🎮️ Rockstar Dev Teases GTA 6

Good morning & Happy Friday!

Here’s everything you need to know this week in the world of gaming.

LATEST NEWS

👺 Marc-Alexis Coté, director of the Assassin's Creed franchise, has addressed the significant impact of anti-inclusivity backlash on the Shadows development team, affecting their creative process and staff morale.

🔫 Ben Hinchliffe, a former Rockstar Games developer who worked on titles like LA Noire, GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, and GTA 6 before leaving in 2021, has shared his excitement about the upcoming Grand Theft Auto, stating that the game's realism will "blow people away."

🎥 Netflix has reportedly closed one of its AAA game studios before releasing any games, marking a significant setback in its three-year push into the gaming industry.

🤦 Inzoi, a competitor to The Sims, is delayed until next year, because "among primates, raising a human child to adulthood takes the longest time."

🎮️ November may be slowing things down a bit, but it’s not quite backlog month yet, make sure these 19 game releases don't fly under your radar. 

🕹️ Sega is set to delist over 60 classic games from steam, by December 26, 2024. This move affects several iconic titles, such as the original Streets of Rage trilogy, Crazy Taxi, and Jet Set Radio.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Dragon Age: The Veilguard has been out for a week, and reactions are, well… mixed. One Redditor summed it up bluntly: "Gameplay? Fun. Writing? Makes me want to claw my eyes out." Ouch.

Forbes wasn’t much kinder, pointing out the game’s clumsy political messaging. "The best way to persuade someone is not to bludgeon them with a cudgel," they said, criticizing BioWare's heavy-handed approach.

Gamers are tired of being preached to, even on important issues like trans rights. And when a character in Veilguard misgenders another, the scene devolves into a performative apology—complete with push-ups and a lecture. The writing? "Self-parody," Forbes called it. It’s immersion-breaking and leaves players rolling their eyes.

Meanwhile, RockPaperShotgun’s review sheds light on the gameplay's slow burn. "Almost everything in Veilguard takes about eight hours to get interesting." The starting zones feel disconnected from Thedas’s grit, and your base—a floating lighthouse in a purplish void—feels more abstract than immersive. Save the world? Sure, but don’t expect urgency right away. Verdict? Some decent gameplay, but storytelling that might make you groan.

VIRAL CONTENT

Thanks for reading!

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Level Up. We’re constantly evolving, so if you have feedback, feel free to hit reply and let us know.