Netflix confirms ‘Squid Game’ is returning for a second season

It was never truly in doubt that Netflix would bring its most popular show of all time back, but the company has at last officially greenlit season two of Squid Game. It hasn’t been revealed when the next batch of episodes will hit the streaming service.

Squid Game became a word-of-mouth phenomenon when it debuted last September. Netflix said that, in the first 28 days it was available, viewers watched a little over 1.65 billion hours of the first season. Money Heist: Part 5, which arrived that same month, is in second place with 792 million hours watched over the same timeframe — less than half the overall viewership time of Squid Game.

The show scooped up Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards this year. It’s likely to feature heavily among the Emmy nominations when those are announced next month.

Last October, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk said he wasn’t sure whether there’d be more episodes but that he would hold talks with the company because he wanted to make a film first. Netflix said in January a second season would “absolutely” happen, but it’s not clear why it took quite so long for a formal announcement.

Not too many details have been announced for season two of Squid Game just yet. Hwang confirmed protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) will return, as will villain The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun). In addition, Hwang promised to reveal the “boyfriend” of Young-hee, the giant animatronic doll that monitored competitors during the show’s first deadly game, Red Light, Green Light.

‘Minecraft Legends’ is a new action-strategy game coming 2023

A new Minecraft game has made its world premiere at the Xbox Summer Games Fest — one where you’ll be able to build structures and command your allies to fight enemies. Xbox Games Studios has showcased a short clip of Minecraft Legends at the event and has also announced that the new action-strategy game is coming sometime in 2023. It was developed in partnership with Blackbird Interactive and will feature an online campaign co-op and a competitive multiplayer mode. Dennis Ries, the game’s executive producer, said the studio will announce more information about them later this year.

In Minecraft Legends, you’ll need to protect the Overworld, with its rich nature and resources, from an invading army of piglins. You’ll have to forge alliances with mobs and lead them into strategic battles against the invading forces. Ries said the “game will have a very exciting campaign that will introduce many surprises for both new and seasoned Minecraft player alike.” The studio has only shared a few details about the upcoming game for now, though, and has promised to reveal more about it soon. You can also follow the official Minecraft LegendsTwitter account to keep up with the latest news about the game.

‘Overwatch 2’ is going free-to-play with early access starting on October 4th

Activision Blizzard isn’t owned by Microsoft just yet, but the publisher still had a presence at Sunday’s Xbox and Bethesda showcase. There was a trailer for Overwatch 2, along with some major news. The game will be free-to-play and early access will begin on October 4th on all platforms (the Overwatch blog calls this the game’s launch). There will be at least one more beta before then, with details to be announced at a reveal event on Thursday.

The clip showed a glimpse of a new hero that’s been part of the game’s lore for years, the Junker Queen. It seems likely that the character will be playable as part of the next beta. They have a shotgun and a melee weapon, and it appears that one of their abilities involves rampaging forward. Junker Queen is a tank character. The sequel already had one confirmed new character, damage hero Sojourn. 

The trailer also included a quick look at a new Zenyatta ability, which allows the omnic to knock back an enemy with a melee attack. Naturally, it invokes the movie 300, since you can kick an opponent into the Ilios well. In addition, there was a glimpse of a mysterious fox that was leading a team into a fight.

Given that Blizzard will move all current Overwatch players to Overwatch 2, the original game will be going free-to-play as well. Those who own the game before June 23rd will receive a founder’s pack, with a special icon, two skins (General Doomfist and Jester Sombra) and more goodies. You’ll need to log in by December 5th to receive the pack.

It’s worth noting that only the player-vs-player (PvP) side of Overwatch 2 will be available on October 4th. The co-op missions will arrive later. The PvP overhaul will feature new maps and heroes, the Push mode, reworks of current heroes, an upgraded game engine and a move from teams of six to five vs. five.

It’s unclear whether the player-vs-environment side of the sequel will be free too. Overwatch 2 will herald a shift to a seasonal content format, which suggests there will be a battle pass of some kind. That means there should finally be content updates on a regular cadence. Blizzard also says there will be premium cosmetics and (at last) cross-platform progression. 

“We can’t wait to roll out the beginning of the Overwatch 2 experience on October 4 and introduce an exciting new competitive vision, featuring a reimagining of the iconic heroes, maps, and gameplay that made the original game so compelling,” Mike Ybarra, president of Blizzard Entertainment, said in a statement. “This is the beginning of an always-on and always-evolving era for the franchise, and a recommitment to serving players with frequent and substantial updates planned well into the future to keep Overwatch 2 fresh and fun for many years to come.”

A Dragon Age animated series is coming to Netflix in December

The next Dragon Age game is still a long ways off, but that isn’t stopping BioWare from expanding the fantasy RPG’s reach. Netflix has unveiled a six-episode anime series, Dragon Age: Absolution, premiering sometime in December. The teaser trailer (below) doesn’t reveal much, but you can expect a “new saga” in Tevinter that appears to center on a special ring — and, of course, plenty of magic and bloody swordplay.

Red Dog Culture House (which created an episode for Love, Death & Robots) is producing the limited-run project. Guardians of the Galaxy series producer Mairghread Scott is serving as the showrunner.

This certainly isn’t a novel project for Netflix. There are already game-related anime shows either available or in the works at Netflix, ranging from Castlevania through to the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 series. However, it’s notable that this production is coming in the run-up to a new game (Dreadwolf) for a long-dormant franchise. Absolution is effectively a bid to revive interest in Dragon Age, not to mention court an audience that might not have heard of the games until now.

‘Monument Valley’ studio returns with a cerebral and sporty roguelike, ‘Desta’

Ustwo, the studio behind Monument Valley and Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, is working on a new game called Desta: The Memories Between. It features a blend of roguelike, turn-based and sports-game mechanics, and it’s in development for multiple platforms…