It's a big week for Amazon Prime's slate of video game adaptations. First, we got a new episode of the Fallout series. Then, we learned which actor will play Kratos in the live-action God of War series. And now there's news on the Tomb Raider front – we got our first look at Sophie Turner's portrayal of Lara Croft. See it for yourself below.

Sophie Turner as Lara Croft. The image was originally uploaded to Amazon Prime Video's social media with the caption "Get your artifacts out. Lara's on her way… #TombRaider #WardrobeTest"

It's a relatively classic take on the character, as opposed to the recent reboots (known as the survivor trilogy). Turner wears shorts, pistol holsters on each hip, a teal tank top, and even Lara Croft's sunglasses (which appear on the cover of Tomb Raider III), complete with red, circular lenses. As is often the case with live-action adaptations, Turner's initial casting as the character was met with skepticism from some, but now that she's in the wardrobe, you can't deny she looks the part. We'll just have to wait and see if her performance holds up as well.

The Tomb Raider series is created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (known for Fleabag and Solo), who serves as both showrunner and writer. The show's cast also includes Martin Bobb-Semple, Sigourney Weaver, and Jason Issacs (who Game Informer readers might know as Gortash in Baldur's Gate 3). The show is currently in production.

This shift back towards the classic Lara Croft look is a move the entire brand is making in 2026, which is the 30th anniversary of the first game's launch. This year, we can expect to see Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, a reboot of the original game, while 2027 will bring Tomb Raider: Catalyst, a wholly new adventure. For more Tomb Raider, read about how the developers break down the new timeline and Lara Croft's new voice actor.

Amazon Prime’s live-action God of War series is in pre-production, and it has found its Kratos. Funny enough, the actor portraying the Ghost of Sparta is no stranger to the franchise, having previously voiced the God of Thunder in the most recent game.

Deadline reports that actor Ryan Hurst will portray Kratos. Hurst is probably best known for his role as Opie Winston in the FX series Sons of Anarchy, and he most recently appeared in the Netflix series The Abandons last year. However, Hurst also provided the voice of Thor in 2022’s God of War Ragnarök, a performance that earned him a BAFTA nomination. In those games, Kratos was portrayed by Christopher Judge. 

Ryan Hurst stands with a statue of Kratos

Amazon Prime’s series is an adaptation of the Norse entries in the series, which includes Ragnarök and its 2018 predecessor, God of War. The show centers on Kratos and his son, Atreus, and will follow the 2018 game’s story of the pair traveling on a quest to scatter the ashes of their wife and mother. The rest of the cast has not been revealed. 

Amazon has ordered two seasons of the show, which will be helmed by showrunner, writer, and executive producer Ronald D. Moore (Outlander, Battlestar Galactica). It will be co-produced by Sony Pictures Television, Amazon MGM Studios, PlayStation Productions, and Tall Boy Productions. God of War is currently set to begin filming in Vancouver in March. 

God of War will be the latest video game adaptation to hit Amazon Prime, following series such as Like a Dragon: Yakuza and its biggest hit, Fallout. You can read our review of Season 2 of the latter show here. 

[Source: Deadline]

Meta has shut down its Twisted Pixel, Sanzaru Games, and Armature Studio as part of its massive job cuts to its virtual reality division, Reality Labs. These three studios, which Meta acquired over the last five years, had developed VR games for the studio.

As reported by Bloomberg, Meta has begun cutting over 1,000 jobs across the Reality Labs division, which oversees the company’s VR hardware (such as its Meta Quest headsets) and software. Reality Labs consists of roughly 15,000 employees, meaning about 10 percent of workers will be impacted. The layoffs began Tuesday, with employees from Twisted Pixel, Sanzaru, and Armature taking to social media to confirm their respective studio closures. The cuts are a result of Meta shifting resources from its VR and metaverse products to its AI wearables and phone features, which a Meta spokesperson confirmed to Engadget.

"We said last month that we were shifting some of our investment from Metaverse toward Wearables," said the spokesperson. "This is part of that effort, and we plan to reinvest the savings to support the growth of wearables this year." 

Asgard's Wrath 2

Sanzaru Games was founded in 2006 and was acquired by Meta in 2020. It released the Asgard’s Wrath series for Meta Quest, including the critically-acclaimed Asgard’s Wrath 2 in 2023. Before Meta, Sanzaru may be best known for working on the Sly Cooper series. It developed The Sly Collection in 2010, which led to the studio creating 2013’s Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. Sanzaru’s other developer credits include the PS2 port of Secret Agent Clank, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal, and Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice.

Twisted Pixel formed in 2009 and found success during the Xbox 360 Live Arcade era with well-received games such as The Maw, ‘Splosion Man, Mrs. ‘Splosion Man, Comic Jumper, and The Gunstringer. Twisted Pixel was acquired by Meta in 2022, where it developed VR titles including Wilson’s Heart and, most recently, Marvel’s Deadpool VR.

Founded in 2008, Armature Studio initially worked on ports of titles such as Metal Gear Solid HD Collection and Injustice: Gods Among Us for Vita. Its first original title was Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate in 2013, but it would become best known for its 2016 title, ReCore. After being acquired by Meta in October 2022, Armature created titles such as Resident Evil 4 VR for Quest headsets in 2021.

Resident Evil 4 VR

These studios are the latest to be purchased and later shuttered by Meta. The same fate befell Ready At Dawn, developer of The Order: 1886 and the Lone Echo games, in 2024. The layoffs raise questions about the future of Meta's VR business, but the company states it remains committed to video games. Oculus Studios director Tamara Sciamanna wrote in a memo obtained by Bloomberg that "With this change we are shifting our investment to focus on our third-party developers and partners to ensure long-term sustainability.”

Animal Crossing: New Horizons was a massive hit when it launched just over six years ago (man, time flies!), but it seemed like Nintendo's support for the game had come to an end. Then, the company surprised us all when it unveiled the game wouldn't just be getting a performance-enhanced Switch 2 version, but there would be a huge, completely free, content update for all players. Both the update and Switch 2 version were set to drop tomorrow, January 15, but Nintendo had one last surprise in store for us – the 3.0 update is available now.

After seeing commotion about it online, we at Game Informer have personally verified that the update is available now, and based on similar reports from the fine folks at Eurogamer, this early launch does not seem to be isolated to the US.

There's no special trick to acquiring it either – 3.0 started downloading on my console as soon as I woke it up this morning. If it doesn't download for you right away, hover over the application on your Switch's home screen, press the plus button on the right side of your controller, and head to the "Software Update" portion of the menu, and select "Via the Internet."

While the 3.0 update is live, the Switch 2 Upgrade is not live. It's a purchase in the Switch 2 eShop ($4.99 in the US) set to go live tomorrow, and at the time of writing, Nintendo hasn't pulled the trigger on launching it quite yet. 

That said, if I could only pick one of the two updates to launch early, this would be the one. Animal Crossing: New Horizons' 3.0 update has the bulk of new content, including the hotel on Kapp'n's pier, the addition of Slumber Islands, and several new lines of crossover furniture. By contrast, the Switch 2 upgrade provides a performance boost, allows you to play with more people online, and integrates some of the Switch 2's new features (like mouse controls and GameChat) into regular gameplay.

For more on the new content, check out my impressions from a hands-off preview from last month.

Will you be jumping back into Animal Crossing with the new update? Let us know in the comments!

It's no surprise that Deadpool is coming to Marvel Rivals. Even before his official reveal at the Game Awards this year, it was only a matter of time before one of Marvel's most popular characters made his way to the massive hero shooter. The question lay in how the developers at NetEase would adapt the character's signature swords, pistols, and meta humor into a game setting. Once that was done, which of the game's three roles did the developers assign him? According to today's gameplay trailer, it'll actually be all of them.

That's right – Deadpool can be a Duelist, Strategist, or Vanguard depending on the player's choice. His appearance remains unchanged, but his max health and moveset will fit the role. Duelist Deadpool can throw his sword to rotate like a razor blade, Vanguard Deadpool gets a deployable, spherical shield, and Strategist Deadpool heals allies by shooting them or slashing them with his katanas. It wouldn't make sense for any other character, but for Deadpool, it just feels right.

Even outside of the role-swapping, the Merc with a Mouth's abilities are unique, to say the least. As he fights his foes, he'll be able to level up his skills, opening up an in-game book-like menu to select what to unlock. He also has a move that deals damage to enemy players when they miss shots, as well as the ability to take photos with people he defeats. In the reveal trailer, we even see Deadpool using that photo mode to become invincible, absorbing Magneto's Ultimate Ability with his butt.

Deadpool's level up screen in Marvel Rivals

As per usual, season six also brings other improvements to Marvel Rivals. A new map, Museum of Contemplation, drops January 29. Times Square, the combat-free lobby, is adding a photo mode and The Clobberin' Club, where players can duel and broadcast their match on one of the street's giant screens. Hero proficiency is also getting an overhaul. The small handful of tiers has been fully revamped to include more hero-specific rewards, including in-game currency and animated character avatars.

Finally, more team-ups are coming and others are phased out. Peni will lose her team-up with Rocket, and Spider-Man will lose his team-up with Human Torch. However, Peni and Spider-Man are getting a new team-up (which grants Spider-Man a web bomb), and Jeff is getting a team-up with Deadpool, which creates a spinning toy that heals allies and covers enemies' screens with animated Deadpools. You can see the full list of updates in the video below.

For more Marvel Rivals, check out the limited-time Lady Loki skin and our review from last year.