‘Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla’ writer Darby McDevitt is leaving Ubisoft
Darby McDevitt, lead writer of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla as well as other Assassin’s Creed entries, has announced that he is departing Ubisoft.
McDevitt has worked at Ubisoft for over a decade, and first started working on the Assassin’s Creed series with Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines.
Since then McDevitt has been the lead writer on Revelations, Black Flag and most recently Assassins Creed: Valhalla.
“Today is my last day at Ubisoft Montreal!” wrote McDevitt on Twitter. “After a decade of working with brilliant people, creating stories & characters for an incredible series, & interacting with our wonderful fans, I have decided to set forth on a new adventure… ”
Today is my last day at Ubisoft Montreal!
After a decade of working with brilliant people, creating stories & characters for an incredible series, & interacting with our wonderful fans, I have decided to set forth on a new adventure…
1/2 pic.twitter.com/mhV4UntJ6m
— Darby McDevitt (@DarbyMcDevitt) March 26, 2021
He followed up by thanking fans and content creators that have supported the franchise over the years. “Thank you for your kind attention! You have my deepest respect & admiration.”
The official Assassin’s Creed account also thanked McDevitt with a video cut to scenes from the games he had been involved in writing. They signed off by saying “May the winds blow in your favor on your next journey!”
Thank you @DarbyMcDevitt for your immense contribution to the brand. The stories and characters you created will always be cherished by the Assassin’s Creed community. May the winds blow in your favor on your next journey! pic.twitter.com/fTWQw7rRN1
— Assassin’s Creed (@assassinscreed) March 26, 2021
The latest title update to Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla is out, and prepares Ravensthrope for the upcoming Ostara festival. The update also brings along a range of skill updates, new features, and bug fixes.
Ostara Season will launch on April 8, and will bring new activities and quests to the game alongside items and outfits.
The first major update – Wrath of the Druids – will set to launch on April 29, and will be followed up with The Siege of Paris later in the year.
Assassins Creed: Valhalla has recently come under fire for “overbearing microtransactions”, with fans expressing frustration at this on top of the game’s already high price-tag.
- Published in PC Game News, What's New
‘Monster Hunter Rise’ launch trailer reveals new monster coming in April
Monster Hunter Rise is out today (Friday 26) but the launch trailer already has players eagerly anticipating what’s in store with future updates.
The end of the trailer provides an outline of free post-launch content players can expect, including a sneak peek of a new monster.
The launch trailer gives a good overview of what players can expect from Monster Hunter Rise, showcasing the new wirebug mechanic used for both traversal and combat, the new village hub of Kamura, as well as glimpses of fights against some formidable monsters.
However, the second half of the trailer reveals a silhouette of a fire-breathing wyvern, Apex Rathalos. While Rathalos has been a signature monster since the first instalment, this is an especially tougher variant that can be found in the game’s new Rampage quests.
Watch the launch trailer below:
Apex Rathalos arrives in Monster Hunter Rise‘s 2.0 update, scheduled for late April.
The update includes new monster Chameleos, the first post-launch monster revealed by Capcom during a digital event earlier this month, while several other monsters are still be announced. This will also unlock the HR cap and other features related to the end-game.
A 3.0 update is also planned, albeit with no confirmed release window, which will not only add new monsters but also a new ending, as confirmed by the game director in a Q&A during a livestream earlier this month.
Monster Hunter Rise is expected to be a huge hit on Nintendo Switch, especially in its native Japan, where one company has give its employees a holiday to play the game on launch day.
- Published in PC Game News, What's New
‘Immortals Fenyx Rising’ second DLC is available now
Ubisoft has announced that the second DLC for Immortals Fenyx Rising, Myths of the Eastern Realm, is currently available to download.
Three post-launch DLC‘s (downloadable content) was confirmed for Immortals Fenyx Rising in November last year. The first being A New God, which is already available to play.
The latest Myths of the Eastern Realm DLC follows a new hero named Ku who embarks on a journey inspired by a popular Chinese myth, Nuwa Mends The Heavens. Players will encounter Chinese deities, battle new enemies using a unique fighting style based on Chinese martial arts, and experience new puzzles.
The DLC is being led by the Ubisoft Chengdu studio, and will take players on a new open world adventure. In the post-launch DLC, players will be able to tackle new gameplay ingredients, as well as unlock new abilities such as Nuwa’s Agility, Blades of Huang Di and the Axe of Yan Di.
To access Myths of the Eastern Realm, players will have to purchase the Season Pass for $39.99, which includes all three post-launch DLC packs. However, players can opt to purchase the latest DLC separately for $14.99.
Along with the launch of Myths of the Eastern Realm, Ubisoft are offering a free demo of the base game to new players. Set in an archipelago built exclusively for the demo and inspired by Aphrodite’s region of the game, the new demo features a mix of combat, exploration and puzzles.
Immortals Fenyx Rising is an open world adventure game inspired by Greek mythology and is currently available for PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One consoles, PC and Google Stadia.
In other Ubisoft news, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids is set to launch on April 29 as the first major expansion since the game was released.
- Published in PC Game News, What's New
Panic adds screen mirroring to its retro handheld Playdate
Panic adds screen mirroring to its retro handheld Playdate
In context: The Playdate is a tiny handheld gaming device with a 2.7-inch black-and-white LCD and a hand crank on the side. Firewatch publisher Panic is shooting for a gaming system with a retro vibe but still delivers contemporary graphics and performance. Because of the pandemic, it had a little extra time to work on the device and came up with a way to stream gameplay to a PC.
On Wednesday, Panic announced that it had added a cool new feature to its upcoming Playdate handheld gaming system. Users will now be able to plug the device into a computer and mirror the display in real-time. The feature works via an app and cable. However, Panic did not say whether these add-ons were included with the device or sold separately.
Here’s a fun little new thing we made. Plug in your Playdate, launch this app, and it will mirror your Playdate screen to your PC/Mac/Linux in real-time. Perfect for streamers, YouTubers, and better accessibility. Input from the PC can pass through to the Playdate also! pic.twitter.com/OE8q1X0txC
— Playdate (@playdate) March 24, 2021
The company tweeted a short demo on the official Playdate Twitter account (above), noting, “Input from the PC can pass through to the Playdate also!” Latency appears low enough that controlling a game from a PC should be possible, although it is unclear how one would emulate the unique crank control on the device’s side.
Panic says that the feature is intended to make it easy for streamers to broadcast gameplay and provides better accessibility. It did not mention what type of connectivity the cable provides but did say that it is compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux variants.
Ever since it was announced back in the spring of 2019, we’ve been anxious to get our hands on the tiny retro-gaming handheld. Panic was supposed to ship Playdate in early 2020, but the pandemic had other plans. Barring any other unforeseen problems, it should launch within the coming weeks, but it still does not have a solid release date set.
- Published in PC Game News, Retro Gaming News, What's New
‘Genshin Impact’ has made $1billion in mobile revenue
Free-to-play RPG Genshin Impact has hit another new record, making over US $1billion in mobile revenue in just six months since it first launched.
According to Sensor Tower, this is the shortest period of time that a game on the App Store and Google Play has hit US $1billion in revenue.
The research company compared this to other games, such as Pokémon Go which took nine months to reach the same milestone, while Lineage 2: Revolution took ten months.
Despite this milestone, during the last 30 days Genshin Impact is actually ranked as the third highest revenue-generating title on the App Store and Google Play combined, behind PUBG Mobile and Honor of Kings.
Outside of China, miHoYo’s open-world RPG has been the No. 1 top grossing mobile game, earning more than US $129million internationally over the past 30 days.
Just at the start of March, Genshin Impact‘s mobile revenue had surpassed US $874 million.
Data on revenue generated on PC and PS4 are currently unknown, so the game’s overall profits are likely to be even greater.
The high profits are not however without huge costs. Based on a company presentation form miHoYo president Cai Haoyu, translated by Twitter user AeEntropy, Genshin Impact cost US $100million to make but continued development costs are expected to be around US $200million every year.
Elsewhere, Pokémon Go developer Niantic has announced that it is partnering with Nintendo to make an Pikmin AR game.
- Published in PC Game News, What's New
‘Call of Duty’ players are finally able to earn the Shadowhunter crossbow
The R1 Shadowhunter crossbow is officially being released for Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War after a recent accidental release.
The official Call of Duty blog, updated on Monday (March 22) has confirmed that the weapon has been added. To unlock the weapon, players will need to complete an in-game challenge which requires them to get three “One Shot, One Kill” medals in 15 different matches.
To complete the challenge, players will need to use a weapon with no attachments. Those who do not want to complete the challenges will be able to purchase the “Archaic Range” bundle on March 24.
The Shadowhunter crossbow was initially released early, by accident, on March 18. A bundle that went up for sale included a blueprint for the Crossbow for Warzone.
Players who bought the bundle for Warzone were not able to get the weapon, but they quickly discovered that it was available in Black Ops Cold War if its challenge was completed.
Activision responded by removing the crossbow from the game, but after community feedback, Treyarch confirmed that players who bought the pack would be refunded.
Players who had unlocked the crossbow would also have the challenge progress set at 14/15 matches complete when the Shadowhunter was official released.
In recent Call of Duty news, fans spotted an emblem in Warzone which bares a striking similarity to a Ukranian Neo-Nazi symbol. The emblem has so far not been removed from the game.
Two competitive Warzone players were also banned after Alex Zedra, the voice actor for the agent Mara, reported one of them for suspicious behaviour during a Warzone tournament.
- Published in PC Game News, What's New