Star Trek continues to thrive on television, but the future of the long-running sci-fi series on the big screen is less clear. Although 2015's Star Trek Beyond was not as successful as previous films, Paramount was still moving forward with a fourth film in the current reboot series. However, it was cancelled earlier this year, and now Chris Hemsworth, who had been initially cast in the film, has spoken about his decision not to appear it.Hemsworth made a small appearance in JJ Abram's first Star Trek reboot movie as George Kirk, and was set to reprise this role. His involvement was first announced back in 2016, but the Thor star has now told Variety that he ultimately turned the role down because he felt the script wasn't good enough. "I didn't feel like we landed on a reason to revisit that yet," he said. "I didn't want to be underwhelmed by what I was going to bring to the table."Interestingly, it was previously reported that Hemsworth stepped down from Star Trek 4 due to contract issues. According to a story in The Hollywood Reporter, both Hemsworth and Chris Pine, who plays James Kirk, believed that Paramount was forcing them to take pay cuts for the fourth film. Either way, in January it was reported that director SJ Clarkson has stepped down and the movie was "shelved."In related news, the rumours that Quentin Tarantino might make a Star Trek movie persist. In January 2018 it was reported that Tarantino had spoken to Abrams about a new story for a Trek movie, and last month the filmmaker stated that it was still "a very big possibility" that the movie could happen.In terms of Star Trek on the small screen, the first teaser for the upcoming show Picard was released last week. As the title suggests, the series will focus on the iconic former Enterprise captain Jean-Luc Picard, with Patrick Stewart reprising his role from Star Trek: The Next Generation. It will premiere later this year.Disclosure: CBS Interactive is the parent company of GameSpot. Info from Gamespot.com

Monster Hunter World's massive Iceborne expansion arrives on PS4 and Xbox One this September (with a PC release to follow). The DLC will make its playable debut at E3 2019, but ahead of the expo, Capcom has shared a new story trailer that sets the stage for the adventure and offers another look at some of the new monsters players will encounter.Set after the events of Monster Hunter World's main story, Iceborne takes players to an entirely new arctic region called Hoarfrost Reach, which is home to a diverse array of new and returning monsters. After arriving at the region, the Research Commission establishes a new camp called Seliana, which will serve as your base of operations during your Iceborne adventures.Along with the new elder dragon Velkana, Iceborne introduces an "extreme" variant of the Legiana known as the Shrieking Legian. It also brings a couple of older monsters back; we got a glimpse at the Nargacuga during Sony's latest State of Play broadcast, and the new trailer reveals the fearsome Tigrex is coming back as well. It appears some more fan-favorites will also return; the trailer ends with a fiery slash followed by Glavenus's distinctive roar, teasing it may likewise be coming back in Iceborne. You can watch the story trailer above.Capcom says the upcoming Iceborne expansion "rivals the volume of the original release of Monster Hunter World." On top of all the new monsters, it adds a variety of new quests, gear and weapons to craft, and a new rank called Master Rank, which is similar to the G-Rank from previous games. Some of the game's existing gadgets are also getting new upgrades; the Slinger, for instance, is getting a new Clutch Claw function that allows players to freely grapple and mantle enemies.Monster Hunter World: Iceborne launches for PS4 and Xbox One on September 6. The expansion is also coming to PC later this winter, although no date has been specified yet. You'll need to own a copy of the base game in order to play Iceborne, but Capcom is releasing a new Master Edition that bundles both together for $60.Info from Gamespot.com

While surprising at first, vampiric heartthrob Robert Pattinson (Twilight, High Life) is officially the Dark Knight. With news that Pattinson will lead a trilogy of Batman films, how he landed the role was "quicker than normal," according to a Warner Bros. insider.In a Hollywood Reporter post, director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) had a few actors in mind when penning the script. Among those actors was 33-year-old Pattinson, who has since disappeared into smaller movies after stealing teenage hearts in the Twilight series of the late 2000s. The Batman's script called for a Bruce Wayne in his 30s. The story would focus more on how Wayne becomes the genius detective he is, instead of rehashing his origin story or displaying his later years as a grizzled crimefighter.And so, according to sources familiar with Reeves and his thinking, the American director was attracted to Pattinson because the English actor deliberately sought out more lowkey roles in lesser-known movies. Despite ultimately winning the role as the Caped Crusader, Pattinson still had competition.Reeves was also considering 29-year-old Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class, The Favourite), who's most known as the furry blue Beast in the X-Men franchise. THR notes that nothing prohibits Marvel actors from appearing in DC/Warner Bros. pictures and vice versa, but the cross-pollination could cause confusion between branding and characters. Though Hoult wasn't eliminated because of this potential issue, what seems to have secured Pattinson the role as Batman was how convincing he was in the suit during screen tests.Both Hoult and Pattinson put on a previous Batman suit, common in the Bat-test--Christian Bale wore Val Kilmer's Batman Forever suit before landing Batman Begins--and what Reeves was looking for were answers to a series of questions: Did they embody the character? How did their eyes look and act? Is there a specialness to them?As one insider put it, "(Reeves) wanted very specific things. He knew what he was looking for."The Batman is scheduled to hit theatres on June 25, 2021.Info from Gamespot.com

For being one of the X-Men’s most notoriously complicated mutants, Jean's story actually has a relatively simple start. She's one of the original team members, introduced back in the very first issue back in 1963. She was the token girl on the otherwise all-male team back in the day, and the only mutant with telekinetic powers in the mix--the others, Iceman, Psyclops, Beast, and Angel all had largely physical powers. For years, this was as tricky as Jean got. She was known as Marvel Girl, and she could move things with her mind--no fuss, no frills.Becoming The PhoenixThe simplicity didn't last, however. Over time, more of Jean's origin was revealed to be a somewhat insidious effort by Charles Xavier, who had clocked her as an up-and-coming telepath with potentially dangerous abilities. As she was enrolled in Xavier's Academy For Gifted Youngsters, Xavier placed special telepathic blocks in Jean's brain to limit her mutation to just telekinesis at first.After a considerable amount of training and practice, her telepathic powers were eventually unlocked, allowing her to grow that particular skill as she participated in missions with the team--but eventually, Xavier's fears began to become realities. It started slowly at first: During a mission set in space, Jean was forced to sacrifice herself to save her teammates, but in doing so, sent a massive telepathic plea out into the universe itself--a plea that was answered by a cosmic power known as the Phoenix Force, the manifestation of the power of creation and life itself in the universe.The Phoenix Force took up residence inside of Jean, saving her from the near-death experience. She emerged with a new look and codename: Phoenix.For a few fleeting moments, it actually seemed as though that was all there was to it. Jean seemed mostly fine, despite the trauma, and her revival was mysterious but not completely unheard of in superhero comics. But after some time, the truth came to light--sort of. The Phoenix Force had actually taken over Jean's body and mind, creating a duplicate body to house her consciousness and the Force itself, along with Jean's memories, while Jean's real body was placed in a special stasis pod/cocoon to be healed.Yeah. Look, X-Men stories are a lot of things, but simple ain't one of them.Enter Dark PhoenixSo anyway, Phoenix Jean--who, for all intents and purposes, was Jean, or at least, completely believed herself to be Jean--eventually started to experience strange visions of a past life where she was known as Lady Grey, the nefarious Black Queen of a group of evildoers called the Hellfire Club. The story of Lady Grey was, in fact, a complete fabrication by a villain known as Mastermind, who was specifically working to undermine Jean's sanity. And that's exactly what he was able to do. As the visions increased in frequency and intensity, Jean eventually accepted them as reality and succumbed entirely to a new evil alter-ego: Dark Phoenix, the full, unbridled potential of the Phoenix Force unchecked and given horrifying, hedonistic purpose care of the false Hellfire Club memories.Dark Phoenix promptly became the single most powerful and deadly psychic in the universe--and we mean that in the most literal and comic book-y way possible. After turning on her friends and team, Dark Phoenix opted to leave Earth, getting herself pinged on the radar of a handful of alien races and committing a handful of casual planetary genocides on the way--you know, like you do--which specifically got her noticed by the Shi'Ar Empire, who deemed her a greater threat to the galaxy than Galactus himself.The conflict eventually escalated so dramatically that the Shi'Ar nearly enacted "Plan Omega," which would evolve destroying the entire solar system in an effort to destroy Dark Phoenix, but thankfully the X-Men were able to head things off before they went that far. After briefly regaining her sense of self and her human memories, Jean heroically sacrificed herself, forcing the Phoenix Force out of her body and saving the universe.The cycle of death and rebirthBut things don't end there. Remember the original Jean Grey body that was left in a healing stasis? The disembodied Phoenix Force tried to possess that version of Jean--it doesn't work, but it does bring that Jean back into play, prompting her to wake up and begin a new life with no memory of any of the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix events at all. Meanwhile, another, totally different duplicate Jean, a clone made by the villain Mr. Sinister, isn't so lucky. A portion of the Phoenix Force found a home in that body and creates another version of Jean altogether, known as Madelyne Pryor.So to recap, there are three Jeans in the mix here: the original Jean who was stuck in a healing coma for the events of the Phoenix saga, the duplicate Jean who was the embodiment of the Phoenix Force who became Dark Phoenix and died, and the clone of Jean who became the second Phoenix Force host, Madelyne Pryor.Remember what we said about X-Men comics not being simple? Yeah. We really meant it.After the Dark Phoenix Saga, Jean's life never really went back to normal. She and her on-again-off-again flame Scott Summers were married for a while (though Scott also had a thing with Madelyne Pryor, too, which is a whole other can of worms) but their relationship eventually began to fail with a little help from the villain Apocalypse, who temporarily killed Scott and Emma Frost, with whom Scott engaged in a "psychic affair."Sometime later, Jean was killed yet again--this time by a former teammate named Xorn (who was actually Magneto, don't worry about it)--only to be revived by the Phoenix Force all over again--sort of, at least. There are some alternate timeline shenanigans at play here that both do and do not negate her death. Ultimately, it was revealed that Jean bonded to the Phoenix Force to become a god-like entity known as the White Phoenix Of The Crown, and completely ascended to a higher plane of existence known as the White Hot Room, an extra-dimensional nexus that served as a sort of hub for the Phoenix Force and its hosts, rendering her somewhere between life and death. Though, as far as anyone was concerned on Earth, she was just the normal sort of dead.She actually stayed dead for a while this time--kind of, at least. While Jean was technically dead for all intents and purposes, her consciousness still resided in the White Hot Room and would occasionally come into play in the form of psychic messages and manifestations (also through her various clones and time traveling pseudo-descendants like Hope Summers).What about now?That's how things stayed for some time until she was finally resurrected again, by way of uh--an egg. Get it? Because the Phoenix is a bird? She even briefly had her very own team of X-Men after her resurrection, who acted as a sort of top secret mutant black ops unit trying to "heal" the world of its anti-mutant sentiments.Oh, and there were a couple of time-displaced versions of her running around too, including the child version of herself brought to the present alongside all her original X-Men teammates. Kid Jean even got her own solo series for a while, which is something the adult version of herself never managed to nail down.So what does this say about Jean’s turn as the Phoenix in the upcoming X-Men: Dark Phoenix live action movie? We can guess based on trailers that we’re going to see a pretty villainous turn for Jean on the big screen as is par for the course in the source material, but it’s difficult to guess just how this particular incarnation of the Phoenix Force is actually going to work. It seems like a safe bet to expect a major self-sacrifice moment from Jean by the end of the movie, but with news that the ending has been reshot, where things will end up is really anyone’s guess. It’s pretty unlikely that we’ll see big screen versions of any of Jean’s clones, though, if only for the fact that this particular arm of the X-Men cinematic universe is likely coming to a close thanks to the Disney/Fox buy out. But hey, anything’s possible. Info from Gamespot.com

E3 2019 begins in just a few days, but even before that, Pokemon fans can look forward to some announcements. On Wednesday, June 5 at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET, Nintendo will be holding a special Pokemon Sword and Shield Direct that will contain "roughly 15 minutes of new information" about the Nintendo Switch games. The original Sword and Shield announcement showed off the three new starter Pokemon, the new Galar region, and a few other details, but there's still a lot left to learn. Here are our big predictions for the Pokemon Direct.A Release DateWhen Pokemon Sword and Shield were announced, they were given a late-2019 release window. That's fast approaching, so it stands to reason that the June 5 Direct will confirm the exact date. The most recent Pokemon games--Sun and Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee--all released in November, so I'll go ahead and predict a November 2019 release date.More Pokemon, Including LegendariesSo far, the only new Pokemon we've seen for Gen 8 are the three starters: Grookey, Scorbunny, and Sobble. The Pokemon Direct will include a mix of run-of-the-mill Pokemon--think the Pidgey and Rattata of Galar--and Sword and Shield's legendary Pokemon, which would presumably be on the games' boxes. It would also be great to see the starters' evolved forms, but because they've already had their day in the sun, I think we'll have to wait to see those.A New Battle MechanicThe basic Pokemon formula has largely stayed the same over the years, but the series has been good about regularly introducing new battle mechanics to keep things interesting. X and Y had Mega Evolution, Sun and Moon had Z-Moves (and Battle Royals), and Sword and Shield will probably have something spicy to try out. There's even a circular red-and-blue symbol seen throughout the announcement trailer, including in the games' Japanese logos, that would seem to indicate a new mechanic--a crystal logo appeared in Sun and Moon's Japanese logos, representing Z-Crystals--but there's otherwise no indication of what it might be. I don't have a guess, either.Story Details And Version DifferencesFinally, I'm willing to bet the Pokemon Direct will include some story info. What's the deal with the Galar region? What sort of Team will you be up against, if any? The Pokemon Direct will have character intros and some basic details to lay out Sword and Shield's vibe. I'll go one step further and say that we'll also learn what some of the version differences are, whether it's a gameplay gimmick like Sun and Moon's day-night shift or simply what Pokemon you might find in each.What's Left For E3?It seems a bit premature holding a Sword and Shield Direct right before E3, right? What will be left? While it's unlikely Nintendo will reiterate much from the Pokemon Direct during its June 11 E3 presentation, that presentation will be followed by three days of Treehouse streams. In previous years, those streams have featured in-depth gameplay demos, sometimes with developer commentary; Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee got the spotlight last year. The Treehouse streams would be a great opportunity to expand upon what we learn during the June 5 Direct without having to spend precious time going over specifics.What do you think we'll see during the Sword and Shield Direct? Let us know in the comments. Stay tuned for all the news, and come back after to see how right or wrong we were!Info from Gamespot.com

It's been almost a year since we saw The Surge 2's reveal trailer at Gamescom in August 2018. The 50-second gameplay trailer, above, shows more slashy, Souls-like action in a lush forest but little in the way of a release window. However, a new leak suggests The Surge 2 could arrive in a few months.The Surge 2's release date was uncovered via an Australian Microsoft Store listing. The listing states that The Surge 2 will launch on September 24, 2019. It is, of course, possible this date will prove to be inaccurate; Nintendo's website recently led us to believe Cadence of Hyrule would be out at the end of May, but it now looks as if it's instead launching this month. But given this Surge 2 date is listed directly on the page, it seems as if it could be real.According to the list, The Surge 2 will retail for approximately $60 USD / £50 GBP / $90 AUD. Pre-orders are available now, and doing so secures you the exclusive URBN Gear Pack, which comes with the following items:The well-used Cutter from The SurgeThe full-body URBN armor setThe URBN Judgement AxeThe URBN Skimmer DroneThe Lootscan.exe Radar ModuleA unique online message iconThe Surge launched in May 2017. Developed by Deck 13 Interactive and published by Focus Home Interactive, The Surge brought Souls-like combat to a mechanical wasteland with a twist: you can dismember enemies and use their parts against them. In our The Surge review, we said, "It bucks the trend towards creative bankruptcy, adopting some fresh ideas and layering those together with aesthetics, tone, and play to create an inspired adventure."Based on the gameplay trailer, The Surge 2 looks to feature a similar gameplay loop to its predecessor. However, according to a Deck 13 statement, this sequel will feature "a sprawling, devastated city with larger and more ambitious level design, made possible by Deck13’s upgraded and improved engine."If you're interested in pre-ordering The Surge 2 already, several retailers have listings up for the standard edition now. In addition to the general pre-order bonuses listed above, GameStop is offering a limited-edition exclusive, which comes with an exclusive sleeve and cover, an eight-page comic book, a double poster with artwork and the game's map, and three lithographs.PS4Get it at Amazon -- $60Get it at GameStop -- $60Xbox OneGet it at Amazon -- $60Get it at GameStop -- $60Get it at Microsoft Store -- $60PC Get it at Steam -- $50Some links to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and GameSpot may receive a small share of those sales.Info from Gamespot.com

Just like last year, Batman developer Rocksteady Games is skipping E3 2019. Game director and co-founder Sefton Hill wrote on Twitter that the studio "won't be showing at E3 this year.""We'll be watching as fans but remaining in London, hard at work on our next big project," he said.Hi all! A number of you have asked so we wanted to let you all know up front that @Rocksteadygames won't be showing at E3 this year. We’ll be watching as fans but remaining in London, hard at work on our next big project. Enjoy the show! — Sefton Hill (@Seftonhill) June 4, 2019It's become tradition for Hill to release these kind of statements tempering fans' excitement and expectations for Rocksteady's new game.In December 2018, Hill confirmed there would be no reveal at The Game Awards, while months prior he responded to fan feedback over Rocksteady's E3 2018 no-show.Rocksteady is clearly still not ready to show off its new game. There are a number of rumours floating around about it what be, but nothing is confirmed at this stage. Rocksteady created the Batman Arkham series, the latest instalment of which, Arkham Knight, was released in 2015.Batman: Arkham Origins developer WB Games Montreal, meanwhile, is also working on a new game, but it too is shrouded in mystery.WB Games Montreal and Rocksteady share a parent company in Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which is one of the companies attending E3 2019 this month. That being said, nothing yet has suggested any new Batman games will be revealed at the show.Rocksteady's new game isn't the only title skipping E3. The Last of Us 2 and The Elder Scrolls 6 are among the other titles that are also not going to be at the show. Info from Gamespot.com

Up until now, the Halo series had been on a semi-regular release schedule with each title in the main series launching within three years of each other, and sometimes faster. But it's been almost four years already since the release of Halo 5: Guardians in 2015, meaning fans have had to wait longer than ever for Halo Infinite. Why is it taking so long for the game to come out?Halo transmedia boss Kiki Wolfkill explained to GI.biz that one of the reasons is because the team at 343 Industries has spent a lot of time working on "retooling" the franchise's infrastructure. That probably is a reference to the brand-new Slipspace engine that Microsoft showed off at E3 2018."Part of why there's been that span of time between Halo 5 and Infinite is the retooling of the infrastructure to give us the flexibility to do whatever we wanted with that game," she said.In addition, Halo Infinite marks the "next generation of Halo," Wolfkill said. As such, and because the game is a "spiritual reboot," Wolfkill said the team is taking extra time to make sure Infinite is a game that newcomers can also play and enjoy."But it's also about setting off the next generation of Halo," she said. "We want people to be able to come into Halo Infinite who may not have played any other Halo game before."Part of Wolfkill's job as the leader of the Halo transmedia team is to find ways to expand Halo's profile and reach. There is a new Halo TV show coming, and this, as well as the other Halo transmedia efforts, might help draw in new players for Infinite."Part of what my role is and my goal with the transmedia pieces is, how do we start to engage new audiences and bring people into the universe so that when Infinite comes out, maybe people who haven't played before are interested in playing," she said.The Halo TV show, which is being produced by GameSpot sister company Showtime, is being compared to Game of Thrones in terms of its scope and scale.Halo Infinite will presumably be shown off during the Xbox E3 2019 briefing coming up soon. Microsoft is also expected to announce a next-generation console (or two) during the show.Info from Gamespot.com

Nickelodeon is moving forward with a SpongeBob Squarepants spinoff. The network announced today that it's given the green light to a spinoff series with the working title Kamp Koral.The show focuses on a 10-year-old SpongeBob, and specifically his adventures at the sleepaway camp called Kamp Koral. Nickelodeon is producing 13 episodes for the animated series first season. Production is beginning this month, though there is no word yet on when the show will premiere."SpongeBob has an incredible universe to expand upon and the greenlight for Kamp Koral is a testament to the strength and longevity of these characters known and loved by generations of fans around the world," Nickelodeon animation boss Ramsey Naito said in a statement.In the show, SpongeBob and friends will do all sorts of wild and weird things like "building underwater campfires, catching wild jellyfish, and swimming in Lake Yuckymuck at the craziest camp in the kelp forest, Kamp Koral."SpongeBob series producers Marc Ceccarelli and Vincent Waller are Kamp Koral's co-executive producers.Kamp Koral is the first SpongeBob TV show spinoff. Further spinoffs focused on other SpongeBob characters are coming, according to Deadline. Additionally, a new movie called It's A Wonderful Sponge will premiere in 2020. Info from Gamespot.com

Following a retail leak, Ubisoft has now officially confirmed Watch Dogs Legion. The game's Twitter account came to life today, and it basically confirms the rumoured London setting and more.A teaser video states, "God Save the NPCs. Reveal at E3.""God Save the Queen" is the national anthem of the United Kingdom, and the mention of NPCs is likely referring to how Watch Dogs Legion reportedly has players controlling an NPC.God Save the NPCs. Reveal at E3. #WatchDogsLegion #UbiE3 pic.twitter.com/xpD3bhXDaM — Watch Dogs Legion (@watchdogsgame) June 4, 2019Watch Dogs Legion is not the first Ubisoft game to have leaked before E3 this year. A roller derby game called Roller Champions is also reportedly set for a reveal next week. Ubisoft's E3 press conference is scheduled for Monday, June 10; that's when we can presumably hear more.According to the Watch Dogs Legion Amazon UK product description, the game takes place in a near-future, dystopian version of London. "It's a post-Brexit world in which society, politics, and technology have changed and altered London's fortunes," it says.It's also rumored that the main character of Watch Dogs Legion is an NPC that you select. "The product description states, "Play as anyone, Every individual you meet in the open world, has a full set of animations, voice over, character traits and visuals that are generated & guided by gameplay systems."Some parts of the game will play out different based on the civilian you choose to play, according to a report. The system underpinning this is apparently very ambitious, so much so that it's led to at least one delay.No platforms have been announced for Watch Dogs Legion, and Ubisoft also has not shared a release date. Presumably more details will come to light at E3 2019 next week.Info from Gamespot.com

A Pokemon Go-style Dragon Quest game is in the works for release in Japan. Dragon Quest Walk was announced in a recent Square Enix press conference, just ahead of E3 2019, and it's augmented reality-driven experience that involves navigating the real world with your phone. It may even tie into the next mainline DQ game, Dragon Quest XII.Dragon Quest Walk is launching this year for iOS and Android; you can check out a trailer above. A closed beta test will begin on June 11 for a limited number of users. Right now, Dragon Quest Walk appears to be confirmed only for Japan. It's possible we could hear about international plans during Square Enix's E3 press conference next Monday.The game's official website, translated by Gematsu, states that in Dragon Quest walk, "everyday life becomes an adventure." You can visit landmarks in the real word to unlock quests, while players can also build a room and decorate it with items they unlock by playing the game.According to Gematsu, series executive producer Yuu Miyake said during the briefing that Dragon Quest Walk may have some connection to the unannounced Dragon Quest XII in some capacity. "By the way, about Dragon Quest XII, which I'm sure is on everyone's mind--[Yuji] Horii and I are currently making preparations on series developments that will connect to XII. I think it's still too early, but we would like announce it in some form, so please wait a little while longer."Industry analyst Dr. Serkan Toto says Dragon Quest Walk appears to be a "shameless clone" of Niantic's Pokemon Go. Presumably in response to the game's announcement, Square Enix's stock price is up by more than 5 percent in Japan.Pokemon Go, which uses AR to blend the real and virtual worlds, was released in July 2016 and it became a global phenomenon that continues to be very popular to this day. Niantic followed up Pokemon Go with another similar game, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.Another Pokemon Go-style game, Minecraft Earth, is also in development.Info from Gamespot.com

This year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare might be reintroducing a single-player campaign to the mix--and adding in some new co-op features--but it will not feature a Zombies mode. Campaign gameplay director Jacob Minkoff said in a new interview that the "out-there" nature of Zombies modes in previous games doesn't exactly fit with Infinity Ward's ambition of making a gritty, realistic game. "Because they focus on more of the stylized, graphic novel, super-hero experience, they can have the much more 'out there' different types of gameplay in their games," Minkoff told PlayStation Lifestyle about the games that Zombies creator Treyarch makes. "But for us, we're trying to create an authentic, realistic feeling world. We don't have the flexibility to do something like put zombies in the game."Minkoff said having a Zombies mode in Modern Warfare would "compromise" the developer's vision for the game. "That would compromise the feeling of playing in a world that feels realistic and authentic and relative to today's conflicts and things we face," he said.Apart from being tons of fun, the Zombies modes in previous Call of Duty games have provided players a chance to play together in co-op. Thankfully, the new Modern Warfare will offer co-op gameplay opportunities, but Infinity Ward isn't ready to talk about them. "What I will tell you is that the single-player storyline goes directly into the co-op storyline. No stop. The events just continue. So those elements--gameplay, progression, story--they just continue throughout everything that we have on the disc or digital download," Minkoff said.That is a theme of Modern Warfare. Unlike previous games that have siloed off campaign and multiplayer into their own distinct buckets, Modern Warfare will unite all of its modes. As we reported, Infinity Ward said it's going for "continuity and consistency" across all modes in Modern Warfare. Weapons will feel and handle the same whether you're in single or multiplayer. Progressing your character, unlocking killstreaks, and increasing your levels with different guns will track across all modes, so you won't feel penalized for preferring single player over multiplayer or vice versa.It is not surprising that the new Modern Warfare doesn't have a Zombies mode, as the previous Modern Warfare titles also did not offer this (though Infinity Ward's Infinite Warfare did). Treyarch created the Zombies mode, and it is a mainstay of the Black Ops series.While it is now confirmed that Modern Warfare doesn't have a Zombies mode, it's unknown if the game will have its own battle royale mode. Black Ops 4 had Blackout as its battle royale mode. Unlike that game, the new Modern Warfare has a dedicated campaign mode.In other news, it's been confirmed that the new Modern Warfare supports cross-play and that it will not have a season pass. For lots more, check out the story linked below.Everything We Know About Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Info from Gamespot.com

Rainbow Six Siege's developer, Ubisoft, has long maintained its desire to get the Tom Clancy shooter to the 100 Operator mark before making a sequel. The company has again repeated that wish, saying it still doesn't plan on making Siege 2, even when the next PlayStation and Xbox consoles launch."We don't want a sequel whatsoever," Siege's brand director, Alexandre Remy, told the Daily Star. "The reason behind this is we don't want to segregate our community between the different platforms. In an ideal world, we'd love players from every platform to be able to play together. We are approaching next-gen with the same spirit."Remy's comments indicate Ubisoft's opposition to both making a sequel and also its dream to make cross-play a reality--both across generations and within them, with PS4 players and Xbox One players able to play together with PC users. He elaborated: "We've been asking how can we make the player base of Siege today be able to migrate--if they want to migrate, that is--but also make this cheaper [than buying a new, next-gen copy of the game] as much as possible or through backwards compatibility."The strength of any multiplayer game is the size of its community, so I do believe that we have to make every effort possible that when next gen comes in, they are treated as a high-end PC versus another PC."Remy does warn, however, that this is just a target Ubisoft is aiming for and that there is a long way to go before cross-play becomes a reality for Siege. Cross-platform play has become more common in the past couple of years, with Rocket League, Fortnite, and the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare all allowing players from different platforms to play together.Rainbow Six Siege's new season, Operation Phantom Sight, is about to launch for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It brings a redesign of Kafe Dostoyevsky as well as two new Operators, Nokk and Warden. A release date for Year 4, Season 2 is expected in the next week or two.Info from Gamespot.com

EA has detailed some of the gameplay improvements it will make to FIFA 20--before it's even announced the game. In a post on the FIFA blog, the series' gameplay team set out its priorities for the "next product iteration."Top of the list is AI defending, EA said, with a larger emphasis and incentive placed on manual defending, as opposed to letting the computer defend for you. One of the ways EA plans to do this is by increasing the likelihood a manual tackle will propel the ball to a teammate. Automatic defending will see its overall efficacy reduced and reaction times slowed.Shooting is also being revamped, with attackers given greater accuracy during easy shooting scenarios, such as being clean through against the 'keeper. Goalkeepers' reaction times will be reduced in these situations to resolve the sometimes "superhuman" reactions players complained of. Additionally, the timing window for green timed shots is being reduced to two frames for all shots, and they'll also be "slightly less precise." EA did, however, reassure players that green timed shots will "still be more accurate than non-timed shots."Lots of work is being done on making passing and shooting more realistic, EA says, especially when it comes to difficult strikes. Volleys will be more variable and less accurate, for example, while 180° and first-time passes will result in "slower/weaker balls." To compensate, easy situation passes will now be more accurate. Two new passing options will also be introduced: the driven pass-and-go (which will replace the current manual pass button combo) and the dinked pass, which will cease to be an automatic, contextual pass variant and instead be user-controlled only.FIFA 20 has not yet been announced, but EA plans to talk about the future of the franchise at EA play, right before E3, on June 8. For more, check out everything we know about EA's E3 2019 plans.Info from Gamespot.com

Blood & Truth has made history by becoming the first ever VR title to top the UK all-format sales chart, according to sales monitor Chart-Track. Sony's new shooter debuts at No.1, despite requiring PSVR to play.The PS4 exclusive is followed by FIFA 19 at No.2, while Team Sonic Racing and Days Gone fall to No.3 and No.4, respectively. Two more new games enter the chart for the week ending June 1, meanwhile. Cricket 19 debuts at No.6, while Nintendo Switch exclusive Little Friends: Dogs & Cats enters at No.24.Blood & Truth, however, is the success story of the week following its warm critical reception. We awarded it a 7/10 in our verdict."Blood & Truth is uneven, especially when it's determined to get you to focus on an uninteresting story while you're putting up with the shortcomings of VR," wrote our critic, Alessandro Barbosa, in GameSpot's Blood & Truth review. "But the beauty of Blood and Truth is that it also does marvelous things with the platform. The addition of motion control makes familiar and mundane mechanics engaging, while also breaking up the smartly designed first-person shooting and establishing a great rhythm to the six-or-so-hour campaign. Blood & Truth doesn't manage to stick the landing in all aspects, but it's definitely a step forward for PSVR shooters."You can read the full top 10 sales chart for this week below, courtesy of UKIE and GfK Chart-Track. Note this table does not include digital sales data, and so should not be considered representative of all UK game sales.Blood & TruthFIFA 19Team Sonic RacingDays GoneRed Dead Redemption 2Cricket 19: Official Game of the AshesMario Kart 8 DeluxeGrand Theft Auto VForza Horizon 4Mortal Kombat 11Info from Gamespot.com