At long last, Cyberpunk 2077 has received its next-gen upgrades in a surprise drop this morning, alongside a massive 1.5 patch for all versions. The patch contains a ton of new features of varying sizes and scopes, many of which are delighting the Cyberpunk community as they discover them.

One of the best-received updates is the ability to change the protagonist's appearance after the game's prologue via the mirror in their apartment. You can't change everything — cyberware and tattoos are off the table, for instance — but there seem to be new hair colors and other small adjustments added to the creator. There are also a few new apartment options to change up the look of the place, including the option to move to a different apartment in a different location with a completely different view and floorplan.

Fans are also delighted by the announcement of extended romances with Panam, Kerry, River, and Judy, including added interactions in their homes. The announcement of this change is prompting a number of players to start the game all over again to romance the same characters they did the first time, just to see the full breadth of interactions. Especially with Judy.

And a lot of community members have been sharing footage of police chases, which appear to have been added to the game and can just be run across organically when exploring the city.

Also being celebrated are a lot of smaller touches, such as the ability to reject phone calls. This was likely added in response to complaints that the phone calls were constantly interrupting other things going on in the game, such as story-relevant conversations or even just quaint exploration. You can also now skip the braindance tutorial, which players found to be long and tedious. And even smaller notes are being praised as well, such as the new effects added to water.

Overall, it seems like players are happy with the update, as it seems to address a number of quality of life issues that players have been complaining about since launch. The hope at the moment seems to be that the update will breathe new life into the Cyberpunk community, especially as new players pick the game up for the first time on PS5 and Xbox Series consoles.

The Cyberpunk 1.5 update is available now, though some PS5 players are unable to download it at this precise moment due to a region issue. If you're on the fence, you can take a look at some official next-gen gameplay on either PS5 or Xbox Series X, or even download a free five-hour trial to give the game a shot yourself.

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

If you’re a fan of rude cartoon kids like the ones seen on South Park and Beavis and Butt-head, you’ll be able to catch them exclusively on Paramount+.

During Viacom CBS’ Investor Day presentation, the company announced that South Park will move from HBO Max to Paramount+ starting in 2025 and will be the home for the full catalog of South Park episodes, movies, and new material.

In 2024 starting with South Park season 27, new episodes will be exclusive to Paramount+ while also airing on Comedy Central.

Likewise, all 200 episodes of Beavis and Butt-head will come to Paramount+ along with a new series and movie, Beavis and Butt-head Do the Universe. Creator Mike Judge has already shared a preview of the movie with pictures of middle-aged Beavis and Butt-head.

Paramount+ is consolidating its franchises under a single streaming roof. The company previously licensed South Park to HBO Max as a means to get its properties in front of eyeballs, but with Viacom CBS seemingly going all-in on streaming, the company is making sure these properties come under the Paramount+ roof.

So with South Park and Beavis and Butt-head both heading to Paramount+ it will join other franchises like Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Halo.

All of these franchises were given updates during today’s investor day. Halo has been renewed for a second season before the series has even premiered, while Seth Rogen’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot will become a new universe.

Furthermore, a new Star Trek starring the cast from the J.J. Abrams reboot is also being planned for production this fall. Finally, the company also announced a third Sonic movie and a spinoff series starring Idris Elba’s Knuckles.

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

A new Star Trek movie starring the original J.J. Abrams trilogy cast is in the works, Deadline reports.

Paramount has reportedly begun talks with Chris Pine to return as James T. Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldana as Lieutenant Uhura, Karl Urban as Bones, John Cho as Sulu, and Simon Pegg as Scotty. Filming is scheduled to start in late 2022 under the direction of Matt Shakman, director of Disney Plus' WandaVision, FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and HBO's Game of Thrones. Abrams will return as producer.

Shakman can also boast a total of 23 Emmy nominations for his work on WandaVision.

Writing a script draft under the supervision of Shakman is Josh Friedman (Avatar 2) and Cameron Squires (WandaVision), based on a prior draft by Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel).

J.J. Abrams verified the existence of the new Star Trek film during Tuesday's ViacomCBS Investor Day presentation.

Sources told Variety that bringing back the original cast was a high priority, made all the more complicated by each actors' rising star power. Pine has since worked on both Wonder Woman movies, while Zoe Saldana continues as Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy and Neytiri in Avatar 2. Karl Urban will continue his role as Billy Butcher in season 3 of Amazon's The Boys, Simon Pegg is reprising his role as Benji in both Mission Impossible sequels, John Cho recently starred as Spike Spiegel in Netflix's live-action Cowboy Bebop adaptation, and Zachary Quinto starred in AMC's NOS4A2 series.

Plot details are, as expected, being kept tightly under wraps; the original concept for the fourth Star Trek was for Captain Kirk to contend with the legacy of his own father, who heroically sacrificed himself aboard the USS Kelvin in a battle with a Romulan who had crossed through time.

It's currently unclear if Paramount plans to recast the part of Pavel Chekov. The role was previously played by Anton Yelchin, who died in a tragic automobile incident at his Los Angeles home in June 2016, at age 27, a mere month before Star Trek Beyond released in theaters.

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/redshirt for IGN.

The Batman director Matt Reeves wants to take on Mr. Freeze. During a recent press event attended by IGN and a handful of other outlets, Reeves explained how he would approach the iconic Batman villain in a potential sequel.

“Mr. Freeze, that such a great story, right?” he said. “I think there's actually a grounded version of that story, which could be really powerful and could be really great.”

“I just feel drawn to finding the grounded version of everything. So, to me it would be a challenge in an interesting way to try and figure out how that could happen.”

Mr. Freeze first appeared as the ice-based criminal Mr. Zero in a 1959 issue of the Batman comic book. But his origin story was later reworked to match that of the iconic episode of Batman: The Animated series.

Dr. Victor Fries was a cryogenic scientist based in Gotham who was caught in a lab mishap while trying to cure his terminally ill wife, Nora. It’s a beautifully tragic story, brought to life with creative artistry in the animated series.

The villain also appeared in the movies, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger… but we don’t talk about that.

“I love the fantastical side of Batman, but this iteration, obviously, while being, to me, I think it is very comics faithful, but I don't think that this one is necessarily, it doesn't lean as hard into the fantastical,” explained Reeves. “But I think to me what would be interesting would be to try and unwind the fantastical and see, well, how could that make sense here?”

I can’t help thinking that Mr. Freeze’s tragic love story would make a perfect tale in The Batman world. Along with Robert Pattinson’s ideas to explore the Court of Owls, it could well build towards an interesting take on the Gotham we know and love.

Robert Pattinson stars as The Batman alongside Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Colin Farrell as The Penguin, and Paul Dano as The Riddler.

The Batman is directed by Matt Reeves, based on a screenplay he co-wrote with Peter Craig.

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

Seth Rogen and creative partner Evan Goldberg are hard at work on a new CGI-animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie but Nickelodeon will follow this with more TMNT movies focused on the franchise's villains.

During the Viacom CBS Investor Day, the company announced that the upcoming Rogen-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie coming in 2023 will be followed by the launch of a new series of films focused on the villains. These movies will premiere exclusively on Paramount+ starting in 2023.

Nickelodeon has confirmed that the villain spinoff movies are unrelated to Rogen's reboot, but are part of a larger plan for TMNT.

Rogen's reboot was announced back in 2020 and later given a 2023 release date. While details are under wraps, Rogen says he intends to focus on the "teenage" aspect of the characters. The film will be directed by animation veteran Jeff Rowe (Gravity Falls, Disenchantment) with Brendan O'Brian (Neighbors) writing.

TMNT has a rich library of villains who can star in their own films. While the most well-known of the lot may be Shredder, characters like Bebop and Rocksteady, Krang, Rat King, and Hun could all take center stage in these movies.

This animated universe isn't the only Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles project in the works. Saturday Night Live writer Colin Jost will pen a new live-action TMNT movie, though Viacom did not mention this during its presentation.

Viacom is going all-in on franchises during its investor day. The company has announced Sonic 3 along with a Knuckles spinoff starring Idris Elba, as well as a second season for Halo. With TMNT also expanding alongside the likes of Star Trek, CBS is committing to the streaming wars.

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

Correction: Nickelodeon has clarified that the villain movies are not related to Seth Rogen's upcoming animated reboot. The story and headline have been corrected to reflect this information.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 won't be out until April, but Sega has already decided that it's gotta go fast on spin-offs and sequels for its burgeoning Sonic Cinematic Universe.

Deadline reports that a third Sonic the Hedgehog movie is already in development. Not only that, but a Knuckles spin-off series is in the works for Paramount Plus, with Idris Elba set to be in the lead role.

"We are delighted to announce that the third Sonic theatrical film and the first live action Sonic series for Paramount Plus are being actively developed. We’ve got a remarkable partnership with Paramount, and we are excited to continue expanding the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise with them," Sega CEO Haruki Satomi said in a statement.

Elba will debut as Knuckles in Sonic 2, having recently appeared in James Gunn's soft reboot of The Suicide Squad. Sonic 2 is set to release on April 8. As for the live-action Paramount+ series starring Knuckles, it'll launch in 2023. A recent Super Bowl spot gave fans a glimpse of Elba's Knuckles, where he is set to be a major antagonist in the upcoming sequel.

While you wait, make sure to tune into the IGN Fan Fest 2022, which will feature a panel discussion for Sonic 2. The one-day event kicks off Saturday, February 19 at 11am PT/2pm ET. As for the live-action Paramount+ series starring Knuckles, it'll launch in 2023.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN

Halo has been renewed for a second season ahead of its premiere, a vote of confidence from Paramount+ on its video game adaptation.

At the ViacomCBS Investor Day presentation, Paramount+ announced that Halo, a live-action series based on the video game franchise, has been renewed for a second season before the first season premieres on March 24.

In addition, David Wiener (Brave New World) will join the second season as Showrunner and executive producer, taking over from Steven Kane and Kyle Killen. Both showrunners were expected to depart after the first season.

Halo stars Pablo Schreiber as Master Chief and Natascha McElhone as Dr. Halsey who created the Sparta super-soldier program. Jen Taylor, who voices the AI program Cortana in the games, will reprise her role for the live-action series.

Like the games, Halo will cover a war between humanity and a religious alien race known as the Covenant. However, the TV series will not follow the canon laid out by the video games and instead chart its own “Halo Silver Timeline” as a way to protect the games from the changes in the TV story.

“Halo is an expansive, world-building opportunity for Paramount+, and we’re thrilled to give fans a second season to look forward to before we launch the series next month,” says Paramount+ chief programming officer Tanya Giles. “Halo will deliver a thrill-ride for fans fo the game and non-gamers alike, as it ties together stunning visuals with a deeper look at the personal stories behind these iconic characters[.]”

Halo was originally set to premiere on Showtime before moving over to Paramount+, something the network executives say was a better fit as Halo will now sit alongside genre blockbusters like Star Trek and The Twilight Zone. Check out IGN’s trailer breakdown above and get ready for Halo this March.

Meanwhile, make sure to mark your calendars because we'll be hosting a Halo: The Series panel as part of IGN Fan Fest 2022, which kicks off on February 19 at 11am PT. It'll be your exclusive place for an in-depth discussion with the cast and crew as well as a behind-the-scenes look with Pablo Schreiber (Master Chief) and Jen Taylor (Cortana). You can find the full IGN Fan Fest 2022 schedule right here.

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

If you're one of many players trying to upgrade your disc copy of Cyberpunk 2077 to the PS5 version that released today (alongside the Xbox Series X version), be aware that you may run into an issue. Numerous players are taking to Reddit and social media to complain about being unable to upgrade thanks to a region lock issue.

CD Projekt Red confirmed it's aware of the issue in a FAQ post earlier today.

"For disc owners in order to download the Next Gen update the CUSA (PlayStation code) from your disc has to match your PlayStation account region. You can check out the codes here," the support post states. If you run into the same issue, you can reach CD Projekt Red's support network via the same FAQ post.

Put simply, some European users have run into the upgrade issue because their disc copy of the game came with a region code different from where they actually live. One solution is to make a new PSN profile with the proper region code compatible with your copy of the game, but we don't really recommend that.

As of now, CDPR doesn't have a formal solution, but considering the studio is already aware of the issue, it's reasonable to assume they're working on a solution. It's similarly unclear if Xbox Series X players are experiencing the same issue.

In the meantime, check out 30 minutes of upgraded Cyberpunk gameplay on the PS5 or on Xbox Series X. There's also a new free 5-hour trial if you're on the fence about joining Night City.

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/choom for IGN.

A new set of character posters for season 3 of The Umbrella Academy dropped Tuesday, showing off a small glimpse of each central character of the Netflix series.

Check out the gallery below for a look.

Season 3 of Umbrella Academy has already wrapped filming but still has no firm release date just yet. Season 2 ended on a big cliffhanger, so fans are understandably eager to see the next installment, which promises to pit the former Umbrella Academy students up against the newly formed Sparrow Academy.

Judging from the character posters, and the dozens of bird shadows looming over each character, the Sparrow Academy will likely play a particularly antagonistic role to the young superheroes.

If you want to check out what the Umbrella Academy comics have to teach us about season 3, and you don't mind spoilers for season 2, check out our explainer here. We also got to learn each title for all 10 episodes of season 3.

Even more recently, Umbrella Academy star Emmy Raver-Lampman told Collider that season 3 is where the show is "also finding its tone and it's finding just its sweet spot."

"It's a massive season," Raver-Lampman said. "There's just a lot of work in post that has to be done, but the little snippets that I've seen so far when I've been working on ADR in the studio, it looks incredible and it looks so exciting, and it just has a completely different energy."

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.

Tech teardown specialist iFixit has uploaded a new video taking apart the Steam Deck. While this is not the first teardown we have seen on Valve's portable gaming PC, the latest teardown provides better context on the reparability of the Steam Deck.

One of the biggest takeaways from iFixit's video was that replacing the battery on the Steam Deck will be difficult, noting that battery replacements for the handheld are "rough."

But should you feel the need to replace the battery, iFixit suggests users drain the battery "below 25%" before you disassemble the Steam Deck to prevent any thermal runaway while also using "plenty of heat to soften the adhesive" and to pry the battery out from the bottom edge.

iFixit also noted that accessing the Steam Deck's M.2 storage was not tricky, praising Valve for adding the option for those interested in replacing the SSD. The SSD is held with only one screw and is sleeved with a thin little shield to help "prevent interference between the SSD and the wireless communication hardware," as iFixit notes.

Aside from the challenges that come from replacing the battery, iFixit awarded Valve's Steam Deck with a seven out of ten in repairability. Unsurprising given, Valve has been open about making it easy for users to buy replaceable (and compatible) parts, even if they don't want you to open up your Steam Deck.

Alongside publishing its own teardown video, iFixit also announced today that it had been named one of the authorized sellers of Steam Deck replacement parts. Valve further noted that the iFixit has also been named an authorized seller for replacement parts for its Index virtual reality headset.

The Steam Deck will release on February 25. But if you are looking to get your hands on one early, Valve has shared the CAD files, allowing you to 3D print a model of the Steam Deck to get a better sense of how the handheld will feel in your hands when holding it.

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