Riot shows New Dawn, a 2027 rebuild of 17-year-old League of Legends, at its Worlds final instead of a sequel

The stories

20 on this beat today.

Every story told the same way: what happened, who is involved, why it matters, how it works, the truth and the good news.

1. 01

   Riot shows New Dawn, a 2027 rebuild of 17-year-old League of Legends, at its Worlds final instead of a sequel

   17

   years League of Legends has been running

   Riot last rebuilt its client in 2016 [2]

   100 years

   how long League's producer would love it to run

   he calls the game multi-generational [2]

   2027

   the year New Dawn arrives

   with the full plan shown in January [1]

   What happened

   • Riot Games showed New Dawn, the biggest overhaul in League of Legends' 17 years, at its final on 14 November. [1][2]
   • League of Legends is an online battle game that first came out in 2009. [1][2]
   • New Dawn is an update to the game, not a separate sequel. [3]
   • In 2027 it brings a new client, the app players open before a match. [2] Riot last rebuilt the client in 2016. [2]
   • Summoner's Rift, the game's main map, gets a new look and changed ground to fight over. [1]
   • The trailer also hinted at bigger changes to how matches play. [1]

   Who is involved

   Andrei van Roon heads Riot's League studio, and Paul Bellezza is the game's executive producer. [3]

   "We want LoL to stand the test of time," van Roon said in the trailer. [3]

   • Andrei van Roon head of Riot's League studio, known to players as Meddler; he wants the game to last
   • Paul Bellezza League's executive producer; he calls the game multi-generational
   • Riot Games the company that makes League of Legends and runs its world championship; it showed New Dawn

   How it unfolded

   League has changed before: Riot rebuilt the main map in 2014, then added new runes and ground. [1]

   Riot promised a big 2027 update last December, covering the client, the map and help for new players. [3]

   1. 2009 League of Legends comes out [1]
   2. 2027 New Dawn arrives
   3. 2014 the main map is rebuilt [1]
   4. 2016 new client
   5. 14 Nov trailer at the final
   6. Jan 2027 the full plan is due [1]
   7. 2016 the client is rebuilt [2]
   8. Dec 2025 Riot promises a big 2027 update [3]
   9. 14 Nov 2026 New Dawn shown at the world final [1]

   Why it matters

   The change reaches every player, Bellezza said, from veterans to ranked regulars. [3] Riot also hopes to win new players. [2]

   Think it through

   1. 1

      Why not just make League of Legends 2?

      Riot chose to keep and change the game it has, rather than release a sequel. [3]

      A sequela new game

      vsvs

      New Dawnthe same game, rebuilt
   2. 2

      How long does Riot want it to last?

      Bellezza called League "multi-generational" and said Riot would love it to run 100 years. [2]

      Years so far17 years

      Riot's hope100 years
   3. 3

      Couldn't Riot just bring the old game back?

      Riot tried League Classic, a mode of older versions, in 2026. [1] A few weeks after it opened, Riot said it would end in January 2027. [1]

      League Classic opens→A few weeks pass→It ends in January 2027
   4. 4

      Who is the new look for?

      Partly for people who know League only from its spin-offs, Arcane and the Riftbound card game. [2]

      Long-time playersknow the game

      ++

      Arcane viewersknow the show

      ++

      Card playersknow Riftbound
   5. 5

      Is Riot alone in this?

      Polygon names World of Warcraft: Forever as another big online game chasing renewed attention. [2]

   6. 6

      What could go wrong?

      Players may welcome the changes or push back, and IGN says the players will decide. [1]

   7. 7

      So what is really going on?

      Riot wants its 17-year-old game to grow for decades instead of starting over with a sequel. [2][3] Its players hold the verdict, and Riot shows the full plan in January. [1]

      Riotrebuilds League

      ↓→

      Playersgive the verdict

   How it works

   Marketers call this the product life cycle: a product grows, levels off and fades unless it is renewed.

   League is 17 years old, so Riot is rebuilding its client, map and look to make it grow again. [3][2]

   Seen it before

   An old cafe repaints, changes its menu and moves the tables, so regulars stay and new people walk in.

   The truth

   • What is really going on This weekend the big game companies spent their news on keeping old hits alive: Riot is rebuilding 17-year-old League of Legends instead of making a sequel. [2][3]
   • Riot showed trailers and short clips, and kept the full changes to play to itself for now. [1][2]
   • Nobody knows yet

     What New Dawn actually changes in a match.

     Riot showed only a trailer and keeps the gameplay changes for its full presentation in January 2027. [1]

   What comes next

   Riot plans to show the full New Dawn plan in January 2027. [1]

1. 02

   China's BLG win League's world title

   What happened

   • Bilibili Gaming, a team from China's LPL league, beat Korea's Gen.G 3-1 at the Barclays Center in New York. [5][10]
   • It was the final of Worlds, the League of Legends world championship, and BLG's first world title. [5]
   • Korea's LCK league had won the last 4 world titles. [5]
   • On the way, BLG knocked out all 4 Korean teams in the event. [6]

   Who is involved

   Park "Viper" Do-hyeon won his second world title, 5 years after his first. [9] Teammate knight was named the final's best player. [8]

   • Viper second world title
   • knight best player of the final

   Why it matters

   Korea's teams lose the title they had held since 2022, and China's league wins its first since 2021. [5][10]

   Think it through

   1. 1

      Why did BLG beat every Korean team?

      BLG's coach said it chose unusual line-ups, after data from everyday ranked games showed they were strong enough. [6] It proved effective, he said. [6]

      Ranked-game data→Unusual line-ups→Korean teams beaten
   2. 2

      Who loses out next year?

      Korean fans: the 2027 early rounds, which have the most matches, go to Nagoya in Japan. [4] Inven Global says that may disappoint them. [4]

      Nagoya, Japanearly rounds

      vsvs

      Koreaknockouts and final

   How it works

   Strategy scholars call it a dynamic capability: a team's skill at changing its own play when the rules change.

   BLG's coach Daeny said his team read this year's game updates ahead of the Korean teams. [6]

   Seen it before

   A class where the teacher changes the test every week rewards the student who learns the new rules first.

2. 03

   Take-Two's boss scolds AI firms over game copies

   What happened

   • Strauss Zelnick, boss of Take-Two, the company behind GTA 6, criticised Anthropic and OpenAI in an interview with IGN. [11]
   • Both firms make AI tools, and people have used such tools to copy existing games. [11]
   • "It seems ironic on the one hand to stomp on someone else's IP," Zelnick said. [11]
   • Anthropic recently blocked its AI, Claude, from recreating someone else's specific game. [11]

   Who is involved

   • Strauss Zelnick runs Take-Two; wants games protected

   Why it matters

   Steam developers feel it: some cancelled demos, fearing copies would go on sale before their games. [11]

   Think it through

   1. 1

      Why does he call it ironic?

      He says AI firms own valuable work too, so they need the protection they let users ignore. [11]

      AI firms own their work→Users copy others' work→The protection weakens for all
   2. 2

      Do all AI firms block it?

      Not yet: OpenAI seemingly has no such limit for now, GamesRadar reports. [11]

      Anthropicblocks game copies

      vsvs

      OpenAIno limit yet

   How it works

   Lawyers call it copyright: it protects the way a work is made, its code and its art, not the idea.

   Zelnick wants AI firms to stop users copying games, because a game's code and art belong to its owner. [11]

   Seen it before

   Copying a friend's homework word for word is cheating, but writing your own essay on the same book is not.

3. 04

   Some GTA 6 boxes arrive without codes

   What happened

   • GTA 6 comes out this week, and its boxes in shops hold no disc, only a download code. [12]
   • Some buyers say their code was missing, or had already been used by someone else. [12]
   • Others say Rockstar's support line refused them refunds. [12]

   How it unfolded

   Some players thought a torch shone on the box could reveal the code. [12] Kotaku's own editor could not repeat that trick. [12]

   Why it matters

   With no disc, one printing slip can leave a full-price buyer with nothing to play. [12]

   Think it through

   1. 1

      Why sell a box with no disc?

      The box still lets buyers pay in a shop and download the game before launch day. [12]

   2. 2

      Is this the future for game boxes?

      Kotaku calls GTA 6 a hard test of a future without game discs. [12]

   How it works

   Engineers call it a single point of failure: if that one part breaks, nothing else works.

   With no disc in the box, the printed code is the only way in. [12] One missing code means no game. [12]

   Seen it before

   A concert ticket with a smudged barcode gets you nowhere, even though you paid for it.

   The truth

   • Kotaku warns that rumours around GTA 6 run wild, and these posts are unchecked. [12]
   • Nobody knows yet

     How many GTA 6 boxes reached buyers without a working code.

     The reports are buyers' own posts, and Kotaku warns that rumours around GTA 6 need a lot of salt. [12]

   Learn the idea behind it

   • Who really owns your Cybercab? Start the 14-minute course →

1. 05

   Rainbow Six Siege splits its ranked games

   What happened

   • Ubisoft will split ranked play in Rainbow Six Siege into two queues on 1 December. [13] A test version opens on 16 November. [13]
   • Siege is Ubisoft's online shooter from 2015, now in its 11th year. [15][14]
   • One queue takes players alone or in twos. [13] The other takes groups of 1, 2, 3 or 5. [13]
   • The update also remakes Doc, a healer character, and adds a new gun. [13]

   How it unfolded

   1. 16 Nov test version opens
   2. 1 Dec update goes live

   Why it matters

   Solo players kept meeting full teams of 5 playing together, which game director Christopher Budgen called a bad experience. [13]

   Think it through

   1. 1

      Why did it take so long?

      Ubisoft tried before, but so many players come alone that splitting them risked breaking matchmaking. [14]

      Most players come alone→Split them off→Long waits for everyone
   2. 2

      How does it stop long waits?

      One matchmaker watches both queues and moves some pairs across, giving them 10 bonus rank points. [14]

      10bonus rank points for a pair moved across

   3. 3

      What did Ubisoft put off for this?

      It moved its rework of Hostage mode to next year, freeing time to build the new queues. [14]

   How it works

   Economists call it market design: setting the rules for who gets matched with whom.

   Siege's new rules put teams of 5 against each other where possible, so solo players meet groups their own size. [13]

   Seen it before

   A park football game is fairer when the friends who always play together do not all join one side.

   Why a 17-year-old game is rebuilt instead of replaced by a sequel

   Marketers call it the product life cycle: a product grows, levels off and fades, so a firm renews an old hit to make it grow again.

   The twist

   A sequel starts again from nothing. A renewal keeps the players a hit already has and tries to bring in new ones as well.

   The picture

   League now17 years

   Siege now11 years

   Riot's hope for League100 years

   Step by step

   1. 1 A hit grows fast at first
   2. 2 Growth levels off as it ages
   3. 3 Fewer new players arrive
   4. 4 The owner renews it instead of replacing it
   5. 5 A renewed hit can grow again

   The same force, elsewhere today

   Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

   • Rainbow Six Siege's new ranked queues

     Ubisoft is reworking ranked play in a shooter that has run for 11 years, season by season, rather than letting it age

   • Summoners War's 10th world final

     Com2us has kept a phone game's yearly final going for 10 years, though most phone-game contests stop as the game fades

   • WoW: Forever's dungeon change

     Blizzard keeps retuning a new version of its old online game, its third change to dungeon rewards

   • Halo: Campaign Evolved's free Firefight mode

     Xbox adds a free mode to a remake months after launch, to give it something new

   Where you've seen this

   Soft drinks

   an old cola gets a new can, a new flavour or a sugar-free version to win younger buyers

   Car models

   a carmaker gives the same model a facelift every few years instead of a new name

   TV quiz shows

   a long-running show changes its set and rules to stay on air

   The catch

   Renewing can push away the loyal players it was meant to keep, and some products are simply at the end of their life.

   And the whole of it

   Everyone who plays League is inside this choice: their skill and their friends in the game are what Riot is trying to keep. Each player will see a new map and new screens. Riot is betting on the next ten years.

   The truth

   • What is really going on Ubisoft is reworking 11-year-old Rainbow Six Siege, and a report says it is reviving the Vegas name from 2008. [14][16]

1. 06

   Ubisoft plans more Rainbow Six games

   What happened

   • Ubisoft has begun early work on a new Rainbow Six Vegas game, Insider Gaming reports. [15]
   • Vegas came out in 2006, and Vegas 2 followed in 2008. [15]
   • It is one of three new projects reportedly starting at Ubisoft Montreal, under the codename Spades. [15]
   • Ubisoft also showed Rainbow Six Tactics, a turn-based spin-off due in 2027, to reporters in Osaka. [17]
   • Tactics uses 15 of the more than 70 characters in Siege. [17]

   How it unfolded

   1. 2006 Rainbow Six Vegas
   2. 2008 Vegas 2

   Why it matters

   Siege's players get new ways into one name: a slow planning game, and perhaps a Vegas 3. [17][15]

   Think it through

   1. 1

      Is it a remake of the old games?

      Likely not: sources told Insider Gaming it is probably Vegas 3, a new game. [15]

      A remakeless likely

      vsvs

      Vegas 3more likely
   2. 2

      Is Ubisoft doing this with other names?

      Yes: Ubisoft is also reportedly making two Assassin's Creed games, one set in ancient Rome, Eurogamer says. [15]

   How it works

   Marketers call it a product line: one famous name spread across games for different kinds of players.

   Siege is played online in teams, while Tactics is a game for one player who likes to plan. [17]

   Seen it before

   A crisp maker sells one brand in plain, spicy and baked bags, each for a different buyer.

   The truth

   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether a new Rainbow Six Vegas game is really being made.

     Only Insider Gaming's unnamed sources describe it, and Eurogamer could not confirm the report. [15]

2. 07

   Kakao makes an AI cartoon with OpenAI

   What happened

   • Kakao, the company behind the Kakao Friends characters, made a cartoon about 7 minutes long with OpenAI's help. [18]
   • Called Ryan Begins, it stars Ryan, a Kakao Friends character, and is based on a webtoon that launched last year. [18]
   • Kakao announced it on 10 November, after a screening in Seoul on 8 November. [18]

   Who is involved

   Its director, Jiwon Han, made Netflix's animated film Lost in Starlight. [18]

   • Jiwon Han director; made Lost in Starlight

   How it unfolded

   1. 8 Nov screening in Seoul
   2. 10 Nov Kakao announces it

   Why it matters

   For animators, it shows AI making first drafts while people still choose and fix every picture. [18]

   Think it through

   1. 1

      Did the AI make the film?

      The team says no: people kept reworking the pictures until they matched the feeling they wanted. [18]

      AI draws a draft→Artists rework it→People decide the result
   2. 2

      What is Kakao building with Ryan?

      Ryan Begins comes from the first Kakao Friends webtoon with a real storyline, not everyday scenes. [18]

      Earlier webtoonseveryday scenes

      ↓→

      Ryan Beginsa full story

   How it works

   Computer scientists call it human in the loop: a machine drafts, and a person checks every result.

   The team used ChatGPT to turn sketches into first images, about 1,500 prompts for one scene. [18]

   Seen it before

   A sous-chef chops the food, and the head chef tastes and fixes each plate before it goes out.

3. 08

   A former Mormon Wives star sues Hulu

   What happened

   • Dakota Mortensen, once in the cast of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, sued Hulu and the show's producers. [19]
   • The show is a reality series on Hulu, the Disney-owned streaming service. [19]
   • He says the show staged scenes and cut footage to paint him as an abuser and a cheat. [20]
   • His case, filed in a Utah court on 13 November, seeks more than $300,000 and a jury trial. [19]

   Who is involved

   • Dakota Mortensen former cast member; suing
   • Hulu the streaming service that shows it

   Why it matters

   The case asks a jury to judge how far a reality show may cut real people's lives into a story. [19]

   Think it through

   1. 1

      What does he say was left out?

      His suit says the only footage of violence showed his former partner, Taylor Frankie Paul, hitting him. [20] It says viewers never saw it. [20]

      Shownhim as the abuser

      vsvs

      Not shownfootage of her hitting him
   2. 2

      What could it cost Hulu?

      He seeks more than $300,000. [19] Deadline says that could reach millions if every harm is added together. [19]

      Sought$300,000+

      ↓→

      Possible, Deadline saysmillions

   How it works

   Lawyers call it false light: showing a real person in a misleading way that most people would find offensive. [19]

   Mortensen says deleting the scenes that helped him made real footage tell a false story. [19]

   Seen it before

   Cutting a friend's video to show only the moment they shouted, and not why, makes them look like the bully.

   The truth

   • Nobody knows yet

     Whether Mortensen's claims about the show's editing hold up.

     Hulu and the two production companies did not answer TheWrap, and no court has ruled. [20]

4. 09

   Gears of War uses its drive as extra memory

   What happened

   • Tom's Hardware tested Gears of War: E-Day and found it uses the game drive as extra memory. [21]
   • Its maker, The Coalition, built this so a dense city could run on the Xbox Series S. [21] That console has limited memory. [21]
   • At top settings the game read 1.3 GB a second on average. [21] The busiest game Tom's tested before, Forspoken, managed 366 MB a second. [21]
   • On a fast NVMe drive it used about 2 GB less RAM, the computer's working memory. [21]
   • On an older SATA drive, textures and shadows loaded late. [21]

   Why it matters

   It helps players with cheaper machines, especially those with 16 GB of RAM or less. [21]

   Think it through

   1. 1

      Will other games copy it?

      Tom's Hardware wonders if they will, since RAM prices are climbing. [21]

   2. 2

      Does every player need a fast drive?

      Not much: on a computer with plenty of RAM, an old drive made no measurable difference to speed. [21]

      Plenty of RAMno speed change

      vsvs

      16 GB of RAMsmoother on NVMe

   How it works

   Computer scientists call it virtual memory: keeping data on the drive that does not fit in RAM.

   E-Day loads city data from the drive just before each scene needs it, so less sits in RAM. [21]

   Seen it before

   A small desk works if your books sit on a shelf nearby, and you fetch each one when needed.

5. 10

   Madden asks players not to delete it

   What happened

   • EA Sports added a message to Madden NFL 27, its American football game, asking players not to delete it. [22]
   • GTA 6 needs 212 GB on a PS5, and a new PS5 comes with a 1 TB drive. [22]
   • That is about a quarter of the drive for one game, Push Square says. [22]
   • The message points to a Madden update on 17 November. [22] GTA 6 arrives two days later. [22]

   How it unfolded

   1. 17 Nov Madden update
   2. Two days later GTA 6 arrives

   Why it matters

   Players short of space delete old games for new ones, and keeping players is a real problem for online games. [22]

   Think it through

   1. 1

      What is the update for?

      Push Square guesses it brings new content for Ultimate Team, one of Madden's modes. [22]

   2. 2

      Who has the most to lose?

      Online games that earn from players for years, Push Square says: they risk losing players to GTA 6. [22]

   How it works

   Economists call it scarcity: when space is limited, each new thing pushes something else out.

   On a 1 TB drive, GTA 6's 212 GB leaves far less room for any other game. [22]

   Seen it before

   A full school bag means a big new book forces an old one out.

6. 11

   Summoners War holds its 10th world final

   What happened

   • TARS won the Summoners War world final in Seoul on 14 November, beating Brazil's ZEZAS 4-0. [23]
   • Summoners War is a phone game from Com2us, a South Korean company, and this was its 10th world final. [23]
   • TARS took $100,000, and the runner-up got $20,000. [23]
   • About 1,000 people filled KBS Arena, which sold out as soon as tickets went on sale. [23]

   Why it matters

   Phone games usually fade fast, so a final still filling seats after 10 years stands out, Inven Global says. [23]

   Think it through

   1. 1

      Why do most phone-game contests end?

      When a phone game's popularity fades, its tournaments often stop, Inven Global says. [23]

      A phone game fades→Fewer players→The tournament stops
   2. 2

      Why was the final so one-sided?

      A new rule kept any monster banned once out for the whole match. [23] TARS won the banning phase, and the title. [23]

      Ban a monster once→Out for the match→TARS controls the bans

   How it works

   Com2us has kept a phone game's yearly final going for 10 years, though most phone-game contests stop as the game fades

   The idea, in story 05: Why a 17-year-old game is rebuilt instead of replaced by a sequel →

   Good news

   • About 1,000 people filled a sold-out arena in Seoul, despite heavy rain, for the 10th world final of Summoners War, a phone game.
7. 12

   Kirby's next adventure set for spring 2027

   What happened

   • Nintendo set Kirby and the World Beyond, a new 3D adventure, for spring 2027 on Switch 2. [24]
   • Kirby is a pink hero made by HAL Laboratory, the studio behind his games. [24]
   • Players will freely explore a large world, Nintendo says. [24]

   Who is involved

   • Kirby HAL Laboratory's pink hero

   How it unfolded

   Kirby's last big adventure, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, came out in 2022. [24]

   1. 2022 Forgotten Land
   2. 2027 The World Beyond

   Why it matters

   Switch 2 owners get Kirby's second game on the console, after the racing game Kirby Air Riders. [24]

   Think it through

   1. 1

      Who has been waiting for it?

      Fans have wanted a new 3D Kirby adventure since 2022, Polygon says, more so after a racing spin-off. [24]

      Kirby Air Ridersracing, last year

      vsvs

      The World Beyond3D adventure
   2. 2

      Why 2027?

      2027 is Kirby's 35th anniversary, so Polygon expects more Kirby news before then. [24]

      35thanniversary of Kirby in 2027

8. 13

   Super Meat Boy is remade, again

   What happened

   • Team Meat announced Super Meat Boy Again+, a remake of its 2010 jumping game, this weekend. [25]
   • The original has 300 hard stages and was a giant indie hit. [25]
   • Team Meat has given no release date yet. [25]

   Who is involved

   Co-creator Edmund McMillen went on to make The Binding of Isaac, an even bigger hit, in 2011. [25]

   • Edmund McMillen co-creator; later made The Binding of Isaac

   Why it matters

   Players who liked the flat 2010 game get it back, with new levels and secrets. [26][25]

   Think it through

   1. 1

      What does a remake add to a game still on sale?

      The original is still sold on Steam, RPS notes. [26] The remake adds new graphics, music and cutscenes on top. [25]

      2010 gamestill on Steam

      vsvs

      Again+new graphics and music
   2. 2

      Why go back to the flat original?

      RPS reads it as playing the hits, months after Super Meat Boy 3D came out this year. [26]

      2010: the flat original→This year: 3D→Next: the flat hit again
9. 14

   Halo remake gets a free team mode

   What happened

   • Xbox will add Firefight, a mode where players team up against waves of enemies, to Halo: Campaign Evolved for free. [27]
   • Campaign Evolved is a remake of the first Halo's story, and this is its first update since August. [27]
   • Firefight first appeared in Halo 3: ODST and has been in most Halo games since. [27]
   • Xbox will give more details at Halo Fest, from 12 December. [27]

   How it unfolded

   1. August last update
   2. Now Firefight announced

   Why it matters

   Xbox has handed control of Halo to Activision, during a reset that cut thousands of jobs. [27]

   Think it through

   1. 1

      Can a free mode save the remake?

      PC Gamer doubts it, saying the update looks more like something to show at Halo Fest. [27]

   2. 2

      What does Xbox want Halo to become?

      Some suggest Xbox wants Halo to feel more like Call of Duty, PC Gamer reports. [27]

      Halo today→Activision in charge→More like Call of Duty?

   How it works

   Xbox adds a free mode to a remake months after launch, to give it something new

   The idea, in story 05: Why a 17-year-old game is rebuilt instead of replaced by a sequel →

   The truth

   • PC Gamer's writer called the remake glossy but unambitious, and it has no multiplayer. [27]
10. 15

    WoW: Forever stops paying for boosted dungeons

    What happened

    • Blizzard changed World of Warcraft: Forever so dungeon enemies give no experience if one player is far above their level. [28]
    • Experience is the points that level up a character, and the change came in a quick fix this week. [28]
    • It seems aimed at strong players who rush friends or paying customers through dungeons, called boosting. [28]
    • It is the third change to dungeon experience: first cut, then raised, now cut again for boosters. [28]

    Who is involved

    • A high-level player rushes others through
    • Friends or paying customers level up fast

    Why it matters

    Players who group with much stronger friends may now get nothing from a dungeon. [28]

    Think it through

    1. 1

       Why does Blizzard keep changing it?

       Blizzard wants dungeons to add to questing, not replace it, PC Gamer says. [28]

       Questingthe main way up

       vsvs

       Dungeonsan extra
    2. 2

       Could it catch ordinary groups too?

       Yes: some dungeons mix levels widely, PC Gamer notes. [28] Blackrock Depths runs from level 48 enemies to a level 59 boss. [28]

       Weakest enemies48 level

       Final boss59 level

    How it works

    Game designers call it balancing: tuning rewards so that no shortcut beats playing the game.

    Boosting let one strong player level up friends fast, so Blizzard took the reward away. [28]

    Seen it before

    A teacher stops giving marks for copied homework, so students do the work themselves.

    Blizzard keeps retuning a new version of its old online game, its third change to dungeon rewards

    The idea, in story 05: Why a 17-year-old game is rebuilt instead of replaced by a sequel →
11. 16

    Re:ZERO gets a fifth anime season

    What happened

    • Kadokawa, the company behind Re:ZERO, said on Saturday that the anime will get a fifth season. [29]
    • Re:ZERO began as a story posted online in 2012, and the first anime season aired in 2016. [29]
    • The fourth season ran 19 episodes this year. [29]
    • The franchise has more than 16 million copies in circulation, print and digital. [29]

    How it unfolded

    1. 2012 story posted online
    2. 2016 first anime season

    Why it matters

    Crunchyroll, which has streamed every season as it aired in Japan, gets more of a 10-year anime hit. [29]

    Think it through

    1. 1

       Who sells Re:ZERO outside Japan?

       Yen Press publishes the Re:ZERO novels and manga in English. [29]

    2. 2

       Is the show only its main seasons?

       No: the first season was also re-cut, and two short spin-off series were made, all on Crunchyroll. [29]

       Main seasonsthe story

       ++

       Director's Cutfirst season re-cut

       ++

       Two short spin-offsextra series
12. 17

    World Trigger tops Japan's manga sales

    What happened

    • Volume 30 of World Trigger, a manga by Daisuke Ashihara, sold 280,785 copies in Japan in October. [31]
    • That topped Oricon's chart, a count of book sales in Japan published since 2008. [31]
    • That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime came second with 261,337. [31] Case Closed came third with 209,686. [31]
    • In light novels, Classroom of the Elite: Year 3 topped Oricon's October chart. [32]

    Why it matters

    Toei Animation is remaking World Trigger's anime from the first chapter. [31]

    Think it through

    1. 1

       Why remake an anime that exists?

       The staff call it a "powered up" first season, covering the early story again. [31]

    2. 2

       Do long series keep selling?

       Yes: Case Closed's 109th volume sold 209,686 copies, and its 29th film opened in April. [31]

       109thvolume of Case Closed, still third

    How it works

    Scholars of Japanese media call it a media mix: one story sold as manga, novel, anime and game at once.

    Slime's manga is the basis of its long-running anime, whose next part airs in July 2027. [31]

    Seen it before

    A football club sells shirts, a TV channel and a video game, and each one sends fans to the others.

13. 18

    France helps make all five European animation picks

    What happened

    • The European Film Academy named five animated films for its awards in Athens on 16 January 2027. [33]
    • They are In Waves, Iron Boy, Jim Queen, Lucy Lost and Viva Carmen. [33]
    • France helped make all 5, and 3 also have Belgian co-producers. [33]
    • The animation prize is given with Cartoon, a European association for animated film. [33]

    Who is involved

    • In Waves France, Belgium
    • Iron Boy France, Belgium
    • Jim Queen France, Belgium
    • Viva Carmen France

    Why it matters

    The Academy's 5,700 members now vote for the winners. [33]

    Think it through

    1. 1

       Can a cartoon win the top prize?

       Yes: under rules from 2024, all five also compete for the top European Film award. [33]

    2. 2

       Will people outside Europe see them?

       Two have recently found US cinema releases, among them Jim Queen, which Magnolia bought this week. [33]

14. 19

    A lost Pokemon game is found playable

    What happened

    • A collector, Daniel Quadri, has the only known playable copy of PokePark Fishing Rally, a 2005 Nintendo DS game. [35]
    • It was given only to visitors of PokePark, a Pokemon theme park in Nagoya, Japan, from May to September 2005. [34]
    • PSA, a company that grades collectors' items, checked the cartridge and sealed it in a case. [34][35]

    How it unfolded

    1. May 2005 PokePark opens
    2. Sept 2005 the event ends

    Why it matters

    It brings back a lost piece of Pokemon history, PSA's head of video games told IGN. [34]

    Think it through

    1. 1

       Why was it lost at all?

       The game deleted itself after 12 hours, or when the DS was switched off. [34]

       Downloaded at the park→12 hours pass→The game deletes itself
    2. 2

       Can others play it now?

       Quadri says he wants to help preserve it, and his cartridge can send it to other DS consoles. [35][34]

       Quadri's cartridge→Sends the game→Other DS consoles play it

    How it works

    People who save old games call it lost media: a work with no known copy left. [34]

    Fishing Rally erased itself from players' consoles, so it lasted only on cartridges that sent it out. [35]

    Seen it before

    A song nobody wrote down is lost, unless someone who still knows it can teach it to others.

    The truth

    • Quadri has not said where he got the cartridge, Kotaku notes. [35]

    Good news

    • The game is playable again, 20 years after it was made to disappear. [35]
    • A Pokemon fishing game from 2005, built to erase itself after 12 hours, is playable again, and its one known cartridge can share it to other Nintendo DS consoles.
15. 20

    GTA 6 adds ways to show kindness

    What happened

    • Rob Nelson, a co-head of Rockstar, said GTA 6 is the first GTA with ways to encourage empathy. [36]
    • He told The Guardian that crime stays central, and players will not be punished for playing as before. [36]
    • "Your actions will have some effect on how the game plays out," Nelson said. [36]
    • GTA 6 follows two leads, Lucia and Jason, and comes out next week. [36][37]

    Who is involved

    • Rob Nelson co-head of Rockstar
    • Lucia a lead
    • Jason a lead

    Why it matters

    Rockstar is borrowing from Red Dead Redemption 2, its more grown-up game, GamesRadar says. [36]

    Think it through

    1. 1

       Will players be forced to be kind?

       No: Nelson says the ways to show empathy are for those who want them. [36]

       Play as beforeallowed

       vsvs

       Show empathyoptional
    2. 2

       What do these ways actually do?

       Nelson did not spell them out, and RPS's writer asks whether harm done can be repaired. [36][37]