Gaming news time! In this week’s bulletin, we summarize the conversation around the to-be-released in November this year Assassin’s Creed Shadows, look into the new indie horror game Conscript, say goodbye to Chivalry 2, and take a look on information available on Civilization VII!

In pre-order and already receiving backlash: Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows

For the past couple months, Ubisoft’s upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been constantly spurring discussion which as in this case often goes hand-in-hand with backlash. The main two points of contention are the debates about historical accuracy regarding one of the game’s protagonists (the samurai Yasuke who was of African origin), and Ubisoft’s use of a flag design in Shadows’ concept art without authorization. On July 23rd Ubisoft issued a statement on Assassin’s Creed Twitter/X account in both English and Japanese apologizing to the Japanese fans (by whom both debates were prompted). In this statement they both apologize and provide background to some of the key decisions that concerned the Assassin’s Creed community. They apologize for the flag design, but stand firmly in their decision to have the historical figure Yasuke presented as a samurai. Experts have been joining the debate to agree that Yasuke was indeed a samurai, including Japanese historian Yu Hirayama in his Twitter/X post. Read more: IGN.

Conscript: No fictional monsters, war is horror enough

Survival horror games can utilize a wide range of elements to cultivate tension and fear, often using the air of the Lovecraftian unknown and mystique. By joint efforts, Jordan Mochi and Catchweight Studio developed Conscript, a novel approach to classic survival horror. The game is set in the trenches of Verdun in 1916 during World War I, with the player/soldier solving environmental puzzles, managing resources, planning routes, fighting and sneaking through overrun forts, all striving to find his brother who appears to have gone missing while in action. The setting is fairly new to the genre, but absolutely fitting as it affords a complex atmosphere. One of not just fear, but also the despair and melancholy of the general and particular situation of world war and the loss of a loved one, alongside the overarching anxiety of it all. With stunning pixel visuals, and reminiscent of early Resident Evil games, Conscript might be right up the valley for any horror game lover.

The end to updates after 3 years: Chivalry 2 is complete

The “11th and final content piece” is what Torn Banner Studios called the Regicide update for the online medieval warfare sim, Chivalry 2. As the game moves into maintenance mode and is to no longer receive updates, the game’s subreddit users write about their mixed feelings. From worrying about the game dying to appreciation and praise of everything the developers released throughout the 3 years, all of these are expected feelings The developer makes it clear in the post that the Chivalry franchise is not ending, but as a studio they are excited to work on new multiplayer projects and grow, so that the next Chivalry title is even better than the previous.

First peek into Civilization VII gameplay is on its way

The upcoming 7th installment of the popular Civilization series by Firaxis Games was announced in June, and the first glimpse into the gameplay will be revealed on August 20th. Any information about the game is limited for now, but so far it is known to be released on PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PS4 in 2025. Read more: Eurogamer.