UK-based mentorship program Limit Break is ramping up to have its biggest year yet as organizers continue to match underrepresented developers with experienced talent.

Driving the news: Limit Break, founded by video game designer Anisa Sanusi, opened applications this week for its program, a six-month mentorship.

• The program connects those seeking experience with designers, programmers, artists, QA workers, and any other professionals who help create games.
• Mentees are placed with mentors by their area of interest; Limit Break also tries to match applicants by personality.
• Experiences applicants share also comes into play, like developers who deal with visas as part of their immigration process.

The details: Limit Break began in 2019 as a Google doc sheet. Sanusi wanted to kickstart a mentorship program that would help underrepresented people find guidance.

• In the first year, Limit Break had 100 mentors and mentees. Last year's had roughly 700. Although it began as a London-based program, it's since expanded to serve other UK areas.
• Sanusi started Limit Break to help connect people — a resource she wishes she'd had. "But you don't get to choose the responsibility that you're given," she said.
• "Nobody wants to talk about diversity all the time," she said. "I just want to talk about the video games I make."

Vetting mentors can be a tricky process; experience isn't the only important factor.

• Sanusi says that good mentors are "people who are self-aware."
• "It's not about you, and it's is about helping the other person," she told Axios.
• For developers feeling doubtful they can be helpful Sanusi says there's invaluable institutional knowledge they can share.
• "If you've been in industry at minimum five years, you have accumulated enough knowledge ... When you're talking to somebody who's so fresh, so young, the things that you assume are common sense are not."

What's next: Applications close May 3.

• "We've only been open for just over 48 hours and we've already had OVER 450 applications for mentors & mentees for Limit Break 2022," Limit Break tweeted. "This is *probably* going to be our biggest year ever."

Blizzard Entertainment released a patch for Diablo 2: Resurrected, which corrects bugs that have existed since the original game’s launch in 2000.

Why it matters: It’s an extensive patch that addresses problems with performance, graphical and gameplay bugs.

• Those changes include class balance modifications, new Rune Words, competitive modes and more.
• A ranked competitive system begins on April 28. It includes four Ladder modes with their own leaderboards.

Elsewhere: Diablo 3 Season 26 starts today.

Saturday and Sunday, April 16 & 17

• It's Easter. Chocolate bunnies for everyone.

Monday, April 18

• Chocolate bunny hangover day.

Tuesday, April 19

• Blizzard reveals World of Warcraft's next expansion at 9am PT.

Wednesday, April 20

• Release day for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on Switch.
• The Meta Quest Gaming Showcase begins at 10am PT and will feature gameplay, announcements, and more.

Thursday, April 21

• Release day for Teardown (PC), Trolley Problem (PC)
• PAX East 2022 begins and will run until April 24.

Friday, April 22

• Nothing to see here.

👁 Veteran Ubisoft director Patrick Plourde is leaving the company, a spokesperson confirmed to Axios.

• Plourde, who worked on Watch Dogs 2 and Child of Light, was named by A Better Ubisoft as someone with "multiple misconduct reports" against him.
• "Most of my time will be working with Ubisoft, but now I'll have a position outside a traditional structure (with mandate cross department) and I will be able to dabble with other fields outside gaming that I had eyes on for a while without having to ask my employer's permission," Plourde told Axios.

👀 Developer Hideo Kojima says that, despite rumors, Sony has not purchased Kojima Productions, and that the company “has been and will continue to be an independent studio.”

⌛️ CD Projekt Red says that in spite of its indefinite delay of next-gen versions of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, it is not stuck in development hell: “Nobody’s saying the game is delayed [with] some monumental time gap ahead of us," senior vice president of business development Michał Nowakowski told investors.

• Elden Ring Player ‘Let Me Solo Her’ Has Become A Total Legend Among Fans (Jeremy Winslow, Kotaku)

While Malenia is a hard fight for even the most skilled of players, Elden Ring features online multiplayer in a similar fashion as other FromSoftware games. After getting his ass kicked by Malenia some 20-30 times, Reddit user sazed813 decided to use co-op, and summoned Let Me Solo Her without knowing who the player was or what was going to happen. Sazed813 noted Let Me Solo Her’s odd attire right away, though. Dressed in nothing but underwear and a jar on their head, Let Me Solo Her wielded two katanas—the Rivers of Blood and what appeared to be an Uchigatana—and, like the name suggests, literally solo-ed Malenia, beating her without taking any lethal damage.

• I tried to duo with ‘Let me solo her’ in Elden Ring, and it didn’t go well (Cameron Faulker, The Verge)

Meanwhile, one of my former colleagues over at The Verge did get a chance to let Let Me Solo Her solo her, and he made some poor choices. -- Megan

If you're looking for new games to play this weekend, here are two to keep on your radar:

• 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim launched for Nintendo Switch this week. It combines real-time strategy with visual novel elements as it follows Japanese high schoolers through several centuries. A little weird, but perfect for your handheld (see: breaks) if you missed the PS4 version.
• Cat Cafe Manager is a sim where you... run a cat cafe, if you didn't already guess. It's a cute, feel-good game that scratches that simulation itch with decorating, managing employees, and balancing your relationships. Plus, you can pet the cats.