- How did Netflix ‘win the streaming wars’ while being criticized for becoming ‘unwatchable?’ It could all be explained by the concept of ‘platform decay’ Yahoo Finance
- Netflix Cuts Over 100 Shows From Programming Slate Bloomberg
- Netflix cuts over 100 shows: New content strategy or the aftermath of twin strike? | WION WION
- What’s Next in ‘The Streaming Wars’ – by Sonny Bunch The Bulwark
- How did Netflix ‘win the streaming wars’ while being criticized for becoming ‘unwatchable?’ It could all be explained by the concept of ‘platform decay’ Fortune
Tag Archives: concept
World premiere for the efficiency champion: Volkswagen ID.7 (ID.7 – Near-production concept car. The vehicle has not gone on sale yet.) with a range of up to 700 km (Depending on the battery size, forecasts indicate that WLTP ranges of up to 700 kilometres – Volkswagen Newsroom
- World premiere for the efficiency champion: Volkswagen ID.7 (ID.7 – Near-production concept car. The vehicle has not gone on sale yet.) with a range of up to 700 km (Depending on the battery size, forecasts indicate that WLTP ranges of up to 700 kilometres Volkswagen Newsroom
- VW ID.7 World Premiere Volkswagen News
- VW aims to dethrone the Tesla Model 3 with its long-ranging ID.7 electric sedan The Verge
- Why you should check out the new 435-mile range Volkswagen ID.7 electric sedan Electrek.co
- 2025 Volkswagen ID.7 Promises More Power, Better Range Than ID.4 Car and Driver
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Check out BMW’s new color-changing concept car, the i Vision Dee
What if the color of your car could change based on your mood or the weather?
That’s the idea — or, at least, one of the ideas— behind BMW’s new “i Vision Dee” concept car, a midsize electric sports sedan covered in futuristic panels that can change color on demand.
BMW describes it as the world’s first “color-changing” car. The Dee, which stands for “Digital Emotional Experience,” can cycle between 32 different colors, the company said in a press release on Thursday, while unveiling the car at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The car can cycle between 32 different solid exterior colors, with mix-and-match capabilities due to its 240 different panel segments. That’s a significant leap past BMW’s earlier iteration showcased last year, which could only alternate between black, white and gray.
As with any concept vehicle, the technology behind the Dee’s color-changing capabilities is likely years away from consumer availability. Exposure to the elements in day-to-day driving — from car washes to flying insects — keeps the high-tech panels from performing in the real world, The Verge noted Thursday.
A photo composite shows some of the potential color combinations of the color-changing BMW i Vision Dee concept car.
Source: BMW
For BMW, the car is meant as a glimpse of what could eventually be a much more colorful future. “This allows an almost infinite variety of patterns to be generated and varied within seconds,” the company said in its press release, which described the light show as a “magical display of color.”
The Dee’s outer skin is a film made of electronic paper built by a startup called E Ink, which also makes display tech for e-readers and mobile phones. The coating segments contain millions of tiny microcapsules with different color pigments that change shades when electricity is applied.
The electronic coating is “ultra-low power,” so changing the car’s colors won’t drain the electric vehicle’s battery, E Ink said in its own press release on Thursday.
E Ink also said it’s able to manufacture its panels in any shape imaginable — potentially leading to applications like e-reader screens that mimic the look of actual paper or more energy-efficient digital signs and smartwatch displays.
BMW hasn’t released specs for the Dee’s engine or battery, but says the concept car is additionally loaded with futuristic hardware and software that’ll be available in cars on the road by 2025.
That includes BMW’s Head-Up display, a digital dashboard that spans the entire width of the windshield. It also features a Mixed Reality Slider, a touchscreen that allows you to control how much digital content is displayed on that dashboard, from driving speed and battery range to music controls and text messages.
The interior of BMW’s i Vision Dee concept car.
Source: BMW
Sony Honda Mobility officially unveils its Afeela EV concept at CES 2023
In March of 2022, Honda and Sony shocked the world by announcing that not only were the venerable electronics and automotive manufacturers were teaming up, they were doing so to build a battery electric SUV. By June, the project had been spun of into its own company and less than a year after being announced, Sony Honda Mobility took to the CES 2023 stage to officially unveil its first prototype. The Vision-S 02 is now the Afeela.
Sony Honda Mobility
Sony executives shared a few details about the upcoming vehicle including that it has 14 exterior cameras — 45 of them in total! — as well as a grille-mounted “Media Bar” that will display pertinent charging and vehicle information, “which allows intelligent mobility to express itself to surrounding people using light, enabling interactive communication between mobility and people,” according to Wednesday’s release. SHM also noted that online pre-orders will begin in mid-2025 ahead of deliveries scheduled for spring of 2026. We’ll have a hands-on from the show floor on Thursday, stay tuned!
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We could build space cities in asteroids with this wild concept
A pandemic-induced “lockdown” project produced a new vision for how to build cities on asteroids.
The wild asteroid concept would see far-future humans gather up rock rubble in a massive bag made of nanofiber mesh, allowing future astronauts to build a habitat inside the loose asteroid bits as the rocks spin in space.
“This project started as just a way for physicists and engineers to blow off steam, set aside worldly stresses for a while, and imagine something crazy,” Ph.D. candidate and study lead author Peter Miklavčič, who is based at the University of Rochester, said in a statement (opens in new tab).
The researchers suggest that future Manhattan-sized cities of 22 square miles (57 square kilometers) could be built on these space rocks, just like in science fiction, assuming the base asteroid is at least 1,000 feet (300 meters) across.
Related: Humans could move to this floating asteroid belt colony in the next 15 years, astrophysicist says
“We’re taking a science fiction idea that has been very popular recently — in TV shows like Amazon’s “The Expanse” — and offering a new path for using an asteroid to build a city in space,” added co-author Adam Frank, who teaches physics and astronomy at Rochester, in the same statement.
The study team argues that if their concept indeed works, it would (eventually) allow for lower-cost exploration of the solar system and open up living off-planet to far more people than just billionaires.
That said, the launch infrastructure is not yet in place for rapid and affordable access to space, let alone any asteroid city-building materials; that may take a few decades at least to build, if not centuries.
The new study borrows from the oft-cited “O’Neill cylinder (opens in new tab)” concept, first proposed by physicist Gerard O’Neill in a 1972 NASA study. Simply put, the design includes two cylinders that rotate in opposite directions, inspiring billionaires like Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos (who made his fortune with Amazon) or SpaceX‘s Elon Musk. But past work has suggested that supplying the necessary materials from Earth would be quite costly.
Related: As space billionaires take flight, ‘the right stuff’ for space travel enters a new era
Miklavčič studies the space rubble that often arises in asteroids, which can in many cases only be loosely held together by gravity. Since a rotating O’Neill cylinder would make such an asteroid fly apart, a flexible bag could be one solution to holding the materials in and allowing a stable base for a city.
The mesh bag would be made out of carbon nanofibers, which are lightweight and yet strong enough to hold together the asteroid rubble in a potential habitat. In theory, a spun-up asteroid inside a bag would fling its rocks into the sides, allowing the bag to expand and hold the rocks tight with the help of the nanofibers. The rubble peppering the bag’s side would be held there by artificial gravity and would shield the inhabitants from space radiation.
While the study is literally ‘out there,’ the researchers emphasized all the technology is currently in place (albeit at an early stage) and that the science stands up.
“Obviously, no one will be building asteroid cities anytime soon, but the technologies required to accomplish this kind of engineering don’t break any laws of physics,” Frank said.
A study based on the research was published in January (opens in new tab) in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, and highlighted by the university in December.
Elizabeth Howell is the co-author of “Why Am I Taller (opens in new tab)?” (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), a book about space medicine. Follow her on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
Forspoken interview with Takeshi Aramaki, Takefumi Terada, and Raio Mitsuno – concept, creation, magic-driven gameplay, and more
Last week, Gematsu” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/companies/gematsu”>Gematsu had the opportunity to sit down with Forspoken [21 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/games/forspoken”>Forspoken director Takeshi Aramaki, co-director Takefumi Terada, and creative producer Raio Mitsuno to discuss the open-world Action RPG [527 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/rpg/action-rpg”>action RPG‘s concept and creation, magic-driven gameplay, and more.
Get the full interview below.
Forspoken is your next major project following Final Fantasy [44 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/series/final-fantasy”>Final Fantasy XV. What has the process been like, shifting from a mainline Final Fantasy game to a new IP?
Takeshi Aramaki, Luminous Productions [26 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/companies/square-enix/luminous-productions”>Luminous Productions Head of Studio and Co-Director: “Coming out of Final Fantasy XV, we really wanted to develop a new game—a new IP essentially. With Final Fantasy XV, we felt like we were able to do a lot of world building, and we felt like we did a pretty swell job in the sense of developing an RPG [14,721 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/rpg”>RPG. But alternatively, there were still some challenges that remained on the scenario front. And so with our latest title, pairing up with western scenario writers like Gary Witta and Amy Hennig, and garnering their helping hands, so to speak, we felt like we would be able to create quite an amazing game that we really, truly love. So that’s where it all kind of started.”
Why did you decide to go that route rather than develop the story in-house?
Raio Mitsuno, Creative Producer: “It’s not every day we get an opportunity to create a new IP at this scale, so we wanted to really take advantage of that and deliver a game experience to as many players worldwide—as much as possible. We wanted to make sure that we maximize our efforts in every aspect. So instead of just limiting to our own idea and kind of creating a story within ourselves, we thought we would reach out to some amazing creative minds to help put something together that is bigger than the sum of its part, so to speak. So we have our development expertise and experience paired with amazing storytelling from the west and trying to come up with something that we wouldn’t be able to do on our own. And that’s kind of really the thinking behind wanting to do this kind of collaborative effort.”
To that end, can you talk about why you decided to incorporate the likenesses of real actors rather than custom character designs?
Mitsuno: “Part of the reason why we want to base our characters off of real actors and models is to really just bring an authentic experience to each character. I know for a lot of our other games, we just designed the original characters, and it’s kind of always acting alongside of it, but we really wanted to bring each character to life in the most authentic way possible. And the way we started with that—for example, for Frey, when we designed her, when we came up with her, we started from the inside out. We started with thinking about her personality, what is her character like? Does she like dogs or is she a cat person? Like, you know, just thinking of every single trait that defines Frey. And then we went to the casting process, and we came across Ella Balinska, who just was a perfect match in terms of conveying the dynamic character that Frey is—with how strong her determination is, the sense of humor that we want a Frey to have. But also a soft, kind of vulnerable side to her as well. So she’s a very multidimensional character, and we found an actor that can portray that. And then we said, hey, let’s model the character after Ella as well, just so we can really bring that experience as authentically as possible. So that was the process that started everything, and for every other character we thought the same way as well.”
Can you talk more about how the concept of Forspoken came about? Before the game’s announcement, I recall hearing whispers of the game being built off the Agni’s Philosophy tech demo Square Enix [5,067 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/companies/square-enix”>Square Enix showcased some years back. Is there any truth to that?
Aramaki: “Agni’s Philosophy was actually revealed as a tech demo for Final Fantasy. So in that sense it’s unrelated to Forspoken. It is true that we wanted to create an experience that was based on magic, where magic was actually the concept. And so there are likenesses or similarities on that front. However, Agni’s Philosophy as a world stands on its own, and for Forspoken we really built the world and lore off of our discussions with Gary and Amy. So it is a completely different undertaking.”
Magic is the life and soul of Forspoken. Frey comes to an unknown world where she is gifted with supernatural abilities. One thing you’re really emphasizing here is magic through parkour. What made parkour of all things into such a key element?
Takefumi Terada, Co-Director: “Magic parkour is definitely a key element. As far as how we arrived at magic parkour, we initially started off with the plain old parkour that you see in our world—essentially something that’s humanly possible. And so we researched and built out parkour Action [815 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/action”>action based on what’s humanly possible first and foremost. And then by adding a magic element to it, we really felt like it would help expand and enhance what could potentially be possible, namely the high-speed fast-paced traversal, as well as being able to jump higher and so forth. It really allows for that range. And so that’s where we really strove to develop—that’s the flow in which we arrived at magic parkour.”
Other than parkour and fast travel, are there any other methods of traversal in Forspoken?
Terada: “As you mentioned, fast travel will be a method of travel in the game. But as far as other methods of travel, everything we have is focused around the parkour action. So basically when you start off in the game, initially you start off with, for lack of a better term, low level parkour skills that are humanly possible. But as you progress through the game, you will start to get additional parkour action of the magic-enhanced variety. And so step by step, you’ll be able to utilize even greater parkour skills throughout the game. And so it is really an experience to fully enjoy the parkour action.”
While we’re on the subject of magic, can we talk about combat? In a recent PlayStation [41,655 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/playstation”>PlayStation Blog post, you mentioned really wanting to get the visual representation of magic down just right. What was the process behind defining and developing Frey’s magic?
Terada: “Let me start by explaining how we went about with the game design for magic and how that was all crafted. So given the fact that this is an action-based game, and we have 100 types of cells at the player’s disposal, we started off by really placing importance on the distance between the player and enemy. And so earlier on in the game, you will start off with more mid-ranged spells. And then as you progress to the game, you start to gain different types of spells—notably near-range, close-range, fire-based spells, as well as shorter boosts, like distance dashes. And then as you progress even further into the game, you’ll get a hold of more long-ranged magic. For example, you may be able to attack as you hide or otherwise. And so there is quite a variety of magic incorporated within this game, and we really want to cater to the player’ own play style so that they have the right to choose how they play.
“And so we really wanted to, again, cater to various different play styles. So after we had that overarching idea, we went in and looked at each and every magic spell available and decided on what kind of qualities that each magic will have. So, for example, there may be certain ones where you would set traps in order to defeat enemies, or there might be mine-like magic that you set that would automatically defeat enemies, or so forth. And so those individual characteristics of each magic were locked up by the planners, and thereafter the artists went in to design how that would visually look, as far as the visual effects go.”
Being a new IP, were there ever times during development that you looked at certain magic abilities and thought, “No, that’s too Final Fantasy,” or, “No, that’s too similar to Dragon Quest [46 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/series/dragon-quest”>Dragon Quest“?
Terada: “Yeah, so as you mentioned, given the fact that Forspoken is a new IP, we originally set out with the concept of creating a new IP that is neither Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, and so it true that we were conscious of not being too comparable to other Square Enix games. So we really strove for originality and intuitiveness, and we hope that comes through in the magic we’re presenting in the game.”
I had the opportunity to play the Tokyo Game Show 2022 demo of Forspoken a couple of months back and Frey had an impressive number of skills at her disposal. How many different skills and variations can players expect in the full game?
Terada: “We really wanted the main focus of this game to be magic and magic-based enjoyment throughout its gameplay and battles. And so as far as physical weapons go, you will not encounter any in this game. You’ll basically utilize magic to your heart’s content in order to really enjoy the battles and the defeat monsters and so forth. That’s really the crux of this experience.”
I think one of the biggest concerns when it comes to Open-World [151 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/genres/open-world”>open-world games is that it will be riddled with cumbersome fetch quests or errands. How is this being handled for Forspoken?
Terada: “When looking at side quests specifically, within the world of Athia, there is a last bastion of humanity essentially called Cipal, where the survivors of humanity have gathered. So for side quests, it’s really about the human interactions with these NPCs, learning about their struggles and so forth. This is what most of the side quests are focused around—really getting an understanding for the people—the survivors.
“As far as detours or side content that is available throughout the open world, there are aspects where you can explore and enhance your magic, and there will be various bosses and dungeons that you’ll be able to take on and challenge. There’s also an aspect where you’ll be able to engage with these cute creatures. And then also there are archives where you’ll find remnants and records of life that once was in the open world, which will help you gain further understanding and depth into the history of Athia. And so those are the types of side content available outside of Cipal in the open world.”
Mitsuno: “Just for some additional context, you said you played the Tokyo Game Show demo in October. So that was a specially crafted gameplay demo just to give a feel for the mechanics of parkour and magic. So that was specifically kind of fetch quest-like in terms of the makeup, like, do these five objectives and then you get to fight a boss. So the full game isn’t actually designed like that, that was just specifically created for that demo experience.”
Sony Interactive Entertainment [4,620 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/companies/sony-interactive-entertainment”>Sony Interactive Entertainment has been a very open supporter of Forspoken, even locking down a minimum two years of console exclusivity. Can you talk a bit about how that partnership came about?
Aramaki: “In developing and creating a new IP, we really set out to create a gaming experience that was catered to PlayStation, kind of drawing on their high speed SSD as well as haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. We built our game design to cater to those features. And so Sony has been kindly supporting us on the promotion front in those terms.”
Looks like our time is about up. Is there anything else you would like to say to fans before we sign off?
Terada: “Forspoken is the debut title from Luminous Productions. We’re sure and confident we will be able to deliver to everyone’s expectations. So we hope that you will look forward to it and enjoy the game. Persona [10 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/series/persona”>Personally speaking, I put a lot of energy and a lot of effort into the open world’s magic parkour and combat. So we really hope that you’ll be able to enjoy traversing the vast and sprawling lands of Athia.”
Mitsuno: “And just to add to that a little bit. To go alongside the awesome gameplay that we have in Forspoken, is an incredible narrative that follows Frey’s journey through Athia, so that is something that we are very proud of as well, especially the tech that we’ve created. It’s something that we know players enjoy. Obviously, because the story is so important, we haven’t revealed too much about it. But rest assured, along with the gameplay, there’s going to be a very captivating story for players.”
Thank you so much for your time today everyone!
Forspoken is due out for PS5 [3,934 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/playstation/ps5″>PlayStation 5 and PC [16,526 articles]” href=”https://www.gematsu.com/platforms/pc”>PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and Microsoft Store on January 24, 2023. A demo is available now for PlayStation 5.
Creepy concept video shows human farms with hundreds of birthing pods that grow babies
A birthing facility that can grow up to 30,000 babies a year inside artificial wombs could solve the world’s low birth rates, which Elon Musk believes is the most significant threat to human civilization.
A new concept video takes viewers on tour through The EctoLife Artificial Womb Facility, where hundreds of fetuses sit in transparent pods that are temperature controlled and feature an umbilical cord to receive oxygen and nutrients.
Hashem Al-Ghaili, a film producer and biotechnologist, created the life-like film to start a conversation about such technologies that would allow women who had their uterus removed to give birth, reduce premature births and combat population declines
The process would use invitro fertilization, allowing parents to choose the ‘most viable and genetically superior embryo,’ which can also be genetically engineered to customize traits, including physical strength and eliminating inherited diseases.
While the video is a concept, Al-Ghaili said it is based on ’50 years of groundbreaking scientific research conducted by researchers worldwide,’ and such birthing pods could be widespread in ‘just decades’ from now.
The concept video aims to start a conversation about the future of giving birth. The creator foresees the change from real wombs to artificial ones that are housed in a research lab
The video plays like a commercial for EctoLife, which ‘allows infertile couples to conceive a baby.’
The facility features 75 labs, each with up to 400 growth pods designed to replicate the real-life conditions of the mother’s womb and includes sensors that monitor the baby’s vitals.
This includes heartbeat, temperate and oxygen saturation.
The pods are also equipped with a camera powered by artificial intelligence that continually scans the fetus for potential genetic abnormalities and monitors the overall growth process.
Parents are given an app that plays live footage of their baby inside the pod, along with displays vitals.
The video also states that parents can record messages that will be played inside the artificial womb and create music playlists for their babies.
While the video is focused on improving birth rates, it also notes that the birthing farm is for women who fear pregnancy because of the pain and recovery needed after going into labor.
‘Say goodbye to the pain of childbirth and muscle contractions,’ the video narrator says.
‘EctoLife provides a safe, pain-free alternative that helps you deliver your baby without stress.’
The delivery process requires parents to push a button on the pod.
The amniotic fluid is drained from inside and the artificial womb opens, allowing parents to hold their baby for the first time.
The video, which looks like a scene from the 1999 film The Matrix, is just a concept for now, but it could be used in the future as the world is facing a population decline.
Musk said ‘civilization is going to crumble’ if declining birth rates continue during a Wall Street Journal event in December 2021.
While the comment was made when the global population sat at 7.9 billion – it recently hit eight billion – the tech mogul warned the world is in dire need of humans.
The concept facility, called EctoLife, would grow up to 30,000 babies a year inside its birthing pods
The facility features 75 labs, each with up to 400 growth pods
The pods would be organized in rows, allowing researchers to monitor each one as the baby grows
Birth rates in developed nations have been plummeting for years, which has dragged down the overall rate.
The average woman had two-and-a-half children by 2020, compared to five 50 years ago.
Rates are even lower in the UK (1.74) and the US (1.77). Higher education and contraception and more women entering the workplace are thought to be behind the concerning trends.
The birthing pods would be an alternative for couples with infertility and those on the fence about carrying a baby themselves.
And the new video might seem like a breakthrough, artificial wombs have been the talk of the scientific community since 1923, when it was first introduced at a lecture by an English biologist.
Then in 1955, scientists unveiled a tank that would grow a fetus.
This design featured amniotic fluid, a machine connecting to the umbilical cord, blood pumps, an artificial kidney and a water heater.
Parents are given an app that plays live footage of their baby inside the pod and displays vitals.
However, technology is advancing and scientists are thinking of more options that expand out of a pod or tank.
In 2020, researchers succeeded in creating a viable artificial womb in rabbits.
Anthony Atala of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and colleagues made uterus tissue cultivated from rabbits’ uterine cells, which they seeded onto a biodegradable scaffold.
Pioneered by the team, this broad approach has previously been used in humans to restore function to tubular organs like the urethra and specific hollow organs, including the bladder and vagina.
Implanting the bio-engineered scaffolds into 14 rabbits, the researchers demonstrated that the artificial wombs could create the native, tissue-like structures needed to support normal reproduction.
Six months after the female rabbits were implanted with the scaffolds, the animals were allowed to mate naturally with fertile males.
‘The rabbits with cell-seeded constructs had normal pregnancies in the reconstructed segments of the uteri,’ said paper author Renata Magalhaes of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
‘This research introduces new avenues for potentially creating tissue substitutes derived from a patient’s cells to treat uterine defects.’
The pods are also equipped with a camera powered by artificial intelligence that continually scans the fetus for potential genetic abnormalities and monitors the overall growth process
The delivery process requires parents to push a button on the pod, which opens the glass structure and lets parents take their baby home
Designer babies are also not a thing of science fiction, as experts have been working tirelessly to perfect the procedure.
Chinese scientists admitted to changing the genes of human embryos for the first time in 2015, when they tweaked the gene responsible for β-thalassaemia, a potentially deadly blood disorder, using a germline editing technique known as CRISPR/Cas9.
CRISPR technology precisely changes target parts of genetic code.
But the researchers said their results revealed ‘serious obstacles’ in using the technique on human embryos.
The announcement confirmed rumors that some researchers had conducted ethically questionable genetic experiments.
Some scientists reacted with horror at the idea, for fear it could be misused to allow parents to ‘select’ the genes they will pass on to their grandchildren.
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And US birth rate dropped by 4% to record low in 2020 – the steepest decline since 1979, CDC data reveals
Also, genetically engineered ‘designer’ baby revolution could be less than two years away as expert says it is ‘ethically justifiable’
OG Splinter Cell Goes Free As Ubisoft Shares Remake Concept Art
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell turns 20 this month, and in recognition of the anniversary, Ubisoft has uploaded a 20-minute-long YouTube video with various developers talking about their experience behind the multi-vision goggles of stealthy assassin Sam Fisher. Additionally, the Toronto studio currently helming the remake announced last year has shared a handful of high-def “early concept art” images created for the game. Ubisoft is also giving away the original 2002 game for free on PC until November 30.
Endorsed by military techno-thriller novelist Tom Clancy, Splinter Cell is a series of stealth-action games developed by multiple Ubisoft studios. You play as Sam Fisher, a bodysuit-wearing NSA agent originally voiced by actor Michael Ironside who’s tasked with sneakily assassinating targets in an effort to stop copious wars from breaking out. All in all, seven Splinter Cell games were produced, with the most recent being 2013’s Blacklist. However, after about a decade of silence on whether or not Sam Fisher would ever suit up again to choke out some bad guys, Ubisoft finally quenched fans’ thirst, announcing in December 2021 that its Toronto team would be spearheading a remake (not a remaster) of the OG game.
Read More: Original Splinter Cell Being Remade By Far Cry 6 Devs
Ubisoft has largely gone quiet since this announcement was made—until now. In a new blog post published on November 17, Ubisoft shared some early concept art for the remake, as well as a video featuring devs working on the game. Ubisoft’s manager of editorial communications, Youssef Maguid, stated that this remake will “modernize” the original game’s themes and “rebuild them from the ground up.” At the end of the 20-minute video, the team outlined their vision for the remake, explaining just how it will “set the foundation for the franchise going forward.”
“We want to give the player a few more opportunities to deescalate some of the [in-game] situations,” senior game designer Andy Schmoll said. “Obviously, stealth is an extremely important pillar for us, and we aim to incorporate modern design philosophies, improving the minute-to-minute stealth gameplay that was so special in the original.”
Alongside sharing some early concept artwork of the Splinter Cell remake, Ubisoft is also offering the original game, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell from 2002, for free on PC. You have to pick the game up from the Ubisoft store, but hey! Free is free, right? You have until November 30 to claim it for zero dollars.
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Ubisoft made it clear that the remake is still early in development, and no release date or launch platforms have been indicated yet. For now, all we can do is look at the concept art below and speculate about what’s to come:
Splinter Cell remake concept art, gameplay, and story changes revealed
Ubisoft’s upcoming remake of the original Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell is still in its early production and prototyping phase, creative director Chris Auty said in a newly released video celebrating the Splinter Cell franchise’s 20th anniversary, but its creators offered a taste of what’s to come on Thursday, in terms of new features and concept art for the game.
As previously discussed by the Splinter Cell remake team, Ubisoft Toronto is “look[ing] back at the plot, the characters, and the overall story of the original game,” Auty said, and making some improvements to “things that may not have aged particularly well,” but pledged that “the core of the story, the core of the experience will remain as it was the original game.”
Christian Carriere, technical director, touched on the technical innovations planned for the Splinter Cell remake, highlighting advancements in AI that will simulate different kind of behaviors and reactions from enemies. “Obviously a special forces soldier will be better trained,” Carriere said, “[and] they’re going to breach differently or enter rooms differently to something like a regular security guard would.”
“We can really improve AI engagement, how they’re reacting and what they’re reacting to,” added Andy Schmoll, senior game designer. “And with all of that we can make improvements to the cat-and-mouse gameplay between Sam and the enemies, especially with our enemies behaving like trained professionals.”
Carriere also touted audiovisual updates like ray-traced global illumination for much more realistic lighting effects and better audio simulations, that will help “create some really, really, really compelling and detailed settings.”
The Splinter Cell remake team said they’re “going dark” for a while to focus on making the game, offering only a few glimpses of what players can expect in the form of early artwork. You can see some of that in the gallery below.
Mass Effect 5 Teased With a Mysterious Piece of Concept Art on N7 Day
For N7 Day, BioWare has teased the next Mass Effect game with a piece of concept art that appears to be of a mass relay being built or rebuilt.
A video of the concept art that slightly moves was released on Twitter alongside a short message from BioWare. If you really want to take a closer look, you can also download it in HD.
“Happy #N7Day from across the stars! 💫 We found this interesting footage you may want to 🔍 a bit more closely.”
Mike Gamble, the project director of the next Mass Effect game, also shared a few words on the future of the series.
“In the nearly 15 years since the release of the first Mass Effect, the biggest reason we still love working on it is the warmth, dedication, and passion of this community,” Gamble wrote. “There are some of you who have been with us through everything. We’ve grown together, sacrificed Ashley together, (Editor’s Note: Or Kaidan, Mike! We all make different choices.) faced difficulties together…and laughed until our Faces Were Tired…together! And for those of you who are new to Mass Effect (thanks, Legendary Edition!), welcome! I can promise that many years of fun, adventures, and characters you’ll fall in love with are still ahead.
“Regardless of when you joined us, through four games and more expansions, I can say with certainty that we’re in this because of you, and every N7 Day is a wonderful reminder of that. As we look forward, each week is a fun and exciting challenge for the team. We love bringing this universe to life, and although there’s much more we want to share with you, that’ll have to be for another time.
“For now, there is something we want you to have a look at. We’ve intercepted some strange footage from one of the monitoring stations in known space. It could be nothing, but…” Following the message, the above image was revealed.
Spoilers ahead for the ending of Mass Effect 3.
This image very well may be an indication that the Destroy ending from Mass Effect 3 will be the canon ending going forward. In that ending, Shepard was able to destroy the Reaper threat, but in doing so all the mass relays – the piece of Reaper tech that allowed for easy travel around space – were destroyed.
The image could hint that they are being rebuilt with new, current tech as the Reapers would be gone under the Destroy ending. The first teaser for this new Mass Effect game did appear to include Liara, so it would make sense for this to be a continuation of such of this story if not a direct sequel.
Another possibility is humans or another species have discovered how to create mass relays of their own. Really, anything is possible!
There is text accompanying the image as well, and it says, “Vacuum-doc Relay Construction Record / Monitoring Station Operated by Green Dagger Ltd. Property of Deepspace Dhow SAV / Ship Captain: Sub-Navarch Soa’Rhal Zhilian-Jones.”
If we try to break down the text, we come to learn that this monitoring station is operated by Green Dagger Ltd., which is a company in the Mass Effect universe we haven’t met yet. We also aren’t familiar with the name of the ship captain.
For more on Mass Effect, check out the poster that was revealed for last year’s N7 Day and the announcement of the new game from The Game Awards 2020.
Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.