Hot on the heels of the layoffs that have swept through Xbox, the founder of Microsoft-owned Arkane Studios has hit out at Game Pass, whose subscription model he called “unsustainable.”

Raphael Colantonio, who founded the Dishonored and Prey developer and served as its president before leaving in 2017 to start Weird West maker WolfEye Studios, took to social media to ask: “Why is no-one talking about the elephant in the room? Cough cough (Gamepass).”

When asked to expand on his thoughts on Game Pass, which Weird West launched straight into as a day one title in March 2022, Colantonio said: “I think Gamepass is an unsustainable model that has been increasingly damaging the industry for a decade, subsidized by MS’s ‘infinite money,’ but at some point reality has to hit. I don’t think GP can co-exist with other models, they’ll either kill everyone else, or give up.”

Colantonio’s comment sparked a vociferous debate about the pros and cons of Game Pass in industry terms as well as for the customer. Microsoft's subscription service has been called many things over the years: the death of the video game industry; the savior of smaller developers who benefit greatly from payments made by Microsoft to secure their games; and everything in between. During the great Xbox FTC trial to decide the fate of Microsoft's $69 billion aquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard, then PlayStation boss Jim Ryan claimed that he had talked to "all the publishers" and that, unanimously, they all hated Game Pass "because it is value destructive." He also said Microsoft "appears to be losing a lot of money on it."

Back in 2021, Xbox boss Phil Spencer countered Game Pass doomsayers, saying: "I know there's a lot of people that like to write [that] we're burning cash right now for some future pot of gold at the end. No. Game Pass is very, very sustainable right now as it sits. And it continues to grow."

That was four years ago. What about now, in the wake of cuts that have seen Rare's Everwild, the Perfect Dark reboot, and an unannounced MMO in the works at developer behind The Elder Scrolls Online all canceled?

Colantonio’s comments were backed by a number of industry peers, including the former VP of biz dev at Epic Games. Michael Douse, publishing director at Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian, said that the biggest concern right now revolves around what happens when all that money runs out. This, Douse added, is “one of the main economic reasons people I know haven't shifted to its business model. The infinite money thing never made any sense.”

(It’s worth noting that Baldur’s Gate 3 has so far not launched in Game Pass or PlayStation Plus.)

Colantonio then ridiculed Microsoft’s insistence that launching games into Game Pass did not impact sales, only to later admit the contrary.

Douse responded to to say he prefers the Sony way of doing things. Sony’s PlayStation Plus policy is to keep first-party games off the subscription service at launch, only adding them some time later. That’s why you won’t see this year’s Sony’s Ghost of Yotei launch straight into PS Plus, but you will see Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 as a day one Game Pass launch.

“The economics never made sense, but at the same time I do recognize that for smaller teams with new or riskier IPs it helped derisk,” Douse said. “Much prefer Sony's 'lifecycle management' strategy.”

"Yeah, the only way GP can co-exist without hurting everyone is for the back catalogue," Colantonio concluded.

Reports have indicated that Microsoft’s layoffs were more about the company’s high-profile push into AI than any failing with the gaming business, but Colantonio suggested this was “a bs excuse.”

He then went on to insist that “the maths don’t work for most publishers/devs nor for Xbox once they stop investing.”

Colantonio was also asked why Microsoft would continue to push Game Pass if it were unsustainable, even now, eight years after it launched. He responded to say that Game Pass isn’t profitable, Microsoft is still in the "customer acquisition phase", and the company hopes that one day, subscription revenue will make its significant investment pay off.

Colantonio explained that Game Pass on its own cannot be considered profitable because you need to factor in the billions of dollars Microsoft has spent acquiring content for the subscription service, and he includes Bethesda owner ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard in that equation. “It’s a spreadsheet trick where they don’t put that detail in a profit and loss section, but instead in the amortization over time,” he claimed.

Game Pass is of course an incredible deal for the gamer that lets subscribers dip in and out of a long list of games for a fraction of the cost of buying those games standalone. Game Pass is often said to be too good to be true because of how cheap it is relative to what it offers. When you throw in every game Microsoft has on its books as a day one Game Pass launch (Call of Duty included), the deal feels even better.

For Colantonio, though, the Game Pass deal is “too good.”

“What *might* happen once MS has won: the games will start to suck and your sub will go up,” he added. “Why? Because the current amazing deal you have is subsided by MS bleeding money into it with the hope they’ll kill the competition, but once they manage to do it, things will get real.”

He added: “... it’s a long game that involves throwing a tsunami at the entire ecosystem of the industry. Only the gamers like it because the offer is too good to be true, but eventually even gamers will hate it when they realize the effects on the games.”

Microsoft does not report on the success of Game Pass either way in financial terms. Indeed, its reporting on its gaming business is vague at best. In its last financial report (for the quarter ending March 31, 2025), Microsoft said Xbox content and services grew 8% year-over-year, which was in part due to growth in Xbox Game Pass. PC Game Pass revenue increased 45% year-over-year. But we don’t have an updated figure for how many subscribers Game Pass has, nor how much money it brings in.

In an April interview with Variety, Microsoft gaming boss Phil Spencer was asked how he views Game Pass’s ongoing role in the larger Xbox business. Spencer replied to say he thinks about Game Pass as “a healthy option for certain people,” but admitted “it’s not for everybody.”

“Our biggest areas of growth right now are PC and Cloud, which makes sense, since consoles, all up, are a good business, they’re an established business, but they’re not really a growing segment in gaming," he said.

"So we’ve got good growth on PC, we’ve got growth on Cloud, in terms of users and hours. And console continues to be a really healthy part of Game Pass. But there isn’t a unique need for Game Pass to be the only way for people to play. If everybody who’s a Game Pass subscriber instead decided to buy their games, that’s good for the business as well.

“For me, I look at Game Pass as a healthy option for certain people. It’s not for everybody. If you play one or two games a year, Game Pass probably isn’t the right business model for you, you should just buy those two games, and that would make total sense. But I want you to have the choice. So we remain focused on everything that’s on Game Pass is also available to buy. We’re making those games available to buy in more places.

“And I look at the overall hours of people who are playing on Xbox, playing our games, and that’s a number that continues to grow fairly substantially, and that’s really the metric I think about for success. And Game Pass has been an important part of that, but I don’t try to solve for Game Pass specifically on its own. It’s kind of part of the equation for Xbox finding new players.”

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.

James Gunn has said he's well aware some people will take offense at his new Superman movie "just because it is about kindness."

Superman, which launches July 11 and kickstarts the rebooted DC Universe, is coming out "at a particular time when people are feeling a loss of hope in other people's goodness," Gunn told The Times in a new profile.

"I'm telling a story about a guy who is uniquely good, and that feels needed now because there is a meanness that has emerged due to cultural figures being mean online."

He added: "And I include myself in this. It is ad infinitum, millions of people having tantrums online. How are we supposed to get anywhere as a culture? We don't know what's real, and that is a really difficult place for the human brain to be. If I could press a button to make the internet disappear I'd consider it. And, no, I don't make films to change the world, but if a few people could be just a bit nicer after this it would make me happy."

The story of Superman the world famous superhero character is "the story of America," Gunn told the publication.

"An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost."

Gunn then admitted his new Superman movie "plays differently" in different parts of the United States (The Times interviewer wondered how different it will play in New York and Kansas, for example). Gunn then said he expects some people will find his new Superman offensive, but he dismissed that reaction.

"But it's about human kindness and obviously there will be jerks out there who are just not kind and will take it as offensive just because it is about kindness. But screw them."

Gunn went on to say he's already seen a degree of backlash against his take on Superman, played by David Corenswet.

"We posted footage of David with a bunch of kids who were extras on set," Gunn said. "Kids love Superman — it's like when they see Santa. And David is high-fiving them, it was so beautiful, such a cute video. And then I saw people saying, 'Oh, great, we've got a Superman who's a pussy.' Are you kidding me? That's something you're going to attack? That little kids like this guy and he's kind?"

Gunn's comments here echo those he made in December last year, when he expressed hope that Superman would help "unify" fans amid an increasingly polarizing internet.

In a Q&A session attended by IGN at the time, Gunn touched on the message Superman, with "the simplicity of the morals and goodness and love" the character embodies, can convey upon its release.

"Listen, I do think that things have become really polarizing, and my life is just not that," Gunn said. "I also think that the internet has become polarizing and it's much more polarizing than life is. I live in rural Georgia and I have friends of all different political persuasions. I'm not a person that believes in cutting someone out because their politics are different than mine. And I think at the end of the day, most of us are trying to do our best, and most of us are making the best choices we can for ourselves and trying to do things compassionately.

"I know that's hard to believe in this time when everything is so black and white on the internet in terms of what's good and what's bad, what choices are good and what choices are bad.

"But I would hope that Superman does unify us a little bit because he is just about those core values that I think everyone believes in. Not everyone, but almost everyone believes in. And so hopefully this is outside of that realm of political discourse in that respect.

"And yeah, I do think that if we can focus on our humanity, which is what Superman is about as a character and as a movie, and focus on doing the best we can day-to-day, then it's a little bit healing, but not a lot."

The debut Superman trailer revealed Superman lying prone, battered, bruised, and bleeding after a battle with an unknown foe. Superman calls out to Krypto the Superdog for help, and upon his arrival asks him to take him home.

This sequence, Gunn said in last December's Q&A, reflects his desire for the Superman movie to act as a place "we can all go home" to.

"At the beginning of this trailer, Superman wants Krypto to take him home," Gunn said. "And I think that this is a place where we can all go home, to a character that we love, to the simplicity of the morals and goodness and love that Superman embodies as a character, and that we can all go home this summer to Superman. I think it's something that could be a good thing for us."

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.

Jurassic World Rebirth crossed the $300 million mark at the global box office with the close of the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

The Gareth Edwards-directed summer blockbuster starring Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali, has a global tally of $318.318 million after five days on the market (it opened on Wednesday), with $147.3 million coming from North American theaters. That’s comfortably enough for Jurassic World Rebirth to be the number one film in the world right now, but its domestic box office is down compared to recent entries in the long-running franchise.

For example, 2015’s Jurassic World made a huge $258 million domestically during its first five days, 2018’s Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom did $181 million during the same period, and 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion took $172 million. However, putting a more positive spin on Jurassic World Rebirth, it enjoyed the second biggest international opening in the Jurassic franchise, behind only Jurassic World. The question is whether Rebirth will hit a billion dollars, as each film in the prior trilogy managed, and enjoys a big enough commercial success to convince Universal to power on with this intended new trilogy.

IGN’s Jurassic World Rebirth review returned a 5/10. We said: “For a movie that promises a “Rebirth,” the latest Jurassic World plays it frustratingly safe, falling back on the blueprint of the original film, but not shedding any of the problems with the more recent movies.”

If you’re wondering how Jurassic World Rebirth sets up a new trilogy, check out our Jurassic World Rebirth Ending Explained feature.

Meanwhile, F1: The Movie brought home another $82.4 million for a global total to date of $293.6 million. That makes it Apple’s highest-grossing movie ever after just two weekends, speeding ahead of Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, which managed $221.3 million in 2023.

If you’re wondering how Apple’s other movies have fared at the box office, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon made $158 million, Argylle settled on a disappointing $96 million, and Fly Me to the Moon hit $42 million.

How To Train Your Dragon crossed $500 million at the global box office this weekend to hit $516.94 million. Disney’s Lilo & Stitch has inched closer to the one billion dollar mark with, and is now up to $972.7 million globally ($408.5 million domestic and $564.2 million international) after seven weekends in theaters. Pixar’s Elio, however, has grossed just $96.8 million globally after three weekends, cementing its launch disaster status.

Speaking of launch disasters, Blumhouse’s M3GAN 2.0’s shockingly bad performance continues, with just $30.687 million after two weekends. Earlier this week, Blumhouse boss Jason Blum opened up on what went wrong with M3GAN 2.0, admitting to a number of failings.

On the other side of the horror spectrum, 28 Years Later now has a global total of $125.8 million. Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning hit $576.184 million after seven weeks, and Final Destination Bloodlines has a global tally of $284.8 million.

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.

Celebrated TV series composer Mark Snow has died aged 78.

Snow, who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, is best-known for composing the iconic The X-Files theme tune, which became the soundtrack to the conspiracy theory-obsessed Nineties. With its spooky whistle that played alongside a title sequence that contained a number of creepy images, such as a stretchy face series creator Chris Carter specifically requested, Snow’s The X-Files is among the most recognisable in TV theme history.

But Snow also composed the entire series’ initial nine-season run from 1993 to 2001, returning for the revival in 2015. Six of Snow's 15 Emmy nominations were for the The X-Files episodes he scored.

Away from The X-Files, Snow composed for the likes of Smallville, Blue Bloods, The Twilight Zone, and Carter’s The X-Files follow-up Millennium. Snow returned to The X-Files for the revival in 2015. He passed away on Friday, July 4, at his home in Connecticut, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Snow also worked on a number of video games, including 1998’s Urban Assault and The X-Files Game, and Sony Bend’s 2004 PlayStation 2 exclusive Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain. His final project was the 2020 X-Men film The New Mutants.

The instrumental The X Files was a hit single in the United Kingdom and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart in 1996. According to Variety, this amused Snow, who said: "Nothing really big happens in the song. It stays in A-minor, there’s no singing, drums or guitars, and it was a smash hit. That’s pretty wild."

UPDATE: CD Projekt has now released the first teaser video for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2. Check it out below:

David is dead. 💀 But Night City lives on. 🌆

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is in production. Coming to @Netflix when it’s ready. pic.twitter.com/n5GKc9pej8

— Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (@edgerunners) July 5, 2025

ORIGINAL STORY: CD Projekt has announced Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, a new Netflix anime series set in the world of its Cyberpunk 2077 video game.

The developer has reunited with studio Trigger, which created the first Edgerunners anime, for this follow-up, with Kai Ikarashi confirmed as director. Writer Bartosz Sztybor is showrunner, story writer, and producer.

There’s no trailer yet, but we do have a logo and poster art for Edgerunners 2, below. Expect a standalone 10-episode story described as “a raw chronicle of redemption and revenge.”

Metal Gear and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima recently echoed Tom Cruise when talking about his future plans, declaring: "I want to keep creating things until I die."

Since starting out in the industry at Konami in 1986, Kojima has created a variety of games, including Snatcher, the innovative sunlight-based GBA title Boktai, and the infamous P.T. demo. In a recent interview centering around Kojima’s latest game Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Game*Spark asked Kojima about his motivations and thoughts on why he continues to make games.

“I’m the same as Tom Cruise (laughs)," he said. "My life has been dedicated to creating things. That is my joy. I want to create for as long as my body and my brain keep working. I will think about (stopping) if it begins to inconvenience the people around me, but I want to keep creating things until I die.”

With Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2’s Siege Mode in full swing, players are soldiering through waves of Thousand Sons and Tyranid forces as they bid to reach the highest level possible. But apart from frustrating connection issues and bugs that prevent progress, some players have a bigger problem: Chaos.

Siege Mode forces players to fight against waves of enemies from Space Marine 2’s two enemy factions: the Thousand Sons traitor legion, and the terrifying bug-like alien menace that is the Tyranids. There is no way to play against one faction only. Tyranid and Chaos waves will come separately.

That’s a problem for some Space Marine 2 players who feel like fighting the Tyranids is a lot more fun than playing against Chaos. A lot of this has to do with the different challenge each faction presents. The Tyranids are a swarm-type enemy type that packs the screen with a mix of smaller foes and much bigger, harder-hitting foes. There’s a bloody minded pleasure that comes from chewing through scores of Tyranid enemies as a Space Marine, sweeping your Power Sword through xenos flesh, parrying a strike that gives you a clean response, and — my personal favorite — punching those Tyranids in the face with my Power Fist.

In contrast, the Thousand Sons present a more measured challenge. You are, after all, going up against fellow Space Marines here and their daemonic forces; they’re supposed to be tough. When those Terminators spawn and spam their missile barrage, playing against Chaos can feel like pulling teeth. The Thousand Sons are less of a 'switch your brain off and cleave through it' proposition, and more of a, 'if Space Marine 2 wanted to be a bit like Elden Ring, it would probably go a little like this.'

The effect is more pronounced the harder the difficulty you play Space Marine 2. At the easier difficulties, Tyranids and Chaos are much of a muchness in terms of challenge. But ramp the difficulty up — which you need to do for certain levels of progression in Space Marine 2 — and Chaos become an absolute bloody nightmare, whereas the Tyranids often still feel manageable.

It’s not as simple as saying 'Tyranids easy, Chaos hard.' The Tyranids as a foe work brilliantly in terms of recreating the faction feel from the lore and the tabletop upon which Space Marine 2 is based. Similarly, the Thousand Sons work as they should, as a traitor legion fueled by warp magic. They’re different because they’re supposed to be.

Still, Space Marine 2 players — and this has been a thing in the PvE Operations mode ever since the game’s record-breaking launch in September last year — often pop online to say they much prefer to fight the Tyranids. Some are even saying they back out of Siege mode whenever they get a Chaos wave.

“Is there a way to play Siege mode with Tyranids only?” asked Think_Fan_5943 recently on the Space Marine subreddit. “I really hate fighting Chaos and being forced to fight them sucks and I usually just drop out when the enemy switches. You can choose Tyranids only missions if you don't like Chaos so why can't we choose which enemy we face in Siege mode?”

No-one expects the developers at Saber Interactive to release a Tyranid-only version of Siege Mode; if they did, perhaps the Chaos version wouldn't have enough players to form a healthy matchmaking pool, such is the preference for the Tyranids. It is what it is, I suppose. But the Tyranids vs Chaos debate in Space Marine 2 does spark fun conversations around the enemy factions we’re expecting to see in the already confirmed Space Marine 3.

What sort of challenge might the Necrons, which everyone expects will turn up, present the Ultramarines? Could a different type of traitor legion pose a more interesting challenge? What if the plague-ridden Death Guard were in the game, and players were forced to contend with skin-melting disease as well as bolter fire? And what if the Orks return after starring in Space Marine 1? Could they become the Tyranid-equivalent enemy faction everyone prefers to fight against?

For now, we’re left with the Tyranids and Chaos, and the ongoing challenge of having to contend with both in Siege mode whether we like it or not. Looking ahead, there’s a lot of exciting content coming to Space Marine 2. While Patch 9 will focus on balance changes only, Patch 10 adds a new Chaos vs Chaos PvP mode, the new Power Axe melee weapon, and the new Techmarine class. Check out all the Space Marine 2 Patch 10 details here.

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.

Amid the video game cancelations and studio closures that have come as a result of Microsoft’s devastating round of layoffs this week is concern about the fate of pretty much every Xbox game without a firm release date.

Microsoft games canceled as part of the cuts include Rare’s Everwild, an unannounced MMO from ZeniMax Online Studios, the developer of The Elder Scrolls Online, and the Perfect Dark Reboot. The latter's developer, The Initiative, was shut down. The team working on Blizzard’s mobile game Warcraft Rumble was laid off as new content ceased.

Meanwhile, external developers who were funded by Microsoft were also hit. Romero Games, the studio founded by Doom co-creator John Romero and Brenda Romero, has suffered significant layoffs and the future of its new shooter is in doubt.

That’s a lot to take in, but it begs the question: which Xbox Game Studios games remain? And which, if any, were quietly canceled?

In a memo sent to all Microsoft gaming staff and viewed by IGN this week, Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, said Microsoft still has "more than 40 projects in active development, continued momentum on titles shipping this fall, and a strong slate headed into 2026."

Additionally, a source told Variety that every game featured at the Xbox Games Showcase presentation in June is continuing on. So, what were those games, which we now assume are safe — at least for the time being?

Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was at the show, and is certain to come out later this year (despite the layoffs hitting its various developers). inXile game Clockwork Revolution starred at the show, so that’s safe. Obsidian’s Grounded 2 and The Outer Worlds 2 were at the show and we should assume are both safe. It's a similar deal for Double Fine’s Keeper, The Coalition’s Gears of War: Reloaded, Ninja Gaiden 4, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’s Order of the Giants DLC. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, and the ROG Xbox Ally, both at the show, will continue too. Despite the cancelation of Everwild, Rare’s Sea of Thieves continues with new updates.

At the end of the showcase, Xbox boss Phil Spencer teased Forza, Fable, Gears of War: E-Day, and a Halo: Combat Evolved remake for 2026. We assume since those games were mentioned, they’re safe, although it’s worth noting that the Forza mentioned by Spencer no doubt relates to the next Forza Horizon game from Playground, which is also making Fable. Turn 10, which makes the more sim-focused Forza games, was hit hard by the layoffs.

So, we know which games Microsoft still intends to release. But, given the events of this week, it’s now impossible to think about other Xbox games in the works without a degree of concern. Everwild and Perfect Dark were conspicuous by their absence at last month's show and both were canceled. What else failed to turn up?

Minecraft — remember Microsoft owns Minecraft! — remains huge and safe as houses, you feel. But what about Contraband from Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios? Where’s Undead Labs’ State of Decay 3? Ninja Theory’s Project Mara? Microsoft has a Hideo Kojima game, OD, on its books. Is that still happening? Toys for Bob, the Crash Bandicoot 4 developer and Call of Duty support studio that left the Xbox-owned Activision in February 2024, signed an agreement with Xbox directly to publish its next game. Is that still alive?

And what about Bethesda? ZOS’s MMO has fallen by the wayside, but surely Bethesda Game Studios' The Elder Scrolls VI and the next Fallout are fine. Starfield’s promised next expansion feels precarious, given Bethesda's radio silence on the game. And what about Blizzard? As of last year it was reportedly hard at work on a StarCraft shooter. Is that still the case?

It’s only when you run through what wasn’t at the Xbox Games Showcase last month that you realize what’s at stake here: Microsoft owns a huge number of development studios across the globe, from Bethesda to Blizzard and Activision to Halo. When Xbox suffers significant problems, a huge swathe of the video game industry and its developers do, too.

All eyes are on August's gamescom, where Microsoft is expected to show more of what is has coming down the line. Perhaps Phil Spencer will give fans a clear idea of what’s in the works from Xbox and what isn't as Microsoft's multiplatform push soldiers on. It is still planning to release a next-gen Xbox console, although we don't know when. Is the first-party Xbox handheld Spencer teased last year also still alive? Does Microsoft still plan to release its own gaming app store, despite the failure of Call of Duty Warzone Mobile, Warcraft Rumble, and this week's significant cuts to Candy Crush maker King?

In the short term, at least, the games we saw in June are still on the way. But the long term future of Xbox remains vague indeed.

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.

Michael Madsen, who starred in Quentin Tarantino movies Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill, has died aged 67 from cardiac arrest.

NBC reported that Madsen was found dead at his Malibu home on Thursday morning, according to his manager Ron Smith.

Star Wars actor Kenneth Colley, who played Admiral Piett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, has died aged 87.

Colley’s Admiral Piett was an imperial officer in command of Darth Vader's flagship. Nearly 30 years after Return of the Jedi's release, he reprised the role for 2012 animation Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out. Colley also played Jesus in the much-loved Monty Python's Life of Brian.

According to the BBC, Colley died peacefully at his home in Kent in the UK on Monday after contracting Covid and developing pneumonia.

Build A Rocket Boy, the Edinburgh, Scotland-based developer of MindsEye, has issued at-risk of redundancy emails to its around 300-strong UK workforce following the disastrous launch of the game.

Sources familiar with the goings on inside the embattled studio told IGN at-risk emails were also sent to staff at PlayFusion, which BARB acquired late 2024. PlayFusion, whose CEO Mark Gerhard became co-CEO of BARB as part of the buyout, is working on a different game — a fast-paced FPS called Ascendant which was meant to come out this year.

Last month, IGN reported that BARB had begun a redundancy process following the release of MindsEye. The standard 45-day consultation process kicked off on June 23, which according to UK law is triggered when an employer proposes 100 or more redundancies within a 90-day period. IGN understands Build A Rocket Boy currently has around 300 UK employees, with 200 abroad.

At the time, BARB issued a statement confirming the redundancy process, insisting the cuts will let the studio “focus on delivering ongoing updates and performance optimization for MindsEye, while also ensuring the long-term success of Build A Rocket Boy’s future ambitions.”

Soon after MindsEye launched, BARB said it was “heartbroken” over the issues players had faced with the game, and promised to release a series of patches to fix the significant performance problems, glitches, and AI behavior bugs. Rollout of these patches has begun.

All the while, MindsEye’s troubled launch saw the developer cancel sponsored streams, with reports of players securing refunds, even from the normally stubborn Sony, surfacing online.

On Steam, which does not paint the whole picture of MindsEye’s current popularity, the game hit a peak concurrent player count of 3,302 on launch, but had a 24-hour peak of just 46 players. At the time of this article’s publication, 26 people were playing on Steam, where MindsEye has a 'mostly negative' user review rating.

Story-driven action adventure game MindsEye was initially designed to be a part of Everywhere, the ‘Roblox for adults’ creation platform led by former Grand Theft Auto design chief Leslie Benzies. BARB eventually switched to focus on MindsEye, but it has so-far failed to do the business for the company.

Meanwhile, BARB sources told IGN that Benzies finally addressed staff following the release of MindsEye in a brief video call yesterday, July 2. According to two people present who asked not to be named in order to protect their careers, Benzies insisted BARB would bounce back and relaunch MindsEye, blaming the studio and the game’s struggles on internal and external saboteurs, among other things.

The comments echo those issued by Mark Gerhard ahead of the release of MindsEye. The co-CEO hit the headlines for claiming there was a "concerted effort" by some to "trash the game and the studio," suggesting people were being paid or using spam bots to post negative comments. The boss of publisher IO Interactive, which makes the Hitman games, subsequently issued a denial.

BARB sources told IGN that internally, there is a desire for a MindsEye redemption arc that would eventually see it become successful for the studio. But as staff face an anxious wait to discover their fate, there are serious questions over whether BARB will be able to fulfill its post-launch roadmap for content, including the promised multiplayer mode, on time.

Build A Rocket Boy declined to comment when contacted by IGN.

Earlier this week, BARB released MindsEye’s third post-release update on console, with a PC release to follow. “We’ve watched hundreds of hours of gameplay footage and reviewed player feedback across multiple channels to prioritize the most pressing issues and improve the experience for all our console players,” the studio said.

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.

Helldivers 2 is coming to Xbox Series X and S next month in a shock announcement that sees Sony publish a game on PlayStation's rival consoles.

Arrowhead’s explosive co-op third-person shooter launches on Xbox on August 26, 2025, a livestream confirmed. Remarkably, that's the same day Microsoft releases Gears of War: Reloaded on PlayStation 5.

In a post on Xbox Wire, Helldivers 2 Game Director Mikael Eriksson commented on what this launch means to the studio.

“We know gamers have been asking for this for some time and we are so excited to bring more Helldivers into our game," he said. "We have so much more in store for the future months and years – and the more players we have the more stories we can tell! The fight for Super Earth has only just begun.”

Crossplay across all platforms is confirmed, which means PC, PlayStation, and Xbox players will be able to play together.

Helldivers 2 launched on PC and PS5 in February 2024 and was a rare live service smash hit for Sony. It is the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game of all time, selling an incredible 12 million copies in 12 weeks.

While player numbers on Steam, which Valve makes public, remain healthy a year-and-a-half on from the record-breaking launch, the Xbox release will no-doubt boost the player pool even further.

Still, Helldivers 2's release on Xbox comes as a big surprise. Sony, typically, does not release PlayStation Studios games on Xbox, preferring instead to launch on PlayStation consoles only and, in an increasing number of cases, PC. MLB The Show, developed by Sony's San Diego Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, is an exception and does launch on Xbox, albiet under the MLB banner. Sony also recently released LEGO Horizon Adventures on Nintendo Switch, PS5, and PC.

Clearly, the once impenetrable walls of console exclusivity are coming down. Microsoft, which only yesterday made sweeping cuts to its gaming business as part of an eye-watering round of layoffs affecting over 9,000 staff, is all-in on PlayStation. The aforementioned Gears of War: Reloaded marks the once Xbox-exclusive series' debut on PlayStation, Hellblade 2 hits PS5 in August, and Obsidian's The Outer Worlds 2 releases on Sony's console in October.

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.

With the upcoming launch of Superman, a new Batman movie in the works, and confirmation that a new Wonder Woman film is in development, the obvious next question is whether we’ll see the super trio team up in the rebooted DCU at some point. Based on comments from James Gunn, that sounds likely.

Speaking to Deadline on the red carpet for Superman, Gunn, who wrote and directed the film and is stewarding DC Studios alongside Peter Safran, was asked if there’s a chance fans will get to see Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman on the big screen together.

Gunn’s response made it clear a teamup is on the cards: “Of course! Yeah!”

However, he qualified that statement by saying it won’t happen for some time: “But not in the next movie.” Presumably this is a reference to next year's Supergirl.

Deadline then followed up to ask if there were talks of it happening at some point in the next few years, and Gunn pushed back on the idea of formal talks happening at this point.

“You have to remember that all this stuff is talks in my head,” he said. “So there’s a lot of chatter in my head that does a lot of things. The DCU is chatter in my head, not talks.”

James Gunn discusses a reunion between Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman on the big screen: “Of course, yeah! But, not in the next movie” pic.twitter.com/RK8FhqOJfU

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) July 2, 2025

Clearly, Gunn is mentally at least preparing for all three characters to join forces eventually, but when that happens is anyone’s guess. While Superman has a release date, as do 2026's Supergirl and Clayface, other DCU projects seem rather nebulous. Chief among them is Batman, which Gunn himself recently called “my biggest issue in all of DC right now.”

In February, Gunn and Safran confirmed The Brave and the Bold will introduce a new Batman into the DCU, ruling out current Batman actor Robert Pattinson in the process. At the time, Safran and Gunn said Pattinson would play Batman in director Matt Reeves’ Batman universe, dubbed The Batman Epic Crime Saga, only. Pattinson played Batman in 2022’s The Batman, with The Batman - Part 2 confirmed to be in development.

However, last year The Batman Part 2 was delayed once again, this time to October 1, 2027. If this date stands, it will end up being five years between the world first seeing Robert Pattinson become the Dark Knight and again in its sequel.

And what does this mean for the timing of The Brave and the Bold? Gunn faces the potentially confusing situation of having two actors playing Batman in movies across two different DC universes.

As of February, The Brave and the Bold was said to be in “very active development,” and the story was “coming together very nicely.” But is The Flash director Andy Muschietti still directing? Gunn and Safran are developing the script, and will show it to Muschietti "when we have it in a place where we think it's ready to go... and see if it's a fit for him," Safran said earlier this year. "I'm very, very actively involved in that script," Gunn added, also earlier this year.

Speaking more recently on Batman, Gunn said he’s not actually writing The Brave and the Bold, but is working with an unnamed writer to “get it right.”

“Batman’s my biggest issue in all of DC right now, personally,” he said. “And it’s not — I’m not writing Batman, but I am working with the writer of Batman and trying to get it right, because he’s incredibly important to DC, as is Wonder Woman.

“So outside of the stuff that I’m doing in the projects that are actively going, our two priorities are finishing our Wonder Woman and our Batman scripts.”

Gunn then discussed in vague terms the kind of Batman he’s going for — or, perhaps it would be better to say the kind of Batman he's trying to avoid.

“Batman has to have a reason for existing, right? So Batman can’t just be ‘Oh, we’re making a Batman movie because Batman’s the biggest character in all of Warner Bros.,’ which he is. But because there’s a need for him in the DCU and a need that he’s not exactly the same as Matt’s Batman.

“But yet he’s not a campy Batman. I’m not interested in that. I’m not interested in a funny, campy Batman, really. So we’re dealing with that. I think I have a way in, by the way. I think I really know what it’s — I just am dealing with the writer to make sure that we can make it a reality.”

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.

As the full effect of Microsoft’s devastating round of layoffs becomes clearer, Blizzard has announced that mobile game Warcraft Rumble won’t get any new content, with its developers reporting they have been laid off.

Warcraft Rumble was a high-profile attempt by Blizzard to bring the Warcraft universe into the lucrative mobile space. Development began in 2016, with the game itself releasing in 2023 as a free-to-play tower defense RTS inspired by the likes of Clash of Clans. The PC version launched late last year.

In a blog post, Blizzard admitted Warcraft Rumble “struggled to find its footing relative to our ambition for its long-term success,” and that recent attempts to improve the popularity of the game weren’t enough to sustain development.

The news comes as part of a bloodbath at Microsoft that saw 4%, or just over 9,000 staff, cut from the company. While the majority of those layoffs were outside the gaming business, Xbox studios were hit hard. Rare’s Everwild, for example, was canceled, as was the Perfect Dark reboot. The Initiative was closed.

Elsewhere, Candy Crush maker King suffered significant layoffs, as did Bethesda’s European operations. An unannounced MMO from The Elder Scrolls Online developer, ZeniMax Online Studios, was canceled and its development team cut. Reports indicate Forza developer Turn 10 and various Call of Duty development studios suffered layoffs, too. Microsoft was forced to deny rumors that under fire Xbox boss Phil Spencer is set to retire after the release of the next-gen Xbox.

Alex Apple, client engineer at Blizzard, took to LinkedIn to say they had been laid off “along with the entire Warcraft Rumble team.” Other developers on the game reported similar.

In its blog post, Blizzard said Warcraft Rumble will remain playable but will only receive updates focused on regular, systemic in-game events and bug fixes.

Dear Warcraft Rumble Community,  

We have an important update on the future of Warcraft Rumble. After much deliberation, we’ve arrived at an extremely hard decision. Moving forward, we'll continue supporting Rumble with updates focused on regular, systemic in-game events and bug fixes, but no new content.  

Warcraft Rumble began development nine years ago as a love letter to Azeroth and launched back in 2023, reflecting input from enthusiastic players around the globe and the effort of a passionate team — some of whom continue to support Rumble or other Blizzard games, and some we’ve had to sadly part ways with. Since launch, Rumble has struggled to find its footing relative to our ambition for its long-term success, and for some time now the team has been listening to player feedback, refocusing in certain areas, and exploring different options. Some of that work showed signs of progress, but ultimately wasn’t enough to put the game on a path to sustainability.  

During this transition, we are focused on supporting our teammates. We’re deeply grateful to everyone at Blizzard and in the community for helping bring Warcraft Rumble to life and embracing the joy that makes this game so special. Your enthusiasm and feedback mean the world to us.

Fans of the game reacted with disappointment to the news, but there is little surprise given how the game has gone over the last two years. Most players are now waving goodbye to Warcraft Rumble and its community, while sending messages of support to the affected developers.

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.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 got its hotly anticipated Siege Mode update last week, and while fans are enjoying it, crashes and disconnects have marred the experience.

Siege Mode is Space Marine 2’s take on the classic video game Horde mode. It sees teams of three players fight against increasingly difficult waves of Tyranid and Chaos enemies for exclusive rewards.

Players have responded to Siege Mode and its accompanying Patch 8 well, and Space Marine 2 has seen a surge of players on Steam at least, where player data is public. But connection problems are on occasion ruining the experience, especially when they arrive deep into the waves.

Just yesterday, July 2, the complaints were continuing. “I feel incredibly f***ed,” said an exasperated Justusowesme on the Space Marine subreddit.

“I just spent almost three hours in a Siege round. FINALLY got some good brothers who know what they are doing. Most epic experience I had in a long time. So looking forward to the rewards and feeling of accomplished, finally beating it. BUT NO MID FIGHT LAST ROUND BEFORE EVAC THE SERVERS JUST GIVE UP. NO MONEY, NO EXP, NO SKINS AND NOT EVEN AN SATISFYING END TO THE GLORIOUS FIGHT THAT ME AND MY BROTHERS HAD. I had fun, yes but essentially I just got robbed almost three hours of progress. That feels so incredibly insulting, I can't man…

“Please anybody in charge I know you're working already on it, with great haste too probably... BUT STILL, BY THE EMPEROR, WHAT THE WARP.”

In response, Space Marine 2 developer Saber Interactive and publisher Focus Entertainment have released the 8.1 hotfix, which is now live on every platform. It fixes various crashes and connectivity issues, as well as a bug preventing the reward for completing 25 waves in Siege Mode to unlock.

The hope is this hotfix stamps out the Siege Mode problems reported by the likes of poor old Justusowesme like a Space Marine stomping on the head of a xenos, but it’s early days yet.

Looking ahead, there’s a lot of exciting content coming to Space Marine 2. While Patch 9 will focus on balance changes only, Patch 10 adds a new Chaos vs Chaos PvP mode, the new Power Axe melee weapon, and the new Techmarine class. Check out all the Space Marine 2 Patch 10 details here.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 8.1 hotfix patch notes:

• Fixed several crashes
• Fixed several issues causing disconnects
• Fixed Siege Mode rewards from wave 25+
• Lots of small fixes to Siege Mode map geometry
• Fixed bug that was causing random enemies to get stronger much faster in infinite waves, causing one shot deaths randomly (Note: enemies are still going to get stronger but it will be not random and more consistent)
• Fixed a bug in Siege Mode that occurred when a player would join a game in progress, the game would not apply difficulty modifiers correctly.
• Fixed a bug in UI that was causing inability to change colour presets
• Minor localization fixes

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.

Microsoft has insisted Xbox boss Phil Spencer isn’t retiring “anytime soon,” amid rumors over the executive’s future at the company following yesterday’s mass layoffs.

Around 4%, or just over 9,000 staff, were cut across Microsoft, and while the majority of those layoffs were outside the gaming business, Xbox studios were hit hard. Rare’s Everwild, for example, was canceled, as was the Perfect Dark reboot. The Initiative was closed.

Elsewhere, Candy Crush maker King suffered significant layoffs, as did Bethesda’s European operations. An unannounced MMO from The Elder Scrolls Online developer, ZeniMax Online Studios, was canceled and its development team cut. Matt Firor, the veteran boss of ZOS, stepped down. Reports indicate Forza developer Turn 10 and various Call of Duty development studios suffered layoffs, too.