The first images from Yakuza 8 have appeared online, revealing that various characters will be returning from previous entry Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

As reported by Famitsu, a behind the scenes video from YouTuber and MMA fighter Mikuru Asakura gave a tour of developer Ryu Ga Gotoku's studio, alongside a brief look at Like a Dragon heroes Ichiban Kasuga, Koichi Adachi, and Yu Nanba in the new game (below).

Yakuza 8 will reportedly be set in a new town, and we also learned that Asakura himself would be appearing as a character in the game. Kasuga has also had somewhat of a makeover, seemingly now appearing with his hair tied back instead of in his iconic wild hairdo.

This is the first proper piece of information we've had about Yakuza 8, as it was only confirmed to be in development at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio in November 2021.

Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama did confirm a little at the time, saying the new game would be a continuation of Like a Dragon's story set a few years later, so it makes sense that protagonist Kasuga, Adachi, and Nanba have appeared in this new footage.

We also know that Yakuza 8 will remain a turn-based RPG, after Like a Dragon made a switch to the genre after 7 action-based Yakuza games. In our 7/10 review, IGN said: "Yakuza: Like a Dragon takes some bold steps in a new direction for the series but neglects to maintain its balance."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

IGN and EE Full Fibre Broadband have collaborated to create the Last Player Standing gaming tournament with a £10,000 prize pool.

The tournament takes place in London on August 11 and will see 50 players, with 100 connected devices, compete across four rounds, each featuring a different game and genre, all powered by one EE Full Fibre Broadband connection. Any UK resident above the age of 18 can enter for a chance to participate, with the winner taking home £8,000, second place taking home £1,500, and third place taking home £500.

While the specific games are yet to be announced, the four genres are party, racing, first-person shooter, and fighting. Every player starts in the first round with a party game, with only the best going through to round two and so on.

Players can sign up here, and will be randomly selected, though it's worth noting that, if selected, each player will be responsible for making their own way to the tournament grounds in London, with the specific venue to be announced later.

Every player will be required to use a tournament-supplied laptop and Xbox controller in order to keep things fair, and the Last Player Standing tournament will be filmed, with the footage shared on IGN and EE Full Fibre Broadband's social media channels and websites. Anyone taking part must therefore confirm they're happy to appear in these videos.

Star Wars Hunters, the squad-based PvP shooter from Zynga coming to Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android, has been delayed to 2023.

Announced on the game's Twitter (below), Zynga didn't give a specific reason for the delay, simply saying Hunters was pushed back to "meet the high expectations we are setting for fans globally and ourselves as developers".

The development team is "working tirelessly to achieve our vision for Star Wars: Hunters," the post added. "We understand game delays are frustrating, however, our top priority is ensuring players will have the best possible experience in the arena."

Update on Star Wars: Hunters pic.twitter.com/F0ebimryVY

— Zynga Star Wars (@ZyngaStarWars) July 18, 2022

The game is already available to some players through a soft launch in select countries. The development team promised that this version would continue to be updated regularly until Hunters is fully released.

First announced in February 2021, the game was originally targeting a release date later that year before being delayed to 2022. Zynga released a cinematic and gameplay trailer later in the year showing off the playable characters but hasn't made many major announcements since.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

A new report has claimed that the fan campaign that helped bring about Zack Snyder’s re-cut of Justice League was partially fueled by fake social media accounts.

According to Rolling Stone, WarnerMedia commissioned two reports that looked at the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut social media campaign, and reportedly found that “at least 13 percent” of the accounts involved were fake. Twitter’s own estimates for fake accounts – as made very public amid its ongoing conversations with Elon Musk – sits at around five percent, making this a disproportionate number.

The reports were apparently commissioned following an Instagram post from user @daniras_ilust, which depicted the decapitated heads of Geoff Johns (producer on Justice League), Walter Hamada (DC Films president), and Toby Emmerich (former Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman). These three men were considered something akin to enemies of Zack Snyder by the movie's fans, and the image was rapidly shared online. Concerned about employee safety, WarnerMedia reportedly commissioned a third-party cybersecurity film to analyse the online behaviour around Justice League.

Rolling Stone reports that it has accessed the main report, from April 2021, which includes the following conclusion: “After researching online conversations about the Snyder Cut of the Justice League‘s release, specifically the hashtags ‘ReleaseTheSnyderCut’ and ‘RestoreTheSnyderVerse’ on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, [the analysts] detected an increase in negative activity created by both real and fake authors. Additionally, three main leaders were identified within the authors scanned on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram — one leader on each platform. These leaders received the highest amount of engagement and have many followers, which gives them the ability to influence public opinion.”

Rolling Stone also conducted its own research, speaking to three cybersecurity and social media intelligence companies. Among them was Q5id, whose chief information officer and chief technology officer, Becky Wanta, said analysis shows that “there’s no question that bots were involved.”

Wanta noted that accounts involved with the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut campaign “arrive at almost the same time in huge numbers”, and that the origins of many messages can often be traced to one or two sources. Should this be the case, then fake accounts may have helped amplify the message of fans pushing for a director’s cut of Justice League.

Not everyone Rolling Stone spoke to believes that fake accounts would have been the key factor in the success of the Snyder Cut campaign. “The bulk of this activity was made up of real and passionate users taking direction from influential figures in the pro-Snyder community,” said Avneesh Chandra, a data analyst at Graphika. “We regularly see these types of adversarial social media campaigns that are driven by real people coordinating online.”

While Zack Snyder’s Justice League was released back in 2021, the social campaign around it still continues to this day, having pivoted to campaigning for a restoration of the ‘SnyderVerse’ and installing Justice League producer Deborah Snyder, as head of DC’s film department.

The #ReleaseTheSnyderCut campaign inspired a whole book on the issue, and IGN's own feature explores the true story behind the Snyder Cut.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.

Netflix has revealed a release date, new trailer, and some key art for Tekken: Bloodline, its upcoming animated series based on the beloved fighting video game franchise.

The latest trailer for Tekken: Bloodline confirms that the animated series is poised to enter battle on Netflix on August 18. The two-minute teaser shows longtime Tekken fighter Jin Kazama in his early years as he seeks to avenge his mother's death, embarking on a heroic mission that ultimately leads him to The King of Iron Fist Tournament.

and here's the key art! who's hyped?? pic.twitter.com/gOTwyfwXAg

— Netflix Anime (@NetflixAnime) July 19, 2022

Alongside the trailer, Netflix released key art for the animated series that positions Kazama front and center, above the ring. He will be joined by several familiar faces from the Tekken franchise, including Heihachi Mishima, Kazuya Mishima, Leroy Smith, King, Jun Kazama, Paul Phoenix, and Ogre, among a fleet of other famous fighters.

Series creator Katsuhiro Harada shared a bit more about what fans can expect from the upcoming series, explaining that fans and newcomers alike will be able to learn more about "Jun Kazama's story, who is Jin Kazama's Mother, and what it was like for the two of them living in Yakushima," with scenes based on a story that was previously only written in text.

This isn't the first time that Tekken has explored other entertainment mediums, however. An anime Tekken film was released in 1998, a live-action film followed in 2009, and the CGI Tekken: Blood Vengeance film arrived in 2011. Tekken: Bloodline is just the latest addition to the ever-expanding fighting franchise, and joins a growing roster of video game adaptations.

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