It’s official – Overwatch 2 will fully replace the original Overwatch at launch. During a Reddit AMA, Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller confirmed that the upcoming Overwatch sequel will replace the original live service when the game launches in October.

“When OW2 launches on Oct 4th it will be a replacement for the current Live Service,” he confirmed. In other words, the original Overwatch will no longer be playable once the new game releases. Instead, players who try to play Overwatch will be prompted to update to Overwatch 2. Blizzard is pursuing this model in order to retain a unified playerbase.

When the sequel was originally announced back in August last year, Blizzard claimed that Overwatch and Overwatch 2 players would be able to play side-by-side when playing the same game modes.

The original plan allowed Overwatch players to play on the brand-new Overwatch 2 maps and as the new heroes. Then-game director Jeff Kaplan said it was a “shared multiplayer environment where no one gets left behind.” In other words, multiplayer PvP would have been possible across the two titles.

Now, it looks as though Overwatch will, in fact, be left behind. Overwatch will essentially roll right into Overwatch 2, which was already planned to retain old legacy content while adding new maps and systems. The fact that Overwatch 2 will be free-to-play means this should be an easy enough transition, since no players need to pay for the new game.

But this change means it looks as though 6v6 Overwatch is a thing of the past, as Overwatch 2 uses a 5v5 model. In fact, it's likely that the transition from 6v6 to 5v5 is the thing that made the two versions of the game incompatible.

“We’re using the term Early Access to indicate that this is just the start of many new things coming to the game,” said Overwatch 2's director, Aaron Keller, on Reddit. “We’re launching with new heroes, maps, and features, but there are even more of these coming seasonally – every 9 weeks. We recently released a roadmap detailing some of this content, with a new hero coming in Seasons 1 and 2, and a new map in Season 2. Additionally, larger pieces of the game that have always been a part of the vision for OW2 will be released to the game as part of the live service, including the launch of the PvE Campaign next year.”

Elsewhere, Blizzard recently clarified what will happen to your unopened loot boxes, while the game’s official reveal event unveiled some brand new details.

Need some help with Overwatch while you’re still able to play it? Check out our guide to the tips, tricks, and secrets of Overwatch, and learn which characters counter each other to power up your games.

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

Hello Games has announced that its long-running space exploration game, No Man’s Sky, will release on Nintendo Switch this October.

Landing October 7, the Switch version of No Man’s Sky will come complete with all 20 updates that have transformed the game since its original PS4 and PC release back in 2016. This version is released in collaboration with Bandai Namco, and will be available both digitally and physically.

“No Man’s Sky on this tiny portable device feels both completely natural and also totally improbable at the same time,” said creative director Sean Murray in a press release. “This has been a real moonshot for our small team. No Man’s Sky is built around procedural generation, which means the console generates everything you see. This makes it so much harder to bring our game to something like the Switch, but I think this team never seems happier than when they are trying to do near-impossible things.

“I honestly feel the No Man’s Sky community has become one of the most welcoming in all of gaming, and it blows my mind just judging from Reddit alone that it’s also one of the largest. For many it is their “forever game”, with over half a billion hours played, across millions of players. We look forward to inviting over 100m Switch owners to join us on our journey.”

The Switch won’t be the only console getting a fresh version of No Man’s Sky on October 7. That same day sees the launch of the physical, boxed copies of No Man’s Sky’s PS5 remastered edition. Containing all 20 updates, this version is the first time a boxed copy of No Man’s Sky has been made available since the 2019 version that came with the Beyond update.

As for what's next for No Man's Sky, you'll need to watch out for its upcoming PSVR2 version.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.

Lilo & Stitch co-director Chris Sanders has admitted that the high praise Frozen earned for its celebration of sisterhood was "frustrating," considering his movie carried that message first.

Disney's animated hit Lilo & Stitch was released worldwide in 2002, 11 years before Frozen debuted in 2013. Both movies explored the relationship between two sisters, prioritizing that bond over a romantic storyline, but Sanders told The New York Times that his movie, which came first, didn't seem to receive as much recognition for that as Frozen.

"To be clear, I think 'Frozen's' great," Sanders asserted in the interview celebrating Lilo & Stitch's 20th anniversary, per Variety. "But it was a little bit frustrating for me because people were like, 'Finally, a nonromantic relationship with these two girls,' and I thought, 'We did that! That has absolutely been done before.'"

Lilo & Stitch explores the bond between a young girl and her older sister Nani through the Hawaiian concept of Ohana (family) as they grapple with an outlaw space alien that comes into their lives, while Frozen focuses on the relationship between sisters Anna and Elsa and how their love for one another can help them to overcome the challenges they face.

"When [Lilo & Stitch] came out, that's what a lot of critics talked about," Lilo & Stitch producer Clark Spender added, referring to the animated movie's nuanced depictions of family relationships. "Those moments that were based in reality in a way that people could see themselves in, and it didn't feel like they were cartoon characters."

When Lilo & Stitch was released in 2002, it grossed $237 million at the box office on a budget of $80 million. Its success led to video games, sequels, spinoffs, and an animated series. The Disney film is also said to be getting the live-action adaptation treatment, though not much has been said on that since reports circulated that John M. Chu was in talks to direct.

Frozen hit theaters in 2013 and received praise for subverting expectations and telling a much more modern type of Disney story. The movie broke box office records for an animated movie and crossed over the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office. Frozen has since become a franchise of its own, with animated shorts, featurettes, and a feature-length sequel.

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

Back in March 2022, Destiny 2 YouTubers were hit with fake DMCA takedowns. Now, Bungie has found the culprit… and it’s on a warpath worth as much as $7.6 million.

A lawsuit filed by Bungie yesterday (via The Game Post) claims that Nicholas Minor, a YouTuber going by the name Lord Nazo, is responsible for the fake DMCA notices, issuing them to fellow YouTubers after he himself was hit with a real DMCA notice from Bungie.

“Ninety-six times, Minor sent DMCA takedown notices purportedly on behalf of Bungie,” the developer explained. “[He identified] himself as Bungie’s ‘brand protection’ vendor in order to have YouTube instruct innocent creators to delete their Destiny 2 videos or face copyright strikes, disrupting Bungie’s community of players, streamers, and fans.”

If that wasn’t bad enough, it looks as though Lord Nazo was heavily involved in community discussions surrounding the DMCA takedowns, which were at the time, assumed to be from Bungie.

“All the while, ‘Lord Nazo’ was taking part in the community discussion of ‘Bungie’s’ takedowns, spreading disinformation,” the studio said. “This caused Bungie significant reputational and economic damage, for obvious reasons.”

Minor’s original (and real) DMCA notice was issued by Bungie after he uploaded the soundtrack for the Destiny expansion The Taken King to his YouTube channel. Minor allegedly refused to remove his videos, leaving them online until they were eventually removed by YouTube in January. Minor allegedly retaliated by registering a new Gmail address, designed to mimic the email addresses of employees of CSC Global, the company who enforces Bungie's copyright. He then began issuing fake DMCA notices to Destiny 2 creators.

“The Destiny community was bewildered and upset, believing that Bungie had reneged on a promise to allow players to build their own streaming communities and YouTube channels on Destiny 2 content,” explains Bungie in the lawsuit. “Destiny community members were also misled to believe that Bungie’s brand protection agent was also fraudulent, causing confusion among users as to the authenticity of legitimate DMCA notices. Bungie had to devote significant internal resources to addressing it and helping its players restore their videos and channels.”

Bungie is now suing Minor for the staggering sum of $7.6 million – a total of $150,000 for each of the works implicated in the fraudulent DMCA takedown notices.

Just days ago, cheat company Elite Boss Tech agreed to pay Bungie $13.5 million in damages to end a copyright infringement lawsuit. Meanwhile, Sony’s planned acquisition of Bungie is being probed by the FTC.

Need some help with Destiny 2? Check out our guide to the Destiny Content Vault to find out which strikes and raids have been vaulted, as well as our guide to the latest expansion The Witch Queen.

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

Before Tom Holland became Spider-Man, it looks as though Ms. Marvel star Matt Lintz was in with a shot at becoming the MCU's web head.

During an interview with Insider, the 21-year-old actor revealed that he was originally in the running to become the MCU’s Spider-Man.

“I was in the top for Spider-Man, which eventually went to this guy, Tom Holland,” he quipped. “I don't know if you know who he is.”

Holland eventually debuted the MCU’s Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War, going on to star in a trilogy of MCU-connected Spider-Man movies – Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home.

But while he missed out on becoming Peter Parker, Lintz was far from done with superheroes. He now stars in Marvel’s new TV series, Ms. Marvel, as Bruno Carrelli – Kamala Khan’s best friend. Debuting just a couple of weeks ago on Disney+ the show introduces new hero Kamala Khan, played by Iman Vellani.

The pair even had a brush with Tom Holland while they were filming. “It was cool because he ended up coming to one of our sets one day and I just got to speak to him, and I look up to him in so many ways,” Lintz said. “He's such an amazing person and an actor and it seems like life has come full circle.”

Both Ms. Marvel and Spider-Man: No Way Home were filmed in Atlanta around the same time, with Holland visiting the set to pay his respects to his new Marvel co-stars. But he also managed to spoil the big twist in Spider-Man: No Way Home… because of course he did.

“He was like, ‘What’s your show even about?’” said Vellani. “I was like, ‘What's Spider-Man about?’ He fully shows me a photo of him with Tobey Maguire!”

“I get we’re both in Marvel,” she added. “But I didn’t need to know that before it happened.”

Read more about Ms. Marvel with IGN’s review, as well as our look at the entire cast of the new Disney+ show, and how it fits into Marvel’s Phase 4.

Ms. Marvel stars Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan alongside Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Saagar Shaikh, Laurel Marsden, Azhar Usman, Rish Shah, Arian Moayed, and Alysia Reiner.

Bisha K. Ali created the series based on the Marvel comic books, with Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah leading the directing team.

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

As Overwatch 2 approaches (PvP at least) there are some lingering questions over how the transfer from the first Overwatch to the sequel will occur, including how loot boxes will transfer over. Rest assured, for anyone still hoarding their loot boxes, those contents will transfer over to Overwatch 2.

In a RedditAMA, someone asked whether loot boxes will carry over to Overwatch 2. However, it should be noted that Blizzard is doing away with loot boxes completely for the sequel. However, for anyone still keeping their loot boxes, those will be opened automatically and their contents will be transferred to your account in the sequel.

"We'll share a more detailed explanation on all of these topics before Overwatch 2 goes live in October. To give you a quick answer now though, those existing currencies (credits, OWL tokens, and competitive points) will come with you into Overwatch 2," writes Overwatch commercial lead Jon Spector.

Spector added that any unopened loot boxes will be automatically opened and its contents automatically entered into a player's account.

The automatic transfer makes sense given loot boxes will simply cease to exist in the game. And given that Overwatch 2 will be free-to-play, it seems that everyone playing Overwatch 1 will be automatically transitioned to the sequel with their accounts intact.

When Overwatch 2 is released on October 4, 2022, as a free-to-play game, it will ditch the first game's loot boxes in favor of a battle pass system. The battle pass will let players unlock cosmetics, which can also be purchased through the in-game store.

Blizzard also shared a roadmap that includes when additional heroes and new battle passes will become available.

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

As Overwatch 2 approaches (PvP at least) there are some lingering questions over how the transfer from the first Overwatch to the sequel will occur, including how loot boxes will transfer over. Rest assured, for anyone still hoarding their loot boxes, those contents will transfer over to Overwatch 2.

In a RedditAMA, someone asked whether loot boxes will carry over to Overwatch 2. However, it should be noted that Blizzard is doing away with loot boxes completely for the sequel. However, for anyone still keeping their loot boxes, those will be opened automatically and their contents will be transferred to your account in the sequel.

"We'll share a more detailed explanation on all of these topics before Overwatch 2 goes live in October. To give you a quick answer now though, those existing currencies (credits, OWL tokens, and competitive points) will come with you into Overwatch 2," writes Overwatch commercial lead Jon Spector.

Spector added that any unopened loot boxes will be automatically opened and its contents automatically entered into a player's account.

The automatic transfer makes sense given loot boxes will simply cease to exist in the game. And given that Overwatch 2 will be free-to-play, it seems that everyone playing Overwatch 1 will be automatically transitioned to the sequel with their accounts intact.

When Overwatch 2 is released on October 4, 2022, as a free-to-play game, it will ditch the first game's loot boxes in favor of a battle pass system. The battle pass will let players unlock cosmetics, which can also be purchased through the in-game store.

Blizzard also shared a roadmap that includes when additional heroes and new battle passes will become available.

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

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Yellowjackets!

Yellowjackets showrunner Johnathon Lisco has shut down a major fan theory.

During an interview with Variety, Yellowjackets creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson explained that they weren’t expecting all the wild Reddit theories about their show… when Lisco dropped a bombshell: One of them was almost true.

“I can tell you something that they guessed that we chose not to do,” he said before turning to Lyle and Nickerson. “Can I tell them? Or shall we tell them?”

Yellowjackets tells the story of a New Jersey high school soccer team that’s involved in a plane crash in 1996 while on their way to Seattle for a national tournament.

The show tells the story of what happened in 1996 as well as their current lives in 2021.

“Well, we did entertain the notion that Adam was basically Javi coming back to torment Shauna in a way, or torment the Yellowjackets,” he said. “We fairly early on dispensed with that idea. It did not feel organically right to us. It didn’t feel to deliver on the promise of what we actually wanted to dramatize with her affair and their marriage.”

That’s right – Adam and Javi are not the same person… but they almost were.

“We chose not to, but some people called it and were, I think, eager to see it happen,” he said. “Then it creates the scenario where, ‘Well, did we disappoint those people or did we delight them?’”

Theories about Adam/Javi began to appear on the Yellowjackets Reddit as early as November 2021, with some fans theorizing that they were actually the same person. The theory suggests that Javi (Luciano Leroux), the younger brother of Travis in 1996, grows up holding a grudge against those surviving Yellowjackets.

Instead, Adam turned out to be just a regular guy who was falling in love with Shauna… only to end up being stabbed to death by her because she thought he was blackmailing the Yellowjackets over a dark secret.

“It felt infinitely more tragic to us,” said Lyle. “It being Javi come back is fun in a way, but it feels a little mustache-twirly, which is not necessarily the place we want to go.”

Read more about Yellowjackets as IGN unravels all the major mysteries of the season finale.

Yellowjackets stars Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Ella Purnell, Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci, Steven Krueger, and Warren Cole. Their younger counterparts are played by Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sophie Thatcher, Sammi Hanratty, and Jack Depew.

Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson created the hit show with Johnathon Lisco as showrunner.

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

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Yellowjackets!

Yellowjackets showrunner Johnathon Lisco has shut down a major fan theory.

During an interview with Variety, Yellowjackets creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson explained that they weren’t expecting all the wild Reddit theories about their show… when Lisco dropped a bombshell: One of them was almost true.

“I can tell you something that they guessed that we chose not to do,” he said before turning to Lyle and Nickerson. “Can I tell them? Or shall we tell them?”

Yellowjackets tells the story of a New Jersey high school soccer team that’s involved in a plane crash in 1996 while on their way to Seattle for a national tournament.

The show tells the story of what happened in 1996 as well as their current lives in 2021.

“Well, we did entertain the notion that Adam was basically Javi coming back to torment Shauna in a way, or torment the Yellowjackets,” he said. “We fairly early on dispensed with that idea. It did not feel organically right to us. It didn’t feel to deliver on the promise of what we actually wanted to dramatize with her affair and their marriage.”

That’s right – Adam and Javi are not the same person… but they almost were.

“We chose not to, but some people called it and were, I think, eager to see it happen,” he said. “Then it creates the scenario where, ‘Well, did we disappoint those people or did we delight them?’”

Theories about Adam/Javi began to appear on the Yellowjackets Reddit as early as November 2021, with some fans theorizing that they were actually the same person. The theory suggests that Javi (Luciano Leroux), the younger brother of Travis in 1996, grows up holding a grudge against those surviving Yellowjackets.

Instead, Adam turned out to be just a regular guy who was falling in love with Shauna… only to end up being stabbed to death by her because she thought he was blackmailing the Yellowjackets over a dark secret.

“It felt infinitely more tragic to us,” said Lyle. “It being Javi come back is fun in a way, but it feels a little mustache-twirly, which is not necessarily the place we want to go.”

Read more about Yellowjackets as IGN unravels all the major mysteries of the season finale.

Yellowjackets stars Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Ella Purnell, Juliette Lewis, Christina Ricci, Steven Krueger, and Warren Cole. Their younger counterparts are played by Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sophie Thatcher, Sammi Hanratty, and Jack Depew.

Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson created the hit show with Johnathon Lisco as showrunner.

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

Thor: Love and Thunder star Chris Hemsworth likes the film’s villain. A lot.

During an interview with IGN, the 38-year-old Marvel star gushed over Christian Bale’s performance as Gorr the God Butcher in the upcoming Thor sequel. So, what makes it so special?

“Everything you'd imagine [Christian Bale] would bring to it,” he said. “Nuance and complexity and truth, levity. He's one of my favorite actors working, and I was so excited he agreed to jump on board here. What's he's done is that he's definitely one of my favorite villains in the Marvel universe.”

Gorr the God Butcher is a relatively new addition to the comic books. In fact, he’s only been slaying gods since his first appearance in Thor: God of Thunder #1 in 2012.

Driven to madness by the death of his wife and children, Gorr seeks vengeance against the gods, deciding that gods who see suffering but refuse to help simply don’t deserve to live. And so begins his quest to murder every god in the known universe.

Not exactly a light-hearted kind of guy.

"He's hugely intimidating and destructive, but the right amount of heart and truth there and relatable pain that we can attune to or understand ourselves,” said Hemsworth. “So, it makes it all the more complex when you're trying to figure out what everyone's motivations are."

Of course, with Natalie Portman harnessing the power of lightning in the recent trailer, it’s unclear which god Gorr will be hunting down in Thor: Love and Thunder. Either way, it sounds as though Thor will be facing him head-on... and that sounds like quite a fight.

Here’s the Thor: Love and Thunder official synopsis:

The film finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. But his retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods.

To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi), and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.

Thor: Love and Thunder will release on July 8.

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