Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is putting up big sales numbers in the UK, even outpacing Bandai Namco’s Elden Ring by some measurements. For its first week of physical game sales in the UK, the Skywalker Saga had the biggest launch in Lego game history, toppling the previous owner, Lego Indiana Jones (2008) by 8.4%. A specific unit sales number for The Skywalker Saga was not divulged. Come from Sports betting site VPbet
For physical sales, The Skywalker Saga is now the second fastest-selling game so far in 2022 in the UK, only behind Pokemon Legends Arceus. It sold better than Elden Ring and Horizon Forbidden West (and all other physical games in the UK) over its first week in the UK for boxed copies.
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Update: The score now reflects the Xbox One version of Thumper, and the review text has been amended to reflect our experience with the Switch version. Please scroll to the bottom to find the updated content.
Despite recent efforts to revive brands like Rock Band and Amplitude, there’s a general sense that we’ve been there and done that when it comes to rhythm games. The staleness of the genre was a concern going into Thumper. It’s a game that runs on rails, where you have to time button presses to match a beat that grows increasingly fast and complex over time, with the primary gimmick being that it’s layered with trippy visuals. But those details don’t tell the whole story. Thumper is like most rhythm games you’ve played before, but it’s also a powerful, moving experience–especially in VR–that stands out as something completely different from its forebears.
E3 2022 isn’t taking place this year, but numerous companies have stepped up to fill June with press conference-style events promising news, reveals, trailers, and gameplay for a wide variety of upcoming games. We’ve already gotten through most of them, but a few major companies have yet to confirm events.
It’s possible more events could still be confirmed–Nintendo has yet to announce its plans for a Direct, which we typically expect to see every June. Sony recently held a State of Play, but that wasn’t focused on its non-VR first-party lineup. There’s still time for that to happen, of course. Here’s the remaining lineup:
- Overwatch 2 Event: June 16, time TBD
- Final Fantasy VII Celebration: June 16, 3 PM PT
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Direct: June 22, 7 AM PT
- Focus Entertainment Showcase: June 23, 9 AM PT
June 16 Come from
Looking for a deal on a Switch Lite? You can buy a refurbished model on eBay for just $169 while supplies last. Considering the portable console retails for $200, and brand-new models aren’t always on shelves, this is a great way to grab the handheld-only version of Nintendo’s wildly popular system at a discount Come from Sports betting site VPbet . At the time of writing, the deal offers coral and turquoise color options (while supplies last) and all units are listed as “Excellent” condition, come in the original packaging, and include the standard Switch Lite USB-C adapter.
…
In the American state of Oregon and an aboriginal student group has reportedly called for a boycott of the Dutch Bros chain of drive-through coffee shops following the emergence of a plan that could see the western jurisdiction’s Grants Pass Downs horseracing facility transformed into a miniature commercial casino.
According to a Saturday report from The Corvallis Advocate newspaper, the Native American Student Union for the University of Oregon is pushing for the embargo after billionaire businessman Travis Boersma (pictured) via his TMB Racing enterprise recently applied for official permission to site some 225 historical horserace wagering machines at the Josephine County development to essentially create a private casino.
Heightened hostility:
Boersma reportedly co-founded the New York-listed Dutch Bros enterprise in 1992 with the company now said to be running over 500 drive-through coffee shops spread across eleven western American state…
Strive Gaming, one of the fastest growing platform providers from North America, keeps expanding across multiple US states. The company’s unique point of view and modern solutions will be available to Four Winds Casinos thanks to the recently signed deal between two industry leaders.
Great opportunity for Four Winds:
Strive Gaming will be able to provide players from Michigan with its cutting-edge platform solutions through the leading online gaming services in Michigan. The owner and operator of the renowned Four Winds Casinos is the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians of Michigan and Indiana, so this expansion is a great opportunity for the tribe to expand its business even further.
Four Winds Casinos are very popular in the US, especially in the midwestern part
Simone Biles Reveals Why She's "Not Doing" Botox Ever Again
Simone Biles is not flipping over a cosmetic procedure she had done earlier this year.
The Olympian shared a negative experience she had with Botox after getting the injections done for her 27th birthday in March.
“I did not like it,” Simone confessed in a video posted to TikTok Aug. 2. “I haven’t got it again”
As for why the gold medalist wasn’t a fan? She recalled a “funny story” about one of the side effects of the procedure, which consists of injecting a prescription drug called botulinum toxin into facial muscles to temporarily prevent them from moving, according to Mayo Clinic.
“I would be standing at practice and then my eyebrow would be slowly going up like this,” she explained while noticeably arching her right eyebrow. “[My teammate] would be like ‘Simone, your eyebrow’s doing it again!’ I’m like, ‘I feel it.’ I couldn…
Olympic Gymnast Mary Lou Retton Addresses Health Battle
For Mary Lou Retton, the 1984 Olympics yielded a sisterhood that has lasted 40 years.
So the gold medalist could not help but be moved to tears when she was surprised with a special videotaped message from all five of her former teammates—Michelle Dusserre, 55, Pam Bileck, 55, Tracee Talavera, 57, Julianne McNamara, 58, and Kathy Johnson, 64—on the Kelly Clarkson Show July 25.
Dusserre said she was glad Retton, who was hospitalized last fall with a rare form of pneumonia, was feeling better, adding, "Keep getting better."
Johnson, meanwhile, told Retton, "We have your back. Always have, always will. You got this."
As for how Retton, 56, reacted to the moment? Emotional, the retired gymnast called the video "so special."
Of course, this isn’t …
E! Illustration; Photos Courtesy of Rich Polk/NBC, Todd Williamson/NBC, Charles Sykes/Bravo
We shared these celebrity-chosen items because we think you'll like their picks at these prices. Some of the products shown are from a brand they are paid to endorse. E! has affiliate relationships, so we may get a commission if you purchase something through our links. Some of the brands featured in this article are partners of Amazon's Creator Connections program, which means E! may make an increased commission on your purchase if you buy something through our links. Items are sold by the retailer, not E!. Prices are accurate as of publish time.
If you are having post-Prime Day regrets, I totally understand. There are so many products I wish I bought this year, but I hesitated and missed the discounts. Thankfully, there's still a chance to save 30% on celeb-loved Laneige beauty products.
If you're looking to shop like a star, don’t miss these …
Documentaries aside, few American filmmakers will attempt making any sort of overt political statement these days. If your money is coming from a streamer or a larger studio, forget it. Gone, long gone, are the days a Francis Ford Coppola or an Alan Pakula might venture to make a picture like The Conversation or All the President’s Men. Even Jonathan Demme’s remake of John Frankenheimer’s great 1962 political chiller The Manchurian Candidate is now 20 years old, though both films have turned out to more prescient than anyone would have believed two decades ago, or six—you could consider them quasi-documentaries.
Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice, which premiered here in Cannes on May 20, arrives at just the right time. And if it isn’t a great movie, it’s at least a fascinating and thoughtful one, an even-handed film that doesn’t need to resort to extremes to paint an accurate picture of what America and the world are up against right…
2024 Olympics: Jimmy Fallon Reveals How He's Preparing to Host the Closing Ceremony
Give these athletes a perfect 10 for having a ball.
As the 2024 Summer Olympics kick off July 26 on NBC and Peacock, all your favorite Olympians from around the world have descended upon Paris to find out who will be taking home a gold medal for their country.
But it's not just all about competition, as there's plenty of fun to be had across the 39 sports and 329 events taking place from now until August 11.
When it comes to the sweetest candid moments, Team USA's gymnasts, including Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Hezly Rivera, and traveling alternates Leanne Wong and Joscelyn Roberson, have already been sharing hugs and laughs while supporting each other as they prepare for the grueling weeks of competition.
…
2024 Olympics: Meet the Couples Competing at the Paris Games
The 2024 Olympics are going to get steamy—and not because of the cardboard beds.
When it was announced the Olympic Village at the Paris Games wouldn’t have air conditioning (instead using water pipes in the floors to keep things cool), countries quickly expressed their outcry on behalf of their teams.
So to prevent a heated situation—and to not leave visiting athletes at the mercy of the summer heat, which broke records in France last year—the Paris organizers partially conceded and allowed countries to purchase window units for their athletes.
The result was swift: back in April, Euro News reported that 2,500 units had been ordered, with the numbers only increasing in the months since.
And during a June 21 briefing, CEO of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Sarah Hirschland confirmed the American Olympic teams would be among those getting cooled off by their…
Taylor Swift’s Alleged Stalker, Accused of Threatening Travis Kelce, Arrested at Germany Eras Tour
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are shaking off this scary situation.
Just before Swift’s Eras Tour concert in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, July 17, an American man—who has allegedly made threats against the “Karma” singer and her Kansas City Chiefs player boyfriend on social media—was arrested, authorities told the Associated Press.
The 34-year-old man, whose name was not shared, had a ticket to Taylor’s July 17 show at the Veltins-Arena. He was arrested upon his entry into the stadium, as authorities noted they could not ascertain risk upon an initial investigation. Police informed the Associated Press that the man was detained “following tips from organizers of the event.”
A local court ordered for the man to remain in custody for the entire duration of Swift’s Eras Tour residency in the city a…
Gabourey Sidibe Shares Sweet New Photo of Her 4-Month-Old Twin Babies
Gabourey Sidibe is living a double life.
After all, the Precious star became a mom of two after welcoming twins Maya and Cooper with husband Brandon Frankel in April. And she recently gave an update on navigating life with the 4-month-olds.
In an Aug. 1 Instagram photo, the 41-year-old snapped her babies lounging in bouncer chairs with The People Could Fly by Virginia Hamilton opened to its title page, adding, “Story Time” with a heart eye emoji in the caption.
And while Gabourey and her husband of three years expanded their family in the spring, they only revealed the exciting news of their birth in June.
“Our babies arrived in April and brought so much life and excitement into our existence,” the Empire actress wrote in a June 8 Instagram post alongside an adorable family …
Shannon Beador BREAKS SILENCE on DUI Sentencing
Shannon Beador isn't surprised her ex-boyfriend John Janssen plans to marry her Real Housewives of Orange County costar Alexis Bellino after less than a year of dating.
"That's John Janssen," Shannon exclusively told E! News. "At two weeks, he said I was his person and his future, so they're following the John Janssen course. I didn't get a ring, but I thought right away that I was going to spend the rest of my life with John. He moves very quickly."
However, the Bravo star—who split with the businessman in 2022—after three years of dating, isn't bothered by the couple's fast-track path to an engagement.
"Good for them, be happy," Shannon added. "From the outside looking in, it looks to me that there are ulterior motives on both sides for them to be in a relationship, so we'll s…
Ryan Gosling released a strongly-worded statement in response to what may be the most controversial snubbing of the 2024 Oscar nominations.
Gosling, who played the role of Ken in last summer’s box-office blockbuster Barbie, was nominated for best supporting actor at the Academy Awards. But neither director Greta Gerwig nor star Margot Robbie, who together brought the doll to life and were each nominees at both the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards earlier this month, received a nod in their respective categories.
Read More: The Internet Has Thoughts on Ken Getting an Oscar Nomination Over Barbie
Gosling expressed his delight for his own recognition and disappointment for his colleagues in a statement late Tuesday.
Ryan Gosling’s full statement
“I am extremely honored to be nominated by my colleagues alongside such remarkable artists in a year of so many great films. And I never thought I’d being saying …
Lea Michele Reveals Gender of Baby No. 2!
The Chanels are back in action.
It was one for the books as Lea Michele gave a glimpse into her Hamptons reunion with Scream Queens costar Emma Roberts.
The Glee alum posted a slew of photo to Instagram July 12 showing off her "Hamptons summer," and included a sweet pic with Emma. In the image, Lea could be seen showing off her pregnant belly in a fitted beige dress, paired with gold jewelry and a black purse. As for Emma, the American Horror Story star kept it casual in a striped blue and white button down tucked into blue jeans. She finished off her look with a simple necklace and cat eye sunglasses.
Emma, 33, and Lea, 37—who costarred on the Ryan Murphy show from 2015 to 2016—have often gotten together in the years following the show's cancellation.
In fact, Emma—who shares son Rhodes
Courtesy of Lands' End
We independently selected these deals and products because we love them, and we think you might like them at these prices. E! has affiliate relationships, so we may get a commission if you purchase something through our links. Items are sold by the retailer, not E!. Prices are accurate as of publish time.
Summer's in full effect, and it's time to snag those Insta-worthy swimsuits! But first, finding the perfect swimwear can be tricky. You obviously want something that makes you feel fab and confident. Plus, a great deal never hurts, right? Enter the Lands' End Summer Clearance Sale. From now until July 24th, score 40% off most full price styles, up to 75% off most sale and clearance styles online, in-store, or by phone, plus free shipping on orders over $99 by using code CLASSIC. Stylish and affordable swimwear? Yes, please!
Lands' End has it all—tops, bottoms, one-pieces, tankinis, swim s…
Ryan Reynolds Jokes Nanny Taylor Swift Is Costing Him a Fortune
You should see your faces…
Because Taylor Swift’s childhood BFF Abigail Anderson Berard is pregnant with her and husband Charles Berard’s first child. And naturally, Abigail channeled Taylor for the special announcement.
In an homage to “But Daddy I Love Him” off The Tortured Poets Department, Abigail captioned her July 24 Instagram post, “I’m having his babyyy…”
But while the next line of Taylor’s song says, “No, I’m not”—yes, Abigail is. After all, her growing baby bump is out and proud in her post, which features the 34-year-old snacking on some Cheez-Its.
And Taylor herself was quick to comment on the iconic photo. "When the internet says 'MOTHER,'" the 34-year-old wrote on Abigail's post, "I feel like this pic is actually what they mean."
A blue heart in t…
2024 Olympics: Simone Biles Wins Gold at Gymnastics All-Around Final
What's in a name? Would a GOAT by any other name dominate so hard?
Well, yes, of course. But if Simone Biles is in the market for a new nickname, Shawn Johnson East's 4-year-old daughter Drew has a suggestion.
While watching the women's gymnastics' individual all-around competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, "She kept asking, 'Mama, where's The Best?'" Shawn revealed in an exclusive interview with E! News. "And it's because I kept talking about Simone, how she's the best. So instead of calling her Simone, she's like, 'Mama, where's The Best?'"
And though the gymnast—who nabbed a gold medal and three silvers while competing at the 2008 Games in Beijing—admitted she wasn't sure if her eldest "would last two minutes, 10 minutes or the whole ti…
E! Illustration; Photos Courtesy of Getty Images/ Alexandr Dubynin
We independently selected these deals and products because we love them, and we think you might like them at these prices. E! has affiliate relationships, so we may get a commission if you purchase something through our links. Items are sold by the retailer, not E!. Prices are accurate as of publish time.
I've got you covered with the best deals and sales of the day! After digging through hundreds of sites this morning, I’ve put together a list of the ultimate bargains just for you. My goal? To save you time and money on the products you love.
From beauty products and stylish outfits to home essentials, today's top deals have something for everyone. These handpicked offers are too good to miss, so sit back, relax, and get ready to snag some amazing savings!
E! Shopping Editor Picks
- Michael Kors: Take an EXTRA 20% off Michael…
Almost every internet personality creating content on social media has the same goal: become a TikTok star by making posts that hopefully go viral and earn money. The major challenge facing all of them is figuring out how to sustain that popularity and translate it into a prosperous career. That’s where management companies come in—they play a part by helping creators devise posting plans and finding publicity opportunities. At least, that’s what they are supposed to do.
The documentary series Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult, now streaming on Netflix, traces the formation of the management company 7M Films by founder, Robert Shinn, who is also a Shekinah church pastor. Over three episodes, Dancing for the Devil reveals claims from multiple former 7M members about how Shinn abused and manipulated them and created a cult-like environment.
The series largely focuses on the stories of two different pairs of sisters who worked with Shinn—t…
Simone Biles Explains Olympics Withdrawal: "I Didn't Quit"
Shoko Miyata won’t be landing any moves in France.
One week before the 2024 Paris Olympics begin, the captain of Team Japan’s women’s gymnastics squad will no longer compete after violating the team’s code of conduct by smoking at their training camp in Monaco.
"With her confirmation and after discussions on all sides,” Japan Gymnastics Association secretary general Kenji Nishimura told reporters at a media conference in Tokyo July 19, per the BBC, “it has been decided that she will withdraw from the Olympics.”
The JGA confirmed that the 19-year-old’s removal from the event would mean that four athletes would compete instead of five. The association’s president Tadashi Fujita added, with a deep bow, “We apologize from the bottom of our hearts for this.”
Shoko had proven her talent in the sport, winning …
How to Watch the 2024 Paris Olympics: Everything You Need to Know
Athletes will have to say au revoir to a few foods during their visit to France.
With the 2024 Olympics in full swing, competitors staying in the Olympic Village won’t be finding some specific foods, including french fries and avocados. But the ban isn’t just a random policy to deprive competitors of guacamolé or their side of fries.
“French fries are too risky because of fire-hazard concerns over deep-fat fryers,” Charles Guilloy, one of the village’s chefs in charge, told The New York Times in March. “No to foie gras because animal well-being is on everyone’s mind, and no to avocados because they are imported from a great distance and consume a lot of water.”
For Charles and fellow chef Stéphane Chicheri, the Olympic Games’ carbon footprint played a major role in the menu. But it doesn’t mean the athletes won’t have en…
The latest season of Abbott Elementary is filled with guest appearances from internet stars. Since it premiered in 2021, the Emmy-winning workplace sitcom, set at an underfunded Philadelphia public school, has consistently woven internet culture into its plots—and the show’s lightning-fast, blink-or-you’ll-miss-it jokes routinely go viral online. It makes sense given that Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson got her start in comedy making videos online, producing series for BuzzFeed and other platforms that are now cemented in internet culture lexicon.
Now, familiar faces from TikTok and YouTube videos are getting their moment to shine on a traditional sitcom. See the viral stars who have made appearances on Abbott Elementary below.
Quinta Brunson
Quinta Brunson was regularly featured in videos across BuzzFeed’s different channels before breaking off to work on her own projects that she pitched to d…
Wednesday marks Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the day enslaved people in Texas first learned of their emancipation. It’s an occasion for Americans to reflect on how much progress has been made since that day in 1865, while also acknowledging how much work there is left to do. One area for reflection is to consider how Black people are represented in American culture
A Netflix documentary called Black Barbie, to be released Juneteenth (June 19), hopes to playfully jumpstart those conversations.
The film examines the creation of the first Black Barbie doll in 1980 and features Black celebrities who had Barbie dolls made in their likeness. They include television mogul Shonda Rhimes, who is the film’s producer, ballet star Misty Copeland, and Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, who all talk about what it took to break barriers in their own fields. Psychology experts also weigh in on why it’s so important for Black children to be able to choose f…
Black Desert Online has been around since 2014, and has been enchanting players with its limitless progression, fighting-game style combat, and gigantic roster of playable classes. There’s no level limit—once you hit the ‘soft cap’ of 62, experience gain slows to a crawl, but it’s still there. In the last decade the studio has released updates that focus on PvP, PvE, and PvT.
(That’s player versus tree. There’s so much crafting.)
What the studio hasn’t done, however, is release an expansion focused more on story than on having tons of monsters to grind. Until now.
Land of the Morning Light is the new update for BDO, out June 14. It features a brand new continent, found far to the northwest of the lands currently occupied by heroes grinding just a few more blood wolves before bedtime. It’s inspired heavily by Korean myths and medieval culture, and developer Pearl Abyss hopes that global players who’ve been exposed to more Korean media o…
Watch On
The long-running multiplayer survival horror game Dead by Daylight is about to move into the singleplayer realm courtesy of a new project in development at Supermassive Games, the developer of Until Dawn, The Dark Pictures Anthology, and The Quarry.
Details on the Supermassive project won’t be announced until later this year, but Dead by Daylight studio Behaviour Interactive said it “will offer players an intense narrative experience filled with powerful life-or-death choices set within the backdrop of Dead by Daylight.”
“We’ve been working hard to blend intention, agency, and the branching storytelling of a Supermassive game together with Dead by Daylight’s mythology to create an intense narrative experience filled with power life-or-death choices,” executive producer Traci Tufte said during today’s Year 7 anniversary broadcast. “Our game will be set outside the Entity’s realm and features the story of a new cast of characters, who players will follow for an unprecedent…
The quirky cats at Asrock have come up with another offbeat idea. Adding a second chipset to an AMD motherboard via a PCIe add-in card. Yup, really. The starting point is an ASRock B650 LiveMixer board to which a second AM5-spec chipset is added to the setup using an extra board adapter. Genius, right? Kinda.
Numerous caveats ensue, and ultimately this is a recipe for spending more money that you would have on the X670 motherboard in the first place, only to have the X670 chipset bit hobbled by the PCIe interface. But hold that thought.
As Level1Techs explain, the whole idea hinges on the fact that the AMD AM5 platform can support multiple chipsets either directly connected to the CPU or via daisychaining. That’s how it differentiates between X670 and B650 motherboards, one has two chipsets dies and the budget version just one. So, ASRock decided to add a second chipset via a PCIe add-in card.
The X670 expansion kit comprises an add-in board with dual quad-la…
As spotted by Kotaku, Apex Legends surpassed its all-time peak Steam player count on February 15, logging 610,433 concurrent gamers and blowing away its previous high of 510,000 last August. This milestone comes in the midst of a beefy four-year anniversary update to the game that added a new class system to organize its heroes, a team deathmatch mode, and free hero giveaways.
The new class system is probably the biggest long-term change to Apex. The preexisting heroes have been organized into team roles in a similar fashion to Overwatch, and the new archetypes confer additional bonuses to their respective heroes. There’s a full breakdown in Apex Legends’ Revelry patch notes, but the new classes are as follows:
- Assault: More ammo per stack, can access “red bins.” Bangalore, Ash, Fuse, Mad Maggie, Revenant
- Skirmisher: Can reveal care packages. Wraith, Valkyrie, Octane, Horizon, Mirage, Pathfinder
- Recon
When we talk about videogames taking cues from Hollywood, it’s normally a reference to bombastic cinematics or a stacked cameo cast, not really behind the scenes staff. That’s the case for Baldur’s Gate 3 though, which used intimacy coordinators—professional advocates for actors appearing in explicit scenes—to help manage production of its romances between characters.
As we’ve already seen, Baldur’s Gate 3 romances can get quite spicy, and Larian used motion capture with actors to create its cinematics, as seen in a cinematics explainer video from a couple years ago. There was lots of combat and conversation to capture, but also sex. Thus the professionals that Larian called in.
According to SAG-AFTRA, “an intimacy coordinator is an advocate, a liaison between actors and production, and a movement coach and/or choreographer in regards to nudity and simulated sex and other intimate and hyper-exposed scenes.”
Unlike movies and TV, moc…
At a games conference in Sofia, Bulgaria earlier this year, Larian gameplay scripter Mihail Kostov gave a presentation outlining the philosophies and strategies the studio employs to ensure games like Baldur’s Gate 3 stay playable even as players are actively tearing them apart. Recently made public on YouTube (via GamesRadar), Kostov’s talk explains how Larian addresses “edge cases”—times when “player action may push a system to the extreme”—with solutions that reward, rather than stifle, creativity.
We’ve written about the near-absurd depth of contingencies Baldur’s Gate 3 has in place to account for player chaos, like its roster of purpose-built backup NPCs who stand ready to replace any plot-relevant characters you might murder (and replacements for those replacements). While every developer designs with edge cases in mind, Kostov says Larian likes to “draw the line further out.”
Larian goes to such lengths to accommodate edge cases because,…
Bryan Fury is coming to Tekken 8, Bandai Namco has revealed. Twice.
Everyone’s favourite deranged zombie cyborg was confirmed for Tekken 8’s character roster at this year’s Combo Breaker fighting tournament, held over the weekend. The announcement came in the form of a trailer, viewable above, with the tagline “A wildcard for violence and destruction”.
The announcement didn’t go entirely smoothly, however. As reported by VGC, the trailer was apparently posted to an official Instagram account earlier than intended, left up long enough to start circulating among YouTube channels before being pulled offline.
Tekken producer Michael Murray issued an apology for the premature reveal on Twitter, stating “I apologise to fans who saw that particular thing in not the way @Harada_Tekken and I had wanted it to happen,” Murray added. “I feel bad for all you guys.”
According to VGC, Tekken 8’s director Katsuhiro Harada also commented on the leak in a subsequently deleted …