Instagram and TikTok are reportedly both testing subscription-based services for their influencer's feeds.

While Instagram announced yesterday in a blog post that it was beginning to test the idea of subscriptions with a small number of creators, a report from The Information suggests that TikTok may well be doing the same.

According to the report, a spokesperson told the outlet that TikTok is "testing the idea of allowing its creators to charge subscriptions for their content," though declined to elaborate further on what those tests entail. Currently, the app allows fans to give money to creators both by sending them a tip or by purchasing virtual gifts that can be sent to creators and cashed in.

The news of TikTok's interest in a subscription-based service for creators on the app follows a similar announcement from Instagram made yesterday. As part of a blog post, the Meta-owned social media app explained that it would be testing a number of subscription-based services with a handful of creators, who will be able to set a monthly price of their choice for content, unlock a "subscribe" button on their profile and offer their followers a number of paid-for benefits - as can be seen listed below:

Instagram's Subscriber Benefits:

• Subscriber Lives: Creators can broadcast exclusive Lives to their subscribers, allowing them to engage more deeply.
• Subscriber Stories: Creators can create stories just for their subscribers, allowing them to share exclusive content and to use interactive story stickers with their most engaged followers only.
• Subscriber Badges: Creators will see a subscriber badge next to comments and messages so they can easily identify their subscribers.

According to Instagram, the feature will only be available to a limited number of U.S. creators during its initial test, though the social media platform has also stated that it has plans to expand the service to more creators over the coming months. Earlier this year, Meta announced that it would not collect any fees from creators on Facebook's similar subscription service until 2023 at the earliest, a factor that it says will also apply to Instagram's services.

For more from the world of social media companies, make sure to check out this article detailing how Meta has reportedly scrapped a VR/AR operating system that it's been working on for years.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Panic, the company behind the miniature Playdate handheld, has released a self-described goofy game editor that will allow you to make games for the device through your web browser.

The game editor, which is currently running as a public beta and named Pulp, is described in its developer notes as a "friendly tool for making tiny but visually and narratively rich games for Playdate".

Simple to use, Pulp comes with both an Editor, where you can create games in the browser, and a Web Player for previewing your games while you tinker with them. Once completed, players are then able to export their games from the game editor as a .pdx file, which can then be loaded onto the Playdate itself.

According to Panic, Pulp comes with two different options for creating their games. "The easiest is using the default, simple behaviors of Sprites, Items, and Exits," states the editor's developer documentation.

"For example: when a player starts your game, it will say (print onscreen) the name of the game. When the player bumps into a Sprite or walks over an Item it can say something. Exits can connect one room to another or say a parting message before ending the game."

For more adventurous and confident Playdate developers, Panic has added PulpScript, which the studio explains is a "terse but powerful scripting language that gives you more control over how the player and your game interact." According to the developer notes, PulpScript comes with a number of in-built events that players can use to flesh out their games as well as simple variables and a range of other customizable options.

When Panic initially announced the Playdate last year, the crank-handled 1-bit handheld sold out its 20,000 launch day pre-order units within 20 minutes of going on sale. Following the initial uptake, Panic later announced that the device was being delayed from late 2021 to early 2022, though no exact release date has since been confirmed.

Upon launch, the Playdate's first season will bring with it a number of games to the miniature console - two a week for 12 weeks to be exact. That being said, the early addition of the studio's Pulp game editor should mean that players will have plenty of time to make and prepare a number of further games to play upon the handheld's release.

For more from the Playdate, make sure to check out our very own hands-on preview with Panic's cute device.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

The return of the WWE 2K series will be headlined by a superstar who’s no stranger to dramatic returns himself, as WWE 2K22 will feature future WWE Hall of Famer and Lucha Libre Legend, Rey Mysterio as its cover superstar.

The news comes from a virtual press conference featuring Mysterio and hosted by WWE color commentator Byron Saxton and broadcast journalist Sam Roberts, who also announced the game’s release date of March 11, 2022.

“This is an incredible moment for me,” said Mysterio. “To be able to represent the culture of Lucha Libre as the cover superstar of WWE 2K22, it’s a moment of great pride, not just for me, but for the generations that come after me and for all my people – for all of the latinos, this is a great moment.”

Along with the honor of being the cover Superstar, Mysterio will also have his career highlighted in WWE 2K22’s Showcase Mode, a mode that traditionally has allowed players to relive key matches and moments in a wrestler’s career, complete with documentary-style intros to set up the context of each match.

Mysterio has had an illustrious career full of memorable matches that would make for plenty of material for Showcase mode, but he said the ones that he’s especially excited to share in WWE 2K22 are the matches against Eddie Guerrero at Wrestlemania 21, and his match against Shawn Michaels on Smackdown November 14, 2005, which served as a tribute to Guerrero, who tragically died the previous day.

Mysterio joins the ranks of Roman Reigns, Becky Lynch, AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, Brock Lesnar, Stone Cold Steve Austin, John Cena, and The Rock as one of the handful of WWE Superstars to have been featured as the primary cover athlete of a WWE 2K game.

WWE 2K22 will mark the first WWE 2K game since 2019’s WWE 2K20, and promises to feature a redesigned gameplay engine, a new control scheme, and upgraded visuals, in addition to the new MyGM mode, which allows players to step into the role of a WWE General Manager and draft their own ultimate WWE roster; MyFaction, which lets players collect and manage their own dream faction; and MyRISE, which serves as WWE 2K22’s version of MyCareer mode and allows players to create their own superstar and chart their own path to stardom.

Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You can find him on Twitter @JurassicRabbit

Lights, camera, sound the klaxons... because Space Entertainment Enterprise (S.E.E.) has just announced plans to build a TV and film studio in space by the year 2024.

According to Variety, the company behind Tom Cruise's upcoming space movie has set its sights on the Axiom Station, which is currently connected to the International Space Station (ISS), to host this new sports and entertainment arena, formally known as SEE-1. The space-based venue is scheduled to become operational sometime in December 2024.

The outlet notes that the multi-purpose module is "intended to host films, television, music and sports events as well as artists, producers and creatives who want to make content in the low orbit, micro-gravity environment," with facilities that "enable development, production, recording, broadcasting and live streaming of content" for its own company and third-parties.

"SEE-1 is an incredible opportunity for humanity to move into a different realm and start an exciting new chapter in space," said Dmitry and Elena Lesnevsky, S.E.E. co-founders. "It will provide a unique, and accessible home for boundless entertainment possibilities in a venue packed with innovative infrastructure which will unleash a new world of creativity.

"With worldwide leader Axiom Space building this cutting-edge, revolutionary facility, SEE-1 will provide not only the first, but also the supreme quality space structure enabling the expansion of the two trillion-dollar global entertainment industry into low-Earth orbit," they added, giving credit to Axiom Space who are undertaking the construction of SEE-1.

"From Jules Verne to Star Trek, science fiction entertainment has inspired millions of people around the world to dream about what the future might bring," added Richard Johnston, COO of S.E.E. "Creating a next-generation entertainment venue in space opens countless doors to create incredible new content and make these dreams a reality."

Towards the end of last year, a Russian film crew returned back to Earth after wrapping up scenes for their groundbreaking movie, Challenge, which marked the first-ever full-length feature film to be shot in space. Russian actress Yulia Peresild and producer-director Klim Shipenko joined cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy for 12 days of his six-month space-cation.

NASA's also working on a movie with Tom Cruise to be filmed aboard the International Space Station. Elon Musk's SpaceX is involved with the project, with filmmaker Doug Liman, who previously collaborated with Cruise on Edge of Tomorrow and American Made, attached as director. However, the crew's scheduled departure hasn't been shared as of yet.

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

Thumbnail image credit: NASA.

Logan Paul has denied faking his reaction to the $3.5 million dollar Pokémon card scandal that the YouTuber became caught up in earlier this month.

After having spent over $3 million on what he believed to be boxes of first-edition Pokémon cards last month, only to find out that he'd instead purchased a set of G.I Joe collectible cards, Paul faced criticism from fans on social media who claimed that the YouTuber might have faked the entire scandal.

Speaking on a recent episode of his Impaulsive Podcast, Paul delved further into the scandal and spoke about how he felt when he realised the cards were not authentic. "Three and a half million dollars on f**king G.I. Joe. I cannot believe it. It was a sad day. That was a very sad day. You can't just scam someone out of millions of dollars like that without legal consequences."

While in the video it appeared that Paul was unclear on what legal ramifications the group of scammers might face, at one point suggesting the actions could be fraudulent, he did adamantly deny that he'd faked the experience for views. "I see comments," he said. "They think I was acting. They think it's fake. But it's not. It's not fake at all, no. Being in that room that night was incredibly sad. The energy and the tragic feeling in the room was so palpable."

Despite spending a ludicrous amount of money on the cards in the first place, Paul has since received a full refund for the $3.5 million dollars he spent - a factor that the YouTuber pointed to when first opening the cards in his original unboxing video.

When originally purchasing the cards, Paul brought with him a card collector named Matt Allen who purchased the case for $2.7 million, before selling them to Paul for $3.5 million. Despite having received a refund on his original purchase from Allen, Paul says he's currently helping the card collector recover the $2.7 million that he initially spent on the cards prior to selling them to the YouTuber.

For more from the world of buying and selling rare Pokémon cards, make sure to check out this article detailing how you might be able to tell if your (real) cards are worth any money.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Thumbnail image credit: Logan Paul

Sony says that it expects Microsoft to honor contracts it has with Activision and "continue to ensure" that Activision games are released on its platforms – but there's some room for interpretation about what exactly the PlayStation manufacturer means.

Naturally, after Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard for almost $70 billion, many began speculating about whether the company would turn traditionally multiplatform releases into Xbox exclusives. Sony has now weighed in on that idea:

“We expect that Microsoft will abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform,” said a Sony spokesperson to The Wall Street Journal.

It's no surprise that Sony would expect Microsoft to honor any current contracts it has with Activision – as it did during the Bethesda takeover, leaving Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo as PS5 console exclusives. It's not clear what contracts Sony currently has with Activision, nor how long they're set to last.

It's also unclear from the wording of the statement whether the spokesperson is referring to specific contracts that ensure Activision games are multiplatform, or if the company more generally expects Microsoft to allow games to be released for PS5 post-acquisition. We've contacted Sony for clarity on that point.

The issue of exclusives will be a divisive one in the run-up to the acquisition and beyond. Sources have previously suggested that Microsoft plans to keep selling "some" Activision games on PlayStation, but it's not yet clear which ones. IGN readers are almost perfectly split on whether they want Activision Blizzard games to become Xbox exclusives, and some investors have clearly been spooked by the move, with almost $20 billion wiped off of Sony's stock value following the announcement.

In our opinion, gaining the opportunity to release exclusives exclusives isn't about winning a console war for Xbox – it's about winning a content war.

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.

In celebration of the launch of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction, IGN is proud to partner with Ubisoft to give fans a look at the end-game mode known as Maelstrom Protocol. Join IGN’s Stella Chung, Get Flanked, and Velly as they work their way through the Containment Zone as an elite REACT squad.

IGN will be carrying the stream and, as usual, this watch guide will provide you with everything you need to know to watch the let's play, including when it starts, a list of places you join us, and what you can expect to see.

IGN Plays Rainbow Six Extraction - Maelstrom Protocol Start Time

The IGN Plays Rainbow Six Extraction livestream will take place on Thursday, January 20, 2022, at 2:45pm PT/5:45pm ET/10:45pm GMT. If you are tuning in from Australia, that translates to Friday, January 21, at 8:45am AEST.

Where to Watch IGN Plays Rainbow Six Extraction - Maelstrom Protocol

If you’re interested in watching the IGN Plays Rainbow Six Extraction livestream, we’ll be hosting the stream here and across our many channels on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, and more. Here’s the full list of places you can watch the show with us:

• IGN.com (homepage)
• IGN's Facebook Channel
• IGN’s Twitter
• IGN's Twitch Channel
• IGN’s Youtube Channel
• IGN's TikTok
• IGN's iOS App
• IGN's Android App
• IGN's PlayStation 4 App
• IGN's Xbox One App
• Roku
• IGN App for Android TV
• IGN for Amazon Fire TV
• Apple TV
• IGN 1 on Samsung TV Plus
• Pluto TV
• Plex Live TV

What to Expect at IGN Plays Rainbow Six Extraction - Maelstrom Protocol

IGN Plays Rainbow Six Extraction will give players an early look at the end-game mode known as Maelstrom Protocol. Completing this mode the changes weekly will require you and your team to be at their best, as it challenges players to complete nine difficult objectives that each have mutations that make them different than they would be normally.

If that wasn’t enough, the difficulty ramps up after completing three objectives alongside the time limit being shortened and ammo and health stations becoming scarcer and scarcer. While this mode does offer greater rewards, it also only lets you choose from six Operators at any given week.

To help get players ready for the dangers that await, IGN’s Stella Chung, Youtuber GetFlanked, and host and analyst Velly will be trying out Rainbow Six Extraction’s Maelstrom Protocol in a Let’s Play that will give you some tips and strategies to take on the mode yourself.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction will be released on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC, and Amazon Luna on January 20, 2022. It will also be available on Xbox Game Pass on day one.

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

In celebration of the launch of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction, IGN is proud to partner with Ubisoft to give fans a look at the end-game mode known as Maelstrom Protocol. Join IGN’s Stella Chung, Get Flanked, and Velly as they work their way through the Containment Zone as an elite REACT squad.

IGN will be carrying the stream and, as usual, this watch guide will provide you with everything you need to know to watch the let's play, including when it starts, a list of places you join us, and what you can expect to see.

IGN Plays Rainbow Six Extraction - Maelstrom Protocol Start Time

The IGN Plays Rainbow Six Extraction livestream will take place on Thursday, January 20, 2022, at 2:45pm PT/5:45pm ET/10:45pm GMT. If you are tuning in from Australia, that translates to Friday, January 21, at 8:45am AEST.

Where to Watch IGN Plays Rainbow Six Extraction - Maelstrom Protocol

If you’re interested in watching the IGN Plays Rainbow Six Extraction livestream, we’ll be hosting the stream here and across our many channels on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, and more. Here’s the full list of places you can watch the show with us:

• IGN.com (homepage)
• IGN's Facebook Channel
• IGN’s Twitter
• IGN's Twitch Channel
• IGN’s Youtube Channel
• IGN's TikTok
• IGN's iOS App
• IGN's Android App
• IGN's PlayStation 4 App
• IGN's Xbox One App
• Roku
• IGN App for Android TV
• IGN for Amazon Fire TV
• Apple TV
• IGN 1 on Samsung TV Plus
• Pluto TV
• Plex Live TV

What to Expect at IGN Plays Rainbow Six Extraction - Maelstrom Protocol

IGN Plays Rainbow Six Extraction will give players an early look at the end-game mode known as Maelstrom Protocol. Completing this mode the changes weekly will require you and your team to be at their best, as it challenges players to complete nine difficult objectives that each have mutations that make them different than they would be normally.

If that wasn’t enough, the difficulty ramps up after completing three objectives alongside the time limit being shortened and ammo and health stations becoming scarcer and scarcer. While this mode does offer greater rewards, it also only lets you choose from six Operators at any given week.

To help get players ready for the dangers that await, IGN’s Stella Chung, Youtuber GetFlanked, and host and analyst Velly will be trying out Rainbow Six Extraction’s Maelstrom Protocol in a Let’s Play that will give you some tips and strategies to take on the mode yourself.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction will be released on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC, and Amazon Luna on January 20, 2022. It will also be available on Xbox Game Pass on day one.

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

Activision has announced it is delaying the start of Season Two for Call of Duty: Warzone Pacific and Vanguard. The new multiplayer season will now begin two weeks later on February 14 instead of February 2.

In a blog post, Activision says that the additional time before the next season will allow the developers time to keep adding fixes to the different Call of Duty online games currently up and running, including 2021’s Vanguard and the ongoing Warzone battle royale.

“To date, we’ve deployed a number of updates, but more needs to be done,” Activision writes in its blog. “For this reason, we have decided to reschedule the start of Season Two across Warzone Pacific and Vanguard to February 14.”

The studio says that developers will use this time to “deliver updates, including optimizations to gameplay, game balancing (including weapon and equipment balancing), to fix game stability and bugs, and to ensure an overall level of polish to improve the experience for players across Vanguard, Warzone Pacific, Black Ops Cold War, and Modern Warfare.”

In particular, a focus will be made to improve the core gameplay loop and balance for Call of Duty across both consoles and PC.

Furthermore, the Call of Duty team says that going forwards there will be more updates regarding the state of Call of Duty online. Even with the blockbuster news of the Microsoft acquisition, “Studios remain focused on continuously improving” the Call of Duty experience.

Maintaining an online game, let alone four within the same series, is no small task. Other developers working on ongoing online multiplayer games like 343 are having difficulties as well, such as Halo Infinite’s issues with Big Team Battle.

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

Activision has announced it is delaying the start of Season Two for Call of Duty: Warzone Pacific and Vanguard. The new multiplayer season will now begin two weeks later on February 14 instead of February 2.

In a blog post, Activision says that the additional time before the next season will allow the developers time to keep adding fixes to the different Call of Duty online games currently up and running, including 2021’s Vanguard and the ongoing Warzone battle royale.

“To date, we’ve deployed a number of updates, but more needs to be done,” Activision writes in its blog. “For this reason, we have decided to reschedule the start of Season Two across Warzone Pacific and Vanguard to February 14.”

The studio says that developers will use this time to “deliver updates, including optimizations to gameplay, game balancing (including weapon and equipment balancing), to fix game stability and bugs, and to ensure an overall level of polish to improve the experience for players across Vanguard, Warzone Pacific, Black Ops Cold War, and Modern Warfare.”

In particular, a focus will be made to improve the core gameplay loop and balance for Call of Duty across both consoles and PC.

Furthermore, the Call of Duty team says that going forwards there will be more updates regarding the state of Call of Duty online. Even with the blockbuster news of the Microsoft acquisition, “Studios remain focused on continuously improving” the Call of Duty experience.

Maintaining an online game, let alone four within the same series, is no small task. Other developers working on ongoing online multiplayer games like 343 are having difficulties as well, such as Halo Infinite’s issues with Big Team Battle.

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