Author: dpugh007

Long before Fortnite, developer Epic Games launched a successful mobile game series called Infinity Blade. The franchise’s three games are no longer available, however, as Epic removed them from the iOS App store on December 10 in a surprising and unexpected move.

Everyone who already has Infinity Blade 1-3 installed on their iOS device can continue to play and re-download them (for the “foreseeable future), but all in-app purchases are turned off.

But why is the Infinity Blade franchise getting the boot? In a statement, Epic said it has become “increasingly difficult” to support the franchise “at a level that meets our standards” at the same time as other ongoing projects such as Spyjinx and “other projects.” The statement never mentions Fortnite by name, but surely the battle royale game is one of Epic’s biggest focuses right now.

“The Infinity Blade series will always hold a special place for me personally and for Epic as a whole,” Epic’s Donald Mustard said. “It’s always bittersweet to say goodbye, but we are excited for Spyjinx and what the future holds!”

Epic will continue to support Infinity Blade III with more Clash Mobs and other “surprises” over the next month. What’s more, Epic is giving away the Infinity Blade Stickers app for free.

What’s more, Epic teased that you can expect to see the Infinity Blade franchise appear in “places you wouldn’t expect.” Just today, Epic announced that a sword weapon is coming to Fortnite–and based on the teaser, it sure looks like the sword from Infinity Blade.

The first Infinity Blade launched in 2010, with sequels arriving in 2011 and 2013.

Infinity Blade is not the first Epic title to get scaled back or canceled following Fortnite’s massive success. At the start of 2018, Epic confirmed it was shutting down its free-to-play MOBA Paragon, while just recently, the developer confirmed that it was no longer working on its new Unreal Tournament game. The studio is continuing to work on Spyjinx, an action-strategy game that Epic is working on with Star Wars and Star Trek director JJ Abrams. It was originally scheduled to launch in 2016, but that never happened. The statement today confirms Epic is still working on it, but no new release date has been announced.

Another new Epic project is the Epic Games Store, which recently launched and offers a compelling revenue share split with developers.

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Activision is losing one of its most senior Call of Duty developers. Glen Schofield, who co-founded the Activision-owned Sledgehammer Games in 2009, is leaving Activision at the end of the month. In a statement posted on Twitter, Schofield said he’s enjoyed a “great run” at Activision, but said he now wants to “try something new.” Schofield and Sledgehammer’s other founder Michael Condrey left the studio in February for new jobs at Activision HQ.

He’s taking some time off to rest and relax before jumping into “something else exciting.” He didn’t share any details on what he might be up to next.

Schofield told GameSpot that he thinks he still has “a couple good games” to make, so you can bet his next gig will be in game development. “I have nothing but good things to say about my time at Activision,” he said. “After nine years of CoD (which I love), I just think I need a change. I seriously am going to take my time finding my next gig. Make sure it’s exactly what I want to do. I still have a couple good games in me.”

According to his LinkedIn page, Schofield got his start in gaming at the now-defunct Absolute Entertainment, where he served as its Art Director from 1991-1994 for Atari 2600 and NES titles. In 1996, he joined Crystal Dynamics as its vice president and executive producer. At that company he worked on a range of titles, including Soul Reaver, the licensed game 101 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue, GEX 2, and more, before leaving in 2002. After Crystal Dynamics, Schofield moved to Electronic Arts where he worked on as the company’s general manager of the now-shuttered Visceral Games label. One of his biggest credits there is Dead Space, which he created; he was also the executive producer for licensed games including The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and James Bond: From Russia With Love.

He left EA in 2009 and founded Sledgehammer alongside Michael Condrey the same year. He served as a game director and chief creative officer at Sledgehammer where he worked on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and most recently, Call of Duty: WWII. He also contributed to Sledgehammer’s canceled Call of Duty Vietnam War game, which unlike the previous games, would have used a third-person perspective. Sledgehammer stopped working on the game to help finish Modern Warfare 3, after Activision fired Infinity Ward’s Vince Zampella and Jason West.

Writing on Twitter back in November, Schofield teased a new project that he wasn’t allowed to talk about. It seems likely he was referring to a new game, but Schofield also does a lot of artwork, too. Given that Schofield was promoted to a new VP of Development position at Activision HQ, the project he was teasing theoretically could have been anything from Activision, and not necessarily the next game from Sledgehammer. The Call of Duty series is on a three-year, three-studio development schedule, so Sledgehammer’s next game isn’t expected until 2020.

We’ve reached out to Schofield to see if he has any further comment regarding his departure from Activision and what he might do next. Condrey remains at Activision.

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Season 7 of Fortnite kicked off with the release of the big 7.00 patch last week, and now the second update of the season is on the way. Developer Epic Games confirmed that Fortnite’s 7.01 update is scheduled to roll out for all platforms–PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile–tomorrow, December 11, and it looks like it’ll introduce a new type of weapon to the game.

The official Fortnite Twitter account confirmed that the new update is scheduled to go live Tuesday morning at 2 AM PT / 5 AM ET / 10 AM GMT. Epic hasn’t revealed what will be added to the game in the new patch, but the announcement tweet teases players to “keep sharp,” referencing the newly unveiled sword that’s on the way.

Epic introduces new weapons and items to Fortnite on a regular basis, but most of those have come in the form of guns or traps, making the recently teased sword the first of its kind in the battle royale game. This also makes it clear that the developer plans to keep up Fortnite’s impressive weekly update schedule, despite the new Block area providing a good opportunity to slow down updates.

A number of big changes were made to Fortnite in Season 7. Epic added a new arctic region to the game’s ever-changing map, as well as Fortnite’s first aerial vehicle: the X-4 Stormwing plane. The developer also introduced a ton of new rewards to unlock through the Season 7 Battle Pass, among them additional pets and Wraps, a type of cosmetic that can be applied to weapons and vehicles to customize their look.

Fortnite’s second set of Season 7 challenges are slated to arrive on December 13. In the meantime, you can still complete Week 1’s challenges, which include dancing in forbidden locations and dancing on a crown of RVs. You can find tips on how to complete them in our Fortnite Season 7 challenges roundup.

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