Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Anti-SBMM Shooter, Upcoming Game Hype, + More! - GameLinked May 16, 2024

JakobRush · May 17

NEWS SOURCES:

OUT OF THE SHADOWS, INTO THE…SHADOWS

Assassin’s Creed Shadows was revealed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vovkzbtYBC8

After the release date was leaked https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1790079437662285907

And the DLC leaked https://www.reddit.com/r/assassinscreed/comments/1cr0b7e/assassins_creed_shadows_season_pass_ultimate/

…and the official artwork leaked https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/comments/1crz4f3/assassins_creed_shadows_official_game_artwork/

….and the protagonists and microtransactions https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/comments/1cry28c/new_ac_shadows_info_from_leaker_j0nathan/

Ubisoft is bad at keeping a lid on things and are also bad at not making single player games require an internet connection to function https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2024/05/16/you-can-play-all-of-assassins-creed-shadows-offline-but-you-need-a-connection-to

Which sucks because it actually sounds good

Characters are interesting https://youtu.be/Nszrx939ZVA

Interesting gameplay mechanics

https://www.ign.com/articles/assassins-creed-shadows-inside-ubisofts-ambitious-open-world-japan

HERE YOU GO, SWEATY

Ubisoft’s CoD competitor XDefiant will NOT feature SBMM

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/fps/xdefiant-is-ditching-skill-based-matchmaking-because-ubisoft-thinks-its-not-good-for-fun-or-variety-and-it-means-every-casual-game-is-repetitive/

Official blog post says “there is no skill-based matchmaking in our casual playlist.” https://www.ubisoft.com/en-ca/game/xdefiant/news/73QFbfzYxQbbL4ua8DValH/matchmaking-in-xdefiant

Contrast that with Activision, who defended their use of SBMM this year in a big blog post

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2024/01/30/activision-finally-breaks-its-silence-around-call-of-duty-sbmm-and-matchmaking/?sh=7d3c624170e1

Basically saying that “unfair” matches scares away newer and lower-skill players, diminishing the player pool, increasing wait times until just high skill players exist and every match is sweaty anyway https://lmg.gg/p1bwE (Forbes)

Ubisoft believes casual should be fun https://lmg.gg/7VdbR (Ubisoft)

But they also think Skull and Bones has had a “tremendous response” https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/skull-and-bones/news-updates/4JskVoFQcIbc50OENc1JxT

Specific quote: “the tremendous response from our entire community since the launch of our game.” https://lmg.gg/PfVec (Ubisoft)

At least the players that DIDN’T leave in the first 2 weeks https://www.trueachievements.com/news/skull-and-bones-player-count

YA LIKE GAMES?

Many upcoming games from veteran creators

NieR series producer, NieR series creator, and NieR series composer reunite for new project that “might be NieR, it might not be NieR” https://www.eurogamer.net/nier-developers-join-forces-for-new-project-that-might-be-nier-it-might-not-be-nier

https://www.gematsu.com/2024/05/yosuke-saito-working-on-new-project-with-yoko-taro-and-keiichi-okabe

Ron Gilbert, creator of Monkey Island has a new game coming later this year or early next year https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/05/monkey-island-creator-ron-gilbert-is-working-on-a-zelda-style-rpg-adventure

“Zelda meets Diablo meets Thimbleweed Park” https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2024/05/monkey-island-creators-zelda-meets-diablo-meets-thimbleweed-park-rpg-looks-delightful

XCOM designer Jake Solomon working on new “emergent story life sim” to compete with The Sims https://www.gamespot.com/articles/how-xcoms-designer-went-from-marvel-dating-sim-to-a-gilmore-girls-inspired-life-sim/1100-6523449/

And Grant Rodiek, longtime The Sims vet and former Sims 5 director has joined as executive producer https://www.vg247.com/midsummer-games-founded-announce-new-sims-rival-life-sim

Create your own story interpersonal small town drama, influenced a lot by Gilmore Girls, but also Stephen King? https://lmg.gg/re5ko (VG247)

Rockstar co-founder making an “open world action-adventure game” https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/rockstar-co-founder-dan-housers-new-studio-is-making-an-open-world-action-adventure-game

Potential teaser tweet (@0:34) “It envelopes you, devours you, probably without meaning to. It is everything and nothing.” https://twitter.com/AbsurdVentures/status/1790448666844754190

QUICK BITS

WE’RE ALL LONELY BOYS NOW

Hi-Fi Rush’s last patch before studio closes

https://kotaku.com/hi-fi-rush-final-update-patch-notes-ps5-xbox-pc-tango-1851479600

Patch notes https://bethesda.net/en/article/3eFI1aWeKyUWkXkS7IRNJF/hi-fi-rush-update-9-patch-notes

Physical edition still coming https://www.neowin.net/news/hi-fi-rush-will-get-one-more-final-patch-today-physical-versions-are-still-in-the-works/

FINDING THEIR WAY

Game ditches live-service model to become paid co-op RPG

https://wccftech.com/wayfinder-upcoming-echoes-update-changes-it-into-a-premium-game-with-offline-option/

https://www.mmorpg.com/news/wayfinder-will-remove-all-online-requirements-and-microtransactions-expand-rpg-content-as-pay-once-title-2000131529

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/wayfinder-is-removing-microtransactions-and-always-online-requirement-heres-why/1100-6523444/

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