Fans quick to celebrate the reveal of a Microsoft Flight Simulator PlayStation Store page were left let down after it was discovered that the actual product is little more than “copycat shovelware.”
Xbox and PlayStation fans gathered to discuss a potential port for the popular flight simulation game after Reddit user CreativeRaspberry314 shared Trophy information related to a potential PS4 and PS5 version earlier today. It would be exciting – if not somewhat unsurprising – to see Microsoft bring more Xbox titles to PlayStation fans, but the spotted store page isn’t officially related to Microsoft Flight Simulator in any way, shape, or form.
“Sadly, this is just a copycat shovelware game,” one Reddit user added. “Straight up shovelware,” another added. “Actually mental tbh, the picture is a straight up rip-off. If it was MSFS, it’d have the same achievements as the Xbox/Steam versions.”
Instead, the Flight Simulator 2025 on PlayStation is being published by a company named Grizzly Games Limited. As spotted by Eurogamer, the company shares a name with Thronefall developer Grizzly Games but is also completely unrelated to that entity. While that team is responsible for other titles like Superflight and Islanders, the Grizzly Games Limited website reveals a catalog of what appear to be mobile games featuring glossy, AI-generated materials. The art for its Flight Simulator 2025 project also appears to be generated by AI judging by some of its muddy plane parts and strange designs.
The Thronefall team, meanwhile, provided a statement to Eurogamer related to the discovery of Flight Simulator 2025 on PlayStation and Grizzly Games Limited. Grizzly Games says it is not associated with the company, adding that it is using “both our name and logo illegally.”
“Furthermore they seem to incorporate the absolute opposite of our values, of what we stand for and what we’re trying to give to the gaming community,” Grizzly Games continued. “Unfortunately our legal resources are limited as a two-person indie team, but honestly I’d love to see this kind of stuff being stopped, especially since it’s not only happening to us but lots of indie devs that just lack the legal power.”
Can shovelware just be banned from the store please?
As of this story’s publication, the Flight Simulator 2025 page remains live on the PlayStation Store. It describes an experience that “sets a new standard in aviation simulation, combining ultra-realistic flight dynamics with breathtaking visuals.” No gameplay for the project has been revealed.
“Can shovelware just be banned from the store please? It’s packed to the brim with it and makes browsing an absolute chore,” another Reddit user added. “I don’t remember it being this bad in prior generations.”
PlayStation took a stand against what many refer to as “spam” titles in 2022. At the time, it was believed the move was made to fight back against easy-to-Platinum games, or titles that exist almost solely for the purpose of increasing players’ Platinum Trophy count. However, many shovelware titles still exist on the PlayStation Store and other digital storefronts today.
We brought a magnifying glass up to the issue last month to take a closer look at how shovelware titles impact both gamers and developers. We spoke to multiple developers to learn more about not only how these games find their way onto digital storefronts but PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox, and Valve’s vetting process.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
There are numerous features developers must consider implementing when developing their games. These could be large, overarching ones – ‘How big should the game world be?’ ‘Will it need to support multiplayer?’ – or some of the less critical, but no less important, questions to answer… like what color should the doors be on a house?
Accessibility in gaming has grown significantly in recent years among game developers who have been more conscious of adding these types of features into their games, ensuring more people can play them across all facets of the gaming community. This could be anything from including a color-blind option, a high contrast mode, or game difficulty adjustments to name a few.
At this year’s ID@Xbox Showcase event at GDC, I had a chance to talk with Philip Crabtree, technical director and co-founder of Kaizen Game Works Limited, who was showcasing Promise Mascot Agency, which had the Xbox Adaptive Controller as well as the newly launched Xbox Adaptive Joystick enabled at their demo station. I was immediately curious to ask how the team decided to dedicate development resources to accessibility, and why it was important to them.
“I don’t think there was a decision; I think it was just something we wanted to do. And I think it was pretty much an unspoken understanding. Whenever an idea came up for an accessibility feature, we didn’t have a meeting about it. It’s just, ‘I’m putting it in,’ it’s as simple as that,” explains Crabtree. “If something comes to us, like a suggestion from someone who played the demo or something we’ve seen in another game, then it’s just mentioned, and we put it in where we can. It’s not a very complicated process.”
In Promise Mascot Agency, you play Mitchy, an exiled Yakuza living in a dying town who is seeking redemption. Your goal is to rebuild a mascot agency by recruiting mascots, helping them regain confidence, and renovating the town where they live. Crabtree describes it as an open-world narrative adventure game that combines crime drama with mini-games – and car battles.
Crabtree’s previous game, Paradise Killer had several accessibility settings that Kaizen’s community responded well to, but they also identified several limitations, such as the inability to alter the style of text dialogue. So, with Promise Mascot Agency, accessibility was a feature they wanted to push further and prioritized it early in development.
“In our Promise Mascot Agency, you drive around in a truck, so we wanted to make sure you could do things like drive without having to hold the triggers. So, we’ve implemented modes where you can just tap to drive and tap to reverse. Same thing with boosting — tap to do this or that. We also wanted to introduce options like high contrast mode so you can easily see objectives on the screen,” Crabtree says while detailing some of the accessibility settings they’ve implemented. “Where there are elements of difficulty, like timers, we wanted to make all those settings changeable so you can make it easier to chase or have more time to read the text. Anything we could think of that was achievable for a small team, we tried to get it in there.”
I asked Crabtree if there were any specific accessibility features the team really wanted to ensure worked well with Promise Mascot Agency, including those that may center around playing with the Xbox Adaptive Controller – which was on-hand at the event for attendees to try. The answer? Everything.
“Everyone wanted the whole game to work (with it). There’s no point in just having 10 percent of the game accessible — we wanted the whole thing. So, once we had [the Xbox Adaptive Controller] in front of us and we could use it, it was then just trying to figure out what the correct method of control is,” explains Crabtree. “As I mentioned before, rather than holding a button down to accelerate, you could tap. And then when you want to brake, do you tap the same button? Do you tap a different button? It’s just trying options to see what fit — we wanted every feature to work with it and I think we managed to get that.”
The team also got to experience using the new Xbox Adaptive Joystick with their game. “The new Xbox Adaptive Joystick is great — I didn’t realize it existed until very recently. I’m happy just to have held it – it’s a wonderful little thing,” says Crabtree.
“When we got the first [Xbox Adaptive Controller], the obvious downfall was we needed an analog stick — the games we make need an analog stick. So, you’d need most if not all the buttons on the controller. That was the first problem when looking at our old games before the new controller came out. But the Xbox Adaptive Joystick is very flexible to assign how you want. It didn’t take anytime at all to figure out how to just control it.”
As Crabtree points out to me, it’s about spotting opportunities in how you approach accessibility. It’s not that a developer needs to think too hard about getting it perfect or questioning who will like it or who won’t like it. “It’s about giving players options and trying to identify what they might be; it’s fairly straightforward,” he says. “Any developer making a game just wants people to play it and wants people to enjoy it. And with these controllers, more people can enjoy it. It feels pretty good to be able to let people find it and connect with the games that previously might have been out of reach.”
And for those developers who are just starting to look at ways to make their game accessible, Crabtree boiled it down simply here as well: Just do it.
“Don’t overthink it. Just have a look at your game and say, ‘Well what is accessibility?’ Don’t just think about motion. Think about things like timers, which could add initial stress or cognitive issues, where you can give people more time to understand what they need to do to take things at their own pace,” Crabtree details.
“Think about all the actions players take in a game. How can you make it more accessible? You don’t have to hit everything. It’d be wonderful if you could, but every little bit helps. And once you’ve done one implementation, then that bit of knowledge can go forward to implement something else. And then on your next game, you can start with that and then keep expanding. So, just do it. People want to play your games. Help them play it.”
From the creators of Paradise Killer comes a mind-bending open-world narrative adventure mascot management simulator where mascots are more than just symbols – they’re unpredictable forces of nature! Step into the chaos, unravel the conspiracies, drive a tiny truck and try to keep it all together in Promise Mascot Agency!
Welcome to the Mascot Hustle
You thought mascots were just fluffy, innocent brand ambassadors? Think again. The Mascots are all living, breathing, fully formed personalities, with dreams, fears, and the occasional breakdowns of their own- just like us! Whether it’s Trororo, a charming cat who’s a little too obsessed with “adult video” or sweet, silken To-Fu, who can’t stop sobbing, your job is to befriend, mentor, and (hopefully) get these mascots to finish their jobs without causing a major catastrophe.
Play Your Cards Right
Sending your mascots out to work is never as easy as it sounds. One minute they’re promoting delicious food, the next they’re stuck in a doorway or starting a kitchen inferno. Need help? Good thing Kaso-Machi is full of intrepid everyday heroes ready to lend a hand (if you’ve managed to befriend them, of course). Unlock Hero Cards, featuring Kaso-Machi’s lovable local weirdos like Captain Sign, Japan’s only road-sign superhero (don’t ask questions), or Mama-San, a bar owner with a serious latex collection. These heroes will step in to provide help when your mascots inevitably lose control.
Tear Through Town in Your Upgradable Kei Truck
Kaso-Machi is a town full of secrets, and Michi isn’t just stuck in an office managing mascots – he’s on the road in his rusty (but upgradeable!) Kei Truck. This nifty little ride may look like a heap of junk, but with a few tweaks, it’ll have nitro boosts, glider wings, and even the ability to launch Pinky☆ – Michi’s maniacal mascot assistant – like a missile. Use your truck to explore the strange, forgotten town, unlock collectibles, and uncover hidden mysteries. Who knew a Kei Truck could be your best friend in a town where literally everything else hates you?!
Crime! Drama! A Walking Finger?!
Exiled after an ambush that left his clan in shambles, Michi finds himself piecing together the mystery of what really happened, while the town seems to actively conspire against him. Nightmare spirits seem a little too interested in your business, and there’s an ever-present sense that something’s very, very wrong in this place…
Think you can resist? Think again. The mascots know where you live. Step into the world of Promise Mascot Agency and claim your place in this brave new world of mascot domination.
From the creators of Paradise Killer comes a mind-bending open-world narrative adventure mascot management simulator where mascots are more than just symbols – they’re unpredictable forces of nature! Step into the chaos, unravel the conspiracies, drive a tiny truck and try to keep it all together in Promise Mascot Agency!
Welcome to the Mascot Hustle
You thought mascots were just fluffy, innocent brand ambassadors? Think again. The Mascots are all living, breathing, fully formed personalities, with dreams, fears, and the occasional breakdowns of their own- just like us! Whether it’s Trororo, a charming cat who’s a little too obsessed with “adult video” or sweet, silken To-Fu, who can’t stop sobbing, your job is to befriend, mentor, and (hopefully) get these mascots to finish their jobs without causing a major catastrophe.
Play Your Cards Right
Sending your mascots out to work is never as easy as it sounds. One minute they’re promoting delicious food, the next they’re stuck in a doorway or starting a kitchen inferno. Need help? Good thing Kaso-Machi is full of intrepid everyday heroes ready to lend a hand (if you’ve managed to befriend them, of course). Unlock Hero Cards, featuring Kaso-Machi’s lovable local weirdos like Captain Sign, Japan’s only road-sign superhero (don’t ask questions), or Mama-San, a bar owner with a serious latex collection. These heroes will step in to provide help when your mascots inevitably lose control.
Tear Through Town in Your Upgradable Kei Truck
Kaso-Machi is a town full of secrets, and Michi isn’t just stuck in an office managing mascots – he’s on the road in his rusty (but upgradeable!) Kei Truck. This nifty little ride may look like a heap of junk, but with a few tweaks, it’ll have nitro boosts, glider wings, and even the ability to launch Pinky☆ – Michi’s maniacal mascot assistant – like a missile. Use your truck to explore the strange, forgotten town, unlock collectibles, and uncover hidden mysteries. Who knew a Kei Truck could be your best friend in a town where literally everything else hates you?!
Crime! Drama! A Walking Finger?!
Exiled after an ambush that left his clan in shambles, Michi finds himself piecing together the mystery of what really happened, while the town seems to actively conspire against him. Nightmare spirits seem a little too interested in your business, and there’s an ever-present sense that something’s very, very wrong in this place…
Think you can resist? Think again. The mascots know where you live. Step into the world of Promise Mascot Agency and claim your place in this brave new world of mascot domination.
We’re just a few weeks away from The Last of Us Part II Remastered arriving on PC on April 3, and we here at Naughty Dog wanted to make sure players were prepared for the journey ahead. Whether it’s your first time experiencing Ellie and Abby’s acclaimed stories, or you’ve previously played and are excited to jump in via a new format, we have plenty of quality-of-life features and even new content in store.
PC features detailed
The PC version of The Last of Us Part II Remastered brings with it all the improvements and new features added in the PlayStation 5 version released in 2024, such as the roguelike survival mode No Return, Guitar Free Play, and hours of developer commentary.
And in partnership with our friends at Nixxes Software and Iron Galaxy, Part II Remastered has been brought to PC with plenty of PC-centric quality-of-life features that further bring the snow-covered mountains of Jackson, Wyoming, and the rainswept streets of Seattle, Washington to beautiful life.
This version of The Last of Us Part II Remastered is optimized for PC with:
Nvidia DLSS 3 Super Resolution support1
AMD FSR 3.1 and AMD FSR 4 support with upscaling and frame generation1
VSync and framerate cap options, including an uncapped framerate option2
DirectStorage support, and more.
It has been developed with features designed specifically for PC, including:
Adjustable Texture Quality
LOD Distance Range
Volumetric Quality
Shadow Quality
Ambient Occlusion
Reflections Quality
and more
The Last of Us Part II Remastered on PC will feature support for Ultrawide monitors3, so players will be able to take in the stunning vistas of Jackson and the harsh streets of Seattle with gameplay supported in 21:9 ultra-wide, 32:9 super ultra-wide and even 48:9 resolutions with compatibility for triple-monitor setups.
And take in every chapter of Ellie and Abby’s journeys in stunning 4K resolution2 while playing either via various supported controllers as well as keyboard and mouse controls. And immerse yourself in the story with 3D audio surrounding you in every tense moment of action and each quiet scene of exploration.4
Keyboard and mouse control support includes a host of new control customization options, like full control remapping, primary and secondary bindings for keyboard and mouse control, an adaptive mode that allows players to combine keyboard and controller inputs, and more. Part II Remastered on PC will feature full gamepad support, while DualSense controllers are supported and feature full haptic feedback5.
As our team and partners have been hard at work on this version, we’ll also be introducing a host of bug fixes and various improvements to offer as smooth a play experience as possible.
The Last of Us Part II Remastered on PC offers a wide range of graphics settings and presets, to ensure the best possible experience on hardware ranging from high-end PCs to handheld gaming devices. Below you’ll find an overview of recommended specifications for a variety of graphics presets.
New No Return content
Additionally, coming at launch for The Last of Us Part II Remastered on PC will be a host of new content for our fan-favorite No Return mode. Two new characters are being introduced for the mode – The Last of Us Part I’s Bill and Marlene. Like with each No Return combatant, these characters offer their own unique playstyles, and should offer both new and returning fans an exciting new opportunity to test their mettle. Bill is a “Smuggler” playstyle who can access a custom pump shotgun from dead drops, and receives double rewards from drops as well. He’s stronger against melee attacks but can’t dodge. Marlene, meanwhile, features a “Risk Taker” playstyle that includes a Custom Assault Rifle, “All or Nothing” gambits, can reroute her No Return path once per run, and more.
Four new maps have also been added to No Return. Overlook, which is set high above the city of Seattle and features plenty of verticality, is the memorable site of a Seraphites encounter in the campaign. School is, during the campaign, the abandoned elementary school in which Ellie and Dina face off against the W.L.F. Streets is set in the overgrown Seattle neighborhood of Hillcrest, while Nest will be familiar to players who have played as Abby through an Infected-infested building. We’ve been so overjoyed about the reaction to this mode since Part II Remastered debuted on PS5 last year, and we hope these new maps further offer more variability and thrills as players tackle new runs.
Speaking of PlayStation 5 players, fear not – this new No Return content, as well as accompanying new Trophies and additional bug fixes – will be available day-and-date with the PC launch via a free downloadable 2.0.0 patch.6
PlayStation Network log-in bonuses
Last but not least, Part II Remastered on PC will support PlayStation overlay and PSN Trophies with an optional account for PlayStation Network log-in.
While not required, those on PC who do sign in with their account for PlayStation Network will also gain access to 50 in-game points to activate bonus features, as well as a new skin for Ellie featuring Jordan A. Mun’s jacket from our new game in development for PS5, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet.
Get a first look at the skin below:
PS5 players will also be able to unlock the Jordan’s jacket skin, as it will be included in the 2.0 patch and unlockable via in-game bonus points.
We can’t wait for PC players to experience this incredible journey, and for both PC and PS5 players to enjoy our new suite of content in just a few weeks. For now, you can pre-purchase The Last of Us Part II Remastered on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store ahead of the April 3 release.
1Compatible PC and display device required. 2Compatible TV or display device required. 3Compatible PC and graphics card required. 43D audio via built-in TV speakers or analogue/USB stereo headphones. Setup required. 5Wired connection required to experience the full range of in-game DualSense controller features. 6Internet connection required.
The next wave of sale events has arrived, with spring sales popping up left and right to show off a variety of exciting discounts. If you’ve been on the hunt for some good video game deals in these sales, Woot’s a great place to look as it has quite a few to check out in its Spring Video Game Sale. At the moment that includes a great discount on Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds is currently on sale for just $54.99 for both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, 21% off its usual price of $69.99. If you’ve had this one on your radar, now’s a great time to grab it for your physical game collection. Woot also notes that the there’s only nine days left of this deal (or it’s available until it’s all sold out), so you’ll want to act fast to pick it up at this price.
Monster Hunter Wilds (PS5/Xbox Series X) for $54.99
If you’re still on the fence about Monster Hunter Wilds, it’s worth noting that we had quite a lot of praise for it. In our review, IGN’s Tom Marks said, “Monster Hunter Wilds continues to smooth off the traditionally rough edges of the series in smart ways, reducing as much friction as possible that could get in the way of you grabbing any of its exceptionally fun weapons and planting them firmly in a monster’s hide.”
More Game Deals Right Now
This deal on Monster Hunter Wilds just scratches the surface of what’s available right now, though. To see more video game deals, check out our individual roundups of the best PlayStation deals, the best Xbox deals, and the best Nintendo Switch deals. For PC gamers, we’ve rounded up the best Spring Sales. It’s also worth marking your calendar for Amazon’s Spring Sale next week. This will likely feature some more exciting game deals, so it’s worth keeping the sale event on your radar.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
Digimon is getting its very own mobile card video game, in the wake of Pokémon TCG Pocket’s runaway success. Bandai Namco has announced Digimon Alysion, a free-to-play online card battler for iOS and Android.
Details are sparse at the moment, with just a teaser trailer and some more info to go off. Revealed during Digimon Con, Digimon Alysion looks to bring all the Digivolution of its card game to the virtual format, complete with pack openings and little pixel arts of the various ‘mons.
— Official Digimon Card Game English Version (@digimon_tcg_EN) March 20, 2025
Fans also got a look at some characters who may play a role in some sort of story. Again, details are scarce, but the introduction of several named characters and Digimon do seem to indicate there could be a story aspect here, which would be a bit different from the narratively sparse Pokemon TCG Pocket.
No release date has been set yet, though Gematsu reported that a closed beta test is planned with details to come at a later date.
Considering how massive Pokémon TCG Pocket has become, Digimon Alysion could be a good play for those who want some more Digimon card battling in their lives. Over on the Pokémon front, the developers have confirmed changes are coming to Pokemon TCG Pocket’s maligned trading system, though it may take a while for them to be implemented.
Digimon Alysion, for whatever it’s worth, does seem to be aiming to port its card game over to more people. Maybe the time is ripe for the Poké-Digi rivalry to reignite. Or, at the very least, fans of collecting cards based around fun monsters will not be hurting for options. We’ll learn more as Digimon Alysion ramps towards an eventual launch.
Ubisoft has activated the Animus once more, this time to take us back to Japan’s Sengoku Period. Assassin’s Creed Shadows features a number of historical figures from 1579, including Fujibayashi Nagato, Akechi Mitsuhide, and Yasuke – the African samurai who served Oda Nobunaga. As with the previous games in the series, these figures are woven into a story that combines fact with fiction to tell a tale of revenge, betrayal, and murder – including that time Yasuke had to kill everyone to gather enough XP to use a gold-tier weapon.
Yes, Assassin’s Creed is historical fiction, and its whole MO has been finding gaps in the past that can be used to tell a science fiction conspiracy tale about a secret society that’s looking to take over the world using the magic powers of a pre-human civilization. While the open-world playgrounds Ubisoft creates are genuinely rooted in history and based on a lot of meticulous research, it’s important to remember they are not actual history lessons – the developers have changed dozens and dozens of historical facts to better suit the story being told.
There are far too many “historical inaccuracies” to include in a single article, but here are ten of our favourite times Assassin’s Creed completely rewrote the past.
The Assassins vs Templars War
Let’s get this one out the way first: there is absolutely no historical evidence that the Order of Assassins was ever at war with the Knights Templar. The conflict between the Assassins and Templars is completely fictional, partly inspired by the (also fictional) conspiracy theories that emerged around the Knights Templar.
The Assassins were founded in 1090 AD, and the Templars were established shortly after in 1118. Both orders operated for around 200 years, and by 1312 both had been disbanded. The idea that these groups have been backstabbing each other through the centuries is absolute nonsense. In fact, the only conflict both orders were involved with was the Crusades, and so there’s only the first Assassin’s Creed game that’s even set in the right time period. While there is evidence they may have brushed against each other, there is absolutely nothing to suggest that either group was ideologically opposed to the other.
The Borgias and their Superpowered Pope
Assassin’s Creed 2 and its follow-up, Brotherhood, focuses on Ezio’s conflict with the Borgia family. Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia is discovered to be the Grand Master of the Templar Order, which is pretty bad news for the Assassins, since Rodrigo – both in the game and in history – is elected as Pope, becoming Alexander VI. However, as we’ve already established, the Templars weren’t around in the late 1400s, so naturally there was no Borgia plot to obtain the magical Apple of Eden and install a pope who could control humanity with god-like powers. Sadly, that also means that Ezio’s brawl with Pope Alexander VI under the Vatican is also pure fiction.
That much was, of course, pretty obvious. But perhaps less obvious is that Assassin’s Creed’s general depiction of the Borgias is pretty mixed as far as historical accuracy goes. While the family’s legacy is steeped in enough sin for them to be easily positioned as villains, the Borgias were not the moustache-twirling Renaissance-era gangsters that Ubisoft paints them as. Rodrigo’s son, Cesare, is reinvented as something of an incestuous, psychopathic leader, despite there being no historical evidence of this, just rumour – in reality, he may not have been all that bad, if you believe Machiavelli, that is…
Machiavelli, Enemy of the Borgias
Speaking of…In Assassin’s Creed 2 and Brotherhood, famed political thinker Niccolò Machiavelli is depicted as Ezio’s right-hand-man. At one point he leads the Italian Assassin’s Bureau, and generally aids Ezio’s crusade against the evil Borgias. The problem with all this is that Machiavelli almost certainly wouldn’t have been an Assassin at all – his philosophies around strong authority simply don’t gel with the Creed’s fight against authority.
Furthermore, Machiavelli’s own actions and writings suggest he did not find the Borgia family all that repulsive. He recognised Rodrigo Borgia as a con man, but one who was successful in all his deceptions. As for Rodrigo’s son, Machiavelli actually served as a diplomat in Cesare’s court and considered him a model ruler. Simply put, Machiavelli’s opinions and relationships with Assassin’s Creed’s Italian big bads don’t line up with the real history.
The Incredible Leonardo da Vinci and his Flying Machine
Just as famous as Assassin’s Creed 2’s pope battle is its bromance between Ezio and Leonardo da Vinci. Ubisoft’s depiction of the Italian polymath is actually pretty strong; historical records state he was a witty, charismatic man and that’s exactly what we get. However, his movements through Italy simply don’t match up to da Vinci’s real-life travels. In 1482, Leonardo left Florence and moved to Milan, where he stayed for over a decade. The game sees him move from Florence to Venice in 1481, ostensibly to paint portraits for a noble, but essentially to ensure da Vinci is in the same place as Ezio. This may seem like a small thing, but Assassin’s Creed is generally pretty good at tracking the movements of historical figures and aligning its story with them, so this is actually a pretty substantial change.
Of course, that’s not the fun stuff. The real da Vinci was an outstanding engineer and crafted multiple designs that were far ahead of their time. Across Assassin’s Creed 2 and its sequel, Brotherhood, we see many of da Vinci’s designs made manifest, including a machine gun and a tank. There’s little historical evidence for these having actually been built, but the real flight of fancy is the flying machine that Ezio uses to soar across the rooftops of Venice. While da Vinci was indeed fascinated by the idea of human flight, and the glider-like machine used in-game is very close to the designs he drew, there is no historical account that suggests any of Leonardo’s machines ever took to the skies.
The Bloody Boston Tea Party
One of the most famous events of the American Revolution, the Boston Tea Party saw dozens of men – many dressed as Mohawks to disguise their identities – board three boats in Boston Harbour and dump boxes of tea into the water. While plenty of tea was destroyed, not a single person died – it was a non-violent protest against the recently implemented Tea Act.
In Assassin’s Creed 3, things go pretty differently. Protagonist Connor is the only person among the protesters to wear Native American clothing, and he slaughters at least 15 British guards while his allies prepare to dump the tea. Two of the protesters also get involved in the killing as more guards turn up, resulting in casualties on both sides. Basically, it’s a bloodbath that significantly rewrites the actual events – peaceful protestors are turned into an aggressive mob, presumably because throwing boxes of tea isn’t considered dramatic enough for a video game.
Furthermore, during the mission’s set-up, it’s revealed that the protest was masterminded by Samuel Adams, one of the Founding Fathers. In reality, historians have conflicting opinions on Adam’s exact level of involvement in the protest itself – it’s a good example of Ubisoft using inconclusive evidence to write its own version of history.
The Lone Mohawk
Talking of Connor and his crusade against the British, Assassin’s Creed 3’s whole approach to Connor’s allegiances doesn’t align with the history books. Connor is a Mohawk, and the Mohawk people were actually allied with the British, not the Patriots, during the Revolutionary War. They had enjoyed a good trade relationship with the British, and hoped the Crown would protect their lands from American colonists.
At the time of Assassin’s Creed 3’s launch, Connor’s depiction was debated by a number of historians, who found the whole scenario incredibly unlikely. If Connor were to fight alongside the Patriots, he’d be considered something of a traitor among his own people.
That’s not to say such a thing never happened, though. Akiatonharónkwen, also known by his English name, Louis Cook, is one very rare example of a Mohawk fighting against the British. He became the highest-ranking Native American officer in the Continental Army, and it’s possible that his story inspired Connor’s creation. But, like we said, this kind of occurrence was incredibly unlikely, and so Connor represents the kind of “what if?” question that Assassin’s Creed thrives on. “what if a Mohawk allied with the Patriots?” is pretty fertile ground for a story full of conflict and soul-searching. As to if Assassin’s Creed 3 actually lives up to that premise… well, the game certainly does have its defenders.
The Templar Revolution
While Ubisoft’s take on the American Revolution has plenty of inaccuracies, its issues pale in comparison to Assassin’s Creed Unity’s quite frankly bizarre take on the French Revolution. It reads almost like a counter-revolutionary manifesto; by pinning the blame on the Templars, it practically suggests that the French monarchy and aristocracy were victims of a conspiracy, rather than the corrupt cause of the people’s revolt.
One of Unity’s alt-history sparks for the revolution is a Templar scheme to create a food crisis. Famine was a significant part of the French Revolution, but it was the result of multiple years of food shortages, caused by drought, floods, and bad harvests – natural causes that simply couldn’t be manufactured by a group of Jacobin Templars skulking around Paris. Furthermore, Unity seems to suggest that the Reign of Terror – the historic name for all the street riots and head-chopping – is the whole revolution, rather than just one part of it. In reality, the French Revolution unfolded over many years and was the result of multiple issues – in short, even the smartest Templars would be completely incapable of manufacturing it.
The Controversial Killing of King Louis 16
The most well-known aspect of the French Revolution is the monarchy ducking their heads beneath the guillotine, and the execution of King Louis 16 is naturally a prominent part of Assassin’s Creed Unity. The game depicts the vote on his punishment as being neck-and-neck (so to speak) with the ballot being swung by a single vote from a Templar conspiracist. Such a result suggests that killing the King was something of a controversial, divisive issue among the assembly, but this couldn’t be further from the truth; the real result was 394 to 321 in favour of execution – an easy majority.
Unity is remarkably soft on the French aristocracy, who were the target of widespread anger across the population. In reality, The King was accused of treason in part due to his attempt to flee France to Austria, from where he could plot a counter-revolution. This naturally made him look even worse than his already tanked reputation, but this is barely addressed in Unity. It’s just one symptom of the game’s overall neglect to explain the true causes of the revolution.
Jack the Assassin
Among the wildest, most borderline-offensive warpings of history committed by Assassin’s Creed is its version of Jack the Ripper. In reality, he was one of London’s most brutal serial killers, having murdered a number of prostitutes in the Whitechapel area in 1888. According to Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, though, he was a rogue Assassin attempting to take over the London Brotherhood.
As Syndicate’s story goes, Jack trained under Jacob Frye, but over the years became disillusioned with the Brotherhood’s Creed. He eventually wrestled control of the organisation away from Jacob, turning it into a ruthless gang that dominated the criminal underworld in London’s East End. In an attempt to stop his reign of terror, Jacob assigned a group of initiates disguised as prostitutes to kill Jack. They all failed, gruesomely murdered by Jack before they could complete their mission. Thankfully, Jacob’s sister, Evie, was able to step in and kill him before he could do any further damage.
This is all a pretty classic example of Assassin’s Creed’s “you don’t know the real story” shtick. Much of the police work surrounding the real Jack the Ripper was inconclusive, and to this day his identity and the true tally of his victims are unknown.
The Assassination of the Tyrant Julius Caesar
The killing of Julius Caesar is not only one of the most important political assassinations in the entirety of human history, it’s also one of the most well-documented. He was stabbed 23 times by a group of conspirators who believed his dictatorship was a threat to the values of the Roman Republic. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Assassin’s Creed Origins ignores many of the facts in order to paint its own picture of the events – one in which Caesar is a proto-Templar who must be killed to prevent global terror.
There are a multitude of issues with Origin’s depiction of Caesar’s assassination, including the design of the Roman Forum and the order of events that brings Caesar to the Senate. However, the strangest element of it all is the game’s depiction of Caesar. His opponents in the game are depicted as fighting for land for the people, not just the privileged – which, funnily enough, was exactly what the real Caesar stood for. In fact, his many political reforms included the redistribution of land to the poor and retired soldiers. Maybe his in-game adversaries should have checked his political record…
When Aya confronts Ceasar’s grieving widow, Cleopatra, after having led the assassination plot, she says that “The people call you a dead tyrant’s whore.” In reality, while by no means a clear-cut hero, Caesar was an incredibly popular leader among the Roman people. Origins frames his death as a victory over a tyrannical pre-Templar leader, but historically, Ceasar’s assassination triggered the Liberators’ Civil War, which led to the collapse of the Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. It’s not exactly the victory Origins would like you to believe it is and, paradoxically, the assassination only creates a domino effect towards the exact kind of world the conspirators were aiming to avoid.
The teams working on the Assassin’s Creed games go to great lengths to create games that are packed with truly authentic historical elements, but as you can see, that authenticity is often far from accurate. And that’s okay! After all, this is historical fiction, not historical documentary. It is just a video game, after all. What are your favourite examples of Assassin’s Creed bending the truth? Let us know in the comments.
Ah, the ‘SNES PlayStation’. It’s commonly held up as one of the biggest ‘What Ifs?’ in gaming, but this once mooted (and later, betrayed) collaboration between Sony and Nintendo could have changed the industry landscape forever.
We got a peek at this fabled crossover back in 2016 when the console was found in the wild. The prototype would go on to sell for an eye-watering $360,000 a few years later, but, as it turns out, it wasn’t quite as one-of-a-kind as we initially thought. In fact, the former CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment and the “Father of PlayStation”, Ken Kutaragi, just so happens to have one kicking about in a cupboard (thanks for the heads up, Time Extension).
South of Midnight’s soundtrack, created by Olivier Deriviere, is available today on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Bandcamp. To celebrate, we spoke to Deriviere and Audio Director Chris Fox to find out how they created a unique gaming musical experience.
South of Midnight has also gone gold! Compulsion Games has reached a major milestone, with the game’s development now complete and approved for release.
South of Midnight will be available on April 8, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox app for Windows PC, Steam, cloud, and will be available day one with Game Pass. And with Xbox Play Anywhere, play on Xbox consoles, Windows PC, and cloud with full cross-entitlements and cross-saves. Play up to five days early, starting April 3, 2025, and get access to digital extras with the Premium Edition.
Pre-order The Art and Music of South of Midnight, developed in collaboration with Dutch design house and publisher Cook and Becker. The box set includes a two-LP vinyl with the full soundtrack of the game presented in a beautiful gatefold – alongside a 160-page art book, a comic book inspired by the game, and more.
Composer Olivier Deriviere has a very elegant way of summing up South of Midnight’s approach to music: “This game is singing with the player.”
Xbox Wire spoke to Deriviere, and Audio Director Chris Fox, on an important day for the team – South of Midnight had just gone gold, with development complete ahead of the game’s April 8 global release date. On the day this article publishes, it’s another important milestone – South of Midnight’s soundtrack is now available on all major streaming platforms. It felt only natural, then, to discuss how this game uses music in an all-new way for the genre.
In most games, the soundtrack is something like a mood board – something to prompt you on the fact that you’re in an important battle, or experiencing the joy of exploration. But Compulsion Games has woven music far more intricately into the experience of playing South of Midnight. As you progress through its levels, melodies and harmonies repeat, snatches of lyrics float like a breeze through the experience, offering hints at the wider story you’re taking part in. And, as you reach each level’s crescendo, taking on the game’s mythical creatures, it explodes into life as a fully performed track, ebbing and flowing, reacting to your actions, and telling the creatures’ tales through lyrics.
It was, as you might imagine, a complex task. “It’s the biggest music production I’ve ever done,” explains Deriviere. “But, at the beginning, it wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
Musical Introduction
Compulsion did a huge amount of research in the early parts of production, with Creative Director David Sears and his team undertaking multiple trips to the American South in order to properly capture the look, feel, and stories of the region they aimed to depict. And it was at the end of one of these trips that Sears returned with an idea.
Audio Director Chris Fox tells the story that started it all: “David came back from one of his trips to the South and said, ‘I really feel like I’ve had this epiphany – players’ actions should equal musicality.’ So that was kind of the first big challenge, and then I had to go away and kind of think about what that meant.”
Music is a huge part of the identity of the South – blues, country, jazz and more can all trace their roots to the region – and that was always going to be represented. But the gauntlet thrown down to Fox and Deriviere was to create a game in which that music needed to feel tied to what the player was doing, where they were, and what story they were unravelling.
“So I was like, ‘OK, how can someone make music while they play, but not [just make] a music game?’” explains Fox. “That was how it started, and then we just went into lots of brainstorms.”
It’s rare for an action-adventure like South of Midnight to try something like this, and it’s rarer still for the songs created to have lyrics. This wasn’t just about creating a technical system for how music reacts to the player, but for how it told distinct stories around them.
“We started with story, of course,” says Fox. “We needed to know the story of the creatures first, which then spawned the narrative – our version of the [real-life] tales – which in turn spawned the lyrics. The lyrics and the narrative have to go hand-in-hand. We worked with the narrative team, and then we had to make sure Olivier had what he needed. I was very pleased with the content that we got – it’s always a worry at the beginning when you talk about making original songs, it’s not something that’s normally done. Anything could happen – and the most important thing was just to put trust in everyone.”
That trust meant that Olivier was given another unusual task – to create a concept song, in the same way a game’s production will often begin with concept art.
“This was the first time I’ve had to think of [traditional] songs within a game,” Deriviere continues. “How can we make a song happen, and how is this relevant? How do we arrange the song? The starting point was this concept song – and I had to sing it. And when the song was there, just by me, it was enough for David and Chris to be like, ‘OK, with that, we can go into production.’”
The Art of Science
From here, the team worked together to create the full suite of songs you’ll hear in the final game. And unexpectedly, at least for Deriviere, the practical element of getting the game to adjust its music to how you’re playing was actually one of the easier parts of the process.
“Technology in video games has immensely improved over the time, and we are now able to very much tailor – throughout any situation in a game – [how the music reacts to] whatever we want. The difficulty is that you have the technology, but you still have to have the creativity and the coherency of using the technology in the right way. For instance, for music, you don’t want the system to be complex [to the point where it] doesn’t make musical sense. It’s just years and years of practicing and experimenting. And we did experiment – it’s fail-and-retry, basically.”
The systems Fox and his team created mean that the soundtrack will ‘know’ if you’re stopping to explore, or charging headlong into a combat section, adjusting the track around that to feel right, while still carrying the core themes.
“We had to deconstruct each song to make it work within the levels,” Deriviere continues. “At the end of the level, you visit the creature and you have this song at its peak – but previously [in the level], you have sections that are building up, and it’s not in the same form as the final song. It’s a completely different form, with different harmonies, different melodies. Sometimes there’s even a corrupted aspect to the melody, because the world is corrupted, and we wanted people to feel this way.”
In effect, it’s turning music into a part of the wider soundscape – the same way a game will have different sound effects for walking through water as opposed to mud. “I think that’s why I wanted to work with Olivier,” enthuses Fox. “He sees the audio and not just music. It’s music woven into sound effects, sound effects woven into music. It’s the audio experience for the player, and they’re not separated necessarily.”
Pushing that idea even further, in South of Midnight, music is quite literally a character: “At the end of the level, the song is always performed by a top-talent singer, but within the levels it’s by a kids’ choir,” explains Deriviere. “The kids are basically the star of the show – they’re all over the place, and they mean so much to the game. These are the Strands, the entities, whatever magic you want to call them, that are helping [lead character] Hazel find her way through this magical world.”
Southern Charm
And to add to the complexity of all this, there was a final piece of the puzzle for Fox and Deriviere – going all the way back to those original research trips, the music needed to feel as if it belonged in the South, across multiple regions, while still offering up a single, coherent soundtrack.
“At the beginning, you know, talking with Chris and David, it was more about trying to find something that would be interesting, get something inspired by the Deep South, but create something that was unique for the game,” explains Deriviere.
He realized that, in order to do that, he needed to look outwards, not inwards: “Oh, we may need to hire some talents to record live music. But [then it became] multiple talents, on a scale that I’ve never done. [We had] more than 50 people involved, not even including the orchestra.”
This was a much bigger task than the team had gone in expecting. ““It was something that evolved over time,” says Fox. “We started with like an hour of music, or something ridiculous like that, which was obviously way too little. But at the beginning of a project, you just don’t know what the needs are.
“I appreciate the belief in us that when I said, ‘We’ve got this really cool idea, we need to we need to go with live performers.’ And then later on, ‘Oh, actually, I know I said we weren’t going to use an orchestra, but we actually need to go and record an orchestra now.’
“For the higher-ups here at Compulsion to say, ‘This wasn’t necessarily budgeted, but we think you’ve got a strong vision, and what you’re doing with Olivier seems really good, so here we go’ – that was something I really appreciated from Compulsion and Xbox, to roll with us on that.”
But even with all of this in place, Deriviere needed to create music that managed a tricky balance:
“We worked with various established musicians from the South, but we were never willing to copycat – it would have been inauthentic, because I’m not from there, you know? It was not the goal. The goal was to be inspired and to turn the music into something else. So yes, there is of course influences from country, bluegrass, blues, jazz. But the best reaction was from these [musicians] – one of them plays blues, one of them country – and they were playing the songs, and they were like, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t do this, but this is super interesting!’
“They were doing what they were used to, but with the twist that I would do. I thought they would be a little bit lost in the process, but it was completely the opposite. They embraced it so much. For me, that’s the success in this production, working with these people, getting their genuine, authentic vibe from the South, and [bringing them] into the world of Compulsion, the world of this music.”
The result is a soundtrack that Deriviere and Fox believes represents the South, but doesn’t simply copy its homework – this was a true collaboration with the real musicians from the region:
“You can feel, hopefully, when you’re listening to the soundtrack or the songs, that there are people there,” says Deriviere. “It feels like they’re there, and they want to provoke emotions, move you, tell the story, bring you into this world.”
It’s an idea that lends extra weight to the idea that South of Midnight sings with you – it’s not just the game itself singing, but the many, many people who made that music.
South of Midnight will be available on April 8, 2025, on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox App for Windows PC, Steam and cloud, and arrives on day one with Game Pass. If you want to immerse yourself into the macabre and fantastical world of South of Midnight early, get the Premium Edition to play up to 5 days early, and get access to digital extras.
The South of Midnight soundtrack is available to stream today on all major streaming platforms. You can also pre-order The Art and Music of South of Midnight, developed in collaboration with Dutch design house and publisher Cook and Becker. The box set includes a two-LP vinyl with the full soundtrack of the game presented in a beautiful gatefold – alongside a 160-page art book, a comic book inspired by the game, and more.
Immerse yourself into the macabre and fantastical world of South of Midnight with the Premium Edition, which includes the full game, up to 5 days early access, and digital access (in English) to:
• South of Midnight Artbook
• Original Soundtrack composed by Olivier Deriviere
• The Boo-Hag Comic book by Rob Guillory
• Music Video: Songs & Tales of South of Midnight
• Documentary: Weaving Hazel’s Journey, Director’s Cut
UNRAVEL THE PAST
From the creators of Contrast and We Happy Few, South of Midnight is a spellbinding third person action-adventure game set in the American Deep South.
As Hazel, you will explore the mythos and encounter creatures of Southern folklore in a macabre and fantastical world. When disaster strikes her hometown, Hazel is called to become a Weaver: a magical mender of broken bonds and spirits. Imbued with these new abilities, Hazel will confront and subdue dangerous creatures, untangle the webs of her own family’s shared past and – if she’s lucky – find her way to a place that feels like home.
A DARK MODERN FOLKTALE
When a hurricane rips through Prospero, Hazel is pulled into a Southern Gothic world of memory made real and must embark on a journey to rescue her mother and safeguard her hometown. In this folktale for modern times, Hazel will need to reconcile the weight of family, history, and legacy against her own identity.
CONFRONT MYTHICAL CREATURES
Wield an ancient power to restore creatures and uncover the traumas that consume them. Cast weaving magic to fight destructive Haints, explore the diverse regions of the South, and reweave the tears in the Grand Tapestry.
HAUNTING BEAUTY OF THE GOTHIC SOUTH
Discover the lush, decayed county of Prospero and its locals. Experience a crafted visual style, touching storytelling, and immersive music inspired by the complex and rich history of the South.
From the creators of Contrast and We Happy Few, South of Midnight is a spellbinding third person action-adventure game set in the American Deep South.
As Hazel, you will explore the mythos and encounter creatures of Southern folklore in a macabre and fantastical world. When disaster strikes her hometown, Hazel is called to become a Weaver: a magical mender of broken bonds and spirits. Imbued with these new abilities, Hazel will confront and subdue dangerous creatures, untangle the webs of her own family’s shared past and – if she’s lucky – find her way to a place that feels like home.
A DARK MODERN FOLKTALE
When a hurricane rips through Prospero, Hazel is pulled into a Southern Gothic world of memory made real and must embark on a journey to rescue her mother and safeguard her hometown. In this folktale for modern times, Hazel will need to reconcile the weight of family, history, and legacy against her own identity.
CONFRONT MYTHICAL CREATURES
Wield an ancient power to restore creatures and uncover the traumas that consume them. Cast weaving magic to fight destructive Haints, explore the diverse regions of the South, and reweave the tears in the Grand Tapestry.
HAUNTING BEAUTY OF THE GOTHIC SOUTH
Discover the lush, decayed county of Prospero and its locals. Experience a crafted visual style, touching storytelling, and immersive music inspired by the complex and rich history of the South.
The Gran Turismo World Series 2025 is set to be a classic with a live events calendar that includes London, Berlin, Los Angeles, and culminates with World Finals in Fukuoka, Japan in December.
Anyone with a copy of Gran Turismo 7, an internet connection, and a PlayStation Plus membership can compete to try and qualify for a place (subject to eligibility criteria) at the thrilling Gran Turismo World Series international events, where they will race in front of an in-person and global broadcast audience.
Players can sign up in Sport mode in Gran Turismo for the Nations Cup – racing to represent your home country or territory – and/or the Manufacturers Cup, racing for your favourite manufacturer.
The action gets underway with the Online Qualifiers, starting with:
Manufacturers Cup – Wednesday, April 2 to Saturday, April 19
Nations Cup – Wednesday, April 23 to Saturday, May 10
The calendar for the Gran Turismo World Series 2025 live events is as follows:
Round 1 – London, UK | Saturday, 7 June Round 2 – Berlin, Germany | Saturday, 20 September Round 3 – Los Angeles, USA | Saturday, 8 November World Finals – Fukuoka, Japan | Saturday, 20 and Sunday, 21 December
All the live events will be open to the public and details of how to buy tickets will be posted on the Gran Turismo website and social channels. Full details of the Gran Turismo World Series 2025 and how to get involved can be found here. A more in-depth look at the rules and a link to the terms and conditions can be found here.
A fantastic 2024 season saw Team Lexus, comprising Spain’s Coque López, Kanata Kawakami of Japan, and Chilean Harald Walsen (who stepped in to replace the absent Igor Fraga of Brazil), crowned Manufacturers Cup Champions at the World Finals in Amsterdam. Japanese driver Takuma Miyazono re-took the Nations Cup crown that he last won in 2020 with a masterful performance in front of a sell-out crowd.
The action in 2025 should be no less exciting and will be watched closely by Gran Turismo World Series partners Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR), Mazda, Brembo, and Fanatec.
