If you're liking the look of Splatoon 3 based on today's Splatoon-focused Nintendo Direct: good news. we're about to get a lot of it for a long time. Nintendo has confirmed it will support Splatoon 3 with free updates for at least two years, and will also have "large-scale paid DLC" available at some point in the future.

While we don't know what the paid DLC will consist of, we can confirm at least what some of the free updates will be. From today's Direct, we learned about the new "catalog" feature, which is effectively a seasonal rotation of customization items that will change every three months. The items include new titles, backgrounds, badges, and emotes that players can display to opponents at the start and end of matches.

Additionally, new weapons will be added to the game regularly, at roughly the same time as the catalog updates, and it seems safe to assume new outfits might accompany them at some point as well.

We also know that two game modes, X Battle and League Battle, are planned for Splatoon 3 but will not be available at launch. They're both planned for release in future updates.

And of course, there are the Splatfests. We've already got one Splatfest on the way as a pre-release event on August 27, so it stands to reason there will be plenty more Splatfests to come down the line. Splatfests now include three teams instead of just two, and take place over two halves: the usual Turf War, followed by a Tricolor Turf War where the current leading team must fend off the two challenging teams working together to topple them.

Today's Splatoon 3 Direct was extremely dense with new info, and you can find a roundup of everything we learned right here on IGN as well are more details about the upcoming pre-release Splatfest.

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

The Suicide Squad star Idris Elba has revealed that he would like to return to the DCEU as Bloodsport to see his character go up against Superman.

The Suicide Squad's writer and director James Gunn considered Elba for a few different DC Comics characters before eventually settling on Bloodsport, an obscure 1980s comic book character best known for shooting Superman with a kryptonite bullet. The Suicide Squad touched on this backstory, but Elba told Variety that he would like to explore their history further onscreen.

"I would definitely like to tell the Superman story. There's no doubt," Elba told the outlet while promoting his new movie Beast. "Bloodsport versus Superman. It needs to happen."

The Superman backstory is taken directly from the comics, as Bloodsport is notorious for managing to come closer than any villain besides Doomsday to actually killing Superman. In his original appearance, Bloodsport managed to fire a Kryptonite-laced projectile and seriously wound the Man of Steel, and may well have killed him if not for the timely intervention of Jimmy Olsen.

Some fans had hoped to see a flashback of Bloodsport going toe-to-toe with Superman in The Suicide Squad, but the reference to their comics history didn't make it past a line of dialogue. However, Gunn previously revealed that he had toyed with the idea of pitting Task Force X against the Man of Steel in a story that would have positioned Superman as the main villain of the DCEU movie.

Gunn ultimately decided to give Starro a chance to shine, having recognized a few complications surrounding Superman's place in the DCEU. "There was a time when I thought The Suicide Squad should fight Superman," he explained. "At the time, there were a lot of questions like, 'Who is Superman in the DCEU? Is this movie outside the DCEU?' I just didn't want to deal with it all that much."

Despite seeing a middling reception at the box office and on HBO Max, The Suicide Squad continues to spawn interesting spinoffs. The movie got an HBO Max spinoff centered around John Cena's Peacemaker, and they are now hoping to follow up on the success of that series with another Suicide Squad spinoff that will reportedly give Amanda Waller her own time in the spotlight.

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

The Suicide Squad star Idris Elba has revealed that he would like to return to the DCEU as Bloodsport to see his character go up against Superman.

The Suicide Squad's writer and director James Gunn considered Elba for a few different DC Comics characters before eventually settling on Bloodsport, an obscure 1980s comic book character best known for shooting Superman with a kryptonite bullet. The Suicide Squad touched on this backstory, but Elba told Variety that he would like to explore their history further onscreen.

"I would definitely like to tell the Superman story. There's no doubt," Elba told the outlet while promoting his new movie Beast. "Bloodsport versus Superman. It needs to happen."

The Superman backstory is taken directly from the comics, as Bloodsport is notorious for managing to come closer than any villain besides Doomsday to actually killing Superman. In his original appearance, Bloodsport managed to fire a Kryptonite-laced projectile and seriously wound the Man of Steel, and may well have killed him if not for the timely intervention of Jimmy Olsen.

Some fans had hoped to see a flashback of Bloodsport going toe-to-toe with Superman in The Suicide Squad, but the reference to their comics history didn't make it past a line of dialogue. However, Gunn previously revealed that he had toyed with the idea of pitting Task Force X against the Man of Steel in a story that would have positioned Superman as the main villain of the DCEU movie.

Gunn ultimately decided to give Starro a chance to shine, having recognized a few complications surrounding Superman's place in the DCEU. "There was a time when I thought The Suicide Squad should fight Superman," he explained. "At the time, there were a lot of questions like, 'Who is Superman in the DCEU? Is this movie outside the DCEU?' I just didn't want to deal with it all that much."

Despite seeing a middling reception at the box office and on HBO Max, The Suicide Squad continues to spawn interesting spinoffs. The movie got an HBO Max spinoff centered around John Cena's Peacemaker, and they are now hoping to follow up on the success of that series with another Suicide Squad spinoff that will reportedly give Amanda Waller her own time in the spotlight.

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

Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan has revealed that he once raised the idea of a Grand Theft Auto-style video game adaptation of his hit series.

As reported by ComicBook, Gilligan said during the latest episode of the Inside the Gilliverse podcast that several ideas for Breaking Bad video games have come and gone over the years, also including a PlayStation VR experience.

"I'm not much of a video game player but how can you not know Grand Theft Auto?" he said. "I remember saying to the two gentleman who said yes originally to Breaking Bad, I said 'who owns Grand Theft Auto, can't you have like a module, can there be like a Breaking Bad [adaptation]?'

"It still makes sense to me," Gilligan continued. "That never came to fruition. There have been quite a few attempts at video games. Some of them kinda sort of made it to market. We tried to do a VR experience with the Sony PlayStation VR headset. We did a mobile game that lasted for a little while."

That game was called Breaking Bad: Criminal Elements, a story-driven base builder where players rise up the ranks of their own drug empire, but it was shut down just a year after it was released in September 2020.

Gilligan went on to explain that he and the other people behind Breaking Bad didn't want to release a bad game that was only attractive for being associated with the series, joking that they didn't want to produce something similar to the infamous E.T. Atari game.

A Breaking Bad game adaptation is therefore unlikely to see the light of day. "We just don't have enough bandwidth usually to make it work," Gilligan said. "I wouldn't hold your breath on a video game."

Breaking Bad ended almost a decade ago in 2013 and IGN said it was almost perfect in our 9/10 review, while the prequel series Better Call Saul will end next week on August 15.

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

Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan has revealed that he once raised the idea of a Grand Theft Auto-style video game adaptation of his hit series.

As reported by Dualshockers, Gilligan said during the latest episode of the Inside the Gilliverse podcast that several ideas for Breaking Bad video games have come and gone over the years, also including a PlayStation VR experience.

"I'm not much of a video game player but how can you not know Grand Theft Auto?" he said. "I remember saying to the two gentleman who said yes originally to Breaking Bad, I said 'who owns Grand Theft Auto, can't you have like a module, can there be like a Breaking Bad [adaptation]?'

"It still makes sense to me," Gilligan continued. "That never came to fruition. There have been quite a few attempts at video games. Some of them kinda sort of made it to market. We tried to do a VR experience with the Sony PlayStation VR headset. We did a mobile game that lasted for a little while."

That game was called Breaking Bad: Criminal Elements, a story-driven base builder where players rise up the ranks of their own drug empire, but it was shut down just a year after it was released in September 2020.

Gilligan went on to explain that he and the other people behind Breaking Bad didn't want to release a bad game that was only attractive for being associated with the series, joking that they didn't want to produce something similar to the infamous E.T. Atari game.

A Breaking Bad game adaptation is therefore unlikely to see the light of day. "We just don't have enough bandwidth usually to make it work," Gilligan said. "I wouldn't hold your breath on a video game."

Breaking Bad ended almost a decade ago in 2013 and IGN said it was almost perfect in our 9/10 review, while the prequel series Better Call Saul will end next week on August 15.

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

Mobile software company AppLovin has offered to buy Unity for $17.5 billion.

According to Reuters, the mobile software developer from Palo Alto, California has put in an all-stock bid for Unity – the company behind the popular Unity Engine, which has been used to make games as diverse as Call of Duty: Mobile and Pokemon Go. Unity previously planned to acquire AppLovin competitor, ironSource.

AppLovin has reportedly offered $58.85 for each Unity share – a premium of 18% on Unity’s Monday closing price. Unity would own 55% of the combined company’s outstanding shares, giving Unity a 49% voting right going forward.

“Unity is one of the world's leading platforms for helping creators turn their inspirations into real-time 3D content,” said AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi in an official statement. “With the scale that comes from unifying our leading solutions and innovation that would be achieved with the combination of our teams, we expect that game developers would be the biggest beneficiaries as they continue to lead the mobile gaming sector to its next chapter of growth.”

Unity has confirmed that its board will evaluate the APpLovin offer. Meanwhile, Unity reported $297 million in quarterly revenue – a 9% increase year-on-year in the face of recent layoffs.

Unity CEO John Riccitiello recently drew ire from other developers when he called developers who don’t focus on monetization the “biggest f****** idiots”. He was subsequently forced to apologize for his comments.

A buyout from AppLovin, which focuses on monetization software for mobile games, would push Unity further down the monetization road.

If the AppLovin deal is accepted, it would be unlikely for Unity to close on its previous agreement with ironSource – generating a $150 million termination fee for ironSource in the process.

Want to read more about monetizing games and microtransactions? Check out the effect of loot boxes and microtransaction addiction as well as Valve’s thoughts on microtransactions in the games industry.

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

Mobile software company AppLovin has offered to buy Unity for $17.5 billion.

According to Reuters, the mobile software developer from Palo Alto, California has put in an all-stock bid for Unity – the company behind the popular Unity Engine, which has been used to make games as diverse as Call of Duty: Mobile and Pokemon Go. Unity previously planned to acquire AppLovin competitor, ironSource.

AppLovin has reportedly offered $58.85 for each Unity share – a premium of 18% on Unity’s Monday closing price. Unity would own 55% of the combined company’s outstanding shares, giving Unity a 49% voting right going forward.

“Unity is one of the world's leading platforms for helping creators turn their inspirations into real-time 3D content,” said AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi in an official statement. “With the scale that comes from unifying our leading solutions and innovation that would be achieved with the combination of our teams, we expect that game developers would be the biggest beneficiaries as they continue to lead the mobile gaming sector to its next chapter of growth.”

Unity has confirmed that its board will evaluate the APpLovin offer. Meanwhile, Unity reported $297 million in quarterly revenue – a 9% increase year-on-year in the face of recent layoffs.

Unity CEO John Riccitiello recently drew ire from other developers when he called developers who don’t focus on monetization the “biggest f****** idiots”. He was subsequently forced to apologize for his comments.

A buyout from AppLovin, which focuses on monetization software for mobile games, would push Unity further down the monetization road.

If the AppLovin deal is accepted, it would be unlikely for Unity to close on its previous agreement with ironSource – generating a $150 million termination fee for ironSource in the process.

Want to read more about monetizing games and microtransactions? Check out the effect of loot boxes and microtransaction addiction as well as Valve’s thoughts on microtransactions in the games industry.

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

Half-Life 2 is getting a VR mod, and it’s arriving in beta form this September.

Half-Life 2: VR, a headset version of the narrative FPS classic will begin its open beta on PC next month – but no specific date has been announced just yet.

“Good news, everyone!” said a statement from the Source VR Mod Team, which is making the mod. “The wait is nearly over - the Half-Life 2: VR public beta is launching in September. And yes, we do mean this year.”

The mod is currently undergoing a closed playtest. It runs on SteamVR, so any headset using the Steam platform can be used to play Half-Life 2: VR. It's been tested on the Index, Quest, Vive, and Pimax headsets.

Half-Life 2 is one of the most best-loved games of all time, revolutionizing the FPS genre and bringing a thrilling new chapter to the story of Gordon Freeman. Originally released in 2004, the game got an official VR sequel in the form of Half-Life: Alyx back in 2020.

Now, the previous game is making its way to SteamVR headsets thanks to the dedication of a mod team that’s been working on the project since 2017.

“Half-Life 2: VR was originally greenlit on Steam back in 2017,” explained the team. “It has since gone through its own kind of development hell and was all but abandoned. In July 2021, a new influx of team members has revitalized the project, and it is now close to actually being released to the public.”

The mod will be free to download but does require a copy of Half-Life 2 to play. At the moment, it’s unclear whether the mod will launch on Steam itself:

“We are still waiting for approval by Valve, and we do not know how much longer that will take,” the steam explained. “If our Store page gets approved by September, we will launch on Steam as planned. If not, we will prepare an alternative launch outside of Steam. Either way, we are excited to have you play the mod in September!”

Want to read more about Half-Life 2? Check out our review of the 2004 FPS classic and get some help with our full walkthrough.

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

Half-Life 2 is getting a VR mod, and it’s arriving in beta form this September.

Half-Life 2: VR, a headset version of the narrative FPS classic will begin its open beta on PC next month – but no specific date has been announced just yet.

“Good news, everyone!” said a statement from the Source VR Mod Team, which is making the mod. “The wait is nearly over - the Half-Life 2: VR public beta is launching in September. And yes, we do mean this year.”

The mod is currently undergoing a closed playtest. It runs on SteamVR, so any headset using the Steam platform can be used to play Half-Life 2: VR. It's been tested on the Index, Quest, Vive, and Pimax headsets.

Half-Life 2 is one of the most best-loved games of all time, revolutionizing the FPS genre and bringing a thrilling new chapter to the story of Gordon Freeman. Originally released in 2004, the game got an official VR sequel in the form of Half-Life: Alyx back in 2020.

Now, the previous game is making its way to SteamVR headsets thanks to the dedication of a mod team that’s been working on the project since 2017.

“Half-Life 2: VR was originally greenlit on Steam back in 2017,” explained the team. “It has since gone through its own kind of development hell and was all but abandoned. In July 2021, a new influx of team members has revitalized the project, and it is now close to actually being released to the public.”

The mod will be free to download but does require a copy of Half-Life 2 to play. At the moment, it’s unclear whether the mod will launch on Steam itself:

“We are still waiting for approval by Valve, and we do not know how much longer that will take,” the steam explained. “If our Store page gets approved by September, we will launch on Steam as planned. If not, we will prepare an alternative launch outside of Steam. Either way, we are excited to have you play the mod in September!”

Want to read more about Half-Life 2? Check out our review of the 2004 FPS classic and get some help with our full walkthrough.

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

It looks as though The Golden Globes will be making a comeback on NBC.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the controversial awards will be returning to NBC after taking a year off the air.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which runs the awards, came under fire before the 79th annual ceremony when it was revealed that the HFPA included zero black people among its 87 members. It was also accused of unethical conduct and suspicious financial practices.

NBC later announced it would not air the 2022 awards due to the HFPA’s failure to reform its controversial business practices. The ceremony went ahead as a private, untelevised event, with The Power of the Dog taking the best movie drama prize, and West Side Story taking the best musical or comedy movie award.

“We continue to believe that the HFPA is committed to meaningful reform,” NBC said in a statement. “However, change of this magnitude takes time and work, and we feel strongly that the HFPA needs time to do it right. As such, NBC will not air the 2022 Golden Globes. Assuming the organization executes on its plan, we are hopeful we will be in a position to air the show in January 2023.”

Worse still, former winner, Tom Cruise returned his three Golden Globes due to the controversy. He previously won Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for 1996's Jerry Maguire, Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for 1989's Born on the Fourth of July, and Best Supporting Actor for 1999's Magnolia.

Now, it sounds as though the Golden Globes are back with a return on January 10, 2023.

The Golden Globes have run every year since 1996, with the exception of last year. The return of the awards this year marks a significant moment for the HFPA which has passed major reforms since the cancellation of last year’s awards.

Members are now banned from accepting gifts and the HFPA has removed a cap on new members, allowing them to add 21 new members last year in order to improve diversity. However, even these changes come with some caveats.

None of the incumbent members were weeded out when accreditation standards were made stricter. The organization also angered many by still going ahead with the 2021 awards despite no stars attending or it being broadcast in any way.

Whether or not the HFPA has done enough to win over the public remains to be seen. But for now, at least, the Golden Globes are back. Which stars will attend the ceremony following the upheaval is another question entirely.

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

Thumbnail credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Hollywood Foreign Press Association