Will the the Assassin’s Creed IV remake get bogged down in modern open-world RPG bloat? Is Microsoft’s lack of faith in the creative process really to blame for Scalebound getting canceled? Can Steam wishlist gimmicks really get people to care about an otherwise generic-looking multiplayer shooter? Welcome to the latest edition of Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku‘s daily roundup of gaming news and culture. I’m currently mourning the loss of beautiful pre-rendered backgrounds as I remember one of the best fall releases of all time.
Zero Caliber 2 gets cheaper the more people wishlist it on Steam
The co-op VR shooter looks pretty generic, but its new marketing stunt is pretty creative. “As a self-funded indie team fighting to keep native PCVR (and our studio) alive (especially the single/Co-op/PvP combo genre), we’re gearing up to drop one of the most epic PCVR shooters to date,” developer XREAL wrote in a recent update (via Polygon). “We’d LOVE to make the launch price as low as possible for y’all.”
It will start at $30 but drop a few dollars for every 10,000 Steam users who wishlist it. If it hits 100,000 it will be $15 when it launches this fall. The first game, released in 2023, is currently on sale for just $10, and is regularly priced at $25. The stunt joins a growing list of strategies to try and game Steam to boost sales, including going completely free to download for the first 24 hours, which a couple of recent games have done.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag remake will reportedly be more of an RPG
According to Jeux Vidéo Magazine, the project, first reported by Kotaku back in 2023, will be making some pretty significant changes to the original cross-gen entry for PS4 and Xbox One. Protagonist Edward Kenway will have gear stats and more RPG-influenced combat. Modern day sections have been replaced with new content on Edward’s ship. The map will look mostly the same but be more dense with new activities. It could reportedly arrive as early as 2026.
Okami 2 director discusses why companies like Microsoft struggle to make new IP
Former PlatinumGames lead Hideki Kamiya tells VGC that the infamously canceled Xbox One exclusive Scalebound might have come out if Microsoft had acted more like a Japanese publisher. “On the Japanese side, my impression is that they see you’re trying to make a new invention,” he said. “They understand the struggle of trying to give birth to something new, and they watch over the process with patience. That’s where I see there’s a difference with publishers.”
With a reputation for not mincing words, the director behind Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101 continued, “For foreign companies, if you’re trying to invent something new, because the shape of it isn’t clear yet, there tends to be pressure, like ‘show us something that’s taken shape more.’ And if you look at the games themselves, like how first-person shooters were the popular thing for a while, I get the impression that they feel a sense of safety following an established format.”
Subnautica 2 gets its first major developer update since the lawsuit
A new developer diary has visual development lead Cory Strader showing off the survival sim’s Collector Leviathan. The creature, Strader says, will feature immersive combat design, lifelike movement, and a responsive AI to create tense, dynamic encounters. “Our main goal with our creatures was to make them feel reactive, so the Leviathan is constantly re-evaluating the situation in real time,” he said. “To achieve that, we use Unreal Engine 5 behavior trees and our AI stimulus system.”
Subnautica 2 was originally slated for Early Access this fall but was delayed amid a contentious legal battle with the studio’s founders, who were fired earlier this year over conflicting allegations about a $250 million bonus and failures to get the game feature complete enough for launch.
Casting calls for Amazon’s Mass Effect show have gone out
The production, which leaked last year, is reportedly seeking a male actor in his 30s who’s a “Colin Farrell” type and a similarly aged female co-lead who will be wearing alien prosthetics, according to insider Daniel Richtman (via IGN). This has some fans speculating about a possible team-up of Commander Shepard and Liara T’Soni, though I would personally prefer a completely new story.
Lollipop Chainsaw RePop will come to Switch 2
The upgrade is expected to arrive sometime in November. Dragami Games is promising it will feature “significant” improvements in performance and visual quality over the Switch 1 version. But will they buff the jiggle physics in the process? In addition to a litany of other launch bugs, the remaster was accused of censoring zombie-killing hero Juliet Starling’s body animations. The director blamed it on the move to Unreal Engine 5. Thanks, Tim Sweeney.
ICYMI:
Watch this:
To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Super Mario Bros, Nintendo launched a timeline of all the major game releases. pic.twitter.com/zHAUtoNjSP
— Stealth (@Stealth40k) September 12, 2025
