Deus Ex writer on cancelled Ninja Gold
"Did branching narrative right," says Pacotii.
Ninja Gold, the cancelled Junction Point-developed movie-tie, could have moved the art of the branching narrative in games forward by a decade, according to its writer.
Sheldon J. Pacotti, who was the principle writer on the first two Deus Ex games, told Eurogamer as part of an interview looking back on the Deus Ex series that Ninja Gold aimed to make the entire game structure change based on player decisions.
"Like any action title there was a lot of unknowns in terms of how the team was going to be able to ramp up to really build it, all the art and the interactions," he said.
"But in terms of storytelling, it's one of just a couple of times in my career where I think we've had a story that really did the branching narrative right."
Ninja Gold, announced in 2007, was to be developed by Epic Mickey creator Warren Spector alongside the Hollywood movie of the same name with director John Woo's help.
Woo came up with the idea of a group of ninjas that was part of a centuries-old legacy and bloodline now forced to confront the reality of covert warfare in the modern world.
The concept was based on the premise that the Yakuza and the Russian mob were involved in gold being stolen in South Africa.
But Ninja Gold was cancelled when publisher Vivendi killed all its unannounced projects in one fell swoop ahead of its merger with Call of Duty publisher Activision.
Pacotti, who left Junction Point just over three years ago to develop an indie game, Cell: emergence, said Ninja Gold had an "interesting" way of doing branching narrative.
"Branching narrative gets the short end of the stick when people talk about story in game," he explained, "but I don't think there's ever been a game that really does a thorough, solid branch. Even the two designs I've liked that I've worked on have had just one branch.
"You play half the game or two thirds of the game, and all your small choices you make build you into a character and based on this aggregate of decisions you go one way or the other.
"It ends up affecting your personal life, it affects the history of the world, and countries rise or fall. And it affects your game mechanics, your game tools. The whole experience has this really deep fork in it.
"We had something like that in Ninja Gold that was pretty interesting. I'm sorry that didn't come to fruition because I feel like almost a half a decade or a decade has been lost in terms of taking the linear, branched narrative and doing something really deep with it."
Pacotti pointed to Heavy Rain developer Quantic Dream and Mass Effect creator BioWare as examples of studios that do storytelling in games well.
"But I don't know if anyone's taken a branch and just made the whole structure of the game change because of it. That's what we were shooting for [with Ninja Gold]."
So, why did it fail?
"There was expense involved. In fact, every time I've had ideas like that there has been a reasonable push back from the team. No one wants to build two versions of a map, right? One that's on fire, one under water. That's what you need to do to make the branch have that weight.
"But it'll happen someday. When I have my millions then we'll do it."
Xbox 360, PC
GTA 6 developer Rockstar Games hacked once again but insists this time only a "limited amount of non-material company information" was compromised
"FINAL WARNING PAY OR LEAK."
GTA 6 developer Rockstar has confirmed it's been hacked by a third party after a hacking group issued a ransom demand.
The CybersecGuru reported earlier today (11th April) that a hacker group had claimed to have breached the studio via Anodot, a SaaS (software-as-a-service) monitoring tool and set a ransom deadline of 14th April. It's thought the group didn't breach encryption itself but instead successfully pulled authentication tokens that let it bypass the usual security protocols.
"Rockstar Games. Your Snowflake instances were compromised thanks to Anodot.com. Pay or leak," the hacking group demanded. "This is a final warning to reach out by 14 Apr 2026 before we leak along with several annoying (digital) problems that'll come your way. Make the right decision. Don't be the next headline. FINAL WARNING PAY OR LEAK."
Though the hacker group claims to have gained financial, player, and marketing data and compromised its Snowflake platform, the studio says that a "limited amount of non-material" data was collated, and will have "no impact" on the studio, its staff, or its players.
Now, in a statement to IGN, Rockstar said: "We can confirm that a limited amount of non-material company information was accessed in connection with a third-party data breach. This incident has no impact on our organisation or our players."
Of course, this isn't the first time the company has been breached. Arion Kurtaj, the teenager charged with hacking and then blackmailing a string of companies, including Uber, Nvidia, and Rockstar, similarly used a third-party app to hack and then leak dozens of assets taken from the then-unannounced Grand Theft Auto 6 back in 2022. He was ultimately deemed unfit to stand trial.
At the time, Rockstar acknowledged the enormous leak of work-in-progress GTA 6 development materials came via a "network intrusion".
PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Epic set to release Arc Raiders-like extraction shooter with Disney characters by the end of the year
Internal reviewers are reportedly concerned that the mechanics are not original.
Epic Games will allegedly release an Arc Raiders-like shooter later this year.
As reported by Bloomberg (thanks, Game File), the Fortnite maker is working with Disney to develop a "shooting game along the lines of Embark Studios' hit Arc Raiders, but with Disney characters battling enemies until they can reach an extraction point".
Bloomberg claims that sources close to the development believe the gameplay mechanics lack originality, but "some of the employees are optimistic that Epic will get it right by the launch date".
The Walt Disney Company acquired a $1.5bn USD stake in Epic Games back in 2024, launching a multi-year partnership to create an "expansive and open games and entertainment universe connected to Fortnite". Explicit mention was made of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and Avatar, with users able to "create their own stories and experiences, express their fandom in a distinctly Disney way, and share content with each other in ways that they love".
Bloomberg adds that it's thought this Disney deal will result in "at least" two more games, although the second game has had "middling" early internal reviews. The team working on a third game were reportedly reallocated to speed up production, although Epic's senior director of global communications, Liz Markham, disputed Bloomberg's reporting, claiming it is "not reflective of the ambitions of the Disney collaboration. We are building a new games and entertainment universe of Disney experiences".
"Epic's timelines are aggressive and always have been. We've heavily moved developers onto projects with releases approaching, while smaller prototyping teams are working on further-off projects," Markham added.
A Disney spokesperson said: "We remain focused on our long-term collaboration with Epic which continues to have strong momentum, and our work to build a transformational games and entertainment universe remains unchanged".
On 24th March, Fortnite developer Epic Games announced mass layoffs that affected over 1,000 workers, including key veterans behind the hit online game. A few days later, it was revealed that Mike Prinke, a programmer with seven years of experience a the company, was among the cuts. Sweeney has since confirmed Epic is in contact with the family and will handle the insurance for them.
Android, iOS, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch
Federal Aviation Administration targets gamers in this bespoke and not at all cringeworthy recruitment ad
"They're coming in with a skill set. But it doesn't replace aptitude, or discipline, or decision making under pressure."
The US Federal Aviation Administration is turning to gamers to plug a gap in a national shortage of air traffic controllers.
A teaser, which kicks off with the Xbox One logo for some reason, opens with a number of victorious esports gamer clips, and then invites anyone who wants to "keep millions of people safe everyday" while "mak[ing] a lot a money" to get in touch.
You can see the full ad in its glory, complete with its tagline "It's not a game, it's a career" and obnoxious musical accompaniment, below:
"Are you up for the challenge?" the description says. "Start your career as an Air Traffic Controller and help keep millions of people safe every day." Players are invited to "level up" on 17th April.
"To reach the next generation of air traffic controllers, we need to adapt," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement, as reported by the NYT, adding that the department hopes to "tap into a growing demographic of young adults who have many of the hard skills it takes to be a successful controller".
Aerospace consultant Michael O’Donnell, who previously worked as a senior F.A.A. official, was less enthused, adding: "When you bring on someone who has gaming experience, particularly with air traffic control, they have an edge up. They're coming in with a skill set. But it doesn't replace aptitude, or discipline, or decision making under pressure."
