Update 7/28/2022 2:45pm: Apparently, Keita Takahashi's next game may not be called Uvula. Uvula instead appears to be the name of his new studio.

In the trailer published to the Annapurna YouTube page, the game is just called "???" with the YouTube description including "Developed by UVULA."

Does that mean Takahashi's game will be about uvulas at all? Who knows? There IS a uvula in the teaser. But otherwise, it now seems we know even less about whatever he's up to than we did before. Still looks cute though.

Original story 7/28/2022:

During today's Annapurna Interactive Showcase we got a brief teaser for Takahashi's next game. It showed a boy in Takahashi's signature art style gently snoring away, with the camera zoomed in close on his uvula - you know, the little hangy down thing in the back of the throat. It slowly zoomed out to his face, and a dog licks the boy's cheek. That's all!

It's anyone's guess how this is going to make a game, but if anyone can do it, it's probably Takahashi. All of his past games have been extremely quirky and original, from Katamari (a game about rolling every object on earth into a giant katamari ball to send into space and turn into a star) to Wattam, a game that inexplicably involved a lot of poop.

Notably, Wattam was developed by Funomena, which appears to have shut down as of earlier this year following a report from People Make Games alleging that studio head Robin Hunicke had emotionally abused the staff. A later report from Fanbyte stated that Takahashi and Hunicke had clashed over the design of Wattam and eventually physically barricaded themselves off from one another.

Annapurna Interactive published Wattam, as well as games by both Mountains and Fullbright, which have also had allegations levvied against them in the last few years. Annapurna has not commented on the situation at Funomena, and it is unclear whether anyone else from Funomena is involved in Uvula.

You can get a full rundown of everything announced at today's Annapurna Interactive showcase in our roundup.

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

Krysten Ritter is heading back to AMC as the star of Orphan Black: Echoes. Ritter, who featured on AMC’s Breaking Bad and starred in Marvel’s Jessica Jones, will also serve as executive producer for the new series.

Orphan Black: Echoes is set in the same world as the critically acclaimed sci-fi hit Orphan Black and will get a 10-episode first season run on AMC+. The series will be set in the near future and will take “a deep dive into the exploration of the scientific manipulation of human existence.”

Meet the star and executive producer of #OrphanBlackEchoes, @krystenritter. pic.twitter.com/p3DpoOxGr9

— Orphan Black (@OrphanBlack) July 28, 2022

Ritter will play Lucy, “a woman with an unimaginable origin story, trying to find her place in the world.” Orphan Black: Echoes will follow a group of women as they intersect with one another’s lives and embark on a “thrilling journey.” They’ll unravel “the mystery of their identity and uncover a wrenching story of love and betrayal.”

Ritter starred as the titular character in Jessica Jones on Netflix for three seasons. Both it and Orphan Black have a sense of moodiness in both its setting and characters. If Orphan Black: Echoes follows suit from its predecessor, Ritter should feel right at home.

Previously, Orphan Black had sequels as a comic book and podcast after its five-season run ended in 2017. The best part of Orphan Black was easily its lead, Tatiana Maslany, who portrayed a dozen or so different clones all with distinct personalities. Maslany would go on to win an Emmy for the role giving more credibility to the often overlooked sci-fi genre and will join the MCU herself as She-Hulk.

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

Hohokum – the beautiful, exploratory 2014 PlayStation exclusive – launches on Steam today.

Announced during today's Annapurna Interactive Showcase, the game became available on PC as soon as the show ended.

Hohokum was originally released for PS3, PS4, and PS Vita, and has players piloting a space worm-kite-thing through abstract, colorful environments, affecting elements of the world around you as you pass. The game is wordless, asking you to explore to find your way through its surreal scenes – backed by generative music that builds and changes with your actions.

In our 8.8/10 review, we said that Hohokum is "latest title in a long lineage of artistically inclined, thoroughly unique PlayStation exclusives. From Vib Ribbon through to LocoRoco, Flower, Tokyo Jungle, Sound Shapes and more, it’s in good company, and deserves to be uttered in the same breath as those much-loved cult classics."

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.

During today's Annapurna Interactive showcase, we got two surprising upgrade announcements to two beloved games: Outer Wilds and What Remains of Edith Finch.

First up, Outer Wilds is getting a 60fps upgrade on Xbox Series X, S, and PS5 that's coming September 15, and the upgrade is free if you own the game already. Developer Mobius Digital also confirmed that the game is still planned for Switch at some point in the future, but haven't given a date for that just yet.

Meanwhile, What Remains of Edith Finch is getting a 60fps upgrade and 4k on Xbox Series X and PS5, and that update is not only free, it's also available today.

Both of these are pleasant surprise upgrades for two widely acclaimed games. We called Edith Finch "one of the finest magical-realism stories in all of games" back when we reviewed it on launch in 2017. OuterWilds was similarly beloved in 2019, and we called it "a true adventure in ways most games never achieve." Its DLC released late last year, Echoes of the Eye, was a "wonderful return" to the system of the original.

You can get a full rundown of everything announced at today's Annapurna Interactive showcase in our roundup.

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

The highly anticipated co-op shooter Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has been delayed.

The upcoming Left 4 Dead-style co-op game, set in the Warhammer 40k universe, was due to be released on September 13. But the PC version has now been pushed back until November 30, 2022, with the console edition launching on Xbox Series X|S shortly after.

“Delaying a game is perhaps one of the most difficult decisions a developer faces and one we are not excited about making,” said Fatshark CEO Martin Wahlund via Twitter. “Still, we hope this speaks to our commitment to taking the time necessary and doing whatever it takes to get you the best possible game.”

Specifically, it looks as though the Fatshark team needs more time to improve the game before it ships… and while that means a bit of a wait for Warhammer 40k fans, it’s certainly as good a reason as any.

“While we have been humbled by the great feedback on the game so far, we also need more time to improve stability, performance, and to mature key systems,” he explained. “Each is critical to making sure we have the best possible experience for you, the players.”

Despite the delay, it’s not back to the drawing board for Darktide.

Wahlund also revealed that a series of beta and technical tests will be launching in the coming months… and they need Warhammer 40,000 fans to help out. If you want to participate in the beta, just sign up at darktide.live/signup.

But for the time being, the upcoming betas are the only way to get your hands on the upcoming sci-fi co-op shooter.

IGN’s Ryan McCaffrey had a lot to say about Warhammer 40,000: Darktide during the recent hands-on preview, explaining that “Darktide looks set to be both worthy of that attention and approachable to players both familiar with and new to Warhammer, and/or anyone who’s played Vermintide 2.”

Want to read more about Warhammer 40,000: Darktide? Check out the extended gameplay trailer for a good look at what to expect, and read up on all the nerdy details you’ll find in the game.

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

The team behind Kentucky Route Zero is working on a new project. We don't know what it is yet, but it looks like once again, there's a dog in it.

In today's Annapurna Interactive showcase, studio Cardboard Computer teased its upcoming project, which does not yet have an official title, date, or platforms attached. We did get some glimpses of them working on development, specifically on a model of a dog that's significantly goofier than the one in Kentucky Route Zero, but that's about it.

The team did drop some teases. They suggested during the showcase tha thtis new project would have a "different tempo" than Kentucky Route Zero, one that's "faster" and "hopefully funnier." They also said that this is the first project where Cardboard Computer is “really focusing on performance as a core part of the piece," though given the studio's past history it's a bit unclear as to whether they mean visual performance, voice acting performance, or literal performance art. Kentucky Route Zero, after all, was structured as a five-act play, so any of these are possible.

We might have to wait a bit to find out exactly what the Kentucky Route Zero folks are up to - after all, their first game took them around ten years to complete and was released in multiple episodic installments over that time.

You can get a full rundown of everything announced at today's Annapurna Interactive showcase in our roundup.

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

When Nintendo announced the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass, the company stated the pass would focus on remasters of courses from old games. However, Wave 2 of the pack contains a delicious twist to the Pass's formula: an entirely new course.

Today, Nintendo shared a trailer for Wave 2, which is slated to release on August 4. Fans were quick to notice the track Sky-High Sundae, an entirely new addition to the Mario Kart franchise. The ice cream-themed track will be the first original course to be added to the Booster Course Pass.

The pack also brings back a few fan favorites, including Waluigi Pinball and Mushroom Gorge, through the Turnip Cup and Propellor Cup. Here’s the full list of what Wave 2 will bring to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe:

• Sky High Sundae
• Kalimari Desert (N64)
• Mario Circuit 3 (SNES)
• Mushroom Gorge (Wii)
• Sydney Sprint (Tour)
• Waluigi Pinball (DS)
• Snow Land (GBA)
• New York Minute (Tour)

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s Booster Course Pass was first announced during February’s Nintendo Direct. While players need to purchase the pass or own the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack to play these courses in singleplayer, they’re free to use in the multiplayer rotation.

There are four more Waves set to release between now and the end of 2023, and by then, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will contain over half of all the tracks ever made for the series.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they've contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

V/H/S is heading back to the ‘90s once more for V/H/S/99.

The upcoming horror anthology continues the V/H/S franchise, bringing shorts from the likes of Maggie Levin, Johannes Roberts, Flying Lotus (Kuso), and more.

“The last year of the ‘90s was a perfect playground for us,” said producer Josh Goldbloom. “DVD’s surpassed VHS, Blair Witch took the world by storm, and Y2K fears created a sense of apocalyptic dread. Add to that 6 of the most creative genre filmmakers in the world, and we’re confident this is the biggest, baddest, and most wildly savage V/H/S yet!”

V/H/S/99 will take viewers back to the “punk rock” days of VHS – this time on the cusp of DVDs taking over the home video space.

“In V/H/S/99, a thirsty teenager's home video leads to a series of horrifying revelations,” reads a brief synopsis… enough to set up another anthology of chilling horror shorts.

Alongside Levin, Roberts, and Lotus, you’ll find shorts from Tyler MacIntyre as well as Joseph & Vanessa Winter.

“Each new film in the series is the chance to showcase a different ensemble of talented and diverse filmmakers,” said executive producer Michael Schreiber. “I’m extremely proud of the work that V/H/S/99’s filmmakers have put in to bring their terrifying visions to life.”

The upcoming horror anthology is heading to Shudder on October 20, 2022.

The last installment in the franchise, V/H/S/94, was met with critical acclaim and currently holds a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

IGN’s own review said that the “found footage horror anthology V/H/S/94 features four stories that do very little with the concept and one by Timo Tjahjanto that blasts a hole through the genre in wildly exciting fashion.”

Returning to the ‘90s, it sounds as though V/H/S/99 will focus on a very specific point in time – one that I remember well.

As far as found footage horror goes, 1999 was a turning point, for obvious reasons. Whether or not V/H/S/99 will reignite the genre in a similar way remains to be seen.

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

Developers Paul Hart and Lee Williams along with publisher Akupara Games have revealed Cryptmaster, a new narrative adventure game with a distinct black-and-white art style and an even more distinct gameplay hook: it mixes text-based adventures with modern graphics to enable a sort-of Scribblenauts-meets-D&D experience in which you type out what you want your character to do next and the game responds.

Hart and Williams describe Cryptmaster as "a dungeon-crawling narrative adventure with a nostalgic visual style about a party of recently awakened dead heroes. An eccentric figure, known as the Cryptmaster, has tasked you to journey upwards through the strata of several fantastic underground kingdoms." Watch the reveal trailer above and check out the first screenshots below.

Like in Scribblenauts, the words you type become actions in Cryptmaster, be they dialogue responses or combat moves. Plenty of puzzles and dark comedy are also promised. Wishlist it on Steam if you're interested.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Developers Paul Hart and Lee Williams along with publisher Akupara Games have revealed Cryptmaster, a new narrative adventure game with a distinct black-and-white art style and an even more distinct gameplay hook: it mixes text-based adventures with modern graphics to enable a sort-of Scribblenauts-meets-D&D experience in which you type out what you want your character to do next and the game responds.

Hart and Williams describe Cryptmaster as "a dungeon-crawling narrative adventure with a nostalgic visual style about a party of recently awakened dead heroes. An eccentric figure, known as the Cryptmaster, has tasked you to journey upwards through the strata of several fantastic underground kingdoms." Watch the reveal trailer above and check out the first screenshots below.

Like in Scribblenauts, the words you type become actions in Cryptmaster, be they dialogue responses or combat moves. Plenty of puzzles and dark comedy are also promised. Wishlist it on Steam if you're interested.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.