The lead designer of Civilization 5, Jon Shafer, is breaking out on his own with a new independent studio, Conifer Games, and its first game, At the Gates. At the Gates is an empire builder and Conifer Games is asking for $40,000 on Kickstarter to finish it; the team has "already made significant progress" in its development.

This news means Shafer is no longer at Stardock, where in 2011 he signed on to help with Elemental: War of Magic and an unannounced project. Shafer founded Conifer Games a few months ago, according to his blog, and At the Gates already has a fully playable prototype.

"Our first project is At the Gates, a 4X turn-based strategy game which takes place during the fall of the Roman Empire," Shafer writes. "Players take the reigns of a fledgling barbarian tribe trying to forge a place for itself within the new order."

If all goes as planned with the Kickstarter, At the Gates will launch in the first half of 2014.

The founders of People Can Fly – responsible for Bulletstorm and currently Gears of War: Judgment – have flown the coop to begin another studio, The Astronauts, and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is their first game. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a "weird fiction horror" game inspired by macabre 20th century tales, set for a PC launch this year and developed in Unreal Engine 3.

"What we care about the most is that the players feel like they're really there," game designer Adrian Chmielarz says. "Immersion is our number one priority. It's a game about exploration and discovery. We're not abandoning the gameplay – on the contrary: We're trying to strip it down to the bone and make sure it's always meaningful and truly makes the experience better."

Chmielarz, along with co-founders Andrzej Poznanski and Michal Kosieradzki, premiere The Vanishing of Ethan Carter with the above teaser, showing a content old man stoking a fire sparked by a teddy bear in a sweater and an assortment of shoes and clothes. We never heard that particular bedtime story as children.

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While Assassin's Creed 3 season pass holders have to wait two weeks for the first episode of The Tyranny of King Washington to drop on February 19, Ubisoft has finally announced the launch dates for the follow-ups. The second episode, titled The Betrayal, and third episode, called The Redemption, will be available for download on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U and PC on March 19 and April 23, respectively.

Each of these DLC episodes are priced at $10 each (800 MS Points) and included in the season pass price of $30. Above, you can check out a trailer for the first episode in this planned trilogy, The Infamy. After, feel free to check out some new screenshots in our gallery below; or don't. We'd never tell you what to do because we're not King Washington.

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Speaking at DICE today, Supergiant Games founder Amir Rao mentioned that Bastion has sold 1.7 million copies across all available platforms.

Rao's presentation at the annual executive conference explained how Supergiant Games went about porting Bastion from XBLA to PC and mobile. The company's porting team was ... well, it was eight people that composed the entire company. Staggering the releases of Bastion allowed them to keep the quality high and test ideas as the game expanded to other systems.

"We didn't lose an opportunity by not sim [simultaneously] shipping," said Rao. He pointed to his employment experience at EA, and simultaneously shipping Red Alert 3 for PC and Xbox, as an example of split focus.

Bastion's slow multiplatform creep has been successful, with over 90 percent of sales occurring after its original launch month. Rao didn't mention any more upcoming ports of Bastion, but says it's the number one request they receive at Supergiant.

Paul Walker will play Agent 47 – replacing Timothy Olyphant – in an upcoming Hitman movie. While we all desperately try to understand who makes these casting decisions, Deadline reports the movie's title is Agent 47 and will be written by the folks behind A Good Day To Die Hard. First-time feature film director Aleksander Back will helm the project.

The Hitman movie starring Olyphant from 2007 grossed $100 million worldwide despite its imperfect execution. The new film will begin filming in Berlin and Singapore this summer after Walker wraps promotion for Fast And Furious 6.

Turn-based strategy series Age of Wonders returns this fall after a ten year hiatus. The third installment is currently in development at Triumph Studios, the developer of the first two games in the series, which went on to make the Overlord games.

Eurogamer reports the game is being funded in the classic publisher model, but that the game's "big partner" won't be announced until a later date. Oddly, Epic Games (yeah, the Gears of War and Unreal Engine studio) co-developed the original Age of Wonders.

Green Man Gaming is offering a few free PC games this weekend. Starting at 7am Eastern every day from this Friday through Monday, a different game will be free for 24 hours. The first free game will be Zombies. on Friday, followed by Ninja Blade on Saturday, Unstoppable Gorg on Sunday and Superstars V8 Next Challenge on Monday. All told, the offer is worth about 40 bucks.

As you might expect, there is a catch – albeit a free catch. The first part is obvious: You'll need a Green Man Gaming account. You'll also have to sign up for Playfire, a service that tracks the games you play across multiple platforms (similar to Raptr). Finally, you'll have to link your GMG and Playfire accounts.

Once that's done, you'll be able to nab each game for free as they become available over the weekend.

CD Projekt Red seems to be backpedaling faster than Geralt fending off a bruxa, now declaring that The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt may not be the final game in the series. In yesterday's announcement press release, studio head Adam Badowski made what seemed like a pretty definitive statement: "People may ask if this is really going to be the last Witcher game. Yes, it is. Why? Because we believe that we should end the series on a high note."

Eurogamer, however, recently updated its story on The Witcher 3 to say that what Badowski meant was that The Wild Hunt will be the last game in the current Witcher trilogy. Furthermore, CEO Adam Kicinski has stated that the "franchise will be continued."

We contacted CD Projekt Red for clarification on the issue. A spokesperson tells Joystiq, "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will wrap up the saga of Geralt of Rivia, but we do leave open the possibility of returning to the Witcher world." So there you have it, nothing can kill the Witcher, not even the monster of errant marketing.

During today's DICE keynote conversation between movie director J.J. Abrams and Valve co-founder Gabe Newell, the latter noted a collaboration he's looking forward to making a reality if possible.

"We're going to try and figure out if we can make a Half-Life movie or a Portal movie together," said Gabe Newell.

The two sparred on storytelling methods in movies and film, and used scenes from each other's work to illustrate how player agency can augment storytelling, and how films can use "forced" foreshadowing to set up later events. According to the creative pair, they wanted to pursue this dialogue more seriously, and now hope to collaborate on a film based in some way on Half-Life or Portal.

There are no details available beyond this brief announcement, likely because the process is still in its early stages.

Despite revenues of $291 million during the three month period ending December 29, 2012, Disney Interactive's remaining $9 million in operating revenue (read: pre-tax profit) made it the entertainment giant's least profitable division during the first quarter of the fiscal 2013.

Still, this was a marked increase over Disney Interactive's Q1 2012 performance, where it posted a loss of $28 million. Being back in black is even more impressive when you consider Interactive's reported an operating loss of $42 million just last August, making it Disney's only unprofitable sector at the time.

Disney attributes this year's growth to improved performance in its social gaming businesses in the Japanese market, where a new licensing agreement has increased the amount of Disney-branded hardware and software.

Of course, Disney's financial report made no mention of Junction Point or its sordid fate, but that's to be expected since the studio's closure technically happened during the second quarter of fiscal 2013. We may gain some new insight into that situation during the next round of quarterlies, but for now, all we've got to go on is Mickey's increasing popularity in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Gaijinworks and MonkeyPaw Games didn't make their Kickstarter goal for Class of Heroes 2, but that's not stopping them from forging ahead with plans for a UMD release of the PSP role-playing game.

Now, Gaijinworks is gauging interest in a physical PSP release. "If we can pre-sell at least 2,500 copies of a Physical PSP version with a color manual, UMD with color disc label, and a digital download code," the company explains, "we can do a physical+digital combo version for $34.99, shipped to you."

If that sounds appealing, you can sign up on the Gaijinworks site. It's not a pre-order yet, just a poll to determine how many people would pre-order. So if you sign up, you're somewhat on the honor system regarding your intent to purchase later, when the order links go up.

Regardless of what happens with the physical version, a PSN version has been rated by the ESRB and will be released for $25. European ratings are in progress. To find out if any version of Class of Heroes 2 interests you, check out the videos of the newly localized game above and after the break. Gaijinworks warns that the last video, of a "battle event," is "spoilerish" about events in the first game.

[Thanks, Merrick]

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In the "Hit List" from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the video game industry's top talents describe their current gaming addictions, their most anticipated releases and more. This week: Matthew Lee Johnston.

Matthew Lee Johnston is an eighteen-year veteran of the video game industry and in that time has contributed to over 50 shipped titles. His first project was Microsoft Golf 2.0, and his most recent was Plants Vs. Zombies 2.

At the 2013 D.I.C.E. Summit today, Matt will be moderating a panel titled, "Secret Sauce: Disruption on the Mobile Frontier." Joining him on the panel will be Halfbrick CMO Phil Larsen (Fruit Ninja, Jetpack Joyride), Spry Fox CEO David Edery (Triple Town) and Backflip Studios CEO Julian Farrior (Dragonvale). This is a session where outspoken and independent developers, who have innovated in the mobile market, tell the big guys how they snuck up behind them and grabbed their earnings last year. We'll get behind-the-scenes access to the designs, principles, and methods that allowed these studios to disrupt the entire balance of the traditional video game marketplace in less than two years by dominating the mobile space with some great entertainment.

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Update: Tecmo Koei Europe announced Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Razor's Edge are headed to the continent on April 5. The publisher then confirmed the North American versions are due on April 2.

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, the improved Wii U version of the action game, will be ported to PS3 and Xbox 360, Siliconera reports based on a Famitsu leak. The ports also showed up on the database of Japanese retailer Rakuten, dated April 4.

Along with updated enemy AI and a reduced reliance on quick-time events, Razor's Edge also introduced new playable characters, including Ayane, Dragon Sword's Momiji and Dead or Alive's Kasumi. Ayane and Kasumi appear in Famitsu scans of the PS3/Xbox version, confirming their presence.

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The Vita turns 1 this month, and to celebrate, Sony Europe is desperately trying to sell a game or two. For the next two weeks, a wide variety of Vita games, most from the launch period, are on sale on the European PSN, all with an extra 10% off for Plus members.

Highlights include Lumines: Electronic Symphony for €17.99/£13.99, Rayman Origins for€17.99/£13.99, Touch My Katamari for €19.99/£15.99, and Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack for €3.49/£2.79. PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is €19.99/£14.99, but remember, if you buy the PS3 version, the Vita version is included – it might be worth the extra money for you if you want cross-play. Check the PlayStation Blog for the full list.

While you're on the PS Store, grab a demo of Ragnarok Odyssey, just released today. The full game is due February 20.

Borderlands 2 is sneaking up on the 6 million mark for units shipped, and well on the way to exploding 2K Games' sales records. Speaking in yesterday's financials call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said the rambunctious shooter was the company's biggest earner in terms of digital sales across the fiscal year.

"Building on its extraordinary launch in September, Borderlands 2 continues to expand its audience and remains on pace to become the highest-selling title in 2K's history," said Zelnick. "It has also been the largest contributor to our digitally delivered revenue this year, driven both by strong sales of full game downloads, and high attach rates for the title's add-on content, especially the Borderlands 2 Season Pass."

The Gearbox-developed sequel had shipped over 5 million back in October 2012. While shipments aren't the same as sales, it's worth noting the original Borderlands sold 4.5 million copies as of August 2011.

Rumors on details about the next Xboxen are beginning to fly fast and furious, with an always-on Internet connection and Blu-ray drive being the latest. Edge cites sources with "first-hand experience" who rehash previously noted tech specs, but also mention the next Xbox will have an improved Kinect and an always-on internet connection to cut out the second-hand game market from the platform. The use of high-capacity Blu-ray discs seems a natural assumption since ... well, HD-DVD is no longer with us.

UK site VG247 (Microsoft UK must be a sieve) noted similar details to what Edge is putting out there last April.

Microsoft has not made any official announcement on its next Xbox, nor do we have any concrete idea of when the company plans to announce the product. Sony, on the other hand, is expected to announce the PlayStation 4 on February 20.

CD Projekt's The Witcher games continue to enchant gamers into buying them, with the franchise now over the 5 million mark for copies sold. The figure represents a combined total for The Witcher and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, and with both games on sale this week, it could be on the rise quicker than you can say Gwynbleidd.

A few months after The Wither 2 arrived on Xbox 360, CD Projekt announced the franchise was up to 4 million copies sold. With a further million sold in the six or so months since, it's not surprising to hear CD Projekt SA CEO Adam Kiciński say the console port "largely contributed" to the franchise's new milestone.

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Sony announced a God of War: Ascension PS3 bundle for British would-be deities today, featuring the sparkling-white 500GB Super Slim PS3. Unlike us American prime movers , our friends across the ocean get a tailored gold controller in their GoW: Ascension bundle, along with the special edition of the game which features everything in the collector's edition minus the eight-inch Kratos statue and DLC pass.

Sony didn't price the bundle in its announcement, but a search on Amazon UK suggests a tag of £249.99 (around $391). What is confirmed is when it's out, which, surprise-surprise, is the same as Ascension's launch date in the country: March 15.

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With Oculus Rift's initial developer unit launch scheduled for next month, the folks at Oculus have understandably been busy. After CES, they went to Hong Kong to oversee the initial manufacturing run of their "pilot" dev kit prototypes – 40 in total – and are on-track to meet their March ship deadline for the final Oculus Rift. Kickstarter backers will receive their units sometime in April.

With the extra time, Oculus added two small features the start-up hopes will make for a better experience: swappable lens caps for the inside viewing area and an adjustable assembly for a more fine-tuned fit. So if you're near-sighted or far-sighted, the three different lens caps will allow you to adjust your depth of focus to meet your vision needs; and with the adjustable assembly, now you can possibly leave your glasses on when using the Oculus Rift and get the best fit possible.

If you're late to the Oculus Rift party, know it's a virtual reality headset that has mesmerized some of the industry's most notable talent, including John Carmack and MineCraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson. In fact, they aren't the only ones – a recent Half-Life 2 head-tracking and gun-tracking mod created by Nathan Andrews, designed for the Oculus Rift, has gotten a lot of attention. Andrews put up his own AMA on Reddit to answer questions and provide more information – if you want to see the mod in action, head past the break for a video demonstration. Trust us, it's totally neat!

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