There's trouble in the world of Percy Jackson, and it's not just caused by the Lightning Thief.

Back in April, the upcoming Disney+ reboot series cast The Adam Project star Walker Scobell as the protagonist Percy Jackson. Late last week that casting was followed by a Variety report about two other key characters. Aryan Simhadri was cast as Grover and Leah Sava Jeffries joined as Annabeth, rounding out most of the series' primary cast.

In the original books, Annabeth is the daughter of the Greek goddess Athena. She's a warrior who trains Percy early on, later becoming friends and then more than that as the series progresses. In the previous film adaptation, she was played by Alexandra Daddario.

There's been some backlash in the fan community to Jeffries casting as Annabeth, notably for the fact that she's Black. In an Instagram video posted earlier today, the 12-year-old actress said that people angry with her casting had gotten her TikTok account banned.

In response to the backlash, Percy Jackson creator Rick Riordan released a statement on his personal website. He noted that most of the response was positive and condemned those that have issues with Jeffries in the role.

"If you have a problem with this casting, however, take it up with me," said Riordan. "You have no one else to blame. Whatever else you take from this post, we should be able to agree that bullying and harassing a child online is inexcusably wrong. As strong as Leah is, as much as we have discussed the potential for this kind of reaction and the intense pressure this role will bring, the negative comments she has received online are out of line. They need to stop. Now."

Riordan said that the casting for the series was always intended to be open and inclusive. He called the overall casting process "long, intense, massive and exhaustive." Riordan insisted that Jeffries was the best actress for the role.

He went further, dismissing claims from those who said Annebeth had to be white to match up with the books. Riordan explained that those claims have come "from across the political spectrum, right and left," but he denounced them all the same. "You are judging her appropriateness for this role solely and exclusively on how she looks. Friends, that is racism," he stated.

He called on fans to remember the themes of the Percy Jackson books. "The core message of Percy Jackson has always been that difference is strength. There is power in plurality. The things that distinguish us from one another are often our marks of individual greatness. You should never judge someone by how well they fit your preconceived notions. That neurodivergent kid who has failed out of six schools, for instance, may well be the son of Poseidon. Anyone can be a hero. If you don’t get that, if you’re still upset about the casting of this marvelous trio, then it doesn’t matter how many times you have read the books. You didn’t learn anything from them," Riordan stated.

This is not the first time that actors or actresses of color in a Disney project, or any project with a strong fan community, have gotten backlash. Both John Boyega and Kelly Marie-Tran experienced mistreatment from fans and potentially Disney itself. The Flash actress Candice Patton has received online harassment for years, ever since she was originally cast as Iris West in the series. Eventually, the CW responded in an official statement on Twitter. And way back in 2012, Amandla Stenberg faced a great deal of harassment for playing Rue in The Hunger Games. She was 13 at the time.

The Percy Jackson reboot was announced for Disney+ back in 2020, alongside a host of other shows and films. That included most of the Marvel Studios shows, including The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and the upcoming Ms. Marvel. It also included Obi-Wan Kenobi, the series that will reunite Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen. That show is airing on Disney+ on May 27, 2022.

Mike Williams is a Freelance Writer for IGN.
Image Credit: Disney

There's trouble in the world of Percy Jackson, and it's not just caused by the Lightning Thief.

Back in April, the upcoming Disney+ reboot series cast The Adam Project star Walker Scobell as the protagonist Percy Jackson. Late last week that casting was followed by a Variety report about two other key characters. Aryan Simhadri was cast as Grover and Leah Sava Jeffries joined as Annabeth, rounding out most of the series' primary cast.

In the original books, Annabeth is the daughter of the Greek goddess Athena. She's a warrior who trains Percy early on, later becoming friends and then more than that as the series progresses. In the previous film adaptation, she was played by Alexandra Daddario.

There's been some backlash in the fan community to Jeffries casting as Annabeth, notably for the fact that she's Black. In an Instagram video posted earlier today, the 12-year-old actress said that people angry with her casting had gotten her TikTok account banned.

In response to the backlash, Percy Jackson creator Rick Riordan released a statement on his personal website. He noted that most of the response was positive and condemned those that have issues with Jeffries in the role.

"If you have a problem with this casting, however, take it up with me," said Riordan. "You have no one else to blame. Whatever else you take from this post, we should be able to agree that bullying and harassing a child online is inexcusably wrong. As strong as Leah is, as much as we have discussed the potential for this kind of reaction and the intense pressure this role will bring, the negative comments she has received online are out of line. They need to stop. Now."

Riordan said that the casting for the series was always intended to be open and inclusive. He called the overall casting process "long, intense, massive and exhaustive." Riordan insisted that Jeffries was the best actress for the role.

He went further, dismissing claims from those who said Annebeth had to be white to match up with the books. Riordan explained that those claims have come "from across the political spectrum, right and left," but he denounced them all the same. "You are judging her appropriateness for this role solely and exclusively on how she looks. Friends, that is racism," he stated.

He called on fans to remember the themes of the Percy Jackson books. "The core message of Percy Jackson has always been that difference is strength. There is power in plurality. The things that distinguish us from one another are often our marks of individual greatness. You should never judge someone by how well they fit your preconceived notions. That neurodivergent kid who has failed out of six schools, for instance, may well be the son of Poseidon. Anyone can be a hero. If you don’t get that, if you’re still upset about the casting of this marvelous trio, then it doesn’t matter how many times you have read the books. You didn’t learn anything from them," Riordan stated.

This is not the first time that actors or actresses of color in a Disney project, or any project with a strong fan community, have gotten backlash. Both John Boyega and Kelly Marie-Tran experienced mistreatment from fans and potentially Disney itself. The Flash actress Candice Patton has received online harassment for years, ever since she was originally cast as Iris West in the series. Eventually, the CW responded in an official statement on Twitter. And way back in 2012, Amandla Stenberg faced a great deal of harassment for playing Rue in The Hunger Games. She was 13 at the time.

The Percy Jackson reboot was announced for Disney+ back in 2020, alongside a host of other shows and films. That included most of the Marvel Studios shows, including The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and the upcoming Ms. Marvel. It also included Obi-Wan Kenobi, the series that will reunite Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen. That show is airing on Disney+ on May 27, 2022.

Mike Williams is a Freelance Writer for IGN.
Image Credit: Disney

With the announcement of EA and FIFA's split, FIFA will work with other third-party developers to launch new soccer games, and non-simulation games are already in the works and are planned to release in Q3 2022.

After almost 30 years, EA will no longer release soccer games under the FIFA banner starting in 2023. EA cites the high price tag and creative restrictions as reasons for the split, but FIFA will now work with other developers to keep its name in the video game sphere.

"I can assure you that the only authentic, real game that has the FIFA name will be the best one available for gamers and football [soccer] fans. The FIFA name is the only global, original title. FIFA 23, FIFA 24, FIFA 25 and FIFA 26, and so on - the constant is the FIFA name and it will remain forever and remain the best," says FIFA president Gianni Infantino in a statement.

He continued, "The interactive gaming and esports sector is on a path of unrivalled growth and diversification. FIFA’s strategy is to ensure we can make the most of all future options and ensure a wide range of products and opportunities for gamers, fans, member associations and partners."

Additionally, EA will still be able to publish FIFA 23 later this year as the company was given an extension for the simulation soccer category only. This allows other studios and publishers to create different kinds of games using the FIFA name.

Going forward, EA's FIFA series will now be called EA Sports FC after it releases FIFA 23 later this year. EA Sports vice president David Jackson clarifies that only the name and World cup content will change in its future soccer games and that it has already signed deals with teams and leagues, including the Premier League and UEFA.

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

After almost 30 years, EA Sports and FIFA are parting ways and EA will chart a new future under the name, EA Sports FC. Aside from the name change, the lack of a licensing deal means there could be some changes to the tried-and-true FIFA formula.

In an interview with the BBC, EA Sports vice president David Jackson says that the deal with FIFA wasn’t just for the name, but included a set of licensing restrictions that EA no longer has to abide by. This could free the company to explore more interactive and fan-focused gameplay content.

“Under the licensing conventions that we had agreed with Fifa 10 years ago, there were some restrictions that weren’t going to allow us to be able to build those experiences for players,” Jackson says.

Those experiences include both watching and creating content, possibly similar to how players can watch screenings of trailers in Fortnite and create custom modes and maps.

The deal with FIFA is set to end partially because of money. It was previously reported that FIFA upped the price for its license to over $1 billion per four-year World Cup cycle and Jackson admits money was a factor in the decision to rename the franchise, though isn’t the full reason behind the split.

“Money plays a critical role in most negotiations, but the reason we are doing this is to create the very best experiences we can for both players and partners. As part of that you consider whether or not your investment in one place is better or worse than an investment in another.”

While EA will lose the rights to the FIFA name, the company has signed up 19.000 athletes, 700 teams, 100 stadiums, and over 30 leagues including the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, and UEFA, so players can still expect real team names and players.

There will be no World Cup content every four years, but the main leagues and players will remain. EA is set to have a financial earnings report later today where we’ll likely hear more on EA’s plans for EA Sports FC.

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

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, starring John Krasinski, will reportedly conclude its run with the upcoming fourth season, while Amazon eyes a spinoff centered around another character.

According to Deadline, Krasinski had committed to four seasons of Jack Ryan when he signed on for the titular role in the Prime Video action series. Krasinski has already filmed the third season, which does not yet have a release date, and production is now said to be underway on the fourth season. After that, there are reportedly no plans to continue the series.

While Jack Ryan is on its way out, Amazon is said to be eyeing a potential spinoff series headlined by Michael Peña who will reportedly star as Domingo "Ding" Chavez, a major character from the Tom Clancy literacy universe, having appeared in 22 novels. His character will be introduced in Jack Ryan Season 3 before he takes a more significant role in Season 4.

It sounds like the next two seasons of the flagship series will help to set the stage for Peña's character to potentially get his own independent series, though the spinoff is only believed to be in the very early stages of development right now, with very few details firmed up at this stage as the focus remains on wrapping up Jack Ryan with Season 3 and Season 4.

Season 3 finds Jack "on the run and in a race against time," per the synopsis. "Jack is wrongly implicated in a larger conspiracy and suddenly finds himself a fugitive out in the cold. Wanted by both the CIA and an international rogue faction that he has uncovered, Jack is forced underground, crisscrossing Europe, trying to stay alive and prevent a massive global conflict."

Jack Ryan Season 2 premiered on Prime Video in October 2019. IGN called the series "an easy binge" with "just the right amount of movie-level action and another solid performance from leading man John Krasinski," but noted that "the by-the-numbers story and lack of character development" left the season feeling "unworthy" of its all-star lineup of actors.

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

After more than 20 years on the market, Apple is finally discontinuing the iPod, with the current 7th Generation Touch the last model to ever be released.

The tech giant announced the iPod's discontinuation on its website, saying that the MP3 player is essentially redundant amid Apple's range of other products that are capable of playing music, including the iPhone, iPad, and HomePod Mini, to name a few.

The iPod Touch will be available at several retailers as well as Apple's direct website, while supplies last.

“Music has always been part of our core at Apple, and bringing it to hundreds of millions of users in the way iPod did impacted more than just the music industry — it also redefined how music is discovered, listened to, and shared,” Apple Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing Greg Joswiak said in a recent press release.

The first iPod was released in October 2001 and has since gone through 26 different iterations with the most recent model, the seventh generation iPod Touch released on May 28, 2019.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Monster Hunter Rise will soon have more official Nintendo Switch Pro Controllers than any other franchise as Capcom has announced a new design based on the incoming Sunbreak DLC.

Capcom revealed the new dragon-like Malzeno design in its latest Monster Hunter Digital Event and confirmed the Pro Controller will launch alongside the Sunbreak expansion on June 30.

The Malzeno version is silver and black with the dragon coming in from the left. Compare that with the gold and black design of the previous Monster Hunter Rise controller, which sees another monster coming in from the right.

This #NintendoSwitch Pro Controller featuring a Malzeno design launches alongside the massive DLC expansion Monster Hunter Rise: #Sunbreak on 30/06! pic.twitter.com/i2JmSrblMc

— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) May 10, 2022

The controller doesn't appear to be available to preorder anywhere at the time of writing though will likely be available as normal through gaming retailers and Nintendo's website. Though a price hasn't been confirmed, the controller will likely retail for the standard limited edition price of $74.99 / £69.99.

This is only the fifth limited edition Pro Controller to be released in the Switch's five year history, joining Splatoon 2, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and the previous Monster Hunter Rise version as the only games with special designs.

Monster Hunter Rise launched in March 2021 and its $39.99 / £35.99 DLC was announced a few months later in September.

In our 8/10 review, IGN said: "Monster Hunter Rise mixes classic Monster Hunter ideas with some of World’s best improvements and a whole bunch of clever new mechanics of its own."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

EA has announced that the FIFA series will officially change its name to EA Sports FC after this year's FIFA 23, ending what will be an almost three-decade partnership with football's governing body.

Announced in a blog post, EA Sports said the name change would take place after the next FIFA game, with more information coming about the first EA Sports FC in July 2023. "This new independent platform will bring fresh opportunity – to innovate, create and evolve," reads a message from Group GM of EA Sports, Cam Weber.

Weber made clear that despite dropping the name license, EA Sports FC will keep FIFA's league, club and player licenses, including "19,000+ players, 700+ teams, 100+ stadiums and 30 leagues". EA included a number of messages of support for the move from the English Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, European football organization UEFA, and more. FIFA itself has not released a statement at time of writing.

Speaking to the BBC, EA Sports vice president David Jackson explained what wouldn't be in EA Sports FC: "In terms of things that they'll miss, players will notice only two things: The name and a World Cup piece of content every four years. Outside of that, very little will change about the things they know, and love about the current FIFA products."

Join The Club
Learn more July 2023#EASPORTSFC

More details: https://t.co/3fi6YPOH2G pic.twitter.com/75FLzjOapN

— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) May 10, 2022

Weber also promised to "expand to new authentic experiences that bring joy, inclusivity and immersion to a global community of fans." More details will be announced on that "in the coming months."

The next and final FIFA will include "more features, game modes, World Cup content, clubs, leagues, competitions, and players than any FIFA title before", and Weber says EA Sports FC will receive more information in July 2023.

EA had previously said it was exploring the idea of renaming the series, and went onto trademark the EA Sports FC name, but this is the first time it's been officially confirmed. Previous reports have suggested that FIFA wants to charge EA $1 billion every four years to use the name.

EA CEO Andrew Wilson has reportedly said that the only value the FIFA name offers EA outside of a World Cup year is the "four letters on the front of the box." He apparently added, "I would argue – and this may be a little biased – that the FIFA brand has more meaning as a video game than it does a governing body of soccer."

FIFA is the international governing body for association football, but has been mired in controversy for many years, including major corruption scandals. It's not clear whether FIFA will grant its license to other companies following the move.

The FIFA series is one of the most successful gaming franchises on Earth, both in terms of sales and after-sale revenue – it will be fascinating to see if a change in brand name affects that in future.

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.

Intel has once again delayed the release window of its highly-anticipated first-generation Arc desktop graphics cards. While the CPU maker still plans to release the GPUs in Q2, most of the Arc series desktop cards won't launch until later this summer.

Intel VP and General Manager for the Visual Compute Group, Lisa Pearce, wrote that Intel plans to launch its first desktop GPUs in China with some caveats. Only the entry-level Arc 3 graphics cards will be released, and those components will only be made available to Chinese system builders and OEMs before it expands to self-builders and a worldwide market.

The more powerful Arc 5 and Arc 7 desktop cards are anticipated to launch "later this summer," according to Intel.

Intel also shared more information on laptops featuring its Arc graphics cards. Currently, its laptop chips are exclusive to Samsung, with South Korea the only market selling the laptops, but Intel is hoping to expand to other manufacturers and markets soon.

According to Intel, software development and supply chain issues are the reasons for these delays. The tech giant is looking to get laptops with the Arc 3 GPU out "ASAP" and is working closely with several manufacturers, including Asus, HP, and Lenovo, to make these products.

This news comes a few months after Intel announced a roadmap for its GPUs, noting the Arc series will launch first on laptops in Q1, then desktops in Q2, followed by workstation products in Q3. With the desktop GPUs not expected to arrive in western markets until at least the end of summer, it will be interesting to see how the supply will fare for the Arc series. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said last week that he expects the chip shortage to last until 2024.

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

HBO has released the first teaser trailer for Westworld Season 4, announcing that the next chapter of the dystopian sci-fi drama will arrive on screens in June.

Variety confirmed that HBO planned to release the trailer for the upcoming fourth season of Westworld as an "easter egg for fans to uncover," and it didn't take long for the unlisted video on HBO's YouTube channel to be found and shared on social media. The trailer also announced that the eight-episode season will start airing on HBO and HBO Max on June 26.

A perfect day is here.#Westworld Season 4 premieres June 26 on @hbomax. pic.twitter.com/UMqB8XsIdg

— HBO (@HBO) May 10, 2022

Inconspicuously titled "It doesn't look like anything to me," the teaser drops us into a dystopian New York where the streets are filled with familiar faces and the mood is melancholy as Lou Reed's classic "Perfect Day" plays out over the footage, offering glimpses of Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, Ed Harris, Thandiwe Newton, and many more.

The third season of Westworld inspired plenty of questions as the series took the A.I. uprising out of the robotic theme parks and into the real world where android Dolores found herself in the crosshairs of Rehoboam, the world's most advanced A.I., secretly in place to impose order on human affairs by careful manipulation and prediction of the future.

Westworld was created by master storytellers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, who also serve as executive producers on the series alongside Alison Schapker, Denise Thé, J.J. Abrams, Athena Wickham, Richard J. Lewis, and Ben Stephenson. The sci-fi drama was renewed for a fourth season in April 2020, just under two weeks out from its third season finale.

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