Ubisoft has announced that its upcoming first-person open world adventure, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora has been delayed to April 2023 at the earliest.

Revealed as part of Ubisoft's Q1 earnings report, the game was delayed into Ubisoft's 2023-24 financial year, which begins next April. No more specific release timeframe was given.

After an announcement in 2017 and a reveal in 2021, we've heard remarkably little about the project - meaning many won't be too surprised by the delay. Developed by The Division developer, Massive, the project was apparently impressive enough to convince Disney to let them make a Star Wars game, too.

No reasoning was given for the delay. Ubisoft did say, "We are committed to delivering a cutting-edge immersive experience that takes full advantage of next-gen technology, as this amazing global entertainment brand represents a major multi-year opportunity for Ubisoft."

"While this additional development time is a reflection of the current ongoing constraints on productions across the industry," it continued, "we are hard at work to design the most efficient working conditions to ensure both flexibility for our teams as well as strong productivity while delivering the best experiences to players."

Update: Speaking at an earnings Q&A, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the game had been delayed, "due to the fact that working conditions are more difficult in the industry at the moment, where people can't come to the office as often. That's had an impact, and it was the biggest impact."

The company also confirmed that a "smaller unannounced premium game" had also been delayed out of this financial year and into the next. It joins a huge list of games delayed out of 2022 and into 2023 - primarily due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.

Influential Batman and Judge Dredd writer Alan Grant has died, aged 73.

The acclaimed comic book writer, who also created several DC supervillains including Anarky, The Ratcatcher, and The Ventriloquist, and had several high-profile runs on both Batman and 2000 AD.

His wife Susan Grant announced his death via Facebook, but no cause of death has been revealed. “I have no words,” she said. “Alan died this morning.”

Very sad to learn that writer Alan Grant has passed away. His Batman work was must-read for young me. RIP, sir, and condolences to his friends, family, and his many fans. https://t.co/PtRMYrLUwm

— Cully Hamner (@CullyHamner) July 21, 2022

Tributes to Grant have poured in from across the comic book fraternity, with those who worked with Grant praising his ingenuity and influence.

“Everyone at 2000 AD and Rebellion is devastated to hear of the passing of Alan Grant,” said an official statement from the comic book publisher. “Grant was one of his generation’s finest writers, combining a sharp eye for dialogue and political satire with a deep empathy that made his characters seem incredibly human and rounded. Through his work, he had a profound and enduring influence on 2000 AD and on the comics industry.”

Grant was renowned for his skewering satire during his time at 2000 AD, teaming up with John Wagner on Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog throughout the 1980s.

The duo soon went on to work for DC Comics, writing Batman stories in Detective Comics from 1988.

“Horribly saddened to hear of the passing of Alan Grant,” said fellow Batman writer, Tom King. “Lobo, LEGION, Batman—these books questioned what superhero comics could be and do: they were sharply, cooly cynical and yet oddly—and wonderfully—they contained a powerful, warm undercurrent of hope. Hell of a writer. RIP.”

Grant was born in Bristol but raised in Midlothian and eventually settled in Moniaive, Dumfriesshire with his wife.

Throughout his long career, Grant worked on some of the biggest titles in comic book history but is also credited for going out of his way to nurture new talent.

He was even credited for starting the career of an unknown writer, Alan Moore, whose script he found amid the unsolicited submissions pile at 2000 AD.

“I got a brilliant letter back from Alan Grant,” Moore recalled. “He went out of his way to encourage people who he thought had talent.”

IGN sends its condolences to Grant's family and friends.

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

Thumbnail credit: Alan A Grant

Influential Batman and Judge Dredd writer Alan Grant has died, aged 73.

The acclaimed comic book writer, who also created several DC supervillains including Anarky, The Ratcatcher, and The Ventriloquist, and had several high-profile runs on both Batman and 2000 AD.

His wife Susan Grant announced his death via Facebook, but no cause of death has been revealed. “I have no words,” she said. “Alan died this morning.”

Very sad to learn that writer Alan Grant has passed away. His Batman work was must-read for young me. RIP, sir, and condolences to his friends, family, and his many fans. https://t.co/PtRMYrLUwm

— Cully Hamner (@CullyHamner) July 21, 2022

Tributes to Grant have poured in from across the comic book fraternity, with those who worked with Grant praising his ingenuity and influence.

“Everyone at 2000 AD and Rebellion is devastated to hear of the passing of Alan Grant,” said an official statement from the comic book publisher. “Grant was one of his generation’s finest writers, combining a sharp eye for dialogue and political satire with a deep empathy that made his characters seem incredibly human and rounded. Through his work, he had a profound and enduring influence on 2000 AD and on the comics industry.”

Grant was renowned for his skewering satire during his time at 2000 AD, teaming up with John Wagner on Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog throughout the 1980s.

The duo soon went on to work for DC Comics, writing Batman stories in Detective Comics from 1988.

“Horribly saddened to hear of the passing of Alan Grant,” said fellow Batman writer, Tom King. “Lobo, LEGION, Batman—these books questioned what superhero comics could be and do: they were sharply, cooly cynical and yet oddly—and wonderfully—they contained a powerful, warm undercurrent of hope. Hell of a writer. RIP.”

Grant was born in Bristol but raised in Midlothian and eventually settled in Moniaive, Dumfriesshire with his wife.

Throughout his long career, Grant worked on some of the biggest titles in comic book history but is also credited for going out of his way to nurture new talent.

He was even credited for starting the career of an unknown writer, Alan Moore, whose script he found amid the unsolicited submissions pile at 2000 AD.

“I got a brilliant letter back from Alan Grant,” Moore recalled. “He went out of his way to encourage people who he thought had talent.”

IGN sends its condolences to Grant's family and friends.

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

Thumbnail credit: Alan A Grant

Virtual pet creation website Neopets has been hacked, potentially compromising up to 69 million accounts.

As reported by Polygon, the data breach was first reported by community site JellyNeo on July 20, with the official Neopets Twitter subsequently posting an announcement and warning (below) that recommends users change their password on Neopets and any other website where the same login information is used.

"Neopets recently became aware that customer data may have been stolen," the post said. "It appears that email addresses and passwords used to access Neopets accounts may have been affected."

It added: "As our investigation continues, we will update you as appropriate. We truly appreciate your patience and understanding at this time."

Neopets recently became aware that customer data may have been stolen. We immediately launched an investigation assisted by a leading forensics firm. We are also engaging law enforcement and enhancing the protections for our systems and our user data. (1/3)

— neopets (@Neopets) July 21, 2022

Immediately following the breach, the development team said, it launched an investigation with help from a leading forensics firm, notified law enforcement, and upgraded its system and data protection. The full extent of the breach is currently unclear and the Neopets team is yet to confirm whether or not users' credit card information has also been compromised.

The hacker allegedly offered to sell the full database and source code according to JellyNeo, for a price of four Bitcoin (around $90,000). They also offered live access to the database for an additional fee.

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

Virtual pet creation website Neopets has been hacked, potentially compromising up to 69 million accounts.

As reported by Polygon, the data breach was first reported by community site JellyNeo on July 20, with the official Neopets Twitter subsequently posting an announcement and warning (below) that recommends users change their password on Neopets and any other website where the same login information is used.

"Neopets recently became aware that customer data may have been stolen," the post said. "It appears that email addresses and passwords used to access Neopets accounts may have been affected."

It added: "As our investigation continues, we will update you as appropriate. We truly appreciate your patience and understanding at this time."

Neopets recently became aware that customer data may have been stolen. We immediately launched an investigation assisted by a leading forensics firm. We are also engaging law enforcement and enhancing the protections for our systems and our user data. (1/3)

— neopets (@Neopets) July 21, 2022

Immediately following the breach, the development team said, it launched an investigation with help from a leading forensics firm, notified law enforcement, and upgraded its system and data protection. The full extent of the breach is currently unclear and the Neopets team is yet to confirm whether or not users' credit card information has also been compromised.

The hacker allegedly offered to sell the full database and source code according to JellyNeo, for a price of four Bitcoin (around $90,000). They also offered live access to the database for an additional fee.

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

Bandai Namco has announced that Dragon Ball: The Breakers will launch on October 14 for PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One. The game will be backward compatible with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Dragon Ball: The Breakers is a multiplayer affair where a team of seven Survivors tries to escape one Raider. Survivors are regular civilians trapped in a Temporal Seam and must utilize their wits and gadgets to return home using the Super Time Machine. The Raider takes the form of a major Dragon Ball antagonist and must hunt down and eliminate the Survivors.

Bandai Namco will also be running a closed network test on August 6 and 7 on all platforms. During this session, Cell and the newly announced Frieza will be playable Raiders. Survivors can swap skins between various Dragon Ball characters, and the network test will include the player’s avatar, Oolong, and Bulma.

Those who preorder the game will receive an Android 18 Transphere and a blue scouter in-game accessory. The Special Edition of the game includes the full game, a customizable costume, the two-handed good victory pose, and a yellow dragon vehicle skin. The Bandai Namco Store exclusive Limited Edition contains a steel book, three Raider stickers, and a Cell Shell figure. A green Potara in-game accessory is also included, but it is an exclusive timed bonus on the store.

Dragon Ball: The Breakers was first announced in November of last year and ran its first closed beta test a month later.

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

Bandai Namco has announced that Dragon Ball: The Breakers will launch on October 14 for PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One. The game will be backward compatible with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Dragon Ball: The Breakers is a multiplayer affair where a team of seven Survivors tries to escape one Raider. Survivors are regular civilians trapped in a Temporal Seam and must utilize their wits and gadgets to return home using the Super Time Machine. The Raider takes the form of a major Dragon Ball antagonist and must hunt down and eliminate the Survivors.

Bandai Namco will also be running a closed network test on August 6 and 7 on all platforms. During this session, Cell and the newly announced Frieza will be playable Raiders. Survivors can swap skins between various Dragon Ball characters, and the network test will include the player’s avatar, Oolong, and Bulma.

Those who preorder the game will receive an Android 18 Transphere and a blue scouter in-game accessory. The Special Edition of the game includes the full game, a customizable costume, the two-handed good victory pose, and a yellow dragon vehicle skin. The Bandai Namco Store exclusive Limited Edition contains a steel book, three Raider stickers, and a Cell Shell figure. A green Potara in-game accessory is also included, but it is an exclusive timed bonus on the store.

Dragon Ball: The Breakers was first announced in November of last year and ran its first closed beta test a month later.

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

Universal Pictures has unveiled the first poster for Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, exactly one year before the movie is scheduled to hit theaters.

The newly released poster features a silhouette of Cillian Murphy's titular character wearing a suit and a wide-brimmed hat. He is standing against an explosive backdrop, surrounded by a blaze of heavy smoke clouds. "The world forever changes," reads the tagline, which marks the one-year countdown to the scheduled release of Oppenheimer on July 21, 2023.

Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who is often credited as the "father of the atomic bomb." As such, Murphy's name appears on the poster alongside several other high-profile actors from the movie's star-studded cast, including Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and Florence Pugh.

Nolan's upcoming film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer" written by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin. The biopic has reportedly made use of a $100 million budget, which the director considers to be on a "smaller scale" compared to his previous movies.

Oppenheimer will be the first film Nolan has worked on with Universal Pictures after they picked up the film rights following an extensive bidding war. Nolan's long-time collaborative streak with Warner Bros. came to an abrupt end shortly after he expressed anger towards the studio for launching their films day and date on HBO Max, which the director called "the worst streaming service."

Nolan is known for his directorial work on The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, and Interstellar, and has partnered with Warner Bros. on his films dating back to 2002's Insomnia. His last film Tenet underperformed at the box office in 2020, partially due to the fact that it was released around the same time as a massive pandemic-induced movie theater shutdown.

See our list of all of Christopher Nolan's movies ranked to see his top films.

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

Universal Pictures has unveiled the first poster for Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, exactly one year before the movie is scheduled to hit theaters.

The newly released poster features a silhouette of Cillian Murphy's titular character wearing a suit and a wide-brimmed hat. He is standing against an explosive backdrop, surrounded by a blaze of heavy smoke clouds. "The world forever changes," reads the tagline, which marks the one-year countdown to the scheduled release of Oppenheimer on July 21, 2023.

Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who is often credited as the "father of the atomic bomb." As such, Murphy's name appears on the poster alongside several other high-profile actors from the movie's star-studded cast, including Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and Florence Pugh.

Nolan's upcoming film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer" written by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin. The biopic has reportedly made use of a $100 million budget, which the director considers to be on a "smaller scale" compared to his previous movies.

Oppenheimer will be the first film Nolan has worked on with Universal Pictures after they picked up the film rights following an extensive bidding war. Nolan's long-time collaborative streak with Warner Bros. came to an abrupt end shortly after he expressed anger towards the studio for launching their films day and date on HBO Max, which the director called "the worst streaming service."

Nolan is known for his directorial work on The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, and Interstellar, and has partnered with Warner Bros. on his films dating back to 2002's Insomnia. His last film Tenet underperformed at the box office in 2020, partially due to the fact that it was released around the same time as a massive pandemic-induced movie theater shutdown.

See our list of all of Christopher Nolan's movies ranked to see his top films.

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

Detroit: Become Human is getting a manga adaptation in Japan with a story set in Tokyo at the same time period as the game.

As reported by Famitsu, Detroit: Become Human: Tokyo Stories is being written by Saruwatari Kazami and drawn by Moto Sumida. The story follows an android idol known as Reina and, like the game before it, explores what happens when these robots gain independent thoughts and feelings.

Unlike Detroit: Become Human, however, Tokyo Stories focuses on a smoother integration of androids as Reina becomes incredible popular. The peace isn't to last, of course, disrupted by a rogue android that gains sentience.

『DETROIT BECOME HUMAN』初の公式コミック『DETROIT BECOME HUMAN TOKYO STORIES』が7月22日より“COMIC BRIDGE”にて配信

2038年の東京が舞台。アンドロイドアイドル“レイナ”に焦点を当てたオリジナルストーリーが展開する#デトロイト

https://t.co/zdDIQlcXXa pic.twitter.com/2KLZUs5Gx5

— ファミ通.com (@famitsu) July 20, 2022

The manga will appear in Comic Bridge magazine starting July 22 but there's currently no word on whether it will be distributed outside of Japan. Detroit: Become Human follows a handful of other western video games to gain manga adaptations, including The Witcher and Watch Dogs.

The manga is still a little random, however, given that Detroit: Become Human was released four years ago and hasn't really made a resurgance since. In our 8/10 review, IGN said: "Detroit: Become Human is a wonderfully silly interactive drama that meaningfully bends to your will."

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