Square Enix has confirmed to IGN that everyone’s favorite edgy gunslinger will be an AI companion in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and not fully playable, like Red XIII in Final Fantasy VII Remake. Cid, the chain-smoking pilot, is elusive, hard to define, and cool.

Naturally, Red XIII and Cait Sith (who we don’t remember being cool) will be playable. The Intergrade standalone expansion confirmed Yuffie’s playability and deeper story integration (she was an optional ally before). Even Sepiroth will be playable briefly.

Zack Fair’s role is expanded in this reimagining of a classic video game story, according to Rebirth producer Yoshinori Kitase: “We see him at the end of Remake, which is different from the original title. Zack will appear in a new Rebirth episode with more of him than in the Remake. I can’t say much more because I want players to play and experience it.”

While Square Enix may be saving the best for last, Vincent and Cid will fight alongside the party, albeit AI-controlled. Which FFVII companions do you prefer?

Publisher Private Division and developer Wētā Workshop present Tales of the Shire, a new Lord of the Rings game. A “heart-warming” game about your “cosy Hobbit life” will release on PC and consoles in 2024. The latest teaser trailer evokes those feelings.

We know little about the game, but the dev team’s Middle-earth experience makes it intriguing. Wētā Workshop are known for their work on special effects and props for movies, including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films and the TV series The Rings of Power. It understands Tolkien’s fantasy world because it made movie costumes, sets, miniatures, and more.

The in-house game development team at Wētā Workshop is currently working on Tales of the Shire. With its knowledge and experience with Middle-earth, we expect this to have a unique authenticity. We’re curious how the game will play, but it sounds like you’ll live a peaceful life in the Hobbit homeland, growing potatoes and eating second breakfasts.

Tales of the Shire is still a while away, but are you interested?

 

UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is closer than ever to approving Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard King. Due to a proposal change that would give Ubisoft cloud streaming rights to Activision’s games, the CMA appears to have changed its mind.

One of Microsoft’s biggest challenges in completing its purchase was the government. The CMA blocked the initial deal due to cloud gaming monopoly concerns. Microsoft has struggled with the UK for months, even though most other countries approved the deal. The CMA’s main concern was alleviated by the proposal change.

The revised deal addresses the CMA’s main concern by giving Ubisoft the rights to cloud stream Activision’s software catalogue and the next 15 years of its games, according to a UK government press release. “The prior sale of the cloud gaming rights will establish Ubisoft as a key supplier of content to cloud gaming services, replicating Activision’s independent market role,” the statement says.

Ubisoft will distribute Activision’s cloud streaming games impartially, rather than Microsoft. “The CMA considers that the restructured deal makes important changes that substantially address the concerns it set out in relation to the original transaction earlier this year,” its statement says.

Microsoft isn’t clear yet. Still, the CMA worried that “certain provisions in the sale of Activision’s cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft could be circumvented, terminated, or not enforced”. As a result, Microsoft “offered remedies to ensure that the terms of the sale of Activision’s rights to Ubisoft are enforceable by the CMA”.

Two consultations have begun by the CMA, one to test the remedies for its last few concerns and another to decide whether to approve the deal. Both have a 6 October 2023 deadline.

Still, the acquisition appears to be closer than ever to completion. We’ll see what the CMA decides in two weeks, but we’re close to never writing about this again.