Once considered the most disreputable of screen genres, horror has become so pervasive and popular that it’s not unusual now to see a movie presenting itself as such simply for the sake of commercial insurance. That seems the case with “Rounding,” a well-acted and atmospheric psychological thriller with Namir Smallwood as a medical resident who […]
UK-Ireland box office preview: ‘Bridget Jones’, ‘Captain America’ face off for Valentine’s Day
‘Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy’ made an impressive £2.1m in Thursday previews.
Studiocanal’s UK boss Alex Hamilton talks new international role, Paddington, Bafta and box-office bonanza
Hamilton has been promoted to chief international officer at the company.
Has Spain’s Focus on Commercial Appeal Diminished the Country’s Festival Footprint?
Spanish cinema has seen significant changes since the pandemic, as observed by its sales agents. Despite recent successes, such as top prizes at the Berlinale in 2022 (“Alcarràs”) and 2023 (“20,000 Species of Bees”), the limited selection of Spanish films at this year’s event has raised questions about the long-term forecast for the Spanish industry. […]
Thai Horror ‘Delivery Man’ Casts Bhumibhat Thavornsiri, Plearnpichaya Komalarajun and Ananda Everingham – EFM (EXCLUSIVE)
Thai production outfit Night Edge Pictures has locked in its lead cast for the upcoming horror-thriller “Delivery Man,” with Bhumibhat Thavornsiri, Plearnpichaya Komalarajun, and Ananda Everingham joining the project, it was unveiled during Berlin’s European Film Market (EFM). The deal was orchestrated by U.S.-Thai film global sales, production, and finance company EST N8’s team of […]
Elden Ring Nightreign’s First Network Test Plagued by Server Issues, FromSoftware Issues Apology
Elden Ring Nightreign’s first network test — ongoing at the time of this article’s publication — is suffering from significant server issues that have prevented many from playing.
IGN staff with access to the test reported server problems so extreme they were unable to access the game for the test’s first hour.
The issues were bad enough that FromSoftware issued a statement on social media, confirming that players were struggling to find a match due to server congestion. The developer apologized, but encouraged players to try matching again after a while.
Exacerbating the problem is the fact the Elden Ring Nightreign network test is only available during five three-hour periods on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S from February 14 to February 17. Here’s the current schedule:
Elden Ring Nightreign network test session timings:
- February 14: 3am-6am PT / 6am-9am ET
- February 14: 7pm-10pm PT / 10pm-1am ET
- February 15: 11am-2pm PT / 2pm-5pm ET
- February 16: 3am-6am PT / 6am-9am ET
- February 16: 7pm-10pm PT / 10pm-1am ET
The network test is a “preliminary verification test in which the selected testers play a portion of the game prior to the full game launch,” Bandai Namco said.
“This large-scale Network Stress Test is designed to evaluate various aspects of the online system’s functionality and performance. We are looking forward to your cooperation to make Elden Ring Nightreign even better.”
It is of course better that Elden Ring Nightreign suffers server issues now than when it launches in May, but players who had earmarked time to try out the game now have expressed their frustration. Hopefully subsequent play sessions will run more smoothly.
Elden Ring Nightreign is FromSoftware’s standalone co-operative spin-off set in a world parallel to that of 2022’s Elden Ring. The network test will allow three players to team up and take their chosen Nightfarers to battle “against new terrors, and explore an ever-changing map to defeat increasingly challenging bosses and ultimately take on the Nightlord,” Bandai Namco added, before confirming the network test features a three day-and-night cycle squads must try to outlast.
Last year IGN had the opportunity to visit FromSoftware and go hands-on with an early build of Elden Ring Nightreign. We came away impressed, stating that Elden Ring Nightreign “takes the cautious dungeon crawls of Elden Ring and turbocharges them into propulsive, slash ‘n’ dash speedruns.”
Check out IGN’s interview with game director Junya Ishizaki for even more on Elden Ring Nightreign.
Elden Ring Nightreign launches on May 30, 2025 priced $40 across PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Every MCU Movie Tier List
With the arrival of Captain America: Brave New World, it’s time to yet again take a look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is now home to a whopping 35 movies. But, which MCU film is your favourite? Have a soft spot in your heart for early origin stories such as Iron Man? Or, prefer the spine-tingling team-ups that capped off the Infinity saga? Well, let us know using our handy tier list tool below.
There are many, many movies to pick from, and just a reminder that this is only including entries from Kevin Feige’s MCU empire, so no Sony Marvel films this time around (sorry X-Men. Apart from Wolverine, that is). Take a look at my personal tier list, based completely on what I’ve enjoyed watching the most over the years, here:
Unfortunately, Brave New World isn’t the return to form that I was hoping for, with perhaps the MCU’s clunkiest script to date weighing it all the way down into the D tier. As for the rest of the bottom tier, well, I’m sure many will be bemused by my placing of 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine in the bottom category, but it just really didn’t work for me at all. You can read all about my reasons for that here. I don’t think it’s the worst the MCU has to offer, though, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania being the current nadir and as easy a D-tier placing as I could make.
On the flip side, the upper echelon is reserved for the five films that I think are truly special. Both Captain America: Civil War and Winter Soldier are easy S-tiers for me, as they tap into the emotional core of the MCU and paranoid espionage to respectively effective degrees. Then there’s Thor: Ragnarok, one of the funniest comedies of the past decade, and, of course, both Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, which spectacularly delivered a phenomenal end to the series’ most vital chapter.
Don’t agree with me? Think No Way Home is the best of the Tom Holland Spider-Man trilogy? Should Black Panther be S-tier? Well, why not have a go at ranking all of the MCU movies yourself in a tier list below where you can compare your own S, A, B, C, and D tiers with the whole of the IGN community.
Is there a Marvel movie you think is particularly underrated? Let us know in the comments, as well as why you’ve ranked the films in the order you’ve chosen.
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editorial Producer who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
Emma Mackey on Starring in ‘Haunting’ Mother-Daughter Drama ‘Hot Milk’ and Vicky Krieps Playing Her Love Interest: ‘She’s Really a Force’
When Emma Mackey met Vicky Krieps, she couldn’t help but blush. The two actors play love interests Sofia and Ingrid in “Hot Milk,” Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s feature directorial debut that premieres at Berlin Film Festival on Friday, and the first scene they shot together also marked the first time they’d truly interacted. “I didn’t get to […]
Issa Rae Exits Kennedy Center Event After Trump Takeover Drama
In the latest shockwave to hit Washington’s premier performing arts institution, multi-hyphenate creator Issa Rae has pulled the plug on her upcoming Kennedy Center appearance following U.S. President Donald Trump’s installation as chair. The “Insecure” creator-star announced via Instagram Stories Thursday that she’s scrapping “An Evening with Issa Rae,” which had reached sellout status. Rae […]
Take-Two Boss Says It’s ‘Shown a Willingness to Support Legacy Titles’ Amid Questions About the Future of GTA Online Post-GTA 6
What happens to GTA Online when Grand Theft Auto 6 comes out? That’s a question a lot of GTA Online players have been asking ever since GTA 6 was announced. And now, as GTA 6’s fall 2025 release date approaches, they’re no closer to an answer.
GTA Online is Rockstar’s hugely profitable live service that continues to pull in players even now, well over a decade since launch. Its enduring appeal and ability to print money is thought to have influenced Rockstar’s decision to prioritize the live service over story DLC for Grand Theft Auto 5, much to the annoyance of some fans. But there is a more pressing concern looming over the horizon.
When GTA 6 eventually comes out, it is expected to bring with it a new and improved GTA Online. Perhaps this will be GTA Online 2. Perhaps it will be called GTA Online, as before. Either way, players of the existing GTA Online have expressed concern that all their time, effort, and money spent in the current GTA Online will be left behind for a potential clean break later this year.
So, why invest time and money into GTA Online now, in early 2025, when the new GTA Online is potentially due out in perhaps eight months or so? That’s a question IGN put to Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick during a recent interview ahead of the company’s third-quarter financial report, and his answer makes for interesting reading.
While Zenick wouldn’t be drawn specifically on any new GTA Online because it has yet to be announced, he did talk generally about Take-Two’s form when it came to NBA 2K Online, a free-to-play online-focused version of 2K Sports’ hugely successful basketball franchise aimed at the Asian market.
NBA 2K Online launched all the way back in 2012, and then 2K Sports released NBA 2K Online 2 in 2017. Both games were maintained simultaneously, so fans of the first version could continue to play and invest their time and money safe in the knowledge they wouldn’t be left behind.
“I’m going to speak theoretically only because I’m not going to talk about a particular project when an announcement hasn’t been made,” Zelnick began. “But generally speaking, we support our properties when the consumers are involved with those titles. As an example, we launched NBA 2K Online in China, I think originally in 2012 if I’m not mistaken. And then we launched NBA 2K Online 2 in China in 2017. If I’m not mistaken. We did not sunset Online 1. They both are still in the market and they serve consumers and they’re alive and we have this massive audience.
“So we’ve shown a willingness to support legacy titles when a community wants to be engaged with them.”
That last line is of particular importance. It suggests — but doesn’t confirm at this stage — that if there is a GTA Online 2, it won’t come at the cost of GTA Online falling by the wayside. If people keep playing GTA Online, Zelnick is suggesting here, then Rockstar will continue to support it.
It’s worth noting that there’s still a huge amount we do now know about GTA 6, given all we’ve had so far is Trailer 1 and a release window. But if GTA 6 is definitely due out fall 2025, potentially after Borderlands 4’s just-announced September release date, Rockstar will have to reveal more sooner rather than later. In the meantime, check out Zelnick’s comments on whether skipping PC for GTA 6’s launch is a mistake.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.