Yesterday I watched a Youtube video about Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, in which sundry, gesticulating milords of the internet opine that they had “forgot what it’s like to be the target audience” for games, hailing the new (and for our money, fairly good) Warhammer 40K shooter as a throwback affair that “oozes masculinity”, with no excess feelings or real-life social relevancy. I then combed through several thousand comments below said video, many of which expressed similar longing for the hypothetical Good Old Days, before those wily feminists invaded the medium, transformed every game into a LGBT+ weeping simulator, and threw all the Real Men into a big hole. I did this because I was searching for one particular comment written by somebody claiming to be Matthew Karch, CEO of Space Marine 2 developers Saber Interactive.
Corinne Busche wasn’t looking for a job when she sat down for lunch with BioWare’s leadership team in 2019. She had been a fan of BioWare’s games since the days of Dragon Age: Origins, and she wanted to, in her words, “meet my heroes.”
“So I went to lunch with a couple of folks in the leadership team at BioWare, and we started riffing about progression systems and skill trees and economies, and we just really resonated with one another,” Busche remembers. “And much to my surprise, they expressed an interest in me joining, and it was kind of the question you don’t have to ask me twice. That was such a dream opportunity, and to be able to step in this space, visit the studio, see my favorite characters on display throughout the walls, I was immediately sold. Immediately.”
Busche was coming off a stint at Maxis, where she helped design the systems on various The Sims projects. In taking the helm of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, she became part of a wider talent pipeline flowing from Maxis to other parts of the games industry. It’s a pipeline that includes the likes of Eric Holmberg-Weidler, who was credited with fine-tuning many of the systems that comprised The Sims 4 before spearheading the Professions revamp in World of Warcraft’s Dragonflight expansion. Justin Camden, who also worked on The Sims, is one of Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s technical designers.
Systematic discovery
At first blush, it might not seem like The Sims has much in common with an RPG like Dragon Age outside the fact that they both feature romance in some way. Going back to its release in 2000, The Sims has garnered a reputation as a casual, frequently silly lifestyle simulator; the game where you remove a ladder from a swimming pool and watch your poor little Sims drown. Under the hood, though, The Sims is a complex web of systems, progression and relationships. Sims have jobs. They gain skills. They fall in love.
“Maxis is a great place for designers to hone their skills,” Busche says. “There are many projects across differing platforms and service models happening simultaneously which give a rare opportunity for a breadth of experience. What people may not realize about the Sims, given its playful outward nature, is the underlying systems and mechanics are deceptively deep – especially as a dev. One of the more interesting parts of coming up through Maxis as a designer is the experience you get with simulation, emergent gameplay, and emotionally relatable player experiences. It’s just a really unique opportunity being a part of these teams, and those are skillsets that can benefit a number of different games and genres.”
…we find that RPG players are hungry for that same sense of autonomy, making decisions, influencing characters
Busche’s systems design background is evident throughout The Veilguard. It includes extensive skill trees, with sub-classes that are geared around different weapon types and styles of play, and the choices you make also resonate deeply throughout the story. It’s also possible to level up your relationship with individual factions and shopkeepers, which in turn opens up new possibilities for acquiring unique gear, and characters bear long-lasting scars depending on the choices you make. Systems are layered throughout Dragon Age, deepening the player’s intertwined connection with the world and the characters that inhabit it.
“What’s so wonderful about [The Sims] is there’s so much autonomy in that game, and we find that RPG players are hungry for that same sense of autonomy, making decisions, influencing characters. And what you might not realize in the Sims is behind the scenes, there are some really robust progression systems, game economies, character behaviors for their own AI and autonomy… a lot of really fascinating parallels,” Busche says. “So in that regard, I’m very grateful to my time there, being able to take some of those learnings, whether it’s about how to convey romantic progression to the player, or design skill progression, game pacing, a lot of really interesting transferable ideas that you might not think about on the surface.”
In The Sims, characters go through their daily lives in an idealized world filled with strange but charming characters like Bonehilda (Dragon Age, it should be mentioned, has its own living skeleton in Manfred). While Dragon Age’s characters are still bound by the demands of the story, BioWare goes out of its way to make them seem more alive. As we talk about in our hands-on preview that went up last week, Dragon Age is filled with little messages noting how, for instance, you “traded verbal jabs” with Solas. As we’ll go into in a future article, both platonic and romantic relationships are a big part of how characters grow in Dragon Age.
And of course, as anyone who has played a BioWare or Sims game knows, both games have their share of woohooing.
How Dragon Age learned from The Sims’ character creator
Ultimately, though, it’s the character creator where the resemblance between the two is the most apparent. Dragon Age’s character creator is extensive, allowing players to adjust physical characteristics including chest size, the crookedness of a character’s nose, and whether or not their eyes are bloodshot, among other features. While custom characters are a time-honored BioWare tradition going back to the days of Baldur’s Gate, The Veilguard draws from the lessons of The Sims in everything from body customization to the flow of the user interface.
Cross-pollination like this is common within EA, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard borrows from plenty of other sources as well. That incredible hair technology, for example, got its start within EA’s sports games, meaning your Rook can have a luscious mane like Lionel Messi. But the character creator is perhaps the greatest inflection point between Dragon Age and The Sims.
“Character creators are extremely complex, and in many ways even more personal. It’s so important that players feel they can be represented and feel pride in that representation as they go through the creation process,” Busche says. “In particular, I remember we were struggling with some of our iconography, and we turned to each other and said ‘how did The Sims 4 handle this?’ While the technology and UI is quite a bit different, the underlying goals and lessons were quite similar.”
She adds that Maxis has a “tremendous wealth of knowledge when it comes to representing gender, identity, and the surprising number of localization issues that come along with that when you’re releasing in different regions and languages.”
“It’s always nice when you can draw from that prior experience. See what worked, what didn’t, and how expectations have evolved. The fun part is now we get to pay that forward and have been sharing our knowledge with other teams,” Busche says.
Character creators are extremely complex, and in many ways even more personal
On a moment-to-moment basis, of course, The Sims and Dragon Age are two very different games with very different goals. One is a single-player action RPG, the other a lifestyle sim. As studios, too, BioWare and Maxis are in very different places right now. The Sims has been a powerhouse franchise for more than two decades, and EA is seeking to expand its reach with a new movie. BioWare, meanwhile, is seeking to rebuild after stumbling badly with Anthem and Mass Effect Andromeda.
But when creator Will Wright first decided to focus on the people inhabiting his games, the world he crafted wasn’t too dissimilar from the one found in Dragon Age. Both use unique systems to create reactive, imaginative worlds full of interesting choices, filled with characters with their own inner lives. It’s a philosophy that’s always been part of BioWare’s legacy; now, in The Veilguard, it finally gets to be on full display once again.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox on October 31. Make sure to keep an eye on IGN all this month as our IGN First coverage continues.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
Final Fantasy 16 released on PC yesterday and there’s already a nice little discount available. At Green Man Gaming, you can get 15% off Final Fantasy 16 by using the code ‘SEP15’ at checkout (see the game here at GMG). This drops its price from $49.99 to $42.49. Additionally, if you’ve bought from GMG before and achieved a certain XP status, you can skip the code, because the price is even lower, at $40.99. That’s a nice little deal for a game that just came out on PC, so take advantage of it while it’s still available!
Final Fantasy XVI Is 15% Off With Code ‘SEP15’ at Checkout
By purchasing this game right now at Green Man Gaming, you’ll get a few bonuses as well:
Accessory: “Cait Sith’s Charm”
Valuable item: “Sixteen Bells Orchestrion Roll”
Weapon “Brave Blade”
For those curious about the XP program, this is Green Man Gaming’s loyalty program. As you gain more XP from purchases, you’ll move up to different tiers that offer a variety of exclusive benefits. To learn more about the XP program, visit Green Man Gaming’s XP page here.
In our review of Final Fantasy 16, writer Mitchell Saltzman stated that, “Final Fantasy 16 will very likely be looked back upon as a turning point for mainline Final Fantasy games, taking its combat fully in the direction of an action game, but I hope that conversation doesn’t overshadow its dark and captivating tale, memorable characters, and the innovative ways in which it helps you keep track of it all.”
If you’re looking for even more gaming discounts, we’ve got plenty of roundups for you to check out, including the best PlayStation deals, the best Xbox deals, and the best Nintendo Switch deals. We also have a roundup of the overall best video game deals that covers everything from those platforms to what other deals are happening in the world of PC gaming. Another great place to look for gaming discounts is our Daily Deals roundup, which showcases the best deals of the day.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.
As I’m sure as is the curse of anyone who’s watched the entirety of Peep Show multiple times, I cannot read the name ‘Marko’ without hearing it in a nasally Australian accent, inquiring about cocaine. This is probably a disservice to the hero of colourful metroidvaniaMarko: Beyond Brave, who a quick goog tells me may be based on Krali Marko – a popular character in the folklore of Studio Mechka’s native Bulgaria. Folk hero or not, Marko certainly has some heroic facial hair: his moustache floweth so bountifully that it can’t be contained in his character portrait. Extremely powerful of him.
Anyone who’s played PowerWash Simulator for too long while in a feverish state from having eaten too many fish fingers knows the feeling. You cease being a sanitary entrepreneur and find yourself submerged in the water, wearing a spacesuit, shooting the dirt off with a laser in a Zen-like trance while you nurture sea creatures. And now, finally, someone’s made a game about it.
Well, it’s sort of about that. In Loddlenaut, Moon Lagoon has produced a peaceful ocean purification quest in which you zip around with an underwater jetpack tidying up rubbish and un-gooping gooped-up scenery. On the way, you meet and care for little fish-like critters called loddles, then do a bit of crafting to top things off.
Castlevania Dominus Collection: How Konami Recreated DS and Arcade Games for Xbox
Donell Tucker, Brand Manager, Konami
The Castlevania Dominus Collection has launched on Xbox Series X|S. This bumper package brings together three classic Castlevania entries originally created for Nintendo DS – Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, and Castlevania Order of Ecclesia – as well as a redesigned version of the original Castlevania arcade game, Haunted Castle, titled Haunted Castle Revisited. All of this comes alongside modern quality-of-life features, brand new art to check out, and more. It’s a true celebration of the series.
As part of that celebration, we spoke with Tsutomu Taniguchi, the producer behind Castlevania Dominus Collection. From the excitement of working on Castlevania again to adapting almost two decade-old mechanics for modern consoles, learn why the developers were committed to honoring the legacy of Castlevania for the beloved fans, while also getting new players interested in the series.
When you revisit these classic Castlevania games from the Dominus collection, what emotions or memories come to mind?
Since most of the original games in this collection were on a 3-inch LCD screen, it’s surprising to see these games on a TV or monitor now and discover all the attention to detail that you may have missed before. The carefully crafted detail in the background, the attention to detail towards the character’s animations and more.
All the titles have such incredible soundtracks, so the moment we heard the music play, it took us right back to all the fun we had playing them on the DS for the first time.
As you say, several of these games were created for Nintendo DS, which is a very different visual format to traditional on-TV play. How have you adapted them?
The Nintendo DS has two 3-inch LCD screens with an aspect ratio of 4:3, and there’s a big difference in the pixel count (resolution) compared to modern home screens. So, to adapt that to the current 16:9 Full HD display, we’ve prepared five different screen modes to choose from. We hope users can find the screen layout that works best for them.
We recommend the three-screen layout, with the enlarged game window as the main screen, and a smaller status window and map window as sub-screens. With this layout, you can see three different screens at once, something that wasn’t possible in the original game. This allows you to conveniently keep both your map and character status screens open as you play, which we think will help with the overall gameplay experience.
Of course, for anyone who’d like to recreate the same experience as the original version, two-screen layouts will also be available. We also have a screen mode specially designed for optimal magnification (dot by dot), for when the display resolution differs from the original pixel resolution.
As developers, what’s the most exciting and challenging part of bringing a collection like this to life?
Firstly, we’re honored to be working with the series and just the fact that we were able to play a part in creating this collection is so exciting. The chance to bring these titles that weren’t available on current consoles to players again was also a big motivating factor. It’s so rewarding to know that, with the collection, players can experience all the fun that Castlevania has to offer again.
We noticed comments online saying, “I wish I could play the three DS titles on current consoles!” and seeing that always made us happy to be working on it, and really motivated us to bring these titles back as soon as possible! We were truly grateful to see that players were still interested in the games.
For all those players who have fond memories of these titles, we would be delighted if this collection aids to relive the times you’ve enjoyed with Castlevania. And for players new to Castlevania, we hope this will be the perfect opportunity to give these titles a try.
Why do you think now is the perfect time to bring these titles back?
It was around 2019 when we started seeing people online mention, “I love exploration-based action games! But I’ve never played a Castlevania game…” That was what got us first thinking about making Castlevania available on current consoles again, so that people could have the chance to discover them.
At that time, we didn’t have any ported versions of the “exploration-action” style of Castlevania titles available on current consoles, and any of the originals that were floating around the market went for a premium price, so even for people who wanted to play the games, it wasn’t so easy to get into.
We have several of these exploration-action style Castlevania titles, so it was hard for the team to decide which order we wanted to go in to adapt them to current consoles. But in the end, we decided to follow the order in which they were released, so we started with the 3 GBA titles in the Castlevania Advance Collection, released in 2021. We were pleasantly surprised to see it so well received by even more players than we had imagined.
Since that was the thought process from the start, it was easy to follow through and have a team consensus of “if we ever create anything next, it would be the three DS titles!”
What do you hope new players will discover about Castlevania through this collection? Are there any aspects of the games that you think will surprise them?
Firstly, for returning players, we hope this collection helps them rediscover Castlevania and relive those moments they enjoyed in the past. Additionally, this collection includes features such as ‘Gallery Mode’ where you can view concept and design documents, a newly-added Encyclopedia, and a Music Player Mode, all to provide a deeper dive into the world of Castlevania. Please do have some fun and try these additional contents out!
And for players who have never played Castlevania, we hope this will be your chance to get to know the series. Finally, we’ve included a bonus title, Haunted Castle Revisited, an adaptation of the arcade game, Haunted Castle. We hope you enjoy!
For new players, out of the 4 titles in the Castlevania Dominus Collection, what order should they play these games in?
Even within the development team, we can’t all agree on which of the three we’d recommend first, so we think players will likely enjoy them no matter which order they try them in.
But if we had to say, perhaps the order they were released in might be the way to go.
Alongside the DS remasters, you’ve also created an entirely revamped version of the original Castlevania arcade game. Why did you return to that game, and how have you improved it?
The bonus title was decided by going through all the available options, together with M2 Co. Ltd. [the collection’s co-development studio]. A little secret: it was so hard to decide between the titles that we had many, MANY discussions just to narrow down our top options. I had decided early on that the bonus title should be a stage-clearing action game, something that’s different from the three featured NDS titles. We thought that the bonus title should either be a port of a game that was not compatible with the current consoles, or a small remake of a past title.
Having said that, I somehow knew that it would be a ‘port’, just like the Castlevania Advance Collection. In the end, we narrowed down the possible ‘port’ and ‘remake’ titles, but none of them felt ‘right’. That was when the director of M2 suggested, ‘How about redesigning an arcade title that was super difficult so that it could be played on console?’ and that’s when we all had the ‘Aha!’ moment. Thereon, deciding which title to include was smooth sailing.
I think we’ve succeeded in creating beautiful graphics while retaining the original feel of the pixels, and I believe the game design is finished in a way that people can have fun with.
I really hope that this game gets played by many and brings enjoyment to them! Initially, we intended this to be a small-scale remake, but when we realized, it had turned out to be a full-scale remake. This is all thanks to M2’s commitment and workmanship.
In addition to the three action adventure games from the Castlevania series, Haunted Castle Revisited, an redesigned version of the very first Castlevania arcade game, makes its debut! And you can also play it in its original format!
Experience the world of Castlevania like never before, with never-before-seen art and handy new features such as rewind, quick saves and much more!
– Titles
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
The adventures of Soma continue! Discover a completely new way to create countless weapons by combining souls, in stunning 2D graphics.
One year after the events of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, a boy named Soma Cruz is once again put at the center of a plot to resurrect Dracula led by a mysterious cult.. Will he finally be able to face his own destiny and put an end to all this?
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Not one but two heroes join their forces to fight the evil this time! Switch between Jonathan and Charlotte with a single button press and make the best use of their unique abilities.
Dracula’s Castle has suddenly resurfaced, but something doesn’t add up.
Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin make their way in to investigate, they soon discover that the mind behind all this is not who they thought…
Castlevania Order of Ecclesia
The enigmatic Shanoa is the only human capable of using the glyphs, symbols full of magic.
Gather glyphs by exploring the Castle and its surroundings and absorb the power of the mighty foes you fight!
The three most powerful glyphs, thought to be able to even defeat Dracula himself, have been stolen. Can Shanoa bring them back to the Order, and finally destroy the Dark Lord?
Haunted Castle
Haunted Castle Revisited, an redesigned version of the very first Castlevania arcade game, makes its debut! And you can also play it in its original format!
Square Enix has finally made public its dissatisfaction with Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s commercial performance, admitting neither game met profit expectations.
In a financial results briefing held May 13 but only released today, September 18, Takashi Kiryu, president and representative director of Square Enix said: “In the HD Games sub-segment, we released multiple new titles, including major titles such as Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but profits unfortunately did not meet our expectations.”
Kiryu went on to suggest Square Enix cannibalized sales of its Final Fantasy games released during the financial year ending March 2024.
“We recognize that issues remain in the Digital Entertainment segment,” Kiryu admitted. “The HD Games sub-segment failed to better its profitability, posting operating losses in every year of our previous medium-term plan. In addition to this, we did not manage our title portfolio across the company as well as we could have, which I believe resulted in opportunity losses due to cannibalization between our own titles.”
Square Enix released Final Fantasy 16 in June 2023, then Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth just over half a year later in February 2024. Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth both launched as PlayStation 5 exclusives, and while Square Enix has announced a sales figure for Final Fantasy 16, it has yet to do so for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the second game in the company’s trilogy of Final Fantasy 7 remakes.
“In the case of the HD Game sub-segment, sales of individual games will remain the key variable, but we believe that we will be able to exercise some degree of control over that volatility by carefully curating our pipeline over the next three years,” Kiryu said. “By also working steadily to improve our profitability, we intend to offset the weakness in SD games to achieve overall profitability.”
We did not manage our title portfolio across the company as well as we could have.
Square Enix has now extended the timelines for a portion of its pipeline, “in part because of the massive amount of time required to develop HD games, and in part because we determined that we should rethink how best to deliver some of the titles we had under development to our customers,” Kiryu revealed.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
As per EA’s recent generative AI tugathon, the third game in Respawn’s action adventure Star Wars trilogy has been confirmed again to be in development. According to EA, it’ll be the “final chapter” in the now-trilogy, following 2019’s Jedi Fallen Order and 2023’s Jedi Survivor.
The existence of the game was first confirmed by Cal Kestis actor Cameron Monaghan, during an Ocala Comic Con panel. “We’re working on a third and we’re in the process of doing that right now,” said Monaghan, which is about as straightforward an affirmative as one could want. It was also double-confirmed this February, following news of layoffs at EA, via Eurogamer.
HTC Vive has upgraded its lineup of Extended Reality headsets with the new HTC Vive Focus Vision, promising gamers built-in eye-tracking, improved cameras, and better hand-tracking. If actual reality is just too much and you’ve recently received an unexpected inheritance from a wealthy benefactor, the new headset is available to pre-order today.
HTC Vive Focus Vision price:
USD $999
UK £999
€1229
AUD 1,899 inc GST
Not to be confused with the currently available Vive XR Elite, Focus 3, Focus Plus, Pro 2, or Viveflow VR models, the HTC Vive Focus Vision will also offer a DisplayPort mode that will connect directly with a PC’s graphics card to let VR gamers work their way through their Steam VR back catalog without a drop in visual quality. The only catch with that feature is that it won’t be available until “late 2024.”
HTC Vive Focus Vision features:
Built-in eye-tracking and motorized auto-IPD adjustment
DisplayPort mode for stunning, visually lossless PCVR experiences
Dual 16MP color cameras for stereoscopic full-color passthrough
Up to 120-degree FOV and 90Hz refresh rate. Support for 120Hz refresh rate via
DisplayPort mode coming late 2024
Combined 5k resolution across both eyes
Depth sensor for scene recognition
Infra-red sensor for enhanced tracking in low-light conditions
“VIVE Focus Vision gives you the best of both worlds, with outstanding standalone capabilities, and DisplayPort mode support for visually lossless PCVR experiences,” said Shen Ye, Global Head of Product at HTC VIVE.
“Now, PC gamers can bring the same high-end headsets used in VR arcades into their homes. We’re taking everything to the next level with built-in eye-tracking, stereo color passthrough cameras for depth-correct Mixed Reality, and even an infra-red sensor for enhanced hand tracking in low-light conditions.”
Extended Reality – or XR – is the umbrella term for virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. HTC Vive is one of the biggest players in the space, and its new toy will compete with the Meta Quest 3 and of course the Apple Vision Pro. We’ll let you know how it stacks up against them when its released later this year.
The upcoming skate. game now has an (admittedly vague) early access release date of 2025, according to a post by the developers on Xitter. It’s difficult to write about the new skate. game because if you choose to write skate. with the imposed stylings which skate. publishers Electronic Arts insist, you end up putting a full stop after every instance of skate., which makes your sentences about skate. sound fucking stupid. and. belaboured. with. pauses. Game makers, please stop putting punctuation in your game names.
