Nintendo's Switch production will fall 20% below its original projection this fiscal year. The total number of units produced for the console now will only be 24 million through March.

According to a report from Nikkei, the issue comes from a shortage of semiconductors and other electronic parts, as well as strong demand for the console, such as the latest OLED version. Around spring, components such as microcomputers caused production bottlenecks, and Nintendo scaled down its production targets because the company was not able to get enough parts.

The original plan was to produce about 30 million Nintendo Switch units, a record number due to more people spending time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We are assessing their impact on our production," a Nintendo spokesperson said. Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa admitted that the company was not able to make as many Switch units as it would have wanted because of the uncertainty issues surrounding production. However, he also explained that demand for the Switch is still going strong.

As of August this year, Nintendo had sold a little over 89 million units of the Nintendo Switch, surpassing both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in lifetime sales. Additionally, Nintendo Switch also swept the Japanese sales charts for one week, with the 30 best-selling games coming from one console. It was a feat that hadn't been accomplished since the Famicom in 1988.

On October 8, Nintendo launched the OLED model of the system alongside the new Metroid Dread game. In IGN's Nintendo Switch OLED review, Taylor Lyles said, "After playing with it for a week, I’ve found that the Nintendo Switch OLED Model’s brighter, more vibrant, and slightly larger screen has made me want to take it out of docked mode much more often – and not just when I am about to travel."

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

Worried that Facebook will keep the much-hyped metaverse all to itself? Microsoft has something to say about that. The tech giant announced during its Ignite conference that it's building its version of the metaverse, with a big focus on work and corporate applications, Bloomberg reports.

Microsoft is currently preparing an alternate version of its Microsoft Teams chat software that will let employees use digital avatars and share Microsoft Office files, like Spreadsheets, in a virtual world. That's due out in the latter half of 2022.

Using its new Mesh technology, Microsoft is also working towards enabling shareable virtual worlds across multiple VR and AR headsets, including Microsoft's own HoloLens. Employees without VR/AR headsets will still be able to access these virtual worlds on regular 2D monitors.

The corporate focus doesn't stop at meetings, though. Microsoft also announced a product called Dynamics 365 Connected Spaces that allows users to move through virtual recreations of stores and facilities. It's not an entirely novel idea in the world of VR and AR tech (the tech has existed for several years in one form or another), but Microsoft executives like CEO Satya Nadella tells Bloomberg they had used Dynamics to visit a hospital's COVID ward, a Toyota plant, and the International Space Station in VR.

In a world where Epic Games seems to be ahead of the metaverse pack with Fortnite's growing success, Xbox isn't escaping Microsoft's metaverse plans either.

“You can absolutely expect us to do things in gaming,” Nadella said. “If you take Halo as a game, it is a metaverse. Minecraft is a metaverse, and so is Flight Sim. In some sense, they are 2D today, but the question is, can you now take that to a full 3D world, and so we absolutely plan to do so.”

It all raises an obvious question for tech giants like Microsoft and Facebook: If the metaverse is meant to be one immense, interconnected virtual space where brands, creators, and individual users can cohabitate, how will it work if every company wants to build its own metaverse, especially with their own software as the proprietary tool? Microsoft is focused (for now) on how the metaverse can be utilized in a profit-driven corporate sense, while Facebook and Epic appear to be focused on building a new type of social network, albeit one that's still interfacing with their brands.

Facebook is of course going all in on the metaverse, rebranding itself under a new parent company simply called "Meta." The rebranding has largely been seen as a move to both distance Facebook from solely a social media company to a more encompassing tech corporation, as well as a way to distance the company from numerous controversies, including a recent (and massive) leak of internal documents showing the company allegedly dodging responsibility for harm the company has caused with its products.

Image Credit: (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/not looking forward to the Slack metaverse…for IGN.

The holidays are almost here, and it's time to figure out the perfect gifts for your family and friends. If you're shopping for an Xbox player this holiday season, you've come to the right place, because we've got a roundup of the best gifts to consider. From the latest Xbox consoles and accessories to the best Xbox games, here are the best gift ideas for the Xbox fan in your life.

The Top 3 Must-Have Xbox Gifts

While it may have released over a year ago, the Xbox Series X is still extremely difficult to find. The Series X is the most powerful Xbox ever, and along with Xbox Game Pass, the Xbox player you're shopping for will never run out of games to play. Plus, one of the biggest games coming this holiday season is Halo Infinite, Master Chief's first new adventure in more than six years.

Best Xbox Games Gifts

While many of Xbox's best games are on Game Pass, a lot of them still need to be bought separately. This year, games like Call of Duty: Vanguard and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, are sure to be some of the holiday season's biggest sellers.

Best Xbox Clothing and Accessory Gifts

If you're not sure what games the Xbox fan in your life already has, you could consider getting them a piece of Xbox clothing or a collectible they can display. These Xbox clothes and accessories can help an Xbox fan show off their love for Halo, Fallout, and more.

Best Halo Nerf Gun Gifts

Halo Infinite is going to be one of the hottest games this holiday season, and the younger Halo fans may want to bring a Halo-themed Nerf gun to their next Nerf gun fight. Check out these Halo Nerf guns, including the iconic Needler.

Best Xbox Book Gifts

If you're looking to get your favorite Xbox fan a book, look no further than our picks for the best Xbox gifts. Whether it's an art book, cookbook, or a novel that expands the Halo universe, there's something for every type of reader.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, a drama about the development of the atomic bomb, has just added Robert Downey Jr. and Matt Damon.

According to Deadline, the pair are now in talks to join Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan’s upcoming World War II epic.

Unfortunately, there are no further details about who Downey and Damon will be playing in the upcoming film, with details reportedly being “kept under wraps”. However, it has been confirmed that Cillian Murphy will star as Robert J Oppenheimer – who is commonly referred to as the father of the atomic bomb.

Alongside regular Nolan contributor Murphy, it’s also previously been reported that Emily Blunt is also in talks for an unknown role.

Now, Robert Downey Jr and Matt Damon join this increasingly illustrious cast. Damon has previously worked with Christopher Nolan on the hit sci-fi epic, Interstellar, while this marks the first time Robert Downey Jr. and Nolan will have worked together.

Oppenheimer also marks the first time Nolan has worked with Universal, which picked up the rights to the movie following an extensive bidding war. His move to Universal follows controversial comments about Warner Bros. launching their films day and date on HBO Max – the director calling it “the worst streaming service”.

Nolan is also looking at a $100 million budget for Oppenheimer, which he considers “smaller-scale” compared to his previous films. He was also rather demanding when it comes to this project, expecting “total creative control, 20 percent of first-dollar gross, and a blackout period from which the studio wherein the company would not release another movie three weeks before or three weeks after his release.”

Christopher Nolan will produce Oppenheimer along with Emma Thomas and Atlas Entertainment’s Charles Roven. The film is based on the Pulitzer-winning book, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin.

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is set to premiere on July 21, 2023.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Netflix announced today that it has expanded its gaming service to over 190 countries, including the United States and Canada. However, the gaming feature still requires subscribers to own either an Android smartphone or tablet to play.

Starting today, Netflix Games will be available to subscribers, which you can either download from the Google Play Store, though Netflix says that all five games coming to the service will slowly roll out to its official app beginning November 3. Among the games included in the service is Stranger Things 3: The Game. Unfortunately, you will not be able to use a wireless controller or a mobile controller like the Razer Kishi, as the games on the Netflix Games app use touch controls only.

Netflix notes that its games app requires a subscription to its streaming service, and that there are no ads, additional fees, or microtransactions. While iOS support is not available yet, Netflix says it will roll out "in the coming months."

The rollout to more countries supporting Netflix Games is no surprise as the company began testing the feature last August, with subscribers based in Poland having access to the service. In late September, Netflix Games expanded to subscribers living in Italy, Spain, and Poland.

Within the last several months, Netflix has been making a push to enter the gaming market. In July, ahead of its quarterly fiscal earnings, the streaming giant noted it would focus on mobile games first. In that same month, Netflix announced that it had hired veteran game executive Mike Verdu as its VP of game development.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.