Vince McMahon has "voluntarily stepped back" from his role as CEO and chairman of WWE while the company's board of directors carry out an "investigation into alleged misconduct."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the board is investigating claims of alleged misconduct against McMahon and WWE's Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis. The company says McMahon will "retain his role and responsibilities related to WWE's creative content" during the investigation and remains "committed to cooperating with the review underway."

"I have pledged my complete cooperation to the investigation by the special committee, and I will do everything possible to support the investigation," McMahon said in a statement after it was announced that he was stepping away from his duties. "I have also pledged to accept the findings and outcome of the investigation, whatever they are."

The Wall Street Journal surfaced allegations that McMahon had established a separation agreement and paid $3 million to a former female employee with whom he had a consensual affair. According to the report, the WWE board has since uncovered more potential payouts and legal agreements that McMahon and Laurinaitis may have had with other women.

"WWE and its board of directors take all allegations of misconduct very seriously," the firm said. "The independent directors of the board engaged independent legal counsel to assist them with an independent review. In addition, the special committee and WWE will work with an independent third-party to conduct a comprehensive review of the company's compliance program, HR function and overall culture."

McMahon's daughter Stephanie has been appointed as WWE's interim CEO and interim chairwoman until the investigation is concluded. She is returning to the company to assume these roles on a provisional basis after announcing last month that she was taking a leave of absence from the majority of her responsibilities at WWE to focus on her family.

Until the conclusion of the investigation into recent allegations, I am honored to assume the role of interim Chairwoman & CEO. I love @WWE and all it continues to do to entertain billions around the world. https://t.co/E2MushpoSG

— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) June 17, 2022

"I love this company and am committed to working with the independent directors to strengthen our culture and our company; it is extremely important to me that we have a safe and collaborative workplace," Stephanie McMahon said. "I have committed to doing everything in my power to help the special committee complete its work, including marshaling the cooperation of the entire company to assist in the completion of the investigation and to implement its findings."

Vince McMahon and his wife Linda founded the company that became known as WWE back in 1980, and they've witnessed it grow into a sports entertainment powerhouse in the years since. The company reported $1.1 billion in revenue last year, which included a multi-year agreement that gave Peacock exclusive streaming rights to the WWE Network in the US.

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

Thumbnail image credit: WWE.

Publisher Rogue Games has announced Cookie Cutter, a hyper-stylized – and hyper-violent – 2D Metroidvania game, coming to PC in 2023.

Cookie Cutter features a hand-drawn, cel-shaded art style with gameplay that promises platforming, puzzle-solving, and plenty of gory action. Take a look at the reveal trailer at the top of this page, and the first screenshots in the gallery below.

“Cookie Cutter is a weird, wild, fun-as-hell ride of a Metroidvania. It’s got all the staples of the genre. A massive world. Loads of insane enemies and boss fights. A twisted narrative. And it’s freakin’ beautiful,” said Rogue CEO Matt Casamassina. “But it’s also got a heroine who defies video game conventions in the best of ways and it’s a title unabashedly made for older players.”

That heroine is Cherry, a brought-to-life Android who will do anything to get back the kidnapped human creator she loves. Cherry pulls no punches in her adventure, wielding motorcycles, mechs, and chainsaws with aplomb. Rogue also promises a number of accessibility options in the game as well.

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.

Publisher Rogue Games has announced Cookie Cutter, a hyper-stylized – and hyper-violent – 2D Metroidvania game, coming to PC in 2023.

Cookie Cutter features a hand-drawn, cel-shaded art style with gameplay that promises platforming, puzzle-solving, and plenty of gory action. Take a look at the reveal trailer at the top of this page, and the first screenshots in the gallery below.

“Cookie Cutter is a weird, wild, fun-as-hell ride of a Metroidvania. It’s got all the staples of the genre. A massive world. Loads of insane enemies and boss fights. A twisted narrative. And it’s freakin’ beautiful,” said Rogue CEO Matt Casamassina. “But it’s also got a heroine who defies video game conventions in the best of ways and it’s a title unabashedly made for older players.”

That heroine is Cherry, a brought-to-life Android who will do anything to get back the kidnapped human creator she loves. Cherry pulls no punches in her adventure, wielding motorcycles, mechs, and chainsaws with aplomb. Rogue also promises a number of accessibility options in the game as well.

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.

Ethan Hawke has likened the process of making a horror movie to solving a "geometry problem," noting a considerable amount of math goes into it.

In an interview with /Film, Hawke spoke of the horror genre and the nuances behind the filmmaking process for a movie that is designed to scare. He used Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill's script for The Black Phone as a reference point for how "math" can be applied to strike the perfect balance of simplicity and complexity to achieve the desired outcome.

"Making a good horror film is a lot like solving a geometry problem," Hawke explained. "There's a math to a building. It has to be simple enough, complicated enough. People write books about [Alfred] Hitchcock and the timing and the way the cuts work. There's just a math to it. Scott's a very elegant filmmaker. I feel like this script was even better than Sinister, and it's more mature filmmaking. He makes good movies."

Based on the short story by Joe Hill, The Black Phone stars Mason Thames as an abducted child who can communicate with the past victims of his kidnapper aka "The Grabber," portrayed by Ethan Hawke. Judging by the teasers so far, Hawke's creepy antagonist has an eroded soul and a sense of genuine menace that makes for particularly unsettling viewing.

In a behind-the-scenes featurette for The Black Phone, Hawke himself admitted that the film goes to "a deeper, stranger place" than 2012's Sinister, in which he starred as true-crime writer Ellison Oswalt. He also said it's a "rare occurrence" for him to play a villain, though he did recently star as flowy-haired cult leader Arthur Harrow in Moon Knight.

Derrickson previously directed Sinister from a script that he co-wrote with Cargill, and The Black Phone is touted as being a sibling movie to it. IGN's review of The Black Phone noted the similarities, but asserted that the latest movie exceeds "extremely high expectations in nearly every aspect" with just the right blend of "supernatural" and "relatable horrors."

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

Ethan Hawke has likened the process of making a horror movie to solving a "geometry problem," noting a considerable amount of math goes into it.

In an interview with /Film, Hawke spoke of the horror genre and the nuances behind the filmmaking process for a movie that is designed to scare. He used Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill's script for The Black Phone as a reference point for how "math" can be applied to strike the perfect balance of simplicity and complexity to achieve the desired outcome.

"Making a good horror film is a lot like solving a geometry problem," Hawke explained. "There's a math to a building. It has to be simple enough, complicated enough. People write books about [Alfred] Hitchcock and the timing and the way the cuts work. There's just a math to it. Scott's a very elegant filmmaker. I feel like this script was even better than Sinister, and it's more mature filmmaking. He makes good movies."

Based on the short story by Joe Hill, The Black Phone stars Mason Thames as an abducted child who can communicate with the past victims of his kidnapper aka "The Grabber," portrayed by Ethan Hawke. Judging by the teasers so far, Hawke's creepy antagonist has an eroded soul and a sense of genuine menace that makes for particularly unsettling viewing.

In a behind-the-scenes featurette for The Black Phone, Hawke himself admitted that the film goes to "a deeper, stranger place" than 2012's Sinister, in which he starred as true-crime writer Ellison Oswalt. He also said it's a "rare occurrence" for him to play a villain, though he did recently star as flowy-haired cult leader Arthur Harrow in Moon Knight.

Derrickson previously directed Sinister from a script that he co-wrote with Cargill, and The Black Phone is touted as being a sibling movie to it. IGN's review of The Black Phone noted the similarities, but asserted that the latest movie exceeds "extremely high expectations in nearly every aspect" with just the right blend of "supernatural" and "relatable horrors."

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

Toho and Crunchyroll have announced Trigun Stampede, a new series arriving in 2023 that is based on the beloved classic anime and manga Trigun.

Trigun Stampede is being produced by BEASTARS, Godzilla Singular Point, and Land of the Lustrous' studio Orange with an 'all-new staff and cast,' and Crunchyroll will be simulcasting the new anime from Japan in more than 200 countries around the world.

For those unfamiliar, Trigun was originally a Japanese manga series from Yasuhiro Nightow that ran from 1995 to 1997. In 1998, it was turned into an anime series of the same name.

The anime consisted of 26 episodes that first aired on TV Tokyo from April to September 1998. The series would come to North America shortly after and it would make its way to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim in 2003.

In 2010, a feature film called Trigun: Badlands Rumble was released and continued the adventures of Vash the Stampede.

More info on Trigun Stampede will be shared at Anime Expo 2022 on Saturday, July 2, at 8pm PT/11pm ET. Nightow will be part of the panel alongside Kouji Tajima (designer), Kiyotaka Waki (producer, Orange), Yoshihiro Watanabe (producer, Orange), and Katsuhiro Takei (producer, Toho).

We called Vash one of the greatest anime characters of all time, saying, "Although Vash is often portrayed as a childish goofball, in reality he's a very complex and tortured character who is doing his best to save people who never even know what he's done for them."

Trigun was also given an honorable mention nod in our list of the top 25 best anime series of all time.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Toho and Crunchyroll have announced Trigun Stampede, a new series arriving in 2023 that is based on the beloved classic anime and manga Trigun.

Trigun Stampede is being produced by BEASTARS, Godzilla Singular Point, and Land of the Lustrous' studio Orange with an 'all-new staff and cast,' and Crunchyroll will be simulcasting the new anime from Japan in more than 200 countries around the world.

For those unfamiliar, Trigun was originally a Japanese manga series from Yasuhiro Nightow that ran from 1995 to 1997. In 1998, it was turned into an anime series of the same name.

The anime consisted of 26 episodes that first aired on TV Tokyo from April to September 1998. The series would come to North America shortly after and it would make its way to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim in 2003.

In 2010, a feature film called Trigun: Badlands Rumble was released and continued the adventures of Vash the Stampede.

More info on Trigun Stampede will be shared at Anime Expo 2022 on Saturday, July 2, at 8pm PT/11pm ET. Nightow will be part of the panel alongside Kouji Tajima (designer), Kiyotaka Waki (producer, Orange), Yoshihiro Watanabe (producer, Orange), and Katsuhiro Takei (producer, Toho).

We called Vash one of the greatest anime characters of all time, saying, "Although Vash is often portrayed as a childish goofball, in reality he's a very complex and tortured character who is doing his best to save people who never even know what he's done for them."

Trigun was also given an honorable mention nod in our list of the top 25 best anime series of all time.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

A Game of Thrones spin-off focused on Kit Harington’s fan-favourite character Jon Snow is in early development, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The spin-off is described as a sequel series, and Harington is reportedly already attached to return to the role if the project proceeds.

A Jon Snow spin-off set after the events of Game of Thrones’ divisive eighth-and-final season would be an interesting move from HBO, re-opening the door on the much-discussed final events of the original series. In the series finale, Snow was exiled from Westeros to the Night’s Watch, where he was last seen heading North of the Wall with the Wildlings.

This potential Jon Snow series is far from the only Game of Thrones spin-off in the pipe; in fact, it would be the seventh Game of Thrones project on the boil at HBO (not counting the prequel series House of the Dragon, which is in post-production and due to launch on August 21, 2022). Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin recently updated fans on a number of the planned live action and animated shows set in the GoT universe, cautioning that not every series was likely to get on the air but expressing his hopes that many would.

Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office. You can chat to him on Twitter @MrLukeReilly.

A Game of Thrones spin-off focused on Kit Harington’s fan-favourite character Jon Snow is in early development, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The spin-off is described as a sequel series, and Harington is reportedly already attached to return to the role if the project proceeds.

A Jon Snow spin-off set after the events of Game of Thrones’ divisive eighth-and-final season would be an interesting move from HBO, re-opening the door on the much-discussed final events of the original series. In the series finale, Snow was exiled from Westeros to the Night’s Watch, where he was last seen heading North of the Wall with the Wildlings.

This potential Jon Snow series is far from the only Game of Thrones spin-off in the pipe; in fact, it would be the seventh Game of Thrones project on the boil at HBO (not counting the prequel series House of the Dragon, which is in post-production and due to launch on August 21, 2022). Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin recently updated fans on a number of the planned live action and animated shows set in the GoT universe, cautioning that not every series was likely to get on the air but expressing his hopes that many would.

Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office. You can chat to him on Twitter @MrLukeReilly.

Work has already started on Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3, which will cap off Square Enix's trilogy when it's released sometime after 2023.

Nomura confirmed that "some development has already begun" on the as-yet unnamed third title in a note following today's livestream.

"I myself have started on the development and am working toward the completion of the series," Nomura wrote in a two-part message on Twitter.

We're delighted to present messages from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth creative director Tetsuya Nomura, director Naoki Hamaguchi and producer Yoshinori Kitase. #FF7R pic.twitter.com/Cem5VO4HVq

— FINAL FANTASY VII (@finalfantasyvii) June 16, 2022

We're delighted to present messages from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth creative director Tetsuya Nomura, director Naoki Hamaguchi and producer Yoshinori Kitase. #FF7R pic.twitter.com/Cem5VO4HVq

— FINAL FANTASY VII (@finalfantasyvii) June 16, 2022

His note followed the first trailer for Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, which offered a glimpse of the anticipated follow-up to Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Square Enix also announced Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion, a remake of the PSP spin-off slated to release on PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, and PC sometime this winter.

Nomura directed Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but is not helming Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth. He continues to be involved in the project as a creative director.

As for Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, it'll be out in Winter 2023. And whatever the third part ends up being called? We'll just have to see, though Nomura says that development has been "progressing rapidly" since the team "adopted a new development structure." You can find his entire note below.

As I revealed on the brodcast, there are currently four Final Fantasy 7 projects being developed in parallel. Although each of the four titles plays a different role, they are all connected through the high-quality depiction of Final Fantasy 7's world and characters. As somone who was involved with the development of each and every one of the original titles, I deeply understand the vision and thoughts behind each project, and I am actively involved in the development process for all four titles.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is being designed so that people can enjoy this game whether they know the original game or not. In fact, new players might even enjoy starting their Final Fantasy 7 journey with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Cloud and his friends embark on a new journey in this game, and I believe that the scenes that they witness after leaving Midgar will give players a fresh, new experience.

I can't wait to share the intention behind naming the first title, "REMAKE," and the second title, "REBIRTH." In time, I hope to reveal what the third title will be call, and where this journey will ultimately lead.

The development of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has been progressing rapidly since we adopted a new development structure. A title of this scale in which everything is interconnected even before production began is truly rare. In fact, some development has already begun on the third title. I myself have started on the development and am working torwards the completion of the series.

We will work to deliver this title to fans with the same amount of enthusiasm from now until we reach the final line. In the meantime, please enjoy the other 25th anniversary projects that further expand the world of Final Fantasy 7.

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.