Many Diablo fans wanted to see the Necromancer added to the latest entry in the series, but few expected the powerful sorcerer to make the initial cut. Nevertheless, the Necromancer will be part of the anticipated sequel's initial class lineup, joining the Barbarian, Sorceress, Rogue, and Druid.

Speaking with IGN in a new interview for Summer of Gaming 2022, Diablo 4 developers Joe Shely and Rod Fergusson discussed the decision to add the Necromancer — a class that topped fan polls but seemed unlikely to be added given that two caster classes had already been revealed.

In explaining the choice, Shely says the Necromancer "works so well in the Diablo gameplay," and that the Necromancer fits well with the theme of "returning to the darkness" of the original game and its sequel. In addition, Blizzard feels the Necromancer hits at other elements the team wants to include, such as "crunchy mechanics" and the "faster paced action combat of Diablo 3."

"We've made innovations across the board, but when we are looking at the classes, we wanted to make sure that we were hitting those classes that players have loved throughout the franchise and always want to experience. And necromancer is front center," Shely says.

Fergusson says that the Necromancer is his favorite class of the bunch.

"[I]t really speaks to that idea that return to darkness that Diablo 4 represents, that idea of the tone of [Diablo], as Joseph has talked about, that idea of working with the cult and dark magic and summoning the undead. And so, it really leans into that feeling of it."

The Necromancer was first introduced in Diablo 2 along with the Amazon, Barbarian, Sorceress, and Paladin (the Druid and Assassin were later added in the Lord of Destruction expansion). His skills included the ability to raise corpses (and blow them up) as well as debilitating status effects.

With the addition of the Necromancer, Diablo 4 is increasingly filled with Diablo 2 alumni, which ties in with Blizzard's determination to get back to basics. But the class won't be a complete retread. In Diablo 4, the Necromancer will get the "Book of the Dead," which makes it possible to turn skeletons into skirmishes, mages, and priests. The Iron Golem will also be making a return.

"Now you can have skeletal warriors and there's up to three different kinds. You can have skeletal mages and there's three different kinds. You can different golems, there's three different kinds," Fergusson says. "And so how do you choose to your play style? Do I want to play aggressive? Do I play defensive? In fact, there's a way to sacrifice all your minions to just make yourself more powerful. So you can just be this sort of Uber, dark magic necromancer that he doesn't even summon anything, but is able to use blood magic to destroy everything on the battlefield."

Elsewhere in the interview, Shely and Fergusson touch on character customization and loot while also shedding additional light on the endgame. It's all part of a run-up to what will hopefully be a 2023 release date for the sequel. after multiple delays.

Impatient fans can also check out Diablo Immortal, which recently became available on mobile devices, but has been marred by a heavy reliance on microtransactions.

For lots more info on events season, check out everything announced at Summer Games Fest 2022 and the Microsoft's Xbox and Bethesda Showcase, as well as IGN's full Summer of Gaming hub.

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.

Many Diablo fans wanted to see the Necromancer added to the latest entry in the series, but few expected the powerful sorcerer to make the initial cut. Nevertheless, the Necromancer will be part of the anticipated sequel's initial class lineup, joining the Barbarian, Sorceress, Rogue, and Druid.

Speaking with IGN in a new interview for Summer of Gaming 2022, Diablo 4 developers Joe Shely and Rod Fergusson discussed the decision to add the Necromancer — a class that topped fan polls but seemed unlikely to be added given that two caster classes had already been revealed.

In explaining the choice, Shely says the Necromancer "works so well in the Diablo gameplay," and that the Necromancer fits well with the theme of "returning to the darkness" of the original game and its sequel. In addition, Blizzard feels the Necromancer hits at other elements the team wants to include, such as "crunchy mechanics" and the "faster paced action combat of Diablo 3."

"We've made innovations across the board, but when we are looking at the classes, we wanted to make sure that we were hitting those classes that players have loved throughout the franchise and always want to experience. And necromancer is front center," Shely says.

Fergusson says that the Necromancer is his favorite class of the bunch.

"[I]t really speaks to that idea that return to darkness that Diablo 4 represents, that idea of the tone of [Diablo], as Joseph has talked about, that idea of working with the cult and dark magic and summoning the undead. And so, it really leans into that feeling of it."

The Necromancer was first introduced in Diablo 2 along with the Amazon, Barbarian, Sorceress, and Paladin (the Druid and Assassin were later added in the Lord of Destruction expansion). His skills included the ability to raise corpses (and blow them up) as well as debilitating status effects.

With the addition of the Necromancer, Diablo 4 is increasingly filled with Diablo 2 alumni, which ties in with Blizzard's determination to get back to basics. But the class won't be a complete retread. In Diablo 4, the Necromancer will get the "Book of the Dead," which makes it possible to turn skeletons into skirmishes, mages, and priests. The Iron Golem will also be making a return.

"Now you can have skeletal warriors and there's up to three different kinds. You can have skeletal mages and there's three different kinds. You can different golems, there's three different kinds," Fergusson says. "And so how do you choose to your play style? Do I want to play aggressive? Do I play defensive? In fact, there's a way to sacrifice all your minions to just make yourself more powerful. So you can just be this sort of Uber, dark magic necromancer that he doesn't even summon anything, but is able to use blood magic to destroy everything on the battlefield."

Elsewhere in the interview, Shely and Fergusson touch on character customization and loot while also shedding additional light on the endgame. It's all part of a run-up to what will hopefully be a 2023 release date for the sequel. after multiple delays.

Impatient fans can also check out Diablo Immortal, which recently became available on mobile devices, but has been marred by a heavy reliance on microtransactions.

For lots more info on events season, check out everything announced at Summer Games Fest 2022 and the Microsoft's Xbox and Bethesda Showcase, as well as IGN's full Summer of Gaming hub.

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.

Netflix is turning Squid Game, its dystopian drama about indebted prisoners being forced to play children's games at the risk of death, into an actual reality show. Because why not?

Netflix announced today that it's casting 456 real players in Squid Game: The Challenge, a new reality show in which contestants will play games for a hefty $4.56 million prize — one of the largest in game show history. The competition will feature a series of challenges inspired by the original show as well as "surprising new additions," encouraging players to form alliances and deploy unique strategies in order to win.

Netflix, of course, is careful to mention that in Squid Game: The Challenge "the worst fate is going home empty-handed."

Do you want to play a game? Enter to join Squid Game: The Challenge at https://t.co/MaXfZnqmvb pic.twitter.com/6gYLXlplDC

— Netflix (@netflix) June 14, 2022

Squid Game: The Challenge is currently recruiting players at SquadGameCasting.com, with English-language speakers from any part of the world being invited to apply. The series will last 10 episodes.

The reality show news is part of a spate of recent Squid Game announcements, including confirmation that the series will indeed be returning for a second season. Originally released in 2021, Squid Game exploded into one of Netflix's biggest hits ever, with our review praising it as "one of the most unique things you'll watch this year ⁠— and maybe ever."

It's been so big that Squid Game creator Dong-hyuk Hwang is reportedly working on a satire about its overnight success titled "The Best Show on the Planet."

One way or another, Squid Game continues to be huge, and pretty soon 456 lucky (or unlucky) contestants will get to see what it's like to play the game for themselves.

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.

Netflix is turning Squid Game, its dystopian drama about indebted prisoners being forced to play children's games at the risk of death, into an actual reality show. Because why not?

Netflix announced today that it's casting 456 real players in Squid Game: The Challenge, a new reality show in which contestants will play games for a hefty $4.56 million prize — one of the largest in game show history. The competition will feature a series of challenges inspired by the original show as well as "surprising new additions," encouraging players to form alliances and deploy unique strategies in order to win.

Netflix, of course, is careful to mention that in Squid Game: The Challenge "the worst fate is going home empty-handed."

Do you want to play a game? Enter to join Squid Game: The Challenge at https://t.co/MaXfZnqmvb pic.twitter.com/6gYLXlplDC

— Netflix (@netflix) June 14, 2022

Squid Game: The Challenge is currently recruiting players at SquadGameCasting.com, with English-language speakers from any part of the world being invited to apply. The series will last 10 episodes.

The reality show news is part of a spate of recent Squid Game announcements, including confirmation that the series will indeed be returning for a second season. Originally released in 2021, Squid Game exploded into one of Netflix's biggest hits ever, with our review praising it as "one of the most unique things you'll watch this year ⁠— and maybe ever."

It's been so big that Squid Game creator Dong-hyuk Hwang is reportedly working on a satire about its overnight success titled "The Best Show on the Planet."

One way or another, Squid Game continues to be huge, and pretty soon 456 lucky (or unlucky) contestants will get to see what it's like to play the game for themselves.

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.

Toy Story 4 will be the next machine from Jersey Jack Pinball, in two limited edition models featuring different art packages, but both featuring tons of toys, ramps, and a carnival game theme. This is Jersey Jack’s second collaboration with Disney after 2018’s Pirates of the Caribbean and their first team up with Pixar. You can watch the first gameplay teaser below.

From the playfield image below and trailer above, there appear to be ramps on the left and right, an additional ramp shot via an upper right mini flipper, and a “jump ramp” which pops up out of the playfield to launch the ball onto a clear platform above the pop bumpers. There’s a uniquely placed video screen on the right that simulates a mini pinball machine in one of the video modes. It is no surprise that several plastic toys are mounted on the playfield as well, including Buzz and Woody in the rear right. One of the more alarming features is Gabby Gabby, who pops up out of the playfield as a bash toy.

Toy Story 4 development was led by veteran Bally/Williams designer Pat Lawlor whose characteristic elements show up in Toy Story 4 game, like the jump ramp that resembles his No Good Gofers (1997) slam ramp feature, and the classic upper right flipper to ramp shot seen in many of his classics like The Addams Family (1992), and even the carnival aesthetic of FunHouse (1990).

Scenes from Toy Story 4 will be used on the screens, and Jersey Jack Pinball says the “voices of Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Bo Peep, Duke Caboom, and more” will be featured in the game – the callouts (on-the-fly commentary in pinball) will be by Buzz Lightyear and Woody. Check out the extensive rule flowchart below.

It’s worth noting that Jersey Jack Pinball has a number of high tech upgrades in their recent machines, with Toy Story 4 being no exception: This includes multicolored lighting in all inserts and playfield illumination, the HD screens on the backglass and playfield, and shaker motors. Additionally, there are relatively new upgrades like a camera that takes pictures of you and incorporates them into gameplay, and wi-fi connectivity that includes Scorbit integration, a platform that allows you to share and track high scores among other things.

Here are the official descriptions of the two versions of Toy Story 4, via Jersey Jack Pinball:

The Limited Edition includes blue powder-coated armor, exclusive cabinet artwork, an interactive shaker motor that provides haptic feedback, invisiglass, and individually-numbered edition plaques. It is priced at $12,000.

The highly sought after Collector’s Edition includes a super-exclusive Pixar Ball shooter, a fiber-optic LED fireworks topper, red chrome armor, sparkly playfield art, RadCal cabinet art package, mirrored backglass art, external lighting, custom callouts by Bo Peep and signatures by the design team and Jersey Jack himself. If you act fast, it can be yours for $15,000.

There are 1,000 Collector’s Edition (MSRP $15,000) games and 5,000 Limited Edition (MSRP $12,000) games planned at this time. Both models are available now.

Samuel Claiborn is IGN's managing editor and fixes/breaks ancient arcade pinball machines in his garage. TCELES B HSUP to follow him @Samuel_IGN on Twitter.

We've just learned more about Rick & Morty co-creator Justin Roiland's new game, High on Life, from the Xbox and bethesda Extended Showcase, including a bizarre tidbit about its art direction.

During the stream, design director Erich Meyr design director said the team had spent a lot of time creating its alien worlds, and described the style of High on Life as "Bladerunner meets The Muppets." He added that this style was the goal for all the game's characters, but especially its aliens.

And there are a lot of aliens. In High on Life, earth is invaded by aliens who kidnap humans and sell them on the black market like drugs. Aside from fighting off the aliens, you play as a human who teams up with another group of aliens to stop them. The aliens you're teaming up with are, incidentally, basically a bunch of sentient guns that will talk to you as you use them, and you'll rescue more and more from the alien cartel as you go.

Meyr also mentioned a bit about High on Life's alien worlds, with each centered around a core idea. For instance, one world is centered around an alien spa on an asteroid.

High on Life is headed to Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC in October, and you can check out more from the initial reveal here.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Disclosure: This article author's partner worked for Squanch Games for a period in 2020 and 2021 when High on Life was in development.

Sony accidentally listed Tekken 2 for $9,999 on the PlayStation Store as it switched over to its new PlayStation Plus tiers.

Several Twitter users brought the mistake to the attention of the wider gaming community and its price was swiftly changed, though even the game director of Tekken got in on the joke.

"What a marvelous price Sony," Katsuhiro Harada tweeted not just once, but twice, putting a little extra emphasis on his second post (below).

WHAT A MARVELOUS PRICE SONYYYYYYYY https://t.co/pRgjEY8gla

— Katsuhiro Harada (@Harada_TEKKEN) June 14, 2022

The mistake was made on June 13, the same day as Sony's revamped PlayStation Plus was released in North America and classic games like Tekken 2 were added to the store. Somewhat ironically, Tekken 2 is actually only available as part of the new PlayStation Plus Premium tier and cannot be bought as a standalone game on PS4 and PS5.

Considering the new service includes more than 700 games, it's understandable that a couple of errors may have slipped through, even if this was a particularly startling one. We also saw Mr. Driller listed for $9,999.

Tekken 2 was first released in 1995 and is therefore part of the Classic Games Catalogue that comes with the most expensive Premium tier at $119.99 a year. Users paying this amount will also gain access to a plethora of PS4 and PS5 games and limited-time trials for recent releases such as Horizon: Forbidden West.

The Extra tier (at $99.99 a year) includes just the PS4 and PS5 titles on top of the usual PlayStation Plus benefits and its Essential tier (at $59.99 a year) is practically the same as the old service.

The new tiers are now available in most regions but Europe, Australia, and New Zealand are the last to receive them on June 23.

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

Resident Evil Re:Verse, the multiplayer game originally set to launch alongside Resident Evil Village, has a new release date of October 28, 2022.

Re:Verse's latest release date was revealed at the Capcom Showcase and it will launch on the same day as the Winters' Expansion arrives for Resident Evil Village.

For those unfamiliar, the DLC will add the long-awaited story expansion 'Shadows of Rose,' Lady Dimitrescu and other playable characters to the Mercenaries mode, and a third-person mode to Village's campaign.

This multiplayer experience had multiple delays "so that the team can continue working to deliver a smooth gameplay experience," and hopefully it can finally deliver its promise later this year.

As for what that promise is? A six-player PvP deathmatch game where players become different characters from across the Resident Evil series.

Re:Verse had an open beta test back in April 2021, but it was cut short due to matchmaking troubles.

Alongside Re:Verse's release date and the DLC for Resident Evil Village, the Capcom Showcase also included a new look at Resident Evil 4 Remake, new details on Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, and a new look at the co-op dinosaur murder action game Exoprimal.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Tactics Ogre: Reborn, which looks to be a potential remaster or remake of the tactical RPG Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together that was first released on the Super Famicom in 1995, has seemingly leaked on the PlayStation Store ahead of its official reveal.

As spotted by Wario64 on Twitter, Tactic Ogre: Reborn's PlayStation Store listing doesn't reveal much of anything about the game, but it does include some gorgeous promotional art and the game icon, the latter of which is strikingly similar to the cover art of the original Super Famicom game.

This point makes a remaster or remake a possibility, but it also could be a new entry.

The only other details shown on the listing page are that Square Enix is the publisher and that its genre is "Role Playing Games."

Square Enix trademarked Tactics Ogre: Reborn in Japan earlier this year, and this listing indicates an official reveal very well may be imminent.

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together never made it to SNES in North America or otherwise, but it did get re-released on Sega Saturn in Japan in 1996 and on PlayStation in Japan in 1997 and in North America in 1998. A remake of the same name was released on PSP in 2010 in Japan and in 2011 in other regions, however.

In our review of Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together on PSP, we said, "the numerous improvements and refinements are much appreciated, and for gamers with the patience, few other games come close to the sum-total quality of strategy RPGing that Tactics Ogre provides."

We recently awarded Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together the #3 spot on our list of the 10 best tactics RPGs and only placed XCOM 2 and Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions above it.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Lady Gaga is allegedly in early talks to star as Harley Quinn alongside Joaquin Phoenix in a sequel to 2019's Joker that sources say very well may be a musical.

As reported by THR, details on Lady Gaga's potential take on Harley Quinn are "being kept under wraps," but it would be different than Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn as the characters would be in separate DC universes.

THR has nothing else to say about the potential of the sequel to Joker being a musical, which would obviously be a big change as the first one was not, but THR's sources did share that Warner Bros. has yet to actually close a deal to bring Phoenix back to the role of Joker.

This is all despite Phoenix appearing in director Todd Phillips' Instagram post revealing that the Joker sequel is in the works with the title Folie à Deux. Speaking of Phillips, this casting would make sense as he was a producer on A Star Is Born - the film that starred Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.

Joker was a huge success for Warner Bros. as it earned over $1 billion for the studio after only requiring a production budget of $60 million.

If Lady Gaga does end up being Harley Quinn, she will join Robbie and Kaley Cuoco, the latter of who stars in the DC animated series Harley Quinn, as those currently bringing the DC character that has had a toxic relationship with Joker to life.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.