Veteran big-budget game writer Darby McDevitt is determined to make the endings of the games he writes matter. “I want the first scenes and the last scenes to stick with people,” he tells Axios.

Why it matters: Endings often get short shrift in game development.

• Studios and publishers will scrub-polish intros, trying to make a great first impression.
• But endings often peter out and aren’t even seen by most players, with average completion of big games often hovering around 50%, according to checks of in-game achievements.

Between the lines: McDevitt has been writing for games since 1999 and has penned the ending to a half-dozen, history-spanning Assassin’s Creed releases from Ubisoft, including 2011’s AC: Revelations and 2020’s AC Valhalla.

• Assassin’s Creed endings often involve the culmination of the game’s main historical adventure and some advancement of the franchise’s meta-plot of secret ancient histories and modern-day conspiracies.
• McDevitt says he's felt "lucky" on the AC series to always get the resources he wanted to make an impactful ending.
• For the endings, the writers plan a mix of interactive moments a player controls with a gamepad and non-interactive scenes. “We always emphasize that this is a story that needs to be experienced in the pad as much as possible,” McDevitt said.

Creating endings in a top franchise can be challenging, especially when it evolves into a style of game that’s designed to feel endless.

• Older Assassin’s Creed games were largely linear, bringing players through the same shared moments to a grand finale.
• Newer AC games, such as Valhalla, are more open-ended. Players can skip major chunks of the game, a structure that led McDevitt’s team to write Valhalla’s final events more vaguely, like a puzzle box for thorough players to solve.
• Years of post-release add-ons also let the writers add more final moments after a game's launch. Of Valhalla, McDevitt says: “We have concrete ideas for more surprises to come, as a few lingering questions have yet to be answered!” (For Valhalla players wondering why its England-based Viking protagonist Eivor is inexplicably shown to be buried in North America, McDevitt said: “That is indeed a lingering question. We’ll see!”)

Go deeper: McDevitt on specific Assassin’s Creed endings, including some that didn’t pan out.

There are big potential payouts ahead for controversial Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, according to an extensive SEC filing about Microsoft’s planned $69 billion acquisition of the company.

Why it matters: Kotick has faced scrutiny and calls for his resignation over widespread sexual misconduct allegations at Activision Blizzard but appears set to profit.

Details: Microsoft and Activision propose that Kotick could receive as much as $22 million in stock in July or later, if Activision’s board sees improvement in company culture.

• Measured improvements would include the implementation of a zero-tolerance harassment plan and an increase in hiring women and non-binary people.
• Kotick took a pay cut in October in response to the company’s scandals and said he was forgoing bonuses until the board saw improvement.
• The filing also indicates that the board may extend Kotick’s contract by 12 months beyond its current March 2023 expiration. Kotick has not been expected to remain at the company long after the merger, a source told Axios’ Ina Fried earlier this year.
• Should Kotick be fired without cause by Microsoft, he’ll get a $15 million “golden parachute,” according to the filing's compensation proposal.

Between the lines: The filing reveals that Microsoft gaming executive Phil Spencer began talks with Kotick about a potential acquisition on Nov. 19, three days after a Wall Street Journal expose that said Kotick knew of sexual misconduct at the company for years.

• The investigation walloped Activision Blizzard’s stock price well below even Microsoft’s opening bid of $80 per share.
• Over the course of a month of negotiation, Activision got Microsoft to $95/share.
• Kotick owns (or has the right to acquire) 6.5 million shares, which will be worth $619 million at Microsoft’s price.

Other intrigues from the filing:

• Four other companies approached or were approached by Activision about an acquisition but little came of it.
• An unnamed individual also made a play to solely acquire Blizzard, an inquiry that Activision Blizzard’s board slow-walked in part because “prior dealings” with that person raised concern about possible leaks.
• Among the deal’s parameters, Activision Blizzard is generally prohibited from entering a collective bargaining agreement with employees but could do so with Microsoft’s approval. Some of the company’s workers have been attempting to unionize.
• A long-term revenue estimate prepared in November indicates Activision Blizzard expects a dramatic, nearly $2.5 billion revenue increase in 2023. It’s a potential sign of major releases that year, possibly including the recently delayed Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV.

Ubisoft has canceled plans to hold an upcoming Rainbow Six: Siege esports tournament in the United Arab Emirates, two days after saying it would.

Driving the news: Siege fans pushed back hard against the news, citing the UAE’s criminalization of same-sex relationships.

• In a statement from the Rainbow Six Twitter account today, Ubisoft said it had organized the event in consultation with the UAE government and had expected people of all types to be “included and welcomed.”
• But it also noted that it heard “loud and clear that members of the international Siege community question the choice” and said it would be moved.
• In 2020, League of Legends maker Riot Games backed out of a planned partnership with Saudi Arabia after fan outcry over that country’s history of human rights violations.

💰 Tencent has bought Nightingale development studio Inflexion games from metaverse company Improbable, which has signaled that it is getting out of game development.

🥊 Capcom has announced Street Fighter 6, the first new game in the series since 2016’s Street Fighter V. No platforms or release date specified, but there is a logo, which looks a lot like an $80 stock image.

😲 Square Enix plans to support its hit massively multiplayer online game Final Fantasy XIV, which launched in 2010, for another 10 years.

👀 In a blog post today, Sony revealed what the PlayStation VR2 hardware will look like though did not give any more information on launch timing or pricing.

These So-Called ‘Casual’ Gamers Are Actually Hardcore Strategists [Sisi Jiang, Kotaku]

In light of the lengths that some went through to optimize their gaming experience, I was curious about why they didn’t consider themselves “gamers.” Their answers give a fascinating view into what “gaming” means to players who don’t identify with the label.

For Jesse, the gaming community was known to be unwelcoming to those who played mobile games like they did. “The games I play are single-player, casual, and the kind of thing that gets looked down on by gamers.”

Square Enix says that sales of last fall’s critically acclaimed Guardians of the Galaxy game “undershot our initial expectations,” in a meeting with investors.

Why it matters: Whether the games are reviewed well or poorly, the company whiffs a lot.

• Square Enix on 2018’s Just Cause 4: “we sold fewer units on launch than we had anticipated.”
• Square Enix on 2020’s Marvel’s Avengers: “not proven as successful as we would have liked.”
• 2021’s Outriders was “off to a good start” according to Square Enix early last year, but didn’t sell well enough to net its development studio any royalties.