J. J. Abrams partners with Infinity Blade developer for upcoming Spyjinx

By Danny Cowan November 11, 2015

J.J. Abrams and Donald Mustard Announce New Video Game Partnership #SPYJINX

Film director J.J. Abrams has partnered with Shadow Complex developer Chair to produce Spyjinx, an upcoming espionage-themed strategy game for PCs and mobile platforms.

The upcoming project will be developed in a collaboration between Chair and Abrams’ production company Bad Robot.

Abrams cites inspiration from Chair’s mobile hit Infinity Blade, and expressed a desire to work with the team based on its past successes. Chair previously developed the Xbox Live Arcade standout Shadow Complex, and followed up on Infinity Blade with a pair of sequels in the years after its launch.

“I feel like it’s a natural progression from what we’ve been doing,” Abrams stated. “We really wanted to expand into this area of entertainment. Typically, Hollywood and games have not gone together well. There’s some notable exceptions, but not too many.”

Abrams continues: “This didn’t begin [with Bad Robot suggesting] ‘We have an IP we want to force into a game,’ and [Chair] didn’t come to us saying ‘We want to make a game into a TV show.’ This was like, ‘What would be really cool to work on together that would take the strengths from both what Bad Robot’s done and what Chair’s done, and make something even better?'”

Chair creative director Donald Mustard describes Spyjinx as “an action-strategy game mixed with really dynamic worldbuilding, with a healthy dose of RPG character development.” No other details regarding the game’s content were revealed as part of its initial announcement.

Abrams’ recent body of work includes 2009’s theatrical film Star Trek and its 2013 sequel Into Darkness. Abrams’ latest film Star Wars: The Force Awakens will hit theaters in December as the first entry in a planned sequel trilogy for the popular sci-fi franchise.

Spyjinx is due to launch in 2016 for PCs and mobile devices. Beta signups are now available at the game’s official website.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributor

Danny’s passion for video games was ignited upon his first encounter with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and years later, he still…

Gaming

All Trinkets in Tales of Kenzera: Zau, explained

The main character of Tales of Kenzera: Zau stands with two elemental items.

Your main upgrades in a metroidvania like Tales of Kenzera: Zau will always be your new abilities. These transform the way you move and fight, but there are other ways you can make Zau a more powerful shaman. Trinkets are introduced right away, but aren't given away as freely as you might think. Each one requires you to overcome a small trial that tests your platforming abilities off the main path. Technically, you can miss every single one aside from the one you begin the game with. Even though there are a few fast travel points, backtracking isn't a particularly fun experience. Here are all the Trinket locations in Tales of Kenzera: Zau, plus which ones you should equip.
All Trinket locations
You can see which zones have Trinkets on the map, and for the most part, you will be able to grab them as you navigate through them for the first time. Here are each of the Trinket locations roughly in the order you should naturally be able to get them.
Battering Stance
This is the Trinket you begin the game with and is equipped by default.
Lifted Spirit

The first Trinket is found in this side path trial in The Buluu Caverns.
Retaliating Spirit

Gaming

How to start The Forgotten Kingdom DLC in Remnant 2

Invoker

Remnant 2 is a massive game that already boasts nearly endless replayability, but that isn't stopping developer Gunfire Games from adding even more to do in the popular looter shooter. The game's new DLC, The Forgotten Kingdom, provides players with a substantial amount of extra stuff to check out, such as new biomes to explore, an additional archetype known as The Invoker, and plenty of fresh enemies to take down. If you're ready to see all of what The Forgotten Kingdom DLC has to offer, read on to learn how to access it from within the game.
How to start The Forgotten Kingdom DLC
The first step in accessing The Forgotten Kingdom DLC is to ensure you've purchased and downloaded it. You can buy the standalone version from your respective storefront for $10, or you can opt to snag the $25 bundle, which includes The Awakened King, The Forgotten Kingdom, and another future DLC that has yet to be announced. If you intend to play the full trilogy of DLCs, the former is your best option, as you'll save five bucks off the total cost of all three.

Once you've purchased and downloaded the DLC, you'll be ready to access The Forgotten Kingdom by visiting a World Stone and opening Adventure Mode. You'll need to have completed the Yaesha biome at least one time. At that point, you can select "Reroll Adventure Mode" and choose The Forgotten Kingdom: One Shot on the right, which will notably give you exclusive DLC content your first time through. Keep in mind that while this initial run won't feature any older content, your subsequent playthroughs of Yaesha will weave DLC areas in with main campaign content.

Gaming

All Baobab Tree locations in Tales of Kenzera

Zau fights a dragon in Tales of Kenzera: Zau.

While it wasn't marketed as being a particularly punishing game, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is by no means easy. You will have plenty of environmental challenges that can instantly sap your life, and the enemies you face -- especially the bosses -- are no slouches. When you first begin, it will only take a couple of bad hits to send Zau to the land of the dead himself. Alongside the Trinkets you can unlock through hidden challenges around the map, there are also Baobab Trees where Zau can stop to reflect on his journey thus far, have a short dialogue with Kalunga, and get a small addition to his health bar. Like everything in the game, these trees aren't prohibitively hidden, but you could easily pass one by and have no idea where it was when trying to backtrack. These are all the Baobab Tree locations so you can max out your health bar.
All Baobab Tree locations
There are six Baobab Trees to find in Tales of Kenzera: Zau and each adds a small segment of health to your total. When you collect them all, you will roughly double your HP bar. Here are each of their locations in the rough order you should naturally find them in. Most can be picked up on your first time through that area.
Ikakaramba

This one is very hard to miss as it is directly on your critical path. If you do, you can fast travel to the nearby campfire to grab it.
The Great Cliffs