Daily Briefing: Monday 8th February

That Prince of Persia remake has been delayed indefinitely

The remake of Ubisoft's 2003 classic Prince of Persia: Sands of time was originally slated to release in January 2021 before being pushed to March - this latest delay does not include an updated expected release window.

• A development update posted to the official Prince of Persia Twitter admits that the update is a "surprise" but aims to reassure fans that the extra time will be put to good use. Feedback on the remake has been mixed since it was unveiled back in September, so hopefully Ubisoft really get their polish on.

Bandai Namco appoint new President

Industry veteran Masaru Kawaguchi is set to execute "a new strategic direction" as President and Representative Director - as the company prepare to merge their toy and video game businesses this coming April.

• Kawaguchi has the experience to back up this new title. He joined the company in 1983 back when it was just Bandai Co Ltd and, following the Namco merger in 2006, climbed the ranks to become Bandai President in 2015. He has also served as part-time director for all Bandai Namco Entertainment since 2019.

Warner Bros. successfully patent Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor Nemesis system

Warner Bros. have been seeking approval for this patent for a while (the earliest reference to it is from March 2015) and, following a few revision requests, it was officially granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office last week. The patent protects "Nemesis characters, nemesis forts, social vendettas, and followers in computer games."

• While things like this and Bloober Team patenting The Medium's unique dual-world gameplay is certainly annoying, it's unlikely to change much. There are loads of patents in games that don't cause issues. Sega used to hold a patent on compass arrows thanks to Crazy Taxi, and BioWare hold a patent for dialogue wheels. Hell, Nintendo hold a patent on sanity meters and they were everywhere for a bit.

Stephen Totilo leaves Kotaku

Totilo confirmed in his farewell blog that, following a "glorious month of vacation", he will be taking up an as-yet unannounced games journalism role that should allow him to report his own stories - something he admitted to missing during his tenure as Kotaku's editor-in-chief.

• Totilo's departure marks the end of a 12 year career with the site. Totilo joined Kotaku as deputy editor in 2009 before moving up to editor-in-chief in 2012 after Brian Crecente left to found Polygon.