A Netflix TV show based on the Horizon series has reportedly been shelved (for the time being at least) as its showrunner has been accused of toxicity and bullying. The show was supposed to be helmed by Umbrella Academy’s Steve Blackman, who has denied the allegations.

Netflix’s Horizon TV show was announced in 2022

According to a report by Rolling Stone, Blackman faces the aforementioned allegations from at least twelve Umbrella Academy staffers. He allegedly engaged in a variety of “manipulative and retaliatory behavior,” including but not limited to firing a writer for taking maternity leave because he felt “ripped off.”

Although Blackman has denied the allegations, Rolling Stone reports that his Horizon and Orbital projects, both of which reportedly came in a development deal worth $50 million, will no longer be moving forward.

Blackman’s representatives have not specifically commented on the aforementioned projects, but have claimed that he has an ongoing relationship with the streaming giant and “continues to work on new projects” for it. However, a Netflix representative declined to comment.

It’s unclear if PlayStation Productions and Netflix will find a new showrunner. The Horizon TV show was announced in 2022 along with God of War and Gran Turismo TV adaptations. No further details have been shared.

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Netflix has announced that The Witcher TV series will have Season 5, which will mark the end of the show. Season 4 has entered production in the U.K., with Liam Hemsworth replacing Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia.

Liam Hemsworth agrees to see Geralt through to the end of Netflix’s The Witcher

In a press release, Netflix announced that Hemsworth has agreed to pick up the role of Geralt for both Seasons 4 and 5, which will cover the remaining three books by Andrzej Sapkowski: Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow, and Lady of the Lake. The final two seasons will be shot back-to-back, suggesting there won’t be much of a wait between Seasons 4 and 5.

“It is with huge pride that we begin shooting our penultimate season of The Witcher with a stellar cast, including some exciting new additions, led by Liam Hemsworth as Geralt of Rivia,” said showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich. “We’re thrilled to be able to bring Andrzej Sapkowski’s books to an epic and satisfying conclusion. It wouldn’t be our show if we didn’t push our family of characters to their absolute limit — stay tuned to see how the story ends.”

It was previouly reported that Cavill parted ways with The Witcher team following disagreements over its handling of the source material.

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Netflix has today showcased its upcoming slate of animated shows at its Drop 01 event and video game franchises were well represented as Devil May Cry, Tomb Raider, and Far Cry spinoff Blood Dragon all had shows announced.

The Devil’s in the details

Devil May Cry will be eight episodes long and is being created by Studio MIR. Adi Shankar is the creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the series. Shankar was also was showrunner for Netflix’s Castlevania series. The show will be written by Alex Larsen and executive produced by Hideaki Itsuno for Capcom and Seung Wook Lee for Studio MIR.

“In this animated adaptation of the popular Capcom game, sinister forces are at play to open the portal between the human and demon realms,” reads the series’ official logline. “In the middle of it all is Dante, an orphaned demon-hunter-for-hire, unaware that the fate of both worlds hangs around his neck.”

You can view the trailer below.

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is produced by Legendary Pictures and Crystal Dynamics, and is based on the popular series of video games’ reboot trilogy. The show is animated by Powerhouse Animation, which also worked on the likes of Netflix’s Castlevania and Masters of the Universe: Revelation. It heads to Netflix in 2024.

It’s the first adaptation of the classic video game series since 2018’s film starring Alicia Vikander. It charts the rise of Lara Croft and her many adventures.

The trailer can be seen below.

Finally, we have Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix. It’s based on the spinoff to the Far Cry series and is set to release next month on October 19, 2023.

“The series is set in an alternative 1992 in the country formerly known as the USA,” reads the series’ synopsis. “Now called Eden, it is a technocracy ruled by propaganda and corruption. Super-soldier Dolph Laserhawk has just been betrayed by the love of his life and locked up in Eden’s top security prison Supermaxx. He must now lead a team of rebel outcasts on risky undercover missions in order to survive.”

The trailer is below. It has Rayman in it.

Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix is created and executive produced by Adi Shankar, directed by Mehdi Leffad, and produced by Helene Juguet, Hugo Revon, and Gerard Guillemot. The animation studio behind the series is Bobbypills, with Balak as the studio’s creative director.

Shankar and Balak also lend their voices to the series alongside Nathaniel Curtis, Mark Ebulue, and Boris Hiestand. They’re joined by newly announced actors Caroline Ford as The Warden, David Menkin as Rayman, Courtney Mae-Briggs as Jade, Glenn Wrage as Pay’J, and Daniel York Loh as Pagan Min. It will also have music by Oscillian.

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God of War art director Raf Grassetti recently announced that he was leaving Santa Monica Studio, but did not disclose where he’d be going at the time. He’s now come out and talked about his new home, revealing that he would be working on a new IP over at Netflix Games.

Raf Grassetti is joining a Netflix team with other industry veterans

Grassetti revealed the move on Twitter, stating that he loves making games and that he’s “not going away anytime soon.” He noted that he will be joining the team led by Chacko Sonny, who left Blizzard Entertainment in September 2021. Some anonymous sources told Bloomberg that Sonny was a “stabilizing force” and “well-respected” within the studio.

Longtime Halo director Joseph Staten also left Microsoft in April to join Sonny’s team. Staten is known for working on many games at Microsoft from Halo 2 to Sunset Overdrive. Jerry Edsall is also part of this developer, and he was previously at The Coalition making Gears of War 4 and Gears 5, as well as Xbox Game Studios. Edsall left Microsoft in April and joined Netflix Games in May.

Grassetti joined Santa Monica Studio in 2013 after getting hired at Sony the year prior. He had previously worked as a senior character artist at BioWare for Mass Effect 3 and its many pieces of DLC.

Not much is known about this AAA new IP, but previous job listings have implied that it will be a shooter of some kind that has potential of being “worthy of a Netflix film/TV series.” It also called for applicants to have “extensive experience” with live service games.

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A new story trailer has revealed the Dragon Age Absolution release date on Netflix. Featuring cameos of Cassandra and Leliana from past Dragon Age games, the animated series will air on December 9, 2022. All six, 30-minute episodes will drop at the same time, so you can binge through it all in a single evening.

Revealed back in June, Dragon Age Absolution is created by both BioWare and Korean studio Red Dog Culture House, which was responsible for The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf also on Netflix.

Dragon Age Absolution voice cast includes Ashly Burch and Matthew Mercer

The principal voice cast for Dragon Age Absolution was also announced by Netflix:

• Kimberly Brooks as Miriam, protagonist and elven mercenary
• Matthew Mercer as Fairbanks, a freedom fighter
• Ashly Burch as Qwydion, a Qunari mage
• Sumalee Montano as Hira, an idealistic mage who is a friend of Miriam
• Josh Keaton as Rezaren, a man who wants to a better future for Tevinter “no matter the cost”
• Zehra Fazal as Tassia, a moral woman who can’t ignore Tevinter any longer
• Phil LaMaar as Roland, a charming man with “unmatched grit”
• Keston John as Lacklon, a dwarven fighter and “complete glory hound”

As revealed in the new story trailer for the series, Absolution follows the story of several unlikely heroes who wish to steal an artifact called the Circulum Infinitus that’s powered by blood magic. Given that this artifact is being kept in the notoriously corrupt city of Tevinter, that’s not good at all.

Also, with Cassandra and Leliana appearing in the trailer, it seems like Absolution will take place after Inquisition but before Dragon Age Dreadwolf.

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Fans of The Witcher on Netflix want the streaming giant to bring back Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia and “replace the writers instead.” News of Cavill’s departure from the show after Season 3 was met with surprise and disappointment. While he did make an official statement on the matter, Cavill stopped short of explaining his reasons for moving on. Later, reports emerged that he bumped heads with the showrunners over deviating from the source material. Now, fans want the showrunners replaced.

Liam Hemsworth reportedly auditioned for Netflix The Witcher in 2018

According to Redanian Intelligence, a reliable source for all things The Witcher, Liam Hemsworth originally auditioned for the role of Geralt back in 2018 but the producers went with Cavill instead. However, Hemworth’s performance was convincing enough that when Cavill called it quits, bringing Hemsworth in was a no-brainer. But fans aren’t convinced he’s the right choice.

“Henry isn’t leaving The Witcher because of Superman, Netflix executives have once again made a grave decision against delivering for their fans,” reads a petition on Change.org. “The reason why The Witcher is such a popular show is the fans’ love of the source material of books and games, that are hated by and have actively been mocked by the writers and showrunner.”

Someone tell this person that the games aren’t a source material.

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The Witcher franchise may have quite a legion of fans between the games, books, and TV series, but it seems like the writers of The Witcher Tv series on Netflix are not among them. X-Men ’97 writer Beau DeMayo described the importance of making a show with people who “respect the work”, claiming that some of The Witcher writers hate the books from Andrzej Sapkowski and CD Projekt Red’s games and this created an atmosphere and “bad morale” on the Netflix show.

The Witcher books and games were “actively disliked” by the TV show writers

DeMayo used to work on The Witcher Netflix series, although he has since moved on to write X-Men ’97 for Disney+. Speaking to The Direct, he explained how he made sure that his new team was filled only with fans of the source material because of prior experiences on The Witcher where the Netflix series’ writers threw hate towards the books and games:

My general rule was you HAD to be a fan. No questions. I’ve been on show – namely Witcher – where some of the writers were not or actively disliked the books and games (even actively mocking the source material.) It’s a recipe for disaster and bad morale. Fandom as a litmus test checks egos and makes all the long nights worth it. You have to respect the work before you’re allowed to add to its legacy.

Dislike for other types of media seems to be a running theme when it comes to The Witcher franchise. Sapkowski has previously detailed his hatred for the games, mainly because he feels people refused to read his books because they believed they were based on the game, when in reality the games were based on the books. This doesn’t seem to have affected either the games or the TV show, though, seeing as The Witcher Season 3 will be released on Netflix in 2023, while CD Projekt Red is currently working on The Witcher 4.

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Netflix has announced that The Witcher Season 3 will release in summer 2023. A specific release date was not announced but filming has begun. Yennefer actress Anya Chalotra teased that her character will go “head to head” with Ciri and they’ve got “a lot to learn from each other.” For those disappointed that The Witcher Season 3 won’t be out sooner, the good news is that spin-off Blood Origin is set to arrive on Christmas day this year.

The Witcher Season 3 plot summary

Our family returns! The Witcher is back for Season 3 in Summer 2023 #TUDUM pic.twitter.com/pV414YvRPI

— Netflix (@netflix) September 24, 2022

An official plot summary reads:

As monarchs, mages, and beasts of the Continent compete to capture her, Geralt takes Ciri of Cintra into hiding, determined to protect his newly-reunited family against those who threaten to destroy it. Entrusted with Ciri’s magical training, Yennefer leads them to the protected fortress of Aretuza, where she hopes to discover more about the girl’s untapped powers; instead, they discover they’ve landed in a battlefield of political corruption, dark magic, and treachery. They must fight back, put everything on the line – or risk losing each other forever.

New cast members include Meng’er Zhang (Shang-Chi) as Milva, Robbie Amell (Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City) as Gallatin, Hugh Skinner (Fleabag) as Prince Radovid, and Christelle Elwin (Bloods) as Mistle.

As far as Blood Origin is concerned, Netflix announced that Minnie Driver has joined the spin-off’s cast as its narrator.

Worlds will collide.

The Witcher: Blood Origin is coming to Netflix on December 25. #TUDUM pic.twitter.com/jSDDf7lzdA

— The Witcher (@witchernetflix) September 24, 2022

In other news, WB games has confirmed that Gotham Knights will require multiple playthroughs to see everything, and UK police has confirmed that the 17-year old arrested in connection with GTA 6 hack was previously arrested and violated his bail conditions.

The post Netflix’s The Witcher Season 3 and Blood Origin Release Dates Revealed appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

A NSFW trailer for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the Cyberpunk 2077 Netflix anime, has revealed a September 11 release date. Somewhere between Ghost in the Shell, FLCL, and Redline, the two-minute sneak peek goes through a series of colorful, bombastic, and blistering scenes that would make Harley Quinn blush. If you do watch the trailer posted after the break, make sure that you have some privacy as the video has mature content, not to mention strobing effects that might affect photosensitive viewers. You have been warned.

Some info on the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners story and production

Separate from the story of the Cyberpunk 2077 game, the anime is a standalone, 10-part series about a street kid who decides to stay alive by becoming a mercenary edgerunner. As a cyberpunk, he will be able to survive and hopefully thrive in the tech-crazed, body mod-obsessed Night City.

Working on the series since 2018, developer CD Projekt RED is producing Edgerunners alongside showrunner Rafal Jaki, the author of The Witcher: Ronin manga. Studio Trigger is the Japan-based animation company behind the show, with director Hiroyuki Imaishi already showing his expertise in the trailer with his past work like Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill. And to put the cherry on top, Akira Yamaoka from the Silent Hill series is the composer of the original score.

From prior trailers of the anime, fans of the game will recognize the UI and the weapon sound effects throughout this flashy adaptation. The art style, voicework, and soundtrack all already look on point, so we’ll have to wait and see if the anime lives up to the hype. Either way, let’s just be happy that they didn’t go with all the trendy live-action adaptations that Netflix can’t seem to get enough of these days, like the widely panned Resident Evil show.

In other news, Assassin’s Creed Rift has been officially subtitled Mirage and has a spring 2023 release window, and MultiVersus looks like it might get Big Chungus as a fighter or skin.

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Despite a star-studded cast, the Resident Evil Netflix show has been cancelled after only one season due to an abysmal view count. According to a report by Deadline, the streaming giant has decided not to order a second season after Resident Evil debuted at no. 2 with 72.7 million hours viewed in its opening weekend. That number might look good in isolation but compared to Netflix’s other hit series including Stranger Things, Resident Evil effectively tanked. After just three weeks, the show was nowhere to be seen in the top ten, resulting in its cancellation. Over the weekend, actor Lance Reddick took to Twitter to address the development.

Lance Reddick’s statement on Resident Evil Netflix cancellation

A special thank you to all the fans who watched #ResidentEvilNetflix, the showrunners, my castmates, executives and more. We worked our asses off and had a great time. pic.twitter.com/A98aQVuA7t

— Lance Reddick (@lancereddick) August 27, 2022

“As all of you are well aware by now, the show Resident Evil on Netflix has been cancelled,” Reddick said. “And the haters and the trolls notwithstanding, I want to give a special thank you to all the fans who watched the show and got what we were doing, and we really loved it because there are a hell of a lot of you.” He went on to thank the show’s production and executive team, as well as his co-stars.

A large number of Reddick’s fans responded by saying that they loved his performance but Resident Evil left much to be desired. The show holds a 55 percent critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but viewers were harsher than critics, awarding it 27 percent audience score.

In other news, The Last of Us Part 1 Firefly Edition is being restocked in the United States soon and might make its way to Europe, and Sony has revealed what’s included in the DualSense Edge controller box.

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