IGN and Rogue Games teamed up to produce the first-ever Rogue Jam that not only offered publishing deals to indie developers, but also $800,000 in total prize money that will be used to help bring these games to life. Now, the winners have been revealed.

Throughout five episodes over the past few weeks, a team of judges that includes IGN EVP and CCO Peer Schneider and former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé has selected the top games in five categories - Huge Potential Winner, Eye-Poppingly Beautiful, WTF?, Overall Winner, and Audience Choice.

If you'd like to watch all the episodes before seeing all the winners, be sure to check out each one below before checking out more details of the victorious games and a video preview of each one.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead for Rogue Jam!

• Rogue Jam Episode 1: Huge Potential Winner
• Rogue Jam Episode 2: Eye-Poppingly Beautiful
• Rogue Jam Episode 3: WTF?
• Rogue Jam Episode 4: Overall Winner
• Rogue Jam Episode 5: Audience Choice

Rogue Jam Episode 1: Huge Potential Winner - Enter the Chronospherse

Enter the Chronosphere won the Huge Potential award at Rogue Jam 2022 and took home $50,000 and Rogue Games right of first refusal. In Enter the Chronosphere, players must master a turn-based "bullet hell" roguelike game where the action only takes place when they move. While this allows players all the time in the world to plan their next move, the challenges that wait will still require precision and careful thinking.

Rogue Jam Episode 2: Eye-Poppingly Beautiful Winner - I See Red

I See Red won the Eye-Poppingly Beautiful award at Rogue Jam 2022 and won a cash prize of $100,000 and a Rogue Games publishing deal. In I See Red, players take on the role of a space pirate who loves nothing more than invading enemy spaceships and stealing weapons and other goods. The game is a fast-paced, frantic twin-stick shooter that also proudly wears its roguelike aspects on its sleeve.

Rogue Jam Episode 3: WTF? Winner - Zapling Bygone

Zapling Bygone was named the ultimate WTF? game at Rogue Jame 2022 and is taking home $100,000 for that honor and a Rogue Games publishing deal. Zapling Bygone is a mix of open-world, roguelike, and metroidvania styles and puts you in control of a hive mind that must platform through the world, defeat their enemies, and wear their skulls to absorb their consciousness. These skulls give you new powers that help you navigate an alien world.

Rogue Jam Episode 4: Overall Winner - Seadog

Of all the games to enter Rogue Jam 2022, Seadog took home the ultimate prize to become the Overall Winner. In doing so, the developers earned $500,000 and a publishing deal with Rogue Games. So, what is this game that secured victory above all others? It is a game about a skateboarding frog that also happens to be a sailor.

Seadog puts players aboard a ship that is stranded in a ship graveyard and tasks them with traversing through the world by using the skateboard and the many tricks this sailor frog can learn. You won't be alone in this mission, however, as you will be accompanied by your ship's captain - an A.I. that's stored on a flash drive.

Rogue Jam Episode 5: Audience Choice Winner - Mysplaced

In the final episode, Mysplaced took home the award for Audience Choice alongside $50,000 and a Rogue Games right of first refusal. This Zelda-like game doesn't shy away from its inspiration and should feel right at home for those who loved the top-down entries of the franchise like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, specifically the remake! While not much has been revealed about the game, we do know it follows a hero who finds himself in a mysterious world.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Top Gun: Maverick producer and star Tom Cruise was not going to let the movie debut online.

During a lengthy Q&A at Cannes attended by IGN, the 50-year-old action star revealed that he put his foot down when it came to debuting Top Gun: Maverick in cinemas.

“They wouldn’t dare,” he said, definitively. “That’s not going to happen, ever. That was never going to happen. Never. Not going to happen.”

Why was Cruise so against an online release? It’s all about the cinematic experience.

“Look at us all together,” he said, gesturing to the theatre. “We’re all united. We’re all speaking different languages, different cultures, different ideas about art or cinema or storytelling but we are united in being able to come together as a community and share in a shared experience.”

It’s no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic put the brakes on Cruise’s other upcoming film, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. Other studios took a chance, releasing their movies online, with Marvel’s Black Widow making waves as one of the first. But Cruise was adamant this would never happen with Top Gun sequel, Maverick.

“I’ve always loved the audience,” he explained. “I make my movies for audiences, because I am an audience, first and foremost.”

He also hinted that making films for the big screen is a very different process compared to making films for streaming services.

“There’s a very specific way to make a film for cinema and I make movies for the big screen,” he said “I know where to go after that. And that’s fine. But I always thought of a film not just for opening weekend but for the distance.

“You hope to make a movie that’s going to entertain and engage an audience not just on opening weekend but down the line, and I love this experience. I want this experience not just for myself, but I know there are so many people who want this experience. I want other filmmakers to have that experience and have that as an outlet.”

Cruise went on to explain how much he loves the cinema. For him, it’s all about the buzz of watching the latest releases among the fans.

“Cinema is my love. It’s my passion. I always go to the movies when they come out – I put my cap on and sit in the audience with everyone. I come in, I want to see the trailers.”

Director Joseph Kosinsk previously revealed that he shot over 800 hours of footage for Top Gun: Maverick. However, Tom Cruise was stopped from flying an actual jet during the film’s production.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Developer Smallthing Studios and publisher Leonardo Interactive have announced the return of the 1990's point-and-click adventure classic series Simon the Sorcerer in the form of Simon the Sorcerer: Origins, an adventure-game prequel to the 1993 original.

As you can see in the announcement trailer above, Origins styles itself after a '90's Saturday morning cartoon, which both modernizes its look over the MS-DOS originals while also grounding it in a fittingly retro style as well. Origins is set a few weeks before the events of the first game, which saw Simon's dog Chippy accidentally uncover Ye Old Spellbooke in a chest in the loft of his house, which opens a portal once Simon opens the book, enticing Chippy to go through it and Simon to follow.

"It has been a long time wish of ours to revive one of the gaming industry’s best loved and iconic characters," said Leonardo Interactive founder Leonardo Caltagirone. "Our goal will be to create a new world brought to life with beautiful modern visuals and all new gameplay mechanics to tell the untold story of Simon’s origins."

IGN will have more on Simon the Sorcerer: Origins as development progresses. Origins is due out for PC and consoles in early 2023.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

The Pentagon has logged almost 400 reports of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), which is more than double the amount that was recorded in the database last year.

As reported by POLITICO, the task force responsible for tracking UAPs – commonly known as unidentified flying objects (UFOs) – witnessed a significant increase in possible UAP encounters after last year's preliminary report on mysterious flying objects was presented to Congress, as it encouraged more military personnel to come forward about historic events.

The report in June analyzed 144 reports of UAP between the years 2004 and 2021, including 18 that were observed to have unusual movement patterns or flight characteristics. The Office of the United States Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) deemed any explanation for mysterious aircraft as "largely inconclusive" and has continued to investigate sightings.

"Reports of sightings are frequent and continuing," Scott Bray, deputy director of naval intelligence, said on Tuesday, during a hearing about UAPs hosted by a subcommittee of the House Intelligence Committee. "The UAP Task Force database has now grown to contain approximately 400 reports. The stigma has been reduced."

The hearing was the first of its kind in over half a century, and it revealed that 11 of the 400 UAPs that have been tracked were near misses with U.S. aircrafts. A video played during the session showed a close encounter of a spherical craft zipping past a military cockpit but it remained "unidentified" as there was no explanation given for what the object was.

It was also said that the government had not obtained any material from crashed UFOs and hadn't studied high-profile UFO cases. The task force intends to further research the origins of UAPs and whether they could be explained by "technological breakthroughs by allies or adversaries, secret U.S. vehicles or 'commercial platforms,' or 'natural or other phenomena.'"

The current process of compiling and analyzing UAP reports begins with the operational chain of command and the task force, who file the report in the database and compare it with past observations of UAPs in order to establish any correlations between locations, altitudes, speeds, shapes, and so forth, as part of their endeavours to "reach some conclusions."

Ronald Moultrie, undersecretary of intelligence at the Department of Defense, noted that the task force had applied pioneering techniques to their studies of UAPs to try and uncover the facts. "A methodical approach is something we are doing that has not been done before," he said. "We're open to all hypotheses, we're open to any conclusions that we may encounter."

In recent years, the U.S. government has been more forthcoming in acknowledging brushes with mysterious flying objects. In 2020, legislation was passed that asked the task force to collect all available information regarding UAPs and present a "detailed analysis" of their findings, including whether foreign forces may have access to unknown aerial advancements.

The long-term goal for the UAP task force is to widen the scope of its research and broaden its dataset to hopefully draw more concrete conclusions. The sharp rise in reports this past year is a promising step forward, but explaining these UAP sightings and their origins will clearly require some deeper analysis, data collection, and resource investment.

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

Publisher Nacon and developer Spiders have announced GreedFall 2: The Dying World for PC and consoles. The game is set to launch in 2024.

GreedFall 2's story is a prequel, taking place three years before the events of the first game. Players will assume the role of a Teer Fradee native who is uprooted from their island and is taken to where the colonists originally came from, the continent of Gacane, which has been decimated by both war and the Malichor plague.

"We are very excited to reveal GreedFall 2 to everyone, the new game from Spiders," said Nacon CEO Alain Falc in a statement. "Many fans across the world were begging for this sequel, and we are delighted to be publishing this new game that these fans are sure to love. We also hope it will appeal to new players and all fans of role-playing games, great stories, action, and fantasy."

Spiders founder and director Jehanne Rousseau added, "While we were working on Steelrising, our love of the Greedfall universe never faded, and so we are thrilled to be returning to it." She continued, saying, "In this new chapter, players will explore the old continent with its bigger and more diverse environments. They will meet new companions and new factions, and I hope they will have unforgettable adventures."

While GreedFall 2 is planned for release on consoles in 2024, it's currently unknown whether it will skip the previous generation with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One like Gotham Knights did.

In our original GreedFall review, we said, "GreedFall is almost everything I want out of a big, juicy, old-school RPG. While it’s still lacking a lot of polish, the exciting combat and excellent, complex quest writing bring it very close to that winning formula of a mid-2000s BioWare game." Spiders and Nacon have announced that it has so far sold 2 million copies.

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

Final Fantasy VII Remake director Tetsuya Nomura has said Square Enix will be making "various" announcements next month regarding the original game's 25th anniversary.

As reported by RPGSite, Nomura teased the announcements on a livestream for Final Fantasy VII spin-off The First Soldier, saying that Square Enix would be celebrating the original game's 25th anniversary.

"Next month, we're planning to publish information related to VII's 25th anniversary," he said. "I wonder how [much] I'm allowed to share about it. Next month we will publish various things."

Final Fantasy 7 turned 25 years old in January this year, the anniversary of its original Japanese release. It's western 25th anniversary is still upcoming; the original game launched in the States on September 7, 1997, and in Europe on November 17.

Remake Part 2 entered full development in July 2020 and original Final Fantasy VII director Yoshinori Kitase said earlier this year that the development team would like to announce the game in 2022 if possible.

That being said, Square Enix has other Final Fantasy VII related projects in the works (including The First Soldier and upcoming mobile RPG Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis), but the announcements could be much smaller and more akin to the recent clothing line reveal.

An announcement regarding Final Fantasy XVI is also expected soon, with producer Naoki Yoshida previously promising a big reveal was coming this spring.

The first brand new mainline entry since 2016 is currently in the final stages of development but Square Enix is yet to confirm a release date.

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

The country of Saudi Arabia now owns 5.01% of Nintendo as its Public Investment Fund (PIF) continues its chain of investments into video game companies.

As reported by Bloomberg, the country is now Nintendo's fifth largest shareholder, though its investment was only made for investment purposes according to a filing made to Japan's Finance Ministry.

The move is unlikely to have wider effects within Nintendo or its games but will instead be used by Saudi Arabia to learn from Nintendo's gaming pedigree, an industry analyst said.

Hideki Yasuda of Toyo Securities told Bloomberg: "Saudi Arabia has been beefing up efforts to create its own content industry, and this series of investments in Japanese game companies is likely a way for them to learn from Japan."

The PIF invested in Resident Evil and Street Fighter publisher Capcom in February alongside MapleStory publisher Nexon, also claiming a more than 5% stake in each company.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last year invested in Grand Theft Auto V publisher Take-Two, Battlefield publisher EA, and Call of Duty's Activision Blizzard.

These investments weren't the first made by Prince Salman, as in 2020 he also purchased a third of Japanese fighting game company SNK, becoming the majority owner.

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

The country of Saudi Arabia now owns 5.01% of Nintendo as its Public Investment Fund (PIF) continues its chain of investments into video game companies.

As reported by Bloomberg, the country is now Nintendo's fifth largest shareholder, though its investment was only made for investment purposes according to a filing made to Japan's Finance Ministry.

The move is unlikely to have wider effects within Nintendo or its games but will instead be used by Saudi Arabia to learn from Nintendo's gaming pedigree, an industry analyst said.

Hideki Yasuda of Toyo Securities told Bloomberg: "Saudi Arabia has been beefing up efforts to create its own content industry, and this series of investments in Japanese game companies is likely a way for them to learn from Japan."

The PIF invested in Resident Evil and Street Fighter publisher Capcom in February alongside MapleStory publisher Nexon, also claiming a more than 5% stake in each company.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last year invested in Grand Theft Auto V publisher Take-Two, Battlefield publisher EA, and Call of Duty's Activision Blizzard.

These investments weren't the first made by Prince Salman, as in 2020 he also purchased a third of Japanese fighting game company SNK, becoming the majority owner.

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

Adult Swim has handed out a series order to Rick and Morty: The Anime, an all-new 10-episode adventure from Tower of God director Takashi Sano.

Rick and Morty: The Anime is currently in production and will eventually premiere on Adult Swim and HBO Max. This new Rick and Morty spinoff will serve as a standalone series, though it will adapt themes and events from Adult Swim's critically acclaimed animated series, which follows the adventures of a genius inventor and his good-hearted grandson.

Director Sano is revisiting the madcap world of Rick and Morty after previously helming anime shorts "Rick and Morty vs. Genocider" and "Summer Meets God (Rick Meets Evil)." The visual style of these specials proved to be a hit with audiences as they clocked up more than 10 million combined views across Adult Swim's digital platforms, according to a press release.

"The multiverse-straddling exploits of Rick and the gang pose challenges to the family bond, but they always rise to the occasion," Sano said in a statement. "It's such a life-affirming sight, and Jerry is no exception. I am honored to have been given an opportunity to tell a new story about this amazing family. I hope you enjoy their adventures!"

There's no denying that Rick and Morty have been through a lot, with their dimension-hopping exploits serving up years' worth of Pickle Rick absurdity, infinite Morty's, Chris Parnell and Jerry and their adventures with a Meseeks Box, plus Rick's iconic catchphrases — and now Adult Swim has made sure that the fun continues by greenlighting this new series.

It seems like Adult Swim is looking to delve further into the anime multiverse, as the network also gave a series order to Ninja Kamui, a futuristic action-adventure from director Sungoo Park. The series follows Joe Higan, a former ninja who escaped his clan but is eventually forced out of the shadows to avenge his family after being ambushed by a team of assassins.

This new series comes on the heels of Park's recent anime feature Jujutsu Kaisen 0, now the seventh biggest anime film of all time. IGN's review praised Jujutsu Kaisen 0 for working as both "a standalone introduction to the anime and also a satisfying prequel to those familiar with this world" while also being "one of the best shonen anime films in a while."

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

Adult Swim has handed out a series order to Rick and Morty: The Anime, an all-new 10-episode adventure from Tower of God director Takashi Sano.

Rick and Morty: The Anime is currently in production and will eventually premiere on Adult Swim and HBO Max. This new Rick and Morty spinoff will serve as a standalone series, though it will adapt themes and events from Adult Swim's critically acclaimed animated series, which follows the adventures of a genius inventor and his good-hearted grandson.

Director Sano is revisiting the madcap world of Rick and Morty after previously helming anime shorts "Rick and Morty vs. Genocider" and "Summer Meets God (Rick Meets Evil)." The visual style of these specials proved to be a hit with audiences as they clocked up more than 10 million combined views across Adult Swim's digital platforms, according to a press release.

"The multiverse-straddling exploits of Rick and the gang pose challenges to the family bond, but they always rise to the occasion," Sano said in a statement. "It's such a life-affirming sight, and Jerry is no exception. I am honored to have been given an opportunity to tell a new story about this amazing family. I hope you enjoy their adventures!"

There's no denying that Rick and Morty have been through a lot, with their dimension-hopping exploits serving up years' worth of Pickle Rick absurdity, infinite Morty's, Chris Parnell and Jerry and their adventures with a Meseeks Box, plus Rick's iconic catchphrases — and now Adult Swim has made sure that the fun continues by greenlighting this new series.

It seems like Adult Swim is looking to delve further into the anime multiverse, as the network also gave a series order to Ninja Kamui, a futuristic action-adventure from director Sungoo Park. The series follows Joe Higan, a former ninja who escaped his clan but is eventually forced out of the shadows to avenge his family after being ambushed by a team of assassins.

This new series comes on the heels of Park's recent anime feature Jujutsu Kaisen 0, now the seventh biggest anime film of all time. IGN's review praised Jujutsu Kaisen 0 for working as both "a standalone introduction to the anime and also a satisfying prequel to those familiar with this world" while also being "one of the best shonen anime films in a while."

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