We've gotten some big games in the first half of 2022: a Pokemon spinoff, Horizon: Forbidden West, a Gran Turismo, a 3D Kirby, and of course Elden Ring. July is a little slow in terms of big releases, though Switch-owning JRPG fans will be well served. Below, you'll find a list of release dates for all the most notable games releasing this month and in the foreseeable future. We update it often, so come back anytime to see what's ahead. Whether you have a PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, or PC, you have a lot to look forward to.

And if you're someone who likes to preorder games, you can click the buy link to make sure it arrives on launch day. You can also click the shortcuts below to hop to your system of choice.

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Upcoming PS4 and PS5 Games

PlayStation owners can pick up F1 22, the latest installment of the long-running racing game featuring race cars. A bundle of two remastered Klonoa platformers is also out this month.

July 2022 – PS4 / PS5 Game Release Dates

• F1 22 – July 1 – Buy It
• Arcadegeddon – July 5
• Matchpoint – Tennis Championships – July 7 – Buy It
• Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series – July 8
• MADiSON – July 8
• Stray – July 19
• Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp – July 21
• Hell Pie – July 21
• Wayward Strand – July 21
• Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium – July 22
• Lost Epic – July 28
• Digimon Survive – July 29 – Buy It

August 2022 – PS4 / PS5 Game Release Dates

• Two Point Campus – August 9 – Buy It
• Rollerdrome – August 16
• Saints Row – August 23 – Buy It
• Pac-Man World Re-Pac – August 26 – Buy It

September 2022 – PlayStation Game Release Dates

• The Lord of the Rings: Gollum – September 1 – Buy It
• Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R – September 2 – Buy It
• LEGO Brawls – September 2 – Buy It
• Tunic – September 27

October 2022 – PS4 / PS5 Game Release Dates

• Overwatch 2 – October 4
• Forspoken – October 11 – Buy It
• Gotham Knights – October 25 – Buy It
• Star Ocean: The Divine Force – October 27
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – October 28 – Buy It
• Resident Evil Re:Verse – October 28

December 2022 – PlayStation Game Release Dates

• The Calisto Protocol – December 2

January 2023 – PlayStation Game Release Dates

• Dead Space – January 27

March 2023 – PlayStation Game Release Dates

• Resident Evil 4 (PS5) – March 24

Upcoming PS4 and PS5 Games – Release Date TBA

• Abandoned – Q4 2021
• Alan Wake 2 – 2023
• Aliens: Dark Descent – 2023
• American Arcadia – TBA
• Among Us VR – TBA
• ARC Raiders – 2022
• Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration – Holiday 2022
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – 2022
• Babylon's Fall – TBA
• Crimson Desert – TBA
• Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion – Winter 2022 – Buy It
• Deathverse: Let it Die – 2022
• Diablo 4 – 2023
• The DioField Chronicle – 2022
• eFootball – Fall 2021
• Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes – 2023
• Eternights – Early 2023
• Evil West – TBA
• Exoprimal – 2023
• The Expanse: A Telltale Series – TBA
• Final Fantasy XVI – Summer 2023
• GigaBash – 2022
• Goat Simulator 3 – Fall 2022
• God of War: Ragnarok – TBA
• Goodbye Volcano High – TBA
• Grid Legends – 2022
• Gundam Evolution – 2022
• Hogwarts Legacy – Holiday 2022
• Hyenas – 2023
• Little Devil Inside – TBA
• Marvel's Midnight Suns – 2nd half 2022
• Marvel's Spider-Man 2 – 2023
• Marvel's Wolverine – TBA
• Metal Hellsinger – 2022
• One Piece Odyssey – 2022
• Open Roads – 2022
• Persona 3 Portable – TBA
• Persona 4 Golden – TBA
• A Plague Tale: Requiem – 2022
• Pragmata – 2023
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake – TBA – Buy It
• Project Eve – TBA
• Season: A Letter to the Future – Autumn 2022
• Six Days in Fallujah – Q4 2022
• Sonic Frontiers – Holiday 2022
• Star Trek: Resurgence – Spring 2022
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – 2023
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake – TBA
• Steelrising – TBA
• Street Fighter 6 – 2023
• Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League – Spring 2023
• System Shock Remastered – TBA
• Tchia – Spring 2022
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection – 2022
• Texas Chainsaw Massacre – TBA
• Valkyrie Elysium – 2022
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 – TBA – Buy It
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt – 2022
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 – TBA
• We Are OFK – 2022

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Upcoming Nintendo Switch Games

JRPG fans will be pleased to know that you can pick up two big games in the genre this month. Live A Live is a remake of a classic JRPG that previously never made its way to the West, featuring the gorgeous 2D HD style seen in games like Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is the other major Switch release this month.

July 2022 – Nintendo Switch Game Release Dates

• Matchpoint – Tennis Championships – July 7
• Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series – July 8
• MADiSON – July 8
• Hell Pie – July 21
• Wayward Strand – July 21
• Live A Live – July 22 – Buy It
• Bear and Breakfast – July 28
• Captain Velvet Meteor: The Jump+ Dimensions – July 28
• Digimon Survive – July 29 – Buy It
• Xenoblade Chronicles 3 – July 29 – Buy It

August 2022 – Nintendo Switch Game Release Dates

• Two Point Campus – August 9 – Buy It
• RPG Time: The Legend of Wright – August 18
• Pac-Man World Re-Pac – August 26 – Buy It

September 2022 – Nintendo Switch Game Release Dates

• Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R – September 2 – Buy It
• LEGO Brawls – September 2 – Buy It
• Disney Dreamlight Valley – September 6
• Splatoon 3 – September 9 – Buy It

October 2022 – Nintendo Switch Game Release Dates

• Overwatch 2 – October 4
• Nier: Automata The End of YoRHa Edition – October 6 – Buy It
• No Man's Sky – October 7
• A Plague Tale: Requiem (Cloud Version) – October 9
• Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope – October 20 – Buy It
• Persona 5 Royal – October 21

November 2022 – Nintendo Switch Game Release Dates

• Harvestella – November 4
• The Lord of the Rings: Gollum – November 30 – Buy It

December 2022 – Nintendo Switch Game Release Dates

• Dragon Quest Treasures – December 9

February 2023 – Nintendo Switch Game Release Dates

• Blanc – February 2023

Upcoming Nintendo Switch Games – Release Date TBA

• Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp – TBA – Buy It
• Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration – Holiday 2022
• Aztech: Forgotten Gods – Fall 2021
• Bayonetta 3 – 2022 – Buy It
• Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion – Winter 2022 – Buy It
• The DioField Chronicle – 2022
• Disney Magical World 2: Enchanted Edition – Holiday 2021
• Disney Speedstorm – Summer 2022
• Doraemon Story of Seasons Friend of the Great Kingdom – 2022
• Front Mission 1st: Remake – Summer 2022
• Front Mission 2 Remake – TBA
• GetsuFumaDen: Undying Moon – 2022
• Hindsight – 2021
• Hogwarts Legacy – Holiday 2022
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 – Spring 2023 – Buy It
• Life is Strange: Remastered Collection – TBA
• Little Devil Inside – TBA
• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes – 2023
• Marvel's Midnight Suns – 2nd half of 2022
• Megaman Battle Network Legacy Collection – 2023
• Metal Slug Tactics – 2022
• Minecraft Legends – 2023
• Monster Hunter Rise – Sunbreak (DLC) – Summer 2022
• The Outer Wilds – TBA
• Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals – 2022
• Persona 4 Golden – TBA
• Persona 3 Portable – TBA
• Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire – TBA – Buy It
• Portal: Companion Collection – 2022
• RAILGRADE – Fall 2022
• Return to Monkey Island – 2022
• SD Gundam Battle Alliance – 2022
• Sea of Stars – 2023
• Skul: The Hero Slayer – TBA
• Shadowrun Trilogy – 2022
• Sonic Frontiers – Holiday 2022
• Star Wars: Hunters – 2022
• Super Bomberman R2 – 2023
• Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival – 2022
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection – 2022
• Vampire: The Masquerade Swansong – 2022 – Buy It

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Upcoming Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One Games

Xbox owners can add a dash of color and aerodynamics to Forza Horizon 5 this month with the Hot Wheels DLC. Also out this month is Sea of Thieves season seven and a handful of other games.

July 2022 – Xbox Game Release Dates

• F1 22 – July 1 – Buy It
• Arcadegeddon – July 5
• Matchpoint – Tennis Championships – July 7
• Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series – July 8
• MADiSON – July 8
• As Dusk Falls – July 19
• Forza Horizon 5: Hot Wheels (DLC) – July 19
• Hell Pie – July 21
• Sea of Thieves: Season 7 – July 21
• Wayward Strand – July 21
• Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium – July 22
• Digimon Survive – July 29 – Buy It

August 2022 – Xbox Game Release Dates

• Two Point Campus – August 9 – Buy It
• Saints Row – August 23 – Buy It
• Pac-Man World Re-Pac – August 26 – Buy It

September 2022 – Xbox Game Release Dates

• The Lord of the Rings: Gollum – September 1 – Buy It
• Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R – September 2 – Buy It
• LEGO Brawls – September 2 – Buy It
• Warhammer 40,000: Darktide – September 13
• Fallout 76: The Pitt (DLC) – September 2022
• Grounded (full game) – September 2022

October 2022 Xbox Game Release Dates

• Overwatch 2 – October 4
• Persona 5 Royal – October 21
• Scorn – October 21
• Gotham Knights – October 25 – Buy It
• Star Ocean: The Divine Force – October 27
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – October 28 – Buy It
• High on Life – October 2022
• Gunfire Reborn – October 2022

November 2022 Xbox Game Release Dates

• Flight Simulator 40th Anniversary – November 2022
• Pentiment – November 2022

December 2022 – Xbox Game Release Dates

• STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl – April 28 – Buy It

January 2023 – Xbox Game Release Dates

• Dead Space – January 27

March 2023 – Xbox Game Release Dates

• Resident Evil 4 (Series X|S) – March 24

Upcoming Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One Games – Release Date TBA

• Alan Wake 2 – 2023
• Aliens: Dark Descent – 2023
• American Arcadia – TBA
• Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey – TBA
• ARC Raiders – 2022
• Ark 2 – 2023
• As Dusk Falls – TBA
• Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration – Holiday 2022
• Atomic Heart – TBA
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – 2022
• Avowed – TBA
• Bright Memory Infinite – TBA
• Cocoon – 2023
• Contraband – TBA
• Crimson Desert – TBA
• Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion – Winter 2022 – Buy It
• Diablo 4 – 2023
• The DioField Chronicle – 2022
• Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes – 2023
• Ereban: Shadow Legacy – 2023
• Everwild – TBA
• Evil West – TBA
• ExoMecha – TBA
• Exoprimal – 2023
• The Expanse: A Telltale Series – TBA
• Fable – TBA
• Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn – early 2023
• Forza Motorsport – Spring 2023
• Goat Simulator 3 – Fall 2022
• Grid Legends – 2022
• Hello Neighbor 2 – TBA
• Hogwarts Legacy – Holiday 2022
• Hollow Knight: Silksong – TBA
• Hyenas – 2023
• The Last Case of Benedict Fox – spring 2023
• Lightyear Frontier – spring 2023
• Little Devil Inside – TBA
• Marvel's Midnight Suns – 2nd half of 2022
• Metal Hellsinger – 2022
• Minecraft Legends – 2023
• One Piece Odyssey – 2022
• The Outer Worlds 2 – TBA
• Party Animals – 2022
• Perfect Dark – TBA
• Persona 3 Portable – TBA
• Persona 4 Golden – TBA
• Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis – TBA
• A Plague Tale: Requiem – 2022
• Planet of Lana – 2022
• Pragmata – 2023
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake – TBA – Buy It
• Ravenlok – 2023
• Redfall – 2023
• Replaced – TBA
• Resident Evil Re:Verse – 2022
• Routine – TBA
• Second Extinction – TBA
• Senua's Saga: Hellblade II – TBA
• Six Days in Fallujah – Q4 2022
• Slime Rancher 2 – 2022
• Somerville – 2022
• Sonic Frontiers – Holiday 2022
• Star Trek: Resurgence – Spring 2022
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – 2023
• Starfield – First half 2023
• State of Decay 3 – TBA
• Steelrising – TBA
• Street Fighter 6 – 2023
• Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League – Spring 2023
• System Shock Remastered – TBA
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection – 2022
• Texas Chainsaw Massacre – TBA
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 – TBA – Buy It
• Warhammer 40,000: Dark Tide – TBA
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 – TBA
• Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty – early 2023

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Upcoming PC Games

PC owners can pick up games like F1 22, Eyes in the Dark, and Stray this month.

July 2022 – PC Game Release Dates

• F1 22 – July 1
• Arcadegeddon – July 5
• Matchpoint – Tennis Championships – July 7
• Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series – July 8
• MADiSON – July 8
• Eyes in the Dark – July 14
• As Dusk Falls – July 19
• Forza Horizon 5: Hot Wheels (DLC) – July 19
• Stray – July 19 – Buy It
• Hell Pie – July 21
• Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp – July 21
• Sea of Thieves: Season 7 – July 21
• Wayward Strand – July 21
• Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium – July 22
• Immortality – July 26
• Bear and Breakfast – July 28
• Sweet Transit – July 28

August 2022 – PC Game Release Dates

• Two Point Campus – August 9
• Spider-Man Remastered – August 12
• Saints Row – August 23
• Pac-Man World Re-Pac – August 26

September 2022 – PC Game Release Dates

• The Lord of the Rings: Gollum – September 1
• Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R – September 2
• Warhammer 40,000: Darktide – September 13
• Fallout 76: The Pitt (DLC) – September 2022
• Grounded (full game) – September 2022

October 2022 – PC Game Release Dates

• Overwatch 2 – October 4
• Forspoken – October 11
• Persona 5 Royal – October 21
• Scorn – October 21
• Gotham Knights – October 25
• Star Ocean: The Divine Force – October 27
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – October 28
• Gunfire Reborn – October 2022

November 2022 – PC Game Release Dates

• Harvestella – November 4 – Buy It
• Flight Simulator 40th Anniversary – November 2022
• Pentiment – November 2022

December 2022 – PC Game Release Dates

• STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl – April 28 – Buy It

January 2023 – PC Game Release Dates

• Dead Space – January 27

March 2023 – PC Game Release Dates

• Resident Evil 4 – March 24

Upcoming PC Games – Release Date TBA

• Alan Wake 2 – 2023
• Aliens: Dark Descent – 2023
• American Arcadia – TBA
• Among Us VR – TBA
• ARA: History Untold – TBA
• ARC Raiders – 2022
• Ark 2 – 2023
• As Dusk Falls – TBA
• Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration – Holiday 2022
• Atomic Heart – TBA
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora – 2022
• Avowed – TBA
• Babylon's Fall – TBA
• Bright Memory Infinite – TBA
• The Call of the Wild: The Angler – TBA
• Cocoon – 2023
• Contraband – TBA
• Crimson Desert – TBA
• Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion – Winter 2022
• Diablo 4 – 2023
• The DioField Chronicle – 2022
• Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes – 2023
• Ereban: Shadow Legacy – 2023
• Everwild – TBA
• Evil West – TBA
• ExoMecha – TBA
• Exoprimal – 2023
• The Expanse: A Telltale Series – TBA
• Fable – TBA
• Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn – early 2023
• Fort Solis – TBA
• Forza Motorsport – Spring 2023
• GigaBash – 2022
• Goat Simulator 3 – Fall 2022
• Goodbye Volcano High – TBA
• Grid Legends – 2022
• Hello Neighbor 2 – TBA
• Hogwarts Legacy – Holiday 2022
• Hollow Knight: Silksong – TBA
• Homeworld 3 – 1st half 2023
• Hyenas – 2023
• The Last Case of Benedict Fox – spring 2023
• Lightyear Frontier – spring 2023
• Marvel's Midnight Suns – 2nd half of 2022
• Megaman Battle Network Legacy Collection – 2023
• Metal Hellsinger – 2022
• Minecraft Legends – 2023
• Nightingale – 2022
• One Piece Odyssey – 2022
• The Outer Worlds 2 – TBA
• Perfect Dark – TBA
• Persona 3 Portable – TBA
• Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis – TBA
• A Plague Tale: Requiem – 2022
• Planet of Lana – 2022
• Pragmata – 2023
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake – TBA – Buy It
• Ravenlok – 2023
• Redfall – 2023
• Resident Evil Re:Verse – 2022
• Routine – TBA
• Sea of Stars – 2023
• Season – TBA
• Second Extinction – TBA
• Senua's Saga: Hellblade II – TBA
• Shovel Knight Showdown – TBA
• Six Days in Fallujah – Q4 2022
• Somerville – 2022
• Sonic Frontiers – Holiday 2022
• Spider-Man: Miles Morales – Fall 2022
• Star Ocean: The Divine Force – 2022
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – 2023
• Starfield – First half 2023
• State of Decay 3 – TBA
• Steelrising – TBA
• Stormgate – TBA
• Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin – 2022
• Star Trek: Resurgence – Spring 2022
• Street Fighter 6 – 2023
• Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League – Spring 2023
• Synced: Off-Planet – 2022
• System Shock Remastered – TBA – Buy It
• Tchia – Spring 2022
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection – 2022
• Texas Chainsaw Massacre – TBA
• Thirsty Suitors – TBA
• Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection – 2022
• Valkyrie Elysium – 2022
• Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodhunt – Spring 2022
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 – TBA – Buy It
• Warhammer 40,000: Dark Tide – TBA
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 – TBA
• We Are OFK – 2022
• Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty – early 2023

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For more release date fun, check out our ongoing list of 4K UHD and Blu-ray release dates.

Chris Reed is IGN's shopping and commerce editor. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

Since its launch on Tuesday, Amazon's MMORPG New World has seen quite literally overwhelming popularity. Despite having doubled server numbers since release, the publisher is now asking for new fans logging into the game for the first time to find and join low-capacity servers in the game while it looks to cut down on huge queue times.

As shared in an update on Twitter (below), the development team spoke further about how players could avoid New World's existing queue times – primarily, that's done by choosing to become part of less popular server, rather than jumping into an already-packed world and waiting to get in.

A message from the New World Team regarding launch, world queues, and character transfers. pic.twitter.com/wDSrlT8w93

— New World (@playnewworld) October 1, 2021

"Our team has been working around the clock to add as many servers as we can and will continue to do so until we stabilize wait times," says Amazon. "While we do that work, there are options to get into the game quickly. If you are a player logging in for the first time, forty percent of our live servers have low or no wait times. We encourage you to seek those servers out and get playing."

For existing players, that's a little harder. While Amazon says that is currently working on a feature that will allow you to transfer your character to a different server in order to more easily play with friends, this currently isn't possible in the game. The company has stated that it is aiming to bring this feature to fans next week but, in the meantime, players already registered in oversubscribed servers have few options but to wait for Amazon to increase capacity and hope that newer players don't add to their already existing wait times.

The wait times for New World speak volumes about the game's staggering popularity since launch. The new MMO has already become the most played game of 2021 with an all-time player count peak more than 200,000 players higher than Valheim’s, which previously held the record. On launch day itself, Amazon says that over a million players entered the game while the most recent statistics published on SteamDB show that despite issues with servers, the game has garnered an impressive new high of 758,543 concurrent players.

This might not come as a surprise to fans who had been following the game prior to launch. The game's open beta featured its own successful stint on Steam when it ran back in July. For Amazon, New World offers a heartening yet stark contrast to the company's previously published works in the gaming sphere. Prior to New World, the studio's last efforts came in the form of Crucible, a free-to-play multiplayer third-person shooter that's servers were shut down in November following a reasonably poor run on Steam.

If you're currently thinking about diving into New World, make sure to check out our review in progress for the game. Alternatively, if you're currently sat waiting in one of New Worlds server queues, then why not pass the time by checking our dedicated New World wiki, which includes a range of information useful for getting started on the shores of Aeternum.

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

“Those messages in chat called me the hard -er, for existing.”

"I feel so empty and just wish things were different."

"I'm tired of existing in a space that literally doesn't want me in it. It's more than fucking exhausting.”

These are the words of just a few marginalized content creators who’ve been subjected to discriminatory language and hate speech while streaming content on Twitch in recent months. Individuals who’ve been targeted not for anything that they’ve done, but for who they are. It's become a consistent enough issue, with little to no recourse, that a group of streamers decided to make their disappointment known to Twitch, its community, and the world at large.

This was never more notable than on September 1, during the #ADayOffTwitch boycott organized by streamers ShineyPen, Lucia Everblack, and RekitRaven. To show support for marginalized creators under attack from botting and hate raids, the protest saw a number of streamers on the platform abstain from streaming throughout the day as those involved demanded that Twitch take further action.

We are continuing the fight.

Shout out to @LuciaEverblack and @ShineyPen for helping me with this!#ADayOffTwitch
September 1st, don't go live. pic.twitter.com/dU1ycC9YtM

— Raven is The Devil 😈 (@RekItRaven) August 20, 2021

In terms of its material effect, the social media campaign left a noticeable mark on viewership site-wide. As per GamesBeat, data provided by analytics firm Gamesight suggested that Twitch lost around one million viewers during the boycott – resulting in the site's lowest total from this year. Even when factoring in extenuating circumstances, Twitch analyst Zach Bussey reported that the protest could have resulted in between a 5% to 15% decline in Twitch viewership.

But beyond that immediate impact, what has the lasting effect of the boycott been? A month later, I caught up with organizer RekItRaven to discuss their views on the overall impact of the protest and to look back on what has – and hasn’t – changed for those involved since it took place.

“I think we did better than we thought and that we proved that small voices do matter in this space,” Raven says when asked to give their overall thoughts on the boycott. “I think it was successful because we initially set out to do it to raise awareness and we did exactly that.”

Prior to the protest, fellow organizer ShineyPen spoke in an interview with The Verge where he explained that the boycott was “largely about coming together in solidarity” and, by doing so, ensuring that the community could take one of “many steps” that would help to push for change on Twitch.

#ADayOffTwitch https://t.co/AixnZSNRxa

— Random Trans guy (he/him) (@ShineyPen) August 27, 2021

What this means to say is that the protest wasn’t aiming to end hate raids altogether in one fell swoop – though nobody would have complained had that been the case. Instead, #ADayOffTwitch was organized to present the streaming community as a united front and keep pressure on ensuring that Twitch held up to its promises of taking much-needed steps in the right direction.

Raven makes it clear that the campaign was successful in uniting an array of streamers against the issues at hand. “I think it has made a lot of us more aware and brought a lot of us closer. There's power in solidarity,” they said when speaking about the direct impacts that the boycott had brought on. “I think [in the] short term we're starting to see some subtle changes in the way the platform has been handling a lot of the issues that have been brought up. We see more people talking about it, sharing their stories, sharing safety tips.”

For all of the campaign's successes in bringing its community together, however, hate raids do still continue on Twitch. Raven explains that while raids are being better managed in some circumstances – in part thanks to third-party tools such as Twitter user @SeryCodes’ sery_bot, which looks to target and stop hate raids in action – the problem for many streamers still persists.

If you have questions about sery_bot, the best resource to find information is my Carrd. There's a very good chance your question is answered there.

If you have issues with the bot, or have a question not answered in the Carrd, please let me know by DM.https://t.co/jQDzXKp58G

— Sery – Check my Carrd for sery_bot questions/info (@SeryCodes) September 26, 2021

“A lot of the time, any of the messages that come in are deleted in my channel and aren't seen. My mod team is able to ban accounts preemptively, but I'm lucky. I have access to that, not everyone does,” says Raven. In order to evoke changes that would most benefit the community, Raven believes that creators on the streaming site deserve to be able to take power back over their channels in order to ensure their safety.

Since my conversation with the content creator, Twitch has thankfully made its first real steps in allowing that to be possible – no doubt down to the message that the boycott sent. This week, the streaming platform released phone verified chat – an update to its suite of moderation tools that allow content creators to better manage who can and cannot interact in their chats during streams.

This feature has been many months in the making, but our work is not done. We’re actively building additional solutions to keep communities on Twitch safe, and welcome your feedback on Uservoice: https://t.co/L40vBSAZH7

— Twitch (@Twitch) September 29, 2021

In a post explaining the update, Twitch said, “Phone verified chat gives Creators finer control over who can participate in chat, by allowing them to require some or all users to verify a phone number before chatting. Together with updated, more granular email verification settings, Creators will now be able to use email and phone verification in tandem to meet their specific needs.”

This is a change that could have a lasting positive impact on the efforts to keep safe Twitch's marginalized community, forcing users to be more accountable for their actions and presumably making it more difficult for those engaging in targeted hate speech to repeatedly abuse a person’s stream.

Following the announcement, Raven tweeted about their thoughts on the changes. “This is a great step,” they said. “It's not the only one, but it's good to see some serious changes happening on the platform to make sure that creators are kept safe.”

“Also, not gonna lie… I'm actually crying setting this up,” Raven continued in a separate tweet. “My settings are in. I feel like I have some form of power back. As I stated before this isn't the only thing, but it's massive. We have been heard, and continue to be heard – We have and will create change.”

This is a great step.

It's not the only one, but it's good to see some serious changes happening on the platform to make sure that creators are kept safe https://t.co/m5aiFjjsGE

— Raven is The Devil 😈 (@RekItRaven) September 29, 2021

Even though the changes show a step in the right direction for the platform, many members of the community will feel that Twitch’s actions lacked proactivity and took far too long to implement. The streaming platform acknowledged this during its post, but said that it was committed to continuing efforts to mitigate harm on the site moving forward, and will add "a new channel-level ban evasion tool in the coming months".

Unfortunately, Twitch isn't the only place creators are being targeted. As part of our conversation, Raven explained that some streamers within the community have faced problems that extend past the reach of the streaming site. “Some of the attacks have escalated off the platform and some people have been put in serious danger,” said Raven. “Right now, it's scary for so many of us […] Creators are still struggling for safety. There needs to be more transparency in how to navigate this when it leaves the platform, because it has.”

As a community, the last few months have left many people hurting. Raven highlighted a need to keep pressure on Twitch, but was also keen to point out that going forward many of its creators will need to take time to look after themselves. “Yes, we need to keep the heat on Twitch,” they said. “But we also need to take care of ourselves first, nurse our injuries, heal our wounded before we get back into battle.”

To aid that healing process, Raven is currently focusing on a number of projects that aim to help those most affected by the issues. “Right now, I'm working with a few NPOs to try to figure out how to successfully raise and distribute funds to people who are affected financially by all of this. I'm also looking to work with legal help and try to raise money for retainers/legal fees for anyone who may need it and I'd like to organize a network of entertainment lawyers to help with this,” they said.

Amid the wait to see if and how Twitch’s new verification tools create a safer space for streamers to work in, I concluded by asking Raven if they could see further boycotts of the streaming platform in the future should the desired outcome not be reached:

“I can,” they replied. “I think it's important to be able to hold people accountable for their actions or lack thereof. I would hope that people feel empowered to make positive change in these spaces and situations.”

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

Silent Night was reviewed out of Fantastic Fest, and will debut in theaters and on AMC+ on Dec. 3.

Camille Griffin’s Silent Night depicts an upbeat Christmas get-together before carefully pulling back the curtain on its bleak underlying premise. The ensemble, led by Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, and Jojo Rabbit star Roman Griffin Davis — the real-life son of the film’s writer-director — each deliver tremendously enjoyable comedic performances that soon give way to something more rigorous. While it may not have much to say about the state of the world (despite constant references and parallels to global events), its tonal balancing act goes a long way towards capturing conflicting emotional responses to large-scale tragedies, and to widespread changes that feel inescapable.

At their lush country home in England, the seemingly put-together Nell (Knightley) and Simon (Goode) play host to a group of longtime friends, including the high-strung Sandra (Annabelle Wallis), her dull husband Tony (Rufus Jones), the charmer James (Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù), and the wry and towering Bella (Lucy Punch). They’re old schoolmates who are lively as a large group, and whose smaller dynamics prove to be uniquely entertaining when they break off into gossipy pairs and trios. Rounding out the group of adults is James’ young, opinionated American girlfriend, Sophie (Lily-Rose Depp), and Bella’s curiously contentious girlfriend, Alex (Kirby Howell-Baptiste), outsiders who occasionally bristle and bump shoulders against the group, but whose disconnect from the happy reunion is slowly revealed to have more melancholy layers.

Also in tow are Nell and Simon’s children, the amusingly foul-mouthed Art (Roman Griffin Davis) and his older twin brothers, Thomas and Hardy (Gilby Griffin Davis and Hardy Griffin Davis, also the director’s kids), as well as Sandra and Tony’s spoiled daughter, Kitty (Davida McKenzie), who the boys don’t care for, and at whom even the adults roll their eyes. The film’s initial mile-a-minute humor stems not only from the adults’ sharp witticisms, but from the ways Kitty and Art are framed in relation to them. The grownups aren’t afraid to make it known how obnoxious they find Kitty, while on the other hand, Art isn’t afraid to challenge them and get into arguments over what he perceives as political apathy. The kids are, absurdly and intriguingly, placed on the same conversational level as the adults, which leads to plenty of surprising barbs. Eventually, though, the strange reasons for this disconnected (and some might say, disconcerting) adult-child dynamic slowly become clear, starting with a hilariously dour bit of gift wrapping: a recent newspaper that hints at oncoming danger, both vast and quickly approaching.

The details are best discovered while watching the film, from the nature of the threat to the various responses at both government and individual levels. However, none of this comes as a surprise to the adult characters, each of whom appear to have arrived at various stages of acceptance of something they will likely be unable to prevent. Before long, their dry, sarcastic armor begins to crack, allowing insecurities and long-festering interpersonal tensions to seep through. But despite the adults’ desolate resignation, Art approaches the situation with white-hot rage, which makes for a fascinating contrast to the adults, and affords Roman Griffin Davis some truly challenging physical and emotional work.

While the ensemble is undoubtedly funny, the question of how to approach vast, overpowering and potentially defeating forces — the film draws several comparisons to climate change and the COVID pandemic — is ultimately what paints the finer details of each character. The more the premise comes to light, the more their hilarious idiosyncrasies start to seem despondent. They make plenty of references to world leaders, famous activists, and social inequities; these are all in the context of the looming threat, but they’re ultimately conversational window-dressing, despite the film’s attempts to offer a wider perspective from its narrow, isolated vantage point in the middle of nowhere.

However, the characters’ blinders are also what allows the central theme to ultimately shine through: the façade of normalcy in the face of doom and gloom. Camille Griffin and cinematographer Sam Renton’s visual approach is fine-tuned to suit this idea. It begins unassumingly, with purely functional, sitcom-esque blocking, lighting, and visual composition, which have little to say at first; the film’s relative flatness, however, allows the snappy dialogue to do all the talking. Once the sun sets and tensions fly, the warm light of Nell and Simon’s home helps better shape the close ups during thoughtful moments, as a tug of war emerges between intimate character beats and enormous wide shots of the approaching threat.

The adult cast — Knightley and Goode especially — are tasked with a similarly delicate balance. As the midnight hour approaches, they wrestle with how soon to let their fears show in front of their children. The result is a movie that finds glimmers of innocent, perhaps even naïve defiance, by centering the ways in which different generations are forced to shoulder the weight of hopelessness, an idea made all the more potent by the fact that Camille Griffin chooses her own children as subjects for her morose exploration. And yet, despite its lofty themes and occasionally muddled political scope, Silent Night rarely ceases to be enjoyable, even in its bleakest moments.

Friday the 13th screenwriter Victor Miller will reclaim the domestic rights to the iconic horror franchise after scoring a major legal victory.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced on Thursday that Miller had won the copyright termination battle for Friday the 13th. As a result, the domestic rights would be handed over to Miller from the film's producer and director Sean S. Cunningham, who will retain the foreign rights as well as IP derived from its sequels.

Cunningham reportedly argued that Miller contributed his screenplay for the landmark horror film, released in 1980, as a work "made for hire," and therefore shouldn't have been able to gain rights to the screenplay. However, in September 2018, a federal judge ruled that Miller's work wasn't made for hire and that he should therefore be entitled to authorship rights.

Reporter Eriq Gardner shared the ruling on Twitter, underscoring the decision. The text explains that if Miller had been an employee of the film production company Manny, Inc. when he penned the screenplay, then it would be considered a "work made for hire" and Manny, not Miller, would own the screenplay and the domestic rights to the franchise going forward.

However, if Miller was an independent contractor at the time of writing the screenplay, then he, as the author, would be entitled to terminate Manny's and its successors' rights to reclaim them for himself, so long as certain other conditions were met in the process. After further investigation, it was deemed under copyright law that Miller wasn't Manny's employee.

It's important to note, however, that Cunningham retains the international rights to the Friday the 13th franchise, together with the intellectual property rights for the sequels, including "maybe the monstrous Jason [Voorhees] character" due to the fact that the adult version of the hockey mask-wearing killer did not appear until the sequels.

This case is part of a legal trend, rooting back to when some major franchises were finding their footing. As THR previously explained, Congress amended intellectual copyright law in the late 1970s to allow creators to grab the IP back from studios after a few decades. After 35 years, termination notices can be served up to their controlling parties.

It's also not too dissimilar to what is happening with Marvel and Disney right now, as the heirs of comic book legend Steve Ditko seek to terminate Marvel's copyrights over such characters as Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, and many more. However, Marvel is fighting back by claiming that these characters were created under contract as "works for hire."

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