Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl developer GSC Game World has announced a two-month delay for emergency bug-fixing.

The highly-anticipated first-person shooter was intended to release on September 5, 2024. It'll now launch roughly two and a half months later, on November 20 instead. The game is still set to launch on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC and day one on Xbox Game Pass.

As reported by IGN, Stalker 2 director Yevhen Grygorovych released the following statement about the latest delay: "We know you might be tired of waiting, and we truly appreciate your patience. These two additional months will give us the chance to fix more ‘unexpected anomalies’ (or simply ‘bugs’, as you call them).

"We are always grateful for your ongoing support and understanding - it means the world to us. We’re just as eager as you are to finally release the game and for you to experience it for yourself."

This isn't the first time Stalker 2 has received a sizeable delay. Back in January, it was announced that the game would miss its original Q1 2024 release date "for the sake of yet another wave of polishing." At the time, it was then slated to launch nine months later in September.

Despite all the setbacks, including a rather terrifying office fire late last year and, of course, the ongoing war in the developer's home country of Ukraine, it seems that fans are remaining excited for Stalker 2. The game won PC Gaming Show 2023's 'Most Wanted' award, so it does appear that the hype is still alive and well for the anticipated shooter.

Until November, then, you may want to tide yourself over with the Stalker: Legends of the Zone trilogy pack which includes all the original games. It also made them available on PlayStation and Xbox consoles for the first time.

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A special edition Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess Xbox Series X console is up for grabs for a limited time as part of a new giveaway.

Microsoft shared its latest sweepstakes on X / Twitter, where it announced that it will be giving players an opportunity to get their hands on a custom Xbox Series X featuring art from Capcom's action-strategy game, along with a special edition controller inspired by the title. 

To be in for a chance to win the custom console bundle, which is worth $544.98, as well a three-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership, all you have to do is follow the account and retweet the post with the provided hashtag. 

The offer was intended to end on July 31, but Microsoft has now extended the giveaway to August 7. 

The sweepstakes is only open to residents of North America, and you must be 18 or older to enter. 

It's limited to one entry per person or account holder and the winners will be selected on or around August 8, 2024. You can take a look at the official rules of the sweepstakes here.

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess launched on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC on July 19. The title was also made available day one on Xbox Game Pass.

TechRadar Gaming gave the game 4.5 stars out 5 in our review, with hardware writer Dashiell Wood calling the game "Innovative, exciting, and endlessly entertaining" and "a beautiful adventure that transcends genres for a highly memorable experience with all the makings of an instant classic."

Elsewhere, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is officially available on Xbox Game Pass following months of rumors, making it the first game in the series to be brought to the subscription service. The title is set to be joined by Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 as a day one Game Pass release when it launches on October 25.

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Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is apparently coming to Xbox Game Pass next month.

This comes from reliable leaker 'eXtas1s' (via VGC) who claims that the 2017 platform game from Vicarious Visions will make its debut on Xbox Game Pass on August 8.

The same leaker first shared this claim earlier this month, but couldn't offer a release date. At the time, eXtas1s said the trilogy - which includes remasters of Crash Bandicoot, Cortex Strikes Back, and Warped would be the next Activision game to arrive on the service, saying that they had spoken to sources that had seen "certain graphic evidence" that indicated it would be released later this year, as well as the more Activision games on Microsoft's subscription service.

EXtas1s also said that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2 and the Spyro Reignited Trilogy are "coming very soon" but could not "guarantee their arrival to the service in the same month."

The leaker also accurately predicted the most recent launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on Game Pass, which arrived on July 24. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is also expected to arrive on Xbox Game Pass day one for all members when it launches on October 25, making it the first new game in the series to be brought to the service.

Following Microsoft's acquisition of the company last year, Diablo 4 became the first Activision Blizzard game to join Xbox Game Pass in March.

Elsewhere, Microsoft is reportedly considering adding more tiers to Xbox Game Pass, including an ad-based tier and a "cheaper" cloud-based tier, just a few weeks after it increased the prices of its memberships across the board. 

The cloud-based tier would be designed for users who don't want to buy an Xbox console, while the ad-based tier is aimed at those who prefer not to pay anything at all. This is something Microsoft is "currently actively working towards".

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Respawn Entertainment has reversed Apex Legends' latest battle pass changes following player backlash.

Earlier this month, the developer revealed that it would be updating the battle royale's season-long battle pass system, by splitting it into two. The first "half season" would roll out at the beginning of Season 22, then the second would be released during the season mid-point, with each featuring 60 levels of rewards, instead of the usual 110.

The changes would have also removed the ability to purchase the battle pass using Apex Coins - a currency earned in the pass itself - and would instead make players pay real-world money for them at $9.99 / £8.99 per "half season". An optional $19.99 / £17.99 Premium+ track was also revealed, which would have replaced the premium bundle.

Players were quick to show their displeasure at the changes, which saw Apex Legends review bombed on Steam with over 81,659 negative reviews as of writing. 

Following the backlash, Respawn has now reversed the changes. 

"You've spoken, and we've listened," Respawn said in a recent X / Twitter post, before confirming that it will be restoring the ability to buy the Premium Battle Pass for 950 Apex Coins with the release of Season 22.

"We recognize that we could have handled the Battle Pass changes better - that's on us," the studio added. "It's our intention to improve the overall value and experience across our Battle Pass offerings."

Respawn then offered a summary of what it intends to change for Season 22. When the new system launches on August 6, the developer will give players the chance to get the Premium Battle Pass, which can be unlocked by "completing a series of simple in-game challenges".

When Split 2 - the second battle pass - releases on September 17, players can get the Premium Battle Passes the same as before: by using 950 Apex Coins.

It also explained that the Battle Pass options will now include better rewards, and with the new challenges, will be faster to complete with only 60 levels.

"Moving forward, we recognize that we need to be more timely, transparent, and consistent in our communications with you," Respawn added. "Your priorities are our priorities: cheaters, game stability, and quality of life updates are top of mind. We need to get better and it's why we're acknowledging them here."

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World of Warcraft's development team at Blizzard Entertainment has officially unionized.

According to Bloomberg, The Communications Workers of America (CWA) has confirmed that over 500 employees, including designers, engineers, producers, artists, quality assurance testers, and more, have formed the "first wall-to-wall union at Activision Blizzard" called the World of Warcraft Game Makers Guild (WWGMG).

In addition to this, 60 Blizzard QA testers have also joined the CWA under a new unit in Austin, Texas called the Texas Blizzard QA United who primarily work on Diablo and Hearthstone.

"We continue to support our employees’ right to choose how they are represented in the workplace, and we will engage in good faith negotiations with the CWA as we work towards a collective bargaining agreement," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement.

The news follows the announcement of 600 person Activision QA union that was formed earlier this year. 

Speaking to IGN, World of Warcraft senior producer Samuel Cooper said that the effort to unionize started in 2021, before Microsoft's acquisition, following the California lawsuit that alleged harassment and inequality at the studio.

"This isn't an attack against our World of Warcraft leadership or something where we're like, 'We hate those guys'," Cooper said. "We just want to make sure that our voices are being heard and that at some point we don't end up as numbers on a spreadsheet. Because you go up high enough and these people have never met any of us, none of the names mean anything to them."

Cooper continued, saying, "We had a lot of folks who, rightly or wrongly, felt fearful before. There are legal protections for organizing, but it can still be scary to have that change… We had CWA folks on campus for weeks on end, right in the middle, next to the big bronze orc. I think that really made people feel like it's not scary. I know they're not allowed to retaliate, but now I have confidence that they're not going to retaliate."

The CWA said (via GameDeveloper) that WWGMG represents a "significant milestone" for employees at Blizzard Entertainment.

"This victory underscores the growing momentum of worker organizing in the video game industry and will hopefully continue to inspire other video game workers to form unions and raise industry-wide expectations for pay, benefits and respect for workers’ rights," it added.

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The PSVR 2 app Steam page is now live, signaling the imminent arrival of SteamVR support for Sony's headset.

The appearance of the Steam page, as well as the app's August 6 launch date, lines up with what was detailed in Sony's announcement of the PSVR 2 PC adapter back in June. In that official PlayStation Blog post, Sony confirmed that the adapter (which costs $59.99 / £49.99) will release when PC support for PSVR 2 rolls out on August 7.

It seems that you'll need to have the PSVR 2 app in addition to the PC adapter in order to perform first-time setup for the headset on Steam. The app also allows setup of the PSVR 2's Sense controllers, confirming that they will be compatible with SteamVR titles.

The Steam page also notes that PSVR 2 owners will be able to perform firmware updates through the app, indicating that Sony will continue to support the headset for the foreseeable future. You'll also be able to set your play area and screen brightness through the app.

It appears that the app will also be needed in general, beyond the initial setup. The Steam page notes: "To play VR games and apps on Steam with PlayStation VR2, PlayStation VR2 App needs to be installed on your PC. Keep the app installed even after initial setup is complete."

Beyond this, there's no indication that the PSVR 2 app will offer any additional functionality beyond initial setup, firmware updates and general SteamVR compatibility. So those expecting to fine tune their VR experience with the app may be disappointed here. 

It's also worth noting that, according to the app's system requirements, you'll need around 700MB of free space on your PC. That shouldn't be an issue for most players, but worth keeping in mind, nonetheless.

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Sony's upcoming live-service multiplayer shooter Concord will not have a battle pass.

Developer Firewalk Studios has put concerns to rest and assured players that its 5v5 shooter set to release later this year won't have a paid battle pass, explaining that it wants to focus its attention on offering a rewarding Concord experience.

"Concord does not have a Battle Pass," the developer said in an X/Twitter post. "We wanted to focus our attention on making Concord a rewarding and robust experience on day one, where just playing the game, leveling up your accounts and characters, and completing jobs yields meaningful rewards."

The shooter will, however, feature microtransactions in the form of downloadable content (DLC) that will allow players to purchase optional character skins.

In terms of post-launch plans, Firewalk said that it will be bringing new Freegunners (playable characters) maps, modes and more through "regular post-launch seasons and updates" that will be available for all players at "no additional-cost". It explained that it will reveal its content roadmap very soon.

When Concord was officially revealed during Summer Game Fest in June, the game received a cinematic trailer introducing us to the game's core cast. Firewalk has now announced that the shooter will come with the first three in-game cinematic vignettes at launch, which will release weekly.

These cinematics will allow players to get to know he characters more and learn about their life as Freegunners, as well as about the broader world of Concord.

Concord's Early Access and Open Beta weekends recently wrapped up, which allowed players on PS5 and PC to experience a trial version of the multiplayer game with all 16 Freegunners unlocked. 

For those who did participate, Firewalk has confirmed that progress from either Beta will not carry over to the game's official launch on August 23, 2024, however, they will receive exclusive rewards upon the game's release.

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An Elden Ring speedrunner has put up a $10,000 bounty for beating an absurdly difficult challenge for the game's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC expansion.

As reported by GamesRadar, streamer Distortion2 is kicking off a new speedrunning category centered around Shadow of the Erdtree. Named 'Rune Level 1 DLC%', it actually goes far beyond just a level restriction.

While runners do have to remain at Level 1 throughout their playthrough, they're also limited to weapons found in the DLC's Land of Shadow map. That means that, no, you can't bring in that +10 Moonveil katana that's carried you through the base game.

On top of this, players must defeat every single remembrance boss - which includes some truly nightmarish fights like the Scadutree Avatar and Commander Gaius - as well as Bayle, vile Bayle. Oh, and if all that wasn't enough, while you're assumedly free to collect power-increasing Scadutree Fragments throughout the DLC area, you're limited to leveling up your blessing once per boss defeated.

Distortion2 explains his reasoning behind this limitations in the challenge's announcement video. "Just rune level 1 wasn't really hard enough in my mind," he explains, "as we all know how strong some weapons from the base game can be."

He adds that the Scadu blessing limitation was a way to prevent runners from scouring the map for Scadutree Fragments as seems to be the preferred method in standard speedrunning categories.

Best of all, the Rune Level 1 DLC% challenge is open to everyone. So if you fancy yourself a share of that $10,000 bounty (it's $4,000 for the top spot), you can head over to the category's Discord server to download a custom PC save file that'll get you started. If you think you're enough of a gamer to tackle this monumental challenge, you've got until August 11 to set your best time.

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The PS5's latest system software update has arrived, and as ever, this month has brought some much-needed quality-of-life changes to the console.

As detailed on the PS5 system software update support page, Version: 24.05-09.60.00 is now live. Chiefly, it adds the ability to create a shareable link used for inviting friends to multiplayer gaming sessions. You just need to open up your game's session action card and choose the new option: Share Link. From there, you'll scan a QR code with your phone to generate the link.

Another welcome improvement has come to the PS5's Voice Command feature. It's now possible to open up a title's Game Help action cards by speaking the phrase "Show Game Help." And while the Voice Command feature is still only available in English at present, this is sure to be a helpful accessibility update.

The latest system software update also brings with it the usual round of performance and stability improvements. On top of this, Sony notes that it's sent out a device software update for "some" DualSense Wireless Controller models. Again, to improve stability.

You can read the full system software update notes for Version: 24.05-09.60.00 here:

• You can invite other players to game sessions by sharing a URL to the session.
  - To invite other players, open the game session action card and select Share Link. Then, scan the QR code with your mobile device to share the link.
  - This feature is available only for open sessions that anyone can join. 
  - This feature will gradually be rolled out to all players by July 24.
• Voice Command now supports the ability to open Game Help action cards by saying "Show Game Help".
  - Currently, Voice Command (Preview) is available only in English for players with accounts for PlayStation Network in the US and UK.
• We've improved system software performance and stability. 
• We've updated the device software of some DualSense wireless controllers to improve stability. 
• We've improved the messages and usability on some screens.

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Baldur's Gate 3's upcoming Patch 7 Closed Beta has been delayed.

The start of the Closed Beta for the long-awaited Patch 7 was set to begin on July 22, but unfortunately Larian Studios has been forced to push the release back to "later this week" due to an issue with dice rolls.

"Well, the Patch 7 Closed Beta was set to begin today, but while preparing the build for you, we were once more humbled by the classic lesson taught to every game dev while playing bug-fix whack-a-mole: if you fix one bug over here, another one might still pop up over there," Larian said in a Steam post.

The developer explained that this happened with one of the fixes it wanted to implement in Patch 7, which has caused passive rolls to stop working. 

It's currently trying to figure out how to resolve the issue, but there's some good news. For those who have yet to register to take part in the beta now have extra time to do so. 

Larian has also confirmed that this delay has not affected the full Patch 7 release, which is expected to roll out in September.

To tide players over until the Beta releases, Larian has also shared a lengthy list of highlights from the Patch 7 notes, which include over 1,000 fixes and improvements. You can read the full list below. 

The studio shared some of the new additions set to arrive with Patch 7 recently, including details on new Dark Urge evil endings, split screen updates, animation improvements, romance and dialogue fixes, as well as the previously announced official modding toolkit. 

Baldur's Gate 3 - Patch 7 Highlights:

• Introducing 'Evil Endings': Brand new cinematic endings for the truly villainous playthroughs.
• Added our very own Mod Manager, which lets you browse, install, and use mods created by the community.
• Revamped split screen gameplay: When playing on split screen, the two halves of the screen will now dynamically merge together when player characters come close to each other in-game, and dynamically split back up when the characters move apart. This revamp comes alongside many other improvements and polishes to improve the overall split screen experience.

Honour Mode Combat

• If Dror Ragzlin finds himself inside the spider pit, he'll try his best to befriend the spiders residing there with a new spell called Arachnid Compulsion so they can band together to fight the real enemy - you.
• The Bulette has a new condition called Diamond Scales and a new Legendary Action called Shredding Scales.
• Malus Thorm has a new Legendary Action called Grasping Appendage.
• Added a new aura and spell for Spectators: Panicked Sentinel and Ocular Nightmare, respectively.
• Ch'r'ai Tska'an, the leader of the githyanki ambush in Act II, has a new Legendary Action called Soul Sacrifice.
• Ch'r'ai Har'rak, the githyanki leader at the Knights of the Shield Hideout, has a new Legendary Action called Tu'narath's Embrace.
• Ptaris has a new Legendary Action called Ptarian Dogma.

UI

• Revised and reorganised the in-game video options to be more logical and robust. You now have an Upscaling Type drop-down, an Upscaling Mode drop-down, and an Upscaling Sharpness slider, followed immediately by the options that are affected by them.
• Updated the Reactions UI so that you only have to toggle the Reactions you want to use and then confirm them. (This saves you from having to select 'Do not react' multiple times!)
• Added a new Equipment Options menu to the Character Sheet on controller.
• The panel that opens to 'Donate' magic items to Gale will now also show items in your Traveller's Chest. It also now indicates which items are currently equipped.
• We noticed some of you hiccoughing bubbles, so the action for washing yourself with soap and sponges is now called 'Use' instead of 'Consume'.
• Fixed your player character's name getting reverted to 'Custom' during Character Creation if you moved on to create your Dream Guardian and then went back to edit the player character again.
• Fixed the wrong spell Ability showing up when selecting a Feat during Level Up.

Art

• Added a new loading screen in Act III, showing the busy streets of Baldur's Gate.
• Fixed the skirt part of the Adamantine Splint Armour missing for female dwarves.
• Fixed the Adamantine Scale Mail clipping on large male characters.

Gameplay

• You can now start Custom Mode games using Honour Mode mechanics when starting a new playthrough. You'll be able to do this via the 'Ruleset' dropdown.
• The kuo-toa that promised to build you an army will now support you in the final battle. Unless they all died in Act I.
• The help that the Gondians promised for the final battle will now arrive in the form of a friendly Steel Watcher. Apologies from Zanner Toobin for the delay.
• The hair colour options in Character Creation will now remain accessible after you choose the bald hairstyle, so that you can continue fiddling around with eyebrow colours.
• Overhead dialogues that support multiple player characters can now involve characters assigned to different players. (They were limited to characters controlled by a single player until now.) This means that there will be more banter among player characters in multiplayer games.
• Group Hide will no longer affect summons that aren't linked to the group in the Party Line.
• Changed the behaviour for selecting camp supplies for a Long Rest. When selecting camp supplies that are stacked, the game now only takes what it needs from the stack.
• You can no longer cheese the Leap of Faith trial at the Gauntlet of Shar by just clicking the final platform and letting your character pathfind their way there. Shar threatened to smite us if we didn't fix this one.
• Fixed a bug where resurrecting Lae'zel on the beach in Act I would cause her to appear in the Party Line but not in the world, preventing you from leaving Act I.
• Patched up some savegames where Gale still had his Necrotic Aura when he shouldn't on load.
• Fixed Minthara's body sometimes turning invisible on the Level Up screen. (We sorta liked the floating-head-and-hands look, but hey.)

Animation

• Astarion now has idle animations at camp that aren't just him reading a book.
• Added a new idle animation for Minsc at camp - Boo may or may not have taught him some tai chi.
• Karlach will no longer brush the shaved side of her head.
• Polished the appearance of neck kisses in lovey-dovey scenes with Shadowheart on the Sharran path for characters with large body types and dragonborn characters.

Writing and Flow

• Dotted some dialogue options and voiced lines into dialogues across the game to add some more overall reactivity, particularly to account for edge-case flows.
• Dotted more Dark Urge reactivity (dialogue options and Narrator lines) into dialogues across the game.
• Resolved an issue that had been rendering some romance party banters inaccessible while adventuring.
• Avatar Lae'zel can now decide what she wants to do at the end of the game even if she wasn't the avatar making the choices in the main dialogue.
• Added a dialogue option asking for a kiss in more paths of Wyll's epilogue dialogue.
• If you're in holographic form in the epilogue, Wyll won't automatically assume he's talking to Lae'zel.
• Gave Wyll a new greeting for romance partners in Act III and characters with really low approval.
• Companions should now be more sympathetic to Astarion fleeing from the sun.
• Added a new dialogue in which Karlach will react to Dammon if she finds him dead after he told her that he can help her.
• Minthara will now react if you knock her out in Act I.

Scripting

• Fixed several issues (related to resurrecting characters via Withers, restructuring the party at night, and automatic camp night scenes) that would trap you in an eternal slumber, unable to end a Long Rest.
• Fixed a bug causing Shadowheart to keep repeating one line when you talk to her after she's resurrected by Withers from the Shadowfell.
• Fixed a small flow issue preventing you from commenting on Gale's last name.
• Fixed several occurrences of Wyll still having an exclamation mark above his head when he already told you everything he had to say.
• When playing as the Dark Urge, Minthara will no longer act as though you accepted Bhaal when
• Fixed a broken kissing scene after you gave Shadowheart the Idol of Shar.
• Fixed an issue where Jaheira would stop following the party after spending a night outside of the party.
• Fixed the rune tablets on the nautiloid sometimes not triggering the Narrator's lines.
• Clerics of Lathander should now recognise his symbol on a Lathanderian amulet.
• Ensured the avatar is prioritised as the main speaker in dialogues related to the hag's Act I surrender.
• Minthara does, in fact, now have something to say about after you kill her.
• Made the romance scene at night with Wyll in Act III unskippable if it triggers to avoid accidentally skipping it and not being able to finish the romance arc.
• If Avatar Karlach and Wyll are partners and go to together, he'll now act accordingly during the epilogue.
• Fixed Karlach's scene not playing if you decided to go with her when playing as Wyll.
• A bug has been fixed so that Wyll will now talk to his father if after the pact with Mizora is broken but Ravengard is saved from despite this, to decide on his title.
• Lae'zel will now wait a little longer for you at the site of her recruitment if you tell her you'll be back.
• Improved Lae'zel's idle camp behaviours to align a bit better with the other companions'.
• Fixed the fade-to-black after Karlach's scene at the end of the game, which would give you a very brief glimpse of Game Developer Land.
• Breaking up with Karlach by speaking with another companion you're dating the morning after her romance scene won't block her dialogue anymore.
• Reinstated Gale's last line in his detailed explanation of ceremorphosis and tweaked a dialogue option to react to it.
• Now that you can give Gale magic items from the Traveller's Chest, he will leave again if you refuse to do so.
• Patched up some savegames that had a bug that would prevent the dialogue between Gale and at the end of the game from triggering.
• Fixed a bug that let you kiss Gale even if he was in a disguised form before confronting . Also fixed this dialogue with him cutting off before you could give him a smooch.
• Reworked the script that determines whether a character is too busy to talk. This will prevent bugs like Minthara's dialogue not triggering at Moonrise Towers after you rescue her, and knock-on effects as a result of this, like not being able to rest or fast travel.

Performance

• Continued to make performance and stability optimisations across the game and implemented many under-the-hood code fixes.
• Optimised performance. This will have a more noticeable impact in areas with large numbers of NPCs (like the Lower City) and will reduce peak memory usage when loading levels for the first time. It will also be noticeable when managing lots of loot (e.g. when transferring everything from a camp chest to a character's inventory).

Cinematics

• Reworked and revamped the cutscene that plays when you interact with
• Polished facial expressions and emotions across companion dialogues, including to the facial animations of your character during some kissing cinematics, including with the Astarion.

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Netflix currently has over 80 games in development and aims to release one title per month starting this month onwards.

During its latest earnings call on July 18, co-CEO and president Gregory K. Peters shared the company's ongoing plans for its gaming initiative and also said 

"We're getting close to three years into our gaming initiative, and we're happy with the progress that we've seen," Peters said. We've had set ourselves pretty aggressive engagement growth targets. And we've met those, exceeded those in many cases. In 2023, we tripled that engagement. We're looking good in our engagement growth in '24, and we've set even more aggressive growth goals for '25 and '26."

Netflix has launched "over 100 games so far" on the mobile app, but Peters did admit that engagement is "still quite small" - as well as content spend - compared to its other streaming services.

Peters said that the 80+ games set for release will be labelled as "interactive narrative games" - dubbed Netflix Stories - and will be based on existing Netflix IP, like the popular series Emily in Paris.

"We've seen what works, what doesn't work," Peters added. "We're refining our program to do more of what is working with the 80-plus games that we currently have in development. And one of those things that really is working is connecting our members with games based on specific Netflix IP that they love.

"And this is an area that we've been able to move in quickly in a particular space, which is interactive narrative games. These are easier to build. And we place those in a narrative hub that we call Netflix Stories."

Theodore A Sarandos, Co-CEO, president and director, also joined the discussion and said that Netflix's opportunity to "serve super fandom with games is really fun and remarkable."

"I think the idea of being able to take a show and give the superfan a place to be in between seasons and even beyond that, to be able to use the game platform to introduce new characters and new storylines or new plot twist events, now you could do those kind of things and then they can then materialize in the next season or in the sequel to the film," Sarandos said.

Netflix's current game library on the mobile app is available with every Netflix membership without ads, in-app purchases, or extra fees.

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Ubisoft has acknowledged the Japanese community's concerns about Assassin's Creed Shadows.

The next instalment in the Assassin's Creed franchise is set to arrive later this year, but ahead of its launch the development team has come out with a statement in response to some concerns from the Japanese fanbase.

"For many of our team, creating an Assassin's Creed game set in Feudal Japan has been a long-cherished dream," the post reads. "Since the announcement of Assassin's Creed Shadows, we have received many positive reactions, but also some criticism including from you, our Japanese players. We share your passion for history and deeply respect your care for the historical and cultural integrity of your rich heritage."

The studio goes on to explain that it has put great effort into ensuring an "immersive and respectful representation of Feudal Japan" by consulting with historians and researchers, but said it has never been its intention with any games in the series to base it as factual representation of history or historical characters.

However, it also acknowledged "that some elements in our promotional materials have caused concern within the Japanese community", and apologized, adding that the game will continue to evolve up until the game's release. 

"All game footage presented so far is in development and the game will keep evolving until launch," the post continued. "Based on the constructive criticism we have received, we will continue our efforts until we put this game into your hands - and beyond."

Ubisoft also addressed the ongoing backlash surrounding one of Shadows' playable protagonists, Yasuke.

Yasuke is based on the the real-life historical figure, a samurai of African origin who arrived in Japan in 1579, lived during the Sengoku period, and served the Japanese daimyō Oda Nobunaga. 

The origins of Yasuke has been a debated topic ever since his reveal, despite experts stating that he was in fact a samurai during this era.

Ubisoft explained that it has always taken historical figures and events and incorporated them with the series' fantasy elements "to craft engaging and immersive experiences" and said that its representation of Yasuke in Shadows is illustrative of this.

"His unique and mysterious life made him an ideal candidate to tell an Assassin's Creed story with the setting of Feudal Japan as a backdrop," it said, while also acknowledging that his samurai depiction is "a matter of debate and discussion".

Assassin's Creed Shadows launches on November 15 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Amazon Luna, and PC.

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