Square Enix's decision to sell a trove of franchises and studios to Embracer Group has yielded some interesting info, including the lifetime sales of the Tomb Raider franchise.

Following Embracer Group's agreement to purchase Eidos Montreal, Square Enix Montreal, and Crystal Dynamics, from Square Enix, the company shared a timeline of the Tomb Raider franchise. According to the timeline, Tomb Raider has sold 88 million units since its inception in 1996, with 38 million of the lifetime sales coming from the Reboot Trilogy alone, which includes Tomb Raider (2013), Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

Additionally, the franchise saw more than 53 million paid mobile downloads from entries such as Lara Croft: Relic Run and Lara Croft: Go.

The timeline shows other Tomb Raider games like Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light and Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris spinoffs, as well as games before the 2013 reboot, including Tomb Raider: Legend, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, and Tomb Raider: Underworld.

Crystal Dynamics studio head Scot Amos explains that the Tomb Raider brand is a strong one, saying, "This is just looking at the games. We still have an entire transmedia world out there, known for films, new series coming, comics, and looking across what the possibilities are for this franchise, I tell you the best is yet to come."

Last month, Crystal Dynamics announced that it is currently working on a new Tomb Raider game utilizing Unreal Engine 5.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

Louis Leterrier, the director behind The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton and the first two Transporter movies, has signed on to replace Justin Lin as director of Fast X.

Variety reports that Leterrier beat out several other candidates for the job and is Universal picture’s first choice to replace Lin on the upcoming Fast finale. Leterrier’s resume comes stacked with credits in action films, which is appealing for a candidate looking to board Fast.

Aside from The Incredible Hulk, which introduced the character into the MCU despite later films recasting Norton with Mark Ruffalo, Leterrier directed action films like Unleashed, and Clash of the Titans, as well as Netflix shows like Lupin and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.

It’s unclear how much input Leterrier will have once he takes over. Variety reports that “about every creative element” on Fast X has already been established by Lin, and while the main production was paused, the second unit continued filming after Lin left and stars like Charlize Theron and Jason Momoa are already on set ready to shoot.

Leterrier was brought in quickly because reports suggest each day production remained paused, it cost Universal up to $600,000 to $1 million per day. Plus stars like Momoa, Theron, and Brie Larson have busy schedules that require them to be available for other projects.

Lin, who directed several Fast movies already including Fast Five and Tokyo Drift, returned to the franchise for F9 and was set to direct the finale before abruptly leaving. Lin cited “creative differences” but remains an executive producer on the movies.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

(Photo by Lester Cohen/WireImage)

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is anticipating that the chip shortage, which has been negatively impacting many industries including the games industry, will remain an issue well into 2024.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Gelsinger told the outlet that the chip shortage might drag on for two years due to the strain on key manufacturing tools. "[W]e believe the overall semiconductor shortage will now drift into 2024," Gelsinger told CNBC.

Gelsinger previously predicted several times that he expected the chip shortage to drag into 2023, with the first mention of it coming last July during the company's Q2 earnings call. In October 2021, he reiterated that the supply chain issues could extend into 2023.

Despite the chip shortage remaining an issue across various industries, Gelsinger noted how Intel's own chips are doing very well and are close to meeting the demand for its own chips, as he said during the company's Q1 2022 earnings call a few days ago.

Since 2020, the chip shortage has remained an ongoing issue. Most prominent examples of the supply chain issues include the sale of the latest gaming consoles, the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X, along with new desktop GPUs from AMD and Nvidia. Though in recent weeks, it appears that the supply for Xbox Series X consoles, at the very least, is getting better and more regularly stocked at various retailers.

Intel has also been one of a few companies that has been investing exponentially in new production lines, though these new fab locations are not expected to open for another 2 to 3 years. The most notable location Intel announced back in January was in Ohio, which will be home to the "largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet." At the same time, other new fabs currently under construction are located in Arizona and Germany.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is anticipating that the chip shortage, which has been negatively impacting many industries including the games industry, will remain an issue well into 2024.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Gelsinger told the outlet that the chip shortage might drag on for two years due to the strain on key manufacturing tools. "[W]e believe the overall semiconductor shortage will now drift into 2024," Gelsinger told CNBC.

Gelsinger previously predicted several times that he expected the chip shortage to drag into 2023, with the first mention of it coming last July during the company's Q2 earnings call. In October 2021, he reiterated that the supply chain issues could extend into 2023.

Despite the chip shortage remaining an issue across various industries, Gelsinger noted how Intel's own chips are doing very well and are close to meeting the demand for its own chips, as he said during the company's Q1 2022 earnings call a few days ago.

Since 2020, the chip shortage has remained an ongoing issue. Most prominent examples of the supply chain issues include the sale of the latest gaming consoles, the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X, along with new desktop GPUs from AMD and Nvidia. Though in recent weeks, it appears that the supply for Xbox Series X consoles, at the very least, is getting better and more regularly stocked at various retailers.

Intel has also been one of a few companies that has been investing exponentially in new production lines, though these new fab locations are not expected to open for another 2 to 3 years. The most notable location Intel announced back in January was in Ohio, which will be home to the "largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet." At the same time, other new fabs currently under construction are located in Arizona and Germany.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Update: 08/26/2022: Embracer Group has now completed its purchase of Crystal Dynamics, Square Enix Montréal, and Eidos-Montréal following a near-four month acquisition process.

The colossal video games holding company announced the update on its website, saying plainly that "all conditions for the transaction, including regulatory approvals, have now been fulfilled and the transaction may be completed. Embracer has, therefore, today completed the acquisition."

It can now shift its focus to acquiring the several other companies it has since purchased, including the owner of The Lord of the Rings and Chivalry developer Tripwire Interactive.

Original Story: Embracer Group has entered into an agreement to acquire Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Square Enix Montréal, and a "catalogue of IPs including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, Legacy of Kain and more than 50 back-catalogue games from Square Enix Holdings" for $300 million.

Embracer shared the news in a press release, saying this acquisition includes roughly 1,100 employees across three studios and eight global locations. The deal, if it goes through, is expected to close during Q2 of Embracer's financial year 2022/2023.

”We are thrilled to welcome these studios into the Embracer Group. We recognize the fantastic IP, world class creative talent, and track record of excellence that have been demonstrated time and again over the past decades. It has been a great pleasure meeting the leadership teams and discussing future plans for how they can realize their ambitions and become a great part of Embracer,” says Lars Wingefors, Co-founder and Group CEO, Embracer Group.

”Embracer is the best kept secret in gaming: a massive, decentralized collection of entrepreneurs whom we are thrilled to become a part of today. It is the perfect fit for our ambitions: make high-quality games, with great people, sustainably, and grow our existing franchises to their best versions ever. Embracer allows us to forge new partnerships across all media to maximize our franchises’ potential and live our dreams of making extraordinary entertainment,” says Phil Rogers, Square Enix America and Europe CEO.

Once this deal goes through, Embracer will have more than 14,000 employees, 10,000 game developers, and 124 internal studios. It also confirmed it has more than 230 games in development at those studios, and more than 30 are AAA titles.

This news comes shortly after Crystal Dynamics announced it was developing a brand-new Tomb Raider game on Unreal Engine 5. No further details were given, but the team did say it was planning to "push the envelope of fidelity."

Crystal Dynamics is also the studio behind Marvel's Avengers and it has been helping Microsoft's The Initiative develop the new Perfect Dark game.

Eidos Montréal is the studio behind Thief 4, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and more, and it is "working on a host of AAA projects including both new releases from beloved franchises and original IP."

Square Enix Montréal is responsible for such games as Hitman GO, Tomb Raider GO, and Deus Ex GO, and it will continue to work in the mobile space building games based on AAA IP.

Embracer is no stranger to acquisitions, as it has been undergoing a rapid expansion over the past few years. Some of the other companies it has acquired/owns are Dark Horse Comics, 3D Realms, Ghost Ship Games, Gearbox, THQ Nordic, Saber Interactive, Koch Media, and many more.

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.

As Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness gets ready to take over theaters on May 6, The Bad Guys extended its domestic box office streak to two and led a quieter weekend at the movies with a respectable $16.1 million in ticket sales.

As reported by Variety, The Bad Guys now sits at $44.4 million domestically and $74.2 million internationally. Globally, Dreamworks' latest animated feature has crossed $118 million.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 placed second once again by bringing in $11.3 million. After four weeks in theaters, Sonic 2 has grossed $160.9 million domestically and $162.6 million internationally and has now become the highest-grossing video game movie ever in the U.S.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore placed third with $8.3 million and has earned $79 million domestically. It is faring much better overseas and has brought in $250 million so far, helping bring its global tally to $329 million.

The Northman and Everything Everywhere All at Once rounded out the top five with $6.3 million and $5.5 million respectively.

As previously mentioned, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set to arrive in theaters next week and will undoubtedly take over the box office. Will it get close to Spider-Man: No Way Home's global total of $1.89 billion? Only time will tell.

As you wait for Doctor Strange, be sure to check out our look back at his story so far, our reaction to 20 minutes of footage from CinemaCon, and our interview with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige about the newest MCU film.

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.

Robert "RazerGuy" Krakoff, the co-founder of Razer and pioneer of the gaming mouse, has died at the age of 81.

Krakoff passed away on April 26, 2022, and Razer shared a message on Twitter announcing the sad news.

"We are saddened by the passing of Co-Founder and President Emeritus, Robert Krakoff, known by everyone as RazerGuy," Razer wrote. "Robert’s unwavering drive and passion for gaming lives on and continues to inspire all of us. Thank you Rob, you will be missed."

We are saddened by the passing of Co-Founder and President Emeritus, Robert Krakoff, known by everyone as RazerGuy. Robert’s unwavering drive and passion for gaming lives on and continues to inspire all of us.

Thank you Rob, you will be missed. pic.twitter.com/2HKNcFaOj2

— R Λ Z Ξ R (@Razer) April 28, 2022

As reported by The Verge, Krakoff was instrumental in bringing the first gaming mouse - the Razer Boomslang - to market in 1999. Krakoff was working for Kärna at the time, a company that invented an "opto-mechanical encoding wheel that could track a mouse’s movements at 2000 dpi, far higher resolution than other mice at the time."

Krakoff did not create the Razer Boomslang, but was a key figure in making it happen alongside a marketing agency called Fitch that essentially kickstarted the Razer brand we know today. This includes the name, three-headed snake logo, website, packaging, and the design and engineering of the Boomslang mouse.

Kärna went bankrupt in 2001 and Krakoff would continue on to co-found Razer with Razer's current CEO Min-Lian Tan in 2005.

At Razer, Krakoff would become the public face of the company and would not only include a message from RazerGuy with Razer products, but he also added his e-mail to the note as well. He was also known for having interviews with up-and-coming journalists and would even give some of them jobs.

Following his time at Razer, he would start a company MindFX Science, which focused on energy drinks and supplements in hopes to sell a "healthy alternative to the highly caffeinated energy drinks and pre-workout products."

He was also a published author under the name RM Krakoff, writing a dozen books since 2009 that ranged from fiction to nonfiction.

Krakoff is survived by his wife, Dr. Patsi Krakoff, their two children, Scott and Robin, and five "very cool" grandchildren.

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

Most of That '70s Show's main cast will be making guest appearances on the upcoming spin-off series That '90s Show, including Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and Wilmer Valderrama.

As reported by Variety, all of these characters will obviously be returning to their respective roles, but they will not be joined by Danny Masterson as he is set to stand trial on multiple sexual assault allegations.

It was previously announced that Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp will star in That '90s Show as Red and Kitty Forman once again, and they will be part of a cast that includes Ashley Aufderheide, Callie Haverda, Mace Coronel, Maxwell Acee Donovan, Reyn Doi, and Sam Morelos.

That '90s Show will be set in 1995 and will follow Haverda's Leia Forman, who is the daughter of Grace's Eric and Prepon's Donna. Leia is visiting her grandparents for the summer and will bond with "a new generation of Point Place kids under the watchful eye of Kitty and the stern glare of Red."

Netflix has already given That '90s Show a 10-episode order, and That '70s Show's creators Bonnie and Terry Turner, as well as their daughter of Lindsey Turner, will serve as writers and executive producers. That '70s Show's Gregg Mettler will write, executive produce, and serve as showrunner.

The original series debuted in 1998 and ran for eight seasons and 200 episodes before coming to an end in 2006. In 2002, That '80s Show aired on Fox but focused on a new set of characters that didn't cross paths with those from the original show. It only ran for one season and 13 episodes.

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.

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter has beamed back to Earth eerie yet incredible images of the NASA Perseverance rover wreckage that helped bring it to the Red Planet last year.

As reported by CBS News, Ingenuity, which was the first helicopter to fly on another planet, took these 10 aerial color photos of Perseverance's debris and NASA believes the images have "the potential to help ensure safer landings for future spacecraft."

The photos feature Perseverance's backshell and supersonic parachute that helped the rover land and safely make it through Mars' atmosphere. While the landing was a huge success, these parts took some expected damage on the descent.

“Perseverance had the best-documented Mars landing in history, with cameras showing everything from parachute inflation to touchdown,” said JPL’s Ian Clark, former Perseverance systems engineer and now Mars Sample Return ascent phase lead. “But Ingenuity’s images offer a different vantage point. If they either reinforce that our systems worked as we think they worked or provide even one dataset of engineering information we can use for Mars Sample Return planning, it will be amazing. And if not, the pictures are still phenomenal and inspiring.”

The parachute itself contained a secret message that was decoded last year, and it was discovered to feature the secret message "dare mighty things," the motto used by the Perseverance team.

Perseverance was launched on July 30, 2020, and it successfully landed on Mars on February 18, 2021. It's mission is to seek signs of habitable conditions for life and search for signs of past microbial life as well.

Blogroll Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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.

While the Nintendo 64 never got a Metroid game, two fans are working on showing the world what a Metroid 64 could have looked like.

As reported by Nintendo Life, Luto Akino took to Twitter to share his Unity 3D project that aims to create what Metroid 64 could have been.

Instead of opting for a first-person camera a la Metroid Prime, this version features a third-person perspective and shows Samus running around a purple cave area, using her arm canon, and even using her Morph Ball form and bombs.

At last working in #Metroid64 I adjusted small details, and placed a test texture. There is a bug with the beams direction when Samus is flat against the wall that I need to fix #metroid #F2P #n64 #lowpoly #Nintendo64 #Zelda #unity #unity3d #madewithunity #gamedev #3dmodeling #3D pic.twitter.com/sWBYoTbove

— Luto Akino (@LutoAkino) April 26, 2022

There are currently no enemies besides static blocks, but it gives a good glimpse into Akino's vision and what a Metroid game on the N64 would play and look like. Akino is working on this project with a friend and has revealed no plans as to when they would make this available to the public.

You can check back through Akino's Twitter to see even more updates on this Metroid 64 project.

Super Metroid was released for the SNES in 1994 and it took eight years for fans to get a new entry. While Samus did show up in the original Super Smash Bros., she never had a proper entry on the N64.

The wait may have been tough, but fans were treated to two new adventures - GBA's Metroid Fusion and GameCube's Metroid Prime - just days apart in 2002.

Nintendo tried to make Metroid happen on N64, but it revealed it "couldn't come up with any concrete ideas or vehicle at that time." Metroid co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto also said he couldn't imagine how the N64 controller could be used to control Samus.

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.