Terraria – Journey's Actual End Update Out Today
When Re-Logic released Terraria's 1.4 update earlier this year, it touted as the last content update. It was even called "Journey's End" to drive that point home. But lo and behold, the developer has announced another final content update for release later today. Check out the teaser trailer below.
Update 1.4.1 or Journey's Actual End sees the final NPC added along with new achievements. There will also be bug fixes, "lots" of balance changes and new vanity items. Players can also finally watch the game credits but in Terraria-style. It wouldn't be surprising to see a secret boss or some other new items added as well.
More details on Terraria: Journey's Actual End will be available later today so stay tuned. Terraria is currently available for Xbox One, Android, iOS, PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC. It's sold over 30 million copies till date with the Journey's End update hitting a peak of almost 500,000 players at launch.
Genshin Impact Grossed Over $100 Million Since Launch
Fresh off of a strong launch, where it earned $50 million in revenue within the first week, MiHoYo's Genshin Impact has hit a new milestone. According to Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad on Twitter, the free-to-play action RPG/MMO has now grossed over $100 million. This is less than two weeks after launch, so it's now the most successful launch of an original IP developed by a Chinese studio.
Ahmad also cited App Annie's data which stated the game had been downloaded over 23 million times on iOS and Android in its first week. Previously, the mobile analytics form reported 17 million downloads in the first four days. Ahmad further noted that Genshin Impact would "break RMB 1 billion mark soon." This translates to roughly $148.2 million.
Genshin Impact is currently available for PS4 and PC along with iOS and Android. It's also in development for Nintendo Switch. Check out our review here and stay tuned for more details on future updates in the coming days.
Genshin Impact has now grossed over $100m in less than two weeks.
China, Japan, Korea and the US are top markets for the F2P game.
Without a doubt the most successful launch for an original IP from a Chinese dev. https://t.co/WjOOpLa66V
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) October 10, 2020
According to data from Sensor Tower, the game was the #2 highest grossing game globally on iOS in its first week.
According to data from App Annie the game was downloaded more than 23 million times on iOS / Android in its first week.
Will break RMB 1 billion mark soon.
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) October 10, 2020
Watch Dogs: Legion Trailer is About Reclaiming the Future
A new trailer is available for Watch Dogs: Legion and the content should be pretty familiar by now. It's about London being under oppression due to PMC Albion and DedSec rising up to fight back by recruiting the general populace. But hey, it's pretty snappy and colorful while having a decent song to check it out.
There's a bit more to the story than just Albion coming in to stamp on people's rights. It's actually about Zero Day, a mysterious entity that sets off several bombs in London, for which DedSec is blamed. Albion is called in to restore order and it's up to DedSec to liberate the city while also becoming embroiled in Zero Day's plot.
The crux of the game involves playing as just about any NPC, using their unique skill-set for different tasks. Watch Dogs: Legion is out on October 29th for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Google Stadia with the Xbox Series X/S and PS5 versions arriving on November 10th and 12th respectively. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Gets Clever Daily Bugle Marketing About Dual Spider-Men
Alongside the launch of the PS5 release we'll see the next game in the Insomniac Games take on the wall crawler, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. The 2018 game was largely successful and acclaimed, and now it's time for the other Spider-Man, Miles Morales, to get his time in the sun. While it's unclear what, if any, role the original Spidey will play, they have chosen to fill in some gaps in a clever way.
On the official Instagram from Insomniac Games, they have put an article from the Daily Bugle that exposes that there are now two Spider-Men and actually shows both Miles and Peter in some form of training as the writer pours over speculation about who this new Spider-Man could be. It's quite clever as a marketing tool, and also seems to potentially serve as something of a gap between the first title and Miles Morales, and you can even get the first game remastered with the Ultimate Edition, which you can read more about through here.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales will release for both PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on November 12th. It is also confirmed to have now gone gold.
Mortal Kombat 11 – Ed Boon Explains Why It Took So Long For Mileena To Join The Roster
Mortal Kombat has become something of a strange crossover series with its post-launch DLC. The latest title, Mortal Kombat 11, will add John Rambo with the upcoming release of Kombat Pack 2 and Ultimate. He'll join the likes of Terminator, Robocop, Spawn and DC's Joker in a weird mishmash. But for some, it's all about the MK characters, and one in particular people have been waiting for. But some of those impatient fans have been wondering what took so long, and now they have the answer.
Mortal Kombat's Ed Boon spoke on the final day of the New York Comic Con livestream, and there he addressed the whole situation with Mileena. She will be one of the three characters in the upcoming Kombat Pack 2, and if you didn't know, she's got quite the vocal fanbase. Boon has been somewhat picking at them, too, on his official Twitter, and there's been various teases in the game, including Mileena literally showing up in Kitana's Friendship finisher when those were introduced.
It seems as if there was no real role in mind for her in the game's story (within canon, Mileena dies at the end of MKX), and instead of adding her instantly, they decided to build up her appearance. When he saw the passionate reaction from fans, it became something of a game of poking them until finally the explosive moment of her reveal (thanks a lot to MP1st for transcribing the talk).
"You know Mileena was one of the first characters from Mortal Kombat 1 and 2. There was Sub-Zero and Scorpion and on the other side was Katana and Mileena and they were you know, the kind of classic adversaries over the years of Mortal Kombat and so we've represented, continued their story and we hit pause on Mileena just to create an appreciation.
"But we had no idea it would be this intense and so for years we were getting pounded, you know "I want to see Mileena again" we just stretched that out and we knew she was on her way. So I started you know teasing a little bit more and I wouldn't be doing that if I knew that she was eventually show up, so it was just a big build up and you know we played with it a little bit and eventually we knew that we were going to be releasing a video like we did and just let the floodgates lose and that's what we witnessed was was just this pent-up anticipation for Mileena and all of a sudden online we saw the results of it."
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate will launch alongside the Kombat Pack 2 containing Mileena on November 17th for all major platforms. Those who pre-order Ultimate on October 15th will get MK11 and all previous DLC content along with new skins for Noob Saibot, Liu Kang and Skarlet. Upgrades for Ultimate and Kombat Pack 2 will be available for previous owners as well.
Quantic Dream CEO Worries Xbox Series X/S Strategy Could Be "Confusing" For Consumers And Developers
This holiday season will see a new generation of consoles launch from both Sony and Microsoft. That, in and of itself, is not unusual even in these COVID-infested times, but what is very unusual is Microsoft's latest strategy of launching two separate pieces of hardware: The Xbox Series X and the Series S. One is the more high-end console with the X, while the S is a lower-tier machine, but playing the same games at lower setting, at least on paper. In theory, it's a slam dunk on Microsoft's side, especially with the Series S's incredibly affordable price tag. But not all developers have been jumping for joy, as some see issues ahead. Although others are slightly more optimistic. Now another big name in the industry is weighing in, and he's got concerns.
Speaking with Wccftech, the CEO of Quantic Dream, David Cage, talked about the dual strategy Microsoft is aiming for. He seems skeptical of whether or not the Series S is a good idea and seems to express fear that it can lead to confusion, both on a consumer level as well as on the development side. While he understands what the company is aiming to do, he's not sure it will work as intended.
"When a manufacturer offers two consoles with different specs, there is a strong chance that most developers will focus on the lower-end version to avoid doing two different versions. I must confess that I am really not a big fan of this situation. I think it is confusing for developers, but also for players, and although I can understand the commercial reasons behind this choice (a difference of €200 on the street price) I think the situation is questionable."
This is really the first time we've seen this situation happen in the console space, so right now it can be somewhat difficult to tell just where the Series S will end up landing. We'll just have to see in practice when both machines are actually out. Both the Series X and S will launch on November 10th.
Second Extinction Celebrates Early Access Launch With New Trailer
There's lots of classic video game enemies that pop up again and again: zombies, Nazis, zombie Nazis, but you really don't see a lot of dinosaurs. The once terrifying beasts that roamed the world seems like the ideal thing for players to have to face off against, but alas, they don't get a lot of screen time. Second Extinction looks to change that, and those on Steam will get a chance to check it out.
It was announced that you'd get a chance to slaughter some dinos (or well, I guess technically they're mutant dinos) in early access starting tomorrow. Today developer Systemic Reaction released a special trailer to celebrate, which gives you an idea of what you can expect for the early access period as well as what's coming soon and "soon-ish" in the future. Check it out below.
Second Extinction will launch on Steam early access on PC tomorrow, October 13th. When the game releases in full it'll also come to the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and Xbox One. We got to sit down and chat with the game's Lead Producer, which you can check in full through here.
Rockstar Has Acquired Ruffian Games
Rockstar Games have acquired British video game studio Ruffian Games, and rebranded the studio as Rockstar Dundee. As per Companies House listings, the acquisition went through earlier in the month, and the rebranding followed shortly afterward.
Ruffian Games, in case the name doesn't ring a bill, were the developers of Crackdown 2, and have also provided development support for titles such as Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Crackdown 3 (or, more specifically, its multiplayer component, Wrecking Zone).
It remains to be seen what exactly the new Rockstar Dundee's role will be in the larger Rockstar organization, but I'd say you can at least expect them to get on that Grand Theft Auto Online support train right away.
As of last year, Ruffian Games have already been working on unannounced projects in development at Rockstar, which were described by job listings as "multiplayer action games." You can read more on that through here.
There's next to nothing that we know about Metroid Prime 4, other than the fact that it will release eventually, at some indeterminate point in the future. However, if a new job listing put up by developer Retro Studios is anything to go by, we might have a bit of an idea about what its approach to storytelling is going to be.
Metroid isn't really a series that puts story front and centre, but it seems that might chance – at least to some degree – with Metroid Prime 4, if this listing for a contract position as Storyboard Artist is anything to go by. The listing mentions "emotional scenes that will resonate with audiences" and "interesting and innovative scenes that elevate the narrative", and all around gives the impression that Retro Studios seem to be putting greater emphasis on this side of the experience than usual.
Of course, this by itself doesn't necessarily have to mean anything, especially given how shrouded in mystery everything to do with this game is, but it might be interesting to see storytelling becoming a larger part of the experience in Metroid Prime 4.
Metroid Prime 4 is currently in development for the Nintendo Switch, but has no set release date or window.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla – Extensive New Details Revealed On Eivor's Settlement
Assassin's Creed Valhalla's developers have often spoken about Eivor's settlement, which is supposed to be a crucial location throughout the entire game and will even grow and evolve as you make choices during the story. Recently, Eurogamer got a deeper look into this settlement – called Ravensthorpe – will function and grow throughout the experience, revealing several new details.
As Eurogamer's article describes, Ravensthorpe will start out as little more than an abandoned Saxon longhouse and a collection of tents scattered about it, but through constant upgrades and additions throughout the game, players will turn it into a thriving settlement.
One of your first upgrades will be a blacksmith (incidentally, upgrading weapons can now only be done in this one location in the entire game), but as you progress through the story, you'll be unlocking a lot more, from stables – where you can purchase, train, and upgrade horses, and even be able to customize your raven's appearance – to a Barracks – where you will be able to create and customize (and share with other players, if you want) your own Jomsvikingr lieutenant to join you on your raids along the coast.
Other buildings that you can eventually unlock are a museum, a shipyard (where you can customize your longboat), a Fishing hunt, a tattoo shop (where you can tattoo different designs to various parts of your body), a cartographer (who can provide you with detailed maps of areas you've visited), farms (which produce food that you can use to buff up your soldiers before heading out on raids), a bakery, individual houses for various characters, and more.
There's also a Seer's hut, where the aforementioned Seer will brew potions, and Eivor, upon consuming them, will be taken to "another time, another plane", as the developers put it. It seems like this is where Assassin's Creed Valhalla's story will tap deeper into the mythological side of things, which we know is going to be at least a bit of a focus in the game. Level designer David Bolle says: "It's a whole new section of the game… it's pretty big."
Each of these buildings can also be upgraded, allowing you to reap more advantages. And how exactly does that work? Well, the previously mentioned longhouse serves as Ravensthorpe's base of operations, where Randvi, the wife of your brother Sigurd (who doesn't seems to be away for narrative reasons) is the de facto leader of the settlement. The longhouse has a war table and a room for Eivor to sleep in and read letters.
Meanwhile, construction of buildings requires resources, which you gain through raids, looting chests and vaults, forming alliances, exploring the open world, and more. When you construct buildings, not only will you get access to the services they offer, but will also progress the questlines of the characters associated with them.
Characters will also keep joining your settlement and making a home for themselves, and they will bring full-fledged questlines with them. These characters will also often have disputes with each other, which Eviro will have to settle. According to the developers, players will often spend several hours away from the settlement, and returning to Ravensthorpe will reflect the passage of time, with characters having new conflicts, new stories to share, new branches in questlines to tackle, and more. Characters can also be romanced, you can go on dates, break up with romantic partners to pursue other ones- essentially, there's a lot going on in Ravensthorpe.
The most interesting detail that stands out, however, is the fact that Ravensthorpe will also be home to an Assassins bureau- or the Hidden Ones, as they are known at this point in the series' chronology. Valhalla's developers have said that the series' larger lore will factor quite significantly in game's story, which was something that the recent story trailer made abundantly clear as well, and having a Hidden Ones bureau in your base camp certainly falls in line with that.
The Hidden Ones bureau is run by an Assassin Hidden One named Hytham (no, not Haytham). The brotherhood has set up a bureau in Eivor's camp because they and Eivor supposedly "share a common enemy"- that being the Order of the Ancients, first seen in Origins, who will eventually go on to be known as Templars. Through the bureau, Eivor will be going after a list of mysterious, high profile targets, and at seems it might function a bit similar to the Cultists system in Odyssey, with a main antagonist at the centre of the web.
There's a lot more details on Ravensthorpe in the Eurogamer piece, so if you're interested in Valhalla, go ahead and give it a read. It certainly seems like the settlement is going to be a crucial part of the experience in several ways, which is an interesting idea. Here's hoping the idea is backed up by solid execution as well.
We'll find out when Assassin's Creed Valhalla releases on November 10 for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Stadia, and on November 12 for PS5. You can learn more about the game's combat, quest structure, world design, and much more in our interview with narrative director Darby McDevitt.