Looking for something to watch this weekend? The first episode of HBO's acclaimed The Last of Us TV series is now free to watch, whether or not you have a subscription to HBO or HBO Max.

Season 1 Episode 1, which is titled "When You're Lost in the Darkness," is a featured "HBO Max Free Episode" that anyone can stream right now on the HBO Max website. In the UK, the episode is free on Sky's YouTube channel, but HBO Max's US YouTube page doesn't host the episode right now.

HBO also made the first episode of the Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon free for a period of time to help drum up interest in the series.

HBO has officially announced that The Last of Us has been renewed and will return for a second season. Additionally, HBO announced that the series premiere of The Last of Us has now surpassed 22 million viewers in the US alone, which is the network's second-biggest debut after the Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon.

"I'm humbled, honored, and frankly overwhelmed that so many people have tuned in and connected with our retelling of Joel and Ellie's journey. The collaboration with Craig Mazin, our incredible cast & crew, and HBO exceeded my already high expectations," game director and executive producer of the show Neil Druckmann said. "Now we have the absolute pleasure of being able to do it again with season two! On behalf of everyone at Naughty Dog & PlayStation, thank you!"

The journey continues. #TheLastOfUs will return for another season on @HBOMax. pic.twitter.com/FQNG6vhk1d

If you're interested in checking out HBO's The Last of Us, the lengthy first episode is currently free to stream in the US and UK. There is no word yet on what will happen in Season 2, but one theory is that it will follow the events of The Last of Us: Part II game. As such, fans have already deduced who may be playing Abby in Season 2.

As January winds down, there's still a few weekends left before Trials of Osiris gets shaken up by all the massive changes coming to Destiny 2 in its Lightfall expansion. The event will be on break next week for the final Iron Banner of Season 20, so now is as good a time as any to chase that Flawless winstreak in the high-level PvP activity. Once you're done paying a visit to Xur, here's where you'll play Trials of Osiris this weekend and what weapons you can earn.

Map: Eternity

• Reputation Rank 4: Upgrade Module x 2
• Reputation Rank 7: Enhancement Prism x 3
• Reputation Rank 10: Trials Weapon (Changes for each rank reset)
• Reputation Rank 13: Upgrade Module x 2
• Reputation Rank 16: Trials Weapon (Changes for each rank reset)
• Flawless Reward: Forgiveness (Adept)

Trials weapons now carry the Alacrity Origin Trait. It gives you increased aim assist, reload speed, stability, and range on your Trials guns when you're the last living member of a fireteam or running solo. You can also choose to swap to the Crucible Origin trait, One Quiet Moment, which greatly enhances your gun's reload speed when you reload while out of combat.

CD Projekt Red is giving away a "goodies pack" containing a variety of artwork and wallpapers revolving around Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher series. The CDPR Goodie Pack is only available this weekend, so make sure to claim it while you can.

This isn't the first (or even second) time CDPR has given away digital art and other items celebrating The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077. However, it does appear that at least most of the freebies will be new to those who claimed previous goodie packs and collections.

Diablo III's upcoming Season 28 will introduce a whole new way for players to progress their characters, but not without some sacrifices.

The new system, called the Altar of Rites, is a talent-tree-like system where players will make choices on account-wide character buffs and Legendary potions that will last the entirety of Season 28. Unlocking the first node is the same for all players--kill streak timers and reward bonuses are doubled. From there, players will have to make some hard decisions as they go down the branching talent tree, with each node being progressively more expensive to unlock.

There look to be some truly wild buffs further down the tree, ranging from 15% increased damage across the board to the ability for pets to pick up and salvage common, magic, and rare items, Torchlight-style. The Legendary potions also look to put a major spin on moment-to-moment gameplay, such as one potion granting a random shrine or pylon effect whenever consumed or the ability to always receive two Primal items whenever a single Primal item drops. However, unlocking most of these upgrades won't be easy. Players will need to sacrifice increasingly rare materials at the altar to gain access to the various upgrades, all the while learning more about Sanctuary's "tumultuous past," Blizzard writes in a blog post on the subject.

Actor Tobey Maguire has said he would be interested in coming back to play Spider-Man again in a future project, though whether or not it happens remains to be seen.

In an interview on Marvel's website, Maguire was asked how he felt about getting asked to come back as Spider-Man in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home, and he provided an unprompted answer about wanting to come back.

"I love these films and I love all of the different series," he said (via ScreenRant). "If these guys called me and said, 'Would you show up tonight to hang out and goof around?' or 'Would you show up to do this movie or read a scene or do a Spider-Man thing?,' it would be a 'Yes!' Because why wouldn't I want to do that?"

Don't count on a new XCOM anytime soon. Jake Solomon, who directed XCOM 2 and Marvel's Midnight Suns, explained that he's got his hands full with the latter at the moment. As such, he claims he has no idea what the future holds for the XCOM series.

Solomon spoke with VGC recently about Midnight Suns. But, of course, Solomon was asked about returning to XCOM in the future too. "I personally have no information on that right now and I say that because, truly, yesterday I was working on Morbius' abbey outfits and recolors, so I am not working on it," he explained. "I don't have any secret agenda, I don't know anything about XCOM at this point."

Developer Firaxis Games has worked on the last four games in the strategy series--and five out of the last six. The latest entry in the franchise was 2020's XCOM: Chimera Squad, which we gave an 8/10 in our XCOM: Chimera Squad review.

After years languishing in apparent legal limbo, the fan-favorite N64 game GoldenEye 007 has finally returned to modern consoles. The developer of the original game, Rare, has since been acquired by Microsoft, so both the Nintendo Switch and Xbox consoles received the game simultaneously as part of some kind of 007 custody agreement. Unfortunately, like many divorces, one parent has their shit together and the other one clearly doesn't. The Switch default controls are, in a word, terrible.

I wasn't sure if I would replay the entire game from my youth, but I liked the idea of at least revisiting it on a handheld, so I fired up the Switch version first. I started the Dam level and figured I'd find my bearings as I explored. Immediately I moved right in front of a guard, and mashed buttons wildly until I found the one that shot him. I crossed the bridge, awkwardly dispatched a few more guards, and then found myself staring up at the sky, somehow? I made it through the stage mostly by just hip-shotting my way through legions of Russian guards thanks to the generous aim-assist of Agent (aka Easy) mode.

You see, on Switch, the default controls are virtually the exact opposite of every single thing you'd expect. The left stick looks and moves forward and backward, and the right stick strafes and looks. The D-pad also strafes. Either shoulder button aims down sights, but only the ZL button fires your weapon. The ZR button, the one you'd traditionally imagine firing a gun, does absolutely nothing. The B button reloads and opens doors and the A button changes weapons. X looks up and Y strafes left, for some reason? What is this? What even is this?

Fire Emblem Engage's lead voice actor Brandon McInnis has revealed how he was unable to secure a deluxe version of the game that he stars in due to GameStop overselling that edition. As the voice of main character Alear, McInnis wrote about GameStop taking preorders for the deluxe edition without guaranteeing customers that it would have sufficient stock.

"GameStop just called to let me know that my preorder of the Divine Edition of Fire Emblem Engage sadly won’t be fulfilled because corporate had them selling preorders without guaranteed stock. I voice the lead in the game," McInnis tweeted.

Lol @GameStop just called to let me know that my preorder of the Divine Edition of Fire Emblem Engage sadly won’t be fulfilled because corporate had them selling preorders without guaranteed stock. I voice the lead in the game.

This isn't a case of "don't you know who I am?" as McInnis wasn't looking for special treatment. Instead, he wanted to shed light on GameStop's business practices so that other customers won't risk losing out on special editions of games. The Divine Edition of Fire Emblem Engage is a particularly nice version as well, and comes with a steel book case, an art book, poster, and cards.

Actor Freddie Prinze Jr. has played Fred in two live-action Scooby-Doo movies. He's starred in films like She's All That as well as I Know What You Did Last Summer. And he's even voiced a Star Wars character: Kanan Jarrus in Rebels. But nothing tops his experience as the Iron Bull in Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Prinze appeared on Pop! Talk on YouTube (via TheGamer) and discussed his career. During the interview he brought up how much fun he had being a part of Dragon Age: Inquisition. "But the Iron Bull is the one. Like, that's the voice that is my favorite character that I've ever played ever," he said.

"And it's from a video game, like it's not from a big movie that made $100 billion. It's not from Scooby or She's All That. It's a giant, bull-looking, massive buff guy, and they wanted this like linebacker, bro voice." He added that "it just didn't feel right."

Turn 10's new Forza Motorsport game that was detailed during this week's Developer Direct event is not coming to Xbox One, as least not natively. The game will be playable on Xbox One, but it will be available as a streaming title through the cloud.

In a support page post, Microsoft said the new Forza Motorsport was built "from the ground up" to take advantage of the "full power and performance" of the Xbox Series X|S systems, not Xbox One.

"While there will not be a native Xbox One version of the game, Xbox One players can stream Forza Motorsport through Xbox Cloud Gaming included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate," Microsoft said.

It has been almost a year since Square Enix published Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, a chaos-obsessed spin-off of the original Final Fantasy, and a sequel could be greenlit one day. During a recent Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin celebrating the launch of the game's third and final DLC this month, Different Future, producer Tetsuya Nomura confirmed the obvious method for getting Square Enix to potentially commit funds and staff to a Stranger of Paradise sequel.

"When Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin first came out, there was a lot of negative bashing, especially online," Nomura said via Noisy Pixel. "However, I'm pleased to say that everyone watching this livestream has grown very fond of Jack and his friends. So much so that some would love to see a sequel. And if you do want that to happen, then it would certainly help if one person watching this spread the news to 10 other people. If word of mouth about the game spreads through the DLC's completion, proving that this is a title that has really resonated with everyone, there may be a time when we can meet again."

The Western release of Like a Dragon: Ishin is a curious proposition. It's a remake of the 2014 spin-off of the core series and, like the original, relies on intimate knowledge of the mainline series for its experimental elseworlds narrative to land. And yet, Ishin is a completely original story that has the potential to serve as a good entry point for newcomers looking for something standalone.

Those who have been onlookers to the Yakuza fever that has swept the gaming landscape over the last few years will most likely recognize many of the characters in Ishin from fan art, trailers, and gameplay videos. However, the versions featured in Ishin are not the characters we know and love, but variants living in a different era. That might sound like a peculiar turnoff, but at the same time, much of what makes the franchise charming and its characters endearing is also still present.

Like a Dragon: Ishin is set during the turbulent late Edo period in Japan's history, which saw the end of the infamous Tokugawa Shogunate's 200-year reign. Ishin's protagonist Sakamoto Ryōma, who is physically identical to the series' main character, Kazuma Kiryu, is involved in local political turmoil that results in the assassination of his mentor and father figure.

Movie theater chain Regal Cinemas is screening all 10 of this year's Best Picture nominees at its locations in the lead-up to the Academy Awards in March.

ComicBook reports that, in keeping with a tradition from past years, Regal theaters across the US will show movies like The Banshees of Inisherin, Top Gun: Maverick, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Tar, and Elvis, as well as the nominated Netflix movie, All Quiet on the Western Front. Avatar: The Way of Water is nominated for Best Picture, too, and will continue to play in theaters.

Tickets for the Best Picture event are available for $6 apiece, which is pretty sweet. According to ComicBook, every movie except The Way of Water will play three times in the 10 days running up to the Oscars on March 12, including two matinees and one evening screening.

It’s Friday, and players should end the week right by getting the Wordle correct. If you're here, then you're probably struggling in some shape or fashion, and that's not something you want to do on a Friday. Fortunately, we're here to make sure that you end the work week with aplomb and get the Wordle correct. Today's answer is a word that most people hear in everyday life. However, it does feature a double letter and an interesting spelling, so it's a not total layup of an answer. If you haven't started the January 27 Wordle yet, though, you can check out our list of recommended starting words to give yourself an advantage before you've begun.

However, if you're a few guesses deep, then it might be time to seek some helpful advice. We have exactly that just below. We’ve come up with two hints that should help players come up with relevant guesses for today's puzzle on January 27. If those don’t work, though, we’ve spelled out the full answer further down in the guide if players simply want to head into the weekend with their streak still intact.

We'll begin with two hints that directly relate to the Wordle answer, but won't immediately give the word away.

With just over a month to go before Destiny 2's next expansion Lightfall releases, Bungie is giving players a few welcome buffs to get ready for the new content. One of these will allow players to focus red-bordered Deepsight weapons daily from each of its seasonal vendors. Iron Banner will also award increased reputation gains when it returns at the end of January.

In an update planned for next week, Bungie will be changing its weekly Deepsight focusing to a daily rotation, meaning players will be able to get four guaranteed red-border weapon drops per day. The daily focusing will be available from H.E.L.M. vendors from the Season of the Risen, Haunted, Plunder, and the current Season of the Seraph.

The bonus, which will stay in effect until the end of the current season, will be welcome news to players trying to farm for weapon crafting patterns before Lightfall drops in February. Players will still need the required Umbral Engram and Umbral Energy to focus Deepsight weapons.

Even though Destiny 2's next Festival of the Lost won't come around for another nine months, it's time to start thinking spooky, because voting is now open for 2023's Festival of the Lost armor. This year Bungie is presenting two options, both bug-themed--one a spider-like arachnophobe's nightmare, the other taking inspiration from glowing gold beetles.

The way the vote works has been changed up a little after last year's incredibly close result, with Bungie pointing out that votes were obviously split between classes. So this year, each class will be able to decide individually what armor set they would like to wear come Halloween.

That means that Titans may end up with the spider armor while Hunters could sport the beetle option, with the overall creepy-crawly theme keeping both options cohesive with each other.

Uk-based streamer Perri has recently discovered a new to play Elden Ring. While other streamers, such as MissMikkaa, have played the game with a dance pad, Perri is playing it with their mind.

In a series of videos uploaded to their TikTok and Instagram accounts, you can see how they play using a headset that looks similar to what Professor Xavier would wear in the X-Men. The headset they're wearing is called an Electroencephalogram (EEG). It uses a sensor pad soaked in saline solution to create conductivity on their head that detects electrical activity.

In one TikTok video, you can see them cast a series of spells on a couple of NPCs to kill them while backing up to avoid damage and switch weapons. While in another video, you can see them standing far away from their set-up, proving that they're only playing with their mind.

Even though the upcoming Dead Space remake by EA isn't out yet, there appears to be an easter egg hinting at a possible sequel, or at the very least, paying homage to the other installments in the series.

Spoiler warning for those who haven't played the original Dead Space

After completing the game, players have the option to replay the story with New Game Plus. Once they load back into the game, players will notice a few new text logs that weren't originally there when they first played the game.

Fire Emblem Engage focuses more on the tactical combat than the social sim elements from Three Houses, but there are still pieces of those systems. You can still increase your support levels with units and one of the ways to do that is by giving gifts to them. There is a wide range of gifts available in Fire Emblem Engage, so here is what every unit likes and dislike

Most gifts do not become available in Fire Emblem Engage until Chapter 12, at which point Timerra joins your party. She runs the Flea Market on the Somniel, which primarily sells gifts. Prior to this part of the game, you will receive a few items that can be given as gifts, but these items, Spirit Gems, Horse Manure, and Pretty Pebbles, all have the same effect regardless of character.

Everyone loves Spirit Gems, everyone likes Pretty Pebbles, and everyone hates Horse Manure. The gifts sold at the Flea Market are more specific, requiring you to match them to a character's personality type. There are technically four types of responses that a character can have after receiving a gift, but for the sake of simplicity, this list is separated into strong likes and dislikes. Every playable unit is listed below, so beware of some mild spoilers.