Activision has very high expectations for Call of Duty: Warzone 2.

The publisher said in its first quarter financial results that the sequel to its 2020 Battle Royale will feature "groundbreaking innovations" that will be revealed later this year.

"Development on this year’s premium and Warzone experiences, led by Infinity Ward, is proceeding very
well," Activision said. "The new free-to-play Warzone experience, which is built from the ground-up alongside the premium game, features groundbreaking innovations to be revealed later this year."

The report didn't indicate a release date for Warzone 2 but at least said that fans will hear more about it relatively soon.

Activision announced the sequel in February, saying it would be built in a new engine and feature an "all-new playspace and a new sandbox mode".

Developer Infinity Ward's co-studio head Pat Kelly admitted that it "f**ked stuff up" in the original Warzone as the team is "not happy" and "determined to fix the issues with the game". Fans had criticized its overall stability and lack of content, especially given the install sizes that Infinity Ward itself admitted were "f**king crazy".

Warzone was refreshed with its Season Two Reloaded update, and Infinity Ward certainly tries to keep things interesting with its various events. These include the additions of Godzilla and King Kong plus colossi from both the anime and rap worlds with Attack on Titan and Snoop Dogg DLC.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

The Mummy reboot director Alex Kurtzman has described the 2017 Tom Cruise-led film as "probably the biggest failure" of his life, even though the process helped him as a filmmaker.

Kurtzman recently appeared as a guest on the Bingeworthy podcast where he reflected on the "brutal" experience of making The Mummy reboot. The film was intended to kickstart Universal's Dark Universe but it ended up being a critical and commercial disappointment. Despite being poorly received, Kurtzman says he learned a lot from its failings.

"I tend to subscribe to the point of view that you learn nothing from your successes, and you learn everything from your failures," Kurtzman said. "And that was probably the biggest failure of my life, both personally and professionally. There's about a million things I regret about it, but it also gave me so many gifts that are inexpressibly beautiful. I didn't become a director until I made that movie, and it wasn’t because it was well-directed — it was because it wasn't."

The Mummy reboot marked Kurtzman's second time sitting in the director's chair for a feature, following 2012's People Like Us, and he hasn't helmed another movie in the years since. However, he noted that the experience gave him more knowledge and insight into the filmmaking process and that he's much more likely to trust his instincts from now on.

"As brutal as it was, in many ways, and as many cooks in the kitchen as there were, I am very grateful for the opportunity to make those mistakes because it rebuilt me into a tougher person, and it also rebuilt me into a clearer filmmaker," he shared. "That has been a real gift, and I feel those gifts all the time because I'm very clear now when I have a feeling that doesn't feel right — I am not quiet about it anymore. I will literally not proceed when I feel that feeling."

Universal's first attempt at launching its own Monsterverse (dubbed "The Dark Universe") may not have gone according to plan, with The Mummy reboot failing to make a lasting impact at the box office, but the studio later found success with The Invisible Man starring Elizabeth Moss, which earned $98.3 million on a budget of only $7 million when it hit theaters in 2020.

Universal is now focused on building out its monster portfolio with even more high-profile titles, many of which are already in development. Amongst those projects, there is a monster movie centered around Dracula-adjacent character Renfield, a Ryan Gosling-led Wolfman film helmed by Derek Cianfrance, and Blumhouse's adaptation of The Thing's source novel.

While Kurtzman has stepped away from the monster genre, he hasn't shied away from tackling new iterations of past works. His latest small-screen endeavor, The Man Who Fell to Earth, premiered on Showtime on April 24. IGN awarded the first episode a 5 out of 10, saying the premiere was "divided between fish-out-of-water comedy and tech bro tropes."

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

The Mummy reboot director Alex Kurtzman has described the 2017 Tom Cruise-led film as "probably the biggest failure" of his life, even though the process helped him as a filmmaker.

Kurtzman recently appeared as a guest on the Bingeworthy podcast where he reflected on the "brutal" experience of making The Mummy reboot. The film was intended to kickstart Universal's Dark Universe but it ended up being a critical and commercial disappointment. Despite being poorly received, Kurtzman says he learned a lot from its failings.

"I tend to subscribe to the point of view that you learn nothing from your successes, and you learn everything from your failures," Kurtzman said. "And that was probably the biggest failure of my life, both personally and professionally. There's about a million things I regret about it, but it also gave me so many gifts that are inexpressibly beautiful. I didn't become a director until I made that movie, and it wasn’t because it was well-directed — it was because it wasn't."

The Mummy reboot marked Kurtzman's second time sitting in the director's chair for a feature, following 2012's People Like Us, and he hasn't helmed another movie in the years since. However, he noted that the experience gave him more knowledge and insight into the filmmaking process and that he's much more likely to trust his instincts from now on.

"As brutal as it was, in many ways, and as many cooks in the kitchen as there were, I am very grateful for the opportunity to make those mistakes because it rebuilt me into a tougher person, and it also rebuilt me into a clearer filmmaker," he shared. "That has been a real gift, and I feel those gifts all the time because I'm very clear now when I have a feeling that doesn't feel right — I am not quiet about it anymore. I will literally not proceed when I feel that feeling."

Universal's first attempt at launching its own Monsterverse (dubbed "The Dark Universe") may not have gone according to plan, with The Mummy reboot failing to make a lasting impact at the box office, but the studio later found success with The Invisible Man starring Elizabeth Moss, which earned $98.3 million on a budget of only $7 million when it hit theaters in 2020.

Universal is now focused on building out its monster portfolio with even more high-profile titles, many of which are already in development. Amongst those projects, there is a monster movie centered around Dracula-adjacent character Renfield, a Ryan Gosling-led Wolfman film helmed by Derek Cianfrance, and Blumhouse's adaptation of The Thing's source novel.

While Kurtzman has stepped away from the monster genre, he hasn't shied away from tackling new iterations of past works. His latest small-screen endeavor, The Man Who Fell to Earth, premiered on Showtime on April 24. IGN awarded the first episode a 5 out of 10, saying the premiere was "divided between fish-out-of-water comedy and tech bro tropes."

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

Diablo: Immortal is now coming to PC as well as mobile – and it will arrive for both platforms on June 2.

The MMO was originally announced solely for Android and iOS, but Blizzard Entertainment revealed in a blog post that a PC port will be released in open beta alongside the mobile version.

Cross-play and cross-progression will be available immediately on both versions, meaning players on mobile can play with those on PC, and users can continue their gameplay seamlessly when switching platforms. Classic mouse and keyboard support will be available on the PC version, alongside controller support.

Blizzard said in another blog post dedicated to the PC version's development that, for long-time fans, the port "will feel a little different from other PC Diablo games" as it originally only planned to make the game for mobile.

The PC version is therefore "an experiment", which is why its only launching in beta and not as a full version. "It is important for us to assure you that Immortal will deliver an uncompromised AAA mobile experience when played on Windows PC," the post said.

Blizzard decided to make this version when it decided that many fans would try and emulate the mobile game on PC anyway, and would rather make a fully functioning, native version than see players struggle through a substandard experience.

Diablo: Immortal was announced at BlizzCon 2018 and was rumoured to release on June 30 after a date appeared to those who pre-registered for the game on Apple devices.

It was almost immediately met with negative fan reception due to its mobile-only plans and then-Blizzard Entertainment president J. Allen Brack said the company learned that "fundamentally our roots are PC" as a result of the reveal.

However, once the game hit alpha, we called it a hell of a good time, even if it did come with some problems.

Brack stepped down from the his position after Activision Blizzard was hit with a discrimination and harassment lawsuit from the state of California last year, the first in a long series of accusations that have since been made against the company.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Diablo: Immortal is now coming to PC as well as mobile – and it will arrive for both platforms on June 2.

The MMO was originally announced solely for Android and iOS, but Blizzard Entertainment revealed in a blog post that a PC port will be released in open beta alongside the mobile version.

Cross-play and cross-progression will be available immediately on both versions, meaning players on mobile can play with those on PC, and users can continue their gameplay seamlessly when switching platforms. Classic mouse and keyboard support will be available on the PC version, alongside controller support.

Blizzard said in another blog post dedicated to the PC version's development that, for long-time fans, the port "will feel a little different from other PC Diablo games" as it originally only planned to make the game for mobile.

The PC version is therefore "an experiment", which is why its only launching in beta and not as a full version. "It is important for us to assure you that Immortal will deliver an uncompromised AAA mobile experience when played on Windows PC," the post said.

Blizzard decided to make this version when it decided that many fans would try and emulate the mobile game on PC anyway, and would rather make a fully functioning, native version than see players struggle through a substandard experience.

Diablo: Immortal was announced at BlizzCon 2018 and was rumoured to release on June 30 after a date appeared to those who pre-registered for the game on Apple devices.

It was almost immediately met with negative fan reception due to its mobile-only plans and then-Blizzard Entertainment president J. Allen Brack said the company learned that "fundamentally our roots are PC" as a result of the reveal.

However, once the game hit alpha, we called it a hell of a good time, even if it did come with some problems.

Brack stepped down from the his position after Activision Blizzard was hit with a discrimination and harassment lawsuit from the state of California last year, the first in a long series of accusations that have since been made against the company.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Game developers are upset over an Apple policy change that will see apps deleted if they've not been recently updated.

On Twitter, Protopop Games (below) shared an email from Apple that said their app had not been updated in "a significant amount of time" and would therefore be deleted from the App Store.

The game in question, Motivoto, was completed and therefore last updated three years ago in March 2019, but Apple told Protopop Games that "if no update is submitted within 30 days, the app will be removed from sale."

The complaints center around the fact that all games will eventually cease receiving updates as developers move on, but will plausibly remain functional from that point onwards. Apple's new policy could see swathes of classic games removed simply due to having been released years earlier. We've reached out to Apple for comment on the reasoning behind the new policy.

I feel sick. Apple just sent me an email saying they're removing my free game Motivoto because its more than 2 years old.

It's part of their App improvement system.

This is not cool. Console games from 2000 are still available for sale.

This is an unfair barrier to indie devs. pic.twitter.com/7XNcLfiEcR

— Protopop Games (@protopop) April 23, 2022

Protopop Games, a single-person developer, said in follow-up tweets: "I'm sitting here on a Friday night, working myself to [the] bone after my day job, trying my best to scrape a living from my indie games, trying to keep up with Apple, Google, Unity, Xcode, MacOS changes that happen so fast my head spins.

"Now I am expected, along with Google's new program, to update all of my games every 2 years even if nothing is wrong with them.

"Now I need to dig up my project file, update the Unity version to make sure it meets the App Store requirements, rebuild, retest, resubmit all to get the exact same game in the exact same place it was before."

.@apple is removing a few of my old games b/c they have “not been updated in a significant amount of time”

Games can exist as completed objects! These free projects aren’t suitable for updates or a live service model, they’re finished artworks from years ago. pic.twitter.com/iflH70j7q4

— emilia ✨ (@lazerwalker) April 23, 2022

Protopop is not the only developer sharing concerns over the new policy. Twitter user @lazerwalker, who makes experimental games with novel interfaces, said Apple was also removing her older games.

"Games can exist as completed objects," she said. "These free projects aren't suitable for updates or a live service model, they're finished artworks from years ago."

Developer of Rated Mutant, @TezFraser on Twitter, said: "If you've ever wondered why I stopped making mobile games this is why. It honestly wasn't worth the effort to keep up with all the App Store nonsense."

Apple also removed a version of my FlickType Keyboard that catered specifically to the visually impaired community, because I hadn't updated it in 2 years.

Meanwhile, games like Pocket God have not been updated by the developers for 7 years now: https://t.co/3azyIydty7 pic.twitter.com/n36rvHvF4H

— Kosta Eleftheriou (@keleftheriou) April 23, 2022

The new rule affects all apps, not just games, with Twitter user @keleftheriou saying "Apple also removed a version of my FlickType Keyboard that catered specifically to the visually impaired community."

The move from Apple has otherwise been criticised for its lack of consideration of game preservation, as essentially only live service games will remain on the platform without intervention.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Game developers are upset over an Apple policy change that will see apps deleted if they've not been recently updated.

On Twitter, Protopop Games (below) shared an email from Apple that said their app had not been updated in "a significant amount of time" and would therefore be deleted from the App Store.

The game in question, Motivoto, was completed and therefore last updated three years ago in March 2019, but Apple told Protopop Games that "if no update is submitted within 30 days, the app will be removed from sale."

The complaints center around the fact that all games will eventually cease receiving updates as developers move on, but will plausibly remain functional from that point onwards. Apple's new policy could see swathes of classic games removed simply due to having been released years earlier. We've reached out to Apple for comment on the reasoning behind the new policy.

I feel sick. Apple just sent me an email saying they're removing my free game Motivoto because its more than 2 years old.

It's part of their App improvement system.

This is not cool. Console games from 2000 are still available for sale.

This is an unfair barrier to indie devs. pic.twitter.com/7XNcLfiEcR

— Protopop Games (@protopop) April 23, 2022

Protopop Games, a single-person developer, said in follow-up tweets: "I'm sitting here on a Friday night, working myself to [the] bone after my day job, trying my best to scrape a living from my indie games, trying to keep up with Apple, Google, Unity, Xcode, MacOS changes that happen so fast my head spins.

"Now I am expected, along with Google's new program, to update all of my games every 2 years even if nothing is wrong with them.

"Now I need to dig up my project file, update the Unity version to make sure it meets the App Store requirements, rebuild, retest, resubmit all to get the exact same game in the exact same place it was before."

.@apple is removing a few of my old games b/c they have “not been updated in a significant amount of time”

Games can exist as completed objects! These free projects aren’t suitable for updates or a live service model, they’re finished artworks from years ago. pic.twitter.com/iflH70j7q4

— emilia ✨ (@lazerwalker) April 23, 2022

Protopop is not the only developer sharing concerns over the new policy. Twitter user @lazerwalker, who makes experimental games with novel interfaces, said Apple was also removing her older games.

"Games can exist as completed objects," she said. "These free projects aren't suitable for updates or a live service model, they're finished artworks from years ago."

Developer of Rated Mutant, @TezFraser on Twitter, said: "If you've ever wondered why I stopped making mobile games this is why. It honestly wasn't worth the effort to keep up with all the App Store nonsense."

Apple also removed a version of my FlickType Keyboard that catered specifically to the visually impaired community, because I hadn't updated it in 2 years.

Meanwhile, games like Pocket God have not been updated by the developers for 7 years now: https://t.co/3azyIydty7 pic.twitter.com/n36rvHvF4H

— Kosta Eleftheriou (@keleftheriou) April 23, 2022

The new rule affects all apps, not just games, with Twitter user @keleftheriou saying "Apple also removed a version of my FlickType Keyboard that catered specifically to the visually impaired community."

The move from Apple has otherwise been criticised for its lack of consideration of game preservation, as essentially only live service games will remain on the platform without intervention.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Assassin's Creed creator Ubisoft is reportedly being studied by private equity firms with "preliminary takeover interests".

Anonymous sources told Bloomberg that several companies - including the world's biggest private equity firms Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. - are considering a takeover.

Ubisoft reportedly hasn't yet entered into serious negotiations with these companies, however, and it's currently uncertain if it will, or if the firms will pursue a takeover at all.

Sources also told Kotaku that various aspects of Ubisoft's business have been audited in recent years in anticipation of a potential sale, though these audits are also fairly common for companies looking to become more profitable.

It's unknown how a potential acquisition of Ubisoft may affect its games, if at all, but current and former Ubisoft employees also told Kotaku that the publisher is currently experiencing production issues, evidenced by several delays, among other things.

These problems, combined with dipping stock prices (which have fallen from $110 per share in July 2018 to $41 today) will likely lead to a sale, the sources said.

Ubisoft, led by CEO Yves Guillemot, battled and eventually won against a hostile takeover attempt by French entertainment powerhouse Vivendi in 2018, and the Guillemot family still holds the biggest stake in the company at 15%.

Speaking on Ubisoft's latest earnings call, Guillemot said that Ubisoft was open to reviewing any offers to buy the publisher and neither confirmed nor denied that it had been approached by potential buyers.

Acquiring developers has become a major strategy for gaming industry titans like PlayStation and Xbox in recent years with both companies showing no signs of slowing down.

Xbox's purchase of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion will be one of the biggest in entertainment history when the deal goes through, putting it on par with Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion and just shy of AT&T's purchase of Time Warner for $85.4 billion.

Sony, on the other hand, acquired Bungie in February, adding it to the list of more than half a dozen other studios its purchased since last year.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Assassin's Creed creator Ubisoft is reportedly being studied by private equity firms with "preliminary takeover interests".

Anonymous sources told Bloomberg that several companies - including the world's biggest private equity firms Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. - are considering a takeover.

Ubisoft reportedly hasn't yet entered into serious negotiations with these companies, however, and it's currently uncertain if it will, or if the firms will pursue a takeover at all.

Sources also told Kotaku that various aspects of Ubisoft's business have been audited in recent years in anticipation of a potential sale, though these audits are also fairly common for companies looking to become more profitable.

It's unknown how a potential acquisition of Ubisoft may affect its games, if at all, but current and former Ubisoft employees also told Kotaku that the publisher is currently experiencing production issues, evidenced by several delays, among other things.

These problems, combined with dipping stock prices (which have fallen from $110 per share in July 2018 to $41 today) will likely lead to a sale, the sources said.

Ubisoft, led by CEO Yves Guillemot, battled and eventually won against a hostile takeover attempt by French entertainment powerhouse Vivendi in 2018, and the Guillemot family still holds the biggest stake in the company at 15%.

Speaking on Ubisoft's latest earnings call, Guillemot said that Ubisoft was open to reviewing any offers to buy the publisher and neither confirmed nor denied that it had been approached by potential buyers.

Acquiring developers has become a major strategy for gaming industry titans like PlayStation and Xbox in recent years with both companies showing no signs of slowing down.

Xbox's purchase of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion will be one of the biggest in entertainment history when the deal goes through, putting it on par with Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion and just shy of AT&T's purchase of Time Warner for $85.4 billion.

Sony, on the other hand, acquired Bungie in February, adding it to the list of more than half a dozen other studios its purchased since last year.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Update 4/25 11:54 am PT:

Twitter has announced that it has agreed to Elon Musk's $44 billion bid for the social media company. In a press release, Twitter announced that upon completion of the deal, Twitter will become a privately held company owned wholly by Musk.

Following a storyline where Musk initially acquired Twitter stock to join the company's board has evolved into one of the biggest social media purchases in recent history. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal says in a statement "Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important."

Musk also issued a statement saying, "Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated."

I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022

Musk added, "I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all Humans."

Original Story: Reports have suggested that Twitter will accept Elon Musk’s $43 billion buyout offer later today.

According to Bloomberg, sources say that the social media company is in “the final stretch of negotiations” with Musk for a $43 billion sale. Twitter is apparently finalizing terms for the transaction, and that could be completed today should everything “go smoothly.”

MORE: Twitter is in the final stretch of negotiations about a $43 billion sale to Elon Musk that could rank as one of the biggest-ever internet acquisitions

Latest: https://t.co/iM2WXpvfzl pic.twitter.com/KKKwNryXFF

— Bloomberg (@business) April 25, 2022

The Wall Street Journal reports that Twitter and Musk met on Sunday to discuss the Tesla and Space CEO’s offer. The WSJ report, published on April 24, suggested that there was no guarantee that a deal would be reached, but today Bloomberg’s sources seem to claim that a deal will indeed go through.

These events follow Twitter putting together a “shareholders rights plan” in an effort to block Musk’s gargantuan offer. At the time, that was the culmination of a series of events that began when Musk purchased just over 9% of Twitter in shares, becoming the social media company’s largest shareholder. He was then offered a seat on Twitter’s board of directors, but Musk turned the proposal down. His next act was to offer to buy the entire company for $54.20 per share in cash.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.

Matt Kim is IGN's News Editor.

(Photo by PATRICK PLEUL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)