Wakanda Forever will include a major time skip for the MCU, opening a gap between the in-universe death of T'Challa and the rest of the timeline. The info comes from film production notes released to the media, which provides background on the upcoming sequel.

“Ramonda realizes that it’s been a year since T’Challa’s passing and Shuri’s still not healing—she’s not taking steps to move forward in a healthy way,” director Ryan Coogler is quoted as saying in the notes. “They take a retreat—stepping away from the city, from the technology—to sit with no distractions and perform what is essentially a grief ritual. That’s when Namor shows up.”

In addition to a small interview with Coogler, the production notes include an official plot synopsis:

In Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba) fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) and Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda. Introducing Tenoch Huerta as Namor, king of a hidden undersea nation, the film also stars Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena and Alex Livinalli. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” directed by Ryan Coogler and produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore, opens in U.S. theaters Nov. 11, 2022.

Wakanda Forever will be momentous for a number of reasons: It is the first Black Panther movie since Chadwick Boseman died suddenly in 2020; it marks the debut of Namor, one of the MCU's oldest characters, and it will bring Phase 4 to a close.

Marvel Studios has been dropping more and more info about Wakanda Forever in the run-up to release, including an official "Return to Wakanda" featurette and new character posters. However, we still have plenty of questions about the Black Panther sequel.

Wakanda Forever will be out November 11. While you wait, check out our coverage of She-Hulk, which wraps up with its finale on October 12.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

With news that Google Stadia is shutting down early next year, developers with games on the cloud platform are looking for ways to help Stadia players keep their saves, including CD Projekt Red who released a guide to transfer Stadia saves for Cyberpunk 2077.

CD Projekt released a step-by-step guide that will let players who started their Cyberpunk 2077 save on Google Stadia transfer it to a PC version of the game. According to CDPR, transferring saves from the Stadia cloud is possible using a service called Google Takeout.

In the guide, CDPR says players can export their Stadia save files from the cloud by using Google Takeout. The saves can then be extracted and copied into a PC version of the game.

If you’re playing on a console, you can take your PC save and synch it to a console version of the game using cross-progression through the GOG account.

While this is not the most straightforward path to saving your Stadia save, it’s a lifeline for players who are looking at losing possibly hundreds of hours of gameplay.

Google announced on September 29 that it will be shuttering Google Stadia. The cloud gaming service will end on January 18, 2023, when players will lose access to their game libraries. Google will however be offering full refunds for all games and hardware players have purchased for Stadia.

Developers were seemingly caught off-guard by the news and our in-depth report shows the chaotic final days of Stadia. Google, however, is known for axing underperforming services. So much so that a website is dedicated to Google’s killed projects.

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

With news that Google Stadia is shutting down early next year, developers with games on the cloud platform are looking for ways to help Stadia players keep their saves, including CD Projekt Red who released a guide to transfer Stadia saves for Cyberpunk 2077.

CD Projekt released a step-by-step guide that will let players who started their Cyberpunk 2077 save on Google Stadia transfer it to a PC version of the game. According to CDPR, transferring saves from the Stadia cloud is possible using a service called Google Takeout.

In the guide, CDPR says players can export their Stadia save files from the cloud by using Google Takeout. The saves can then be extracted and copied into a PC version of the game.

If you’re playing on a console, you can take your PC save and synch it to a console version of the game using cross-progression through the GOG account.

While this is not the most straightforward path to saving your Stadia save, it’s a lifeline for players who are looking at losing possibly hundreds of hours of gameplay.

Google announced on September 29 that it will be shuttering Google Stadia. The cloud gaming service will end on January 18, 2023, when players will lose access to their game libraries. Google will however be offering full refunds for all games and hardware players have purchased for Stadia.

Developers were seemingly caught off-guard by the news and our in-depth report shows the chaotic final days of Stadia. Google, however, is known for axing underperforming services. So much so that a website is dedicated to Google’s killed projects.

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

PlayStation Access, a show owned by PlayStation that talks about upcoming and ongoing games on Sony’s platforms, may have revealed Ridge Racer 2 is coming to PlayStation Plus Premium in a new video before promptly hiding it from the public.

The since-hidden video said Ridge Racer 2 would be joining the subscription service in October. This is specifically the PlayStation Portable version that launched in 2006, not the 1994 original that was playable in arcades.

The video was made private, but not before the Ridge Racer 2 news started circulating online.

PlayStation Access says Ridge Racer 2 is coming to PS+ Premium on their YouTube video for October games (at around 5:17) https://t.co/Npb79nU2xf

via @Barnacle310 pic.twitter.com/S1wmof5FPv

— Wario64 (@Wario64) October 12, 2022

Ridge Racer 2 did appear in previous PlayStation Blog posts about games coming to PlayStation Plus Premium, but the racing game was never actually added to the service’s catalog. At this point, it's unclear if PlayStation Access accidentally announced an early reveal, or if it was a mistake and the racing game isn't coming to PlayStation Plus Premium.

Sony started rolling out new PlayStation Plus tiers back in June, with the Premium subscription allowing users to download and stream a large library of games on their PlayStation system as long as they’re subscribed. While Ridge Racer 2 is not yet on the platform, there are still plenty of great games available on the service. For more on that, check out IGN’s database for the full catalog.

Kenneth Shepard is a writer covering games, entertainment, and queerness all around the internet. Find him on Twitter at @shepardcdr, and listen to his biweekly video game retrospective podcast Normandy FM, which is currently covering Cyberpunk 2077.

PlayStation Access, a show owned by PlayStation that talks about upcoming and ongoing games on Sony’s platforms, may have revealed Ridge Racer 2 is coming to PlayStation Plus Premium in a new video before promptly hiding it from the public.

The since-hidden video said Ridge Racer 2 would be joining the subscription service in October. This is specifically the PlayStation Portable version that launched in 2006, not the 1994 original that was playable in arcades.

The video was made private, but not before the Ridge Racer 2 news started circulating online.

PlayStation Access says Ridge Racer 2 is coming to PS+ Premium on their YouTube video for October games (at around 5:17) https://t.co/Npb79nU2xf

via @Barnacle310 pic.twitter.com/S1wmof5FPv

— Wario64 (@Wario64) October 12, 2022

Ridge Racer 2 did appear in previous PlayStation Blog posts about games coming to PlayStation Plus Premium, but the racing game was never actually added to the service’s catalog. At this point, it's unclear if PlayStation Access accidentally announced an early reveal, or if it was a mistake and the racing game isn't coming to PlayStation Plus Premium.

Sony started rolling out new PlayStation Plus tiers back in June, with the Premium subscription allowing users to download and stream a large library of games on their PlayStation system as long as they’re subscribed. While Ridge Racer 2 is not yet on the platform, there are still plenty of great games available on the service. For more on that, check out IGN’s database for the full catalog.

Kenneth Shepard is a writer covering games, entertainment, and queerness all around the internet. Find him on Twitter at @shepardcdr, and listen to his biweekly video game retrospective podcast Normandy FM, which is currently covering Cyberpunk 2077.

Batgirl star Brendan Fraser says it’s “tragic” that the superhero movie was canceled.

During an interview with Variety, Fraser opened up about what it’s like to see the project scrapped by Warner Bros. Discovery.

“It’s tragic,” he said. “It doesn’t engender trust among filmmakers and the studio. Leslie Grace was fantastic. She’s a dynamo, just a spot-on performer,” Fraser said.

Fraser would have starred as the film’s villain, Firefly.

Batgirl was unceremoniously canceled back in August following the Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

Although details of the film remain scarce, WB Discovery CEO David Zaslav doubled down on reasons for its cancellation, following claims that a test screening left viewers wanting.

“We're not going to release any film before it's ready,” he said. “We're not going to release a film to make a quarter, we're not going to release a film — the focus is going to be, how do we make each of these films, in general, as good as possible. But DC is something that we think we could make better, and we're focused on it now.”

Despite this, Fraser states that Batgirl was still a “big-budget” movie.

“Everything that we shot was real and exciting and just the antithesis of doing a straightforward digital all green screen thing,” he said. “They ran fire trucks around downtown Glasgow at 3 in the morning and they had flamethrowers. It was a big-budget movie, but one that was just stripped down to the essentials.”

Batgirl was originally devised for streaming – presumably via HBO Max. Instead, the film was bumped up to a theatrical release.

Unfortunately, it’s thought that Zaslav and other execs felt that it didn’t have the big budget appeal of a theatrical comic book movie, and that played a part in its cancellation.

“This idea of expensive films going direct to streaming: we cannot find an economic case for it,” said Zaslav. “We cannot find an economic value for it. So we're making a strategic shift...Our focus will be on the theatrical.”

Fraser remains adamant that the film was coming together nicely.

“I don’t eat half-baked cake,” said Fraser. He then went on to praise Batgirl filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. “Everything that Adil and Bilall shot felt real and exciting,” he added.

Want to read more about Batgirl? Check out details of Batgirl’s secret funeral screening as well as which other DC projects may have been affected by the Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

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

A novel based on CD Projekt Red's world of Cyberpunk 2077 will be released next year.

The official Cyberpunk Twitter account announced (below) that the novel, titled Cyberpunk 2077: No Coincidence, will be released in August 2023. It's being written by Polish science fiction author Rafał Kosik and will tell the story of a group of strangers who discover the dangers of Night City.

Not much else was said about the novel, but CD Projekt Red did confirm that a Polish version would also be released. The book's front cover was also revealed, appearing to show two versions of the same character holding the throat of a cyborg-looking person.

The new novel, "Cyberpunk 2077: No Coincidence, " is coming to bookstores in August 2023.

Written by Rafał Kosik, "No Coincidence" tells a story about a group of strangers as they discover the dangers of Night City.

Stay tuned for more details! #Cyberpunk2077 pic.twitter.com/03BCFbIzuv

— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) October 12, 2022

Cyberpunk 2077 has had a resurgence recently following its fairly disastrous launch, and CD Projekt Red is now doubling down on its reach both within and outside of games.

The developer is currently working on the game's major expansion, Phantom Liberty, which will be released in 2023 and continue the story of V and Johnny Silverhand as they swear allegiance to the New United States of America. It also recently announced Cyberpunk 2077's sequel, codenamed Orion, which it will develop at its new studio, CD Projekt Red North America, with a team of hundreds of developers.

Cyberpunk has also seen success with the recent Edgerunners anime series that premiered on Netflix in September 2022.

Its reception perhaps bodes well for further adaptations, as in our 9/10 review, IGN said: "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners delivers a satisfying return to Night City that does a better job exploring why Mike Pondsmith’s famous location became so iconic in the first place."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

The Penguin star Colin Farrell has revealed where HBO Max's upcoming The Batman spinoff series picks up while sharing new details about its opening scene.

ExtraTV fished for news about The Penguin series in a recent interview with Farrell about his new movie The Banshees of Inisherin. The actor decided to take the bait by offering some additional morsels of information about the show, specifically when it takes place and where we will find his titular character in the first episode of the season.

"[The Penguin] starts about a week after the film The Batman ends, so Gotham is still somewhat underwater," Farrell explained, referring to the closing act of Matt Reeves' movie. "I read the first script for the first episode, and it opens up with my feet splashing through the water in Falcone's office. Even just that alone, I read it, I was like, 'Oh, jeez.'"

Farrell described the script as "lovely" and "so well-written" before piling on the praise for Lauren LeFranc and the "extraordinary job" she has fulfilled on the project. "She's writing the whole thing and showrunning, and she's formidable," he said. "It's just a very exciting prospect because I love that character and I was greedy with it. I felt like I didn't have enough."

The actor shared his enthusiasm for getting the chance to return and do "more" with The Penguin following his acclaimed turn as the character in The Batman. "The world that Matt Reeves created for The Batman is one that warrants a deeper gaze through the eyes of Oswald Cobblepot," Farrell said in a previous statement about the HBO Max series.

"I couldn't be more excited about continuing this exploration of Oz as he rises through the darkened ranks to become The Penguin," he added, teasing a little more about what's to come. "Will be good to get him back on the streets of Gotham for a little madness and a little mayhem."

In our review of The Batman, IGN's Alex Stedman called Farrell's performance in The Batman "formidable," noting the actor is "deeply unrecognizable" under the convincing prosthetics.

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

FIFA 23 has proved incredibly successful for publisher EA so far as a record 10.3 million players logged in during its first week on the market.

EA revealed the news today, October 12, saying that the massive number of players signalled the biggest launch period in FIFA's franchise history.

"The response from our fans has been nothing short of incredible, and we’re thrilled that our community is playing with their favourite players and teams across FIFA 23 in record numbers," said SVP GM of EA Sports FC Nick Wlodyka.

"With both the Men’s and Women’s World Cups, and exciting updates to our women’s club football content in game still yet to come, we’re just getting started on providing players with the most authentic and immersive experience yet."

EA announced the inclusion of women's clubs in FIFA for the first time back in July, alongside the reveal that Chelsea star Sam Kerr would be the first woman to grace an international cover.

FIFA 23's record breaking launch will likely also be a pleasing send-off for EA - and perhaps a slightly worrying one for the actual FIFA association - as next year's entry will be called EA Sports FC. EA ditched the brand name after FIFA reportedly asked for $1 billion every four years for the name alone, spurring EA CEO Andrew Wilson to comment that all it gets from FIFA is "four letters on the front of the box".

In our 7/10 review of this year's entry, IGN said: "FIFA 23’s slick and dramatic virtual football is fitting for the series’ last hurrah under its long-time name, but familiar frustrations abound, and it still greatly undervalues some of its most beloved modes."

As for the Nintendo Switch version, however, IGN gave it a 2/10, saying "FIFA 23 on Switch is a prime example of minimal effort for maximum profit."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Witchfire, the long-awaited spooky shooter from The Vanishing of Ethan Carter developer The Astronauts, has been delayed to early 2023 to facilitate a shift to open world gameplay.

Announced in a blog post on The Astronauts' website, the development team blatantly said that Witchfire is now better thanks to the open world change, but such a drastic shift has required extra time.

Players will now be able to tackle the game in almost any order they want, presumably indicating a change from Doom-style arena-based combat to the more open style of something like Fallout 4.

"The feature is now 95% implemented. It makes the game better. It is kind of hard for me to imagine the player did not have that freedom before," said creative director and co-founder Adrian Chmielarz.

"You can still be trapped by the witch in this or that spot, and some doors will be closed until you find a key, and it might be too dangerous to enter areas closer to the boss before you are ready, but the world is wide open for you to explore in almost any order, and you can both push forward and retreat as you please.”

Despite the delay only spanning a few months, as Witchfire was previously intended to enter Early Access in late 2022 (and will still be in Early Access when it's released in 2023), the game has been a long time coming given it was originally revealed in 2017.

Having gone quiet for nearly five years, however, Witchfire was re-revealed during Summer Game Fest 2022 with a new gameplay trailer that shows off its grimdark fantasy setting.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.