Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Soderbergh has shared his thoughts on the future of movie theaters and how cinema habits could continue to live on in the age of streaming – saying that while there's "still an appeal", but the industry's future lies in convincing young audiences to keep attending as they grow older.

During an interview with IGN's Jim Vejvoda, Soderbergh, who is known for his Ocean's Eleven series amongst many other Hollywood hits, considered how movie theaters and streaming services can continue to coexist. He identified programming and engagement as two key areas that need careful consideration in order to keep the cinema-going experience alive.

"I think people still want to go out," Soderbergh said, acknowledging the reasons behind taking a trip to the box office. "There's still an appeal to seeing a movie in a movie theater. It's still a great destination. And it really depends, I think, on our ability to attract, to convince the older audiences to continue to come out [...] It has nothing to do with windowing [the term for the amount of time left between theater and home releases]."

Soderbergh went on to reference the "huge" numbers that Spider-Man: No Way Home has managed to pull in at the box office, having just topped its fourth domestic weekend box office in a row with ticket sales of $33 million. He recognized the ongoing popularity of certain movie theater experiences at present but shifted his focus onto how that should be nurtured into the future.

"It has to do with programming and figuring out a way, thinking of creative ways or at least ideas to try and cultivate that audience again," he explained. "The question is can you grow a younger audience that will mature and keep movie-going as a habit? You know what I mean? If they're going to the movies now, that's great. But what can you do to make sure 10 years from now they're going to the movies as often as they do today?"

The comments made by Soderbergh join a chorus of conversations that several other filmmakers have been having on the subject. Notably, amongst the chatter, director Christopher Nolan penned an op-ed amid the COVID-19 pandemic about the importance of saving movie theaters, which called for government, studio, and societal support of movie theaters as they faced a time of "unprecedented challenge and uncertainty."

Nolan isn't the only fervent advocate of the movie theater experience, Dune director Denis Villeneuve previously spoke out against Warner Bros. decision to release its entire 2021 film slate on HBO Max and in theaters on the same day. He recognized that "streaming services are a positive and powerful addition to the movie and TV ecosystems," but argued that streaming alone couldn't "sustain the film industry as we knew it before COVID."

Villeneuve further doubled down on his comments last year when he acknowledged the "tremendous pressure" the movie industry had been put under due to the coronavirus crisis but stated that he was still not happy about his next release dropping simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max because, in his personal opinion, watching Dune on a TV would be like "driving a speedboat in your bathtub."

In recent times, success has been found in releasing movies both into theaters and onto streaming services — and with the new year comes a whole host of new shows and movies for us to dive into on the big and small screen.

Soderbergh's next movie, a twisted thriller called Kimi, is scheduled to be released exclusively on HBO Max on February 10. However, if you're in need of some entertainment before then, we have a rundown of the biggest movies and shows coming to streaming platforms, as well as a fresh look at the 2022 movie slate.

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

Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Soderbergh has shared his thoughts on the future of movie theaters and how cinema habits could continue to live on in the age of streaming – saying that while there's "still an appeal", but the industry's future lies in convincing young audiences to keep attending as they grow older.

During an interview with IGN's Jim Vejvoda, Soderbergh, who is known for his Ocean's Eleven series amongst many other Hollywood hits, considered how movie theaters and streaming services can continue to coexist. He identified programming and engagement as two key areas that need careful consideration in order to keep the cinema-going experience alive.

"I think people still want to go out," Soderbergh said, acknowledging the reasons behind taking a trip to the box office. "There's still an appeal to seeing a movie in a movie theater. It's still a great destination. And it really depends, I think, on our ability to attract, to convince the older audiences to continue to come out [...] It has nothing to do with windowing [the term for the amount of time left between theater and home releases]."

Soderbergh went on to reference the "huge" numbers that Spider-Man: No Way Home has managed to pull in at the box office, having just topped its fourth domestic weekend box office in a row with ticket sales of $33 million. He recognized the ongoing popularity of certain movie theater experiences at present but shifted his focus onto how that should be nurtured into the future.

"It has to do with programming and figuring out a way, thinking of creative ways or at least ideas to try and cultivate that audience again," he explained. "The question is can you grow a younger audience that will mature and keep movie-going as a habit? You know what I mean? If they're going to the movies now, that's great. But what can you do to make sure 10 years from now they're going to the movies as often as they do today?"

The comments made by Soderbergh join a chorus of conversations that several other filmmakers have been having on the subject. Notably, amongst the chatter, director Christopher Nolan penned an op-ed amid the COVID-19 pandemic about the importance of saving movie theaters, which called for government, studio, and societal support of movie theaters as they faced a time of "unprecedented challenge and uncertainty."

Nolan isn't the only fervent advocate of the movie theater experience, Dune director Denis Villeneuve previously spoke out against Warner Bros. decision to release its entire 2021 film slate on HBO Max and in theaters on the same day. He recognized that "streaming services are a positive and powerful addition to the movie and TV ecosystems," but argued that streaming alone couldn't "sustain the film industry as we knew it before COVID."

Villeneuve further doubled down on his comments last year when he acknowledged the "tremendous pressure" the movie industry had been put under due to the coronavirus crisis but stated that he was still not happy about his next release dropping simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max because, in his personal opinion, watching Dune on a TV would be like "driving a speedboat in your bathtub."

In recent times, success has been found in releasing movies both into theaters and onto streaming services — and with the new year comes a whole host of new shows and movies for us to dive into on the big and small screen.

Soderbergh's next movie, a twisted thriller called Kimi, is scheduled to be released exclusively on HBO Max on February 10. However, if you're in need of some entertainment before then, we have a rundown of the biggest movies and shows coming to streaming platforms, as well as a fresh look at the 2022 movie slate.

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

Days Gone game director Jeff Ross has said in a recent interview that a sequel to the game would have moved the series in a "more technical direction" had Sony decided to revisit the franchise for a second time.

In a recent interview with USA Today's ForTheWin, Ross spoke further about where he would have taken Days Gone 2, stating that among other aspects he'd have liked to have delved further into the relationship between the series' main protagonist Deacon and his wife Sarah - who for large parts of the first game the player spends time searching for.

“Yeah, they’re back together, but maybe they’re not happy,” Ross explains in the interview when talking about the pair. “Well, what can we do with that? Okay, we were married before the apocalypse, but what about the future?" With a strong focus on the game's characters, it's no surprise that Ross says a sequel would have also kept in theme with the original's "heavy, strong narrative."

"We would have kept the bike, obviously. And I think we would have expanded the tone a little bit in a more technical direction, kind of like, ‘Alright, now we have all this NERO tech – what can we do with it?’ The tone would have expanded one ring outward towards some of the new reality. I think this would have been a little bit more – I don’t want to say Avengers, but something where the player had resources, he had some sort of the remnants of whatever the government had."

In Days Gone, NERO (or IPCA) tech refers to technology that can be found across the game at its various NERO Research Sites. Once collected, the tech could be used to unlock a secret weapon (known as the Unknown NERO Weapon), which acted as a stun gun and was able to electrocute and (sometimes) set fire to the freaker enemies.

With that in mind, it sounds as though a potential sequel could have drawn a little more on sci-fi esque tropes than its predecessor, with players able to rely a little more on the inclusion of advanced weaponry instead of the more familiar tools that were present in the first game.

While it currently seems unlikely that fans will ever get to see a sequel to the 2019 action-adventure game, Ross explained in the interview that he'd learned a lot from working on the original and would have liked the chance to make further improvements to the franchise in a sequel.

According to the report, such improvements would have built on the world in a range of ways, adding more complex elements to characters' behaviours, further lifelike representations of its creatures and animals, and improving upon the game's mechanics with factors such as allowing Deacon to swim - a factor that Ross says wasn't possible in the first game due to an engineering constraint.

“The swimming thing in Days Gone, it’s the worst,” Ross explains. “(Writer and director) John Garvin acquiesced to a certain point and just brought it into the narrative. It gave him an opportunity to have character growth too. I think that’s why he really liked it."

"This character can swim but refuses to, and later makes the decision to do it. There’s a screenwriting principle behind all that. But from a gameplay point of view, I hated it. I’m like, ‘Alright, we’ll figure this out later.’ By the time we circled back around we were probably in the final year when the user testing was coming back, and people were complaining about the water.”

Sony has long since rejected a pitch to a sequel for Days Gone, which is a decision that some fans may find disappointing given that Ross seems to have had a wealth of new ideas to bring into the fold. While this most recent interview delves much further into his thoughts, the Game Director has previously spoken about Days Gone 2, explaining that the game's initial pitch featured plans for a shared universe and cooperative play component.

Ross also recently made headlines after comparing the success of Days Gone to Ghost of Tsushima. Following the news that Ghost of Tsushima had sold over 8 million units globally, the Game Director commented on the fact that local studio management had always made his team feel like it was a big disappointment, despite Days Gone selling a similar number of copies in the same timeframe - though it should be noted that the figures quoted by Ross were a ballpark and may not be wholly accurate.

For more on Days Gone, make sure to check out this article where Ross spoke further about the struggle to get a green light for the game's sequel and how, in part, those hopes faded after Sony head Shawn Layden left the company.

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

Days Gone game director Jeff Ross has said in a recent interview that a sequel to the game would have moved the series in a "more technical direction" had Sony decided to revisit the franchise for a second time.

In a recent interview with USA Today's ForTheWin, Ross spoke further about where he would have taken Days Gone 2, stating that among other aspects he'd have liked to have delved further into the relationship between the series' main protagonist Deacon and his wife Sarah - who for large parts of the first game the player spends time searching for.

“Yeah, they’re back together, but maybe they’re not happy,” Ross explains in the interview when talking about the pair. “Well, what can we do with that? Okay, we were married before the apocalypse, but what about the future?" With a strong focus on the game's characters, it's no surprise that Ross says a sequel would have also kept in theme with the original's "heavy, strong narrative."

"We would have kept the bike, obviously. And I think we would have expanded the tone a little bit in a more technical direction, kind of like, ‘Alright, now we have all this NERO tech – what can we do with it?’ The tone would have expanded one ring outward towards some of the new reality. I think this would have been a little bit more – I don’t want to say Avengers, but something where the player had resources, he had some sort of the remnants of whatever the government had."

In Days Gone, NERO (or IPCA) tech refers to technology that can be found across the game at its various NERO Research Sites. Once collected, the tech could be used to unlock a secret weapon (known as the Unknown NERO Weapon), which acted as a stun gun and was able to electrocute and (sometimes) set fire to the freaker enemies.

With that in mind, it sounds as though a potential sequel could have drawn a little more on sci-fi esque tropes than its predecessor, with players able to rely a little more on the inclusion of advanced weaponry instead of the more familiar tools that were present in the first game.

While it currently seems unlikely that fans will ever get to see a sequel to the 2019 action-adventure game, Ross explained in the interview that he'd learned a lot from working on the original and would have liked the chance to make further improvements to the franchise in a sequel.

According to the report, such improvements would have built on the world in a range of ways, adding more complex elements to characters' behaviours, further lifelike representations of its creatures and animals, and improving upon the game's mechanics with factors such as allowing Deacon to swim - a factor that Ross says wasn't possible in the first game due to an engineering constraint.

“The swimming thing in Days Gone, it’s the worst,” Ross explains. “(Writer and director) John Garvin acquiesced to a certain point and just brought it into the narrative. It gave him an opportunity to have character growth too. I think that’s why he really liked it."

"This character can swim but refuses to, and later makes the decision to do it. There’s a screenwriting principle behind all that. But from a gameplay point of view, I hated it. I’m like, ‘Alright, we’ll figure this out later.’ By the time we circled back around we were probably in the final year when the user testing was coming back, and people were complaining about the water.”

Sony has long since rejected a pitch to a sequel for Days Gone, which is a decision that some fans may find disappointing given that Ross seems to have had a wealth of new ideas to bring into the fold. While this most recent interview delves much further into his thoughts, the Game Director has previously spoken about Days Gone 2, explaining that the game's initial pitch featured plans for a shared universe and cooperative play component.

Ross also recently made headlines after comparing the success of Days Gone to Ghost of Tsushima. Following the news that Ghost of Tsushima had sold over 8 million units globally, the Game Director commented on the fact that local studio management had always made his team feel like it was a big disappointment, despite Days Gone selling a similar number of copies in the same timeframe - though it should be noted that the figures quoted by Ross were a ballpark and may not be wholly accurate.

For more on Days Gone, make sure to check out this article where Ross spoke further about the struggle to get a green light for the game's sequel and how, in part, those hopes faded after Sony head Shawn Layden left the company.

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

Invincible creator Robert Kirkman is being sued by a comic book artist who says he was tricked into relinquishing his copyright.

William Crabtree claims he co-created Invincible (he was the comic book’s colorist for its first 50 issues) but was convinced by Kirkman to surrender his ownership of the title back in 2005 in order to make it easier to sell the rights to studios.

“Fraud and deceit has become a standard business practice for Kirkman and is apparently where his true creative aptitude lies,” claims attorney Devin McRae in the complaint (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Crabtree claims that he had an oral agreement with Kirkman that granted him 20 percent of single sale proceeds for Invincible, as well as 10 percent of any revenue from “other film or television commercial exploitation of the Work together with any derivative projects based on the Work and any allied or ancillary rights in the Work.”

Essentially, this means that Crabtree would have missed out on a large paycheck when Invincible was turned into an animated series.

As for why this agreement was never written down, Crabtree alleges that Kirkman convinced him to sign over his rights with a “Certificate of Authorship” while at San Diego Comic Con in 2005.

He claims that Kirkman persuaded him by stating that Invincible would be more saleable to studios if it came from a single creator.

“Kirkman falsely told Crabtree that Crabtree’s rights and financial interest in the Work would remain unchanged if he signed the Certificate of Authorship and that the document would simply allow Kirkman to market the licensure of the Work more easily, resulting in greater profits for both of them,” reads the lawsuit.

Once the document was signed, the lawsuit claims that Kirkman continued to pay Crabtree for comic sales, as well as licensing by MTV for an animated series and Paramount Pictures for a film and TV option.

But when Invincible was picked up by Amazon Studios, Crabtree claims that Kirkman refused his claims for compensation.

“When Crabtree questioned Kirkman about why Kirkman continued to pay Crabtree royalties on the Work for years after the Certificate of Authorship, Kirkman stated that those royalty payments were actually just ‘bonuses,’ that he paid at his discretion,” reads the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges fraud and breach of contract by Kirkman, as well as denying Crabtree access to profit statements in connection to the Amazon TV series. The suit ultimately seeks a judgment that Crabtree is co-creator of Invincible, as well as an account of what he’s owed and punitive damages.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Kirkman has seen legal troubles around his work.

The Walking Dead co-creator Tony Moore also sued Kirkman, claiming he “swindled” him out of profits and residuals for the comic book adaptation. Moore’s lawsuit ended with a settlement between the two parties. Additionally, Kirkman himself (and other creators) sued AMC in 2017 for breach of contract surrounding the post-apocalyptic TV series.

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

Invincible creator Robert Kirkman is being sued by a comic book artist who says he was tricked into relinquishing his copyright.

William Crabtree claims he co-created Invincible (he was the comic book’s colorist for its first 50 issues) but was convinced by Kirkman to surrender his ownership of the title back in 2005 in order to make it easier to sell the rights to studios.

“Fraud and deceit has become a standard business practice for Kirkman and is apparently where his true creative aptitude lies,” claims attorney Devin McRae in the complaint (via The Hollywood Reporter).

Crabtree claims that he had an oral agreement with Kirkman that granted him 20 percent of single sale proceeds for Invincible, as well as 10 percent of any revenue from “other film or television commercial exploitation of the Work together with any derivative projects based on the Work and any allied or ancillary rights in the Work.”

Essentially, this means that Crabtree would have missed out on a large paycheck when Invincible was turned into an animated series.

As for why this agreement was never written down, Crabtree alleges that Kirkman convinced him to sign over his rights with a “Certificate of Authorship” while at San Diego Comic Con in 2005.

He claims that Kirkman persuaded him by stating that Invincible would be more saleable to studios if it came from a single creator.

“Kirkman falsely told Crabtree that Crabtree’s rights and financial interest in the Work would remain unchanged if he signed the Certificate of Authorship and that the document would simply allow Kirkman to market the licensure of the Work more easily, resulting in greater profits for both of them,” reads the lawsuit.

Once the document was signed, the lawsuit claims that Kirkman continued to pay Crabtree for comic sales, as well as licensing by MTV for an animated series and Paramount Pictures for a film and TV option.

But when Invincible was picked up by Amazon Studios, Crabtree claims that Kirkman refused his claims for compensation.

“When Crabtree questioned Kirkman about why Kirkman continued to pay Crabtree royalties on the Work for years after the Certificate of Authorship, Kirkman stated that those royalty payments were actually just ‘bonuses,’ that he paid at his discretion,” reads the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges fraud and breach of contract by Kirkman, as well as denying Crabtree access to profit statements in connection to the Amazon TV series. The suit ultimately seeks a judgment that Crabtree is co-creator of Invincible, as well as an account of what he’s owed and punitive damages.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Kirkman has seen legal troubles around his work.

The Walking Dead co-creator Tony Moore also sued Kirkman, claiming he “swindled” him out of profits and residuals for the comic book adaptation. Moore’s lawsuit ended with a settlement between the two parties. Additionally, Kirkman himself (and other creators) sued AMC in 2017 for breach of contract surrounding the post-apocalyptic TV series.

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

As Rainbow Six Siege moves towards its seventh year, Ubisoft has announced that new creative director has been appointed.

As revealed on Ubisoft's website, the game's current creative director, Leroy Athanassoff, will be leaving Siege to work on other Ubisoft-made games projects. Siege's art director, Alexander Karpazis, will step up to fill the role. This change in staff marks the third time that the game has introduced a new creative director over its almost seven year lifespan.

In light of his departure, Athanassoff spoke briefly about his decision to leave the position. "I wanted to let you know that due to personal reasons, I will be leaving my role of Creative Director on Siege to pursue other opportunities at Ubisoft," said Athanassoff in a statement.

"This isn’t a decision I make lightly – I love this game and this community, and I’m so proud of everything our team has accomplished together over the last two years – but I’m confident that it’s the right one, and the team has given me their full support. Don’t worry, I won’t be going too far, and I have a feeling that my journey with this incredible game is far from over."

While Athanassoff's time in the position may be coming to an end, the creative director spoke highly of his replacement, Karpasiz. "Having worked with him for four years, I can attest to not only his skill and talent, but also to his passion for Siege. I’ve seen firsthand the dedication he’s brought to creating fun, engaging features that fans love. I have no doubt that he will continue to build on this amazing game and offer even more content and innovation to Siege players."

As part of the same post, Karpasiz delved into his own journey with Siege, which started when the project was back in alpha, competing as a fan in tournaments. The newly-appointed creative director has spent the last four years working at Ubisoft on Siege, and went on to thank Athanassoff for his mentorship during that time before also briefly addressing the game's community.

"[Athanassoff's] taught me what exemplary leadership, creativity, and passion look like in the position of Creative Director," says Karpazis. "Leroy’s hard work will be visible in future seasons as the team and I prepare for one of the most ambitious years in Siege’s history. I’m extremely humbled by the team’s trust in me, and I hope to earn the trust of the community in my new role as well."

Despite moving toward its seventh year since launch, the online tactical shooter remains popular with its community. While the game has seen a slight decrease in player count over recent months (as shown in data published by SteamDB), Ubisoft has continued to show support for the shooter, producing a range of new content for fans to delve into. Most recently, this came in the form of the Siege's Snow Brawl event, which brought with it a winter theme and played out a little like an international snowball fight.

To keep up with the latest from Rainbow Six Siege as it takes direction from its new leadership, make sure to check out our dedicated page for the game, which is packed with more news, trailers, and clips from the online shooter.

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

As Rainbow Six Siege moves towards its seventh year, Ubisoft has announced that new creative director has been appointed.

As revealed on Ubisoft's website, the game's current creative director, Leroy Athanassoff, will be leaving Siege to work on other Ubisoft-made games projects. Siege's art director, Alexander Karpazis, will step up to fill the role. This change in staff marks the third time that the game has introduced a new creative director over its almost seven year lifespan.

In light of his departure, Athanassoff spoke briefly about his decision to leave the position. "I wanted to let you know that due to personal reasons, I will be leaving my role of Creative Director on Siege to pursue other opportunities at Ubisoft," said Athanassoff in a statement.

"This isn’t a decision I make lightly – I love this game and this community, and I’m so proud of everything our team has accomplished together over the last two years – but I’m confident that it’s the right one, and the team has given me their full support. Don’t worry, I won’t be going too far, and I have a feeling that my journey with this incredible game is far from over."

While Athanassoff's time in the position may be coming to an end, the creative director spoke highly of his replacement, Karpasiz. "Having worked with him for four years, I can attest to not only his skill and talent, but also to his passion for Siege. I’ve seen firsthand the dedication he’s brought to creating fun, engaging features that fans love. I have no doubt that he will continue to build on this amazing game and offer even more content and innovation to Siege players."

As part of the same post, Karpasiz delved into his own journey with Siege, which started when the project was back in alpha, competing as a fan in tournaments. The newly-appointed creative director has spent the last four years working at Ubisoft on Siege, and went on to thank Athanassoff for his mentorship during that time before also briefly addressing the game's community.

"[Athanassoff's] taught me what exemplary leadership, creativity, and passion look like in the position of Creative Director," says Karpazis. "Leroy’s hard work will be visible in future seasons as the team and I prepare for one of the most ambitious years in Siege’s history. I’m extremely humbled by the team’s trust in me, and I hope to earn the trust of the community in my new role as well."

Despite moving toward its seventh year since launch, the online tactical shooter remains popular with its community. While the game has seen a slight decrease in player count over recent months (as shown in data published by SteamDB), Ubisoft has continued to show support for the shooter, producing a range of new content for fans to delve into. Most recently, this came in the form of the Siege's Snow Brawl event, which brought with it a winter theme and played out a little like an international snowball fight.

To keep up with the latest from Rainbow Six Siege as it takes direction from its new leadership, make sure to check out our dedicated page for the game, which is packed with more news, trailers, and clips from the online shooter.

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

Two Los Angeles police officers were fired after they chose to chase a Snorlax in Pokemon GO instead of helping stop a robbery in progress at a local mall.

As reported by Vice and detailed in court documents, former LAPD officers Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell were on foot beat patrol on April 15, 2017, when a robbery at the Macy's at Crenshaw Mall was taking place. Calls began going out to police in the vicinity to respond and some, like a unit that was at a homicide crime scene, rushed over to the mall.

Lozano and Mitchell, on the other hand, ignored the call at first and then responded with a simple, "no," when asked again. As it turns out, they "willfully failed to respond to the robbery call and attempted to conceal the fact" by saying they were somewhere other than where they actually were.

After listening to the recording in Lozano and Mitchell's police car, the LAPD also discovered they were playing Pokemon GO on the day of the robbery.

"The recording showed that, at approximately 6:09 p.m. (just five minutes after Officer Lozano said “screw it” to checking in with communications about the robbery call), Officer Mitchell alerted Lozano that 'Snorlax' 'just popped up' at '46th and Leimert,'" the court documents read. "After noting that 'Leimert doesn’t go all the way to 46th,' Lozano responded, 'Oh, you [know] what I can do? I’ll [go] down 11th and swing up on Crenshaw. I know that way I can get to it.' Mitchell suggested a different route, then told Lozano, 'We got four minutes.'

"For approximately the next 20 minutes, the DICVS captured petitioners discussing Pokémon as they drove to different locations where the virtual creatures apparently appeared on their mobile phones. On their way to the Snorlax location, Officer Mitchell alerted Officer Lozano that 'a Togetic just popped up,' noting it was '[o]n Crenshaw, just South of 50th.' After Mitchell apparently caught the Snorlax — exclaiming, 'Got ‘em'—petitioners agreed to '[g]o get the Togetic' and drove off."

After successfully catching the Togetic after Lozano "buried it and ultra-balled" it, they decided to return to a 7-Eleven to end their watch. Later, they would lie about playing the game and even said they were "merely having a conversation about Pokemon GO" and that they were "capturing [an] image" of the Pokemon on a tracking app.

They were charged with multiple counts of on-duty misconduct and fired and would later try to appeal their case by saying they weren't aware their conversations were being recorded and that their words should be considered "private." On January 7, 2022, the court denied the appeal.

While this event may have taken place in 2017, 2022 will soon see the release of Pokemon Legends: Arceus - a new game in the beloved franchise that may offer yet another chance for someone to get in trouble for playing it when they really shouldn't.

For more on Snorlax, check out how this sleepy Pokemon's origins are actually inspired by a real person - the veteran Pokémon game designer Kōji Nishino.

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.

Phil Spencer thinks Netflix is smart for leveraging its successful streaming business and jumping into video games.

In an interview with Kara Swisher for the New York Times’ Sway podcast, Spencer spoke more in-depth at video games’ continued growth and how it’s oftentimes a trendsetter for tech companies. Including how some tech companies look to games for inspiration.

Take Netflix, for example, which announced it’s making steady inroads into games first by including mobile games in with existing Netflix subscriptions, and then by acquiring critically-acclaimed studios like Nightschool. Spencer believes this is the right approach for the streaming giant.

“I think it’s smart what [Netflix is] doing,” Xbox boss Phil Spencer says. “They’re buying some studios. They’re learning about the creative process of interactive entertainment. And I think it’s a very smart way for them to move into the space.”

Netflix isn’t just about ready to compete with Xbox quite yet. Despite hiring an ex-EA executive to run its new games division, Netflix is primarily focused on the casual mobile market, which is still big business. Netflix has a library of popular shows that can easily become games and the company even bought the award-winning studio behind Oxenfree.

While the content is growing, Spencer sees Netflix has big potential thanks to its existing cloud and community. "Netflix clearly has cloud. Amazon has cloud. Google has a real cloud capability. But without content, community, and cloud, I think getting into gaming right now — and you can see this in what Netflix is doing."

Xbox has taken a page from Netflix’s book with Xbox Game Pass, which has long been popularly called the Netflix for games. Something Spencer doesn’t disagree with.

“From a streaming standpoint, it is. I’d say the difference for us is in the business model of — you can buy every game that’s available on the subscription, which is a little different than a music subscription or a movie subscription.”

Spencer says the transactions business is still Xbox’s biggest business and bigger than subscriptions, though he says subscriptions are growing faster.

The Xbox boss also took time to talk about Xbox’s social network and how it’s focused on games and not social discourse, as well as address industry topics like the metaverse and Activision’s current controversies.

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