Playdate, the handheld crank-based gaming device, has been delayed from late 2021 to early 2022.

In an email sent Thursday, Playdate creator Panic explained that the decision to delay the handheld device due to issues with battery life in the first 5,000 units the company received from Malaysia.

Playdate's intended battery life is advertised as eight hours while active and 14 days while on standby mode. Panic stated that some units weren't reaching that goal, and some others were so drained that the device wouldn't power on at all and couldn't be charged.

The good news? Panic is replacing all of its existing batteries with new ones from a different supplier and says they've already received the new batteries and are plenty satisfied with them.

Panic added that factory production will ramp up to full speed again "in just a few weeks," but that logistics requires "late 2021" pre-orders are now aiming for "early 2022."

The worldwide chip shortage plaguing video game and tech companies everywhere is also playing a role, Panic says. To work around what the company has been told would be a two-year delay on the CPU they need, Panic is revising Playdate's main board so it can be used with a more widely available CPU.

Panic says the new board won't change anything when it comes to playing games, and if you've pre-ordered a unit, your place in line hasn't changed. So if you pre-ordered one of the first 1 to 10,000 and 10,000 to 20,000 units, you'll now receive your Playdate in early 2022. Those in line for 20,000 to 40,000 will receive their Playdates in the second half of 2022, and 40,0000 to 50,000 will be shipped in the "late second half" of 2022. Panic says Playdates past the first 50,000 units will "almost certainly" arrive in 2023.

If you're part of the homebrew game development scene and are looking forward to making games for the Playdate, Panic has a couple of estimated release dates for the Playdate Software Development Kit and the web browser-based tool Pulp. Pulp's public beta will arrive in January 2022, and the Playdate SDK will arrive in February 2022. You can read Panic's full blog for more details.

It's been a nightmare for many companies dealing with supply chain issues, especially those looking to launch new hardware. Valve's Steam Deck has been pushed back to February 2022, and Sony has reportedly cut PlayStation 5 production plans down, which will make it even harder to get one in the near future. Even the older Nintendo Switch can't escape, with Nintendo cutting Switch sales forecasts by 6% for the year, Reuters reports.

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/old crank for IGN.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR MARVEL'S ETERNALS AND MORE MCU CONTENT BELOW

The end credits scene in Marvel's Eternals gave one particular actor some real anxiety over the future of their role in the MCU. Fair warning, below you'll find some major spoilers for both the end credit scene of Eternals and at least one other significant character in the MCU.

The end credits scene in Eternals shows Kit Harington (you know, Jon Snow from Game of Thrones) as a seemingly human version of Dane Whitman AKA Black Knight interacting with an enchanted sword. Before he can touch it, a voice heard from offscreen interrupts Harington.

According to director Chloé Zhao, that voice does indeed belong to the daywalker vampire Blade, played by Mahershala Ali. This makes it Blade and Ali's first "appearance" in the MCU, if you don't count his role as Cottonmouth in Netflix's Luke Cage series. And Ali felt quite anxious about the whole process of establishing the revitalized character from a soundbooth.

“It was really cool, getting to do that,” Ali told Empire. “It was scary. Because, you know, you're talking before you're filming it. I'm pretty particular about my choices, like most actors, and so having to make some choices – even with a line, vocally – this early on, it brought up some very real anxieties. And it made the job real. It's like, ‘Okay, this is happening now’, you know, and that's exciting.”

Despite the anxiety that comes with playing the second version of the character that helped kick off a new era of modern, darker superhero films.

“That Marvel world is obviously the biggest in film, and just to get my little introduction to that – starting with the Comic Con a couple years ago, and now the very early stages of stepping into the shoes of that character – it felt special and really cool,” Ali said. “I’m excited to get going and do more.”

Ali closed out his reflections on Blade by acknowledging that he has yet to don any of the character's iconic clothes, including the leather coat or sunglasses, but that "we're getting there. We're getting close."

The end of Eternals goes way beyond one vampire, though. If you're looking for more spoiler-filled breakdowns of the MCU's future, we've got you covered. Here's one Eternals writer explaining what a Galactus appearance could mean for the MCU, a thorough breakdown of Kit Harington's Black Knight, plus a teaser that may spell the return of Thanos.

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/baewalker for IGN.

Earlier this week, Jason Citron, the CEO of Discord, shared an image that appeared to tease that the app would introduce cryptocurrency integration to its popular online chat service. However, Citron has now announced that the company will not be implementing the controversial feature.

Citron thanked those who responded to the original tweet on Wednesday night and to those who shared their perspectives. Citron says that the company has "no current plans to ship this internal concept," noting that the company is going to protect users from spam, scams, and fraud, promising that more details will be shared soon.

"Web3 has lots of good but also lots of problems we need to work through at our scale," Citron tweeted.

Thanks for all the perspectives everyone. We have no current plans to ship this internal concept. For now we're focused on protecting users from spam, scams and fraud. Web3 has lots of good but also lots of problems we need to work through at our scale. More soon.

— Jason Citron (@jasoncitron) November 11, 2021

Based on the final sentence, which refers to "Web3," it appears the company has not completely ruled out implementing cryptocurrency or NFTs in the app. For those wondering, "Web3" refers to an iteration of the internet that is crypto-based.

Of course, this is not the first time Discord has tried to gauge interest with users on its thoughts on this subject. Before Citron teased a crypto wallet coming to Discord, an image went viral on Twitter where a user screenshotted a now-expired Discord survey that focused on NFTs and Web3.

In recent weeks Blockchain and NFTs have become a hot topic in the gaming industry; major gaming publishers EA, Epic Games, Square Enix, and Ubisoft have either expressed interest, support, or confirmed it was planning to develop Blockchain games and NFTs.

In contrast, this October Valve implemented a new rule that bans Blockchain games that issue NFTs or cryptocurrency from its digital game distribution platform Steam.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

You can now put Twitch on your Nintendo Switch. The streaming app is now available for download on the Nintendo Switch eShop.

I've checked out Twitch on my Switch (I'll never get tired of that rhyme), and it performs pretty admirably, all things considered. The app can only be used to view streams on Twitch and not stream directly from the Switch itself.

The home menu will feel familiar to anyone used to navigating through Twitch's recommendations or your subscriptions, but it doesn't look like you can type into a streamer's chat directly from the Switch. Instead, you'll need to scan a QR code, which opens up a streamer's chat as a webpage on your phone, which seems more manageable than using the Switch's digital keyboard.

Twitch joins the lineup of other streaming apps that eventually arrived on the Switch, including Hulu, YouTube, and Funimation. Heck, there's even Pokemon TV, but still no Netflix.

Don't forget to check out IGN's guide to Nintendo Black Friday deals so you can stay on top of the best Nintendo holiday gaming bargains. Just don't expect to get your hands on the new Switch N64 controllers until next year.

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.

Details have seemingly been leaked about two new Xbox exclusives from Compulsion Games (We Happy Few) and Obsidian Entertainment (The Outer Worlds), the former of which is described as a single-player "southern gothic adventure."

According to Windows Central, Compulsion's first game with Microsoft is codenamed Midnight. It is reportedly a third-person game set in a dark and fantastical world. The protagonist, seen below in the middle section of the concept art, is a dark-skinned woman with braided hair. The picture on the right shows a harpy creature going through various stages of transformation. The picture on the left looks like it could be a harpy nest.

Midnight apparently draws its inspirations from America's deep south and is a "coming of age" story. It is also a solely single-player game. It apparently won't be ready for an official reveal or launch until the next few years, however. Last month, the We Happy Few developer mentioned that it was working on a new third-person, story-driven title and Midnight certainly seems to fit the bill.

The second game comes from Obsidian Entertainment, codenamed Pentiment. A 12-person team is developing this game and is led by Josh Sawyer, who previously worked on Fallout: New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity. GamesBeat's Jeff Grubb said that Pentiment draws inspiration from games like Disco Elysium and will be a narrative RPG rather than a combat-focused one.

The game is reportedly a murder mystery set in the 16th Century in which players will be able to investigate and accuse other characters in the game. However, these accusations have consequences; if you're wrong, then a snowball effect occurs. The game will slowly unfold into a full-blown conspiracy. The team is also reportedly experimenting with several different gameplay mechanics, but some might not make it into the final product. Grubbsays Pentiment is aiming for a 2022 launch.

If correct, it means Obsidian is very busy right now – the studio is also working on Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

Marvel Comics just kicked off the latest volume of Venom, and the Lethal Protector is undergoing another huge status quo change as a result. The Venom symbiote has a brand new host, but who is it this time?

Read on to learn the identity of the new Venom, but beware of spoilers for Venom #1 ahead!

The new series builds on the fallout of the recent King in Black crossover, which ended with Knull being destroyed and Eddie taking his place as god of the symbiotes. Unfortunately, Eddie tends to have the worst luck this side of Peter Parker, so he's not able to enjoy his new lot in life for very long before everything goes south again.

As the new series opens, Eddie is spending more and more time in space cleaning up the damage caused by Knull's rampage. He even has a quartet of symbiote drones dubbed John, Paul, George and Ringo, similar to Tony Stark's Iron Legion in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Unfortunately, Ringo is taken over by another mind, one who slaughters a ship full of Skrull refugees and warns Eddie his death is fast approaching.

Back on Earth, Eddie's son Dylan is struggling top deal with his absentee father. After fleeing an impostor pretending to be Eddie, Dylan reunites with his real father at a motel, only for the two to be attacked by a mysterious military squad. In the resulting chaos, Eddie is killed in an explosion and Dylan is forced to do the one thing his father forbade - bond with the Venom symbiote.

Dylan becomes the latest in a long line of heroes and villains to bond with Venom, though he has the distinction of being the first teenage Venom. What could go wrong when an angry, hormonal teenager wields one of the most powerful weapons on Earth?

The good news is that Eddie isn't dead. While his human body is destroyed, his mind has become unstuck in time. He sees glimpses of events to come, including a meeting with Kang the Conqueror and the rise of a new symbiote named Bedlam (who may or may not be the villain controlling Ringo). Eddie is ultimately dragged forward to the distant future, where his reconstructed body is greeted by a mysterious being named Meridus.

This looks to be the start of an ongoing status quo for Venom, with Dylan coming to terms with his new powers on Earth while Eddie makes sense of his plight at the far edge of time. If Kang's words are any indication, he may be stuck there for a long, long time.

For more on the kooky history of the Venom franchise, brush up on the strongest symbiotes in the Marvel Universe and see the 30 biggest WTF Venom moments.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

IGN can exclusively reveal the introductory trailer for Spider-Man in Marvel's Avengers, which shows off Crystal Dynamics' take on Peter Parker for the first time.

The trailer is a cinematic rather than straight gameplay, but gives us an idea of Spider-Man's acrobatic moveset, web shooting abilities, and all but confirms web-swinging and wall-crawling across the game's environments:

The cinematic sees Peter ambushing and taking on a group of A.I.M. soldiers that have taken hostages, before being joined by the entire Avengers line-up. Square Enix hasn't yet confirmed who is providing the voice of Peter Parker in this incarnation of the character.

Arriving as part of the With Great Power expansion for PlayStation owners of the game – due for release on November 30 – Spider-Man will be the 9th playable hero in the multiplayer game. The
expansion sees Peter Parker discover A.I.M. plans to make its robot army invincible, before joining forces with the Avengers.

Spider-Man was announced as a PlayStation-exclusive character before release, but it's been a very long wait for the character to be added, with Crystal Dynamics repeatedly reconfirming that he would arrive.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

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 issued an apology after 'insensitive' uses of the Muslim holy text, the Quran, were included on the floor of a Call of Duty Vanguard Zombies map. The images have now been removed from the game.

Following the launch of Call of Duty: Vanguard, a number of players noticed that the game contained various pages from the Quran scattered across the floor of a Zombies map. The pages of the holy text were positioned in a way that allowed players to step on them while engaging in gunfights. Putting a copy of the Quran on the floor is considered a disrespectful act, and the scattered pages caused an outcry, with some even calling for a boycott of the game.

Call of Duty has pages of the Qur'an on the floor for people to step on.

I usually make excuses for people whenever they make a mistake, but this one feels intentional. I really hope that I'm wrong.

Either way, this has to be corrected. It's shameful and embarrassing. https://t.co/RimPRtSePI

— Osama Dorias (@osamadorias) November 10, 2021

As noted in a tweet by CharlieIntel (below), the publisher has since apologized for including the content on the map and has said that it will look to address the issue with those responsible in order to stop similar situations from happening in the future. "Call of Duty is made for everyone," says Activision in its statement.

"There was insensitive content to the Muslim community mistakenly included last week, and has since been removed from the game. It should never have appeared as it did in-game. We deeply apologize. We are taking immediate steps internally to address the situation to prevent such occurrences in the future."

Activision has issued a statement apologizing for #Vanguard Zombies including insensitive references to Muslim community. Activision says that the references have been removed from the game already. pic.twitter.com/Mu0hXwt9pY

— CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) November 11, 2021

Since uncovering the material, a number of players have spoken out across social media in support of the Muslim community over the issue. Following Activision's statement, game developer Rami Ismail gave his thoughts on the topic. "It's good to see an apology for the absolutely unnecessary and needless inclusion of Quran texts that people can walk over," said the developer in a tweet.

It's good to see an apology for the absolutely unnecessary and needless inclusion of Quran texts that people can walk over. https://t.co/pFV482c22s

— Rami Ismail (رامي) (@tha_rami) November 11, 2021

This isn't the first time in recent years that the franchise has been called into question over cultural insensitivity. In 2019, the BBC reported that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare had seen a wave of negative reviews on Metacritic where users claimed that the game was trying to rewrite history and promote anti-Russian propaganda. At the time, Activision stated that the game did not represent real-world events.

For more on Call of Duty: Vanguard, make sure to check out our review of the game's campaign, where we awarded it a 7/10.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

A new study has found that venomous sharks are amongst the hundreds of wildlife species that now inhabit the River Thames.

It turns out that we're gonna need a bigger... notebook to take stock of the variety of creatures dwelling in the London waterway, as CNN reports that a survey organized by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has revealed "positive news" for its wildlife and ecosystem recovery, with seahorses, eels and seals also having been discovered in the Thames.

The river's "health check" found a shiver of sharks beneath the surface of the water, with three different species recorded as part of the survey, including tope, starry smooth-hound and spurdog — the latter of which has dorsal fins with venom-secreting spines that can cause pain and swelling in humans if they were to come into contact with the mildly toxic substance.

Tope sharks are long and slender just like spurdogs but they have distinctive long snouts. They can grow to be 6 foot in length and can weigh up to 106 pounds, while starry smooth-hounds are smaller in size, reaching up to 4 feet and 25 pounds. Starry smooth-hounds can be identified by the speckled white spots typically scattered on their upper flanks and back.

This comes more than six decades after the 215-mile river was declared "biologically dead." The report, however, warned of threats from pollution and climate change, with the water's temperature rising by 0.2°C a year on average. Sea levels are also on the up, with the tidal section of the Thames having risen at some points by 0.17 inch a year on average since 1990.

Scientists are keen to conduct further research of the River Thames to better understand the reason why the number of fish species found in the estuary's tidal areas has shown "a slight decline" over the years, but who knows what else they may discover. Just last year, a new gelatinous species of ctenophor was found during a dive off the coast of Puerto Rico.

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

The Xbox app for PC is set to remove a number of installation restrictions in a change that will make it far easier for modders to work on games.

As announced in a video (below), Microsoft has confirmed that it is set to give further access to PC players when installing games. "We want you to be able to choose where your games install," says Partner Director of Experiences Jason Beaumont. "Soon Xbox Insiders can start testing out selecting what drive your game installs to and select where your default folder goes within that drive."

"They'll also find the download speeds for those games have improved over time so it's even easier and faster to get to your next game."

Beaumont went on to confirm that the update will also allow players access to their local files for a wide range of games within Xbox Games Pass. For players looking to mod their games this is great news, as it now means that they will be able to edit and move their game files much more easily. While Beaumont didn't confirm exactly how many games would be receiving the additional features, it was stated that players will be able to check whether a game is moddable via a tag present on its Xbox app page.

Currently, when downloading games from Games Pass, players often experience issues with the Microsoft Store and its WindowsApps folder. The folder itself comes with a number of restrictions that limit what players can do with their games. Unlike rival platforms such as Steam, which already grants players a number of options when it comes to installing games, the current method used by Microsoft makes it difficult for players to do a number of things after installation, including backing up and modifying their files.

In other recent Microsoft news, the company recently announced a strategic partnership with Sega that will see the Sonic publisher produce games built on Microsoft's Azure cloud platform. Sega has said that the agreement is part of the company's new "Super Game" initiative, which aims to create "new and innovative" games with a focus on global online play.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.