The Truth Behind Apex Legends’ Revenant Rework

The Truth Behind Apex Legends’ Revenant Rework

Apex Legends, like all live-service titles, is no stranger to balancing updates. Weapons and playable characters alike undergo acute surges and declines based on several factors, with the most prevalent being player behavior. Years ago, Pathfinder reigned supreme across casual and competitive matches; his grapple hook-centric mobility and inconsistent hitbox made him an unrivaled duelist until his ability cooldowns and physique were tweaked. Similarly, the Prowler SMG once rivaled its light ammo counterparts before the Selectfire Receiver – a legendary hop-up that converted the weapon’s burstfire to automatic – was removed from the loot pool. These changes, in addition to many others, morphed the meta in significant ways, but one particular update trumped the rest: Revenant’s rework.

The nefarious simulacrum (robots based on humans) was first introduced in Season 4: Assimilation, and despite capturing the fascination of lore enthusiasts and aggression-focused players, his unremarkable pick rate left a lot to be desired. Revenant’s original kit made him a stealthy assassin: a “Stalker” passive that accelerated crouch walk speed/extended climbing height all while silencing his feet, a “Silence” tactical ability that, when flung at unsuspecting adversaries, dealt damage and disabled enemies for a few seconds, and a “Death Totem” ultimate which prevented death or incapacitation by sending injured users back to the Totem’s location with 50HP instead. Despite these interesting skills, Revenant never reached the same popularity heights as other Skirmisher legends.

Apex Legends Season 18 Trailer:

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Apex Legends design director Devan McGuire told me Revenant’s second coming (or “Rebirth,” as some call it) that launched in the aptly named Season 18: Resurrection was implemented to satisfy the core fantasy of the character and carve a space in the meta for him. Simply put, he needed stronger, more viable abilities.

“You played Revenant, sat back, and lobbed shadow balls [or Silence] at people and hoped you hit someone around the corner to maybe make a push on them,” McGuire began. “But even if you did, you had no idea what type of person got affected by it, what the Silence did, and whether or not it was still safe to push. And if you wanted to use your ultimate, you had to coordinate with your team and make sure everyone grouped up to make an effective push. It wasn’t the healthiest thing for the game; we had an Octane-Revenant meta that showed us the dangers of that. So, we looked at it from the ground up and went after a hyper-aggressive/very selfish playstyle and tried to make Revenant fit the game in the way he was meant to. Having that payoff is so rewarding/encouraging when we look back at older legends who have fallen behind or maybe never hit the mark. Not saying that we’re going to be doing a lot of that in the future, but we’ll look for those kinds of opportunities again because they can breathe new life into a character who has sat by the wayside.”

According to Esports Illustrated, after the rework, Revenant became the most selected legend in the game, his pick rate increasing by a whopping 98 percent! Of course, the fun narrative beats that accompanied S18 helped the character appeal to a broader audience. But his new abilities were nothing to scoff at either. These days, the Revenant we know and love can “Shadow Pounce,” or leap a maximum of 50m, to ambush low-health enemies highlighted with the “Assassin’s Instinct” passive. And his new ultimate, “Forged Shadows,” creates a 75HP shroud that blocks damage and slowly regenerates over time. Thankfully (or dreadfully?), Revenant is living up to his namesake; the guy’s a bonafide predator who can initiate and win fights as well as any legend in the frontier.

If, like me, Apex suits your fancy, be sure to check out our list of the top 10 shooters to play right now for more gun-toting options! What other legend reworks would you like to see in Apex Legends? Give us the details below.

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Matrox Convert IP Enables State-of-the-art AVoverIP Immersive Art Exhi – Videoguys

Matrox Convert IP Enables State-of-the-art AVoverIP Immersive Art Exhi – Videoguys

The blog post titled “A Tech Double-Take: Two technology solutions used to bring Frameless to ISE 2023” by Matrox highlights the innovative use of technology to recreate the Frameless immersive art experience at ISE 2023 in Barcelona. The team behind the UK’s largest digital immersive art exhibition collaborated with Panasonic Connect Europe, Hive Media Control, Apantac LLC, and Matrox Video to showcase two distinct technological approaches.

The first approach involved a state-of-the-art AV connection executed in a sophisticated manner. Panasonic utilized three RQ35 and eight RQ25 3-Chip DLP projectors, equipped with pixel-quadrupling technology, to project stunning 4K+ visuals on floors and walls. To enhance contrast and color reproduction, Panasonic worked with LANG AG to develop a high-contrast fabric screen material for the back wall. The projectors were fed content from HIVE media players using SDI, providing a seamless and immersive experience.

The second approach demonstrated the latest fully IP-based and synchronized solution on a 10GB fiber network infrastructure. Matrox Video provided ConvertIP, IPMX-ready encoders, and decoders, showcasing the potential of IP streaming technology for immersive installations. The ConvertIP devices, including DSS and DSH, facilitated the conversion of SDI signals to HDMI and their synchronization through a PTP network clock.

Hartmut Kulessa, European Marketing Manager at Panasonic Visual System Solutions, expressed the desire to showcase different opportunities for location-based entertainment. The team aimed to demonstrate the potential of AVoIP streaming, emphasizing its flexibility and ease of management compared to traditional AV solutions. Kulessa also anticipated the IPMX standard, used in Matrox ConvertIP Series encoders, to become a de facto standard for live events and fixed installations due to its flexibility and low latency.

Panasonic’s use of Smart Display Module (SDM) cards in projectors and displays showcased an innovative and future-proofed approach. This strategy allows customers to retrofit projectors or displays for different uses, supporting existing standards like STI and future standards like IPMX.

In conclusion, the blog post highlights the successful collaboration of technology solutions to recreate the Frameless experience at ISE 2023. The team showcased that award-winning immersive content can be recreated in various settings, including temporary, new build, and traditional infrastructure, without the need for high budgets and dedicated buildings. The flexibility of different technology solutions opens exciting opportunities for immersive installations.

Read the full blog post from Matrox HERE

MIT, Applied Materials, and the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition Hub to bring 200mm advanced research capabilities to MIT.nano

MIT, Applied Materials, and the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition Hub to bring 200mm advanced research capabilities to MIT.nano

The following is a joint announcement from MIT and Applied Materials, Inc.

MIT and Applied Materials, Inc., announced an agreement today that, together with a grant to MIT from the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition (NEMC) Hub, commits more than $40 million of estimated private and public investment to add advanced nano-fabrication equipment and capabilities to MIT.nano, the Institute’s center for nanoscale science and engineering. The collaboration will create a unique open-access site in the United States that supports research and development at industry-compatible scale using the same equipment found in high-volume production fabs to accelerate advances in silicon and compound semiconductors, power electronics, optical computing, analog devices, and other critical technologies.

The equipment and related funding and in-kind support provided by Applied Materials will significantly enhance MIT.nano’s existing capabilities to fabricate up to 200-millimeter (8-inch) wafers, a size essential to industry prototyping and production of semiconductors used in a broad range of markets including consumer electronics, automotive, industrial automation, clean energy, and more. Positioned to fill the gap between academic experimentation and commercialization, the equipment will help establish a bridge connecting early-stage innovation to industry pathways to the marketplace.

“A brilliant new concept for a chip won’t have impact in the world unless companies can make millions of copies of it. MIT.nano’s collaboration with Applied Materials will create a critical open-access capacity to help innovations travel from lab bench to industry foundries for manufacturing,” says Maria Zuber, MIT’s vice president for research and the E. A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics. “I am grateful to Applied Materials for its investment in this vision. The impact of the new toolset will ripple across MIT and throughout Massachusetts, the region, and the nation.”

Applied Materials is the world’s largest supplier of equipment for manufacturing semiconductors, displays, and other advanced electronics. The company will provide at MIT.nano several state-of-the-art process tools capable of supporting 150 and 200mm wafers and will enhance and upgrade an existing tool owned by MIT. In addition to assisting MIT.nano in the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the equipment, Applied engineers will develop new process capabilities that will benefit researchers and students from MIT and beyond.

“Chips are becoming increasingly complex, and there is tremendous need for continued advancements in 200mm devices, particularly compound semiconductors like silicon carbide and gallium nitride,” says Aninda Moitra, corporate vice president and general manager of Applied Materials’ ICAPS Business. “Applied is excited to team with MIT.nano to create a unique, open-access site in the U.S. where the chip ecosystem can collaborate to accelerate innovation. Our engagement with MIT expands Applied’s university innovation network and furthers our efforts to reduce the time and cost of commercializing new technologies while strengthening the pipeline of future semiconductor industry talent.”

The NEMC Hub, managed by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech), will allocate $7.7 million to enable the installation of the tools. The NEMC is the regional “hub” that connects and amplifies the capabilities of diverse organizations from across New England, plus New Jersey and New York. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) selected the NEMC Hub as one of eight Microelectronics Commons Hubs and awarded funding from the CHIPS and Science Act to accelerate the transition of critical microelectronics technologies from lab-to-fab, spur new jobs, expand workforce training opportunities, and invest in the region’s advanced manufacturing and technology sectors.

The Microelectronics Commons program is managed at the federal level by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, and facilitated through the National Security Technology Accelerator (NSTXL), which organizes the execution of the eight regional hubs located across the country. The announcement of the public sector support for the project was made at an event attended by leaders from the DoD and NSTXL during a site visit to meet with NEMC Hub members.

“The installation and operation of these tools at MIT.nano will have a direct impact on the members of the NEMC Hub, the Massachusetts and Northeast regional economy, and national security. This is what the CHIPS and Science Act is all about,” says Ben Linville-Engler, deputy director at the MassTech Collaborative and the interim director of the NEMC Hub. “This is an essential investment by the NEMC Hub to meet the mission of the Microelectronics Commons.”

MIT.nano is a 200,000 square-foot facility located in the heart of the MIT campus with pristine, class-100 cleanrooms capable of accepting these advanced tools. Its open-access model means that MIT.nano’s toolsets and laboratories are available not only to the campus, but also to early-stage R&D by researchers from other academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, government, and companies ranging from Fortune 500 multinationals to local startups. Vladimir Bulović, faculty director of MIT.nano, says he expects the new equipment to come online in early 2025.

“With vital funding for installation from NEMC and after a thorough and productive planning process with Applied Materials, MIT.nano is ready to install this toolset and integrate it into our expansive capabilities that serve over 1,100 researchers from academia, startups, and established companies,” says Bulović, who is also the Fariborz Maseeh Professor of Emerging Technologies in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. “We’re eager to add these powerful new capabilities and excited for the new ideas, collaborations, and innovations that will follow.”

As part of its arrangement with MIT.nano, Applied Materials will join the MIT.nano Consortium, an industry program comprising 12 companies from different industries around the world. With the contributions of the company’s technical staff, Applied Materials will also have the opportunity to engage with MIT’s intellectual centers, including continued membership with the Microsystems Technology Laboratories.

New MIT.nano equipment to accelerate innovation in “tough tech” sectors

New MIT.nano equipment to accelerate innovation in “tough tech” sectors

A new set of advanced nanofabrication equipment will make MIT.nano one of the world’s most advanced research facilities in microelectronics and related technologies, unlocking new opportunities for experimentation and widening the path for promising inventions to become impactful new products.

The equipment, provided by Applied Materials, will significantly expand MIT.nano’s nanofabrication capabilities, making them compatible with wafers — thin, round slices of semiconductor material — up to 200 millimeters, or 8 inches, in diameter, a size widely used in industry. The new tools will allow researchers to prototype a vast array of new microelectronic devices using state-of-the-art materials and fabrication processes. At the same time, the 200-millimeter compatibility will support close collaboration with industry and enable innovations to be rapidly adopted by companies and mass produced.

MIT.nano’s leaders say the equipment, which will also be available to scientists outside of MIT, will dramatically enhance their facility’s capabilities, allowing experts in the region to more efficiently explore new approaches in “tough tech” sectors, including advanced electronics, next-generation batteries, renewable energies, optical computing, biological sensing, and a host of other areas — many likely yet to be imagined.

“The toolsets will provide an accelerative boost to our ability to launch new technologies that can then be given to the world at scale,” says MIT.nano Director Vladimir Bulović, who is also the Fariborz Maseeh Professor of Emerging Technology. “MIT.nano is committed to its expansive mission — to build a better world. We provide toolsets and capabilities that, in the hands of brilliant researchers, can effectively move the world forward.”

The announcement comes as part of an agreement between MIT and Applied Materials, Inc. that, together with a grant to MIT from the Northeast Microelectronics Coalition (NEMC) Hub, commits more than $40 million of estimated private and public investment to add advanced nano-fabrication equipment and capabilities at MIT.nano.

“We don’t believe there is another space in the United States that will offer the same kind of versatility, capability, and accessibility, with 8-inch toolsets integrated right next to more fundamental toolsets for research discoveries,” Bulović says. “It will create a seamless path to accelerate the pace of innovation.”

Pushing the boundaries of innovation

Applied Materials is the world’s largest supplier of equipment for manufacturing semiconductors, displays, and other advanced electronics. The company will provide at MIT.nano several state-of-the-art process tools capable of supporting 150- and 200-millimeter wafers and will enhance and upgrade an existing tool owned by MIT. In addition to assisting MIT.nano in the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the equipment, Applied Materials engineers will develop new process capabilities to benefit researchers and students from MIT and beyond.

“This investment will significantly accelerate the pace of innovation and discovery in microelectronics and microsystems,” says Tomás Palacios, director of MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories and the Clarence J. Lebel Professor in Electrical Engineering. “It’s wonderful news for our community, wonderful news for the state, and, in my view, a tremendous step forward toward implementing the national vision for the future of innovation in microelectronics.”

Nanoscale research at universities is traditionally conducted on machines that are less compatible with industry, which makes academic innovations more difficult to turn into impactful, mass-produced products. Jorg Scholvin, associate director for MIT.nano’s shared fabrication facility, says the new machines, when combined with MIT.nano’s existing equipment, represent a step-change improvement in that area: Researchers will be able to take an industry-standard wafer and build their technology on top of it to prove to companies it works on existing devices, or to co-fabricate new ideas in close collaboration with industry partners.

“In the journey from an idea to a fully working device, the ability to begin on a small scale, figure out what you want to do, rapidly debug your designs, and then scale it up to an industry-scale wafer is critical,” Scholvin says. “It means a student can test out their idea on wafer-scale quickly and directly incorporate insights into their project so that their processes are scalable. Providing such proof-of-principle early on will accelerate the idea out of the academic environment, potentially reducing years of added effort. Other tools at MIT.nano can supplement work on the 200-millimeter wafer scale, but the higher throughput and higher precision of the Applied equipment will provide researchers with repeatability and accuracy that is unprecedented for academic research environments. Essentially what you have is a sharper, faster, more precise tool to do your work.”

Scholvin predicts the equipment will lead to exponential growth in research opportunities.

“I think a key benefit of these tools is they allow us to push the boundary of research in a variety of different ways that we can predict today,” Scholvin says. “But then there are also unpredictable benefits, which are hiding in the shadows waiting to be discovered by the creativity of the researchers at MIT. With each new application, more ideas and paths usually come to mind — so that over time, more and more opportunities are discovered.”

Because the equipment is available for use by people outside of the MIT community, including regional researchers, industry partners, nonprofit organizations, and local startups, they will also enable new collaborations.

“The tools themselves will be an incredible meeting place — a place that can, I think, transpose the best of our ideas in a much more effective way than before,” Bulović says. “I’m extremely excited about that.”

Palacios notes that while microelectronics is best known for work making transistors smaller to fit on microprocessors, it’s a vast field that enables virtually all the technology around us, from wireless communications and high-speed internet to energy management, personalized health care, and more.

He says he’s personally excited to use the new machines to do research around power electronics and semiconductors, including exploring promising new materials like gallium nitride, which could dramatically improve the efficiency of electronic devices.

Fulfilling a mission

MIT.nano’s leaders say a key driver of commercialization will be startups, both from MIT and beyond.

“This is not only going to help the MIT research community innovate faster, it’s also going to enable a new wave of entrepreneurship,” Palacios says. “We’re reducing the barriers for students, faculty, and other entrepreneurs to be able to take innovation and get it to market. That fits nicely with MIT’s mission of making the world a better place through technology. I cannot wait to see the amazing new inventions that our colleagues and students will come out with.”

Bulović says the announcement aligns with the mission laid out by MIT’s leaders at MIT.nano’s inception.

“We have the space in MIT.nano to accommodate these tools, we have the capabilities inside MIT.nano to manage their operation, and as a shared and open facility, we have methodologies by which we can welcome anyone from the region to use the tools,” Bulović says. “That is the vision MIT laid out as we were designing MIT.nano, and this announcement helps to fulfill that vision.”

Cover Reveal – Apex Legends

Apex Legends is a game that has been growing and changing in continually exciting ways since its surprise launch in 2019.  Featuring a fully released game on our cover is atypical for Game Informer, but Apex Legends continues to enamor players daily, which is why we jumped at the opportunity to visit Respawn’s studio in Vancouver, Canada to dive deep into the game’s history, and look ahead to what’s coming next for the game on the horizon. As it readies to celebrate its five-year anniversary, Apex Legends is prepared to initiate some of its biggest changes yet, and we got a chance to speak with the team and play with its new modes and more.

To pull off this cover story, we decided to send in an expert: Jason Guisao. Jason is a former intern-turned-editor here at Game Informer, who also spent time at Bungie as a franchise editor, and is a devoted Apex Legends fan who has even played the game competitively at a Top 500 level. Jason, alongside video producer Alex Van Aken (a competitive Apex player and fan in his own right), visited Respawn in Vancouver to chat with the team, discuss its history, and go hands-on with what is changing for the game.

Alongside the Apex Legends cover story, you will also find a massive 26-page feature covering the 50 games and expansions we are most excited about in 2024 and beyond. It sets the stage for what we suspect will be another exciting year for video game releases. You can also read a big feature on the history of hip-hop in video games, the upcoming Fallout TV show adaptation, learn about Night School, the developer of Oxenfree and its sequel, read about Unicorn Overlord, and more. We also have reviews for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Tekken 8, and much more!

Here’s a closer look at this month’s cover:

You can also try to nab a Game Informer Gold version of the issue. Limited to a numbered print run per issue, this premium version of Game Informer isn’t available for sale. Our Apex Legends Gold issue (seen below) features a completely different cover. To learn about places where you might be able to get a copy, check out our official Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, BlueSky, and Threads accounts and stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks. Click here to read more about Game Informer Gold.

Print subscribers can expect their issues to arrive in the coming weeks. The digital edition will be available later this week, February 2, for PC/Mac, iOS, and Google Play. Print copies will be available for purchase in the coming weeks at GameStop.