The game released on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S on March 20, and just before 4pm in Canada, Ubisoft took to social media to say it had crossed the 1 million player mark.
“It’s not even 4pm here in Canada and Assassin’s Creed Shadows has already passed 1 million players!” Ubisoft said.
“Thank YOU from the bottom of our hearts for joining this adventure in Feudal Japan. We are beyond excited to start this journey with you!”
While 1 million players on launch day is an impressive achievement, it’s difficult to gauge success when Ubisoft itself hasn’t offered a sales figure or indeed a sales target.
What we do know is that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the top-selling video game globally on Steam right now. Valve’s chart sorts products by revenue, so we can say Ubisoft’s game is currently bringing in more money than any other on the platform.
We also have early days Steam concurrent figures. According to official stats from Valve’s platform, Assassin’s Creed Shadows hit a peak player concurrent figure of 41,412 on Steam on launch day. Assassin’s Creed Shadows released on a Thursday, so it is expected that that figure will grow as we head into the game’s first weekend on sale. We’ll have a better picture of its performance on Steam next week and in the weeks ahead. Neither Sony nor Microsoft make player numbers public.
For some context, BioWare’s single-player RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard launched on Steam on Thursday, October 31, 2024, and saw a peak of 70,414 players on Valve’s platform.
There is enormous pressure on Assassin’s Creed Shadows to do well for Ubisoft globally after a number of delays and the sales failure of last year’s Star Wars Outlaws. Indeed, Ubisoft has suffered a number of high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations in the run up to Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ release.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows has also endured a number of controversies, not least in Japan. Yesterday, IGN confirmed that Ubisoft had quietly released a day-one patch for Assassin’s Creed Shadows that made a number of important changes seemingly in response to concern from some Japanese politicians about in-game temples and shrines.
In a remarkable exchange this week, Japanese politician and member of the House of Councillors of Japan, Hiroyuki Kada, raised the issue of Assassin’s Creed Shadows in an official government meeting, and Shigeru Ishiba, the Prime Minister of Japan, responded.
On Steam at least, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is going down very well with players. It has a ‘very positive’ user review rating, with 82% of the near 4,000 user reviews marked as positive. IGN’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows review returned an 8/10. We said: “By sharpening the edges of its existing systems, Assassin’s Creed Shadows creates one of the best versions of the open-world style it’s been honing for the last decade.”
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.
I have recently immersed myself in the pleasantly numb Monster Hunter Wilds loop of smashing Arkvelds to bits. They are, as far as I can tell, the most profitable creature to bully, and I now find myself skinny dipping in the gulf of meaning that lies between the regal, resentful, mildly sassy chains hanging from the creature’s armour set, and the deeply sad and laboured motions with which it swings its bodily inspiration for those chains.
I get the sense that the series’ solution to the uncomfortable implications of its lizard bashing has been, over the last few entries, to evil-fy its creature design to the point where it engenders less easy empathy. There’s a lot of ugly, bugly bastards in Wilds, is what I’m saying. Less deep, sad lizard eyes and more chittering chitin and fuck-you dragon stares. The Arkveld’s design is so threatening that it invites nothing if not: look mate, if four of us manage to take you down with scissors whittled from Original Recipe Chatacabra marrow, it’s your own fault here, ya bish.
Sonic the Hedgehog has been around for a long time now and if you’re having trouble keeping track of all the highlights in his career, don’t worry – Sega’s got you covered with its official timeline. This is all part of the Sonic Channel’s relaunch in Japan, which has now been going strong for 20 years.
Helping more people experience the “power of play”.
The Entertainment Software Association has this week announced a new “cross-industry effort” known as the Accessible Games Initiative and Nintendo of America will be one of the five founding members.
Split Fiction is getting a film adaptation, according to Variety, which reports a package is being put together in response to offers for the movie rights coming in from “multiple top Hollywood studios.”
Variety’s sources stated that Story Kitchen, a media company that specialises in film and TV adaptations of games and other non-traditional properties, is currently assembling the project’s writers, director, and cast into a package deal. The upcoming film adaptation of Hazelight Studios’ previous game, It Takes Two, was handled by the same team. Other Story Kitchen projects (formerly known as dj2 Entertainment) include the Sonic the Hedgehog films and Netflix’s Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft.
I don’t envy the work it takes to keep an annual series like MLB The Show going. There’s so much to do and perilously little time to do it in, whether that’s adding new features, fixing the things people didn’t like, or writing and producing an entire new season of The Negro Leagues. It’s especially hard when all that time and effort often gets distilled down to a single question: is it worth upgrading from last year? Thanks in large part to fundamental changes to the way the Road To The Show and Diamond Dynasty modes work, MLB The Show 25 answers that question with a resounding yes.
The actual Baseball hasn’t changed a lot this year, which I don’t mind, but there are some nice tweaks throughout. For starters, recent changes like two-way players, adjustments to shift rules, and the pitch clock are all fully incorporated at this point. There are some new quick time events that can happen when you are locked into controlling a single player, rather than the whole team, the most notable of which is the new swim move to avoid tags. I was a little nervous that it would make stealing bases too easy, but the prompt only seems to come up occasionally, and is rare enough to feel more like a treat than a clutch. Infielders now have a few different initial reactions that can have a big impact on how quickly they get to a ball, too. This mostly means that poor defenders play more like it now, so the net effect is worse defense, but I think it’s a worthwhile tradeoff that makes great defenders more valuable, particularly in Franchise mode.
There’s also a new ambush hitting feature where you can “cheat” towards inside or outside pitches, making it easier to hit on the side you choose and harder on the side you don’t. I like it in theory, though I’ve ultimately had more success staying neutral, and so I only rarely use it. Hitting overall still feels great, though something seems off about perfect contact. You still get the same satisfying crack of the bat, but it feels like the vast, vast majority of the time it results in a hard hit out or just a single, which is way too little payoff for what should be the best possible hits. Hopefully that gets adjusted over time.
Franchise, where you get to take control of your favorite team and right the wrongs of ownership (like adding a badly needed impact bat to my beloved Mariners), is pretty similar to last year. The custom game entry, which lets you auto-simulate games until high-leverage situations come up and you opt into taking control, remains one of my favorite features. The way you offer free agent contracts has been overhauled this year: You now prioritize a small selection of targets, and you accumulate interest from them as days pass. It does a great job simplifying the free agent process, and I like the strategy around deciding between joining the pursuit of marquee free agents vs rounding out my roster.
The core of The Show 25 remains as solid as ever.
All that is to say the core of The Show 25 remains as solid as ever, focusing on some small but appreciated updates over sweeping overhauls. And while they may not have fundamentally changed, Franchise and March to October both take advantage of new production elements, like player vs player comparisons. The new G.O.A.T. difficulty is as hard as it sounds, too, with fast pitches, aggressive breaks on balls, and a very small Plate Coverage Indicator. I will freely admit it’s much too hard for me, though I expect people who crave punishing challenges will enjoy this one.
Road to the Show
Road To The Show, where you take control of your own custom ballplayer as they lead up to and then eventually enter the Major League, is where you’ll find some of the larger changes year-over-year – and they do a fantastic job of reinvigorating the mode. Unlike previous years, where you participate in the combine before being drafted into the league, now you begin as an amateur all the way back in high school. It’s brief, but playing out the end of senior year and trying to impress scouts and recruiters while you chase a championship is a fun twist. Pinky Rogers, my two-way pitcher and first baseman, dominated the competition and found himself firmly in the crosshairs of two dozen big league clubs and, in another new addition to The Show, college scouts.
This led to a legitimately interesting choice: do I jump straight into pro ball and start working my way up, or do I go to college, time-skip to the end of senior year, and try to become a highly polished, highly drafted blue chip prospect? I opted for the student-athlete route, and accepted the offer to play for TCU, one of the eight real college teams to choose from. The authenticity was impressive, from recreations of each team’s home and away jerseys as I played through the college baseball playoffs to the distinct TINK as metal bats made contact with the ball. Choosing that route meant I arrived at the Minor Leagues with higher stats and could make the jump from AA to AAA much, much faster than in previous years, which is a big improvement from what has historically been a bit of a slog.
The other big change is to how players are upgraded. Previous iterations of The Show had a “use it to improve it” model, sort of like in an Elder Scrolls RPG, where success with specific actions, like hitting against left handed pitchers or throwing strikes with specific pitches, slowly raised those particular attributes. That’s now replaced by a token system, where you get points to allocate. It might sound like a subtle difference, but it massively changes how you develop as a player. Every good at bat, pitch, play in the field, or training session accumulates progress, which makes the pull of playing “just one more game” very difficult to resist. It’s a little tough to justify doing some of the longer or tougher training minigames, like the Inter-Squad game, when you can just as easily make progress doing simple ladder drills, but it’s a worthwhile tradeoff that has made Road To The Show hard for me to put down.
Storyline
One of the marquee features of The Show is the Negro League storyline, which returns for its third season. It remains one of the most impressive modes in any sports game, combining a mini documentary featurette about Negro League stars like “Cool Papa” Bell or Caleb “Turkey” Stearns with playable moments from their careers. It’s once again anchored with stories from Bob Kendrick, the magnetic president of the Negro League museum, and continues to stand out as an excellent overlap of history and gameplay.
That said, new stories aside, this mode is functionality identical to the previous two iterations, which puts it in a bit of an odd place. I praised the debut of the Negro League in my MLB The Show 23 review, but the lack of advancement over the last few years is disappointing. It’s still a mix of excellent vignettes and basic gameplay challenges (separated by long loading times), but the challenges themselves are often just to get some hits or strike a few people out, which is the same as the gameplay moments from Diamond Dynasty. I know they can do more unique and interesting things, like when your entire defense sat around you when you pitched as Satchel Paige in The Negro League season 1, and the fact that they don’t do that a lot more feels like a missed opportunity to make the gameplay side of this mode stand out.
The other piece that sticks out is the notable absence of an expansive storyline focused on an individual player like we had with Derek Jeter in The Show 24. That extensive look into The Captain wasn’t perfect, but the branching paths and rewards seemed like the next evolution of the Storylines model. It felt like we were just scratching the surface of what Storylines could be, especially when there is no shortage of incredible stories from the last century of baseball history, so The Show 25 not running with that momentum is a tough pill to swallow.
Diamond Dynasty
Diamond Dynasty, the live service corner of The Show where you gather players via card collecting to form your baseball team, is back with a few excellent changes of its own. First, Sets and Seasons, where cards were only usable during a specific timeframe before being retired in most modes, is officially over, and I am so glad for that. Some great cards are rewarded for grinding through multi-faceted programs, and it never seemed worth putting in the work for players that were going to be forced to the bench eventually. Now if you go through the effort to get the top tier Roger Clemens card from his program, for example, you get to keep it, earn XP to upgrade it, and let your favorites be cornerstones of your team. It’s a very, very good change.
The other big update is the inclusion of a new single-player mode called Diamond Quest, which is sort of like a roguelite-inspired board game. It sounds strange, but it’s honestly a pretty fun way to play. You roll a die each turn, and every space you cross can hide a gameplay challenge, a reward of some kind, or nothing at all. The objective is to get to the Stadium (or Stadiums), and win a three-inning game there with your squad. If you win, you get to keep the rewards you accumulated and get a chance at a high level card dropping. It’s fun, very replayable since the contents of the tiles are randomized, and pretty generous with its rewards. I particularly appreciate that you get to choose your difficulty for the Stadium games. Sometimes it’s nice to just take the easy win, while other times it’s worth the risk of losing what you picked up by aiming for a harder challenge, since that increases your odds of getting the best drops at the end.
In Remedy’s Control spin-off FBC: Firebreak, trios of gadget-toting humans from the Federal Bureau of Control descend to the shapeshifting halls of the Oldest House, fighting eldritch Hiss invaders and possessed objects such as swarming Post-It notes. Where Control cast you as the FBC’s newly appointed director, equipped with executive perks such as telekinesis, the folks who make up the Firebreak initiative are regular office shmucks brandishing comparatively straightforward guns and bludgeoning implements. They’re here years after Control’s denouement to do some clean-up, with the Oldest House still under lockdown while the FBC seek a proper, lasting solution to the Hiss menace.
Why Nightdive Remastered System Shock 2 Instead of Remaking It
Morgan Shaver, Communications Manager, Nightdive Studios
If Nightdive Studios were a home, it would be built upon the foundation of System Shock. As one of the studio’s formative projects, the Kickstarter campaign for its acclaimed System Shock remake put Nightdive on the map. But it wasn’t System Shock that inspired Nightdive’s creation, rather its sequel, System Shock 2.
With the recently announced June 26, 2024, release date for System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster fast approaching, some have wondered: why a remaster instead of a full remake?
To answer this, let’s look back at Nightdive’s origins, remasters as a form of preservation, and the many enhancements that make System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster a worthy tribute to a beloved classic!
Where It All Began
“Like many others, my first experience with System Shock was the sequel,” begins Nightdive Founder and CEO Stephen Kick, who recounts being introduced to the game while eating lunch with his friends at school.
After sharing how much he loved Half-Life, his friend Marshall suggested giving System Shock 2 a try. “The next day, he came back to the table and handed me the Big Box. That night, I installed the game and was instantly captivated. Every aspect of it congealed into an unforgettably immersive experience that still gives me chills every time I think about it.”
Little did he know at the time, this pivotal moment would later contribute to Nightdive’s founding in 2012 when Kick had the nostalgic desire to replay System Shock 2. Unable to get his game to run, and unable to re-purchase it on digital platforms, Kick began reaching out to license holders and was ultimately rewarded with the rights to re-release System Shock 2 in 2013, followed by the original.
“After System Shock: Enhanced Edition introduced mouse look and other quality of life improvements, we knew we had the unique opportunity to re-introduce the gaming world at large to one of the most influential and overlooked experiences ever created. The decision was then made to assemble a team to remake System Shock to not only honor the original, but to celebrate the legacy it created,” Kick explains.
“While we’d already announced an enhanced edition of System Shock 2, the success of the remake caused us to pivot and re-evaluate our goals for System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition, ultimately leading to a remaster that’s much grander in scope and ambition.”
So, why didn’t this pivot with System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster (formerly System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition) lead to another remake?
Remaster vs. Remake
“With System Shock 2, the game was already in a playable state, it just needed the same care and attention we’ve brought to other games we’ve worked on from that generation,” Kick clarifies. “Improved graphics, performance, and the ability to play on console — so it was decided to remaster the game instead of completely remaking it.”
Nightdive’s mission extends beyond ‘bringing lost and forgotten games back from the depths’ with its commitment to game preservation. As Nightdive developer Alex Lima points out, remasters and remakes are “two very different approaches” to game preservation.
“In a remake, we have the liberty of using modern engines, and we need to seek a specific type of talent when assembling a development team. In a remaster, we’re adapting legacy source code and doing lots of reverse engineering when that source code is lost.”
If you think of games as art, like Nightdive VP of Business Development Larry Kuperman does, a remaster is closer to restoration work done with old paintings while remakes are akin to creating a replica. “Games are a form of interactive art and should be preserved as art deserves to be preserved,” says Kuperman.
Being able to leverage as much of a game’s original content as possible is not only valuable from a preservation standpoint, but from a modding one too.
“In a remaster, we adhere to the modding standards the original developers or community have already established. In a remake, we’re able to create the modding ecosystems with modern practices and standards. All in all, we do both with passion, and it’s up to the public to decide which one they favor,” notes Lima.
“We decided to go with a remaster because we care a lot about the System Shock 2 fanbase, and we know a modding community has built around this game that’d benefit from the addition of advanced features. A remake would also be great, but it wouldn’t affect the modding community in as positive a way as this remaster will.”
Bringing a Horror Classic to Xbox
Modders aren’t the only ones who’ll benefit from the enhancements of System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster. With a wealth of fixes and improvements, the game’s shaping up to be more approachable than ever.
For example, as you explore the creepy corridors of the Von Braun, one of the first things you’ll notice is the game’s visual enhancements. “Menus and in-game UI elements have been upgraded to high-resolution assets, providing enhanced clarity and readability,” confirms Lima.
“The Xbox family of systems has the kind of hardware that PC players in the ‘90s could only dream of, and we make use of that extra muscle,” adds developer Lexi Mayfield. “The game runs natively at 4K resolution on the Xbox One X and Xbox Series X|S with 120Hz also supported on the Xbox Series X|S version.”
It’s not just looks — System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster plays better, too.
“The 3D renderer used by System Shock 2’s “Dark” Engine has been modernized. You can expect to see high-resolution assets, modern materials and shaders, support for ambient occlusion, and many of the performance bottlenecks of the older renderer addressed,” explains Mayfield.
As expected for a game releasing on consoles, System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster offers comprehensive controller support.
“Every interface in the game, from PDA screens to hacking tools, can now be quickly navigated with the directional pad and face buttons. Cycling between PDA interfaces is done with the triggers, and tabular interfaces in those screens are cycled with the bumpers.”
You can do more with the bumpers than cycle between screens, thanks to the game’s newly added quickbar system. Now, switching between weapons and psi powers is both faster and easier thanks to two quick-access bars bound by default to the Left and Right bumpers.
“You can also slow down your aim for the sake of accuracy, and instead of multiple lean buttons there’s now a single lean toggle that uses the control stick for the lean direction.”
If the default setup doesn’t work for you, “nearly every control except looking and walking with the analog sticks can be remapped. You can even swap the sticks to a southpaw configuration if you prefer.”
And if you’d rather stick to mouse and keyboard, Mayfield assures “we have you covered there too.” While the team can’t delve too deep into either of these just yet, multiplayer and co-op are in development for System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster. “Crossplay functionality is also supported, allowing players across different platforms to connect and play together,” notes Lima.
A Look to the Future
Nightdive’s remaster of System Shock 2 isn’t a highly-polished reimagining; it’s the same game you remember from 1999… but better. With visual enhancements, optimized performance, and full controller support, Xbox players are in for a real treat.
Perhaps more than one. With several projects in active development, including some highly requested fan favorites, the Nightdive team shows no signs of slowing down. While a full remake of System Shock 2 isn’t on the list (yet), it’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility.
According to Stephen Kick:
“Our team has been working within the world of System Shock for the last 10 years and I couldn’t think of a more qualified group of developers to tackle a project like that should we decide to take that on.”
So, whether you’re a first-timer or a longtime fan, Nightdive looks forward to welcoming you aboard the Von Braun when System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster launches on June 26, 2024, for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S!
How can you challenge a perfect, immortal machine?
System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster by Nightdive Studios brings to you the modernized remaster of the FPS/RPG classic.
It’s the year 2114 and as you awake from cryo sleep on the FTL ship Von Braun, you are unable to remember who or where you are… and something has gone terribly wrong. Hybrid mutants and deadly robots roam the halls while the cries from the remaining crew reverberate through the cold hull of the ship. SHODAN, a rogue AI bent on the destruction of mankind has taken over and it’s up to you to stop her.
Delve through the corridors of the derelict ship Von Braun and immerse yourself in the story rich atmosphere and environments. Explore deck by deck and unravel the horrifying fate of the Von Braun and her crew.
System Shock is the fully fledged remake of the ground breaking original from 1994, combining cult gameplay with all-new HD visuals, updated controls, an overhauled interface and all-new sounds & music; it even has the original voice actor of SHODAN, one of gaming’s most iconic villains. Witness the rebirth of one of the greatest and most influential games ever created.
A first-person fight to the death in the depths of space!
SHE IS SELF-AWARE AND AWARE OF YOU
Meet SHODAN: The psychotic AI has taken control of Citadel Station and turned the crew into an army of cyborgs and mutants; She now plans to do the same to Earth. You must explore and battle your way through the depths of a space station gone to hell. Stop SHODAN and avert humanity’s destruction.
Slender: The Arrival VR by developer Blue Isle Studios is the unholy union of a horror phenomenon and an innovative gaming peripheral. Together, they deliver a holistic horror experience to players looking for a game that can shake them to their core.
On May 13, Slender: The Arrival VR will utilize the platform-defining features and capabilities of PS VR2 to summon the horror icon in its most terrifying incarnation yet — and I’m excited to share what makes this upcoming release the best way to experience our title!
Immersed in virtual terror
It’s been over a decade since the release of the original Slender: The Arrival, and the 10th Anniversary Update significantly enhanced the graphics and elevated the overall gameplay experience. Every shadow, every model, and every hair-raising encounter with the mysterious Slender Man was rendered in stunning detail using the latest Unreal Engine 5 technologies. Slender: The Arrival VR remains true to the original game while adapting elements to the full-scale immersion VR.
The PS VR2 is a groundbreaking peripheral, and it allowed us to enhance the strengths of Slender: The Arrival further. Atmospheric, gameplay, and audiovisual stimulation combine to transport the player to another dimension.
A key part of the Slender: The Arrival VR experience is the feedback received when The Slender Man is in your area. The detailed haptic feedback in the PSVR2 Sense controllers won’t be the only way you feel Slender Man’s presence, as the PS VR2 headset vibration feedback makes it seem like he dwells within the player’s own mind.
Oh, and the vibration function isn’t reserved for Slenderman. There are other enemies to fear in Slender: The Arrival VR.
With all these new additions and more, The Slender Man’s presence is more eerie and intimidating than ever before. Knowing that he is nearby is scary enough in flatscreen, but in VR, he can appear anywhere in your field of vision. Sound queues are also more realistic and immediate, adding to the immersion and tangible sense of gnawing dread.
A Slender reimagining
Slender: The Arrival VR features all of the new additions included in the 10th Anniversary update, from the enhanced visuals to the brand-new storyline and characters.
The team has also implemented a range of VR accessibility options so that all players who want to step into the world of Slender: The Arrival VR can do so comfortably. There’s a bespoke interactive menu for VR and multiple comfort settings, including standing/seating modes, snap and continuous movement, and sensitivity sliders.
The Slender Man is a paranormal icon that has long terrified the curious-minded worldwide. It stands tall (really tall, actually) alongside long-established horror mainstays. Similarly, the original Slender: The Arrival remains the official, proven, and definitive adaptation of The Slender Man to the gaming world.
By expanding and deepening its gameplay with the PS VR2 headset, we’ve provided players with a unique and engaging experience that creates a more intimate connection with the world they explore — something arguably most important… and frightening… in the survival-horror genre that they will get to experience on May 13.
