In most versions of the Batman mythos, Joker's origins will forever remain shrouded in mystery and conjecture. His past will forever be multiple choice. But the old rules don't necessarily apply in DC's new Absolute Universe. Absolute Batman has reinvented the Dark Knight and his world in a number of ways, and the same holds true for the Clown Prince of Crime.

Lately, writer Scott Snyder and his collaborators have been fleshing out the origin and nature of Absolute Joker. Read on for a full breakdown of who he is, how he rose to power, and why this version of Joker transforms into a literal monster.

Warning: Beware of full spoilers for Absolute Batman #15 and Absolute Batman: Ark-M #1 ahead!

Absolute Joker's Origin Revealed

In Absolute Batman #15, Agent Alfred Pennyworth decides to finally reveal everything he knows about the mysterious figurehead of JK Industries - a man he's been tracking across the globe for the last three years. First, Alfred recounts the sanitized version of events. Joker is Jack Grimm V, the descendant of a long line of successful businessmen who run the global conglomerate JK (Just Kidding) Industries. The original Jack Grimm was a childhood street performer who made a fortune off the vaudeville circuit. Subsequent heirs expanded the family business to encompass television, telecommunications, and video game hardware. Jack Grimm V is now one of the wealthiest men in the world, and one of its most generous philanthropists.

But that's far from the whole story. As he researched Jack Grimm and JK Industries, Alfred discovered that the company has been funding far less noble endeavors, too. Essentially, Jack Grimm and his offspring have been funding both sides in many global conflicts, getting rich off manipulating everyone. If Jack Grimm is a clown, he's the sort that laughs at humanity.

Then Alfred reveals the truly dark secrets he's managed to uncover. Countless business rivals and other associates of the Grimms have vanished over the years, with Alfred assuming that they were murdered. Worse, Alfred has come to suspect that the Joker is the original Jack Grimm. There are no sons. Instead, Jack achieved immortality through some unholy fusion of science and black magic, using the blood of infants to fuel his eternal youth.

It's smart to have a light source on hand for emergencies, especially since everyday carry flashlights can be had for a throwaway price. The Sofirn brand is extremely popular amongst the enthusiast flashlight community for the amount the light they throw out at a bargain price. Sofirn's official store on AliExpress routinely sells these flashlights at up to 50% less than on Amazon. They ship free from a local US warehouse, which means no hidden tariffs or obnoxious shipping times.

Sofirn Q8 Plus 16,000-Lumen LED Flashlight for $51.17

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The powerful yet compact Sofirn SP36 Pro 8,000-Lumen Rechargeable LED Flashlight has also dropped in price to $31.26 after you apply $4 off coupon code "4USAFF". This exact flashlight sells for $70 on Amazon.

The Sofirn SP36 Pro is a compact EDC style flashlight, measuring just 5" in length and weighing about 10 ounces without the battery. It features a rugged aluminum shell and has an IPX8 rating, which means it can be submerged in water up to 1 meter deep. The flashlight comes with three 18650 Li-on batteries that can be recharged with a USB Type-C cable.

The light array is comprised of four Luminus SST-40 LEDs each with is own individual reflector. They combine for a maximum output of 8,000 lumens and a beam distance of up to 450 meters, which means that this little flashlight can illuminate an entire football field. The intensity is adjustable so you can conserve battery life.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

Avengers: Doomsday directors the Russo Brothers have issued a cryptic message to fans following the release of the fourth teaser trailer for the upcoming Marvel movie, insisting they are neither teasers nor trailers.

Rather, the Russos said in a post on Instagram, the videos — for want of a better word — are “stories” and “clues.”

“Pay attention,” they said.

Here's their statement in full:

"What you’ve been watching for the last four weeks… are not teasers. Or trailers. They are stories. They are clues… Pay attention."

The Avengers: Doomsday hype train kicked off with the Steve Rogers / Captain America teaser, which shows Chris Evans’ character holding a baby, presumably his child with Peggy Carter.

This was followed by the Thor trailer, which shows Chris Hemsworth's Asgardian caring for his adopted daughter, Love. The teaser shows Thor (this time with the short-haired look from the much-loved and hugely successful Thor Ragnarok) pray to his father, Odin (played by Anthony Hopkins in the MCU), calling for the “strength of the All-Fathers” so he may “fight once more… defeat one more enemy and return home to her.”

The X-Men trailer shows Professor X, Magneto, and Cyclops in what looks like a last stand against Sentinels at the X-Mansion.

The Wakandans teaser follows a similar theme, with an ominous tone set out by Shuri / Black Panter that, alongside the meeting with The Fantastic Four, suggests a preparation for a significant battle that has our heroes really worried.

So, what does this cryptic message from the Russo brothers actually mean? That’s the question most fans are asking, and there aren’t any great answers right now. Are these clips even from Avengers: Doomsday? Could they be extra promo material we won’t end up seeing in theaters? Perhaps there are clues in the ending of each of these videos, which shows the Avengers symbol on a mysterious green 'Doomsday clock,' which has runes on it.

It seems the teaser reveals are over for now, as Marvel just started an Avengers: Doomsday countdown clock livestream, which thousands of people are watching already.

Avengers: Doomsday, meanwhile, is due out December 18, 2026.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Humble's new Decked Out Collection bundle features seven games that are great for Steam Deck users looking to add a little something new to their handheld's library. If you have some trips planned for the months ahead, these are sure to keep you entertained on any long journeys.

The seven games in this bundle (which you can see in full below) have a total value of $129, but through the bundle you can get them all for as low as $12. That's a sweet offer to jump on, though keep in mind it's only live for 15 more days. If the selection has caught your eye, now is the time to grab it.

Humble Bundle Decked Out Collection

Larry Hryb, better known to legions of fans as Xbox's former communications director Major Nelson, has reported being laid off from his new role at Unity.

In a post on Twitter/X, Hryb shared an image of a zero Gamerscore Xbox achievement pop-up, simply titled "Laid Off!" Over on LinkedIn, meanwhile, Hryb issued a longer post to confirm his departure from Unity, where he has served as Director of Community and Advocacy since June 2024.

"I've always been transparent with this community, so I wanted to share that – like a lot of people in tech and gaming right now – I was laid off from Unity," Hryb wrote today.

pic.twitter.com/k9DNgK6LMN

— Larry Hryb, Gamer Emeritus 📱⌨️🖱️🎮 (@majornelson) January 13, 2026

Prior to Unity, Hryb found fame within the world of video games while serving as the communications boss for Xbox — a role he held for more than a decade, as part of a longer tenure at Microsoft that stretched to over 22 years. Hyrb had helped run the official Xbox podcast and kept a blog of new releases, and frequently appeared on official Xbox livestreams.

Hryb's time at Microsoft came to end in September 2023, however, when he announced he had "decided to take a step back and work on the next chapter of my career." At the time of his departure, Microsoft gaming boss Phil Spencer thanked Hryb for "being a friend, and for everything you've done for our Xbox community and team."

The God of War TV Series is still a ways off, but one of the key players of both the God of War (2018) and God of War Ragnarök video games says he’d be open to continuing his work on that and other God of War projects.

Speaking exclusively with IGN during an interview about his work on the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, composer Bear McCreary said he isn’t completely done with the God of War franchise. I asked McCreary if he'd be interested in expanding his work into other media or if his time on God of War was done.

“I still feel that I am very proud of the work that I've done (with God of War),” McCreary replied. “And if there were an opportunity to expand upon it, I would be open to that.”

McCreary previously said that he felt his work on God of War was “complete,” but now seems open to revisiting the popular video game series in television form. The show is being developed by Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions to stream on Prime Video. The series, which is being helmed by Battlestar Galactica showrunner Ronald D. Moore, will follow Kratos and Atreus as they travel to the highest peak in the nine realms of Norse mythology to spread the ashes of their late wife and mother.

For his part, McCreary said that his experience working on God of War was unique to the many other franchises he’s scored, which include Lord of the Rings, Halo, Star Wars, Marvel, Terminator, and the aforementioned Percy Jackson.

“The great thing about working on these God of War games (is) they are so expansive,” McCreary explained. “I don't think I have written anything musically in the two games and DLC that hasn't been discovered. If anything, I think the more you dig into it, what I hope is evident is how much the team and I (were) always working to just make it better.

“At the end of every one of these massive games, after I've played through it and all I want to do is sleep, I'm like, ‘Here's what we should do next time.’”

McCreary added that working on video games is inherently different from producing music for TV or movies given the interactive nature of the storytelling. “We (were) always pushing the boundaries on God of War,” he said. “For example, in God War Ragnarök we decided to implement a ‘do no harm to melody’ rule. What that means is if (a player is) really doing well in a skirmish or an encounter, you start getting these character themes and it changes depending on who your partner is in the game.

“But let's say it's Kratos's theme. If you win, normally there'd just be a big splash and it would stop. But in Ragnarök, there's the big splash, everything else stops, but that melody completes itself. It sounds simple, but it took thousands of man hours from a half dozen people to be able to do that.”

Beyond God of War, McCreary’s love of gaming runs deep. So much so that he’s itching to write music for a rhythm game.

“I would love to do something like that,” McCreary said. “I'm always looking for interesting projects, interesting people to collaborate with. One of my favorite games from the last generation is Stray. I think I've played it through seven or eight times. And I'm very interested in (indie) and AA gaming. I think there's a lot of experimentation that happens there. And I love the medium. I'm putting it out there.”

Stay tuned later this week for more from our interview with Bear McCreary.

Michael Peyton is the Senior Editorial Director of Events & Entertainment at IGN, leading entertainment content and coverage of tentpole events including IGN Live, San Diego Comic Con, gamescom, and IGN Fan Fest. He's spent 20 years working in the games and entertainment industry, and his adventures have taken him everywhere from the Oscars to Japan to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Follow him on Bluesky @MichaelPeyton

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War has been in hibernation since 2017, and its most recent installment was far from universally well-received. So when King Art Games was handed the task of bringing it back, there were a lot of tricky decisions to navigate and an eager but picky fanbase to face. We recently got to chat with Creative Director Jan Theysen and Senior Game Designer Elliott Verbiest about how the team is calling the shots. (Read on or watch the video interview below.)

It was King Art's previous game, Iron Harvest, that seemed to catch the attention of someone at Games Workshop. And it's not too difficult to see why, if you look at its big, stompy robots.

"So we were working on Iron Harvest, our previous game, an RTS game as well," Theysen recalled. "And that was a Kickstarter game. So we were very open about the development and we showed a lot of stuff we can do with the engine and what we do in terms of art and so on. And as someone at Games Workshop must have seen that and they basically contacted us and asked, 'If we were doing Dawn of War 4, what would you do, basically?' And so we made a little pitch and we sent them over our ideas and the presentation and we didn't really hear back from them a lot. And so we basically thought, okay, that's it, right? It's like, cool that they asked us, basically. And then when Iron Harvest came out and was successful, they basically came back and said, 'Okay, let's talk about it for real.' But you can't really believe it, right? Yeah, well, okay, now they're asking us, but in reality, we're not going to make Dawn of War 4. And then slowly but surely it becomes more realistic and you don't really dare to believe it, right? And then at some point you sign the contract and it's like, holy… it's there. We're doing it."

For many, myself included, Dawn of War was the gateway to the whole Warhammer 40K universe. And King Art hopes this next installment might be as well. It's a sprawling and… sometimes convoluted setting, so that's not exactly a straightforward task.

"It's funny because we hear that a lot, right?" Theysen agreed. "And that was also one of the big things for Dawn of War 4, that a lot of people say, 'Okay, Dawn of War, yes, that was like the first time I really interacted with Warhammer.' And so for us, it was very important to basically make a Dawn of War 4 that is of course for fans, but also a potential entry point for someone who's new.

"Yeah. I think I remember basically how I felt when I played Dawn of War for the first time and it was like, okay, super cool, but also I don't understand a lot, right? But I understood enough so the game was fun. It was not like I had to know what all the different weapons do or something like that. It was more like, okay, I can figure it out. And I think that is also the approach we take for Dawn of War 4, which is basically without any prior knowledge of Warhammer, you still need to understand what the factions are about, what the units are about. You won't understand all the different weapons and equipment and all of that, but it's fine, you can figure it out."

Taking the brutal, aggressive Orks as an example, the goal with the design of the whole faction is that you should naturally be able to figure out how to play without knowing a ton about their lore or having to have it spelled out for you. But those of us who have been living part of our lives in this universe for years should still have stuff to get excited about.

"We don't really tell the players, if you play Orks, you should have a lot of units and a lot of buildings and just have this explosive expansion," Theysen explained. "It just kind of feels natural to play that way, right? Because buildings are cheap, units are cheap, you lose a lot, so you build a lot ... We make sure that even if the people don't know what Orks are about, they can still play them correctly, basically."

"I think that's actually one of the main appeals for the Warhammer 40K universe is that enormous breadth and depth of things that you can potentially learn," Verbiest added. "It's definitely one of the things that attracted me to it was that, okay, sure, of course there is a surface level understanding of it that you can introduce to the games, for example, through a story or a campaign that kind of gets you into that world essentially. But there's so much more to it. And I think that that promise of, hey, there's much more going on beneath the surface, I think is what attracts so many fans to it. And I think that's also how you can serve both fans old and new is that you introduce a story, something to help onboard players into this world, but you have enough detail and other things within that, that signal to more established, more veteran fans of the universe, hey, we are aware of this and we speak the same language. We have the same understanding here."

But even within the Dawn of War envelope, there are different players bringing different expectations to the table. Dawn of War 1 was more of a traditional basecraft RTS. Dawn of War 2 put the focus more on upgrading a few elite squads, almost like an RPG. And Dawn of War 3 was… well, I try not to think about it too much. But even it had its fans, apparently. So deciding what Dawn of War 4 was going to be in context of the previous entries was a judgment call all its own.

"I mean, that was definitely one of the big questions at the beginning, right?" Theysen said. "What is a Dawn of War game, right? Because Dawn of War 1 and 2, at least everybody here at the company really loves, but they're very different games. And you can say, okay, maybe we can make a kind of best off of both of those. But we're not sure that that actually works. And so in the end we said, okay, we have to go with one of them. And we said ultimately, okay, let's go a little bit back to the roots, right? Let's do Dawn of War 1, or our version or our interpretation of Dawn of War 1. Let's see if something from Dawn of War 2 or even 3 works with that. And if it does, sure, then let's put it in. But Dawn of War 1 was clearly our guiding star."

"And it's really interesting because that also informed a lot of the gameplay and design decisions that we made as well," Verbiest elaborated. "The real time strategy genre is also something that has very different market segments or different audiences that have very different, sometimes conflicting needs. And I think that having that clarity of vision of, we want to go for Dawn of War 1 and how people felt about that definitely also informed a lot of the choices that we made as to what kind of parts of the game are we focusing on. So that's why we have this emphasis on the campaigns as kind of like our flagship feature, as well as having all these fantastic cinematics and CGIs that we then have then to inform that story. Because that's something that I think a lot of people were missing from the genre for quite a while."

And storytelling is poised to be front-and-center for Dawn of War 4. While many RTSes have led with a competitive multiplayer mindset, King Art is putting a lot of emphasis on their dynamic campaigns and the single-player experience.

"Because that is like the first big decision we made was basically, okay, if we do a Dawn of War 4, we want four factions back and not only three," Theysen continued. "And if we have four factions, we really would like to tell a story for each of the factions, right? And then all of the four campaigns have this overarching story, basically. And for us, that just felt like a natural thing we wanted to do because we like campaigns, we know that a lot of RTS players like campaigns, and so let's really focus on that. And then we made our lives even harder because we decided, okay, let's maybe also have the campaigns be a little bit non-linear. So there are things like, you can pick which of the Ork bosses you want to play, for example. Or there are missions that are mutually exclusive or things that you can optionally do and so on. And so for us, it's like this: the campaign is like the heart of the whole thing and that has to work. But of course, then also we have multiplayer and we have Last Stand and so on."

If you're interested to hear more about the nonlinear aspects of the Ork campaign, keep an eye out for our hands-on preview later this month. Then be sure to check out all of our other Dawn of War 4 coverage as part of IGN First, including the Ork cinematic trailer. And for everything else, keep it right here on IGN.

If you were to purchase a standalone Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card today, you'd be paying $3,000 or more. Why not just get a complete RTX 5090 prebuilt gaming PC for a similar price? HP is currently offering its flagship OMEN 45L RTX 5090 gaming PC for just $3,708 when you add this keyboard and mouse combo to the same order. This is by far the least expensive RTX 5090 prebuilt right now; everything else is closer to $5,000 and up. It even includes 64GB of DDR5-5600MHz RAM, which alone probably costs close to $700 in today's outrageous DRAM market.

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EA and Battlefield Studios have announced the Battlefield 6 Season 2 release date has been delayed as it works to address community feedback with an extended Season 1.

The team behind last year’s new Battlefield game announced a delay for the long-awaited new season with an enigmatic Season 2 trailer and blog post. The trailer itself is only seven seconds long, showing a gas mask emerge from green smoke before promising a Battlefield 6 and REDSEC Season 2 release date of February 17.

Escalating the fight with new threats on the battlefield.

Season 2 begins February 17. pic.twitter.com/fGMegJJuTj

— Battlefield (@Battlefield) January 13, 2026

"This revised launch has been implemented to allow extra time to further develop and refine Season 2 as a result of community feedback," a message from the developers says.

It’s a nearly one-month late start for the next wave of content for the troubled shooter, which had previously been scheduled to deliver new maps, modes, updates, and more January 20. With Battlefield 6 Season 2 now set to launch mid-February, players have been told to expect a Season 1 extension update to arrive January 20 in its place. EA and BF Studios say the decision was made to “further polish and refine Season 2” in order to “keep our promise” of providing worthwhile content updates for all.

“We are also reinforcing Battlefield Labs as the public preview for future game updates in the late stages of development,” the message says. “Both the Season 1 extension and the use of Battlefield Labs will set the foundation for new and exciting content throughout our live seasons, including what will come in Season 2.”

More details on Battlefield 6 Season 2 will arrive in February, with a “greater 2026 roadmap” for both it and REDSEC set to follow “in the near future.” In the meantime, the Battlefield 6 Season 1 extension is still said to give players some of the balance tweaks and new content they’ve been begging for in recent weeks. BF Studios tells players to expect detailed patch notes prior to the extension's release date next week, teasing the update will include a showcase of Portal community experiences, severeal double XP periods, and free daily login rewards to help with the wait.

Perhaps the most substantial addition coming with the Battlefield 6 Season 1 extension is the Frostfitre Bonus Path, which is launching January 27. Free rewards include a Hardware XP boost, a vehicle skin, and other customization items, with battle pass owners also able to earn a new weapon package, a career XP boost, and more. Progress on the Frostfire Bonus Path is made conurrently with with the Season 1 battle pass and is said to require 110 Bonus Path points to fully complete. Frostfire Bonus Path points will also be earned via weekly challenges, not Bonus Challenges like what was seen in previous Bonus Paths.

A Valentine's Day event is also set to arrive in Battlefield 6 during the extended Season 1. Details about what it includes outside of the promise of double XP weekends and daily login rewards are under wraps for now, with EA only telling players to keep an eye on its social media pages for any and all updates.

"Moving forward together, we look forward to continuing our conversations with you, the Battlefield community, both in-game and across our official channels," the message signs off. "Again, thank you for being a part of our community and joining us for the future of this franchise, starting with our next update on January 20, 2026."

We checked in on Battlefield 6 earlier this month and found that a lack of content updates, communication from BF Studios, and a disappointing end with Season 1: Winter Offensive seemed to have caused its recent drop off in player interest. Contributing to an increase in negative user reviews was controversy involving EA's alleged use of generative AI material. Now, it seems players are simply waiting with bated breath to see if Battlefield 6 will be able to regain the momentum it had following its October 10 launch for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S.

Despite its late 2025 troubles, Battlefield 6 came out swinging at launch. In late December, that success had some analysts believing the latest installment in the EA shooter series could emerge above Call of Duty as the best-selling game of the year.

Battlefield fans waiting for Season 2 and the Season 1 extension are currently still in the throes of the Winter Offensive update, which launched December 9. It came with snowy versions of some familiar locations after both the Rogue Ops and California Resistance updates for Season 1 each included one brand-new map to explore.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).