Arkane Studios might have canceled Ravenholm, the working title for its Half-Life 2 spinoff, over ten years ago, but that won’t stop video game historians from digging up footage of the game. Today, the video game documentary channel Noclip shared a video with nearly an hour of unfiltered footage from the abandoned zombie shooter project.

The footage is contextualized by Danny O’Dwyer, who explains the development process as well as the game’s environment and characters in between sections of narration-free gameplay. As O’Dwyer begins playing, Lieutenant Shepard (the player character) gains consciousness in an abandoned hospital and is guided by Father Grigori, who’s known for his role in Half-Life 2. It doesn’t take long for the action to kick in, as the hospital is soon invaded by zombies.

O’Dwyer notes that the game, while still playable, is visibly unfinished. It’s apparent that the game has some rough edges — as many commenters noted, some of the zombies are comically wearing shirts that say “I’m a placeholder.”

The game was canceled for unknown reasons after development taking place between 2006 and 2007. Previously, footage of the game was revealed for the first time by Noclip back in 2020 in a documentary on Arkane.

Most recently, the Half-Life series was expanded by Half Life: Alyx, which IGN gave a perfect score. Other than Alyx, Valve hasn’t done much work on the Half-Life series since the 2000s, but fans have recently taken matters into their own hands with Black Mesa, the fan made Half-Life remake that we praised for its skillful (yet slightly outdated) improvements to the original game.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

Arkane Studios might have canceled Ravenholm, the working title for its Half-Life 2 spinoff, over ten years ago, but that won’t stop video game historians from digging up footage of the game. Today, the video game documentary channel Noclip shared a video with nearly an hour of unfiltered footage from the abandoned zombie shooter project.

The footage is contextualized by Danny O’Dwyer, who explains the development process as well as the game’s environment and characters in between sections of narration-free gameplay. As O’Dwyer begins playing, Lieutenant Shepard (the player character) gains consciousness in an abandoned hospital and is guided by Father Grigori, who’s known for his role in Half-Life 2. It doesn’t take long for the action to kick in, as the hospital is soon invaded by zombies.

O’Dwyer notes that the game, while still playable, is visibly unfinished. It’s apparent that the game has some rough edges — as many commenters noted, some of the zombies are comically wearing shirts that say “I’m a placeholder.”

The game was canceled for unknown reasons after development taking place between 2006 and 2007. Previously, footage of the game was revealed for the first time by Noclip back in 2020 in a documentary on Arkane.

Most recently, the Half-Life series was expanded by Half Life: Alyx, which IGN gave a perfect score. Other than Alyx, Valve hasn’t done much work on the Half-Life series since the 2000s, but fans have recently taken matters into their own hands with Black Mesa, the fan made Half-Life remake that we praised for its skillful (yet slightly outdated) improvements to the original game.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

Update 11:53am PT: Activision Blizzard has issued a statement in response to the New York lawsuit, which it has shared with IGN:

“We disagree with the allegations made in this complaint and look forward to presenting our arguments to the Court.”

Original story: Multiple New York City funds have banded together to file a complaint against Activision Blizzard, alleging that CEO Bobby Kotick and the board may have breached their fiduciary duty in their dealings with Microsoft to be acquired, and harmed the company's value.

As reported by Axios, the suit was filed on May 2 by the New York City Employees', Board of Education, and Teachers' retirement systems, as well as pension funds for the city fire department, and police — all of which hold stock in Activision Blizzard. The plaintiffs are claiming their right to inspect various Activision Blizzard records to determine if any wrongdoing was done through the acquisition process, citing a number of concerns to back their demand.

Per the suit, the same plaintiffs had originally requested to inspect the company's books in October of last year following the numerous reports of an unsafe working environment for minority and women employees at the company as well as CEO Bobby Kotick's apparent knowledge and dismissal of said environment. Activision complied with some of their requests, but not all.

While all this was going on, Activision announced its pending acquisition by Microsoft, but this only furthered concerns. Plaintiffs point out that if the merger goes through, it will "have the effect of extinguishing these highly valuable derivative claims against Activision's Board" as well as Kotick, who will be "able to escape liability and accountability entirely."

Further, they note that Kotick was allowed by the board to negotiate the deal with Microsoft "despite his potential liability for breaches of fiduciary duty," and despite the fact that he stands to benefit substantially from the merger aside from the direct benefits from the purchase price.

With all this, the plaintiffs conclude that it is "unsurprising" that Activision ended up "seriously undervalue[d]" at $95 per share — only a 1% premium over its stock price before the initial California discrimination suit. They note that the price was rapidly negotiatied largely by Kotick himself, who "without Board authorization or an actual offer from Microsoft" suggested an offer between $90 and $105 per share. They accuse Kotick and the board of speeding through the deal in an effort to "escape liability for their egregious breaches of fiduciary duty."

Though it is unclear what, if any, actual wrongdoing might be revealed should New York gain access to the numerous documents it is requesting, as Axios points out, there is already a traffic jam of lawsuits piling up against Activision Blizzard both related to the accusations of discrimination as well as activities related to the acquisition.

At the latest count, this included a federal harassment suit, the California discrimination suit, a class action lawsuit, four shareholder lawsuits, eight lawsuits related to the merger, this complaint from New York as well as another like it, an SEC investigation, and investigations into insider trading. Several of the suits are either in appeals or have been dismissed or consolidated, but plenty of others are still rolling onward as Activision Blizzard inches closer to finalizing its acquisition by Microsoft, though a planned review by the FTC may halt things further.

For the full context of the Activison Blizzard discrimination lawsuit, you can follow our timeline of events.

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

Multiple New York City funds have banded together to file a complaint against Activision Blizzard, alleging that CEO Bobby Kotick and the board may have breached their fiduciary duty in their dealings with Microsoft to be acquired, and harmed the company's value.

As reported by Axios, the suit was filed on May 2 by the New York City Employees', Board of Education, and Teachers' retirement systems, as well as pension funds for the city fire department, and police — all of which hold stock in Activision Blizzard. The plaintiffs are claiming their right to inspect various Activision Blizzard records to determine if any wrongdoing was done through the acquisition process, citing a number of concerns to back their demand.

Per the suit, the same plaintiffs had originally requested to inspect the company's books in October of last year following the numerous reports of an unsafe working environment for minority and women employees at the company as well as CEO Bobby Kotick's apparent knowledge and dismissal of said environment. Activision complied with some of their requests, but not all.

While all this was going on, Activision announced its pending acquisition by Microsoft, but this only furthered concerns. Plaintiffs point out that if the merger goes through, it will "have the effect of extinguishing these highly valuable derivative claims against Activision's Board" as well as Kotick, who will be "able to escape liability and accountability entirely."

Further, they note that Kotick was allowed by the board to negotiate the deal with Microsoft "despite his potential liability for breaches of fiduciary duty," and despite the fact that he stands to benefit substantially from the merger aside from the direct benefits from the purchase price.

With all this, the plaintiffs conclude that it is "unsurprising" that Activision ended up "seriously undervalue[d]" at $95 per share — only a 1% premium over its stock price before the initial California discrimination suit. They note that the price was rapidly negotiatied largely by Kotick himself, who "without Board authorization or an actual offer from Microsoft" suggested an offer between $90 and $105 per share. They accuse Kotick and the board of speeding through the deal in an effort to "escape liability for their egregious breaches of fiduciary duty."

Though it is unclear what, if any, actual wrongdoing might be revealed should New York gain access to the numerous documents it is requesting, as Axios points out, there is already a traffic jam of lawsuits piling up against Activision Blizzard both related to the accusations of discrimination as well as activities related to the acquisition.

At the latest count, this included a federal harassment suit, the California discrimination suit, a class action lawsuit, four shareholder lawsuits, eight lawsuits related to the merger, this complaint from New York as well as another like it, an SEC investigation, and investigations into insider trading. Several of the suits are either in appeals or have been dismissed or consolidated, but plenty of others are still rolling onward as Activision Blizzard inches closer to finalizing its acquisition by Microsoft, though a planned review by the FTC may halt things further.

For the full context of the Activison Blizzard discrimination lawsuit, you can follow our timeline of events.

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

Hasbro is reviving the classic Kenner Star Wars action figures of the 1970s by releasing a "retro collection" multipack of characters inspired by the original toy line for A New Hope.

In celebration of Star Wars Day 2022, GameSpot shared a few details about Hasbro's next Star Wars Retro Collection release, revealing a line-up of Episode IV – A New Hope action figures modelled on the original Kenner toys. The nostalgic collection includes Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, and an Imperial Stormtrooper.

The reissued 3.75-inch-scale toys are housed in similar packaging to the '70s originals aside from the prominently placed "Retro Collection" label on the front, which will help you to identify the collection when it becomes available later this month. The action figures will also go up for pre-order on May 26 on HasbroPulse.com and ShopDisney.com.

The multipack of figures will set you back $69.00, which works out at just $11.50 for each figure included in the set as well as the six "entertainment-inspired accessories" supplied with them. If you're in the market for some Star Wars swag before the multipack comes out, then you might want to browse the Star Wars collection currently available on the IGN Store.

Hasbro also has another piece of Star Wars merch to consider for your collection. The company just unveiled a Black Series Darth Vader mask based on the iconic villain's appearance in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Coincidentally, we got a few glimpses (and sounds) of Darth Vader in the trailer that dropped today for the Disney+ series.

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

Hasbro is reviving the classic Kenner Star Wars action figures of the 1970s by releasing a "retro collection" multipack of characters inspired by the original toy line for A New Hope.

In celebration of Star Wars Day 2022, GameSpot shared a few details about Hasbro's next Star Wars Retro Collection release, revealing a line-up of Episode IV – A New Hope action figures modelled on the original Kenner toys. The nostalgic collection includes Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, and an Imperial Stormtrooper.

The reissued 3.75-inch-scale toys are housed in similar packaging to the '70s originals aside from the prominently placed "Retro Collection" label on the front, which will help you to identify the collection when it becomes available later this month. The action figures will also go up for pre-order on May 26 on HasbroPulse.com and ShopDisney.com.

The multipack of figures will set you back $69.00, which works out at just $11.50 for each figure included in the set as well as the six "entertainment-inspired accessories" supplied with them. If you're in the market for some Star Wars swag before the multipack comes out, then you might want to browse the Star Wars collection currently available on the IGN Store.

Hasbro also has another piece of Star Wars merch to consider for your collection. The company just unveiled a Black Series Darth Vader mask based on the iconic villain's appearance in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Coincidentally, we got a few glimpses (and sounds) of Darth Vader in the trailer that dropped today for the Disney+ series.

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

Blizzard has shared early impressions of the Overwatch 2 beta and outlined what changes are coming as a result of player feedback.

The biggest change is coming to support heroes, with Blizzard accepting feedback that there's much more interesting new content for tank and damage players to explore.

"We believe the most effective way to tackle this issue is to add exciting new support heroes to the game," Blizzard said in a blog post.

The development team is also working on updating current support heroes though, similar to how Doomfist and Orisa received reworks, which could be added to this beta but will more likely be inclusions in later testing periods.

Blizzard also confirmed that more brand new heroes will be joining Sojourn ahead of the official PvP launch, alongside more maps and features. The beta's UI, including menus, player profiles, and so on will also receive "a significant amount of overall polish and refinement" ahead of the full release.

The refreshed scoreboard – which removed both the Fire and Medal systems from Overwatch 1, and presents stats more traditionally – will be staying put, but Blizzard has further tweaks planned. A "damage mitigated" section will be added to track things like the amount of damage blocked or reduced by abilities including Ana's Nano Boost and Baptiste's Immortality Field.

Blizzard also clarified that, like the overall UI, the current scoreboard is not final and the development team is regularly testing different styles and layouts.

Finally, major changes are coming to ranked play but Blizzard didn't give much information about what these will be. "We’re planning some significant overhauls of our core ranked and competitive mode systems," it said, but "those are not yet ready to test publicly at scale."

The sequel has certainly proved popular so far with Overwatch gameplay hitting its peak Twitch viewership following the beta's launch.

The closed test began on April 26 and runs until May 17, giving select players a chance to try out the new hero Sojourn and four new maps, plus revisions to older characters such as Bastion and Sombra.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Following the Moon Knight finale, it looks as though the MCU has a new hero alongside Oscar Isaac's Marc Spector/Steven Grant.

Spoilers for the finale of Moon Knight follow from this point!

We've followed Layla El-Faouly (played by May Calamawy) since Episode 2 of the series, but in the final episode she becomes the Scarlet Scarab – the first Egyptian superhero in the MCU.

“I hope that the people who can relate to Layla feel seen and excited,” Calamawy explained via Marvel.com. “And people who don't, that's OK. There's space for everyone. I'm just the first. There's many more that can come. It's an honor. It's an honor just to be able to represent or to be Middle Eastern, and shine a light on that region.”

Introducing Layla El-Faouly

The daughter of archaeologist Dr. Abdallah El-Faouly, Layla first meets Marc during a recent dig when her father unearths the Scarab of Ammit – an ancient relic able to locate the final resting place of the god, Ammit. Marc Spector is charged with obtaining the relic… and witnesses the murder of Layla’s father when his fellow mercenaries go rogue.

But it’s when Marc and Layla’s story begins to intersect with ancient tombs and Egyptian gods, that she unwittingly begins her journey towards becoming a superhero. As Ammit and Khonshu wage a bloody battle on the streets of Egypt, it seems that not even Moon Knight can stop them alone. The goddess Tawaret explains that they need another avatar to stand a chance… and Layle reluctantly agrees to become the Avatar of Tawaret.

Climbing out of the rubble, Layla becomes the Scarlet Scarab – the avatar of the goddess Tawaret with a kick-ass costume and some seriously impressive fighting skills.

After saving a van full of onlookers, a young girl asks if she’s an Egyptian superhero, to which Layla replies: “I am.”

Her superhero alter-ego has a history in Marvel comic books, albeit quite a different one.

The Original Scarlet Scarab

The Scarlet Scarab first appeared in Invaders #23 in 1977 as a foil to the Invaders, a team of Marvel superheroes including Captain America, the Human Torch, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Spitfire, Union Jack, Bucky, and Toro.

Dr. Abdul Faoul was an archaeologist who took the mantle the Scarlet Scarab as a hero who sought to end Britain’s control over Egypt – at first fighting the Invaders before eventually teaming up with them against the Nazis. The hero gained his powers from a scarab amulet (much like the Scarab of Ammit in Moon Knight), which imbued superhuman strength and agility, the power of flight, as well as the ability to fire energy blasts and drain energy from other heroes.

The only catch? The wielder has to be in contact with the scarab amulet at all times.

The original Scarlet Scarab took to protecting Egypt from foreign invaders, and eventually passed his knowledge of the amulet to his son, Mehemet Faoul, who became the second Scarlet Scarab.

A New Take on the Scarlet Scarab

Obviously, May Calamawy’s version of the Scarlet Scarab is a bit different. For one thing, her superpowers come from a pact with an Egyptian deity, not a mystical amulet, although the appearance of the Scarab of Ammit was a nice touch that clearly nods towards the Scarlet Scarab’s comic book origins.

Then there’s the new Scarlet Scarab’s powers. I get the feeling we haven’t seen everything she’s capable of just yet, but Layla’s powers seem to be limited to superhuman strength and agility – much like Marc Spector when he’s acting as an avatar of Khonshu.

Whether or not she possessed any other unique abilities remains to be seen, but her costume is certainly one of the most eye-catching aspects of the new hero.

Calamawy sees her role as Scarlet Scarab as a first step, rather than a be-all and end-all for a previously unseen kind of hero:

“I had to really sit with it and be like, I cannot represent every Arab woman or every Egyptian woman,” said Calamawy. “I just hope that all Arab women can watch that and feel like a Super Hero, and that they have that space on that big scale.”

Will we see more of the Scarlet Scarab in action? For now, we’ll have to wait and see, but the Moon Knight ending certainly hinted that there’s a lot more to the story of Marc Spector and Khonshu. I get the feeling he’s going to need the help of a fellow avatar.

Moon Knight stars Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector/Steven Grant alongside May Calamawy, Ethan Hawke, Antonia Salib, and F Abraham Murray.

Mohammed Diab, Justin Benson, and Aaron Moorhead directed the series based on characters by Doug Moench and Don Perlin.

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

Destiny 2 creator Bungie has publicly spoken out against the proposed overturning of Roe vs. Wade, the historic Supreme Court judgement used to secure rights to abortion across the U.S.

On the Bungie blog, the developer was outspoken in its defence of the 1973 judgement. You can read the full statement below:

The statement follows an almost unprecedented leak of a draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court, which explained that the country's most senior judges had voted to overturn the landmark decision that provides the legislative backbone for guaranteed abortion access. If overturned, dozens of U.S. states are expected to work to make an abortion impossible, or extremely difficult, to carry out.

Per the New York Times, that leaked document has been confirmed as legitimate (although the text is not final), and it remains unclear who is behind the leak, or why it was made.

The leak has caused widespread debate across the U.S. and beyond, and Bungie has added its public voice to that debate. Gallup polls from May 2021 showed that only 19% of American adults' believed abortion should be illegal in all cases. In the same set of polls, 47% of Americans said abortion was morally acceptable, a record high for the country. Many companies are reticent to lend a corporate voice to what some might consider controversial political matters, meaning Bungie's statement stands out.

We’ve chosen our side and it wasn’t difficult. Our company values exist beyond our games.

— Bungie (@Bungie) May 4, 2022

After the statement was published, the company's social media accounts have been reiterating the message, responding to some of those who disagree with its stance, or its decision to engage with conversations and debates outside of the gaming world.

One Twitter user wrote, "You, as a gaming company, are really going to start choosing a side when you shouldn't even be involved in this bunch of political BS." Bungie's response was, "We’ve chosen our side and it wasn’t difficult. Our company values exist beyond our games."

Another user wrote: "Yall needa stop politics, it's not a business standpoint nor a game standpoint its irrelevant to what yall do [sic]". Bungie replied, "It’s very relevant to the lives of our employees. We will never stop."

We've contacted Bungie for further comment on its decision to speak out, and will update this story if we receive a response. It remains to be seen if other companies will follow suit.

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.

A new trailer for the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney Plus series has just been released, just in time for May 4th – and we get some glimpses (and sounds) of Darth Vader.

The new Obi-Wan Kenobi trailer is the second Disney has released for the upcoming series. While the first trailer focused on the exiled Obi-Wan and the Inquisitors tasked with hunting Jedi, this new trailer offers a glimpse of Darth Vader, and a lot more action.

The trailer ends with a series of close-ups that show Vader's bionic body parts being assembled, from an arm being screwed into place, to his iconic chest panel being attached and switched on – as well as the unmistakeable sound of his heavy breathing.

There's much more to see besides, from Joel Edgerton's Uncle Owen (who clearly isn't happy with the idea of Obi-Wan training a young Luke), to a glimpse at Kumail Nanjiani's new character, not to mention the Inquisitors hunting for Obi-Wan, a handheld droid, and one of the few times we see Obi-Wan using a blaster.

A new poster also includes a little extra look at Vader, set amid a landscape behind a moody-looking Obi-Wan:

It was confirmed that Hayden Christensen is set to return as Darth Vader for the upcoming series, and we will finally see Christensen and Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan next face-off following the end of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

McGregor previously called seeing Christensen as Darth Vader "spine-tingling." Meanwhile, Christensen said returning to the role after 17 years is "surreal" but at the same time "natural," and that he binged the entire animated series to prepare for the role.

While you can get an early look at Darth Vader in some concept photos, the full reveal will seemingly have to wait until Obi-Wan Kenobi premieres on Disney Plus with two episodes on May 27.

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.