IO Interactive announced a new roadmap for Hitman 3 Year 2 with new content coming in January 2022, including ray tracing, PC VR, and an Elusive Target Arcade.

The game is already optimized and enhanced on PC with support for 8+ core CPUs and variable rate shading. Working together with Intel, IO Interactive will also bring ray tracing to Hitman 3 sometime in 2022. PlayStation owners can already play Hitman 3 with PSVR support, but now it's also coming to VR PC in January 2022.

IO Interactive will reveal full technical details, including the platforms that it is supporting before Year 2 starts on January 20, which coincidentally is exactly one year after the game originally launched. Hitman 3 has a timed Epic Games Store exclusivity deal on PC, so it's possible that the PC VR version could come to SteamVR as one of the supported platforms.

Elusive Target Arcade is a new take on the franchise's Elusive Targets. It's the ultimate Elusive Target challenge and will be a permanent add-on to the game, rather than one-time-only events like previous entries.

IO Interactive will reveal another major update to Hitman 3 in Spring 2022, and new maps, storylines, and modes are lined up for the next 12 months. The World of Assassination trilogy has also reached 50 million players so far, with Hitman 3 being the most successful entry in the series of all time.

Hitman 3 has received plenty of updates so far, such as its Seven Deadly Sins expansion of which the final one, Wrath, launched on October 29.

In IGN's Hitman 3 review, Luke Reilly said, "Rich, rewarding, and highly replayable, Hitman 3 is a superb installment of IO’s idiosyncratic but much-loved stealth series."

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

The Last Duel may have been a critical success, but it was a box office failure. Now, director Ridley Scott thinks he knows why.

During an interview on Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast, Sir Ridley Scott complained that The Last Duel’s box office calamity was all down to millennials.

“I think what it boils down to — what we’ve got today [are] the audiences who were brought up on these fucking cellphones,” said Scott. “The millennian [sic] do not ever want to be taught anything unless you’re told it on a cellphone.”

“This is a broad stroke, but I think we’re dealing with it right now with Facebook,” he explained. “This is a misdirection that has happened where it’s given the wrong kind of confidence to this latest generation, I think.”

The Last Duel has earned just $27 million worldwide after its debut last month. Starring Ben Affleck, Jodie Comer, Matt Damon, and Adam Driver, the film delivered staggering combat as well as poignant social commentary. But The Last Duel has so far failed to capture the imagination of audiences, as well as failing to recoup its $100 million budget.

Although Scott was originally concerned that Disney would undersell his historical epic, that turned out not to be the case.

“Disney did a fantastic promotion job,” he admitted. “The bosses loved the movie… I was concerned it was not for them.”

Despite this, The Last Duel still performed abysmally at the box office. But Scott stands by the movie, and states that the studio’s decisions were sound from start to finish.

“That’s the call you make,” he said about taking on the project. “That’s the call Fox made. We all thought it was a terrific script. And we made it. You can’t win all the time. I’ve never had one regret on any movie I’ve ever made. Nothing. I learned very early on to be your own critic. The only thing you should really have an opinion on is what you just did. Walk away. Make sure you’re happy. And don’t look back. That’s me.”

IGN’s own review said The Last Duel is “a grueling watch and certainly not for the faint-hearted. However, it rewards you with social commentary that’s as relevant today as in 14th century France… The Last Duel offers several bloody, brutal battle scenes and a fierce final duel that’s up there among director Ridley Scott’s finest fight scenes.”

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

One thing that has always set Battlefield apart from its competitors like Call of Duty is the over-the-top tank, airplane, and helicopter-related shenanigans you can get up to.

But in Battlefield 2042, players are finding said shenanigans difficult to counter when on foot due to the limited toolkit of anti-vehicle weaponry available. In fact, a reddit user going by SheroxXx found that the NWT-50 sniper rifle can kill a tank significantly faster than the M5 recoilless, which was purpose-built by the developers to be an anti-armor weapon.

One of the main factors seems to be the rate of fire, with the NWT able to fire far faster than the M5. In fact, it can take out a tank almost twice as fast. It's also more forgiving, as missing a shot or two still leaves you with a pretty decent amount of damage left in the magazine. As user DovahBornKing points out in the comments, tanks in 2042 take at least four rockets to kill, even from behind, and you can only carry three without having to resupply. This serves to make tanks feel really scary, but it doesn't feel especially balanced if you're the one on foot

The NWT takes a long time to unlock, but typically late-game sniper rifles aren't straight-up twice as good as a rocket launcher. Ideally, unlocks should give you more options and new ways to play. This situation makes the M5 feel like a wet noodle launcher you're forced to use until you can unlock a real anti-armor gun, and ensures that there really is no playstyle niche for our poor, recoilless friend once you have access to the NWT.

This situation tracks with the fact that Battlefield 2042 is both one of the most played and lowest-rated games on Steam right now. Missing features from earlier games in the series, such as tanks no longer taking extra damage from the rear and sides as noted above, are among the most common complaints. Everyone wants to play the new Battlefield enough that the many launch issues haven't stopped them from jumping in, but they're such a constant distraction that over 30,000 people took the time to post their own cautionary tales for potential buyers.

How do you deal with tanks in Battlefield 2042? We have some tips that might help over on our Battlefield 2042 wiki guide.

Thanks to VG247 for the tip.

Leana Hafer is a freelance contributor at IGN

New World recently released its Into the Void update, bringing with it a host of new features and fixes. One thing players didn't reckon with, however, was that it also made the endgame harder — much harder.

Over the weekend, endgame players began noting on Reddit and elsewhere that certain high-level enemies had received a major buff. The net effect of this buff is that certain enemies are next to impossible to take down while playing solo, further elongating an already savage endgame grind.

"This is so dumb, solo people just cannot do anything even close to endgame now," one player wrote. "I get how [Amazon Game Studio] wants people to party up as it is an MMO but soloing should still be an option, especially if youre [sic] running the normal missions. I get if you want to go clear places like myrkgard or sirens or malevolence, you should group up but relatively normal elite zones should be hard, but also soloable."

Word of the changes soon spread throughout the rest of the community, spurring further controversy in a game racked by duplication exploits, a currency crisis, and other issues. It was followed by a fresh wave of negative reviews on Steam, dropping it to a "Mixed" rating despite remaining "Mostly Positive" overall.

In response, New World designer Mike "Berserker Mike" Willette said that the "proper context" wasn't delivered on the reasoning behind the update. Willette wrote that the team's goal is to have a "variety of areas" that players can go to for crafting materials and gear. However, Amazon Game Studios also wants players to feel challenged in return.

"Our vision for end game is multifaceted, and includes Outpost Rush and Wars, Invasions and Arenas, 60+ Corrupted breaches, 60+ Elite POIs and named creatures, and Expeditions, with more to come in the future. There will not be one single source for best in slot and our desire is to encourage players to engage with various activities," Willette wrote.

He added that New World's developers are "actively looking into the activities and reward balance."

The controversy is yet another example of how New World can be a rewarding and yet frustrating experience for players. Our review notes that it saves the "best moments for the endgame," but that you have to "grind like hell" to get them. While New World's growth has leveled off since its explosively popular launch, it retains a large and very active fanbase who seem willing to roll with its more frustrating elements in exchange for its rich and rewarding PvP.

For Marvel fans driven to seek out every shred of MCU story, Guardians of the Galaxy Director James Gunn says the latest Disney ride tie-in is not part of the MCU's canon. On Twitter, Gunn wrote that the ride is, "in its own universe", meaning Marvel fans shouldn't take the story and easter eggs within the ride too seriously.

It’s in its own universe

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) November 20, 2021

Before you laugh, the canonical status of Galaxy's Edge's Star Wars rides has been discussed for years. According to Star Wars Fandom, the Star Tours business, characters, and ships are canon, while the stories that take place on the ride itself are not canon. The events that take place around Galaxy's Edge are also meant to be canon, even though the characters repeat them day after day so all guests can experience it. There's no need for MCU fans to wonder now, as Gunn's tweet can extinguish any questions of the new ride's place in the canon.

The new Guardians ride does include the actors from the MCU's Guardians, and it's coming to Disney World in Florida next summer. It includes the very first Disneyland reverse roller coaster launch, and Disney says it's one of the longest enclosed coasters in the world.

Disneyland already has its own Guardians of the Galaxy ride, called Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout. When the ride opened back in 2017, we said, "the vast majority who go on it will leave with a big grin on their face."

The Guardians are going to be busy over the next couple years. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will premiere on Disney+ next holiday season, and Gunn has said the special does take place within the MCU, after Thor: Love and Thunder, which Chris Pratt is also set to appear in.

Then, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set to hit theaters on May 5, 2023. Last month, Chris Pratt was on the movie's set as the cast and crew was gearing up to start filming. The Guardians could go quiet after these two projects, as Vol. 3 may be the last Guardians film with the current team. We don't know a ton about the movie, but it recently cast Will Poulter as Adam Warlock

For more, check out Marvel's original plan to introduce the Guardians of the Galaxy with four short films.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Matrix fans can look foward to a "beautiful and weird" movie when they sit down to watch The Matrix Resurrections next month, according to one of the film's writers. Co-writer David Mitchell spoke to Greek newspaper To Vima (via IndieWire) about his reactions to seeing the completed film.

"I cannot tell you what this film is about, but I could explain what it is not," Mitchell said. "It's certainly not yet one more sequel, but something autonomous that contains the three Matrix that preceded in a really ingenious way. It's a very beautiful and weird creation. It also achieved a couple of things that we do not see in action films, meaning it subverts the rules of blockbusters."

Mitchell is the author of Cloud Atlas, and he previously worked with The Matrix's Lana Wachowski on the 2012 film adaptation of the book. The two wrote The Matrix Resurrections alongside Aleksandar Hemon.

The Matrix Resurrections has already proven its willingness to be weird, as its website was reverse-engineered to let fans watch highly specific teaser trailers ahead of the movie's official reveal. Plus, certain reveals already have us scratching our heads, wondering about Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's Morpheus, and how Neo is alive. After the trailer was revealed, our biggest takeaway was that The Matrix 4 seems to be calling back to the original film in multiple ways.

We're exactly a month out from the movie's release, as The Matrix 4 will arrive in theaters and on HBO Max on December 22, 2021. While you wait for the film, you can check out the latest poster for The Matrix Resurrections, which shows Neo and Trinity reuniting.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Marvel’s Hawkeye is about to launch on Disney+ as an action-packed TV series – and that's because the original plan for a Hawkeye solo movie was simply too packed with details that needed explaining.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, producer Trinh Tran explained why Hawkeye was eventually turned into a TV series.

“It allows us the creative flexibility to explore the characters a lot more because we have the time and space to do so,” she explained. “We decided to move Hawkeye from the feature side over to the Disney+ side for that very reason.”

The Hawkeye TV series has been in the works for a while, with Marvel boss Kevin Feige confirming that Hawkeye almost had his own solo movie. Now, Marvel producer Trinh Tran has explained why it was so important to turn the project into a TV series. And it’s all about how much story they have to tell.

“The big question was, ‘How are we going to fit all of this into a two-hour timeframe? We have an Avenger whose backstory we haven’t quite had time to explore yet,” she explained. “We also have to introduce a new character [Kat Bishop], as well as allow enough time for them to bond and create that special dynamic that everybody finds so appealing in the comics’.”

Although Kate Bishop (played by Hailee Steinfeld) will be well known to comic book fans, the Hawkeye TV series marks her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. Here, the character is a self-taught archer and Hawkeye fan who draws Clint Barton’s attention by masquerading as Ronin – Hawkeye’s deadly alter-ego who made an appearance in Avengers: Endgame. This show will also introduce Echo, who will be getting her own spin-off show in future.

There’s certainly a lot of backstory to cover, so it makes sense for Marvel to develop Hawkeye into a TV series rather than a movie – even more so considering the phenomenal success of WandaVision and other MCU series.

“In moving it over, it allowed us six hours, three times as much time, which really gave us the creative flexibility we needed to tell the story,” added Tran. “But challenges come with it as well. We have a process at Marvel, and we try to maintain that same process both on the feature side and the TV series side. We treat it as one process that works well for us.”

“But things happen faster on the TV end,” she said. “We have the same amount of time that we normally do on the feature end, but we have three times as much content that we have to deliver in a shorter time span.”

If you need to get caught up before Hawkeye begins this week, we've got a full MCU timeline for the character, and if you want to know what's next, we've got a full list of upcoming MCU projects.

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

Death Stranding developer Kojima Productions has opened a new division in Los Angeles that will be dedicated to movies, TV and music.

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, the new studio will be led by former PlayStation Vice President of business affairs, Riley Russell, who will lead the California team as the developer looks to branch out into a wider range of media.

"The team has as its charter, the goal of expanding the reach and awareness of the properties now under development at Kojima Productions, and to make them even more a part of our popular culture," explains Russell in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz.

"Although we are a global organization, the new business development team will be centred in Los Angeles, CA. We are truly excited and looking forward to working with the very best entertainment talent we can, across all of the entertainment industries."

Kojima Productions was set up by video game designer Hideo Kojima in 2015 following his split with Konami. While the studio has since only produced one game in Death Stranding (or two if you count the subsequent Director's Cut), many fans have been speculating as to what the studio's next project might be.

Since the release of Death Stranding, the rumour mill has churned up a number of different reports surrounding what Kojima is currently working on. From fan speculation earlier this year suggesting that Blue Box Games' Sony exclusive Abandoned might be a secret Kojima game to alternate rumours indicating that he might be working on a completely different title alongside Xbox, there's been a lot to unpick.

In June, Kojima offered some insight into the future during an interview where he stated that he was rethinking his creative process following the events of the COVID-19 pandemic. “In the past, about creating things, I was always thinking about what could happen in society in 5, 10, or 20 years,” Kojima said in the interview.

“It was like predicting the future and adding the entertainment essence. And that’s how I always created. But this time, [the pandemic] came much too soon. The reality came much too soon, especially on Death Stranding. So I’ve changed how I think and create now.”

While in the past, rumours about the what's next for Kojima Productions and the game designer himself have largely revolved around projects from within the games industry, the addition of a new division created to branch out into other realms of media will only likely add to that fire and fans excitement.

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

After pushing back the release date three separate times, Analogue, Inc. has announced today that its handheld game console, the Pocket will begin shipping next month.

As noted in a recent blog post, the device will begin shipping on December 13. Due to unprecedented shipping constraints, those who preordered the handheld can expect their unit to arrive sometime between December 14 - December 30. With the holiday season approaching, Analogue notes that it will hold packages for those that may be away from their home, with those units slated to ship on January 3, 2022.

Pocket is shipping on December 13th. An email has been sent out to everyone who has pre-ordered with details on address updating and more: https://t.co/Y5W6Qg7WVP pic.twitter.com/e7rJwhJikz

— Analogue (@analogue) November 22, 2021

Analogue Pocket was originally announced in 2019. This sleek device allows users to play handheld games released during the fourth, fifth, and sixth generation, such as GameBoy Color cartridges. The Pocket features a 3.5-inch 665ppi LCD display made of Gorilla Glass with an estimated battery life of six hours.

Alongside the ability to play through a huge number of retro handheld games, Analogue, Inc. also announced last month that Pocket will have its own operating system, which will allow you to save games to and from cartridges, among other things.

Analogue Pocket, like many other devices, has been negatively impacted by the global chip shortage. But despite the last two delays for the Pocket coming out of COVID-related impacts, Analogue Pocket will make its 2021 release date, unlike Valve's Steam Deck and Panic's Playdate, which have been delayed into early 2022 due to supply shortages.

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

Sony has finally patented the PlayStation 5's faceplates after threatening a number of other companies with legal action over making them – sparking speculation that it may begin selling its own variant editions.

A patent filed by the publisher can be found on the US States Patent and Trademark Office website, which states that the patent was officially recognized on November 16.

While it's released several official controller colorways for PS5, Sony has yet to offer differently colors of the PS5 itself. The patent has caused speculation that Sony may now be planning to sell individual faceplate replacements, perhaps to match the Midnight Black and Cosmic Red DualSense controllers.

As Sony hasn't officially commented on its reasons for filing the patent (we've contacted the company for comment), it isn't yet clear whether the company has done so for the purpose of producing its own variant faceplates, granting licenses to third-party manufacturers to do the same, or to avoid future legal encounters with companies acting to create their own faceplates without consent from the publisher.

On at least two different occasions since the launch of the PlayStation 5, Sony has threatened companies with legal action over their plans to sell unofficial faceplates to consumers. Last year the company Customize My Plates announced that it was canceling all pre-sales of its custom-ready PS5 faceplates following legal pressure from Sony.

In a statement to IGN, the company explained that its decision had come following discussions with Sony's legal team, where it became apparent that trademarks over the console's removable side panels were too complex an issue for the company to navigate without risking legal infringement.

In a separate dispute, Sony sent out a cease-and-desist letter to Canadian peripherals company Dbrand following its plans to release custom faceplates for the console. Dbrand announced that it was pulling its custom faceplates from sale before stating in a separate statement on the company's subreddit that it would be creating its own range of new PS5 faceplates that were far enough detached from Sony's original design to risk further infringement.

When considering at the time whether or not Sony would still pursue the company over the new faceplates, a statement from Dbrand read: "Probably. The difference this time is that we’ve created an original design for which they have no basis to allege infringement. If they want to try, they'd better be ready to pay our legal fees."

For more on the PlayStation 5, make sure to check out this article posted surrounding the console's first birthday and the lengthy list of first-party exclusive games coming to Sony fans in the future.

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