In May, during this year’s Star Wars Celebration, we finally got a look at the highly anticipated Disney+ prequel to Rogue One, Star Wars: Andor. While we already knew the series would take place five years before Rogue One, it has now been confirmed that the first season will span one year and the second will cover the following four.

Speaking to Empire, Andor showrunner and executive producer Tony Gilroy revealed the news and shared a few behind-the-scenes details as to how the show is coming together and how the shooting schedule "organically led to Season 2's different structure."

“The scale of the show is so huge,” Gilroy said. “Directors work in blocks of three episodes, so we did four blocks [in Season 1] of three episodes each. We looked and said, ‘Wow, it’d be really interesting if we come back, and we use each block to represent a year. We’ll move a year closer with each block’. From a narrative point of view, it’s really exciting to be able to work on something where you do a Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and then jump a year.”

Each season will span twelve episodes, and while the Rogue One movie is more about that big event at the end, Andor will delve deeper into the characters that make up the story, according to Diego Luna speaking to Empire. Luna is reprising his role as the show’s titular character Cassian Andor.

Star Wars: Andor was first announced in 2018 and will follow Andor, the thief-turned-Rebel spy, leading up to the events of Rogue One where the plans for the Death Star are stolen. The series could also feature some previously cut characters.

Star Wars: Andor debuts with its first two episodes on Disney+ on August 31, 2022. Be sure to check out the trailer and our breakdown of everything we saw in it.

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

In May, during this year’s Star Wars Celebration, we finally got a look at the highly anticipated Disney+ prequel to Rogue One, Star Wars: Andor. While we already knew the series would take place five years before Rogue One, it has now been confirmed that the first season will span one year and the second will cover the following four.

Speaking to Empire, Andor showrunner and executive producer Tony Gilroy revealed the news and shared a few behind-the-scenes details as to how the show is coming together and how the shooting schedule "organically led to Season 2's different structure."

“The scale of the show is so huge,” Gilroy said. “Directors work in blocks of three episodes, so we did four blocks [in Season 1] of three episodes each. We looked and said, ‘Wow, it’d be really interesting if we come back, and we use each block to represent a year. We’ll move a year closer with each block’. From a narrative point of view, it’s really exciting to be able to work on something where you do a Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and then jump a year.”

Each season will span twelve episodes, and while the Rogue One movie is more about that big event at the end, Andor will delve deeper into the characters that make up the story, according to Diego Luna speaking to Empire. Luna is reprising his role as the show’s titular character Cassian Andor.

Star Wars: Andor was first announced in 2018 and will follow Andor, the thief-turned-Rebel spy, leading up to the events of Rogue One where the plans for the Death Star are stolen. The series could also feature some previously cut characters.

Star Wars: Andor debuts with its first two episodes on Disney+ on August 31, 2022. Be sure to check out the trailer and our breakdown of everything we saw in it.

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

There's no stopping the gibberish and slapstick gags of Minions: The Rise of Gru. Over the long July 4 weekend, the newest entry in the Despicable Me franchise is estimated to earn of $125.2 million domestically and become the biggest Fourth of July holiday weekend movie ever.

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, when not adjusting for inflation, Minions: The Rise of Gru is on track to surpass the $115.9 million earned by 2011's Transformers: Dark of the Moon and the $115.8 million earned by Spider-Man 2. It will likely also surpass the previous pandemic-era record for a PG-rated family film by beating the $78 million earned earlier this year by Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

As of this writing, Minions: The Rise of Gru has earned $108.5 million domestically and another $93.7 million internationally for a global total of $202.2 million.

The film's success only cements that families and their kids can be ushered into movie theaters again in droves. Last month, Lightyear failed to bring in crowds and debuted with $51 million. But there’s something about those mischievous little yellow dudes that draws a crowd.

It also helps that Universal put in a staggering $285 million into advertisements and promos for the film, according to Deadline.

The popularity of Minions: The Rise of Gru can also partially be attributed to Gentleminions. Gentleminions are Gen Zers who have attended the newest Minions movie in hordes while wearing tuxedos and suits. It's a strange phenomenon that's popped up across Tik Tok, Twitter, and other social media.

Minions: The Rise of Gru is the fifth entry in the Despicable Me franchise and a prequel to the 2015 Minions movie. It follows Gru in the 1970s as he tries to join a group of supervillains. We gave the film a 5/10 in our review and said that it doesn’t live up to Despicable Me, let alone other popular animated films.

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

There's no stopping the gibberish and slapstick gags of Minions: The Rise of Gru. Over the long July 4 weekend, the newest entry in the Despicable Me franchise is estimated to earn of $125.2 million domestically and become the biggest Fourth of July holiday weekend movie ever.

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, when not adjusting for inflation, Minions: The Rise of Gru is on track to surpass the $115.9 million earned by 2011's Transformers: Dark of the Moon and the $115.8 million earned by Spider-Man 2. It will likely also surpass the previous pandemic-era record for a PG-rated family film by beating the $78 million earned earlier this year by Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

As of this writing, Minions: The Rise of Gru has earned $108.5 million domestically and another $93.7 million internationally for a global total of $202.2 million.

The film's success only cements that families and their kids can be ushered into movie theaters again in droves. Last month, Lightyear failed to bring in crowds and debuted with $51 million. But there’s something about those mischievous little yellow dudes that draws a crowd.

It also helps that Universal put in a staggering $285 million into advertisements and promos for the film, according to Deadline.

The popularity of Minions: The Rise of Gru can also partially be attributed to Gentleminions. Gentleminions are Gen Zers who have attended the newest Minions movie in hordes while wearing tuxedos and suits. It's a strange phenomenon that's popped up across Tik Tok, Twitter, and other social media.

Minions: The Rise of Gru is the fifth entry in the Despicable Me franchise and a prequel to the 2015 Minions movie. It follows Gru in the 1970s as he tries to join a group of supervillains. We gave the film a 5/10 in our review and said that it doesn’t live up to Despicable Me, let alone other popular animated films.

Casey is a freelance writer for IGN. You can usually find him talking about JRPGs on Twitter at @caseydavidmt.

Taron Egerton, most famous for playing Eggsy in the Kingsman franchise, is still hoping to play Wolverine and has even met with Marvel about it, including company president Kevin Feige.

Though it's currently unconfirmed if a traditional series of X-Men films is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox means they're probably on the way, just like the Fantastic Four film is.

If the X-Men do join the MCU, Egerton is eager to fill the boots of perhaps the most iconic X-Men character Wolverine, succeeding the role previously played by the just as iconic Hugh Jackman. Speaking to The New York Times, Egerton said he'd be a little reluctant to take over from Jackman but he still wants to try.

"I’d be excited but I’d be apprehensive as well, because Hugh is so associated with the role that I’d wonder if it’d be very difficult for someone else to do it," Egerton said. "But hopefully if it does come around, they’ll give me a shot."

Even the potential cast of an X-Men MCU project are therefore unaware if it's happening, and they're joined by long-time X-Men producer Simon Kinberg, who told IGN earlier this year that he has no idea if it's happening. He agreed that it's hard to imagine someone other than Jackman in the role though, but said he believes wholeheartedly in Feige's ability in creating the MCU.

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

Taron Egerton, most famous for playing Eggsy in the Kingsman franchise, is still hoping to play Wolverine and has even met with Marvel about it, including company president Kevin Feige.

Though it's currently unconfirmed if a traditional series of X-Men films is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox means they're probably on the way, just like the Fantastic Four film is.

If the X-Men do join the MCU, Egerton is eager to fill the boots of perhaps the most iconic X-Men character Wolverine, succeeding the role previously played by the just as iconic Hugh Jackman. Speaking to The New York Times, Egerton said he'd be a little reluctant to take over from Jackman but he still wants to try.

"I’d be excited but I’d be apprehensive as well, because Hugh is so associated with the role that I’d wonder if it’d be very difficult for someone else to do it," Egerton said. "But hopefully if it does come around, they’ll give me a shot."

Even the potential cast of an X-Men MCU project are therefore unaware if it's happening, and they're joined by long-time X-Men producer Simon Kinberg, who told IGN earlier this year that he has no idea if it's happening. He agreed that it's hard to imagine someone other than Jackman in the role though, but said he believes wholeheartedly in Feige's ability in creating the MCU.

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

New Call of Duty images have leaked online that, among other things, appear to hint at Black Ops 5 being 2024's installment for the FPS series.

The images were reportedly mined from a recent Warzone Mobile update by Twitter user RealiityUK (who has since been suspended from the social media platform). The images are currently viewable on ResetEra (we won't be reposting them here), and are seemingly a mix of shots from the upcoming Modern Warfare 2, and a new game in development at Black Ops developer Treyarch.

Thought to be loading screens for upcoming Call of Duty projects, the two images that really got everyone’s attention are labeled “Stealth” and “Pillage” – which apparently stem from the upcoming Call of Duty game due for release in 2024.

Although no details about the game have been officially released, some fans now believe that it will take place during the Gulf War – a continuation of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Essentially, that would mean Call of Duty’s 2024 release would be Black Ops 5.

It’s easy to see why fans might jump to this conclusion. The images contain a sepiction of the real-life F-117 Nighthawk stealth aircraft, which was first deployed by the U.S. military in the '80s and became synonymous with the Gulf War in 1991.

If accurate, the time frame certainly suggests a continuation of Cold War’s story, but with nothing official just yet, it remains speculation for now. At the very least, the copyright claims and account suspension of the leaker in question lends a feeling of authenticity to what's been revealed.

The release pattern of recent Call of Duty games might also give us a hint about what to expect from the 2024 release. The modern CoD era began in 2019 with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – a reboot of the classic Modern Warfare. This was followed up in 2020 by Black Ops Cold War, with the WWII-era game Call of Duty: Vanguard in 2021.

The next major release will be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 later this year and, with CoD reportedly taking a year's break in 2023, it suggests that a Black Ops sequel could well follow in 2024.

Check out more about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with our extended look at the game’s gameplay, as well as what you’ll get in each edition of the game.

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

Guardians of the Galaxy and Deus Ex prequel writer Mary DeMarle has joined Mass Effect and Dragon Age developer BioWare.

As reported by VGC, DeMarle had previously spent more than 14 years at Eidos-Montréal, where she was the narrative director and lead writer on Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Deus Ex: Mankind Dividided. Most recently she created the story of 2021's Guardians of the Galaxy, which won Best Narrative at the Game Awards last year.

DeMarle announced the switch to BioWare on her LinkedIn page, revealing her new position as senior narrative director. It's unclear what games DeMarle will be working on, but we know that BioWare is currently developing Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and a new Mass Effect game (the latter of which would match DeMarle's sci-fi writing roots).

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf was officially unveiled last month but we've known about its development since 2018. The new Mass Effect, on the other hand, was only being "actively prototyped" as of February this year, meaning it's in a much earlier stage of development.

It was first announced in December 2020 but Bioware has been fairly tight-lipped otherwise, outside of revealing a new teaser image that includes a handful of secrets for fans to decipher. The developer was also forced to address (and deny) an apparent leak that suggested original protagonist Commander Shepard was returning in the new game.

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

Ubisoft is set to shut down multiplayer and online services for 15 games on September 1, 2022, including five Assassin's Creed games, Far Cry 3, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, and more.

For games like Assassin's Creed 3 (2012 Release) and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, the installation of access to DLC will also be unavailable on that date.

"Closing the online services for some older games allows us to focus our resources on delivering great experiences for players who are playing newer or more popular titles," Ubisoft wrote on its support page.

The full list of games and what services will be stopped is as follows

• Assassin's Creed II
  • PC, PlayStation 3: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
• Assassin's Creed 3 (2012 Release)
  • PC: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features. Additionally, the installation and access to downloadable content (DLC) will be unavailable.
  • PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
• Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
  • PC: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features. Additionally, the installation and access to DLC will be unavailable.
  • PlayStation 3, Xbox 360: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
• Assassin's Creed Liberation HD
  • PC: You will be unable to link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features. Additionally, the installation and access to DLC will be unavailable.
• Assassin's Creed Revelations
  • PlayStation 3, Xbox 360: You will be unable to play multiplayer or use online features.
• Driver San Francisco
  • PC: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features. Additionally, the installation and access to DLC will be unavailable.
  • PlayStation 3, Xbox 360: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
• Far Cry 3 (2012 Release)
  • PC: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features. Additionally, the installation and access to DLC will be unavailable.
  • PlayStation 3, Xbox 360: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
  • PlayStation 3, Xbox 360: The multiplayer for the game will be unavailable. To play the solo campaign, you will have to set your console into offline mode.
• Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
  • PC: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features. Additionally, the installation and access to DLC will be unavailable.
• Rayman Legends
  • PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360: You will be unable to link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
• Silent Hunter 5
  • PC: You will be unable to link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.Additionally, the installation and access to DLC will be unavailable.
• Space Junkies
  • PC (HTC VIVE, Oculus): As a multiplayer only title, you will be unable to play the game going forward.
• Splinter Cell: Blacklist
  • PC: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
  • PlayStation 3, Xbox 360: You will be unable to link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
• ZombiU
  • Wii U: You will be unable to link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.

It's important to note that the remastered versions of Far Cry 3 and Assassin's Creed 3 will not be shut down.

Ubisoft made a similar move in 2021, shutting down multiplayer functionality and online services for such games as Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Rainbow Six Lockdown, Far Cry 2, and Splinter Cell Conviction.

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.

Ubisoft is set to shut down multiplayer and online services for 15 games on September 1, 2022, including five Assassin's Creed games, Far Cry 3, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, and more.

For games like Assassin's Creed 3 (2012 Release) and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, the installation of access to DLC will also be unavailable on that date.

"Closing the online services for some older games allows us to focus our resources on delivering great experiences for players who are playing newer or more popular titles," Ubisoft wrote on its support page.

The full list of games and what services will be stopped is as follows

• Anno 2070
  • PC: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
• Assassin's Creed II
  • PC, PlayStation 3: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
• Assassin's Creed 3 (2012 Release)
  • PC: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features. Additionally, the installation and access to downloadable content (DLC) will be unavailable.
  • PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
• Assassin's Creed Brotherhood
  • PC: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features. Additionally, the installation and access to DLC will be unavailable.
  • PlayStation 3, Xbox 360: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
• Assassin's Creed Liberation HD
  • PC: You will be unable to link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features. Additionally, the installation and access to DLC will be unavailable.
• Driver San Francisco
  • PC: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features. Additionally, the installation and access to DLC will be unavailable.
  • PlayStation 3, Xbox 360: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
• Far Cry 3 (2012 Release)
  • PC: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features. Additionally, the installation and access to DLC will be unavailable.
  • PlayStation 3, Xbox 360: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
  • PlayStation 3, Xbox 360: The multiplayer for the game will be unavailable. To play the solo campaign, you will have to set your console into offline mode.
• Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
  • PC: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features. Additionally, the installation and access to DLC will be unavailable.
• Rayman Legends
  • PlayStation 3, Wii U, Xbox 360: You will be unable to link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
• Silent Hunter 5
  • PC: You will be unable to link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.Additionally, the installation and access to DLC will be unavailable.
• Space Junkies
  • PC (HTC VIVE, Oculus): As a multiplayer only title, you will be unable to play the game going forward.
• Splinter Cell: Blacklist
  • PC: You will be unable to play multiplayer, link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
  • PlayStation 3, Xbox 360: You will be unable to link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.
• ZombiU
  • Wii U: You will be unable to link Ubisoft accounts in-game or use online features.

It's important to note that the remastered versions of Far Cry 3 and Assassin's Creed 3 will not be shut down.

Ubisoft made a similar move in 2021, shutting down multiplayer functionality and online services for such games as Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Rainbow Six Lockdown, Far Cry 2, and Splinter Cell Conviction.

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.