Update 12/2 1:03 pm PT: EA game director and former Halo creative art director Marcus Lehto has confirmed that he will be working on a Battlefield related project for the Battlefield universe.

In a Tweet, Lehto explains, "A few weeks ago I mentioned that I joined EA, and now it's awesome to finally talk about what I'm doing at EA." He continues, "Battlefield has long been one of my favorite franchises and I'm super excited to be part of a large and growing team of talented developers and studios!"

Lehto's new studio in the Seattle area is looking for new talent with 5-10 years of experience in development with FPS titles as the studio is being built from scratch.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I joined @EA , and now it's awesome to finally talk about what I'm doing at EA.@Battlefield has long been one of my favorite franchises and I'm super excited to be part of a large and growing team of talented developers and studios! https://t.co/oUu4Ob7NaO

— Marcus Lehto (@game_fabricator) December 2, 2021

EA is not only going to continue supporting the recently released Battlefield 2042 but also plans to expand the franchise to create a "connected Battlefield universe. Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella is also now overseeing the Battlefield franchise.

Speaking with GameSpot, Zampella says, "We will continue to evolve and grow Battlefield 2042, and we'll explore new kinds of experiences and business models along the way that we can add to that foundation to provide an awesome array of experiences for our players."

As for what could be in store for a "connected universe," Battlefield Mobile is in development over at Industrial Toys, along with DICE working on a next-gen Battlefield title for both PC and consoles. Additionally, Ripple Effect Studios, formerly DICE LA, is also working on a "yet-to-be-announced project" that will follow Battlefield 2042.

Halo co-creator and founder of Disintegration studio V1 Interactive Marcus Lehto also recently joined EA to lead a new studio that focuses on first-person games, which could indicate something related to Battlefield as well.

The concept of a connected universe for Battlefield doesn't necessarily have to be in the form of games, as the term "experiences" is rather broad. "We intend to build a Battlefield universe, one with multiple projects that are interconnected with the player at the center," says Zampella.

"We plan to grow Battlefield and meet players where they play through various experiences and business models, including our upcoming Battlefield Mobile coming in 2022 from Alex Seropian and Industrial Toys."

EA isn't the only studio with the intention of creating similar connected experiences. Ubisoft is reportedly working on Assassin's Creed Infinity, which looks to be some sort of evolving platform.

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

EA is not only going to continue supporting the recently released Battlefield 2042, but also plans to expand the franchise to create a "connected Battlefield universe. Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella is also now overseeing the Battlefield franchise.

Speaking with GameSpot, Zampella says, "We will continue to evolve and grow Battlefield 2042, and we'll explore new kinds of experiences and business models along the way that we can add to that foundation to provide an awesome array of experiences for our players."

As for what could be in store for a "connected universe," Battlefield Mobile is in development over at Industrial Toys, along with DICE working on a next-gen Battlefield title for both PC and consoles. Additionally, Ripple Effect Studios, formerly DICE LA, is also working on a "yet-to-be-announced project" that will follow Battlefield 2042.

Halo co-creator and founder of Disintegration studio V1 Interactive Marcus Lehto also recently joined EA to lead a new studio that focuses on first-person games, which could indicate something related to Battlefield as well.

The concept of a connected universe for Battlefield doesn't necessarily have to be in the form of games, as the term "experiences" is rather broad. "We intend to build a Battlefield universe, one with multiple projects that are interconnected with the player at the center," says Zampella.

"We plan to grow Battlefield and meet players where they play through various experiences and business models, including our upcoming Battlefield Mobile coming in 2022 from Alex Seropian and Industrial Toys."

EA isn't the only studio with the intention of creating similar connected experiences. Ubisoft is reportedly working on Assassin's Creed Infinity, which looks to be some sort of evolving platform.

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

Alec Baldwin says that he "didn't pull the trigger" of the firearm that fatally wounded Director of Photography Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza on the set of his film Rust.

In an interview with ABC News, Baldwin told the interviewer that he had "no idea" how a live bullet was able to make its way on to the film's set, but that that he didn't pull the trigger on the firearm.

Asked by @GStephanopoulos how a real bullet got on the "Rust" set, Alec Baldwin says: “I have no idea. Someone put a live bullet in a gun. A bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”

Watch TOMORROW 8pm ET on ABC and stream later on @hulu. https://t.co/fJQly1za1T pic.twitter.com/OnpDuYERiC

— ABC News (@ABC) December 1, 2021

"No no no, I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never," the 63-year-old actor told ABC's George Stephanopoulos when asked whether he'd pulled the trigger. "Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn't even supposed to be on the property," he added.

The comments were made as part of an interview with the network which will air in full later this week. The conversation marks the actor's first sit-down interview on the incident since it took place back in October. During an appearance on Good Morning America, Stephanopoulos described the 80-minute sit-down as "raw" and "intense". The reporter described Baldwin as "devastated" yet also "very candid" and "forthcoming".

"I've done thousands of interviews in the last 20 years at ABC," Stephanopoulos said. "This was the most intense I've ever experienced."

AN @ABC EXCLUSIVE: @GStephanopoulos has the 1st exclusive interview with Alec Baldwin following the deadly shooting on the set of “Rust.”

Watch the primetime special event TOMORROW 8pm ET on ABC and stream next day on @Hulu. pic.twitter.com/uX5jiEkQgG

— Good Morning America (@GMA) December 1, 2021

Hutchins was killed and Souza injured in October when the gun in Baldwin's hand went off on a set for the film just outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Director of Photography was transported to the University of New Mexico Hospital following the shooting, where she was pronounced dead. Souza, who was also taken to hospital at the time, was released shortly after.

Following the tragic event, actor and producer Dwayne Johnson spoke about the use of guns when filming. During an interview at the time, the former wrestler confirmed that he would only use pop replica weapons in the future.

“I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can tell you, without an absence of clarity here, that any movie that we have moving forward with Seven Bucks Productions — any movie, any television show, or anything we do or produce — we won’t use real guns at all,” he said.

“We’re going to switch over to rubber guns, and we’re going to take care of it in post,” he said. “We’re not going to worry about the dollars; we won’t worry about what it costs.”

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

Alec Baldwin says that he "didn't pull the trigger" of the firearm that fatally wounded Director of Photography Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza on the set of his film Rust.

In an interview with ABC News, Baldwin told the interviewer that he had "no idea" how a live bullet was able to make its way on to the film's set, but that that he didn't pull the trigger on the firearm.

Asked by @GStephanopoulos how a real bullet got on the "Rust" set, Alec Baldwin says: “I have no idea. Someone put a live bullet in a gun. A bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”

Watch TOMORROW 8pm ET on ABC and stream later on @hulu. https://t.co/fJQly1za1T pic.twitter.com/OnpDuYERiC

— ABC News (@ABC) December 1, 2021

"No no no, I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never," the 63-year-old actor told ABC's George Stephanopoulos when asked whether he'd pulled the trigger. "Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn't even supposed to be on the property," he added.

The comments were made as part of an interview with the network which will air in full later this week. The conversation marks the actor's first sit-down interview on the incident since it took place back in October. During an appearance on Good Morning America, Stephanopoulos described the 80-minute sit-down as "raw" and "intense". The reporter described Baldwin as "devastated" yet also "very candid" and "forthcoming".

"I've done thousands of interviews in the last 20 years at ABC," Stephanopoulos said. "This was the most intense I've ever experienced."

AN @ABC EXCLUSIVE: @GStephanopoulos has the 1st exclusive interview with Alec Baldwin following the deadly shooting on the set of “Rust.”

Watch the primetime special event TOMORROW 8pm ET on ABC and stream next day on @Hulu. pic.twitter.com/uX5jiEkQgG

— Good Morning America (@GMA) December 1, 2021

Hutchins was killed and Souza injured in October when the gun in Baldwin's hand went off on a set for the film just outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Director of Photography was transported to the University of New Mexico Hospital following the shooting, where she was pronounced dead. Souza, who was also taken to hospital at the time, was released shortly after.

Following the tragic event, actor and producer Dwayne Johnson spoke about the use of guns when filming. During an interview at the time, the former wrestler confirmed that he would only use pop replica weapons in the future.

“I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can tell you, without an absence of clarity here, that any movie that we have moving forward with Seven Bucks Productions — any movie, any television show, or anything we do or produce — we won’t use real guns at all,” he said.

“We’re going to switch over to rubber guns, and we’re going to take care of it in post,” he said. “We’re not going to worry about the dollars; we won’t worry about what it costs.”

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

Fourteen-year Bethesda veteran Nate Purkeypile, who worked on Skyrim, Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and was the lead artist on Fallout 76, has announced his own new game called The Axis Unseen. It is a first-person dark-fantasy open-world hunting game, which is probably not a series of words that has ever been strung together to describe any game.

But The Axis Unseen is no joke. As you can see in the reveal trailer above as well as the screenshots below, it's gorgeous. Purkeypile is using Unreal Engine 5 to power The Axis Unseen, and the results are already impressive, visually speaking, even at this early stage of development.

"The Axis Unseen is a heavy metal open-world horror hunting game," Purkeypile told IGN. "Hunt and track monsters in a world trapped outside of time. Upgrade your bow and your senses. Reach shelter before nightfall. [And] don't forget that you are being hunted as well."

The music, Purkeypile told us, is by Clifford Meyer, a veteran of legendary post-metal bands ISIS and Red Sparowes.

Stay tuned for more on Just Purkey Games's The Axis Unseen in the coming year. In the meantime, you can wishlist it on Steam or check it out on the Epic Games Store.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Fourteen-year Bethesda veteran Nate Purkeypile, who worked on Skyrim, Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and was the lead artist on Fallout 76, has announced his own new game called The Axis Unseen. It is a first-person dark-fantasy open-world hunting game, which is probably not a series of words that has ever been strung together to describe any game.

But The Axis Unseen is no joke. As you can see in the reveal trailer above as well as the screenshots below, it's gorgeous. Purkeypile is using Unreal Engine 5 to power The Axis Unseen, and the results are already impressive, visually speaking, even at this early stage of development.

"The Axis Unseen is a heavy metal open-world horror hunting game," Purkeypile told IGN. "Hunt and track monsters in a world trapped outside of time. Upgrade your bow and your senses. Reach shelter before nightfall. [And] don't forget that you are being hunted as well."

The music, Purkeypile told us, is by Clifford Meyer, a veteran of legendary post-metal bands ISIS and Red Sparowes.

Stay tuned for more on Just Purkey Games's The Axis Unseen in the coming year. In the meantime, you can wishlist it on Steam or check it out on the Epic Games Store.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Cobie Smulders is set to return to reprise her role as Maria Hill and reunite with Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury in Marvel's upcoming Disney+ series, Secret Invasion.

As reported by Deadline, Smulders is set to return to the MCU as the former Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D when Secret Invasion airs in 2022. Smulders will return alongside Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury, who will star in the show.

Smulders has played Hill across a number of different MCU projects to date. Having initially made her debut in The Avengers, the actress has also reprised the role in other films such as Spider-Man: Far From Home, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and more.

Alongside Jackson and Smulders a number of other high-profile actors and actresses are reported to have joined the show's ranks. Ben Mendelsohn will be returning as the Skrull leader, Talos whose previous appearances include outings in Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Meanwhile, Kingsley Ben-Adir is thought to be playing one of the main villains on the show.

The cast is also set to include Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke and The Crown's Olivia Colman. Reports from the Hollywood Reporter earlier this year also detailed that directors Thomas Bezucha and Ali Selim were on board to bring the project to life ahead of its 2022 release. While little has been shared about the project's production schedule, Jackson posted to Instagram back in October to notify fans that the show had begun filming.

Secret Invasion will see Fury and Talos investigating a sect of Skrulls who’ve infiltrated the highest levels of authority in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For more on the show, make sure to check out this article offering a first glimpse at an eye-patch-less Nick Fury from the series.

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

Cobie Smulders is set to return to reprise her role as Maria Hill and reunite with Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury in Marvel's upcoming Disney+ series, Secret Invasion.

As reported by Deadline, Smulders is set to return to the MCU as the former Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D when Secret Invasion airs in 2022. Smulders will return alongside Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury, who will star in the show.

Smulders has played Hill across a number of different MCU projects to date. Having initially made her debut in The Avengers, the actress has also reprised the role in other films such as Spider-Man: Far From Home, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and more.

Alongside Jackson and Smulders a number of other high-profile actors and actresses are reported to have joined the show's ranks. Ben Mendelsohn will be returning as the Skrull leader, Talos whose previous appearances include outings in Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Meanwhile, Kingsley Ben-Adir is thought to be playing one of the main villains on the show.

The cast is also set to include Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke and The Crown's Olivia Colman. Reports from the Hollywood Reporter earlier this year also detailed that directors Thomas Bezucha and Ali Selim were on board to bring the project to life ahead of its 2022 release. While little has been shared about the project's production schedule, Jackson posted to Instagram back in October to notify fans that the show had begun filming.

Secret Invasion will see Fury and Talos investigating a sect of Skrulls who’ve infiltrated the highest levels of authority in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For more on the show, make sure to check out this article offering a first glimpse at an eye-patch-less Nick Fury from the series.

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

IGN is exclusively streaming a Q&A with Henry Cavill about The Witcher Season 2, including a Q&A and first-look clip that you can watch on IGN.com, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and Twitch.

The event will take place on Tuesday, December 14, with Henry Cavill appearing at a virtual Q&A to talk about Season 2 of the Netflix series. We'll also be showing off a never-before-seen snippet from the show.

IGN will be the exclusive hosts of the Witcher Season 2 livestream, kicking off the broadcast at 5:30pm Pacific / 8.30pm Eastern (that's December 15 at 1.30am UK / 12.30pm AEDT).

The Witcher Season 2 kicks off on December 17, and we've gotten a glimpse of war, monsters and magic in the latest trailer. Alongside Cavill's Geralt, we'll also see Kim Bodnia (Killing Eve) as his mentor, Vesemir. It's far from the last bit of Witcher TV we'll be getting.

Netflix has already announced Season 3, as well as a new anime film and a kids series. You can read our spoiler-less review of The Witcher Season 2 Episodes 1 through 6 right here.

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.

IGN is exclusively streaming a Q&A with Henry Cavill about The Witcher Season 2, including a Q&A and first-look clip that you can watch on IGN.com, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and Twitch.

The event will take place on Tuesday, December 14, with Henry Cavill appearing at a virtual Q&A to talk about Season 2 of the Netflix series. We'll also be showing off a never-before-seen snippet from the show.

IGN will be the exclusive hosts of the Witcher Season 2 livestream, kicking off the broadcast at 5:30pm Pacific / 8.30pm Eastern (that's December 15 at 1.30am UK / 12.30pm AEDT).

The Witcher Season 2 kicks off on December 17, and we've gotten a glimpse of war, monsters and magic in the latest trailer. Alongside Cavill's Geralt, we'll also see Kim Bodnia (Killing Eve) as his mentor, Vesemir. It's far from the last bit of Witcher TV we'll be getting.

Netflix has already announced Season 3, as well as a new anime film and a kids series. You can read our spoiler-less review of The Witcher Season 2 Episodes 1 through 6 right here.

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.