Assassins Creed Shadows a guaranteed hit? (Ubisoft)The Wednesday letters page is worried about the future of Mass Effect and BioWare, as one reader looks at the history of summer console launches.To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.ukFan bubbleSo, its a pretty busy February this year, with a lot of big titles, and one of them is Assassins Creed Shadows. Theres been a lot of talk of Ubisoft being in trouble so theyre going to have a lot riding on this. My question is, will it be a success?On one hand youd probably say not, because of all the stuff with it not being historically accurate and whatever. But normal people arent going to have heard about all that. Assassins Creed is one of the biggest franchises out there, only a few steps down from Call Of Duty and EA Sports FC in terms of something that always seems to sell no matter the quality or controversy.Im sure sales go up and down between different games, but Ive never heard of Assassins Creed actually being a flop. I think too often we the sort of people that would be reading this get caught up in a kind of fan bubble where we assume everyone knows and thinks what we do.I know Ive been guilty of that before, and Id be very surprised if the vast majority of people looking at Assassins Creed Shadows didnt just see a cool samurai game and think about buying it. The biggest issue I can see is that theres a lot out that month, rather than anything about the game.FuttermanSummer lovingA June release date seems pretty weird for the Nintendo Switch 2; doesnt seem like something youd choose on purpose at all. I can only guess its either to stay out of the way of GTA 6 or Nintendo are worried theyd go too long without anything to sell.Im not a wholesaler or a manufacturer or whatever but I just cant imagine many people in June are going to have 300+ to spend on a new video game console. Especially as its six months to Christmas. The super fans will though and I guess thats all you really need when a console comes out, to build up the hype.I think theres an obvious reason why so few games are released during the summer but a portable console? That makes a bit more sense. Plus, it gives time for hype to build up for the Christmas season. Either way, I doubt Nintendos going to have trouble selling it.NixGC: March releases are relatively common for portables, but youd have to go back to the Mega Drive and SNES to find a major format that launched during the summer, and even then it was August.Beware BioWareA lot of people are worried about the future of Bungie at the moment, but I never really played Destiny, so I cant really comment on that. What little Ive read doesnt sound good, but I couldnt say whether theyll pull through or not.What I do know though is that Im really worried about BioWare. I just read that they havent even started full production on Mass Effect 4 yet, which means its going to be at least three years more. After the failure of Dragon Age: The Veilguard I really do worry that EA is going to shut them down before they get much further.A reader asked yesterday why EA keeps making more Battlefield and Need For Speed games and I couldnt really tell you. But I do know that theyre not nearly as patient with anything else and at this point BioWare feels like it must be on very thin ice.84ColbatEmail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.ukFrom summer with loveWith all the talk about Nintendo Switch 2 at the moment (understandable, I realise) I cant help thinking about what FromSoftware are doing right now and when theyre going to announce it. Elden Ring Nightreign is clearly just a quick and dirty spin-off, so what is their next main game? Theyve said its not Elden Ring 2 and I cant imagine them going back to Dark Souls after all this time, so its either a new IP or a new Bloodborne.I do think theres a good chance of Bloodborne 2, as it has a very good reputation and its exclusive to PlayStation, but Sony dont have to worry about making it themselves. But From have said theyve got multiple games underway at the moment and that means that at least one of them has got to brand new.The best thing is that, except for Bloodborne, this is something to be excited about for Switch 2 too, since its bound to be on that too. Only thing is I dont know when any of this will be announced. The Xbox event this week? The imagined Sony one after? I think Summer Game Fest is probably the most likely.IcemanA better yearDo you plan on reviewing Eternal Strands?Last year was a great gaming year but lacked any really big releases. This year we are expecting some heavy hitters, but the first few months of this year already has a healthy list of games that I wouldnt say are massive releases but look very promising.Eternal Strands, Avowed, Split Fiction, Atomfall, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii all look good.SimundoGC: It does look interesting, so well try.Number valueGTA 6 $100 is 81.63 normal price. This raises standard prices by 10 above the new release of EA Sports FC 25 and Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6.People are seeing the US market prices and not realising the price difference via currency exchange.Games are making more money over DLC and virtual currency, where GTA 5 is lacking from due to the number of mods now making the impossible very possible.This didnt exist until the PlayStation 3, where developers want more for very little. A suggestion to CMA to level the online playing field would be a singular price for battle passes, that include all features instead of charging a battle pass and single features such as skins.Console games are becoming expensive and going digital has ruined the gamers market, because of several reason a) You dont own the game and as soon as its removed from store the game disappears b) GAME, CeX, and various gaming shops would be forced to close their doors like Gamestation c) store closures mean more unemployed d) no more resales or trades and finally e) gaming storage will quickly fill up.KyleGC: If, and it is an if, its $100 in the US itll almost certainly be 100 here. The same happened with the price rise to $70/70.Astronomically unlikelyWith the Switch 2 release nearing Im wondering if theres any chance we might see Astro Bot on the platform.I think everyone would agree a game like that would find its natural home in Nintendo land and Id assume sell well, something it unfortunately hasnt seemed to do on PlayStation. It just seems like a win-win situation for both platforms.ChrisGC: Not unless Sony radically changes its multiformat policies.Big bangI would absolutely love it if Nintendo made their last Switch game a big fan service title that was doomed to failure. Unfortunately, unlike the previous reader, I cant really imagine that happening. Nintendo might be the nice console maker but that doesnt mean theyre happy to just throw money away. No company ever wants to do that, least of all one thats savvy enough to be over 130 years old.Unfortunately, I think it is the fate of all consoles to fade away rather than go out with a bang. Id love to be proven wrong, but I think we should feel lucky that last year was a good one for the Switch, rather than just being filled with remasters and other low rent stuff.I do hope though, that some of the forgotten franchises get updated for the Nintendo Switch 2. F-Zero might be a tricky one, in terms of what to actually do, but Star Fox is pretty malleable and can be almost anything sci-fi. Theres lots of other older franchises they could be back too, like Golden Sun, Kid Icarus, StarTropics, and Wario Land.I know they could just make a new series instead, but I think theres always a novelty in updating old games and seeing what can be done with modern technology and some new ideas. If anything was going to happen Id say Golden Sun was the most likely, as its by an outside developer, but Im still not getting my hopes up.Darth RyanInbox also-ransI was gonna write in about there being no games I want coming out in 2025 but then I read your release list. I was incorrect.BobwallettThis GTA 6 trailer theories are so insane. I cant believe the fans really believe them; its probably just an inside joke. The phases of the moon one was the best.DougMore TrendingEmail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.ukThe small printNew Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Readers Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.You can also leave your comments below and dont forget to follow us on Twitter.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy