​​The full Tokyo Game Show 2021 schedule was revealed last week and in it, we learned that Xbox would make a virtual appearance by way of a showcase. Now Microsoft has revealed when that showcase will air.

In a new blog post made today on Xbox Wire, the company announced that its Tokyo Game Show virtual stream will air on Thursday, September 30, at 6 p.m. JST, which is 5 a.m. EST/2 a.m. PST on September 29.

The company revealed a few details about what to expect during the stream too.

"As games close the distance between people, we invite our players to celebrate the joy and community of gaming with us," the blog post reads. "Similar to last year, this will be a show curated for our players in Japan and across Asia. Expect a celebration with our Asia community and local relevant updates, though no new global debuts should be expected."

Xbox also says to expect the "latest regionally relevant updates on previously announced games coming later this year." Basically, you probably won't be hearing "World Premiere" during the showcase.

That doesn't mean the rest of the Tokyo Game Show event won't feature premieres and the like, though. Last year's show featured the first gameplay of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, new Monster Hunter Rise gameplay, and more.

You can visit the official TGS 2021 site for the full livestream schedule if you're curious about what you can expect beyond Xbox's stream. The Xbox stream will be available as part of the main TGS 2021 show, but it can also be viewed on Xbox's social channels in Japan, Korea, and China.

While waiting for this TGS Xbox stream, check out everything announced during Xbox's latest showcase, which aired during Gamescom 2021. Read IGN's breakdown of everything announced during the Gamescom 2021 Opening Night Live showcase after that.

Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

​​The full Tokyo Game Show 2021 schedule was revealed last week and in it, we learned that Xbox would make a virtual appearance by way of a showcase. Now Microsoft has revealed when that showcase will air.

In a new blog post made today on Xbox Wire, the company announced that its Tokyo Game Show virtual stream will air on Thursday, September 30, at 6 p.m. JST, which is 5 a.m. EST/2 a.m. PST on September 29.

The company revealed a few details about what to expect during the stream too.

"As games close the distance between people, we invite our players to celebrate the joy and community of gaming with us," the blog post reads. "Similar to last year, this will be a show curated for our players in Japan and across Asia. Expect a celebration with our Asia community and local relevant updates, though no new global debuts should be expected."

Xbox also says to expect the "latest regionally relevant updates on previously announced games coming later this year." Basically, you probably won't be hearing "World Premiere" during the showcase.

That doesn't mean the rest of the Tokyo Game Show event won't feature premieres and the like, though. Last year's show featured the first gameplay of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, new Monster Hunter Rise gameplay, and more.

You can visit the official TGS 2021 site for the full livestream schedule if you're curious about what you can expect beyond Xbox's stream. The Xbox stream will be available as part of the main TGS 2021 show, but it can also be viewed on Xbox's social channels in Japan, Korea, and China.

While waiting for this TGS Xbox stream, check out everything announced during Xbox's latest showcase, which aired during Gamescom 2021. Read IGN's breakdown of everything announced during the Gamescom 2021 Opening Night Live showcase after that.

Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

With the Nintendo Switch OLED just around the corner, Nintendo recently saw fit to drop the Switch's price to £259.99 in the UK and €299.99 in Europe. It does not seem that a Switch price drop will be following suit in the U.S., at least not any time soon.

In a new statement, Nintendo told Axios reporter Stephen Totilo that there are "no plans" for a price drop in the U.S. It will remain at $299, at least for the time being.

Nintendo tells me yesterday's Switch price drop was just for Europe (and the UK):

“The trade price adjustment is for the European region only. There are no plans to change the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price for any Nintendo Switch model in the U.S.”

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) September 14, 2021

"The trade price adjustment is for the European region only. There are no plans to change the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price for any Nintendo Switch model in the U.S," a Nintendo spokesperson said.

Earlier today, the NPD Group revealed that the Nintendo Switch was once again the best-selling console for the month of August, and remains the best-selling console of 2021. However, the PlayStation 5 currently has the Switch beat in terms of dollar sales.

With sales continuing to be strong, Nintendo clearly sees no reason to cut the price of the base model, even with the upgraded Switch OLED less than a month away.

First released in 2017, the Nintendo Switch is on pace to be one of Nintendo's most successful consoles ever. With some 89 million units sold, it has surpassed both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 — not bad considering that the Switch has been on the market for four years, while the Xbox 360 and PS3 generation lasted nearly a decade. The Switch is currently closing in on the Nintendo Wii, which sold a little more than 100 million units in its lifetime.

The Nintendo Switch continues to thrive thanks to a mix of popular indie games like Hades and Nintendo exclusives like New Pokémon Snap. The holiday season will see the release of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl as well as Shin Megami Tensei 5, with Pokémon: Legends Arceus to follow in January.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN.

With the Nintendo Switch OLED just around the corner, Nintendo recently saw fit to drop the Switch's price to £259.99 in the UK and €299.99 in Europe. It does not seem that a Switch price drop will be following suit in the U.S., at least not any time soon.

In a new statement, Nintendo told Axios reporter Stephen Totilo that there are "no plans" for a price drop in the U.S. It will remain at $299, at least for the time being.

Nintendo tells me yesterday's Switch price drop was just for Europe (and the UK):

“The trade price adjustment is for the European region only. There are no plans to change the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price for any Nintendo Switch model in the U.S.”

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) September 14, 2021

"The trade price adjustment is for the European region only. There are no plans to change the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price for any Nintendo Switch model in the U.S," a Nintendo spokesperson said.

Earlier today, the NPD Group revealed that the Nintendo Switch was once again the best-selling console for the month of August, and remains the best-selling console of 2021. However, the PlayStation 5 currently has the Switch beat in terms of dollar sales.

With sales continuing to be strong, Nintendo clearly sees no reason to cut the price of the base model, even with the upgraded Switch OLED less than a month away.

First released in 2017, the Nintendo Switch is on pace to be one of Nintendo's most successful consoles ever. With some 89 million units sold, it has surpassed both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 — not bad considering that the Switch has been on the market for four years, while the Xbox 360 and PS3 generation lasted nearly a decade. The Switch is currently closing in on the Nintendo Wii, which sold a little more than 100 million units in its lifetime.

The Nintendo Switch continues to thrive thanks to a mix of popular indie games like Hades and Nintendo exclusives like New Pokémon Snap. The holiday season will see the release of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl as well as Shin Megami Tensei 5, with Pokémon: Legends Arceus to follow in January.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN.

A recent “leak” that occurred Monday seemed to indicate that a lot of unannounced titles and anticipated sequels were on the way and also coming to PC.

It featured word of PC ports for previously console-exclusive titles and more, too. As first spotted on Reddit, software developer Ighor July performed a datamine of Nvidia’s GeForce Now database and in doing so, discovered listings for a lot of unannounced games, sequels, ports, and more.

What Gamers Are Saying

It didn't take long for this leak to take off. The original post on Reddit has nearly 2000 comments. The top comment is "No Bloodborne? It must be legitimate," and it comes by way of redditor KingBroly. It's a fun poke at the desire many have to see Bloodborne come to PC and there are many other comments like it. However, many of the commenters are taking this leak as 100% true. There are also some, like redditor howmadstha, who note that titles like Bioshock 2022 seem fake and take away some of the credibility that this datamine found real games, though.

The most common takeaway from the commenters on that original reddit post is that if this turns out to be huge, it might be one of the biggest leaks in gaming history, but that there's a good chance this isn't what it seems. Over on Twitter, things are hovering between "THIS IS NOT A DRILL [INSERT GAME] LEAK CONFIRMED" and "ehh who knows, these might just be placeholders." There's also those taking this opportunity to make a good meme or two out of the situation.

The NVIDIA employee who probably wrote his wishlist in the placeholder GeForce Now list rn: pic.twitter.com/neyFwnCHTd

— Miss Darkness (@misstenebraealt) September 13, 2021

To be fair, the leak did appear quite believable at first glance. It wasn’t a shoddy screenshot of a game playing on a monitor or a supposed list of things to come — it was a list of game listings made within Nvidia’s GeForce Now database. GeForce Now is Nvidia’s games streaming service not unlike Google Stadia or Amazon Luna. Surely the leak must be legitimate if it’s coming by way of such a massive, prominent, and most importantly, credible company, right?

Nvidia's Response to the Datamine

On the surface, it seemed that way, but now we know that’s not necessarily the case. Nvidia responded the following day on September 14 that the list of datamined games were listings “used only for internal tracking and testing,” adding that some titles included are “speculative” and don’t constitute “confirmation nor an announcement of any game.”

Nvidia said in a statement to IGN that it took immediate action to remove access to the internal list and that “no confidential game builds or personal information were exposed.” So that’s that, right? Well, in the landscape of games, it doesn’t take much for a leak, rumor, or datamine finding to take off and this week’s Nvidia datamined listings are no different.

Why The Listings Aren't All That They Seem

However, there might be more to this. Sure, there are some listings in the datamine that quite obviously read as “no way” — looking at you Bioshock 2022, which seemingly alludes to the new Bioshock game announced in late 2019 as coming from 2K’s new Cloud Chamber studio. There’s always the chance that Bioshock 4, or whatever it’s called, could come out in 2022, but that seems extremely unlikely. Just a couple of months ago, they were hiring a writer for an open-world setting.

Let’s put some puzzle pieces together: 2K created a new studio in 2019 called Cloud Chamber to create the next Bioshock game, which was announced at the time as now in development. That game is reportedly open world and it’s also still hiring writers. Considering Bioshock’s bread and butter is often its writing, it would seem a story for Bioshock 4 is not even set in stone yet. You can see why a brand new Bioshock game that’s reportedly open world and still hiring writers for a brand new studio announced in 2019 doesn’t seem likely for 2022, right?

Perhaps that’s a placeholder, or maybe it’s a spinoff or remaster. A spinoff seems unlikely considering 2K announced Cloud Chambers as essentially the Bioshock studio. All three Bioshock games were technically remastered with 2016’s Bioshock collection by Blind Squirrel Games (a studio known for its remasters), too. However, the Nvidia datamine does mention a “Bioshock RTX Remaster” (alongside Mirror’s Edge RTX and Batman: Arkham Knight RTX remasters as well).

Maybe that’s what “Bioshock 2022” in Nvidia’s listings is supposed to be, but that also seems unlikely because “Bioshock 2022” and “Bioshock RTX Remaster” are separate listings.

Making Sense of What's Probably Not Real

There are a lot of other titles in the datamine that seem more like guesses akin to Bioshock 2022 than actual titles we can expect to see anytime soon. “Kingdom Hearts IV '' is another title in the datamine that reeks of a guess. Kingdom Hearts 3, the latest numbered title in the series, was first announced in 2013. It didn’t release until 2019. A fourth sequel doesn’t seem like something happening anytime soon given the franchise’s track record either. There are spinoffs to be had first, after all.

Other titles we deem a guess include Titanfall 3 (that one might even be wishful thinking on Nvidia’s behalf because Respawn said last year that no new Titanfall games are in development), Metro Next, which seems to be a reference to a possible sequel in the Metro series, Crysis 4, likely added to the list by Nvidia due to the recent Crysis trilogy remaster announcement, and Gears 6.

Making Sense of What's Probably Real

Elsewhere in the datamine, there are games that we already know are happening so a listing in Nvidia GeForce Now for internal use makes sense. Titles in the datamine we’re going to categorize under “games we already know are coming” include GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas remasters (reportedly coming together in a single trilogy remaster), Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves collection, which PlayStation announced is coming to PS5 and PC in its most recent showcase, Payday 3, which was announced years ago, and Resident Evil 4 Remake, which is reportedly in the works, amongst others.

Then there’s the titles whose inclusion in the Nvidia GeForce Now list is what we’ll call questionable. For example, Dragon’s Dogma 2 was revealed through a massive Capcom leak that occurred in 2020. Nvidia likely added that title to its list as a result rather than actual knowledge the public is not currently privy to.

Another title that’s questionable is Final Fantasy 7 Remake — a recent datamine of Epic Games Store backend data revealed that the PC storefront will add this game to its offerings.

That hasn’t been confirmed yet but that same backend datamine revealed a potential Alan Wake Remaster and that has since been confirmed. That confirmation makes a PC version of Final Fantasy 7 Remake seem much more likely and there’s a chance Nvidia is already aware of such a version. Nvidia might also have simply created a placeholder after the Epic Games Store datamine though.

The PlayStation Effect

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this entire Nvidia GeForce Now leak is the mention of God of War (2018), Returnal, and Demon’s Souls for PC. None of those games have been announced as coming to PC, but it wouldn’t be surprising if such an announcement occurred. That’s because Sony has been slowly but steadily bringing its previously exclusive-to-PlayStation titles to PC.

Horizon Zero Dawn was added to PC last year and Days Gone was added to PC this year. We know Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: Lost Legacy are coming to PC next year and on top of all of this, PlayStation recently announced that it had purchased Nixxes, a studio that specializes in PC ports.

Put all of this together and God of War, Returnal, and Demon’s Souls coming to PC doesn’t seem all that unlikely. To add fuel to this datamine fire, the leak says there’s no mention of Insomniac’s Spider-Man or Bloodborne.

If Nvidia was just taking guesses, it seems odd to not include Spider-Man and Bloodborne, right? What makes Nvidia think God of War, Returnal, and Demon’s Souls would be coming to PC but that Spider-Man and Bloodborne would not join them. Purely speculating, perhaps Nvidia knows that the three aforementioned titles are, in fact, coming to PC.

Making Sense Of It All

Speculation, leaks, and datamined info aside, all of this adds up to one murky conclusion though: Nvidia might know some things not currently public and some of these games, be it ports, sequels, or brand new IP, might be real. It’s just as probable that Nvidia is guessing based on what it’s seen and heard, much like this piece speculates on things based on information out in the wild too.

The reality of the situation is that we’ll likely never know. These listings might be a big look at unannounced games and ports that weren’t meant to be seen by the public just yet. They might also be speculative guesses and placeholders. Quite literally, only time will tell.

Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

A recent “leak” that occurred Monday seemed to indicate that a lot of unannounced titles and anticipated sequels were on the way and also coming to PC.

It featured word of PC ports for previously console-exclusive titles and more, too. As first spotted on Reddit, software developer Ighor July performed a datamine of Nvidia’s GeForce Now database and in doing so, discovered listings for a lot of unannounced games, sequels, ports, and more.

What Gamers Are Saying

It didn't take long for this leak to take off. The original post on Reddit has nearly 2000 comments. The top comment is "No Bloodborne? It must be legitimate," and it comes by way of redditor KingBroly. It's a fun poke at the desire many have to see Bloodborne come to PC and there are many other comments like it. However, many of the commenters are taking this leak as 100% true. There are also some, like redditor howmadstha, who note that titles like Bioshock 2022 seem fake and take away some of the credibility that this datamine found real games, though.

The most common takeaway from the commenters on that original reddit post is that if this turns out to be huge, it might be one of the biggest leaks in gaming history, but that there's a good chance this isn't what it seems. Over on Twitter, things are hovering between "THIS IS NOT A DRILL [INSERT GAME] LEAK CONFIRMED" and "ehh who knows, these might just be placeholders." There's also those taking this opportunity to make a good meme or two out of the situation.

The NVIDIA employee who probably wrote his wishlist in the placeholder GeForce Now list rn: pic.twitter.com/neyFwnCHTd

— Miss Darkness (@misstenebraealt) September 13, 2021

To be fair, the leak did appear quite believable at first glance. It wasn’t a shoddy screenshot of a game playing on a monitor or a supposed list of things to come — it was a list of game listings made within Nvidia’s GeForce Now database. GeForce Now is Nvidia’s games streaming service not unlike Google Stadia or Amazon Luna. Surely the leak must be legitimate if it’s coming by way of such a massive, prominent, and most importantly, credible company, right?

Nvidia's Response to the Datamine

On the surface, it seemed that way, but now we know that’s not necessarily the case. Nvidia responded the following day on September 14 that the list of datamined games were listings “used only for internal tracking and testing,” adding that some titles included are “speculative” and don’t constitute “confirmation nor an announcement of any game.”

Nvidia said in a statement to IGN that it took immediate action to remove access to the internal list and that “no confidential game builds or personal information were exposed.” So that’s that, right? Well, in the landscape of games, it doesn’t take much for a leak, rumor, or datamine finding to take off and this week’s Nvidia datamined listings are no different.

Why The Listings Aren't All That They Seem

However, there might be more to this. Sure, there are some listings in the datamine that quite obviously read as “no way” — looking at you Bioshock 2022, which seemingly alludes to the new Bioshock game announced in late 2019 as coming from 2K’s new Cloud Chamber studio. There’s always the chance that Bioshock 4, or whatever it’s called, could come out in 2022, but that seems extremely unlikely. Just a couple of months ago, they were hiring a writer for an open-world setting.

Let’s put some puzzle pieces together: 2K created a new studio in 2019 called Cloud Chamber to create the next Bioshock game, which was announced at the time as now in development. That game is reportedly open world and it’s also still hiring writers. Considering Bioshock’s bread and butter is often its writing, it would seem a story for Bioshock 4 is not even set in stone yet. You can see why a brand new Bioshock game that’s reportedly open world and still hiring writers for a brand new studio announced in 2019 doesn’t seem likely for 2022, right?

Perhaps that’s a placeholder, or maybe it’s a spinoff or remaster. A spinoff seems unlikely considering 2K announced Cloud Chambers as essentially the Bioshock studio. All three Bioshock games were technically remastered with 2016’s Bioshock collection by Blind Squirrel Games (a studio known for its remasters), too. However, the Nvidia datamine does mention a “Bioshock RTX Remaster” (alongside Mirror’s Edge RTX and Batman: Arkham Knight RTX remasters as well).

Maybe that’s what “Bioshock 2022” in Nvidia’s listings is supposed to be, but that also seems unlikely because “Bioshock 2022” and “Bioshock RTX Remaster” are separate listings.

Making Sense of What's Probably Not Real

There are a lot of other titles in the datamine that seem more like guesses akin to Bioshock 2022 than actual titles we can expect to see anytime soon. “Kingdom Hearts IV '' is another title in the datamine that reeks of a guess. Kingdom Hearts 3, the latest numbered title in the series, was first announced in 2013. It didn’t release until 2019. A fourth sequel doesn’t seem like something happening anytime soon given the franchise’s track record either. There are spinoffs to be had first, after all.

Other titles we deem a guess include Titanfall 3 (that one might even be wishful thinking on Nvidia’s behalf because Respawn said last year that no new Titanfall games are in development), Metro Next, which seems to be a reference to a possible sequel in the Metro series, Crysis 4, likely added to the list by Nvidia due to the recent Crysis trilogy remaster announcement, and Gears 6.

Making Sense of What's Probably Real

Elsewhere in the datamine, there are games that we already know are happening so a listing in Nvidia GeForce Now for internal use makes sense. Titles in the datamine we’re going to categorize under “games we already know are coming” include GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas remasters (reportedly coming together in a single trilogy remaster), Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves collection, which PlayStation announced is coming to PS5 and PC in its most recent showcase, Payday 3, which was announced years ago, and Resident Evil 4 Remake, which is reportedly in the works, amongst others.

Then there’s the titles whose inclusion in the Nvidia GeForce Now list is what we’ll call questionable. For example, Dragon’s Dogma 2 was revealed through a massive Capcom leak that occurred in 2020. Nvidia likely added that title to its list as a result rather than actual knowledge the public is not currently privy to.

Another title that’s questionable is Final Fantasy 7 Remake — a recent datamine of Epic Games Store backend data revealed that the PC storefront will add this game to its offerings.

That hasn’t been confirmed yet but that same backend datamine revealed a potential Alan Wake Remaster and that has since been confirmed. That confirmation makes a PC version of Final Fantasy 7 Remake seem much more likely and there’s a chance Nvidia is already aware of such a version. Nvidia might also have simply created a placeholder after the Epic Games Store datamine though.

The PlayStation Effect

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this entire Nvidia GeForce Now leak is the mention of God of War (2018), Returnal, and Demon’s Souls for PC. None of those games have been announced as coming to PC, but it wouldn’t be surprising if such an announcement occurred. That’s because Sony has been slowly but steadily bringing its previously exclusive-to-PlayStation titles to PC.

Horizon Zero Dawn was added to PC last year and Days Gone was added to PC this year. We know Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: Lost Legacy are coming to PC next year and on top of all of this, PlayStation recently announced that it had purchased Nixxes, a studio that specializes in PC ports.

Put all of this together and God of War, Returnal, and Demon’s Souls coming to PC doesn’t seem all that unlikely. To add fuel to this datamine fire, the leak says there’s no mention of Insomniac’s Spider-Man or Bloodborne.

If Nvidia was just taking guesses, it seems odd to not include Spider-Man and Bloodborne, right? What makes Nvidia think God of War, Returnal, and Demon’s Souls would be coming to PC but that Spider-Man and Bloodborne would not join them. Purely speculating, perhaps Nvidia knows that the three aforementioned titles are, in fact, coming to PC.

Making Sense Of It All

Speculation, leaks, and datamined info aside, all of this adds up to one murky conclusion though: Nvidia might know some things not currently public and some of these games, be it ports, sequels, or brand new IP, might be real. It’s just as probable that Nvidia is guessing based on what it’s seen and heard, much like this piece speculates on things based on information out in the wild too.

The reality of the situation is that we’ll likely never know. These listings might be a big look at unannounced games and ports that weren’t meant to be seen by the public just yet. They might also be speculative guesses and placeholders. Quite literally, only time will tell.

Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

Guillermo del Toro's follow-up to his Best Picture-winning romance The Shape of Water has revealed its first look. Vanity Fair offered a preview of the movie with a series of images and a conversation with the director. The images showcase the production's impressive cast of talent and offer a tease at the illustrious production design typical of a del Toro film.

Nightmare Alley stars Bradley Cooper as Stanton Carlisle, a carnival worker turned nightclub performer who uses a series tricks to sell himself as a mind reader. The cast also includes Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Willem Dafoe, Toni Colette, David Strathairn, and del Toro's longtime collaborator Ron Perlman.

Take a look at the film's first images through the tweet below.

Welcome to #NightmareAlley, from Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. V.F.'s @HWD has your first look: https://t.co/nzqbgCl9mn

— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) September 14, 2021

While the title Nightmare Alley may seem to imply some supernatural occcurance, del Toro stated that the noir is grounded in reality. The director acknowledged that the film's title may create a false impression for prospective audiences.

"It has happened to me in the past with Crimson Peak, where people went in expecting a horror movie," del Toro said. "This has no supernatural element. It’s based completely in a reality world. There is nothing fantastic. It’s a very different movie from my usual, but yes, the title and my name would create that [impression]."

Nightmare Alley is an adaptation of a 1946 novel by William Lindsay, which had been previously adapted for a 1947 film starring Tyrone Power. Del Toro emphasized that the upcoming film is not a remake and instead draws heavily from the novel.

"From the beginning, our interest was to go for the novel, but it’s almost impossible to adapt because it has a very kaleidoscopic, very peculiar voice," del Toro said. "You would need a six-hour miniseries and shifting points of view, and this and that... I wanted to do the universe of the novel, which is a little gritty, but also strangely magical. It has a very strange, mystical allure— and mythical. I was very attracted to that possibility.”

Nightmare Alley will hit theaters on December 17, a prime window for prospective awards season players.

In our review of The Shape of Water, IGN gave the film an 8.9, calling it a "visually and emotionally engrossing fable... that synthesizes so many of this unique filmmaker's peculiar tastes and diverse artistic influences."

J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

Employees of Activision Blizzard under the banner of the ABK Workers Alliance, with the support of the Communication Workers of America guild (CWA), have filed an unfair labor practice suit with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) alleging the company has engaged in union-busting and intimidation of workers.

In a press release sent out by the groups today, ABK Workers and CWA accuse Activision Blizzard of "using coercive tactics to attempt to prevent its employees from exercising their rights to stand together and demand a more equitable, sustainable, and diverse workplace."

"It is their right as workers to organize for a work environment free from abuse, discrimination and sexual harassments, and this right is protected by federal labor law," it continues.

The complaint itself alleges that Activision-Blizzard has threatened employees, told them they cannot discuss wages, hours, or working conditions, "maintained an overly broad social media policy" and then both engaged in surveillance and enforced its policy against employees who "engaged in protected concerted activity."

One anonymous employee reportedly told Vice that some of the more outspoken employees at the company had recently been told their work performance was not up to standards, despite it being good previously. Another said the company had recently been "hemorrhaging people" in the wake of the harassment lawsuit against Activision-Blizzard.

Said lawsuit was filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing earlier this year, alleging that Activision-Blizzard fostered a "frat boy" culture in which female employees were subjected to sexual harassments, unequal pay, and further unfair, discriminatory, and harassing treatment over the years.

The subsequent weeks saw an industry-wide outcry against the company's culture, including numerous current and former employees sharing their stories of mistreatment at the company on social media and with the press, and an employee walkout. The ABK Workers Alliance was formed during this time in response to the suit, with the purpose of demanding better from the company for its workers.

Activision Blizzard has since made some moves to address the issues, including the termination of a number of employees accused of bad behavior, the removal of in-game references to multiple people named in the suit and other accusations, the replacement of former Blizzard president J. Allen Brack with co-leaders Mike Ybarra and Jen Oneal, and just today the hiring of former Disney VP Julie Hodges as its new chief people officer.

However, ABK Workers say the company has not meaningfully addressed its published demands, which include new recruiting, hiring, interviewing, and promotion policies, publication of representative data on employee compensation, a third party audit of the company's HR, reporting processes, and executive staff, and an end to forced arbitration.

To the latter point, ABK Workers tweeted today that "if the NLRB rules in our favor, the ruling will be retroactive and we will set a precedent that no worker in the US can be intimidated out of talking about forced arbitration."

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

After a series of release date shifts, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is finally only a few weeks away. Earlier this month, Sony and Columbia Pictures' symbiote sequel received a PG-13 rating from the MPAA for "intense sequences of violence and action, some strong language, disturbing material, and suggestive references," despite reports that an R rating was being considered for the follow-up.

In IGN's Instagram Live interview with Andy Serkis on Tuesday, the Let There Be Carnage director explained how a PG-13 rating was necessary for the film to reach a larger audience. However, that imposition did not stop the filmmaker from focusing on the more disturbing elements of the story's supervillain.

"You could go down an R-rated adult version of this. Of course you could," Serkis explained. "You could have done that with the last film. But we wanted to reach a big audience with this and... there are several rules you have to abide by. However, having said that, I think we have pushed to the very limits [with] the danger and darkness and the threat and the menace of Carnage."

Serkis elaborated on his approach, explaining that on-screen violence can be much more than buckets of blood.

"Just because you don't see so much gore — perhaps there's not so much blood or... seeing heads being bitten off — you can still suggest that," Serkis continued. "The suggestion, leaving it to the audience's imagination, can be just as powerful. I think that's just what we managed to do. It's certainly not shying away from the darkness. And the real heart of Carnage as a character isn't compromised at all."

After being delayed multiple times throughout the pandemic, Venom: Let There Be Carnage was most recently moved up two weeks on Sony's release calendar. The sequel will hit theaters on October 1.

In our review of the first Venom, IGN gave the film a 4, saying that "Tom Hardy’s committed performance can’t overcome a painful script and indecisive direction."

J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

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.

Next year's Call of Duty game will be a sequel to 2019's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, according to new reports.

Industry insider Tom Henderson tweeted that Call of Duty 2022, codenamed Project Cortez, is expected to be a sequel to 2019's Modern Warfare reboot.

It looks like Call of Duty: 2022 is codenamed Project Cortez

It's expected to be a sequel to Modern Warfare 2019.

— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) September 13, 2021

VGC also reports that Modern Warfare 2 is on the way next year and that it will include a campaign featuring U.S. special forces fighting Colombian drug cartels. Project Cortez was part of this week's GeForce Now datamine, with Infinity Ward slated to be the developer.

In IGN's Modern Warfare 2019 review, we called the game "great," saying, "Modern Warfare’s gorgeous new Realism mode, the large-scale Ground War, and quick and dirty Gunfight help mix things up for a good time." It would make sense for the series to follow up the 2019 reboot since Modern Warfare broke multiple sales records at the time of its release.

This year, it's Sledgehammer Games' turn to release the new Call of Duty, with Call of Duty: Vanguard set to come to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC on November 4. For more, check out our Call of Duty Vanguard multiplayer beta impressions. Or, read about how Call of Duty banned 100,000 accounts in a single day.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.