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.

The 2022 season of Overwatch League will use an early build of Overwatch 2.

This news comes by way of DotEsports, which also reports the fifth season of Overwatch League is expected to begin on time next April, as announced by the league's vice president, Jon Spector.

I've seen a lot of speculation regarding a 2022 start date for OWL. We can confirm that our plan is to begin next season in April 2022. We will share more details about 2022 roster construction timelines soon and more info generally on our 2022 season as we get closer to April.

— Jon Spector (@Spex_J) September 3, 2021

After rumors of a year-long hiatus for the league began to ramp up, Blizzard recently confirmed them to be false. The company said that while a release date for the 2022 season start had not yet been announced, a fifth season of Overwatch League would be happening nonetheless.

As you can see in the tweet above, Spector reaffirmed this news earlier today. However, a league spokesperson told DotEsports that this season would begin on an early build of Overwatch 2.

"The plan right now is for the Overwatch League's 2022 season to begin on an early build of Overwatch 2," a league spokesperson told the publication. "We'll have more details to share about our 2022 season as we get closer to the planned start date in April of next year."

As DotEsports notes, players are probably anxious to learn what those additional details surrounding the 2022 season consist of, especially now that we know Overwatch 2 will feature five-player teams, as opposed to the six-player teams seen in the first Overwatch.

On top of that, each team will only be allowed one Tank hero. Add into the mix the fact that Overwatch 2 is a new game on top of the team composition changes and this competitive season is sure to be a shakeup for players.

While waiting for the 2022 season of Overwatch League to begin, check out these new skins for Baptiste and Sombra in Overwatch 2 and then read about how Overwatch 2 will have "some compromises" on Nintendo Switch. Check out how Overwatch 2's 5v5 change has left the game's community divided after that.

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

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.

The 2022 season of Overwatch League will use an early build of Overwatch 2.

This news comes by way of DotEsports, which also reports the fifth season of Overwatch League is expected to begin on time next April, as announced by the league's vice president, Jon Spector.

I've seen a lot of speculation regarding a 2022 start date for OWL. We can confirm that our plan is to begin next season in April 2022. We will share more details about 2022 roster construction timelines soon and more info generally on our 2022 season as we get closer to April.

— Jon Spector (@Spex_J) September 3, 2021

After rumors of a year-long hiatus for the league began to ramp up, Blizzard recently confirmed them to be false. The company said that while a release date for the 2022 season start had not yet been announced, a fifth season of Overwatch League would be happening nonetheless.

As you can see in the tweet above, Spector reaffirmed this news earlier today. However, a league spokesperson told DotEsports that this season would begin on an early build of Overwatch 2.

"The plan right now is for the Overwatch League's 2022 season to begin on an early build of Overwatch 2," a league spokesperson told the publication. "We'll have more details to share about our 2022 season as we get closer to the planned start date in April of next year."

As DotEsports notes, players are probably anxious to learn what those additional details surrounding the 2022 season consist of, especially now that we know Overwatch 2 will feature five-player teams, as opposed to the six-player teams seen in the first Overwatch.

On top of that, each team will only be allowed one Tank hero. Add into the mix the fact that Overwatch 2 is a new game on top of the team composition changes and this competitive season is sure to be a shakeup for players.

While waiting for the 2022 season of Overwatch League to begin, check out these new skins for Baptiste and Sombra in Overwatch 2 and then read about how Overwatch 2 will have "some compromises" on Nintendo Switch. Check out how Overwatch 2's 5v5 change has left the game's community divided after that.

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

As Ted Lasso continues its second season on Apple TV Plus, the comedy series' superlative popularity has led to a wild new theory among fans. Rumors have spread that the character Roy Kent is not played by a real actor, but is instead a CGI creation, with fans highlighting the sharpness of his beard and drawing comparisons to character models in FIFA games.

Now, Brett Goldstein, who portrays Kent on the show, has broken his silence on the matter. The actor posted a video of himself on Twitter to assert that he is a real human being who does "normal human, basic things like rendering and buffering and transferring data."

My final statement on the matter: pic.twitter.com/YPzNnOu4mg

— Brett Goldstein (@brettgoldstein) September 2, 2021

Ted Lasso co-creator Brendan Hunt, who also plays Coach Beard on the show, offered a more tentative statement to CNET.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that if you entered data into an algorithm for 'building the perfect actor' it would produce Brett Goldstein," he said.

To clarify, Goldstein isn't just a real person, but also one of the driving creative forces behind Ted Lasso. The actor also serves as a writer and executive story editor on the series. He is currently nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance on the show's first season. Ted Lasso became the most nominated freshman comedy series in Emmys history, garnering 20 nominations including spots in Best Comedy Series and Best Actor in a Comedy Series for star Jason Sudeikis.

In our review of the Season 2 premiere of Ted Lasso, IGN gave the episode a 9, saying that the show "[avoids] the common sophomore slump, retaining and fine-tuning what worked the first time around, while evolving its quirky formula in some welcome ways."

J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

As Ted Lasso continues its second season on Apple TV Plus, the comedy series' superlative popularity has led to a wild new theory among fans. Rumors have spread that the character Roy Kent is not played by a real actor, but is instead a CGI creation, with fans highlighting the sharpness of his beard and drawing comparisons to character models in FIFA games.

Now, Brett Goldstein, who portrays Kent on the show, has broken his silence on the matter. The actor posted a video of himself on Twitter to assert that he is a real human being who does "normal human, basic things like rendering and buffering and transferring data."

My final statement on the matter: pic.twitter.com/YPzNnOu4mg

— Brett Goldstein (@brettgoldstein) September 2, 2021

Ted Lasso co-creator Brendan Hunt, who also plays Coach Beard on the show, offered a more tentative statement to CNET.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that if you entered data into an algorithm for 'building the perfect actor' it would produce Brett Goldstein," he said.

To clarify, Goldstein isn't just a real person, but also one of the driving creative forces behind Ted Lasso. The actor also serves as a writer and executive story editor on the series. He is currently nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance on the show's first season. Ted Lasso became the most nominated freshman comedy series in Emmys history, garnering 20 nominations including spots in Best Comedy Series and Best Actor in a Comedy Series for star Jason Sudeikis.

In our review of the Season 2 premiere of Ted Lasso, IGN gave the episode a 9, saying that the show "[avoids] the common sophomore slump, retaining and fine-tuning what worked the first time around, while evolving its quirky formula in some welcome ways."

J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

On this episode of Game Scoop! the Omega Cops chat Welcome to Raccoon City, Game Informer’s enlightening interview about crunch at Naughty Dog, that REALLY COOL Dead Space Remake Tech demo that has us all saying “nicely job”, and the latest gameplay showing from the Marvel/2K game that everyone is talking about, Midnight Suns. Plus video game 20 questions if we get around to it. Scoop!

Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service.

Listen on:

Apple Podcasts

YouTube

Spotify

Stitcher

Find previous episodes here!

On this episode of Game Scoop! the Omega Cops chat Welcome to Raccoon City, Game Informer’s enlightening interview about crunch at Naughty Dog, that REALLY COOL Dead Space Remake Tech demo that has us all saying “nicely job”, and the latest gameplay showing from the Marvel/2K game that everyone is talking about, Midnight Suns. Plus video game 20 questions if we get around to it. Scoop!

Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service.

Listen on:

Apple Podcasts

YouTube

Spotify

Stitcher

Find previous episodes here!

Adult Swim has finally cast Back to the Future's Christopher Lloyd as a live-action Rick Sanchez from Rick and Morty, bringing the series full circle in a way.

Don't get too excited, though, because Lloyd only dons Rick's trademark lab coat for a 15 second Twitter video posted by the official Adult Swim Twitter earlier today.

C-132 #rickandmorty pic.twitter.com/oq54C9C5TW

— adult swim (@adultswim) September 3, 2021

Nonetheless, it's still quite satisfying to see Lloyd as Rick, especially considering the character of Rick is based on Lloyd's Emmett "Doc" Brown in Back to the Future. In fact, the concept of Rick and Morty is based on Doc and Marty McFly from that movie.

Adult Swim went a step further, though, and cast Jaeden Martell (It, Knives Out) as Morty — an excellent choice.

As you can see in the video above, the 15 second Twitter video isn't anything too wild. It's actually exactly what you'd expect: Rick and Morty come through a portal, Rick burps and says they're home, and then Morty says his trademark "aww geez." For fans of Rick and Morty, though, the video is probably quite satisfying.

Essentially since the show's start, when it was quite obvious that Rick and Morty were based on Doc and Marty, fans have wanted to see Lloyd in the role of Rick. Now, that's finally happened.

Sadly, if the video is anything to go off of, there's not much more to this. There aren't any further details to go with it, there’s no accompanying release date, or really anything else— it seems to be simply a promotion for Rick and Morty.

For more about Rick and Morty, read about how the Season 5 finale will be an hour-long episode and then read our thoughts on the Season 5 premiere in IGN's Mort Dinner Rick Andre review. Check out this video about seven things you probably didn't know about Rick and Morty after that.

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

Adult Swim has finally cast Back to the Future's Christopher Lloyd as a live-action Rick Sanchez from Rick and Morty, bringing the series full circle in a way.

Don't get too excited, though, because Lloyd only dons Rick's trademark lab coat for a 15 second Twitter video posted by the official Adult Swim Twitter earlier today.

C-132 #rickandmorty pic.twitter.com/oq54C9C5TW

— adult swim (@adultswim) September 3, 2021

Nonetheless, it's still quite satisfying to see Lloyd as Rick, especially considering the character of Rick is based on Lloyd's Emmett "Doc" Brown in Back to the Future. In fact, the concept of Rick and Morty is based on Doc and Marty McFly from that movie.

Adult Swim went a step further, though, and cast Jaeden Martell (It, Knives Out) as Morty — an excellent choice.

As you can see in the video above, the 15 second Twitter video isn't anything too wild. It's actually exactly what you'd expect: Rick and Morty come through a portal, Rick burps and says they're home, and then Morty says his trademark "aww geez." For fans of Rick and Morty, though, the video is probably quite satisfying.

Essentially since the show's start, when it was quite obvious that Rick and Morty were based on Doc and Marty, fans have wanted to see Lloyd in the role of Rick. Now, that's finally happened.

Sadly, if the video is anything to go off of, there's not much more to this. There aren't any further details to go with it, there’s no accompanying release date, or really anything else— it seems to be simply a promotion for Rick and Morty.

For more about Rick and Morty, read about how the Season 5 finale will be an hour-long episode and then read our thoughts on the Season 5 premiere in IGN's Mort Dinner Rick Andre review. Check out this video about seven things you probably didn't know about Rick and Morty after that.

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

The chip shortage currently affecting all parts of gaming is not likely to let up until the end of next year, according to Toshiba.

In a new report from Bloomberg, the publication writes that Toshiba Corp., one of the major companies that creates power-regulating chips found in graphics cards, gaming consoles, and more, says the chip shortage will likely continue through the end of 2022.

IGN previously reported on this chip shortage, citing that Intel believes it could drag on into 2023, and this new Bloomberg report seems to reaffirm this timeline. Toshiba director, Takeshi Kamebuchi, told Bloomberg that "the supply of chips will remain very tight until at least September next year." Kamebuchi also said that some of Toshiba's customers won't be fully served all of the chips they need until 2023.

However, Toshiba doesn't mention which customers, so perhaps Sony and Microsoft won't find themselves waiting until 2023 to get the chips they need for their PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles.

Kamebuchi cites material shortages and a demand that's constantly outpacing chip output as reasons for Toshiba's inability to fulfill orders. With this chip shortage possibly lasting until 2023, Toshiba is planning to invest $545 million in its production between now and 2024 to boost the output of its power semiconductors, according to Bloomberg.

"We consider which customer faces the most severe situation, such as the risk of the whole production line halting or the business getting obliterated without the supply of chips," Kamebuchi told Bloomberg. "Game console makers are among the customers making the strongest demands and I'm sincerely sorry for their frustration as none of them have a 100% satisfaction."

And so the struggle to easily purchase a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, or new PC graphics card continues.

Check out this story about how Intel thinks the chip shortage affecting every part of gaming could drag into 2023 in the meantime. Read about how the Biden administration signed an executive order pledging to review the supply chain issues that have caused these consoles to remain scarce after that.

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

The chip shortage currently affecting all parts of gaming is not likely to let up until the end of next year, according to Toshiba.

In a new report from Bloomberg, the publication writes that Toshiba Corp., one of the major companies that creates power-regulating chips found in graphics cards, gaming consoles, and more, says the chip shortage will likely continue through the end of 2022.

IGN previously reported on this chip shortage, citing that Intel believes it could drag on into 2023, and this new Bloomberg report seems to reaffirm this timeline. Toshiba director, Takeshi Kamebuchi, told Bloomberg that "the supply of chips will remain very tight until at least September next year." Kamebuchi also said that some of Toshiba's customers won't be fully served all of the chips they need until 2023.

However, Toshiba doesn't mention which customers, so perhaps Sony and Microsoft won't find themselves waiting until 2023 to get the chips they need for their PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles.

Kamebuchi cites material shortages and a demand that's constantly outpacing chip output as reasons for Toshiba's inability to fulfill orders. With this chip shortage possibly lasting until 2023, Toshiba is planning to invest $545 million in its production between now and 2024 to boost the output of its power semiconductors, according to Bloomberg.

"We consider which customer faces the most severe situation, such as the risk of the whole production line halting or the business getting obliterated without the supply of chips," Kamebuchi told Bloomberg. "Game console makers are among the customers making the strongest demands and I'm sincerely sorry for their frustration as none of them have a 100% satisfaction."

And so the struggle to easily purchase a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, or new PC graphics card continues.

Check out this story about how Intel thinks the chip shortage affecting every part of gaming could drag into 2023 in the meantime. Read about how the Biden administration signed an executive order pledging to review the supply chain issues that have caused these consoles to remain scarce after that.

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