EA has announced that it will be removing ex-Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden from Madden 22 following his resignation over homophobic and misogynistic emails.

The publisher shared the news of Gruden's removal on its Madden NFL Twitter account, where a statement from the company reads:

"EA Sports is committed to taking action in maintaining a culture of inclusion and equity. Due to the circumstances of Jon Gruden's resignation, we are taking steps to remove him from Madden NFL 22. We will replace him with a generic likeness via a title update in the coming weeks."

pic.twitter.com/KSKsJ1iVXU

— Madden NFL 22 (@EAMaddenNFL) October 13, 2021

Gruden's resignation from the Raiders came after The New York Times unveiled a number of emails written by the coach in which, "He denounced the emergence of women as referees, the drafting of a gay player and the tolerance of players protesting during the playing of the national anthem." The emails uncovered by the New York Times came only a week after previous allegations surfaced claiming that, in 2011, Gruden had used racist stereotypes when talking about the NFL Players' Union Chief DeMaurice Smith.

The announcement of Gruden's departure from the team was made earlier this week on Twitter. "I have resigned as Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders," said Gruden as part of a statement. "I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction. Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone."

This isn't the first time of late that EA has taken to removing an athlete or player from one of its prolific sports games. Last month, the publisher confirmed that it had taken the French national team and Manchester City full-back Benjamin Mendy out of FIFA 22 as the player awaits trial amid allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Macaulay Culkin has confirmed that he's not involved with the forthcoming Disney+ reboot Home Sweet Home Alone.

Home Alone's Kevin McCallister will not be returning to defend his house this year. Culkin took to Twitter to set the record straight following speculation over a potential cameo appearance in the reboot. "Just a heads up since I've been getting this question a lot today: I am NOT in the new Home Alone reboot," he wrote. "I wish all involved the best of luck though."

Hey y'all. Just a heads up since I've been getting this question a lot today:
I am NOT in the new Home Alone reboot.

I wish all involved the best of luck though.

— Macaulay Culkin (@IncredibleCulk) October 13, 2021

Rumors of Culkin's possible involvement in the reboot emerged this week after fans spotted a familiar-looking face in the first trailer for Home Sweet Home Alone, which is due to premiere on Disney+ next month. In the footage, a police officer with a "McCallister" name badge pulls up to inspect a local neighborhood following "reports of suspicious people" in the area.

The uniform is worn by actor Devin Ratray, who played Kevin's older brother Buzz in 1990's Home Alone and its sequel. The inclusion of an OG Home Alone star in the reboot sparked rumors of Culkin returning for more holiday hijinks but unfortunately, his social media statement seems definitive, leaving Archie Yates' Max Mercer to draw up his own battle plan.

Arriving on Disney+ on November 12, Home Sweet Home Alone's cast also includes Aisling Bea, Kenan Thompson, Tim Simons, Pete Holmes, Ally Maki, and Chris Parnell, together with Rob Delaney and Ellie Kemper, playing a troubled married couple looking to steal a priceless heirloom. The film is directed by Dan Mazer from a script by Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell.

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Retailers are getting more PS5 stock all the time, but it can come and go so quickly it's not hard to get disheartened by multiple failed attempts to acquire the elusive console.

But, there is still hope if you want to get a PS5 before Christmas 2021, so we've included all of our top tips on how to secure the console right here. For now, our first suggestion is following @IGNDeals on Twitter for instant PS5 stock updates.

Register for a Chance to Buy a PS5

Sony has opened up a direct registration system that will give those in the US a chance to purchase a PS5 this holiday season. There will be a limited number of consoles available, but if you want to be within a chance, all you need to do is register for an invitation using your email and PSN ID (see here).

PS5 on Black Friday 2021

Most of the major retailer sites in the US had PS5 stock ready and waiting for Black Friday in 2020. Yes, it was a new console, but that doesn't change the fact that it's still difficult to find the console even a year later. We're fully expecting a repeat of this, so keep an eye out at Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, GameStop and more during our Black Friday coverage.

Advice for Getting a PS5 Before Christmas

Add the Console to Your Wishlist

Another great way is to have the console on your wish list for the site, such as Amazon, as this will allow the servers to more easily move the console into your basket.

Follow IGN Deals on Twitter for PS5 Stock Updates

For the most up-to-the-second information about where you can find PS5 in stock at any given time, you'll want to follow IGN Deals on Twitter. Since the stock of the new console is likely to sell out within a matter of minutes after it goes live, your best bet is to follow our deals team on Twitter, where we'll post links as soon as they go live.

Be Logged Into Retailer Websites

When an online retailer gets PS5 in stock, it seems like everyone on the planet is scrambling to lock in their order. Retailer websites often become ultra-buggy thanks to all the stress on their servers.

Your best bet for getting a PS5 when orders become available is to already be logged into your account, and to have your credit card information saved there. That way you won't waste precious seconds entering your credit card number, billing address, etc. while everyone around you is successfully checking out.

Where to Buy PS5 Right Now

You can't currently just buy a PS5 when you want to, you need to be ready and waiting for when the stock goes live at the retailers we've listed below.

Some retailers will give warning, which we'll often announce on our deals Twitter page @IGNDeals. For now, here are all the retailer pages you'll need to keep primed and ready for when stock is available.

When Will the PS5 Be Coming Back in Stock?

PS5 is getting new stock all the time at US retailers. Keep an eye on @IGNDeals for new updates.

PS5 Reviews

• PS5 Review
• PS5 DualSense Controller Review
• PS5 3D Wireless Headset Review
• Spider-Man: Miles Morales Review

Where to find PS5 Games

Where to Find PS5 Controllers and Accessories

Robert Anderson is a deals expert for IGN. Be nice and ask him how his day is going @robertliam21

Sony has opened up a direct registration system that will give those in the US a chance to purchase a PS5 this holiday season.

However, not just anyone with a PSN account will be invited. According to the FAQ page, invitations are limited, and will be based on 'previous interests and PlayStation activities'.

There will be a limited number of consoles available, but if you want to be within a chance, all you need to do is register for an invitation using your email and PSN ID (see here).

Emails will be sent out starting in November, and if selected, you'll be invited to purchase the console via PS Direct.

Each invitation will provide access to one PS5 or PS5 Digital console. It will also have a time limit, so if you do register, keep a keen eye on your emails in November.

If you're interested in even more PS5 stock updates, and how to get a PS5 before the end of the year, make sure you're following @IGNDeals on Twitter, as we'll post new stock availability when it's available at retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and more.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

During a recent New York Comic Con panel, one of the writers behind Call of Duty Vanguard spoke about the team's desire to make more 'iconic' characters within the franchise, similar to the likes of Halo's Master Chief.

As reported by VGC, Call of Duty: Vanguard writer Sam Maggs opened up about the team's hopes for Vanguard and how they would like to create more prolific standout characters within the franchise. “We came into this process saying, ‘how do we make the iconic CoD characters?’ because you don’t really have that in Call of Duty right now,” she stated during the panel.

“You know when you think about a game like Halo, you think of Master Chief, but when you think of CoD there’s not really those standout characters." While previous iterations of the Call of Duty franchise have seen noteworthy characters such as Captain Price, Ghost, and Captain "Soap" MacTavish, more recent entries into the franchise arguably haven't capitalized on character development to quite the same extent.

Maggs says that the team started by coming up with characters that it felt could be "flagship" heroes in the franchise, because they want to be able to carry their stories over into future Vanguard games, should that be the direction that Activision decides to take Call of Duty. "We are hoping that if people love them as much as we do, that we get to continue to tell the story of these people and make them sort of like figureheads for this era of CoD basically,” she concluded.

As per Call of Duty's website, Vanguard's upcoming campaign will focus on the escapades of Task Force One as they attempt to stop the Nazi party from implementing the mysterious Project Phoenix toward the end of WW2. The special forces squad itself is made up of four playable characters: Sergeant Arthur Kingsley, Lieutenant Polina Petrova, Private Lucas Riggs, and Lieutenant First Class Wade Jackson. Sergeant Richard Webb will make up the fifth member of the team, though it seems that he won't be playable throughout the campaign. The site also notes that these operators will also make up a third of the game's twelve playable characters in Vanguard's multiplayer when the game launches next month.

Earlier this week, the team at Sledgehammer showed off a little more of its campaign with the release of a new trailer and a subsequent behind-the-scenes look at how Vanguard's story came to be. In other Call of Duty news, Activision recently spoke further about the upcoming anti-cheat set to be released alongside Vanguard. The company says that its new system is called Ricochet, and is designed to combat hackers in the game using kernel-level monitors.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.