Warner Bros. has a sleuth of movies planned for 2021 and beyond. Recently, the company chose to delay the highly anticipated Dune, but made the decision to release Wonder Woman 1984 on streaming via HBO Max as well as theatres this Christmas. However, the company has probably seen the viability in releasing films on both streaming and in cinemas, and have announced that most of their blockbuster releases will come to HBO Max and theatres in 2021. READ MORE: BioWare Veterans Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah Depart Studio Variety reports that Warner Bros. will now release their most anticipated big movies via HBO Max and in theatres. Some of these releases include The Matrix 4, Dune, Mortal Kombat, Godzilla vs. Kong, The Suicide Squad, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and much more (you can find the full list of Variety). This is quite a massive move for Warner Bros., as most studios are still struggling to figure out how to continue releasing movies in theatres and streaming due to the ongoing global pandemic and its strict safety restrictions. HBO Max will likely receive a massive boost as a result as more studios slowly lean towards streaming services, including Netflix and Disney+ (which is currently not yet available in South Africa). Recently, it was rumoured that Godzilla vs. Kong would come to streaming as well as theatres, but now this announcement confirms that to be a reality. Releasing in both cinemas and on HBO Max comes with its own benefits as the world continues to deal with the ongoing pandemic - resulting in streaming services booming due to viewers isolating and having more time indoors. However, whether this is a long-term plan remains to be seen, but for now, expect many big 2021 titles to launch on HBO Max.

BioWare veterans Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah have announced they've left the studio. This isn't Hudson's first time retiring from BioWare, as he previously left in 2014 near the release of Dragon Age Inquisition. He returned in 2017 to work as BioWare's general manager, undertaking projects like Anthem. Darrah has also announced his departure from the studio, after spending 23 years with BioWare. Darrah mostly served as an executive producer on the Dragon Age franchise. READ MORE: Persona 5 Strikers Gets Western Release Date for PS4, Switch and PC "Arriving at this point has been an opportunity for me to reflect on my own future, and 2020 has been a year that forced all of us to re-imagine how we think about work and life," said Hudson in his farewell. "For me, it's been the realization that I still have tremendous energy to create, but also that I need to try something different. I'm not sure exactly what that is yet, but I know that I want to start by rediscovering my creative passion through more personal work." Darrah, who was previously attached to the upcoming Dragon Age 4, also gave his farewell. "More than anything I am thankful for the ability to have touched so many lives. To have given people a chance to explore themselves through our games. I like to think I have helped make some of your lives a little better. I hope I'm right," said Darrah. "I don't know what's next for me, but I'm excited to find out. Just as I'm excited to find out what Dragon Age now becomes." In the meantime, work will still continue on the upcoming Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, which will remaster and bundle the original trilogy; a newly announced Mass Effect game; and Dragon Age 4. However, it remains to be seen what will become of the new projects, though the veterans have assured they're still in the safe hands of the remaining staff at BioWare. Chistian Dailey, BioWare Austin's studio director, will take over Darrah's leadership position as executive producer on Dragon Age 4.

Since its initial release in 2017, Persona 5 has gone on to spawn numerous expansions and collaborations, such as being a guest character on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The upcoming spin-off, Persona 5 Strikers, will take a decidedly different approach to the typical turn-based combat by turning in into a Musou hack-and-slash RPG. While the game was already confirmed to arrive in Japan first, we finally have a Western release date, which means it will receive a global launch too outside of Japan. READ MORE: Review: Yakuza: Like a Dragon Persona Central confirmed that Persona 5 Strikers will launch in the West on February 23rd, 2021 for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC. This makes it one of the few games now with a concrete release date for 2021, as many major upcoming releases have yet to receive proper release dates in the busy year. Atlus presumably released the release date announcement trailer prematurely, meaning it was likely going to be announced at next week's Game Awards. However, now that the cat is out of the bag, Persona 5 fans finally have something to look forward to soon. Persona 5 Royal released earlier this year, and we praised the JRPG in our review, calling it "a definitive edition of an already stellar edition, hand-crafted by Atlus while being inspired by years of feedback of their 2017 masterpiece." The edition brought a new character and with it, an entirely new story path to follow. As it stands, the base game already delivers around 100+ hours of content, with the Royal edition providing even more. It's unlikely that Persona 5 Strikers, which is set six months after the events of Persona 5, will be as long, but it will be a much-needed continuation of the story of The Phantom Thieves - which is an exciting prospect for all fans of the game. Persona 5 Strikers launches on February 23rd, 2021 for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Gigabyte has dropped the veil on one of the worst kept secrets in PC gaming hardware - the RTX 3060 Ti based on NVidia's Ampere architecture. READ MORE: Review: Yakuza: Like a Dragon Targeted at the majority of PC gamers still playing off of 1080p panels and the growing 1440p community, the cards promise to bring NVidia's implementation of Raytracing along with the excellent DLSS 2.0 to budget-conscious gamers. Along with DLSS 2.0, the cards will support NVidia Reflex that claims to reduce input latency for that (legal) competitive edge in multiplayer games as well as the black magic-created NVidia Broadcast for all the budding streamers out there. To cater to all thematic builds and budgets Gigabyte has announced three SKUs. The first is the AORUS Master, a gaming-focused card that includes a built-in screen with four modes to allow you to display everything from system stats to the latest GIFs and memes. Of course, it will be integrated into the Gigabyte RGB software to create your perfect version of unicorn puke as well as a dual bios switch to allow you to switch to an Ultra Quiet mode with the flip of said switch. The Gaming OC Pro is aimed at the performance enthusiast with three Windforce fans, but the middle one spinning counter to the others to improve cooling and noise reduction. There's also some graphene components in the fans to give them a longer life and quieter operation and additional heat pipes and what Gigabyte is calling SCreen Cooling to enhance the cooling of the card. The final SKU is the Eagle OC, a two fan design sporting similar cooling tech as the Gaming OC Pro. It looks like a shorter card so may be ideal for smaller chassis'. Whatever your taste and requirement the RTX 3060Ti is a compelling component with performance claiming to outdo the 2080 Super but at half the price. In South Africa the cards are retailing for between R11,200 and R11,800 depending on the model.