TikTok is at last ready to join its social media cohorts Facebook and Snapchat in offering baked-in video games, and is apparently piloting its new program with a handful of developers already.

As reported by TechCrunch, TikTok has partnered with developers such as Voodoo, Nitro Games, FRVR, Aim Lab, and Lotum to make games built into TikTok - HTML5 minigames that users can play within the app and discover through videos they're watching. Think hypercasual mobile games - don't expect to be playing God of War as you browse cooking fail videos.

As the feature rolls out, creators will be able to find an option to link videos to a minigame on the screen before they publish a new video, where they add hashtags, links, descriptions, and other information. Viewers are then able to click through the video to the game. The feature is currently in the process of being soft launched across different global markets and is not yet available everywhere.

The available games at launch are as follows:

• Basketball FRVR (FRVR)
• Tap the Difference (Lotm)
• Peek a Who (Nitro)
• Pride Run (Voodoo)
• Influencer Run (Voodoo)
• Space Destroyer (Nitro)
• Mr. Aim Lab's Nightmare (Aim Lab)

Currently, none of the games are monetized, and the initiative currently appears solely to gauge the taste of TikTok for such games, though that could always change.

TikTok initially began its gaming foray with the introduction of Disco Loco 3D, an endless runner created in collaboration with Zynga where players collect dance moves and challenge their friends. It's far from the first tech and social platform to make such a jump. Facebook has repeatedly revised its own take on a gaming section over the years, most recently with its move into cloud gaming and its Facebook Gaming web and Android app. Snapchat has similarly been working on in-app games with its Snap Games label for a few years now. And even Netflix has begun rolling its own games service, with plans to have nearly 50 games available by the end of this year.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

TikTok is at last ready to join its social media cohorts Facebook and Snapchat in offering baked-in video games, and is apparently piloting its new program with a handful of developers already.

As reported by TechCrunch, TikTok has partnered with developers such as Voodoo, Nitro Games, FRVR, Aim Lab, and Lotum to make games built into TikTok - HTML5 minigames that users can play within the app and discover through videos they're watching. Think hypercasual mobile games - don't expect to be playing God of War as you browse cooking fail videos.

As the feature rolls out, creators will be able to find an option to link videos to a minigame on the screen before they publish a new video, where they add hashtags, links, descriptions, and other information. Viewers are then able to click through the video to the game. The feature is currently in the process of being soft launched across different global markets and is not yet available everywhere.

The available games at launch are as follows:

• Basketball FRVR (FRVR)
• Tap the Difference (Lotm)
• Peek a Who (Nitro)
• Pride Run (Voodoo)
• Influencer Run (Voodoo)
• Space Destroyer (Nitro)
• Mr. Aim Lab's Nightmare (Aim Lab)

Currently, none of the games are monetized, and the initiative currently appears solely to gauge the taste of TikTok for such games, though that could always change.

TikTok initially began its gaming foray with the introduction of Disco Loco 3D, an endless runner created in collaboration with Zynga where players collect dance moves and challenge their friends. It's far from the first tech and social platform to make such a jump. Facebook has repeatedly revised its own take on a gaming section over the years, most recently with its move into cloud gaming and its Facebook Gaming web and Android app. Snapchat has similarly been working on in-app games with its Snap Games label for a few years now. And even Netflix has begun rolling its own games service, with plans to have nearly 50 games available by the end of this year.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Ever since Steam Deck was announced last summer, Valve's handheld has been defined by long queues and limited supply. That may soon be changing, though, as Valve announced today that it has some "good news" for prospective Steam Deck customers.

In a news post that went up this morning, Valve announced that it would be able to fulfill demand sooner than expected.

"Many of the supply chain shortfalls that affect Steam Deck are gradually clearing up, and we're continuing to ramp production, so we're able to produce more Decks faster than ever before," Valve said.

As a result, Valve is promising that everyone currently in the reservation queue will get their Steam Deck email "this year," with "many customers" who were in the Q4 or later window getting moved up to the Q3 window, which runs from July to September. New reservations will fall into the Q4 window. This follows Valve's promise to "double" the number of units it will ship.

Steam Deck has proven a hit with fans since its release in February. While Valve's handheld has been criticized for its screen quality, battery life, and occasional performance issues, it has also won praise for its flexibility and support.

We wrote in our Steam Deck review, "When the Steam Deck is living up to its promises, it's absolutely incredible. Playing GTA 5, God of War, and other modern games on the go is an absolute joy, and the hardware and controls feel good to hold even though it’s a big chubby boy of a handheld."

In the meantime, the list of verified Steam Deck games continues to grow. You can view the full list right here.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Ever since Steam Deck was announced last summer, Valve's handheld has been defined by long queues and limited supply. That may soon be changing, though, as Valve announced today that it has some "good news" for prospective Steam Deck customers.

In a news post that went up this morning, Valve announced that it would be able to fulfill demand sooner than expected.

"Many of the supply chain shortfalls that affect Steam Deck are gradually clearing up, and we're continuing to ramp production, so we're able to produce more Decks faster than ever before," Valve said.

As a result, Valve is promising that everyone currently in the reservation queue will get their Steam Deck email "this year," with "many customers" who were in the Q4 or later window getting moved up to the Q3 window, which runs from July to September. New reservations will fall into the Q4 window. This follows Valve's promise to "double" the number of units it will ship.

Steam Deck has proven a hit with fans since its release in February. While Valve's handheld has been criticized for its screen quality, battery life, and occasional performance issues, it has also won praise for its flexibility and support.

We wrote in our Steam Deck review, "When the Steam Deck is living up to its promises, it's absolutely incredible. Playing GTA 5, God of War, and other modern games on the go is an absolute joy, and the hardware and controls feel good to hold even though it’s a big chubby boy of a handheld."

In the meantime, the list of verified Steam Deck games continues to grow. You can view the full list right here.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

The eldritch horror, Xur, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get your some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further.

Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he's got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians.

We've rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP.

Where Is Xûr Today?

Xûr's location can be found at The Tower on July 29 through August 2. To reach him, travel to the landing point at The Courtyard and make your way to the Hangar. You'll find ol' snake-face chilling near the stairs at the back of the Hangar area.

What's Xûr Selling Today?

Xûr has at least one good find this week. Check out this exotic gear!

Exotic Engram

The Colony - Exotic Grenade Launcher

ST0MP-EE5 - Exotic Hunter Leg Armor

• 4 Mobility
• 22 Resilience
• 10 Recovery
• 9 Discipline
• 17 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 64

ACD/0 Feedback Fence - Exotic Titan Gauntlets

• 10 Mobility
• 8 Resilience
• 14 Recovery
• 12 Discipline
• 10 Intellect
• 6 Strength
• Total: 60

Karnstein Armlets - Exotic Warlock Gauntlets

• 19 Mobility
• 10 Resilience
• 3 Recovery
• 14 Discipline
• 7 Intellect
• 10 Strength
• Total: 63

Honestly, exotic armor strikes out this week with low stat rolls and not great stat distribution. Pick up the ST0MP-EE5 if you need them, or perhaps the grenade launcher on sale, but there's nothing you really need to have this week.

Exotic Weapons

Hawkmoon - Exotic Hand Cannon

• Paracausal Shot
• Arrowhead Brake
• Alloy Magazine
• Rangefinder
• Heavy Grip

Dead Man's Tale - Exotic Scout Rifle

• Cranial Spike
• Extended Barrel
• High-Caliber Rounds
• Vorpal Weapon
• Hand-Laid Stock

The roll for Dead Man's Tale this week is quite good! Vorpal weapon and High-Caliber Rounds make a great pair of perks for a weapon that's deadly in both PvE and PvP. I'd recommend picking this one up!

Legendary Weapons

Bad Omens - Rocket Launcher

• Confined Launch/ Smart Drift Control
• Alloy Casing/High-Velocity Rounds
• Tracking Module
• Cluster Bomb
• Blast Radius Masterwork

Toil and Trouble - Shotgun

• Barrel Shroud/Corkscrew Rifling
• Assault Mag/Extended Mag
• Threat Detector
• Snapshot Sights
• Reload Speed Masterwork

The Fool's Remedy - Sidearm

• Tactic SAS/Target SAS
• Armor-Piercing Rounds/Light Mag
• Feeding Frenzy
• Quickdraw
• Stability Masterwork

Whispering Slab - Combat Bow

• Flexible String/Natural String
• Natural Fletching/Straight Fletching
• Hip-Fire Frip
• Sympathetic Arsenal
• Accuracy Masterwork

Fraction Fire - Submachine Gun

• Arrowhead Brake/Hammer-Forged Rifling
• Accurized Rounds/Tactical Mag
• Field Prep
• Rampage
• Handling Masterwork

Empty Vessel - Grenade Launcher

• Confined Launch/Countermass
• Blinding Grenades/Implosion Rounds
• Surplus
• Swashbuckler
• Vanguard's Vindication
• Reload Speed Masterwork

Survivor's Epitaph - Hand Cannon

• Arrowhead Brake/Full Bore
• Extended Mag/Flared Magwell
• Surplus
• Kill Clip
• One Quiet Moment
• Impact Masterwork

This week's notable rolls include the Empty Vessel grenade launcher which comes with blinding grenades and the swashbuckler perk that could make it quite good, the Fraction Fire machinegun that has field prep and rampage that should make it deadly, and the Bad Omens rocket launcher which has got tracking module and cluster bombs that are always good for PvP and especially PvE.

Warlock Legendary Armor

For Warlocks, Xûr is selling the Lightkin set which includes:

Lightkin Gauntlets

• 24 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 2 Recovery
• 20 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 10 Strength
• Total: 60

Lightkin Chest Armor

• 12 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 17 Recovery
• 10 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 14 Strength
• Total: 57

Lightkin Helmet

• 2 Mobility
• 11 Resilience
• 17 Recovery
• 2 Discipline
• 16 Intellect
• 15 Strength
• Total: 63

Lightkin Leg Armor

• 2 Mobility
• 9 Resilience
• 16 Recovery
• 17 Discipline
• 9 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 55

Lightkin Bond

The Warlock armor this week is pretty rubbish! The gauntlets are very spikey in places, but even that is hardly worth buying.

Titan Legendary Armor

For Titans, Xûr is selling the Lightkin set which includes:

Lightkin Gauntlets

• 7 Mobility
• 19 Resilience
• 6 Recovery
• 11 Discipline
• 14 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 59

Lightkin Chest Armor

• 2 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 30 Recovery
• 24 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 62

Lightkin Helmet

• 10 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 16 Recovery
• 14 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 14 Strength
• Total: 58

Lightkin Leg Armor

• 9 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 17 Recovery
• 13 Discipline
• 14 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 57

Lightkin Mark

Again, Titan armor is also underwhelming. The chest piece is extremely lopsided that could be good for buildcrafting, but with only 62 stats overall I doubt it's worth the trouble.

Hunter Legendary Armor

For Hunters, Xûr is selling the Lightkin set which includes:

Lightkin Gauntlets

• 7 Mobility
• 10 Resilience
• 15 Recovery
• 14 Discipline
• 6 Intellect
• 7 Strength
• Total: 59

Lightkin Chest Armor

• 16 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 12 Recovery
• 20 Discipline
• 8 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 60

Lightkin Helmet

• 2 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 26 Recovery
• 10 Discipline
• 14 Intellect
• 6 Strength
• Total: 60

Lightkin Leg Armor

• 8 Mobility
• 16 Resilience
• 8 Recovery
• 11 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 13 Strength
• Total: 58

Lightkin Cloak

Somehow Hunters have managed to do even worse than the other classes with zero interesting rolls -- seems legendary armor is a wash this week!

That's a wrap on Xûr for this week, Guardians! What are you thoughts on Bungie's recent comments on implementing skill-based matchmaking in PvP? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! For more on Destiny, check out some of the new weapons and gear you can find in The Witch Queen and read about how Sony's purchase of Bungie fits into its larger plans.

Travis Northup is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @TieGuyTravis and read his games coverage here.

The eldritch horror, Xur, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get your some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further.

Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he's got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians.

We've rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP.

Where Is Xûr Today?

Xûr's location can be found at The Tower on July 29 through August 2. To reach him, travel to the landing point at The Courtyard and make your way to the Hangar. You'll find ol' snake-face chilling near the stairs at the back of the Hangar area.

What's Xûr Selling Today?

Xûr has at least one good find this week. Check out this exotic gear!

Exotic Engram

The Colony - Exotic Grenade Launcher

ST0MP-EE5 - Exotic Hunter Leg Armor

• 4 Mobility
• 22 Resilience
• 10 Recovery
• 9 Discipline
• 17 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 64

ACD/0 Feedback Fence - Exotic Titan Gauntlets

• 10 Mobility
• 8 Resilience
• 14 Recovery
• 12 Discipline
• 10 Intellect
• 6 Strength
• Total: 60

Karnstein Armlets - Exotic Warlock Gauntlets

• 19 Mobility
• 10 Resilience
• 3 Recovery
• 14 Discipline
• 7 Intellect
• 10 Strength
• Total: 63

Honestly, exotic armor strikes out this week with low stat rolls and not great stat distribution. Pick up the ST0MP-EE5 if you need them, or perhaps the grenade launcher on sale, but there's nothing you really need to have this week.

Exotic Weapons

Hawkmoon - Exotic Hand Cannon

• Paracausal Shot
• Arrowhead Brake
• Alloy Magazine
• Rangefinder
• Heavy Grip

Dead Man's Tale - Exotic Scout Rifle

• Cranial Spike
• Extended Barrel
• High-Caliber Rounds
• Vorpal Weapon
• Hand-Laid Stock

The roll for Dead Man's Tale this week is quite good! Vorpal weapon and High-Caliber Rounds make a great pair of perks for a weapon that's deadly in both PvE and PvP. I'd recommend picking this one up!

Legendary Weapons

Bad Omens - Rocket Launcher

• Confined Launch/ Smart Drift Control
• Alloy Casing/High-Velocity Rounds
• Tracking Module
• Cluster Bomb
• Blast Radius Masterwork

Toil and Trouble - Shotgun

• Barrel Shroud/Corkscrew Rifling
• Assault Mag/Extended Mag
• Threat Detector
• Snapshot Sights
• Reload Speed Masterwork

The Fool's Remedy - Sidearm

• Tactic SAS/Target SAS
• Armor-Piercing Rounds/Light Mag
• Feeding Frenzy
• Quickdraw
• Stability Masterwork

Whispering Slab - Combat Bow

• Flexible String/Natural String
• Natural Fletching/Straight Fletching
• Hip-Fire Frip
• Sympathetic Arsenal
• Accuracy Masterwork

Fraction Fire - Submachine Gun

• Arrowhead Brake/Hammer-Forged Rifling
• Accurized Rounds/Tactical Mag
• Field Prep
• Rampage
• Handling Masterwork

Empty Vessel - Grenade Launcher

• Confined Launch/Countermass
• Blinding Grenades/Implosion Rounds
• Surplus
• Swashbuckler
• Vanguard's Vindication
• Reload Speed Masterwork

Survivor's Epitaph - Hand Cannon

• Arrowhead Brake/Full Bore
• Extended Mag/Flared Magwell
• Surplus
• Kill Clip
• One Quiet Moment
• Impact Masterwork

This week's notable rolls include the Empty Vessel grenade launcher which comes with blinding grenades and the swashbuckler perk that could make it quite good, the Fraction Fire machinegun that has field prep and rampage that should make it deadly, and the Bad Omens rocket launcher which has got tracking module and cluster bombs that are always good for PvP and especially PvE.

Warlock Legendary Armor

For Warlocks, Xûr is selling the Lightkin set which includes:

Lightkin Gauntlets

• 24 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 2 Recovery
• 20 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 10 Strength
• Total: 60

Lightkin Chest Armor

• 12 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 17 Recovery
• 10 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 14 Strength
• Total: 57

Lightkin Helmet

• 2 Mobility
• 11 Resilience
• 17 Recovery
• 2 Discipline
• 16 Intellect
• 15 Strength
• Total: 63

Lightkin Leg Armor

• 2 Mobility
• 9 Resilience
• 16 Recovery
• 17 Discipline
• 9 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 55

Lightkin Bond

The Warlock armor this week is pretty rubbish! The gauntlets are very spikey in places, but even that is hardly worth buying.

Titan Legendary Armor

For Titans, Xûr is selling the Lightkin set which includes:

Lightkin Gauntlets

• 7 Mobility
• 19 Resilience
• 6 Recovery
• 11 Discipline
• 14 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 59

Lightkin Chest Armor

• 2 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 30 Recovery
• 24 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 62

Lightkin Helmet

• 10 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 16 Recovery
• 14 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 14 Strength
• Total: 58

Lightkin Leg Armor

• 9 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 17 Recovery
• 13 Discipline
• 14 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 57

Lightkin Mark

Again, Titan armor is also underwhelming. The chest piece is extremely lopsided that could be good for buildcrafting, but with only 62 stats overall I doubt it's worth the trouble.

Hunter Legendary Armor

For Hunters, Xûr is selling the Lightkin set which includes:

Lightkin Gauntlets

• 7 Mobility
• 10 Resilience
• 15 Recovery
• 14 Discipline
• 6 Intellect
• 7 Strength
• Total: 59

Lightkin Chest Armor

• 16 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 12 Recovery
• 20 Discipline
• 8 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 60

Lightkin Helmet

• 2 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 26 Recovery
• 10 Discipline
• 14 Intellect
• 6 Strength
• Total: 60

Lightkin Leg Armor

• 8 Mobility
• 16 Resilience
• 8 Recovery
• 11 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 13 Strength
• Total: 58

Lightkin Cloak

Somehow Hunters have managed to do even worse than the other classes with zero interesting rolls -- seems legendary armor is a wash this week!

That's a wrap on Xûr for this week, Guardians! What are you thoughts on Bungie's recent comments on implementing skill-based matchmaking in PvP? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! For more on Destiny, check out some of the new weapons and gear you can find in The Witch Queen and read about how Sony's purchase of Bungie fits into its larger plans.

Travis Northup is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @TieGuyTravis and read his games coverage here.

Sony says it's increasing production of PlayStation 5, and is "working to bring forward more supply into the year-end holiday selling season."

During its latest earnings results, Sony explained that both software sales and gameplay engagement have dropped year-on-year – not a huge surprise given the huge increase in gaming during COVID-19 lockdowns.

"Taking this situation into account," Sony explained, "we intend to take action to increase user engagement in the second half of the fiscal year, during which major titles including first party software are scheduled to be released, primarily by increasing the supply of [PS5] hardware and promoting the new PlayStation Plus service."

Sony says it still expects to meet its forecast of 18 million units sold during this financial year, and is seeing positive signs for supply after lockdowns lifted in Shanghai, a major components production hub. As a result, Sony now believes it can bring forward production and sell many of those units during the holiday season, a boom-time for sales.

Sony has previously promised to ramp up production this year, but supplies have remained constrained, with new units selling out almost immediately. In a Q&A session, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki said, "We want to produce more units as soon as possible."

Sony's been improving its hardware and services consistently since the launch of PS5, most recently adding an update to support 1440p monitors, and introducing the new PlayStation Stars loyalty service.

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.

Tomb Raider star Alicia Vikander will no longer be Lara Croft after MGM lost the rights to the franchise.

According to The Wrap, the rights for the Tomb Raider film franchise have lapsed after MGM failed to greenlight a Tomb Raider sequel in time, and that means the franchise is now up for grabs.

MGM had until May this year to put a Tomb Raider sequel into production but has now lost the rights after failing to do so. This has sparked a bidding war in Hollywood with “a host” of studios now putting in bids for the popular video game franchise.

The next film, it seems, will be a complete reboot of the franchise without Alicia Vikander, who starred as Lara Croft in the last movie reboot of the series. Tomb Raider saw Vikander suit up as the iconic Lara Croft and earned a paltry $275 million at the box office, barely breaking even. On top of that, it suffered from lackluster reviews.

IGN’s own review said: “It’s a shame to see the trend of poor game-to-movie adaptations continue with a character as great as Lara Croft. In this new Tomb Raider origin story, Lara’s singular drive to find her father falls flat because their relationship isn’t interesting, and that failure is compounded by a lackluster story and characters.”

MGM had already begun looking at a potential sequel, with Lovecraft Country showrunner Misha Green pegged to write and direct, but that too has fallen apart. GK Films acquired the Tomb Raider rights in 2011 from Square Enix and is now considering offers.

Things look brighter on the gaming side for Tomb Raider. Embracer Group acquired Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics earlier this year, and the studio is working on a new Lara Croft adventure in Unreal Engine 5.

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

Ivan and Viktor Drago will be back in Drago – a new spin-off from Rocky and Creed.

According to The Wrap, the upcoming Rocky film is being penned by writer Robert Lawton for MGM and will focus on the Russian father and son after their appearance in Creed II.

The film came about following Lawton’s spec script “Becoming Rocky”, which focused on the making of the first Rocky Balboa film. MGM execs were said to be “impressed” by this, leading to an offer for Lawton to write the upcoming Drago spin-off.

Ivan Drago actor Dolph Lundgren has been teasing a Drago spin-off for some time. “I think there’s some talk about doing a whole spin-off on Drago with MGM,” he said back last year. “So, you may get more of that.”

Creed II starred Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed, with Sylvester Stallone playing the young boxer’s mentor as the former Heavyweight champion turned coach, Rocky Balboa. The sequel saw Adonis takes on the son of Ivan Drago – the former Russian champion, Rocky’s nemesis, and the man who ultimately killed Adonis’ father with a knockout blow during an exhibition match in Rocky IV.

Florian Munteanu starred as Viktor Drago and is expected to return in the upcoming Creed III. Creed III has already been pushed back from its November release date and is now expected to debut in March next year.

Although the plot for the upcoming Drago spin-off is firmly under wraps, it looks as though it’s all change for the Rocky Balboa franchise, with Sylvester Stallone stepping away after revealing that he won’t be back for the third Creed movie.

Whether or not Stallone will be back in Drago remains to be seen, but with Stallone still tussling for the rights to the franchise, I can’t help thinking that’s a no-go right now. Still, Michael B. Jordan will be back as Adonis, as well as making his directorial debut with Creed III.

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

After days of intrigue, it's finally been revealed that the mysterious videos of hitherto unknown areas in Nier: Automata were the work of extremely talented modders.

The 'church saga' began when a Reddit user called sadfutago posted a video of a door that no Nier player had ever seen before, and followed it up with clips that showed bizarre content that included references to other games. It has hooked the Nier community (and many, many others), who couldn't work out if this was an ARG for a new game, or the work of modders - although the latter had been deemed impossible by many.

As it turns out, it wasn't as impossible to mod Nier: Automata as we thought, with a Twitch stream revealing that the entire saga was indeed the work of talented fans creating new content within the game. As you can see in the gallery below, the Twitch stream ended with an admission that all of this was created with mods by three individuals, DevolasRevenge, Woeful_Wolf, and RaiderB.

"THANK YOU," reads a text slide that aired at the end of the stream. "Everything we have shared has been completely in-game, no editing was used. We have been loving all the discussions and theories - it has been an amazing journey. It has been inspiring to see the community come together after so many years, it has made all the hard work well worth it."

While some will be disappointed that this doesn't mean more official Nier content is coming soon, the fact that the team has begin adding in-game content to Automata at all is huge news for the community. Many believed this wasn't possible, but the modders have promised to release "new Blender addons and scripting tools" on an open source basis, seemingly blowing the modding scene wide open for the first time.

The church scene itself will be released to let everyone play what they've been watching, and the team says they have "so much more in store", including an already finished mod from RaiderB.

Subsequent slides apologised to the community for misleading people, saying they wanted to give off the impression of this being cut or secret content, not a full-blown ARG. They also said they weren't trying to impersonate Nier creator Yoko Taro, who has been drawn into the mystery over the last few days (and who has been subsequently praised for not ruining the mystery).

Finally, the team apologside for the "anticlimactic" ending, saying they were running out of time to do it due to personal reasons. However, much of the community has been celebrating the reveal for breathing life into the community, even before mods are released.

"This is the most enamored I’ve ever been with something like this, and it’s insane. I was here," wrote Jinnie-boy. Seasalted-icecream sees this as a new future for the series: "These guys managed to grab the attention of multiple people involved with NieR and have revitalized interest in the series. What we have now may only be a new and incredibly made mod, but [Square Enix] might see that the interest is definitely there and may seriously consider working on the series again."

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.