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This week on Nerfed, we dive into the official reveal of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, Ubisoft's ground-up remake of the 2013 pirate legend launching July 9th. While the remake boasts stunning ray-traced visuals and new story quests featuring Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet, it comes with the controversial removal of the original's multiplayer, the Freedom Cry DLC, and the iconic Abstergo office segments. We also break down the latest Xbox Game Pass rumors regarding a 'Pick Your Own Plan' model and codenames Duet and Triton, which suggest a shift toward more modular subscription benefits. In the world of sci-fi, Owlcat Games has launched a closed beta for The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, showcasing tactical cover-based combat that positions it as a spiritual successor to Mass Effect. Finally, we touch on the 'so-so' PC launch of Liquid Swords' Samson, which is now confirmed for a console release this September, and the ongoing price crisis in the Pokemon TCG market as Ascended Heroes Elite Trainer Boxes triple in value.
Ubisoft has finally pulled back the curtain on Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, confirming a July 9th release date and a heavy focus on single-player story. However, the 'resync' comes with baggage, as the developer is cutting multiplayer, the Freedom Cry DLC, and the modern-day Abstergo sections to focus on Edward Kenway’s Caribbean journey. Meanwhile, the rumor mill is churning for Xbox Game Pass, with leaks suggesting a flexible 'Pick Your Own Plan' system and a delayed arrival for Call of Duty titles. We also take a look at Owlcat Games' leap into shooters with The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, the rocky start for Samson, and a surge in indie reveals from the ID@Xbox Showcase including Deep Dish Dungeon and Vapor World: Over The Mind.
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[00:00] Marcus Shaw: From Neural Newscast, this is Nerfed, where games, culture, and strategy intersect.
[00:13] Vanessa Calderon: Nerfed, Black Flag, Resynced. I am Vanessa Calderon.
[00:18] Marcus Shaw: And I'm Marcus Shaw. Today is April 24, 2026, and we are talking about a very busy week for remakes and rumors.
[00:28] Vanessa Calderon: Marcus, I hope you are ready to trade your hidden blade for a mop, because Ubisoft just confirmed Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resync is launching July 9th.
[00:38] Vanessa Calderon: While it is one of the most beloved entries in the entire franchise, the excitement is being tectoned.
[00:43] Vanessa Calderon: being tempered by the news that they are scrubbing away a significant portion of what made the
[00:48] Vanessa Calderon: original 2013 release so massive.
[00:51] Vanessa Calderon: We are seeing a major shift in how Ubisoft approaches these legacy titles, moving away
[00:56] Vanessa Calderon: from the sprawling, systems-heavy designs of the past decade toward something more streamlined.
[01:02] Vanessa Calderon: It is a bold move to take a game known for its endless pirate activities and start cutting
[01:07] Vanessa Calderon: out features that many fans considered core to the experience.
[01:10] Vanessa Calderon: They are positioning this as a refined version, but for those of us who spent hundreds of hours in the Caribbean, seeing half the features removed for the sake of focus feels like a risky gamble.
[01:21] Vanessa Calderon: According to reports from IGN, this is not just a simple resolution bump, Vanessa.
[01:26] Vanessa Calderon: It is a full ground-up remake utilizing the latest iteration of the Anvil engine.
[01:31] Vanessa Calderon: We are talking about vastly enhanced lighting systems, high-resolution textures, and three
[01:37] Vanessa Calderon: distinct graphics modes on current-gen consoles.
[01:39] Vanessa Calderon: Players will have the choice between a 60 FPS performance mode, which focuses on fluid
[01:44] Vanessa Calderon: combat and sailing, and a 30 FPS fidelity mode that brings in ray-traced reflections on
[01:49] Vanessa Calderon: the water.
[01:50] Vanessa Calderon: There's also a balanced mode that targets 40 FPS for those with 120 Hz displays.
[01:55] Vanessa Calderon: The technical leap is substantial, especially when you look at the volumetric fog and the
[02:00] Vanessa Calderon: way the tropical storms now affect the physics of the jackdaw.
[02:03] Vanessa Calderon: It looks like a modern title built for 2026 hardware, which makes the content cuts even
[02:09] Vanessa Calderon: more of a conversation starter for the community.
[02:12] Vanessa Calderon: The technical side sounds impressive on paper, but
[02:16] Vanessa Calderon: look closer at that re-synced subtitle. Creative director Paul Fu mentioned in a recent press
[02:21] Vanessa Calderon: briefing that the goal was to focus on a pure story-driven adventure centered entirely on Edward Kenway.
[02:27] Vanessa Calderon: When you translate that from corporate speak, it reveals that they have completely ditched the multiplayer mode, which had a very dedicated cult following.
[02:36] Vanessa Calderon: They've also removed the Freedom Cry DLC, which was a vital piece of the narrative.
[02:41] Vanessa Calderon: And they've stripped out most of the modern-day Abstergo office sequences.
[02:45] Vanessa Calderon: You no longer have to spend hours...
[02:46] Vanessa Calderon: hours walking around a cubicle farm as a nameless employee hacking computers.
[02:51] Vanessa Calderon: While some might celebrate that, removing the Atawale expansion feels like a massive
[02:55] Vanessa Calderon: oversight for a project that claims to be the definitive version of the Black Flag story.
[03:00] Announcer: I am actually fine with losing those Obsturgo office tours, Vanessa.
[03:05] Announcer: Those segments always felt like a vibe killer that pulled you out of the pirate fantasy
[03:09] Announcer: just when things were getting good.
[03:11] Marcus Shaw: However, I agree that losing Freedom Cry is a disappointment.
[03:15] Marcus Shaw: On the bright side, the development team has tried to compensate by adding three entirely new crewmates for the Jackdaw.
[03:21] Marcus Shaw: We have Lucy Baldwin, a former Navy navigator, a character known as the Padre, and a mysterious gunner called Deadman Smith.
[03:29] Marcus Shaw: Each of these characters comes with their own unique narrative quests that integrate directly into the main campaign.
[03:35] Marcus Shaw: They have also leaned into the ship customization in a big way.
[03:39] SPEAKER_03: You can now have a functional pet cat or a monkey on your ship that interacts with the
[03:44] SPEAKER_03: environment and follows you during boarding actions.
[03:46] SPEAKER_03: It's a small touch, but it adds to the immersion of life on the high seas.
[03:51] SPEAKER_03: Having a monkey on the steering wheel almost makes up for losing a whole expansion, Marcus.
[03:57] SPEAKER_03: It is certainly a choice that will lead to a lot of photo mode screenshots.
[04:01] SPEAKER_03: They are also bringing back Matt Ryan to reprise his role as Edward Kenway, providing new voice work and motion capture for expanded scenes.
[04:09] Vanessa Calderon: These new segments were penned by the original writer, Darby McDevitt, which gives the project a level of narrative authenticity that most remakes lack.
[04:17] Vanessa Calderon: It is clearly a high-budget effort, and Ubisoft is leaning into the premium nature of the release with a $200 collector's edition.
[04:25] Vanessa Calderon: That package includes a 12-inch statue of Edward, a physical art book, and a steelbook case.
[04:30] Vanessa Calderon: It shows that they're targeting the nostalgic fans who want a physical monument to one of the best protagonists in the series,
[04:37] Vanessa Calderon: even if the digital content has been streamlined.
[04:39] Announcer: Technically, the game is pushing some serious boundaries.
[04:43] Announcer: They're even mandating ray tracing for the PC version, which is going to be a heavy lift for older hardware.
[04:48] Announcer: But it ensures the water rendering is consistent with their vision.
[04:52] Announcer: It's clear that Ubisoft wants this to be their flagship title for the summer window, filling
[04:56] Announcer: the gap before their next major open world release in the fall.
[05:00] Announcer: They're betting that the brand power of Black Flag, combined with a significant visual overhaul,
[05:05] Announcer: will be enough to win over players despite the missing multiplayer and DLC components.
[05:09] Announcer: It'll be interesting to see if the new crewmate quests can actually fill the void left by the
[05:13] SPEAKER_03: content they decided to cut. While Ubisoft is busy cleaning up the past with remakes,
[05:18] Vanessa Calderon: Microsoft is apparently trying to re-architect the entire future of Game Pass. There has been a
[05:26] Vanessa Calderon: lot of internal movement at Xbox lately as they look for ways to maximize the revenue from their
[05:31] Vanessa Calderon: subscription model, especially now that their portfolio of first-party studios has grown so
[05:37] Vanessa Calderon: large. The current structure has served them well, but the rumors suggest that the one-size-fits-all
[05:43] Vanessa Calderon: approach is about to change in a very dramatic way for the consumer base.
[05:47] Announcer: This is a significant rumor coming from Windows Central, and Jez Corden is reporting that a
[05:53] Announcer: pick-your-own-plan formula is on the horizon.
[05:56] Announcer: This would allow users to customize their subscription based on the specific features they actually
[06:01] Announcer: use.
[06:02] Announcer: Investigators have spotted two new code names, Duet and Triton, hidden within the back-end
[06:07] Announcer: APIs of the Xbox Storefront.
[06:10] Announcer: Triton is particularly interesting because it is reportedly a first-party only tier.
[06:15] Announcer: This would give subscribers access to every game developed by Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard.
[06:22] Announcer: But it would exclude the rotating library of third-party titles that currently makes up a large portion of the Game Pass value proposition.
[06:30] Announcer: It is a more targeted approach for fans who only care about the heavy hitters like Halo, Forza, or Starfield.
[06:36] Vanessa Calderon: The idea is that you could ditch the features you do not use to lower your monthly bill, Marcus.
[06:42] Vanessa Calderon: If you never touch cloud gaming or if you don't care about the Fortnite crew benefits,
[06:47] Vanessa Calderon: you could potentially save $5 or $6 a month.
[06:50] Vanessa Calderon: It is modular gaming in its purest form.
[06:54] Vanessa Calderon: But the real kicker in this report concerns Call of Duty.
[06:57] Vanessa Calderon: Microsoft has reportedly confirmed internally that future Call of Duty titles will no longer hit Game Pass on day one.
[07:05] Vanessa Calderon: Instead, they will wait until the following holiday season, roughly a year after launch, before joining the service.
[07:12] Vanessa Calderon: this is a massive departure from the promise of every first-party game being available at launch.
[07:17] Vanessa Calderon: It suggests that the retail sales of Call of Duty are simply too valuable to risk for the sake
[07:22] Vanessa Calderon: of driving subscription numbers, especially after the massive acquisition cost of Activision.
[07:27] Announcer: It is a massive strategy shift that will likely protect those massive retail sales numbers
[07:33] Announcer: during the critical launch window. If people
[07:35] Announcer: have to pay $70 to play Call of Duty on day one, Microsoft gets that immediate cash flow while
[07:42] Announcer: still having the game as a long-term retention tool for Game Pass later on. It is a balancing
[07:46] Announcer: act between growth and profitability. Speaking of sales and the challenges of high-stakes launches,
[07:52] Announcer: did you see the update from Christopher Sunberg regarding his new project, Samson?
[07:56] Announcer: It has been a bit of a roller coaster for that team since the game went live on PC earlier this month.
[08:02] SPEAKER_03: You mean the so-called so-so launch?
[08:05] SPEAKER_03: He basically admitted that the PC version is a buggy mess right now, which is a rare bit of transparency from a studio head.
[08:12] Vanessa Calderon: He was very open about the fact that the performance is not where it needs to be,
[08:16] Vanessa Calderon: with players reporting frequent crashes and frame rate drops, even on high-end hardware.
[08:22] Vanessa Calderon: He is promising daily patches to get the game polished as quickly as possible.
[08:26] Vanessa Calderon: This push for stability is happening right now because they need to have the game in a perfect state before the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series 10 versions drop in September.
[08:35] Vanessa Calderon: It's a tough spot to be in, essentially using your early PC adopters as a final testing ground to ensure the console launches smooth.
[08:43] Announcer: He is being remarkably honest about the situation, Vanessa.
[08:47] Announcer: He noted that the team simply did not have the technical bandwidth for a simultaneous launch across all platforms
[08:53] Announcer: without compromising the quality of the console builds even further.
[08:57] Announcer: The game is already running on the dev kits for consoles, and he seems confident in that September window.
[09:02] Announcer: However, he made it very clear that we should not expect Samson to appear on the Switch 2.
[09:08] Announcer: Sunberg stated that the game is too graphics-heavy to run on Nintendo's upcoming hardware without what he described as serious compromises to the visual fidelity and the physics engine.
[09:17] Announcer: It's an interesting data point for what kind of power we can expect from the next Nintendo handheld if it cannot handle a game like Samson.
[09:25] Vanessa Calderon: Let us jump to some better news in the RPG space.
[09:28] Vanessa Calderon: Owlcat Games is officially moving into their Mass Effect era, leaving the fantasy realms
[09:34] Vanessa Calderon: behind for something much more cosmic.
[09:37] Vanessa Calderon: The closed beta for the Expanse Osiris Reborn is live right now for owners of the specific
[09:42] Vanessa Calderon: premium editions.
[09:44] Vanessa Calderon: This is a huge departure for the studio that gave us Pathfinder and Row Trader.
[09:49] Vanessa Calderon: They are known for deep, complex systems and isometric perspectives.
[09:53] Vanessa Calderon: But this new project is taking them in a very different direction that has fans of the franchise
[09:58] Vanessa Calderon: very excited about the possibilities of a high-budget expanse adaptation.
[10:04] Announcer: I have been keeping a close eye on the early beta footage, Vanessa, and for a studio that
[10:09] Announcer: has built its reputation on isometric CRPGs, this cover-based shooter combat looks
[10:16] Announcer: Surprisingly tight, you play as a group of pink water mercenaries attempting to escape the chaos on Eros during the early days of the protomolecule outbreak.
[10:27] Announcer: The level of detail in the gravity-defined traversal is impressive.
[10:32] Announcer: You can use magnetic boots to walk on walls and ceilings during firefights,
[10:36] Announcer: which completely changes the tactical layout of a room.
[10:39] Announcer: They have also captured the aesthetic of the show and the books perfectly,
[10:43] Announcer: with the Belter Today news broadcast playing in the background of the stations
[10:48] Announcer: and really captures that gritty James S.A. Corey vibe that fans love.
[10:53] Announcer: The dialogue trees are as deep as ever, but the moment-to-moment action feels much more immediate and visceral than their previous work.
[11:01] Vanessa Calderon: It is definitely a title to watch as we move toward 2027.
[11:05] Vanessa Calderon: We also got some really creative indie reveals this week that caught my eye.
[11:11] Vanessa Calderon: Deep Dish Dungeon was a standout for me. It is a survival explorer where the central mechanic
[11:16] Vanessa Calderon: revolves around pizza. You have to scavenge ingredients from dangerous monsters in a
[11:21] Vanessa Calderon: procedurally generated dungeon to craft a deep dish pizza. The twist is that the quality of your
[11:28] Vanessa Calderon: pizza determines how you solve environmental puzzles and interact with NPCs. If you make a perfect pepper
[11:33] Vanessa Calderon: perfect pepperoni pie, you might charm a guard. But a burnt cheese pizza could be used as a
[11:38] Vanessa Calderon: makeshift shield or a blunt weapon. It is a game that finally understands my personal
[11:43] Vanessa Calderon: life choices and my love for carbs.
[11:46] Announcer: Oh, on the darker side of the indie scene, Stingbot Games announced Victor's Video Vault.
[11:54] Announcer: It is a 1990s-themed horror game where you work the late-night shift at a local video
[11:59] Announcer: rental store.
[12:01] Announcer: The hook is that the last movie rented out by a customer actually rewrites the store's
[12:06] Announcer: reality in real time.
[12:09] Announcer: One night you might be dealing with an alien hive infestation because someone rented a sci-fi
[12:14] Announcer: flick, and the next night the entire store is flooding because of a disaster movie.
[12:19] Announcer: You have to survive the shift and manage the inventory while the world around you shifts
[12:23] Announcer: based on cinematic tropes.
[12:26] Announcer: It is a brilliant way to play with nostalgia and procedural generation at the same time.
[12:31] Announcer: The low-poly aesthetic really sells that era of VHS tapes and CRT monitors.
[12:36] SPEAKER_03: That sounds like a nostalgia nightmare. I am actually excited to experience, Marcus.
[12:43] Vanessa Calderon: It is a far better kind of nightmare than the current state of the Pokemon TCG market.
[12:48] Vanessa Calderon: If you have been following the prices for the latest Ascended Heroes expansion,
[12:53] Vanessa Calderon: you know things have reached a breaking point.
[12:55] Vanessa Calderon: Elite Trainer Box cases are currently selling on the secondary market for over $1,700.
[13:01] Vanessa Calderon: This is for a product that was released only a few months ago.
[13:05] Vanessa Calderon: The scarcity is being driven by a combination of low print runs
[13:08] Vanessa Calderon: and a massive influx of investors who are treating these cards like a traditional stock market
[13:13] Vanessa Calderon: rather than a game for kids and collectors.
[13:16] Announcer: Tripling the MSRP in just a few months is wild, Vanessa.
[13:22] Announcer: It is all being driven by the special illustration rears.
[13:25] Announcer: The Mega Gengar EX card is currently the crown jewel of the set,
[13:30] Announcer: with individual raw copies sitting at over $1,200.
[13:34] Announcer: If you manage to get a pristine grade from a professional service,
[13:38] Announcer: that price can double or triple.
[13:41] Announcer: Wesellers are basically treating these high-end cards like high-yield bonds,
[13:45] Announcer: and it is making it impossible for the average player to actually complete a set.
[13:50] Announcer: We're seeing local card shops struggle to keep stock because scalpers are clearing the shelves within minutes of a restock.
[13:57] Announcer: It is a volatile situation that shows no signs of slowing down until the Pokemon Company announces a massive second wave of printing.
[14:04] Vanessa Calderon: It feels completely unsustainable.
[14:07] Vanessa Calderon: But until those reprints actually hit the shelves, it is a total shark tank out there for anyone trying to buy cards at a reasonable price.
[14:17] Vanessa Calderon: Marcus, I think we have covered more than enough drama and excitement for one week.
[14:22] Vanessa Calderon: Between the Ubisoft remakes and the massive shifts at Microsoft,
[14:26] Vanessa Calderon: the industry is in a state of constant flux.
[14:29] Vanessa Calderon: It is going to be a very interesting summer for gamers as these projects start to materialize.
[14:34] Vanessa Calderon: I agree.
[14:36] Announcer: It is time for me to go do some shiny hunting,
[14:38] SPEAKER_03: or maybe just prepare my ship for that Black Flag remake in July.
[14:43] Announcer: I am Marcus Shaw.
[14:45] Vanessa Calderon: And I'm Vanessa Calderon. Thanks for listening to Nerfed. Neural Newscast is AI-assisted,
[14:51] Vanessa Calderon: human-reviewed. View our AI transparency policy at neuralnewscast.com. Check us out at
[14:57] Marcus Shaw: nerfed.ai. This has been Nerfed on Neural Newscast, where games, culture, and strategy intersect.