Game Control: ‘Assassin’s Creed’ Sequel Receives Title and Trailer, Square Equinox Pivots To PC Users
Console: Ubisoft announced that the official title for their new sequel is Assassin’s Creed Shadows, changed from its original code name, “Assassin’s Creed Codename Red.” The historical action video game centers on a league of assassins. Its various iterations are set in different centuries and locations such as the Third Crusade (Assassin’s Creed), the Renaissance (Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood), and the American Revolution (Assassin’s Creed III). Unlike its predecessors, Shadows is the only iteration of the game solely set in East Asia, specifically Japan. The game’s premiere trailer dropped on May 15th to the delight of fans.
Electronic Arts (EA) drew controversy for its consideration of implementing advertisements inside of its AAA titles. EA has already drawn criticism from fans for its in-game ad practices, including heavy advertising in its sports games. In a report of EA’s fourth quarter earnings, CEO Andrew Wilson weighed in on this new experimentation of advertising. He notes that the advertisements are “thoughtful implementations inside of our game experiences,” also reassuring that “[they’ll] be thoughtful as [they] move into that.” Despite Wilson attempting to reassure fans and shareholders with his statement, users of X (formerly Twitter) quickly turned this news into parody, posting examples of what this new style of in-game advertisement would look like.
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa teased the announcement of a successor to the Nintendo Switch. Taking to X, Furukawa shared that the Switch’s successor will be announced within the fiscal year. Additionally, there will be a Nintendo Direct showcase this June about the Switch’s software lineup for the rest of 2024.
Take-Two has finally narrowed the release window for GTA VI. The studio shared the game’s release window of Fall 2025 in its fiscal report for the year ending in March 2024. Despite this happy news, Take-Two also shared a $3.74 billion annual loss. In order to reduce costs, the company canceled several unannounced projects. Nevertheless, CEO Strauss Zelnick believes that Take-Two is entering 2025 with “positive momentum”.
Set to release on October 11th, 2024, boxing game Undisputed finally released a trailer. Players are able to box as legends like Muhammad Ali on their PlayStation 5, Xbox, or via Steam. A Digital Deluxe WBC Edition version of the game will also be available.
Despite being published by EA, developer Ascendant Studios shared that 100% of revenue made from game Immortals of Aveum will go back into the studio. It’s incredibly rare for a major publisher like EA to shift the terms of a publishing deal The reasoning behind this adjustment is currently unknown. In the same blog post, Ascendant Studios also announced that Immortals of Aveum would be available for Xbox Game Pass and EA Play starting May 16th.
ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) has announced an all-new competitive format built in Fortnite. The format is powered by Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) and is called “ESL Featuring Fortnite”. EFG will use UEFN tools to redesign Fortnite’s competitive landscape with custom islands, new game mods, and a team-based format.
Xbox
Mobile: After several years of speculation about Xbox’s plans for mobile gaming, Xbox officially announced that it will launch a mobile gaming store in July. Following a $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, the software juggernaut revealed its plans to develop its own game store to rival Google Play and the App Store. This announcement was made by Sarah Bond, Microsoft’s Xbox president, at this year’s Bloomberg Tech Summit.
A GlobalData report found that the global mobile gaming market will grow to $195 billion dollars in revenue by 2030. The mobile gaming market saw a surge of growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, with revenue increasing by 25% in 2020 compared to 2019 and another 10% in 2021. This is at odds with the revenue gains of the console and PC gaming markets. Gaming research company Newzoo found that these markets will remain below pre-pandemic levels until the end of 2026. Quarterly playtime for PC and console gamers fell 26% from 2021 to 2023. This downward trend is expected to continue through 2024 due to a weaker lineup of gaming releases. With thousands of layoffs occurring in the gaming industry, it appears that developers should focus on mobile releases rather than PC and console.
A world server and Asian server have been launched for the game previously, but Wanderer: Overlord of the Continent (also known as Hegemon of the Continent) is finally launching an open beta to mainland China on May 16th. Hoping to draw in even more players, Hegemon of the Continent is an installment in the Wanderer series of mobile games. Hegemon of the Continent launched in Japan in October 2020 and is acclaimed for its HD-2D graphics. These graphics alongside a unique story and JRPG turn-based gameplay have attracted players globally.
PC: The latest installment in the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, did not make as much profit as anticipated. This PlayStation 5 exclusive release may have influenced the reasoning behind Square Enix’s new business strategy. The plan, titled “Square Enix Reboots and Awakens,” meticulously picks apart the company’s previous business strategy, which “did not reach final-year net sales/operating income targets.” The strategy boils down to releasing games on multiple platforms rather than making games exclusive as they did with Rebirth. Square Enix specifically announced its intent to “pursue initiatives designed to win over PC users.” This reinforces Square Enix’s plan to expand the inclusivity of their releases. However, this plan comes at a cost. Square Enix is imposing layoffs in both its U.S. and European offices. Layoffs were mentioned in the business plan, framed as “rebuild[ing] overseas business divisions from the ground up” and “optimizing costs at its European and American offices via structural reforms.” Though the 2023-2024 year has been a hard one for the gaming industry at large, with over 16,000 layoffs, it seems as though no slowdowns are in sight.
Valheim’s developers promised that Valheim: Ashlands would be the game’s “most challenging” biome to date. After a month of public testing, the biome is now available for play as a free content update. Rather than struggling through the mist, gamers must worry about fiery weather. The patch notes warn, “Beware the skies! Cinders rain down from above in the Ashlands, causing damage to those who are unprotected.” The update also adds over 30 new weapons, three new armor sets, and over 70 buildable items like catapults and battering rams.
Minecraft’s 15th anniversary will be a time of celebration. In a short YouTube announcement, the narrator declares that there will be “15 days of exclusive items and daily specials, each one attributed to 15 years of building, exploring, crafting, mining, and adventuring.” There is no official announcement of when the celebration will begin. However, Minecraft’s anniversary is May 17th and the festivities will likely start on that date.
After steady financial struggles, indie studio Twin Drums has announced they are ending MMORPG The Wagadu Chronicles. This shutdown announcement occurred after only six months of early access gameplay. However, the game is still available for purchase on Steam.
Meta
Virtual Reality: Meta announced a new mode for its Quest 2 and Quest 3 virtual reality systems. Simply called Travel Mode, the experimental feature is now available for users to test. The mode is “optimized for use on planes,” with plans for other modes of transportation like trains in the future. Headset games that necessitate Wi-Fi will require users to connect to inflight Wi-Fi to play. Prior to this feature, users who wanted to use Meta headsets on flights had to turn off positional tracking.
Pimax, a China-based VR headset manufacturer, will introduce a new payment plan after the release of its newest model. The “Trial Payment, Final Payment” model will be available in the U.S., Canada, EU, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand. Customers who are interested in Pimax's new Crystal Light PC VR headset can try the device for 15 days with a trial fee. If customers are satisfied with the device, they simply pay the remaining balance on Pimax Play for full features and ownership. Those that want to return the headset can do so at no cost. It is currently unclear how the trial and “full” versions will look in terms of software locks. However, customers pay $200 less than sticker price during the trial period. Pimax opened the new payment model on May 12th.
Apple Vision Pro is getting systemwide live captions for people and apps sometime this year. These captions will generate for live conversations via microphone input and audio from any app such as FaceTime.
Location-based VR attraction Sandbox VR announced the opening of twenty-five new locations. These openings are in partnership with Apparel Group, a UAE-based fashion and lifestyle company. Sandbox VR plans to open all twenty-five locations in the Middle East by the end of 2028. The company currently operates over forty-six global locations with eighteen of them launching in the last 19 months.
Marvel Studios and ILM Immersive are collaborating on a Vision Pro exclusive game based on Disney+ series What If…?. The game, currently titled What If…? – An Immersive Story, is promised to be an hour long experience using both augmented and virtual reality. Featuring both new and iconic locations and characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the game will reimagine events from the MCU in new exciting ways.
Augmented Reality company Rokid has launched a new product. By combining the Rokid Max 2 glasses with the Rokid Station 2 host unit, the company has created the all new Rokid AR Lite. These lightweight, wearable, and user-friendly glasses are designed specifically with productivity and enterprise in mind. With the product, Rokid also introduces a new Multi Screen Mode that can disp[lay a virtual desktop screen up to 300-digital inches.
Two Name games
Industry: The All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) believes that a regulatory environment and robust support mechanisms should be implemented to allow the Indian gaming industry to contribute to the country’s economic and cultural growth. This proposal was revealed to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for their consultation paper on the formulation of the National Broadcasting Policy 2024. The AIGF not only encourages these implementations for India’s economic growth, but so that these new rules may protect India’s consumers.
A new development studio has hit South Africa. Two Name Games was co-founded by Tim Flusk, Kieran Reid, Kirsten Reid, and Vuk Vucetic. They hope to develop and foster new independent games by offering playtesting, development, consulting and publishing services.
Création Africa has announced the twelve entrepreneurs selected for their incubation program. Launched by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs in 2023, Création Africa supports entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative industry of South Africa, Lesotho, and Malawi. Though forty creative and cultural enterprises were selected for a mentorship program, only twelve initiatives were selected to participate in a five week long program. Several of these initiatives include creative studios focusing on animation and gaming.
Global Game Jam (GGJ) has found a new executive director in Maria Burns Ortiz. Ortiz was originally co-founder and CEO at 7 Generation Games and has taught at multiple universities including Tufts, Emerson College, and the Loft Literary Center. She is replacing Director of Partnerships Charly Harboard who served as interim leader after former executive director Tim Culling stepped away from the nonprofit in February.
Making his international debut on May 4th, Kenyan ESports player Bilal Mohamed won the gamrX African Championship in Lagos, Nigeria. Mohamed beat player Chux from Nigeria in a passionate final of Street Fighter 6. The final score was 3-2.
