Debris from the January eruption of the Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in the South Pacific was blasted into the air with such force that it actually reached the mesosphere, according to the results of a new scientific study.

On January 15 earlier this year, the underwater Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted with a cataclysmic force, roughly 65 km (40 miles) off the coast of the Kingdom of Tonga. The violence of the explosion blasted an enormous cloud of debris skyward and gave rise to a gigantic tsunami that tragically claimed the lives of six.

According to the results of a new scientific study published in the journal Science, the plume of ash and gas from this powerful explosion may be the tallest of its kind since records began.

Volcanic eruptions are known for spewing out vast clouds of debris that are capable of causing widespread disruption and damage, halting air travel, and, in extreme events, noticeably affecting the climate.

Whilst there have been numerous eruptions forceful enough to loft volcanic material high into the sky, very few were powerful enough to launch debris to an altitude 30 km (19 miles) above the Earth. According to the new research, the plume ejected from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano was blasted much higher than this, and may have even reached up into the mesosphere.

Ordinarily, scientists are able to determine the height of a plume by taking measurements of its temperature and comparing it to the temperatures of pockets of air at various altitudes. This method works because the gas in Earth’s atmosphere is known to get increasingly colder at higher altitudes.

However, when material is pushed very high into the atmosphere, this method ceases to be effective, as the air temperature actually starts to increase with altitude.

In order to accurately measure the height of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai’s plume, the scientists behind the study instead turned to data collected by a trio of satellites in geosynchronous orbit.

Each of the weather satellites observed the eruption from a vantage point roughly 36,000 km above Earth’s surface. Despite sharing similar orbital heights, each spacecraft imaged the cloud from a different perspective. The images were captured in 10-minute intervals throughout the eruption.

By observing the cloud from multiple perspectives and combining the images with known quantities such as the distances between points on the planet’s surface, the team was able to determine the true height of the plume, thanks to a phenomenon known as the parallax effect.

The analysis revealed that the power of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai’s eruption sent volcanic material soaring an incredible 57 km (35 miles) above the planet’s surface. That means the debris was blasted well into the third layer of Earth’s atmosphere known as the mesosphere, where fast-moving meteorites end their lives in fiery displays as shooting stars.

Moving forward, the team hopes to discover why the underwater eruption created such a high-altitude plume, and to develop an automated system for determining the height of volcano plumes via the parallax effect.

Stay tuned to IGN for all the weirdest and most important developments from around the scientific world.

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer.

Debris from the January eruption of the Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in the South Pacific was blasted into the air with such force that it actually reached the mesosphere, according to the results of a new scientific study.

On January 15 earlier this year, the underwater Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted with a cataclysmic force, roughly 65 km (40 miles) off the coast of the Kingdom of Tonga. The violence of the explosion blasted an enormous cloud of debris skyward and gave rise to a gigantic tsunami that tragically claimed the lives of six.

According to the results of a new scientific study published in the journal Science, the plume of ash and gas from this powerful explosion may be the tallest of its kind since records began.

Volcanic eruptions are known for spewing out vast clouds of debris that are capable of causing widespread disruption and damage, halting air travel, and, in extreme events, noticeably affecting the climate.

Whilst there have been numerous eruptions forceful enough to loft volcanic material high into the sky, very few were powerful enough to launch debris to an altitude 30 km (19 miles) above the Earth. According to the new research, the plume ejected from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano was blasted much higher than this, and may have even reached up into the mesosphere.

Ordinarily, scientists are able to determine the height of a plume by taking measurements of its temperature and comparing it to the temperatures of pockets of air at various altitudes. This method works because the gas in Earth’s atmosphere is known to get increasingly colder at higher altitudes.

However, when material is pushed very high into the atmosphere, this method ceases to be effective, as the air temperature actually starts to increase with altitude.

In order to accurately measure the height of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai’s plume, the scientists behind the study instead turned to data collected by a trio of satellites in geosynchronous orbit.

Each of the weather satellites observed the eruption from a vantage point roughly 36,000 km above Earth’s surface. Despite sharing similar orbital heights, each spacecraft imaged the cloud from a different perspective. The images were captured in 10-minute intervals throughout the eruption.

By observing the cloud from multiple perspectives and combining the images with known quantities such as the distances between points on the planet’s surface, the team was able to determine the true height of the plume, thanks to a phenomenon known as the parallax effect.

The analysis revealed that the power of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai’s eruption sent volcanic material soaring an incredible 57 km (35 miles) above the planet’s surface. That means the debris was blasted well into the third layer of Earth’s atmosphere known as the mesosphere, where fast-moving meteorites end their lives in fiery displays as shooting stars.

Moving forward, the team hopes to discover why the underwater eruption created such a high-altitude plume, and to develop an automated system for determining the height of volcano plumes via the parallax effect.

Stay tuned to IGN for all the weirdest and most important developments from around the scientific world.

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer.

Hideo Kojima says that he’s been approached with some ridiculous monetary offers from other companies to buy his studio, Kojima Productions. However, he’s been rejecting all of them.

On episode #10 on his Spotify podcast, Brain Structure, Kojima says, "We are indies, we have no affiliations whatsoever and are not backed by anyone, and are on good terms with everybody in the industry.”

He continues, “Every day I am approached by offers from all over the world to buy our studio. Some of those offers are ridiculously high prices but it's not that I want money. I want to make what I want to make. That's why I created this studio. So as long as I'm alive, I don't think I'll ever accept those offers.”

Video game studio consolidation and acquisitions have become increasingly popular over the past few years. Microsoft’s 68 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard is currently being put through scrutiny by regulators in regions like the UK and US. Sony has also bought out major studios like Bungie too.

Kojima also touched upon rumors that a Death Stranding follow-up was pitched to Google as an exclusive before Stadia shut down — rumors that he quickly refuted.

Right now, Kojima Productions is working on a project with Xbox that will leverage Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure. Even though Kojima denies the Stadia rumors, Norman Reedus suggested earlier this year that a sequel to Death Stranding is in fact coming.

Overdose, which is reported to be Kojima’s next game, was recently leaked and there's footage of actress Margaret Qualley’s character in dark corridors holding a flashlight. It’s unclear whether this project is for the Xbox one or for the rumored Death Stranding sequel, as Qualley played a character in the first Death Stranding game.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He's been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.

When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey

Hideo Kojima says that he’s been approached with some ridiculous monetary offers from other companies to buy his studio, Kojima Productions. However, he’s been rejecting all of them.

On episode #10 on his Spotify podcast, Brain Structure, Kojima says, "We are indies, we have no affiliations whatsoever and are not backed by anyone, and are on good terms with everybody in the industry.”

He continues, “Every day I am approached by offers from all over the world to buy our studio. Some of those offers are ridiculously high prices but it's not that I want money. I want to make what I want to make. That's why I created this studio. So as long as I'm alive, I don't think I'll ever accept those offers.”

Video game studio consolidation and acquisitions have become increasingly popular over the past few years. Microsoft’s 68 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard is currently being put through scrutiny by regulators in regions like the UK and US. Sony has also bought out major studios like Bungie too.

Kojima also touched upon rumors that a Death Stranding follow-up was pitched to Google as an exclusive before Stadia shut down — rumors that he quickly refuted.

Right now, Kojima Productions is working on a project with Xbox that will leverage Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure. Even though Kojima denies the Stadia rumors, Norman Reedus suggested earlier this year that a sequel to Death Stranding is in fact coming.

Overdose, which is reported to be Kojima’s next game, was recently leaked and there's footage of actress Margaret Qualley’s character in dark corridors holding a flashlight. It’s unclear whether this project is for the Xbox one or for the rumored Death Stranding sequel, as Qualley played a character in the first Death Stranding game.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He's been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.

When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey

The melting black licorice himself, Xûr, 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 Winding Cove in the EDZ on November 4 through November 8. To reach him, travel to the landing point at Winding Cove. When you arrive, make for the rock cliffs at the far end of the cove and look for a cave winding up to a platform next to some Fallen. There you'll find the freakish salesman we all adore.

What's Xûr Selling Today?

Exotic Engram

The Prospector - Exotic Grenade Launcher

Orpheus Rig - Exotic Hunter Leg Armor

• 8 Mobility
• 17 Resilience
• 7 Recovery
• 9 Discipline
• 12 Intellect
• 8 Strength
• Total: 61

Doom Fang Pauldron - Exotic Titan Gauntlets

• 21 Mobility
• 3 Resilience
• 7 Recovery
• 15 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 15 Strength
• Total: 63

Crown of Tempests - Exotic Warlock Helmet

• 8 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 20 Recovery
• 11 Discipline
• 9 Intellect
• 12 Strength
• Total: 62

Xur's exotic inventory this week is terrible, from top to bottom. OOF!

Exotic Weapons

Hawkmoon - Exotic Hand Cannon

• Paracausal Shot
• Extended Barrel
• Alloy Magazine
• Surplus
• Textured Grip

Dead Man's Tale - Exotic Scout Rifle

• Cranial Spike
• Full Bore
• Steady Rounds
• Outlaw
• Composite Stock

Hawkmoon and Dead Man's Tale are both great weapons, but this week the hand cannon doesn't have a great roll and the scout rifle is just so-so. Grab 'em if you need 'em, but otherwise you're safe to skip these exotics this week as well.

Legendary Weapons

Timeline's Vertex - Fusion Rifle

• Candle PS/Spark PS
• Ionized Battery/Projection Fuse
• Firmly Planted
• Elemental Capacitor
• Range Masterwork

Hollow Words - Fusion Rifle

• Arrowhead Brake/Hammer-Forged Rifling
• Accelerated Coils/Enhanced Battery
• Quickdraw
• Disruption Break
• Charge Time Masterwork

Corsair's Wrath - Linear Fusion Rifle

• Chambered Compensator/Fluted Barrel
• Accelerated Coils/Enhanced Battery
• No Distractions
• Unrelenting
• Charge Time Masterwork

Cold Denial - Pulse Rifle

• Corkscrew Rifling/Extended Barrel
• High-Caliber Rounds/Ricochet Rounds
• Pulse Monitor
• Eye of the Storm
• Range Masterwork

Gridskipper - Pulse Rifle

• Corkscrew Rifling/Fluted Barrel
• Extended Mag/High-Caliber Rounds
• Heating Up
• High-Impact Reserves
• Range Masterwork

Night Watch - Scout Rifle

• Extended Barrel/Hammer-Forged Rifling
• Accurized Rounds/Alloy Magazine
• Outlaw
• Multikill Clip
• Range Masterwork

IKELOS_SMG_V1.0.2 - Submachine Gun

• Chambered Compensator/Hammer-Forged Rifling
• Accurized Rounds/Extended Mag
• Pulse Monitor
• Surrounded
• Handling Masterwork

My top pick is the Night Watch with Outlaw and Multikill Clip (pretty easy recommendation), but the Corsair's Wrath linear fusion rifle might also serve you well in PvP.

Warlock Legendary Armor

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

Braytech Gauntlets

• 17 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 9 Recovery
• 13 Discipline
• 15 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 58

Braytech Chest Armor

• 24 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 6 Recovery
• 20 Discipline
• 9 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 63

Braytech Helmet

• 6 Mobility
• 9 Resilience
• 17 Recovery
• 2 Discipline
• 23 Intellect
• 7 Strength
• Total: 64

Braytech Leg Armor

• 6 Mobility
• 12 Resilience
• 10 Recovery
• 7 Discipline
• 18 Intellect
• 7 Strength
• Total: 60

Braytech Bond

Warlocks have one good option this week in the helmet, which hs a nice spikey Intellect stat. Everything else you can ignore!

Titan Legendary Armor

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

Braytech Gauntlets

• 2 Mobility
• 18 Resilience
• 10 Recovery
• 2 Discipline
• 9 Intellect
• 18 Strength
• Total: 59

Braytech Chest Armor

• 15 Mobility
• 7 Resilience
• 9 Recovery
• 11 Discipline
• 9 Intellect
• 9 Strength
• Total: 60

Braytech Helmet

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

Braytech Leg Armor

• 15 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 14 Recovery
• 15 Discipline
• 15 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 63

Braytech Mark

The only piece of armor even worth looking at for Titans this week are the boots, but even those are pretty middling -- sorry, Titans!

Hunter Legendary Armor

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

Braytech Gauntlets

• 12 Mobility
• 9 Resilience
• 9 Recovery
• 20 Discipline
• 9 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 61

Braytech Chest Armor

• 7 Mobility
• 10 Resilience
• 14 Recovery
• 14 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 14 Strength
• Total: 61

Braytech Helmet

• 6 Mobility
• 9 Resilience
• 17 Recovery
• 2 Discipline
• 12 Intellect
• 13 Strength
• Total: 59

Braytech Leg Armor

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

Braytech Cloak

All really low rolls this week for Hunters, but the spikey leg armor might suit you in certain circumstances, I guess?

That's a wrap on Xûr for this week, Guardians! Who is ready for Iron Banner next week? Let us know 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 melting black licorice himself, Xûr, 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 Winding Cove in the EDZ on November 4 through November 8. To reach him, travel to the landing point at Winding Cove. When you arrive, make for the rock cliffs at the far end of the cove and look for a cave winding up to a platform next to some Fallen. There you'll find the freakish salesman we all adore.

What's Xûr Selling Today?

Exotic Engram

The Prospector - Exotic Grenade Launcher

Orpheus Rig - Exotic Hunter Leg Armor

• 8 Mobility
• 17 Resilience
• 7 Recovery
• 9 Discipline
• 12 Intellect
• 8 Strength
• Total: 61

Doom Fang Pauldron - Exotic Titan Gauntlets

• 21 Mobility
• 3 Resilience
• 7 Recovery
• 15 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 15 Strength
• Total: 63

Crown of Tempests - Exotic Warlock Helmet

• 8 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 20 Recovery
• 11 Discipline
• 9 Intellect
• 12 Strength
• Total: 62

Xur's exotic inventory this week is terrible, from top to bottom. OOF!

Exotic Weapons

Hawkmoon - Exotic Hand Cannon

• Paracausal Shot
• Extended Barrel
• Alloy Magazine
• Surplus
• Textured Grip

Dead Man's Tale - Exotic Scout Rifle

• Cranial Spike
• Full Bore
• Steady Rounds
• Outlaw
• Composite Stock

Hawkmoon and Dead Man's Tale are both great weapons, but this week the hand cannon doesn't have a great roll and the scout rifle is just so-so. Grab 'em if you need 'em, but otherwise you're safe to skip these exotics this week as well.

Legendary Weapons

Timeline's Vertex - Fusion Rifle

• Candle PS/Spark PS
• Ionized Battery/Projection Fuse
• Firmly Planted
• Elemental Capacitor
• Range Masterwork

Hollow Words - Fusion Rifle

• Arrowhead Brake/Hammer-Forged Rifling
• Accelerated Coils/Enhanced Battery
• Quickdraw
• Disruption Break
• Charge Time Masterwork

Corsair's Wrath - Linear Fusion Rifle

• Chambered Compensator/Fluted Barrel
• Accelerated Coils/Enhanced Battery
• No Distractions
• Unrelenting
• Charge Time Masterwork

Cold Denial - Pulse Rifle

• Corkscrew Rifling/Extended Barrel
• High-Caliber Rounds/Ricochet Rounds
• Pulse Monitor
• Eye of the Storm
• Range Masterwork

Gridskipper - Pulse Rifle

• Corkscrew Rifling/Fluted Barrel
• Extended Mag/High-Caliber Rounds
• Heating Up
• High-Impact Reserves
• Range Masterwork

Night Watch - Scout Rifle

• Extended Barrel/Hammer-Forged Rifling
• Accurized Rounds/Alloy Magazine
• Outlaw
• Multikill Clip
• Range Masterwork

IKELOS_SMG_V1.0.2 - Submachine Gun

• Chambered Compensator/Hammer-Forged Rifling
• Accurized Rounds/Extended Mag
• Pulse Monitor
• Surrounded
• Handling Masterwork

My top pick is the Night Watch with Outlaw and Multikill Clip (pretty easy recommendation), but the Corsair's Wrath linear fusion rifle might also serve you well in PvP.

Warlock Legendary Armor

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

Braytech Gauntlets

• 17 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 9 Recovery
• 13 Discipline
• 15 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 58

Braytech Chest Armor

• 24 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 6 Recovery
• 20 Discipline
• 9 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 63

Braytech Helmet

• 6 Mobility
• 9 Resilience
• 17 Recovery
• 2 Discipline
• 23 Intellect
• 7 Strength
• Total: 64

Braytech Leg Armor

• 6 Mobility
• 12 Resilience
• 10 Recovery
• 7 Discipline
• 18 Intellect
• 7 Strength
• Total: 60

Braytech Bond

Warlocks have one good option this week in the helmet, which hs a nice spikey Intellect stat. Everything else you can ignore!

Titan Legendary Armor

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

Braytech Gauntlets

• 2 Mobility
• 18 Resilience
• 10 Recovery
• 2 Discipline
• 9 Intellect
• 18 Strength
• Total: 59

Braytech Chest Armor

• 15 Mobility
• 7 Resilience
• 9 Recovery
• 11 Discipline
• 9 Intellect
• 9 Strength
• Total: 60

Braytech Helmet

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

Braytech Leg Armor

• 15 Mobility
• 2 Resilience
• 14 Recovery
• 15 Discipline
• 15 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 63

Braytech Mark

The only piece of armor even worth looking at for Titans this week are the boots, but even those are pretty middling -- sorry, Titans!

Hunter Legendary Armor

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

Braytech Gauntlets

• 12 Mobility
• 9 Resilience
• 9 Recovery
• 20 Discipline
• 9 Intellect
• 2 Strength
• Total: 61

Braytech Chest Armor

• 7 Mobility
• 10 Resilience
• 14 Recovery
• 14 Discipline
• 2 Intellect
• 14 Strength
• Total: 61

Braytech Helmet

• 6 Mobility
• 9 Resilience
• 17 Recovery
• 2 Discipline
• 12 Intellect
• 13 Strength
• Total: 59

Braytech Leg Armor

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

Braytech Cloak

All really low rolls this week for Hunters, but the spikey leg armor might suit you in certain circumstances, I guess?

That's a wrap on Xûr for this week, Guardians! Who is ready for Iron Banner next week? Let us know 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.

Andy Serkis, who portrayed Gollum in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films, had nice things to say about the Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power show airing over at Amazon.

In an interview with Collider, Serkis said he appreciated that the series stayed true to Jackson’s original trilogy, as well as shouted out Howard Shore’s score, who also wrote the music for the films.

“Yeah, I absolutely watched it, and it really - once you get through understanding the rules of it, and actually how loyal to the trilogy and the feel of the trilogy music by Howard Shore for the opening sequence, et cetera - I found it incredibly engaging, and I really, really enjoyed watching it,” Serkis says.

Serkis also explained that his work recording audiobooks of The Lord of the Rings helped him follow the show and its overarching use of the series’ lore, then confirmed he will be doing an audiobook reading for The Silmarillion, a collection of stories by original author J. R. R. Tolkein published posthumously in 1977.

“And also, because I'd done an audiobook recording of The Lord of the Rings, and read the appendices, and had to read them out loud, I was quite clued up about where it was going to go, which was great, and it was really helpful because I'm going to be - don't tell anybody - reading The Silmarillion, as well,” Serkis says. “So you heard this first. Yeah, no, so I really enjoyed it very much so.”

The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power wrapped up its first season back in October, and Amazon has signed on for multiple seasons of the show, the second of which began filming last month.

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.

Andy Serkis, who portrayed Gollum in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films, had nice things to say about the Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power show airing over at Amazon.

In an interview with Collider, Serkis said he appreciated that the series stayed true to Jackson’s original trilogy, as well as shouted out Howard Shore’s score, who also wrote the music for the films.

“Yeah, I absolutely watched it, and it really - once you get through understanding the rules of it, and actually how loyal to the trilogy and the feel of the trilogy music by Howard Shore for the opening sequence, et cetera - I found it incredibly engaging, and I really, really enjoyed watching it,” Serkis says.

Serkis also explained that his work recording audiobooks of The Lord of the Rings helped him follow the show and its overarching use of the series’ lore, then confirmed he will be doing an audiobook reading for The Silmarillion, a collection of stories by original author J. R. R. Tolkein published posthumously in 1977.

“And also, because I'd done an audiobook recording of The Lord of the Rings, and read the appendices, and had to read them out loud, I was quite clued up about where it was going to go, which was great, and it was really helpful because I'm going to be - don't tell anybody - reading The Silmarillion, as well,” Serkis says. “So you heard this first. Yeah, no, so I really enjoyed it very much so.”

The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power wrapped up its first season back in October, and Amazon has signed on for multiple seasons of the show, the second of which began filming last month.

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.

Sony and Insomniac have announced they're adding five Ratchet & Clank games to PlayStation Plus Premium as part of the series’ 20th anniversary celebration, as well as adding new cosmetics to Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

The Ratchet & Clank series already has a handful of games on PlayStation Plus Premium, such as the PlayStation 3 games A Crack in Time and Into the Nexus. Now, the PS3 remasters of original PlayStation 2 games, as well as Tools of Destruction, will also be joining the subscription service on November 15. The new additions include:

• Ratchet & Clank
• Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
• Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
• Ratchet & Clank: Deadlocked
• Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Alongside the PlayStation Plus Premium games, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is receiving an update as part of the anniversary celebration, which includes five new armor sets for Ratchet and Rivet based on different games in the series' history.

The Ratchet & Clank franchise is one of PlayStation’s longest-running, having begun on the PlayStation 2 after Insomniac shifted away from the original Spyro the Dragon series. Following this, the series was a mainstay of the PlayStation 3 generation with the Future subseries. The PlayStation 4 only had one game, a remake of the original game that launched alongside a theatrical film.

Outside of Ratchet & Clank, Insomniac is working on its Spider-Man series, with Spider-Man 2 set to launch on PS5 next year.

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.

Sony and Insomniac have announced they're adding five Ratchet & Clank games to PlayStation Plus Premium as part of the series’ 20th anniversary celebration, as well as adding new cosmetics to Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.

The Ratchet & Clank series already has a handful of games on PlayStation Plus Premium, such as the PlayStation 3 games A Crack in Time and Into the Nexus. Now, the PS3 remasters of original PlayStation 2 games, as well as Tools of Destruction, will also be joining the subscription service on November 15. The new additions include:

• Ratchet & Clank
• Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
• Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
• Ratchet & Clank: Deadlocked
• Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Alongside the PlayStation Plus Premium games, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is receiving an update as part of the anniversary celebration, which includes five new armor sets for Ratchet and Rivet based on different games in the series' history.

The Ratchet & Clank franchise is one of PlayStation’s longest-running, having begun on the PlayStation 2 after Insomniac shifted away from the original Spyro the Dragon series. Following this, the series was a mainstay of the PlayStation 3 generation with the Future subseries. The PlayStation 4 only had one game, a remake of the original game that launched alongside a theatrical film.

Outside of Ratchet & Clank, Insomniac is working on its Spider-Man series, with Spider-Man 2 set to launch on PS5 next year.

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.