Age and TAG teams merged, and work began on rebuilding DA in the TAG engine. I can’t help but think that set us back a long time."

The NeverWinter Nights engine offered the team a "number of battle-tested things" like multiplayer and dungeon-master modes, but those features were made much more difficult in the transition to the new engine. Fedor said that this left him with a lot of "what-ifs," especially after seeing The Witcher use the NeverWinter Nights engine to great effect.

"There were a number of battle-tested things the NWN engine did that we lost, like multiplayer and dungeon-master modes," Fedor continued. "And seeing what CD Projekt Red did with the NWN engine in The Witcher was really inspiring. Would DAO have come out sooner? Would it have supported multiplayer? Could we have reworked the rendering in NWN’s engine to meet the demands of the time? It’s easy to ask these questions now, in retrospect. But I’m sure at the time, these were really difficult decisions to make."

Despite these missing features, Dragon Age: Origins was a success when it was first released in 2009, and it spawned a franchise that is currently set to get its fourth entry.

In our review of Dragon Age: Origins, we said, "this is the kind of adventure that fantasy RPG fans have been hoping that BioWare would deliver – a game with a ton of re-playability and an incredibly vivid world that is the start of an impressive franchise."

For more on Dragon Age: Origins development, check out the story about how it was originally a game without any dragons.

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.

Alongside a brand new look at gameplay, it has officially been revealed that WWE 2K22 will be released in March 2022.

Revealed during SummerSlam 2021, the new WWE 2K22 footage shows off a ton of different wrestlers in action like Roman Reigns, Finn Balor, Bobby Lashley, and Drew McIntyre. In an accompanying tweet, 2K promises new controls, stunning graphics, and a redesigned engine for this new game.

While there was no specific release date given, it was promised that fans would get more info on the game in January 2022. To help with the wait, @WWEGames revealed a couple of screenshots of Edge in-engine.

WWE 2K22 was announced at Wrestlemania 37 and will be 2K's first WWE simulation wrestling game since the poorly received WWE 2K20.

In our review of WWE 2K20, we said, "WWE 2K19 looked like it stopped the downward trend for the series, but WWE 2K20 doubles back, breaks its ankle, and tumbles down the slope."

2K announced the WWE 2K series would be taking a break in order to allow the team to deliver a game that is worthy of the WWE name.

To help with the lack of a WWE 2K game, 2K did release WWE 2K Battlegrounds, which we said "works as a shallow party game you play for an hour, then move on to something else, and that's it."

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.

Alongside a brand new look at gameplay, it has officially been revealed that WWE 2K22 will be released in March 2022.

Revealed during SummerSlam 2021, the new WWE 2K22 footage shows off a ton of different wrestlers in action like Roman Reigns, Finn Balor, Bobby Lashley, and Drew McIntyre. In an accompanying tweet, 2K promises new controls, stunning graphics, and a redesigned engine for this new game.

While there was no specific release date given, it was promised that fans would get more info on the game in January 2022. To help with the wait, @WWEGames revealed a couple of screenshots of Edge in-engine.

WWE 2K22 was announced at Wrestlemania 37 and will be 2K's first WWE simulation wrestling game since the poorly received WWE 2K20.

In our review of WWE 2K20, we said, "WWE 2K19 looked like it stopped the downward trend for the series, but WWE 2K20 doubles back, breaks its ankle, and tumbles down the slope."

2K announced the WWE 2K series would be taking a break in order to allow the team to deliver a game that is worthy of the WWE name.

To help with the lack of a WWE 2K game, 2K did release WWE 2K Battlegrounds, which we said "works as a shallow party game you play for an hour, then move on to something else, and that's it."

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.

Ahead of its release, a new video from Netflix aims to help explain how the upcoming Nightmare of the Wolf anime film fits into The Witcher timeline.

The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf will premiere on Netflix on August 23 and it is both a prequel to Netflix's The Witcher and an origin story for Vesemir, another Witcher who happens to be Geralt of Rivia's mentor and father figure.

before NIGHTMARE OF THE WOLF comes out Monday, here’s a quick explainer on how the new anime movie fits into THE WITCHER timeline pic.twitter.com/bggPhqkyFw

— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) August 20, 2021

Nightmare of the Wolf takes place in the year 1165 (Netflix's The Witcher takes place in 1263), and it will show Kaer Morhen at its peak during a time when there were many more Witchers. For those unfamiliar, Kaer Morhen was a stronghold that created new Witchers and was their seat of power before going to ruin.

While Witchers usually take the time to rest in the winter, a new threat has ensured that Vesemir's relaxation will have to wait. Throughout the story, we will go as far back as 1100 to see Vesemir as a boy, but the majority of the story will take place in 1165.

The film will also show more of a time before humans betrayed the elves in The Cleansing after they taught them how to use magic.

Throughout the movie, other familiar faces will pop up like the elf, Filavandrel, and one of Queen Calanthe's ancestors, King Dagorad of Kaedwen.

This isn't the only prequel series we are getting for The Witcher, as Blood Origin is a six-episode limited series that takes place 1,200 years before Geralt. Speaking of The Witcher, Season 2 of the Netflix series will officially return on December 17, 2021.

While there are only a few more days before you can watch The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf for yourself, be sure to check out our review to help pass the time. In it, we said it "spends too much time building up the Netflix show and not enough telling its own story."

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.

Ahead of its release, a new video from Netflix aims to help explain how the upcoming Nightmare of the Wolf anime film fits into The Witcher timeline.

The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf will premiere on Netflix on August 23 and it is both a prequel to Netflix's The Witcher and an origin story for Vesemir, another Witcher who happens to be Geralt of Rivia's mentor and father figure.

before NIGHTMARE OF THE WOLF comes out Monday, here’s a quick explainer on how the new anime movie fits into THE WITCHER timeline pic.twitter.com/bggPhqkyFw

— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) August 20, 2021

Nightmare of the Wolf takes place in the year 1165 (Netflix's The Witcher takes place in 1263), and it will show Kaer Morhen at its peak during a time when there were many more Witchers. For those unfamiliar, Kaer Morhen was a stronghold that created new Witchers and was their seat of power before going to ruin.

While Witchers usually take the time to rest in the winter, a new threat has ensured that Vesemir's relaxation will have to wait. Throughout the story, we will go as far back as 1100 to see Vesemir as a boy, but the majority of the story will take place in 1165.

The film will also show more of a time before humans betrayed the elves in The Cleansing after they taught them how to use magic.

Throughout the movie, other familiar faces will pop up like the elf, Filavandrel, and one of Queen Calanthe's ancestors, King Dagorad of Kaedwen.

This isn't the only prequel series we are getting for The Witcher, as Blood Origin is a six-episode limited series that takes place 1,200 years before Geralt. Speaking of The Witcher, Season 2 of the Netflix series will officially return on December 17, 2021.

While there are only a few more days before you can watch The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf for yourself, be sure to check out our review to help pass the time. In it, we said it "spends too much time building up the Netflix show and not enough telling its own story."

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.

Die Hard star Bruce Willis is apparently the star of a new series of commercials for Russian phone carrier and internet provider MegaFon. Well, except he isn't... a Deepfake of him is.

As reported by Russia Beyond, MegaFon utilized this face-generating technology to digitally put Bruce Willis' face over another actor, all while Willis was safe at home in the US. Russia Beyond notes that he did receive an "unannounced fee for the licensing of his facial features and the use of his Die Hard character in the marketing campaign." Russian advertising market experts estimate this payment could be between $1 and $2 million.

“The image of [Bruce Willis’] ‘Die Hard’ character in the series will be created with the help of the face generation technology, which is based on neural network algorithms. To make this happen, the engineers of the Deepcake studio selected a large volume of photos and videos featuring the celebrity. They had 34,000 units of content which were used by the neural network to create the image of Bruce Willis’ character,” said Vasili Bolshakov, Director for Brand and Marketing Communications at MegaFon.

Bolshakov also notes that using Deepfakes of actors instead of bringing them overseas is a much safer way to do things in a time where the COVID-19 pandemic is still a huge problem.

"We realized that we can deliver high-quality content without becoming hostages of restrictions the pandemic put on movement around the world. The use of technology allows to shoot content faster and cheaper compared to when there is an involvement of celebrities on the set,” said Bolshakov.

You can see the commercial for yourself here, and Bolshakov says that he and his team aren't trying to mislead anyone with this new project and that he believes seeing Bruce Willis "as we remember him" is a great thing for fans.

"We openly declare the technology we use and do not mislead anyone. On the contrary, we believe that seeing Bruce as [we remember him] from ‘Die Hard’ and ‘The Fifth Element’ in a new role is a great opportunity for all of us,” said Bolshakov.

This particular campaign is said to consist of 15 episodes, and the first one was directed by Russian musician and filmmaker Ilya Naishuller, who also directed the film Nobody.

Deepfakes are nothing new, but they do come with their fair share of controversy, especially when used with deceased people, without proper permission, or by thieves who use it to steal $240,000.

However, using Deepfakes the right way can be beneficial for some, as a popular Deepfake Youtuber called Shamook confirmed that he secured a job with Lucasfilm's Industrial Light and Magic after creating a new take on one of the biggest cameos in The Mandalorian.

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.

Die Hard star Bruce Willis is apparently the star of a new series of commercials for Russian phone carrier and internet provider MegaFon. Well, except he isn't... a Deepfake of him is.

As reported by Russia Beyond, MegaFon utilized this face-generating technology to digitally put Bruce Willis' face over another actor, all while Willis was safe at home in the US. Russia Beyond notes that he did receive an "unannounced fee for the licensing of his facial features and the use of his Die Hard character in the marketing campaign." Russian advertising market experts estimate this payment could be between $1 and $2 million.

“The image of [Bruce Willis’] ‘Die Hard’ character in the series will be created with the help of the face generation technology, which is based on neural network algorithms. To make this happen, the engineers of the Deepcake studio selected a large volume of photos and videos featuring the celebrity. They had 34,000 units of content which were used by the neural network to create the image of Bruce Willis’ character,” said Vasili Bolshakov, Director for Brand and Marketing Communications at MegaFon.

Bolshakov also notes that using Deepfakes of actors instead of bringing them overseas is a much safer way to do things in a time where the COVID-19 pandemic is still a huge problem.

"We realized that we can deliver high-quality content without becoming hostages of restrictions the pandemic put on movement around the world. The use of technology allows to shoot content faster and cheaper compared to when there is an involvement of celebrities on the set,” said Bolshakov.

You can see the commercial for yourself here, and Bolshakov says that he and his team aren't trying to mislead anyone with this new project and that he believes seeing Bruce Willis "as we remember him" is a great thing for fans.

"We openly declare the technology we use and do not mislead anyone. On the contrary, we believe that seeing Bruce as [we remember him] from ‘Die Hard’ and ‘The Fifth Element’ in a new role is a great opportunity for all of us,” said Bolshakov.

This particular campaign is said to consist of 15 episodes, and the first one was directed by Russian musician and filmmaker Ilya Naishuller, who also directed the film Nobody.

Deepfakes are nothing new, but they do come with their fair share of controversy, especially when used with deceased people, without proper permission, or by thieves who use it to steal $240,000.

However, using Deepfakes the right way can be beneficial for some, as a popular Deepfake Youtuber called Shamook confirmed that he secured a job with Lucasfilm's Industrial Light and Magic after creating a new take on one of the biggest cameos in The Mandalorian.

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.