It’s been several years since Beyond Good & Evil 2 was officially announced. After a lack of news for quite some time, there’s finally a new development for the long-awaited game: they’ve hired their lead writer.

In a tweet yesterday, Sarah Arellano announced that she was joining as the game’s Lead Writer. Arellano previously worked as Narrative Designer for Blizzard on World of Warcraft and at Volition, the studio responsible for Saints Row.

It’s my turn to do the thing pic.twitter.com/gS87kZn7UT

— Sarah Arellano (@TheSugarVenom) August 3, 2022

Beyond Good & Evil 2 was officially announced in 2017 at E3. The game will serve as a prequel to the original game with promises of being able to explore alone or with friends in its massive and ambitious world.

Beyond that announcement, there’s not been a lot of meaningful news since. We’ve gotten a look at some cool concept art and another look at the game at E3 in 2018. That last time we saw the game gave us a glimpse at Jade from the first game, seemingly as a villain.

Ubisoft initially planned for a beta of the game to be available at the end of 2019, but that never came to fruition. Beyond Good & Evil 2 also lost its director in 2020, leaving the game’s status even more up in the air.

Since then, the game got a mention in UbiSoft’s earning reports, confirming it is still around in some capacity. Then, earlier this year, a report came out saying the game was still in pre-production. The news of the game getting its lead writer, however, is a good step forward.

The first Beyond Good & Evil got a 9/10 from us in our review. We said it "tells its story with amazing pizzazz and polish. Even better, it's a story well worth telling."

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

It’s been several years since Beyond Good & Evil 2 was officially announced. After a lack of news for quite some time, there’s finally a new development for the long-awaited game: they’ve hired their lead writer.

In a tweet yesterday, Sarah Arellano announced that she was joining as the game’s Lead Writer. Arellano previously worked as Narrative Designer for Blizzard on World of Warcraft and at Volition, the studio responsible for Saints Row.

It’s my turn to do the thing pic.twitter.com/gS87kZn7UT

— Sarah Arellano (@TheSugarVenom) August 3, 2022

Beyond Good & Evil 2 was officially announced in 2017 at E3. The game will serve as a prequel to the original game with promises of being able to explore alone or with friends in its massive and ambitious world.

Beyond that announcement, there’s not been a lot of meaningful news since. We’ve gotten a look at some cool concept art and another look at the game at E3 in 2018. That last time we saw the game gave us a glimpse at Jade from the first game, seemingly as a villain.

Ubisoft initially planned for a beta of the game to be available at the end of 2019, but that never came to fruition. Beyond Good & Evil 2 also lost its director in 2020, leaving the game’s status even more up in the air.

Since then, the game got a mention in UbiSoft’s earning reports, confirming it is still around in some capacity. Then, earlier this year, a report came out saying the game was still in pre-production. The news of the game getting its lead writer, however, is a good step forward.

The first Beyond Good & Evil got a 9/10 from us in our review. We said it "tells its story with amazing pizzazz and polish. Even better, it's a story well worth telling."

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

Microsoft is testing an Xbox Game Pass widget with Windows Insiders according to a new post on the official Windows Insider blog.

The widget will make it even easier to see the latest additions, what games are leaving soon, and other games from highlighted categories across Game Pass.

The update test comes as part of the newest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build. It will hopefully alleviate some of the current unevenness while navigating the Xbox app. The widget will take you to the Xbox app where you’ll be able to install your favorite games on your PC and see game reviews.

Windows also teased that they’re working on even more updates for the widget. Including the ability to “sign-into your Xbox profile and easily jump back into recently played games as well as see personalized recommendations of games we believe you’ll love.”

In March, changes to the Windows release roadmap are coming. In the past, a new Windows was released every three years. This later changed with Windows 10 which received updates for six years before Windows 11’s release.

Windows 11 first released in October 2021 and came equipped with several new features including auto HDR for gaming and, of course, widgets – a centerpiece for the operating system.

We gave Windows 11 a 7/10 in our review and found the lack of “gaming-focused improvements and features” disappointing.

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

Microsoft is testing an Xbox Game Pass widget with Windows Insiders according to a new post on the official Windows Insider blog.

The widget will make it even easier to see the latest additions, what games are leaving soon, and other games from highlighted categories across Game Pass.

The update test comes as part of the newest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build. It will hopefully alleviate some of the current unevenness while navigating the Xbox app. The widget will take you to the Xbox app where you’ll be able to install your favorite games on your PC and see game reviews.

Windows also teased that they’re working on even more updates for the widget. Including the ability to “sign-into your Xbox profile and easily jump back into recently played games as well as see personalized recommendations of games we believe you’ll love.”

In March, changes to the Windows release roadmap are coming. In the past, a new Windows was released every three years. This later changed with Windows 10 which received updates for six years before Windows 11’s release.

Windows 11 first released in October 2021 and came equipped with several new features including auto HDR for gaming and, of course, widgets – a centerpiece for the operating system.

We gave Windows 11 a 7/10 in our review and found the lack of “gaming-focused improvements and features” disappointing.

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

Microsoft announced on their official blog they are rolling out a plan to Xbox Insiders that allows multiple people to share Game Pass Ultimate benefits. The preview feature is only rolling out in Colombia and Ireland currently.

Microsoft’s goal with the preview is to make it even easier for gamers to play the games on Game Pass with friends and family across console, PC, and cloud by enabling them to add up to four people to their subscription.

The plan is only available to Xbox Insiders, but those folks are able to add people to the plan who are not a part of the program as long as they’re in the same country. When players join the preview, the new plan will “convert the time remaining on your membership to time in the new plan, based upon the monetary value of the old membership.”

In March of this year, it was announced Microsoft was reportedly working on an Xbox Game Pass Family Plan. The details from then, including requiring added members to be in the same country, are the same or similar to that initial report.

Xbox Game Pass gives subscribers a rotating list of games to play for $9.99 a month. Oftentimes, it even includes day one releases for Microsoft's first-party titles at no additional cost. The next tier is Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. It combines the service with Xbox Live Gold for $14.99 a month. This gives players access to Xbox's online multiplayer functionality as well as free monthly games via Games With Gold.

August’s selection of games just began to roll out. They include Ghost Recon Wildlands and Turbo Golf Racing which are available now. Later this month, games like Two Point Campus and Expeditions: Rome will be added.

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

Microsoft announced on their official blog they are rolling out a plan to Xbox Insiders that allows multiple people to share Game Pass Ultimate benefits. The preview feature is only rolling out in Colombia and Ireland currently.

Microsoft’s goal with the preview is to make it even easier for gamers to play the games on Game Pass with friends and family across console, PC, and cloud by enabling them to add up to four people to their subscription.

The plan is only available to Xbox Insiders, but those folks are able to add people to the plan who are not a part of the program as long as they’re in the same country. When players join the preview, the new plan will “convert the time remaining on your membership to time in the new plan, based upon the monetary value of the old membership.”

In March of this year, it was announced Microsoft was reportedly working on an Xbox Game Pass Family Plan. The details from then, including requiring added members to be in the same country, are the same or similar to that initial report.

Xbox Game Pass gives subscribers a rotating list of games to play for $9.99 a month. Oftentimes, it even includes day one releases for Microsoft's first-party titles at no additional cost. The next tier is Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. It combines the service with Xbox Live Gold for $14.99 a month. This gives players access to Xbox's online multiplayer functionality as well as free monthly games via Games With Gold.

August’s selection of games just began to roll out. They include Ghost Recon Wildlands and Turbo Golf Racing which are available now. Later this month, games like Two Point Campus and Expeditions: Rome will be added.

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket has successfully completed its sixth space tourism mission, sending six more crew members on a sub-orbital spaceflight.

According to Blue Origin's official stats, the NS-22 mission lifted off on August 4 at 8:56 am (CDT) / 13:56 (UTC) from Launch Site One in West Texas. The capsule was carrying six space tourists, including the first Egyptian and Portuguese citizens to embark on a sub-orbital spaceflight. They completed the mission after 10 minutes and 20 seconds, touching back down around 9:06 am (CDT) / 14:56 (UTC).

And the capsule has landed, just over 10 minutes since launch. pic.twitter.com/xTFDHosJiu

— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) August 4, 2022

During the sub-orbital spaceflight, the capsule separated from the New Shepard Propulsion Module and those on board unbuckled their seatbelts to experience the zero-gravity environment for a few minutes before returning to their respective seats for the descent, per NASA SpaceFlight. New Shepard's booster made a loud landing while the crew capsule safely deployed its parachutes and floated down.

The NS-22 mission was the 22nd flight for the New Shepard suborbital launch system, and its sixth crewed mission to reach space so far. It was also the third crewed launch of the year for New Shepard, coming exactly two months after Blue Origin recorded another successful mission that transported six more passengers past the Kármán line – the internationally recognized boundary of space.

The NS-22 crew consisted of Coby Cotton, co-founder of the YouTube channel Dude Perfect, Mário Ferreira, president of Pluris Investments Group, Vanessa O'Brien, a British-American mountaineer, Clint Kelly III, founder of the Autonomous Land Vehicle project, Sara Sabry, founder of the Deep Space Initiative, and Steve Young, former CEO of Young's Communications LLC.

Blue Origin notes that this group of astronauts achieved three historic firsts, with Sabry becoming the first person from Egypt to fly to space, Ferreira becoming the first person from Portugal to make the trip, and O'Brien achieving a Guinness World Record by becoming the first woman to reach extremes on land (Mt. Everest), sea (Challenger Deep), and air (Kármán line), completing the Explorers' Extreme Trifecta.

"It's an honor for our team to provide our customers with a life-changing shift in perspective of our fragile planet," said Phil Joyce, SVP, New Shepard. "It's been just over a year since New Shepard's first human flight, and we have now flown 31 humans above the Kármán line. Thank you to these early pioneers in helping us realize our vision of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth."

Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX are three companies that have been at the forefront of the race to space, having made several headlines for their various crewed spaceflights. However, more and more companies are now gearing up to offer suborbital jaunts to space… or at least to the very edge of it. As such, we've put together a guide of everything you need to know about booking a galactic getaway.

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

Cover image credit: Blue Origin via NASA.

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket has successfully completed its sixth space tourism mission, sending six more crew members on a sub-orbital spaceflight.

According to Blue Origin's official stats, the NS-22 mission lifted off on August 4 at 8:56 am (CDT) / 13:56 (UTC) from Launch Site One in West Texas. The capsule was carrying six space tourists, including the first Egyptian and Portuguese citizens to embark on a sub-orbital spaceflight. They completed the mission after 10 minutes and 20 seconds, touching back down around 9:06 am (CDT) / 14:56 (UTC).

And the capsule has landed, just over 10 minutes since launch. pic.twitter.com/xTFDHosJiu

— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) August 4, 2022

During the sub-orbital spaceflight, the capsule separated from the New Shepard Propulsion Module and those on board unbuckled their seatbelts to experience the zero-gravity environment for a few minutes before returning to their respective seats for the descent, per NASA SpaceFlight. New Shepard's booster made a loud landing while the crew capsule safely deployed its parachutes and floated down.

The NS-22 mission was the 22nd flight for the New Shepard suborbital launch system, and its sixth crewed mission to reach space so far. It was also the third crewed launch of the year for New Shepard, coming exactly two months after Blue Origin recorded another successful mission that transported six more passengers past the Kármán line – the internationally recognized boundary of space.

The NS-22 crew consisted of Coby Cotton, co-founder of the YouTube channel Dude Perfect, Mário Ferreira, president of Pluris Investments Group, Vanessa O'Brien, a British-American mountaineer, Clint Kelly III, founder of the Autonomous Land Vehicle project, Sara Sabry, founder of the Deep Space Initiative, and Steve Young, former CEO of Young's Communications LLC.

Blue Origin notes that this group of astronauts achieved three historic firsts, with Sabry becoming the first person from Egypt to fly to space, Ferreira becoming the first person from Portugal to make the trip, and O'Brien achieving a Guinness World Record by becoming the first woman to reach extremes on land (Mt. Everest), sea (Challenger Deep), and air (Kármán line), completing the Explorers' Extreme Trifecta.

"It's an honor for our team to provide our customers with a life-changing shift in perspective of our fragile planet," said Phil Joyce, SVP, New Shepard. "It's been just over a year since New Shepard's first human flight, and we have now flown 31 humans above the Kármán line. Thank you to these early pioneers in helping us realize our vision of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth."

Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and SpaceX are three companies that have been at the forefront of the race to space, having made several headlines for their various crewed spaceflights. However, more and more companies are now gearing up to offer suborbital jaunts to space… or at least to the very edge of it. As such, we've put together a guide of everything you need to know about booking a galactic getaway.

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

Cover image credit: Blue Origin via NASA.

Keanu Reeves is headed to the small screen and will be one of the leads in the upcoming television adaptation of Devil in the White City.

According to Variety the production has officially been ordered to series at Hulu. Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio will serve as executive producers.

This will mark Reeves first foray into the small screen. He’s most well known for his roles in The Matrix series, John Wick, and in the video game Cyberpunk 2077. His roles on television have mostly consisted of made-for-TV films in his early career.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America is a 2003 nonfiction book by Erik Larson. Set during the 1893 Chicago World Fair, It tells the horrific true story of serial killer Dr. H. H. Holmes and Daniel H. Burnham, a world famous architect, and how their lives weave together.

The adaptation has long been in the works with the rights initially being scooped up by Paramount Pictures for a film all the way back in 2007. Though it’s now a television series, Paramount is still involved via their television studio.

DiCaprio joined the project in 2009. In 2015, Scorsese became attached, though the adaptation was still going to be a film at that point. The adaptation moved to Hulu just a few years later in 2019.

Most recently, Reeves has expressed interest in playing Batman in a live action film after voicing the Caped Crusader in League of Super-Pets. He’s also expressed interest in joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

Keanu Reeves is headed to the small screen and will be one of the leads in the upcoming television adaptation of Devil in the White City.

According to Variety the production has officially been ordered to series at Hulu. Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio will serve as executive producers.

This will mark Reeves first foray into the small screen. He’s most well known for his roles in The Matrix series, John Wick, and in the video game Cyberpunk 2077. His roles on television have mostly consisted of made-for-TV films in his early career.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America is a 2003 nonfiction book by Erik Larson. Set during the 1893 Chicago World Fair, It tells the horrific true story of serial killer Dr. H. H. Holmes and Daniel H. Burnham, a world famous architect, and how their lives weave together.

The adaptation has long been in the works with the rights initially being scooped up by Paramount Pictures for a film all the way back in 2007. Though it’s now a television series, Paramount is still involved via their television studio.

DiCaprio joined the project in 2009. In 2015, Scorsese became attached, though the adaptation was still going to be a film at that point. The adaptation moved to Hulu just a few years later in 2019.

Most recently, Reeves has expressed interest in playing Batman in a live action film after voicing the Caped Crusader in League of Super-Pets. He’s also expressed interest in joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.