It’s been a great week with Oscar noms dropping and some amazing reveals courtesy of the Xbox Developer Direct. From movie trailers, gaming updates, and more, here’s the news you may have missed this week.
Thank you Xbox. There’s nothing like a great mid-week direct livestream, especially when it means we get great reveals like DOOM: The Dark Ages, the new Clair Obscur game, and a first look at Ninja Gaiden 4. We also got a surprise release of a remaster of the classic 2008 game Ninja Gaiden 2 Black.
It will be the first Ninja Gaiden game in 13 years and the franchise is celebrating its 30th anniversary, thus Team NINJA has has declared 2025 to be “The Year of the Ninja,” developers said in a blog post.
The game is the direct sequel to Ninja Gaiden 3 and is co-developed with PlatinumGames, which is known for the Bayonetta series, Nier: Automata, and more.
“A significant amount of time has passed since NINJA GAIDEN 3, and players will find themselves arriving in a gruesomely transformed Tokyo. One of the key themes of this story is the return of the Dark Dragon, which has plunged the city into chaos. Within these unsettling conditions, Yakumo will have to face off against his foes, as well as the formidable Master Ninja himself, Ryu Hayabusa,” Yuji Nakao, Ninja Gaiden 4’s producer and director from PlatinumGames.
You can read the full deep dive into the reveal on the Xbox website.
Zach Cregger, Barbarian director and creator of The Whitest Kids U’Know, is dealing with a bidding war for his Resident Evil film reboot, according to an exclusive report by Hollywood Reporter.
The report says that Warner Bros. and Netflix are among four studios for the film, which Creggar will direct and co-write with Shay Hatten (John Wick: Chapter 4 and Army of the Dead). PlayStation Productions and Constantin Film, which as owned the screen rights to the franchise, are also reportedly producing.
According to Deadline, Ulrich Thomsen (Counterpart, The Blacklist) will be playing in a recurring role as supervillain Sinestro in the HBO series Lanterns. The series is based on the DC comic Green Lantern.
The 8-episode series is helmed by Chris Mundy (True Detective: Night Country, Ozark), who is co-writing with Damon Lindelof (Watchmen and The Leftovers) and Eisner Award winner Tom King (Mister Miracle, Supergirl), according to the report.
The series “follows new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland,” according to HBO.
HBO announced the Emmy-winning White Lotus was renewed for a fourth season ahead of its February 16 premiere for Season 3, which will be set in Thailand.
Hell of a Summer follows 24-year-old camp counselor Jason Hochberg (Hechinger), who arrives at Camp Pineway thinking his biggest problem is that he feels out of touch with his teenage co-workers. What he doesn’t know is that a masked killer is lurking on the campgrounds, brutally picking counselors off one by one.
Hell of a Summer hits theaters on April 18.
The Accountant 2, which stars Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal, will premiere at SCSW on March 8 before it hits theaters on April 25.
As we inch closer to the launch of Civilization VII, Firaxis will be hosting the Civ World Summit on February 8 at 10 a.m. CST. The livestream is a live Civ VII multiplayer showdown between five prominent members of the Civ community. The event will also include a special Twitch Drop.
We got a look at the game’s updated graphics, the new EvoSwing Mechanic and other customization features.
The new EvoSwing mechanic is complemented by new shot types, ball flights, roll physics, and visual improvements. As evident in the trailer, with EvoSwing, a player’s swing is broken down into four components: contact, rhythm, transition and swing path, which are measured and rewarded (or penalized) accordingly. Perfect Swing makes its debut in PGA TOUR 2K25, presenting an all new difficulty setting that reduces the material impact of external factors on a player’s swing, a truly accessible setting that allows both new and experienced players to enjoy the thrill of hitting fairways and greens like a champion.
The game launches on February 8.
The GameBoy Advance classic will release on PC, PlayStation consoles and Nintendo Switch. The game will include a new time trial mode, progression saves/loads, and a way to “rewind the game for a short time to help get through tough stages,” according to a news release.
The DLC 1 – “Hero of Justice” Pack will include Gohan (Super Hero), Ultimate Gohan (Super Hero), Gohan Beast, Piccolo (Super Hero), Orange Piccolo, Gamma 1, Gamma 2, Cell Max, and more, developers said. The pack also includes a new costume and 3 new custom battle stages.
A balance patch will also release, which include a limited time Legendary Warrior Face-Off, adjustments to battles, matches, battle setup, the battle system, and skills. You can read more about the adjustments here.
