The former Nintendo of America QA worker who alleged she was fired for asking about unionisation has reached a settlement with the company and staffing agency Aston Carter.

As reported by Polygon, Aston Carter will pay QA worker Mackenzie Clifton $25,910 in back pay, damages, and interest, and will also take liability for the complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Nintendo must also email each of its QA workers with an outline of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act and must also post the notice in their offices for 60 consecutive days.

Clifton filed the complaint with the NLRB in April after she was fired for disclosing confidential information, though she claimed it was instead because she asked Nintendo of America for its views on the ongoing unionisation movement in the video game industry, sparked by Activision Blizzard's Raven Software. She later said she was rebuked for asking a "downer question" and was fired one month later.

An IGN report published in May found growing discontentment within Nintendo of America as many departments including QA employ mostly contractors who have limited benefits and privileges.

One former work told IGN that, while she loved working at Nintendo, "we were just being so exploited".

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

A new update for Elden Ring has finally separated damage scaling for PvE and PvP. But, in a more interesting tease, the data within the patch appears to hint towards new locations and ray tracing technology.

As revealed in the v1.07 patch notes for Elden Ring, damage scaling for PvE and PvP has been separated, which will allow for different weapons and skills to be balanced for each mode individually. “In the future, this feature may be used to balance weapons, Art, Spell, and Incantation in invading/PvP mode,” publisher Bandai Namco said in a blog post. “Balance adjustments made within this feature will not impact single-player and cooperative play.”

The first PvP-only changes have already been made, including increased stamina attack power for all attacks against guarded foes (except for long-ranged weapons), and a game-wide reduction in the power of Ashes of War. Several incantations have also been nerfed for PvP, including Dragonfire, Rotten Breath, and Agheel’s Flame.

It’s in the update’s data, though, where the most interesting details lie. Data miner Lance McDonald noted on Twitter that “menu strings related to ray tracing features” have been added, suggesting that the lighting and reflections tech may be headed to Elden Ring in a future update.

The IDs are m20 and m45. Notably, IDs can imply what kind of area a map is. m30 maps are side dungeons, m60 is the overworld, and the "main" areas are currently m10 through m19, which means m20 could be a Legacy Dungeon. m45 is interesting because there are no maps in that range. https://t.co/uaN2nXC4eD pic.twitter.com/Wdv2ybW9BA

— Zullie (@ZullieTheWitch) October 13, 2022

Both McDonald and FromSoft content creator ZullieTheWitch have also noted that the data includes references to two new maps that currently do not exist in Elden Ring’s data. Zulli says that their IDs are m20 and m45, and also highlights that the main areas of the game are found on maps m10 to m19, which does point to the newly found m20 potentially being the next “main” area of Elden Ring. “m20 could be Legacy Dungeon,” she said. Is DLC on the horizon?

For more Elden Ring, see how one player defeated Malenia using a level one character and a dance mat, as well as the news of an upcoming Elden Ring board game.

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

Activision Blizzard has received another sexual harassment lawsuit that also alleges sexual battery, failure to prevent harassment, gender discrimination, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

As reported by The Daily Mail, a plaintiff identified only as Jane Doe filed the lawsuit with the Los Angeles Superior Court that claimed "Activision Blizzard is a massive video game company with a massive sexual harassment problem".

Doe is seeking an undisclosed amount of compensation, punitive damages, and the removal of CEO Bobby Kotick, who was previously accused of knowing about but not reporting sexual harassment allegations at Activision Blizzard.

The lawsuit is against both Activision Blizzard itself - which is currently locked in a number of other lawsuits alleging sexual harassment - and former employee Miguel Vega, the once manager of Doe who was allegedly fired a month after she reported him to management.

Deo met Vega in 2009 or 2010 before she worked at Activision Blizzard and the pair formed a virtual friendship in which Doe sent "compromising photos" of herself, something she now regrets according to the lawsuit. This relationship ended in 2011, however, as Doe met her future husband.

The lawsuit states that Vega helped Doe get independent contractor work at Activision Blizzard in 2016 and she later started full time at the company in 2020. Vega allegedly groped and attempted to kiss Doe, telling her "one day you'll give in", and also belittled, insulted, and threatened to blackmail her with the compromising photos.

"He never missed an opportunity to make her feel small," the lawsuit states, adding that Doe reported the blackmail threats and that Vega was fired the next month. The lawsuit alleges this wasn't enough, however, claiming that Activision Blizzard ratified Vega's conduct by not taking more immediate and corrective action.

It's the latest in a long line of allegations against the company that began with a lawsuit filed by the state of California, accusing Activision Blizzard of fostering a "frat boy culture". While it is currently pending in Los Angeles Superior Court with an expected trial date in February 2023, the company recently settled another sexual harassment lawsuit with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $18 million.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Wakanda Forever will include a major time skip for the MCU, opening a gap between the in-universe death of T'Challa and the rest of the timeline. The info comes from film production notes released to the media, which provides background on the upcoming sequel.

“Ramonda realizes that it’s been a year since T’Challa’s passing and Shuri’s still not healing—she’s not taking steps to move forward in a healthy way,” director Ryan Coogler is quoted as saying in the notes. “They take a retreat—stepping away from the city, from the technology—to sit with no distractions and perform what is essentially a grief ritual. That’s when Namor shows up.”

In addition to a small interview with Coogler, the production notes include an official plot synopsis:

In Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba) fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda. Introducing Tenoch Huerta as Namor, king of a hidden undersea nation, the film also stars Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena and Alex Livinalli. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” directed by Ryan Coogler and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore, opens in U.S. theaters Nov. 11, 2022.

Wakanda Forever will be momentous for a number of reasons: It is the first Black Panther movie since Chadwick Boseman died suddenly in 2020; it marks the debut of Namor, one of the MCU's oldest characters, and it will bring Phase 4 to a close.

Marvel Studios has been dropping more and more info about Wakanda Forever in the run-up to release, including an official "Return to Wakanda" featurette and new character posters. However, we still have plenty of questions about the Black Panther sequel.

Wakanda Forever will be out November 11. While you wait, check out our coverage of She-Hulk, which wraps up with its finale on October 12.

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.

With news that Google Stadia is shutting down early next year, developers with games on the cloud platform are looking for ways to help Stadia players keep their saves, including CD Projekt Red who released a guide to transfer Stadia saves for Cyberpunk 2077.

CD Projekt released a step-by-step guide that will let players who started their Cyberpunk 2077 save on Google Stadia transfer it to a PC version of the game. According to CDPR, transferring saves from the Stadia cloud is possible using a service called Google Takeout.

In the guide, CDPR says players can export their Stadia save files from the cloud by using Google Takeout. The saves can then be extracted and copied into a PC version of the game.

If you’re playing on a console, you can take your PC save and synch it to a console version of the game using cross-progression through the GOG account.

While this is not the most straightforward path to saving your Stadia save, it’s a lifeline for players who are looking at losing possibly hundreds of hours of gameplay.

Google announced on September 29 that it will be shuttering Google Stadia. The cloud gaming service will end on January 18, 2023, when players will lose access to their game libraries. Google will however be offering full refunds for all games and hardware players have purchased for Stadia.

Developers were seemingly caught off-guard by the news and our in-depth report shows the chaotic final days of Stadia. Google, however, is known for axing underperforming services. So much so that a website is dedicated to Google’s killed projects.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

With news that Google Stadia is shutting down early next year, developers with games on the cloud platform are looking for ways to help Stadia players keep their saves, including CD Projekt Red who released a guide to transfer Stadia saves for Cyberpunk 2077.

CD Projekt released a step-by-step guide that will let players who started their Cyberpunk 2077 save on Google Stadia transfer it to a PC version of the game. According to CDPR, transferring saves from the Stadia cloud is possible using a service called Google Takeout.

In the guide, CDPR says players can export their Stadia save files from the cloud by using Google Takeout. The saves can then be extracted and copied into a PC version of the game.

If you’re playing on a console, you can take your PC save and synch it to a console version of the game using cross-progression through the GOG account.

While this is not the most straightforward path to saving your Stadia save, it’s a lifeline for players who are looking at losing possibly hundreds of hours of gameplay.

Google announced on September 29 that it will be shuttering Google Stadia. The cloud gaming service will end on January 18, 2023, when players will lose access to their game libraries. Google will however be offering full refunds for all games and hardware players have purchased for Stadia.

Developers were seemingly caught off-guard by the news and our in-depth report shows the chaotic final days of Stadia. Google, however, is known for axing underperforming services. So much so that a website is dedicated to Google’s killed projects.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

PlayStation Access, a show owned by PlayStation that talks about upcoming and ongoing games on Sony’s platforms, may have revealed Ridge Racer 2 is coming to PlayStation Plus Premium in a new video before promptly hiding it from the public.

The since-hidden video said Ridge Racer 2 would be joining the subscription service in October. This is specifically the PlayStation Portable version that launched in 2006, not the 1994 original that was playable in arcades.

The video was made private, but not before the Ridge Racer 2 news started circulating online.

PlayStation Access says Ridge Racer 2 is coming to PS+ Premium on their YouTube video for October games (at around 5:17) https://t.co/Npb79nU2xf

via @Barnacle310 pic.twitter.com/S1wmof5FPv

— Wario64 (@Wario64) October 12, 2022

Ridge Racer 2 did appear in previous PlayStation Blog posts about games coming to PlayStation Plus Premium, but the racing game was never actually added to the service’s catalog. At this point, it's unclear if PlayStation Access accidentally announced an early reveal, or if it was a mistake and the racing game isn't coming to PlayStation Plus Premium.

Sony started rolling out new PlayStation Plus tiers back in June, with the Premium subscription allowing users to download and stream a large library of games on their PlayStation system as long as they’re subscribed. While Ridge Racer 2 is not yet on the platform, there are still plenty of great games available on the service. For more on that, check out IGN’s database for the full catalog.

Kenneth Shepard is a writer covering games, entertainment, and queerness all around the internet. Find him on Twitter at @shepardcdr, and listen to his biweekly video game retrospective podcast Normandy FM, which is currently covering Cyberpunk 2077.

PlayStation Access, a show owned by PlayStation that talks about upcoming and ongoing games on Sony’s platforms, may have revealed Ridge Racer 2 is coming to PlayStation Plus Premium in a new video before promptly hiding it from the public.

The since-hidden video said Ridge Racer 2 would be joining the subscription service in October. This is specifically the PlayStation Portable version that launched in 2006, not the 1994 original that was playable in arcades.

The video was made private, but not before the Ridge Racer 2 news started circulating online.

PlayStation Access says Ridge Racer 2 is coming to PS+ Premium on their YouTube video for October games (at around 5:17) https://t.co/Npb79nU2xf

via @Barnacle310 pic.twitter.com/S1wmof5FPv

— Wario64 (@Wario64) October 12, 2022

Ridge Racer 2 did appear in previous PlayStation Blog posts about games coming to PlayStation Plus Premium, but the racing game was never actually added to the service’s catalog. At this point, it's unclear if PlayStation Access accidentally announced an early reveal, or if it was a mistake and the racing game isn't coming to PlayStation Plus Premium.

Sony started rolling out new PlayStation Plus tiers back in June, with the Premium subscription allowing users to download and stream a large library of games on their PlayStation system as long as they’re subscribed. While Ridge Racer 2 is not yet on the platform, there are still plenty of great games available on the service. For more on that, check out IGN’s database for the full catalog.

Kenneth Shepard is a writer covering games, entertainment, and queerness all around the internet. Find him on Twitter at @shepardcdr, and listen to his biweekly video game retrospective podcast Normandy FM, which is currently covering Cyberpunk 2077.

Batgirl star Brendan Fraser says it’s “tragic” that the superhero movie was canceled.

During an interview with Variety, Fraser opened up about what it’s like to see the project scrapped by Warner Bros. Discovery.

“It’s tragic,” he said. “It doesn’t engender trust among filmmakers and the studio. Leslie Grace was fantastic. She’s a dynamo, just a spot-on performer,” Fraser said.

Fraser would have starred as the film’s villain, Firefly.

Batgirl was unceremoniously canceled back in August following the Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

Although details of the film remain scarce, WB Discovery CEO David Zaslav doubled down on reasons for its cancellation, following claims that a test screening left viewers wanting.

“We're not going to release any film before it's ready,” he said. “We're not going to release a film to make a quarter, we're not going to release a film — the focus is going to be, how do we make each of these films, in general, as good as possible. But DC is something that we think we could make better, and we're focused on it now.”

Despite this, Fraser states that Batgirl was still a “big-budget” movie.

“Everything that we shot was real and exciting and just the antithesis of doing a straightforward digital all green screen thing,” he said. “They ran fire trucks around downtown Glasgow at 3 in the morning and they had flamethrowers. It was a big-budget movie, but one that was just stripped down to the essentials.”

Batgirl was originally devised for streaming – presumably via HBO Max. Instead, the film was bumped up to a theatrical release.

Unfortunately, it’s thought that Zaslav and other execs felt that it didn’t have the big budget appeal of a theatrical comic book movie, and that played a part in its cancellation.

“This idea of expensive films going direct to streaming: we cannot find an economic case for it,” said Zaslav. “We cannot find an economic value for it. So we're making a strategic shift...Our focus will be on the theatrical.”

Fraser remains adamant that the film was coming together nicely.

“I don’t eat half-baked cake,” said Fraser. He then went on to praise Batgirl filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. “Everything that Adil and Bilall shot felt real and exciting,” he added.

Want to read more about Batgirl? Check out details of Batgirl’s secret funeral screening as well as which other DC projects may have been affected by the Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

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

A novel based on CD Projekt Red's world of Cyberpunk 2077 will be released next year.

The official Cyberpunk Twitter account announced (below) that the novel, titled Cyberpunk 2077: No Coincidence, will be released in August 2023. It's being written by Polish science fiction author Rafał Kosik and will tell the story of a group of strangers who discover the dangers of Night City.

Not much else was said about the novel, but CD Projekt Red did confirm that a Polish version would also be released. The book's front cover was also revealed, appearing to show two versions of the same character holding the throat of a cyborg-looking person.

The new novel, "Cyberpunk 2077: No Coincidence, " is coming to bookstores in August 2023.

Written by Rafał Kosik, "No Coincidence" tells a story about a group of strangers as they discover the dangers of Night City.

Stay tuned for more details! #Cyberpunk2077 pic.twitter.com/03BCFbIzuv

— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) October 12, 2022

Cyberpunk 2077 has had a resurgence recently following its fairly disastrous launch, and CD Projekt Red is now doubling down on its reach both within and outside of games.

The developer is currently working on the game's major expansion, Phantom Liberty, which will be released in 2023 and continue the story of V and Johnny Silverhand as they swear allegiance to the New United States of America. It also recently announced Cyberpunk 2077's sequel, codenamed Orion, which it will develop at its new studio, CD Projekt Red North America, with a team of hundreds of developers.

Cyberpunk has also seen success with the recent Edgerunners anime series that premiered on Netflix in September 2022.

Its reception perhaps bodes well for further adaptations, as in our 9/10 review, IGN said: "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners delivers a satisfying return to Night City that does a better job exploring why Mike Pondsmith’s famous location became so iconic in the first place."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.