Insider Tom Henderson has just broken a new story on the Far Cry franchise, revealing that the long-rumored extraction shooter codenamed Maverick has recently been canceled by Ubisoft. Henderson first revealed the existence of the extraction shooter Far Cry spin-off in October 2023. He also shared a few basic tidbits: Maverick would have been set in the Alaskan wilderness, with players fighting one another, animals, and particularly the harsh weather to survive. However, it sounds like the project didn't convince everyone and was therefore canceled as part of the publisher's newfound focus on quality releases. Ubisoft isn't backing away from […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/ubisoft-cancels-far-cry-extraction-shooter-maverick-new-spin-off-development/

Prior to the recent upheaval of Microsoft’s various Xbox Games Studios, we had been hearing leaks regarding the future of Halo and Master Chief, with one in-development project – known as Ekur – seemingly being on the chopping block. Though never officially announced, additional insiders have now spoken out on the project, corroborating claims that Ekur has been cancelled.

For a while now, we had been hearing leaks and rumours surrounding Project Tatanka – reportedly a “a new separate PVP game co-developed by 343 Industries and Certain Affinity in the SlipSpace Engine.”

Since then, a lot has happened, with the same source (Rebs Gaming) later claiming that Tatanka was transformed into an extraction shooter under the project name Ekur.

This too however ran into some issues, with Rebs then stating that it had evolved once again, this time turning into a “super big-team-battle” type of experience running on Unreal Engine 5 under the direct control of Halo Studios (no longer involving Certain Affinity).

Given all of the back-and-forth with Project Tatanka (later Ekur), it perhaps does not come as a surprise that the game has now reportedly been cancelled, with known Microsoft insider Jez Corden claiming: “Rebs reported that Halo Studios was working on a multiplayer title known as Project Ekur, which was cancelled. I've verified that as 100% true.”

As mentioned, Project Ekur had encountered plenty of issues and setbacks even before the latest suite of Microsoft lay-offs and so it isn’t too surprising to see it ultimately being cancelled. Given how long it had been in various stages of development however, it will be interesting to see how this impacts Halo Studios moving forward.

KitGuru says: Were you excited for Project Tatanka? What about Ekur? What do you think is next for Halo after Campaign Evolved releases? Let us know down below.

Halo: Campaign Evolved marks the grand return of Master Chief and co. following the less-than-stellar release of Halo Infinite back in 2021. Of course, CE is set to be a campaign-only affair, with no PvP multiplayer in sight. That said, there have been plenty of rumours discussing Halo’s next mainline release. One such title is ‘Project Ekur’ – a Battle Royale which was later turned into an extraction shooter. Thanks to new reports, we have gotten a clearer picture on what to expect.

As shared by known Halo leaker Rebs Gaming (who accurately detailed Halo Campaign Evolved prior to its announcement), Project Ekur has undergone some pretty big changes since it was last reported. For the uninitiated, Project Ekur was initially known as Project Tatanka and was set to be a Battle Royale experience. Since then, the game evolved and shifted into an extraction shooter of sorts, being developed by Certain Affinity.

According to Rebs, the game has once again changed, with Ekur now switching out Infinite’s SlipSpace Engine for the much more ubiquitous Unreal Engine 5 – with this transfer being completed as of September 2023.

Beyond this, Ekur is now no longer an Extraction Shooter, with the project said to be taking the form of a “super big-team-battle idea” instead. Players will spawn in, “explore the map, find resources and battle other teams”. Though it does still feature some extraction elements, the game will feel more closer to that of Halo 5’s Warzone mode.

Perhaps the biggest piece of news however came in the revelation that Certain Affinity is no longer the team behind Project Ekur, with Halo Studios themselves now taking over responsibilities following the prototype shared by Certain Affinity.

All in all, it seems as though Project Ekur has gone through a ton of testing and prototyping. What the final product will wind up looking like, we will have to wait and see. Regardless, here’s to hoping that the team in charge have settled on a formula which works for both old-school Halo fans as well as new players.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Project Ekur so far? Which iteration of the game sounded the most fun to you? Will Ekur be released on PlayStation? Let us know your thoughts down below.

While Halo Infinite may not have been the grand revival that Microsoft were hoping for the franchise, series co-developer Certain Affinity looked to be prepping to offer their own take on the franchise with a battle royale game. Ultimately this project never came to be, with reports claiming back in 2024 that the BR title had been cancelled. It appears rumours of the game’s death were somewhat exaggerated however, with insiders now claiming that the team pivoted and reworked the Battle Royale title into an extraction shooter.

As reported by known Halo insider Rebs Gaming, new details surrounding the previously in-development Battle Royale (known as project Tatanka) have been shared, with the insider claiming that:

“Tatanka was not a game mode for Infinite that would have been added to the multiplayer playlist menu, but rather a new separate PVP game co-developed by 343 Industries and Certain Affinity in the SlipSpace Engine.”

According to Rebs, “battle royale games were falling out of favor” and so 343i/Certain Affinity “wanted to avoid chasing an oversaturated genre”. As a result, Project Tatanka was ultimately cancelled, being spun off into a new project: Ekur.

Though the current status of Ekur is unknown, the project is (or was) “a PVE extraction shooter” which was in development at least up until “the end of Summer 2023”.

Some sources claim that Ekur is slated to be the next multiplayer Halo entry, while others heard that it will instead be included as a new mode in the next Halo game.

Either way, according to Rebs, project Tatanka (now project Ekur) is still happening in one form or another.

KitGuru says: What do you think of this shift to an extraction shooter? Does Halo need to chase trends? Would you prefer a Halo Battle Royale or Extraction Shooter? Let us know down below.

We've been hearing rumors of Halo Studios looking to add a battle royale mode to the Halo franchise, either as a new individual title or as a game mode in a larger game, for years now. Whether it was actually the case or not, to players, the idea of a Halo battle royale always seemed like Xbox trying to chase one of the most popular genre trends in the video game industry. That seems to be the same thing driving the latest rumor about what's coming next from Halo Studios, which claims that the battle royale mode has pivoted to […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/halo-studios-rumored-battle-royale-mode-pivoted-to-extraction-shooter/

Following plenty of controversies, Bungie’s Marathon finally launched just over a month ago to solid reviews and a decent playercount. Whether or not the live-service extraction shooter is a success or not remains to be seen, with insiders claiming that the title cost over $200 million to develop – possibly $250 million.

As reported by Bungie insider Paul Tassi via the publication Forbes, a ton of details pertaining to Marathon’s first month on the market have been shared.

Alongside ‘confirmation’ that the live-service extraction shooter managed to sell roughly 1.2 million copies in its first two weeks, Tassi revealed just how much money Sony/Bungie have put into the project so far, stating: “I can confirm Marathon’s budget is over $200 million. Likely more than $250 million.”

While perhaps an unsurprising figure given the inflated costs of developing AAA games in today’s day and age, Tassi also claimed that these costs do not account for ongoing post-launch support, meaning it’ll only increase with time.

In doing some very basic maths, Marathon’s 1.2 million sales represents a revenue of just under $50 million. Of course while the game costs $40 to purchase, a Deluxe Edition is also on offer for $60. Combine this with ancillary sales of various in-game cosmetics and the real figure could be much higher.

Still, it appears as though Marathon has quite the journey to go on if it wants to make its money back and turn a profit. It will be interesting to see whether we get official sales data at some point in the future.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Marathon so far? Could it have long legs? Will PlayStation make back its $250+ million? Let us know your thoughts down below.

Arc Raiders was easily one of 2025 biggest surprise hits, with the PvPvE extraction shooter having sold over 14 million copies since the game’s launch in October while continuing to see strong levels of engagement from players. Perhaps the biggest stain on the game was its use of gen-AI for its voice acting – some of which has since been replaced.

Taking part in an interview conducted by the publication Gamesindustry.biz, Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund spoke on the development of Arc Raiders, its relatively small budget and the size of the team itself.

The full interview can be found HERE, but by far the most interesting part pertains to Arc Raiders’ use of gen-AI. While the team have addressed this previously, Söderlund spoke on their evolving use of the technology, stating:

“We pay our actors for all time spent with us in the booth and continue to bring many of them back as we carry on updating the game. For select usage, we also pay them for the approval to license their voices through text-to-speech for lines that aren't as essential to the immersion of the experience, mostly ping system audio.”

Despite the use of AI, Embark admits that nothing can replace a voice actor’s talent, claiming: “We re-recorded some of the lines post-launch and made them with real voices. There is a quality difference. A real professional actor is better than AI; that's just how it is.”

Söderlund continued, “We look at [AI] first and foremost as a production tool. We can test things internally. We can test 15 different lines without recording them, and then we know what to record. It's also a way for us to work, not replace actors. We don't necessarily believe in replacing humans with AI all the time.”

AI in art remains a contentious topic, and one which is changing all the time as the tech itself evolves. Here’s to hoping that eventually all of Arc Raider’s AI voices are replaced by real talent.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Arc Raiders’ use of AI? Is it distracting? Let us know down below.