UGC game studio and publisher Look North World announced today it is partnering with Hasbro to bring three of the latter’s board games to Fortnite. Specifically, Look North World will recreate the games as islands via UEFN, allowing players to enjoy recreations of the familiar gameplay. The first game it’s adapting is Clue, which launches today as the island Murder Mystery: Clue. Other islands based on Guess Who and Connect Four are planned to launch later in October and December, respectively.

Murder Mystery: Clue uses Fortnite’s assets to recreate the essential elements of Clue. Gameplay takes place in timed rounds, where players vote on maps and are then assigned the roles of Killer, Detective, or Guest secretly. Each player has their own agenda and win conditions — presumably the Killer’s is to do the slaying in a particular fashion while the Detective’s is to discover their dastardly deeds.

Eugene Evans, SVP of digital strategy and licensing at Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, said in a statement, “Bringing our classic games into new mediums like Fortnite is a key strategy as we continue to grow our digital games portfolio through both licensing and internal development. We start with games that have attracted fans for decades, and when we partner with a studio like Look North World, we know they understand the essence of what makes these games resonate with players.”

Hasbro has found success licensing its board games for digital experiences — Scopely’s Monopoly Go, for example, continues to grow and expand its dedicated audience. It’s also worked with Look North World in the past, participating in its funding in July.

Alex Seropian, Look North World’s CEO, said in a statement, “Look North World moves at the speed of culture to deliver the experiences gamers want, on the platforms where they are already playing and creating. We are excited to work with Hasbro, a brand that understands the power of user-generated content as a unique opportunity to connect with passionate gamers. Hasbro is embracing community-driven trends—bringing iconic games like Clue, Guess Who and Connect Four into the spaces where players are most engaged.”

Many screenwriters have embraced modern tools over traditional PDFs to craft their film or TV show pilots. SoCreate, the latest entrant in the screenwriting software arena, is challenging established players like Final Draft and Celtx with its fresh approach to storytelling. And, notably, generative AI imagery is involved.

SoCreate offers many of the same features that most screenwriting software offers, such as templates to easily create an industry-standard screenplay with correct formatting. However, founder and CEO of SoCreate, Justin Couto, believes popular platforms are still lacking, particularly when it comes to visual and creative tools.

“When I decided to go to college, I found myself gravitating towards film, which meant I needed to dive into the art of screenwriting. I immediately found the process to be dull and uninspired. It was like, we’re writing for a visual medium for movies and TV, but I have to use this archaic black-and-white document with outdated formatting based on the typewriter? I knew there had to be a better way — a more visual, fun, creative way,” Couto told TechCrunch.

SoCreate thinks one of its big selling points is its image uploader tool for screenwriters to incorporate visual concepts into their scripts, including characters, settings, and action moments. Users have the option to upload their own images or select from SoCreate’s gallery of illustrations.

Soon, users will be able to use an AI-powered image generator to create imagery, which will be powered by a combination of models, including OpenAI, Stable Diffusion, and others. It’s important to note that SoCreate has no plans to offer AI-generated writing tools. The image generator is solely to inspire users while writing and make the process less monotonous. 

Another standout feature is “Storyteller,” which the platform launched earlier this week. Storyteller is a dedicated hub where users can share their stories in a public library for others to read. This new feature is reminiscent of Wattpad, allowing a community of readers to access scripts for free, written by both established and aspiring writers.

The company believes Storyteller will help aspiring screenwriters market their work more effectively, building a public, “visually stunning” portfolio without needing Hollywood connections that aren’t readily available. 

However, some screenwriters may prefer not to make their scripts public for fear of being plagiarized. Users have the option to keep their work private on SoCreate, and the platform uses encryption. Additionally, there is a strict policy against plagiarism. It’s always advisable to register your work with organizations such as the Writers Guild of America or the U.S. Copyright Office.

“My personal theory and this is not legal advice, is that publishing your work online publicly protects you from plagiarism in many ways; you have timestamped proof that you were the original writer of the work and hundreds or thousands of eyes on the work that saw it on SoCreate first. A PDF doesn’t really give you that,” Couto argues.

Couto envisions Storyteller to become more than just a reading experience. In the future, it’ll add the ability to include AI-generated character voices, sound effects, and background music. Final Draft’s latest update includes an option where users can assign characters’ voices to read the script. 

In addition, readers can leave comments under scripts, giving them the ability to provide instant feedback when previously screenwriters were accustomed to exporting to PDF and emailing it. Users can share a link to any part of their story, from a single piece of dialogue to the entire thing, and readers can write their notes or suggestions without needing a SoCreate account.

Another standout feature is Reading Stats, letting screenwriters see if someone actually read their story, where they stopped reading, how long they spent reading, and where they left comments. 

The platform is mainly catered to people writing movies, TV shows, and short films. However, the company is also exploring templates for articles, novels, and short stories, broadening its reach to more creatives. 

“Once we nail narrative storytelling, we’ll move into new verticals, including business, education, journalism, lifestyle, and research. As readership grows, we’ll add subscriptions to access the SoCreate library, and creators will have a new opportunity to earn from their work through revenue-sharing with SoCreate,” Couto said. 

SoCreate launched last May and has garnered over 1,200 subscribers. Of its users, the platform says that some are writers who produced work for Amazon, Disney, Marvel, and Netflix. It also runs pilots and other programs with select high schools in California and Illinois. 

The platform is free for all users, but if they want to access the custom image tool and reviewer stats, they will have to spend $10/month for the Professional subscription. There’s also a Personal tier for $5/month, which includes unlimited projects and access to SoCreate’s image gallery. 

The company closed a $3 million pre-seed round last year and is currently raising a $5 million seed round that will be used for development and marketing.

It’s been a long time coming for Starfield players. Bethesda’s sci-fi take on Skyrim originally launched last summer, and while there have been some updates and improvements since then, it’s taken more than a year for the game to get its first major expansion. This lead-up means there’s a lot riding on Shattered Space — which is a perfectly fine addition to the game that also feels incredibly underwhelming. After a promising setup, it ends up mostly being more of the same.

Things start, as they so often do in expansions, with a distress call. This one leads you to a derelict space station that is brimming with ghostly apparitions and which eventually whisks you away to the home planet of the House Va’ruun, a religious sect that worships a giant serpent. There, you learn the Va’ruun have been beset by a calamity that has caused some members to disappear, others to turn into violent wraiths, and a number of other strange and disastrous happenings in and around their main city. After a ceremony that actually converts you to the church, your job becomes solving the mystery of the calamity and helping the House put things back in order.

(Note: you can technically access Shattered Space at any point after Starfield’s opening mission, but Bethesda recommends being level 35 or higher to get through it. I played on a New Game Plus save at level 32 and didn’t really have any problems.)

It’s a great premise that promises all kinds of cosmic horror. The planet you’ll explore is rendered in a garish red and purple, filled with strange glowing growths, bubbles where gravity doesn’t exist, and oddball creatures that would look right at home in No Man’s Sky. The main city — which looks like a cross between a frontier town and an ancient temple — is filled with people struggling through the turmoil, whether it’s lost loved ones, food shortages, or a crisis of faith.

Shattered Space is also notable for being incredibly focused. While much of Starfield’s appeal has been the sheer scale of its universe, here, you’re limited to a single planet that’s dense with things to do and see. It’s reminiscent of the largely standalone Far Harbor expansion for Fallout 4.

This results in some great storylines, particularly in the sidequests, which have you doing everything from investigating a haunted orphanage to hunting down a livestock thief. At first, the religious sect seemed standoffish and difficult to understand. But eventually, it became clear that despite their complete isolation and belief in a big snake, they were all just people struggling to get by. Even the simple missions give you some new insight into the human side of this group, which, in the main Starfield campaign, is largely branded as a sect of violent zealots.

But how you do that is typical Starfield (and Bethesda) stuff. Quests have you fighting through dungeons, collecting or delivering items, and occasionally talking your way out of problems. There’s a new backdrop, but nothing much has changed in terms of the structure or moment-to-moment experience of Starfield. Those alien monstrosities are just more enemies to fight; the ghostly wraiths are just more soldiers shooting at you. At the very least, the fetch quests are a good chance to try out the new dune buggy.

There’s nothing particularly bad about Shattered Space. And if you’re just looking for more Starfield, that’s exactly what this is, only in one of the more visually and narratively interesting locations in the game. But after so much time, I can’t help but want a little more than just more. Shattered Space had the potential to be weird and creepy and different, but it looks like players will have to keep waiting for something that feels truly new.