Hello everyone, and welcome to another roundup of Xbox and PC. For the month of September, we had quite a bit of news about the gaming world, with Ubisoft announcing multiple Assassin’s Creed titles to establish a roadmap for the future. Microsoft continues to work on its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and huge chunks of extremely early work on the next Grand Theft Auto game have been leaked.
There’s a lot to dive into here, so if you’ve missed big chunks of news in the past month, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Assassin’s Creed series blowout for the future
At a special Ubisoft Forward event, the publisher shared its plans for the future of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, reaching way beyond the next game. In addition to a mobile game being developed with Netflix and an AAA mobile game called Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade, there are three major Assassin’s Creed titles that console and PC players can look forward to.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage, expected to launch in 2023, is a smaller game that eschews RPG elements over traditional stealth. Then there’s Assassin’s Creed Codename Red, the next main RPG in the franchise being developed by Ubisoft Quebec. Finally, Ubisoft Montreal is working on Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe, a game that tackles the witch trials of the 16th-century Holy Roman Empire. Both games are part of Assassin’s Creed Infinity, which Ubisoft is building as a platform for the future.
I am very, very for the time being excited about what this means. Mirage looks like a return in all the right ways – an Assassin’s Creed I can complete in under 40 hours sounds perfect – while Codename Red will appeal to anyone who’s been begging for a game set in Japan since forever. Personally though, the one that gets the most attention is the one that’s been out for several years, Codename Hexe. The idea of setting up a game during the witch trials while also making it something new for the franchise is extremely appealing.
Microsoft and Sony continue to clash over Activision Blizzard
Microsoft is working on its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and as part of that, the company has offered Sony a deal for three more years of Call of Duty outside of existing agreements. That’s according to Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, who found the offer “inadequate”, adding that PlayStation gamers deserve the “highest quality” experience with the franchise. All of this comes as the deal is undergoing regulatory scrutiny, including with the European Commission.
I fully understand that Jim Ryan, like Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, needs to play the cards he’s dealt. Part of that is saying what he can to get the best possible terms. Still, it’s certainly odd that PlayStation chooses this as the way to attack the deal. I’m not a lawyer, but I don’t see hammering home “them” could take it away” as the best position for a company to occupy when the whole brand image is built around exclusivity. However, I appreciate corporate drama, it’s my weakness.
This month also saw one of the worst leaks in gaming history. Rockstar Games was hacked, causing 90 videos with pre-alpha animations and gameplay of GTA 6 to leak onto the internet. The leaked footage, despite its early state, showed detailed animations and confirmed the presence of a Latina protagonist, which had previously been reported.
Rockstar Games eventually responded, noting that the leak would not affect the game’s development, but noted that the team was disappointed that early details leaked in such a way.
Personally, I am against leaking games for no good reason, and that goes for details like this three times over. It was nice to see developers and others supporting Rockstar Games for this, but I can’t imagine what it’s like to have shared years of hard work in such an early, non-final state, against your will.
Microsoft Introduces a “Core” Elite Controller, Design Lab Support Coming This Holiday
If you find yourself wanting a new Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 but just don’t want to pay that much, you have some new options to consider. Microsoft has introduced the new Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 – Core in White model, themed with an Xbox Series S and available for $130.
It does not come with any of the extra thumbsticks or accessories, which are now also available separately. Additionally, Microsoft also announced that Xbox Elite controllers will receive Xbox Design Lab support sometime this holiday, allowing players to customize the colors to create something unique.
While I’m personally already into controllers, these are great options that make sense to suit everyone’s needs, especially with how popular the Series 2 controllers are.
Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 – Core in White
A new low price
If you want to pay less for Microsoft’s premium Xbox controller offerings, you can do so with the new “Core” option. You can always buy the accessories at a later date.
Cyberpunk 2077 is experiencing a revival
Cyberpunk 2077 has been marking a comeback of sorts in recent weeks. The launch of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, a Studio Trigger anime available on Netflix, has fueled interest in the game, which gained support for Xbox Series X|S and PS5 earlier this year. Cyberpunk 2077 has recently reached 20 million copies sold, with over 1 million players per day on PC.
To coincide with this, CD Projekt RED shared the news that an expansion called Phantom Liberty is currently in development and is expected to launch in 2023 exclusively on current-generation hardware.
While I’m very happy that the developers’ hard work to improve the game is being rewarded, my luck is somewhat tinged with caution. I think we should be very careful about forgetting the actual state of the game at launch and how bad it was. I’m looking forward to Phantom Liberty and the next Witcher game, but CD Projekt RED can’t pretend these issues were minor, or never existed.
Two new Marvel games are coming
Not one but two new Marvel games were revealed this month. First, we learned that Amy Hennig and Skydance New Media’s new Marvel game is set during World War II, starring Captain America and Black Panther.
The second game to be revealed is a new Iron Man game being developed by Motive Studio, the same team under Electronic Arts that also handles the Dead Space remake. While we don’t know much at this point, the team is building a single player title and will be led by one of the members of the team who worked on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
It will obviously be a while before we find out more, but this is potentially great news. I’m more interested in the Iron Man game at this point, especially if Motive’s team can somehow take advantage of the flight technology BioWare has been working on for Anthem (rest in peace).
Deathloop is making its way to Xbox and Xbox Game Pass
In the past month, Deathloop was announced for and released on Xbox consoles, while also being added to Xbox Game Pass. This immersive sim with roguelike elements from Arkane Lyon was critically acclaimed when it first launched as a timed PS5 console exclusive in September 2021, and is now available on Xbox consoles with a range of updates, including the new “Goldenloop” update that includes a new laser weapon, an expanded ending, a new enemy, and more.
I absolutely loved this game when it first launched, and I even reviewed the PS5 version of Deathloop, saying at the time that it was a “…well-crafted, intelligent murder puzzle worth solving.” regardless of your experience with immersive sims or roguelikes.”
That’s only truer now with the updated version available on Xbox, so I hope more people jump in and try it out.
Stadia will be completely shut down
A year and a half after Google first shut down its first-party wing of game development, Stadia Games and Entertainment, Google shared the news that Stadia services will be shut down completely, with a planned shutdown of January 18, 2023. Google is taking the step. from refunding all game purchases, as well as all hardware purchased through the Google Store.
While it may be disappointing to see this happen, the reality is that it just isn’t surprising. The moment Google killed its internal game development, it was doomed to fail. That’s not to say it would have found absolute success even with exclusive games, but you really need to ship some first-party titles to get people to consider your platform! Instead, in the typical Google faction, the company killed it after realizing how many resources it takes to actually invest in an ecosystem.
World of Warcraft: Dragonflight gets a release date
If you’re looking forward to World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, the next major expansion for Blizzard Entertainment’s long-running MMORPG, you’re in luck! World of Warcraft: Dragonflight now has a release date of November 28, 2022, meaning it will launch just before the holidays.
While I’m not a huge World of Warcraft fan (that credit has to go to our editor Jez Corden), I’m very curious how well this launch will be received and whether it will take away some of the community criticism over the past few years. .
October presses on us
With September in the background, the drought in high profile releases is officially over. Several big games are coming in October and I’m struggling to figure out how I’m going to play them all. I’m especially looking forward to A Plague Tale: Requiem, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and more on my Nintendo Switch, Bayonetta 3. If you missed last month’s recap, be sure to check out the Xbox and PC recap for August 2022.
Outside of games, I’m really enjoying both House of the Dragon and Rings of Power at the moment. By all accounts, it seems like I have to fit Cyberpunk: Edgerunners somehow too. Until next time,
—Samuel Tolbert
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