HBO has revealed a new trailer and a number of character posters for its upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon.

The new trailer gives us a fresh look at a very different Westeros, with familiar family names swearing allegiance to the Targaryen family. We also get a brief look at a dragon (and a dragon's egg), and hints of the conflict to come between the ruling family and beyond.

With the show set to premiere on August 21 and the last trailer dropping as far back as October last year, this is about as much as we've seen from the show in some time.

As you can see in the gallery below, each poster shows off a single character, while the show's Twitter account provided a character name and a short description for each, from Matt Smith's Prince Daemon Targaryen ("Prince of the City") to Sonoya Mizuno's Mysaria ("Confidante to Daemon Targaryen").

Based on George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, the 10-episode first season will flesh out the tales behind the Targaryen family, who ruled Westeros before the events of Game of Thrones. Set 200 years before the show, it will show the beginning of the end of the Targaryen reign, leading up to a civil war waged between family members – and the seeming death of dragons in the fantasy world.

Aside from Smith and Mizuno, the cast includes Paddy Considine, Emma D'arcy, Olivia Cooke, Steve Toussaint, Rhys Ifans, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Milly Alcock, Emily Carey, Graham McTavish and more.

It's far from the only Game of Thrones spin-off on the way. In March, George R.R. Martin updated fans on a number of live action and animated shows set in the GoT universe, including The Sea Snake, 10,000 Ships, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, The Golden Empire, and more.

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.

HBO has revealed a new trailer and a number of character posters for its upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon.

The new trailer gives us a fresh look at a very different Westeros, with familiar family names swearing allegiance to the Targaryen family. We also get a brief look at a dragon (and a dragon's egg), and hints of the conflict to come between the ruling family and beyond.

With the show set to premiere on August 21 and the last trailer dropping as far back as October last year, this is about as much as we've seen from the show in some time.

History does not remember blood. It remembers names.
August 21. #HouseoftheDragon pic.twitter.com/WZ5AT938RR

— House of the Dragon (@HouseofDragon) May 5, 2022

As you can see in the gallery below, each poster shows off a single character, while the show's Twitter account provided a character name and a short description for each, from Matt Smith's Prince Daemon Targaryen ("Prince of the City") to Sonoya Mizuno's Mysaria ("Confidante to Daemon Targaryen").

Based on George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood, the 10-episode first season will flesh out the tales behind the Targaryen family, who ruled Westeros before the events of Game of Thrones. Set 200 years before the show, it will show the beginning of the end of the Targaryen reign, leading up to a civil war waged between family members – and the seeming death of dragons in the fantasy world.

Aside from Smith and Mizuno, the cast includes Paddy Considine, Emma D'arcy, Olivia Cooke, Steve Toussaint, Rhys Ifans, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Milly Alcock, Emily Carey, Graham McTavish and more.

It's far from the only Game of Thrones spin-off on the way. In March, George R.R. Martin updated fans on a number of live action and animated shows set in the GoT universe, including The Sea Snake, 10,000 Ships, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, The Golden Empire, and more.

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.

The first game from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp is Off The Grid, a cyberpunk-style third-person Battle Royale, coming next year.

Gunzilla Games promises a next-generation Battle Royale with a strong focus on narrative progression, with Richard K. Morgan (lead writer of Crysis 2 and author of Altered Carbon) writing the script, and Blomkamp serving as chief visionary officer.

Off The Grid pits 150 players against each other, but PvE (player versus environment) story missions will also take place on the map in real time, with player actions affecting how the story (and therefore other people's gameplay), unfolds.

Crafting and customisation will also be a key component, with players encouraged to trade items with one another.

"With Off The Grid our ambition is not only to create the Battle Royale 2.0 by adding deep player progression, but to build an evolving world designed to take on a life of its own, changing in unexpected ways each time a player rejoins the game," said Blomkamp.

"With an innovative approach to the Battle Royale core session flow and a deep narrative experience, we add purpose to each element of the game, allowing players to revisit the OTG world repeatedly where there is always something new to find and explore, and for us to expand upon."

More information about Off The Grid's blend of Battle Royale and narrative will be shared in the coming months, Gunzilla Games said.

The studio was formed in 2020 and joined by Blomkamp last year, who said at the time he'd be working closely with other senior creatives to make sure his ideas could work in a game.

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

The first game from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp is Off The Grid, a cyberpunk-style third-person Battle Royale, coming next year.

Gunzilla Games promises a next-generation Battle Royale with a strong focus on narrative progression, with Richard K. Morgan (lead writer of Crysis 2 and author of Altered Carbon) writing the script, and Blomkamp serving as chief visionary officer.

Off The Grid pits 150 players against each other, but PvE (player versus environment) story missions will also take place on the map in real time, with player actions affecting how the story (and therefore other people's gameplay), unfolds.

Crafting and customisation will also be a key component, with players encouraged to trade items with one another.

"With Off The Grid our ambition is not only to create the Battle Royale 2.0 by adding deep player progression, but to build an evolving world designed to take on a life of its own, changing in unexpected ways each time a player rejoins the game," said Blomkamp.

"With an innovative approach to the Battle Royale core session flow and a deep narrative experience, we add purpose to each element of the game, allowing players to revisit the OTG world repeatedly where there is always something new to find and explore, and for us to expand upon."

More information about Off The Grid's blend of Battle Royale and narrative will be shared in the coming months, Gunzilla Games said.

The studio was formed in 2020 and joined by Blomkamp last year, who said at the time he'd be working closely with other senior creatives to make sure his ideas could work in a game.

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

Actor Tim Allen has shared a first look at The Santa Clause Disney+ series, offering fans of the film series a glimpse inside one of the rooms at the North Pole.

T'is might not yet be the season to hang the stockings by the chimney with care, but that hasn't deterred Allen from posting a photo from the set of The Santa Clause Disney+ series. "Might just be a photo of Santa's office but don't tell anyone," Allen teased in a tweet on Wednesday, posting a behind-the-scenes snap of Santa's swanky new office space.

Might just be a photo of Santa’s office but don’t tell anyone…. pic.twitter.com/57srzJzOOc

— Tim Allen (@ofctimallen) May 4, 2022

The room is furnished with a desk for him to carry out the secondary checks of his naughty and nice list, a sofa for his Christmas comrades to kick back on, and an exercise bike to keep him occupied between his milk and cookie dashes around the globe. There's also a set of double doors leading to another room, which appears to be shelved out with books.

Allen is reprising his role as Scott Calvin from the original films, in addition to serving as an executive producer on the series alongside fellow executive producer and showrunner Jack Burditt. The series will follow Calvin as he sets out to find a suitable replacement Santa while also preparing his family to leave the North Pole to return to normal life.

Allen isn't the only original star from the film series to be returning for some holiday cheer. Deadline previously reported that Elizabeth Mitchell would be back to reprise her role as Carol Calvin aka Mrs. Claus. The two actors will be joined by Allen's real-life daughter, Elizabeth Allen-Dick, playing her dad's on-screen offspring, making it a real family affair.

Other cast members include Austin Kane playing a character called Cal, the eldest son of Scott and Carol Calvin, Kal Penn in the role of Simon Choksi, a game inventor and product developer, Rupali Redd as Grace, Choksi's angelic daughter, Devin Bright as Noel, Santa's trusted right-hand elf, and Matilda Lawler as Betty, Santa's Chief of Staff, per Deadline.

The series is set after The Santa Clause film trilogy, which started in 1994 with The Santa Clause — a film that sees an ordinary man take on all of Santa's responsibilities. The movie got two sequels, The Santa Clause 2 in 2002, and 2006's Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. The festive franchise has been dormant since the third film came out over 15 years ago.

While the series does not yet have a release date, you can check out everything new to Disney+ this month.

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

Actor Tim Allen has shared a first look at The Santa Clause Disney+ series, offering fans of the film series a glimpse inside one of the rooms at the North Pole.

T'is might not yet be the season to hang the stockings by the chimney with care, but that hasn't deterred Allen from posting a photo from the set of The Santa Clause Disney+ series. "Might just be a photo of Santa's office but don't tell anyone," Allen teased in a tweet on Wednesday, posting a behind-the-scenes snap of Santa's swanky new office space.

Might just be a photo of Santa’s office but don’t tell anyone…. pic.twitter.com/57srzJzOOc

— Tim Allen (@ofctimallen) May 4, 2022

The room is furnished with a desk for him to carry out the secondary checks of his naughty and nice list, a sofa for his Christmas comrades to kick back on, and an exercise bike to keep him occupied between his milk and cookie dashes around the globe. There's also a set of double doors leading to another room, which appears to be shelved out with books.

Allen is reprising his role as Scott Calvin from the original films, in addition to serving as an executive producer on the series alongside fellow executive producer and showrunner Jack Burditt. The series will follow Calvin as he sets out to find a suitable replacement Santa while also preparing his family to leave the North Pole to return to normal life.

Allen isn't the only original star from the film series to be returning for some holiday cheer. Deadline previously reported that Elizabeth Mitchell would be back to reprise her role as Carol Calvin aka Mrs. Claus. The two actors will be joined by Allen's real-life daughter, Elizabeth Allen-Dick, playing her dad's on-screen offspring, making it a real family affair.

Other cast members include Austin Kane playing a character called Cal, the eldest son of Scott and Carol Calvin, Kal Penn in the role of Simon Choksi, a game inventor and product developer, Rupali Redd as Grace, Choksi's angelic daughter, Devin Bright as Noel, Santa's trusted right-hand elf, and Matilda Lawler as Betty, Santa's Chief of Staff, per Deadline.

The series is set after The Santa Clause film trilogy, which started in 1994 with The Santa Clause — a film that sees an ordinary man take on all of Santa's responsibilities. The movie got two sequels, The Santa Clause 2 in 2002, and 2006's Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. The festive franchise has been dormant since the third film came out over 15 years ago.

While the series does not yet have a release date, you can check out everything new to Disney+ this month.

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

Moon Knight was originally a lot more connected to the MCU than we thought.

During an interview with Variety, showrunner Mohamed Diab revealed that there were not one, but two crossovers with other parts of the MCU cut from the series.

“We had the freedom to place it whenever,” he said. “I want to tell you the very first scene, there was a crossover, and the very end scene, there was a crossover. But as the story developed and we kept changing the scripts, we felt like, “We don’t need that.” All of us. It was a collective decision.”

Throughout Moon Knight’s six-episode run, fans and critics alike were expecting to find connections stretching across all corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Instead, it’s been refreshing to see a Marvel project that doesn’t push those connections.

“I kept thinking: It’s a rule,” added Diab. “There has to be a scene at the end that connects us to the MCU. But I think they decided, ‘You know what, the surprise is that there isn’t, and what’s going to make this show unique is it doesn’t need anything else.’”

As for who was set to appear in Moon Knight, we know that Echo almost showed her face.

"At the time, Echo was going to be our love interest, solely based on the fact that they knew Marvel liked the character of Echo and was trying to find a show to put her in," said writer Jeremy Slater on the House of R podcast.

Who the other connection would have been remains to be seen.

Still, Moon Knight has certainly been unique for an MCU project, in more ways than one. Marc Spector’s struggle with dissociative identity disorder is central to the plot, weaving in modern-day Egypt and Egyptian folklore to create a very distinctive superhero. And that’s exactly what the showrunner had in mind.

“The best compliment we get on the show is when people tell us, ‘This doesn’t feel like a Marvel show. It feels like a standalone show that feels more dramatic, more dark, grounded’,” he said. “I feel like we succeeded in bringing Marvel more to our corner.”

Bringing the series to a close, Moon Knight episode 6 also introduced a brand new hero to the MCU. Whether we see more from Steven and Marc is another matter, as Season 2 still isn't confirmed – even though there's an important character we were only just introduced to.

Moon Knight stars Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector/Steven Grant alongside May Calamawy, Ethan Hawke, Antonia Salib, and F Abraham Murray.

Mohammed Diab, Justin Benson, and Aaron Moorhead directed the series based on characters by Doug Moench and Don Perlin.

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

Moon Knight was originally a lot more connected to the MCU than we thought.

During an interview with Variety, showrunner Mohamed Diab revealed that there were not one, but two crossovers with other parts of the MCU cut from the series.

“We had the freedom to place it whenever,” he said. “I want to tell you the very first scene, there was a crossover, and the very end scene, there was a crossover. But as the story developed and we kept changing the scripts, we felt like, “We don’t need that.” All of us. It was a collective decision.”

Throughout Moon Knight’s six-episode run, fans and critics alike were expecting to find connections stretching across all corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Instead, it’s been refreshing to see a Marvel project that doesn’t push those connections.

“I kept thinking: It’s a rule,” added Diab. “There has to be a scene at the end that connects us to the MCU. But I think they decided, ‘You know what, the surprise is that there isn’t, and what’s going to make this show unique is it doesn’t need anything else.’”

As for who was set to appear in Moon Knight, we know that Echo almost showed her face.

"At the time, Echo was going to be our love interest, solely based on the fact that they knew Marvel liked the character of Echo and was trying to find a show to put her in," said writer Jeremy Slater on the House of R podcast.

Who the other connection would have been remains to be seen.

Still, Moon Knight has certainly been unique for an MCU project, in more ways than one. Marc Spector’s struggle with dissociative identity disorder is central to the plot, weaving in modern-day Egypt and Egyptian folklore to create a very distinctive superhero. And that’s exactly what the showrunner had in mind.

“The best compliment we get on the show is when people tell us, ‘This doesn’t feel like a Marvel show. It feels like a standalone show that feels more dramatic, more dark, grounded’,” he said. “I feel like we succeeded in bringing Marvel more to our corner.”

Bringing the series to a close, Moon Knight episode 6 also introduced a brand new hero to the MCU. Whether we see more from Steven and Marc is another matter, as Season 2 still isn't confirmed – even though there's an important character we were only just introduced to.

Moon Knight stars Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector/Steven Grant alongside May Calamawy, Ethan Hawke, Antonia Salib, and F Abraham Murray.

Mohammed Diab, Justin Benson, and Aaron Moorhead directed the series based on characters by Doug Moench and Don Perlin.

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

There's a chance you haven't heard of Dread Hunger yet, even though it's one of the biggest games in the world right now.

A cocktail of Among Us-like social deduction amid the ticking-clock fear of a survival game, the game has quietly amassed a huge playerbase, to the point where it's been in and around Steam's top 10 most played games for well over a month. That success has been so huge, and so sudden, that developer Dread Hunger Team has had reprioritise development to meet the demand.

While it was available for months in Early Access, where Dread Hunger averaged a few hundred players at one time, the game shot to success around its official release in January, climbing to more than 100,000 players, one million copies sold, and rubbing shoulders with Grand Theft Auto V and Elden Ring on Steam's top ten list for concurrent players.

"The surge in popularity was totally unexpected but extremely exciting", said Romy Gellen, marketing and communications coordinator. "We were stoked that we were starting to see hype building and people catching onto our game as we approached full release."

Dread Hunger is about survival, asking eight players to sail their ship through the 19th Century Arctic, stopping and exploring on foot for fuel, food, and other resources. While this is difficult enough by itself, two of the players become corrupted by evil forces and begin to secretly sabotage the group.

The mix of deception and survival gameplay clearly worked, but the popularity came with challenges, most notably in the form of cyber attacks that forced the Dread Hunger team - made up of about eight people collaborating between developers Digital Confectioners and Slowdrive Studios - to refocus where to put their resources.

"The biggest challenge we’ve been facing has been DDoS attacks and having to strengthen our infrastructure," Gellen added. "But that’s what happens when you get big – you become a target – so that shows we must be doing something right."

While the Dread Hunger team feels it has these attacks under control now, having to bolster its digital defences meant that releasing new content was put on the back burner.

"Having a heavy focus on infrastructure as well as anti-cheat has taken priority over new content for the past while," Gellen said. "We’d love to be working on new content but obviously cheating and server outages mean you can’t play the game at all, making those most important to tackle as quickly as possible.

"We’re beyond happy with the growth Dread Hunger has experienced, so we’re wanting at the moment to improve the experience for our dedicated players. We feel like we have a pretty good grip on those issues now though so we look forward to bringing out new content as soon as we can."

That content is outlined in Dread Hunger's 2022 roadmap, which promises new prestige levels and cosmetic types are on the way soon, while grander additions, such as a new area, ship customisation options, and spells are planned for later in the year.

Beyond that though, given the unpredictable nature of Dread Hunger and the amount of unexpected work it's demanded so far, the developers haven't planned more updates.

"We have a roadmap spanning across 2022 so far and beyond that anything could happen," Gellen said. "As a small team we’re trying to keep our heads down working hard on the roadmap content, that we don’t have much time to plan further ahead."

That's not to say the team hasn't thought about the future, and though nothing is confirmed yet, it has already considered moving it beyond PC. "We would love to consider exploring consoles at some point down the line so that everyone can enjoy Dread Hunger regardless of platform," Gellen said.

With so much going on, it's unsurprising that the Dread Hunger team is just focusing on getting the day-to-day work done, but Gellen made clear that it's been a great experience overall, even with the challenges.

"It’s been hugely insightful and has taught us a lot," he said, and it's also been humbling, "especially when players take it that bit further and make creations of their own like cosplays, fanart, and fan fiction. That has been a real highlight for us."

The team has endured a lot in the last three months, fighting for survival itself amid cyber attacks and the pressure of a booming player base. But the storm has hopefully now passed, and the ship of Dread Hunger can be steered through calm waters once again – albeit with a lot more fans on board.

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

There's a chance you haven't heard of Dread Hunger yet, even though it's one of the biggest games in the world right now.

A cocktail of Among Us-like social deduction amid the ticking-clock fear of a survival game, the game has quietly amassed a huge playerbase, to the point where it's been in and around Steam's top 10 most played games for well over a month. That success has been so huge, and so sudden, that developer Dread Hunger Team has had reprioritise development to meet the demand.

While it was available for months in Early Access, where Dread Hunger averaged a few hundred players at one time, the game shot to success around its official release in January, climbing to more than 100,000 players, one million copies sold, and rubbing shoulders with Grand Theft Auto V and Elden Ring on Steam's top ten list for concurrent players.

"The surge in popularity was totally unexpected but extremely exciting", said Romy Gellen, marketing and communications coordinator. "We were stoked that we were starting to see hype building and people catching onto our game as we approached full release."

Dread Hunger is about survival, asking eight players to sail their ship through the 19th Century Arctic, stopping and exploring on foot for fuel, food, and other resources. While this is difficult enough by itself, two of the players become corrupted by evil forces and begin to secretly sabotage the group.

The mix of deception and survival gameplay clearly worked, but the popularity came with challenges, most notably in the form of cyber attacks that forced the Dread Hunger team - made up of about eight people collaborating between developers Digital Confectioners and Slowdrive Studios - to refocus where to put their resources.

"The biggest challenge we’ve been facing has been DDoS attacks and having to strengthen our infrastructure," Gellen added. "But that’s what happens when you get big – you become a target – so that shows we must be doing something right."

While the Dread Hunger team feels it has these attacks under control now, having to bolster its digital defences meant that releasing new content was put on the back burner.

"Having a heavy focus on infrastructure as well as anti-cheat has taken priority over new content for the past while," Gellen said. "We’d love to be working on new content but obviously cheating and server outages mean you can’t play the game at all, making those most important to tackle as quickly as possible.

"We’re beyond happy with the growth Dread Hunger has experienced, so we’re wanting at the moment to improve the experience for our dedicated players. We feel like we have a pretty good grip on those issues now though so we look forward to bringing out new content as soon as we can."

That content is outlined in Dread Hunger's 2022 roadmap, which promises new prestige levels and cosmetic types are on the way soon, while grander additions, such as a new area, ship customisation options, and spells are planned for later in the year.

Beyond that though, given the unpredictable nature of Dread Hunger and the amount of unexpected work it's demanded so far, the developers haven't planned more updates.

"We have a roadmap spanning across 2022 so far and beyond that anything could happen," Gellen said. "As a small team we’re trying to keep our heads down working hard on the roadmap content, that we don’t have much time to plan further ahead."

That's not to say the team hasn't thought about the future, and though nothing is confirmed yet, it has already considered moving it beyond PC. "We would love to consider exploring consoles at some point down the line so that everyone can enjoy Dread Hunger regardless of platform," Gellen said.

With so much going on, it's unsurprising that the Dread Hunger team is just focusing on getting the day-to-day work done, but Gellen made clear that it's been a great experience overall, even with the challenges.

"It’s been hugely insightful and has taught us a lot," he said, and it's also been humbling, "especially when players take it that bit further and make creations of their own like cosplays, fanart, and fan fiction. That has been a real highlight for us."

The team has endured a lot in the last three months, fighting for survival itself amid cyber attacks and the pressure of a booming player base. But the storm has hopefully now passed, and the ship of Dread Hunger can be steered through calm waters once again – albeit with a lot more fans on board.

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