Electronic Arts Inc. and BioWare announced today that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is now available for PlayStation 5 (also enhanced for PS5 Pro), Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam (Steam Deck Verified), EA app and Epic Games Store. This bold, heroic adventure is built to deliver on what the series is best known for: rich storytelling, fantasy worldbuilding, companions & fellowship, and a world where you matter. The next installment in BioWare's beloved franchise has captivated critics worldwide, with outlets such as IGN and GamesRadar+ proclaiming it "deserves its place in the RPG pantheon" and is "A true return to RPG form for BioWare" in their 9/10 and 4.5/5 reviews.

In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Solas, the Dread Wolf, wants to tear down the Veil that separates Thedas from the world of demons, restoring his people's immortality and glory - even at the cost of countless lives. But his ritual goes awry, and his worst fears are realized, as two of his most ancient and powerful adversaries are released. Players will step into the role of Rook, a fully-customizable protagonist who must rise up and unite their companions to stop these two powerful deities on a journey that will span across Thedas' bustling cities, lush tropics, boreal forests, fettered swamps and deepest depths.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) today announced preliminary financial results for its second quarter ended September 30, 2024. "EA delivered another strong quarter with record Q2 net bookings, driven by our incredible teams, broad portfolio and technology leadership," said Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA. "The momentum in our business reinforces our strategic vision to deliver innovative experiences and interactive entertainment that deepens and expands engagement across our global communities."

"Q2 was another successful quarter for EA, exceeding the high end of our guidance range. As a result, we are also raising our FY25 outlook," said Stuart Canfield, CFO of EA. "We remain confident in our ability to drive long-term value creation through increased scale, driving top-line growth, improved margins, and greater cash flow as shared at our Investor Day."

Bundle up this fall with GeForce NOW and Dragon Age: The Veilguard with a special, limited-time promotion just for members. The highly anticipated role-playing game (RPG) leads 10 titles joining the ever-growing GeForce NOW library of over 2,000 games.

A Heroic Bundle
Fight for Thedas' future at Ultimate quality this fall as new and existing members who purchase six months of GeForce NOW Ultimate can get BioWare and Electronic Arts' epic RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard for free when it releases on Oct. 31. Rise as Rook, Dragon Age's newest hero. Lead a team of seven companions, each with their own unique story, against a new evil rising in Thedas. The latest entry in the legendary Dragon Age franchise lets players customize their characters and engage with new romancable companions whose stories unfold over time. Band together and become the Veilguard. Ultimate members can experience BioWare's latest entry at full GeForce quality, with support for NVIDIA DLSS 3, low-latency gameplay with NVIDIA Reflex, and enhanced image quality and immersion with ray-traced ambient occlusion and reflections. Ultimate members can also play popular PC games at up to 4K resolution with extended session lengths, even on low-spec devices. Move fast - this bundle is only available for a limited time until Oct. 30.

Electronic Arts Inc. confirmed a series of new and exclusive multi-year marketing partnerships and in-game integrations with some of the biggest names in football. This includes exclusive marketing and licensing partnerships with two Italian giants, AS Roma and SSC Napoli, as well as exclusive marketing partnerships with Fenerbahçe SK, Galatasaray S.K., FK Bodø/Glimt and Argentinian league Liga Profesional de Fútbol (LPF), which contributes towards the 700+ clubs and 30+ leagues available in EA SPORTS FC 25.

These partnerships contribute towards an unrivaled level of authenticity in EA SPORTS FC 25, brought to life through a roster of players from the biggest clubs and leagues from around the world. Additionally, the new formats of the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League will all feature exclusively in FC 25 Career and Tournament modes to bring a fresh game experience to players.

In December we celebrated the release of over 500 RTX-enhanced games and apps. And now, we've already surpassed 600 RTX games and apps, as adoption of NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex and advanced ray-traced effects continues to accelerate! RTX encompasses an ecosystem of technologies that make high-performance, high fidelity gaming a reality. Ray Tracing, powered by dedicated RT Cores, brings immersive and realistic lighting and reflections to games. NVIDIA DLSS, made possible by Tensor Cores, enables industry-leading AI graphics acceleration, capable of delivering up to 5 times faster performance in the most immersive games, like Alan Wake 2, Black Myth: Wukong, Cyberpunk 2077, and Star Wars Outlaws.

RTX is also integrated in the world's leading creative applications, accelerating workflows by orders of magnitude, powering exciting AI tools and enhancements, and enabling real-time ray-traced previews in apps that previously took hours to render even a single frame. And the RTX momentum continues - at Gamescom 2024, we're announcing 20 new RTX and DLSS integrations.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) today announced preliminary financial results for its first quarter ended June 30, 2024. "EA delivered a strong start to FY25, beating net bookings guidance as we continue to execute across our business," said Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA. "Our focus on delivering bigger, bolder, and more connected experiences for our players has never been sharper and is illustrated by the record-breaking launch of EA SPORTS College Football 25 as we head into another historic Q2 sports season at EA."

"Strong execution, live events and continued player engagement across our experiences, delivered Q1 results above expectations," said Stuart Canfield, CFO of EA. "Looking ahead, the remarkable success of our launch week for College Football, combined with the upcoming launches for EA SPORTS Madden NFL, EA SPORTS FC and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, is building momentum for FY25 and beyond. We are well positioned to deliver our multi-year financial objectives."

We are thrilled to share that over the next few weeks, the EA app will officially replace Origin as our primary Mac platform. A faster, more reliable, and more streamlined experience - it's the best place for you to experience EA's incredible games, services and content. With the new streamlined design you will easily find the games and content you're looking for and discover your new favorite games. With automatic game downloads and background updates you can ensure that your games are ready to play when you are.

For existing Origin players, we've worked hard to make the transition to the EA app as simple as possible. When you get there, all your games and content, including games already installed on Origin, will be ready and waiting for you. Your local and cloud saves will transfer forward ensuring you can pick up where you left off. New players will start by downloading a new favorite game and jump into the action with our optimized experience. Players on unsupported macOS devices can continue to enjoy their favorite games on Origin.

March 26 2024 is not only the three-year anniversary for It Takes Two…the game has now sold over 16 MILLION units!!! 🤯 Mind-blowing that over 30 million fans have now played it, love you all so much. ❤️ What a way to start off a very exciting year…

Something out of the Ordinary
Bring your favorite co-op partner and together step into the shoes of May and Cody. As the couple is going through a divorce, through unknown means their minds are transported into two dolls which their daughter, Rose, made to represent them. Now they must reluctantly find a way to get back into their bodies, a quest which takes them through the most wild, unexpected and fantastical journey imaginable. Released in 2021 to critical and fan acclaim, It Takes Two further builds on Hazelight's proven track record of making rich and engaging co-op experiences. While developing It Takes Two it has been the team's number one priority to truly merge story and gameplay. Allowing both to influence each other guarantees a game that is as engaging to play as it is compelling to experience.

Our favorite thing about Zau might surprise you. Or, it might be the first thing you noticed. In a recent Discord Q+A (viewable below), ZAU Creative Director Abubakar Salim throws the deceptively simple question to Lead Artist Ackeem Durrant and Lead Designer Zi Peters: what's your favorite thing about our main character? Since our reveal in December, we've been completely floored by how many of you took the leap to pre-order ZAU. We worked hard to give the game a fair price—and a 10% discount to everyone who buys before launch day - plus carefully crafted in-game content that feels special while not detracting from our central vision for the game. We're incredibly grateful for your support. Thank you.

Wield the dance of the shaman. Reclaim your father's spirit
A grieving boy begins to read a Bantu tale written by his late father. Adventure into the beautiful and treacherous lands of Kenzera as Zau, a young shaman who bargains with the God of death to bring his Baba back from darkness. With your cosmic powers and untried courage, you advance into unknown mythological lands. Once bursting with life, Kenzera is now rife with lost ancestral spirits. As Zau advances toward his goal, 3 mighty beings lie in wait, fearsome in their strength yet somehow strangely familiar. Will you embrace the dance of the shaman?

San Francisco's annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) returns next week, bringing game devs together to share stories, experiences, and advice on everything from lighting scenes to writing resumes. Electronic Arts speakers will be participating in more than 25 in-person sessions this year, including multiple talks touching on innovative technologies driving the creation of next-gen games at EA.

This year's tech-focused sessions dig into the details of several successes, including Frostbite's non-interruptive expansion to new gaming platforms, SEED's work generating photorealistic facial rigs, and techniques for high-fidelity cloth simulation in Frostbite for EA SPORTS FC 24. There's also a fantastic talk from Respawn's Christopher Pierse and Samy Duc that explores the evolution of matchmaking techniques in Apex Legends, going all the way back to 2019.

2:21, a French development team is well versed in Unreal Engine 5-based games development—as of last year they were in the process of utilizing Epic's tech to remake Adeline Software's classic duo of Little Big Adventure (1994) and Little Big Adventure 2 (1997), as well as a now cancelled series reboot. Following on from recent-ish good news—regarding a new publication deal—CEO Ben Limare has announced that his team is moving away from UE5: "In June 2023, you experienced an initial prototype on Proxima Island, developed in a short time by a small team. Despite its imperfections, this prototype was a crucial springboard for engaging with you and understanding your expectations. This prototype was built using Unreal Engine 5, with an almost manual reconstruction of the island. Faced with the challenge of replicating this method for a larger world in a limited time, we opted for a complete overhaul of the game, based on new foundations."

Limare revealed to long-term fans that development of "Twinsen's Little Big Adventure" has already quietly transferred over to the Unity Engine—a strange choice given last year's fallout over "Runtime Fees." Unity Technologies is not winning any popularity contests in modern times—CEO John Riccitiello resigned last October, during payment plan upheavals. 2.21 developers did their very best to carry on with UE5, but legacy code demanded a pivot to a compatible foundation. Limare has roped in another Adeline Software veteran: "The answer lies in the work of Sébastien Viannay, a developer on the original games, as well as the mobile port. It was during the work on the latter that Seb developed a small tool to setup the pathfinding—that is, the ability to tap a point on the screen and have Twinsen follow that direction. This tool interprets the original game's data to reconstruct the level and identify obstacles."

Electronic Arts revealed a workforce reduction program last week—reportedly impacting around 670 employees—alongside announcements regarding a number of major development project cancellations and reassignments. Laura Miele, President of EA Entertainment and Technology, disclosed that Respawn Entertainment's mysterious "Star Wars FPS Action game" had been axed, with staffers moving onto "new projects based on our owned brands" instead of licensed material. Industry insider reports suggested that an internal Respawn team—not assigned to a "Star Wars: Jedi" sequel—had started work on a Mandalorian/bounty hunter-themed first-person shooter IP. The official announcement of a renewed focus on Respawn's "rich library of owned brands" has generated plenty of internet speculation—Titanfall franchise fans have long demanded a proper third entry in the series. Studio boss, Vince Zampella, has teased revisits in the past—an Axios interview revealed that veteran Titanfall game director, Steve Fukuda, was incubating "something new" with a very small skunkworks-type team.

Earlier this week, Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb addressed rumored goings-on at Respawn. His "Game Mess Mornings 03/04/24" videocast—co-hosted by Emma Fyffe—included a segment dedicated to EA's adjusted development strategies. Grubb reiterated insider information about "Titanfall Legends" getting canned early on last year—allegedly a single-player Apex/Titanfall crossover experience. Giant Bomb's News Editor has reached out to his network of moles—he shared this inside info during Monday's broadcast: "They're not making Titanfall 3. They just straight up aren't. They do have another team that has been kicking around a project that is very early. There's been a very small team in the prototyping phase and now they're going to go to wider. This is a real project now, but still in the prototyping phase. This game, as it stands today, as far as I understand, is a Titanfall game. It's in the Titanfall universe. But everyone I talk to keeps saying, don't get in your mind that it's Titanfall 3, a game with online multiplayer and a single player campaign."

Team, we are entertaining, inspiring, and connecting more people with more content and deeper experiences than ever before. Over the last year, we have organized our company to further empower our creative leaders to deliver our strategic priorities of entertaining massive online communities, telling blockbuster stories, and harnessing the power of community in and around our games. These actions have positioned us to build bigger, bolder experiences for hundreds of millions of players and fans around the world. We are also leading through an accelerating industry transformation where player needs and motivations have changed significantly. Fans are increasingly engaging with the largest IP, and looking to us for broader experiences where they can play, watch, create content, and forge deeper connections. Our industry exists at the cutting edge of entertainment, and in today's dynamic environment, we are advancing the way we work and continuing to evolve our business.

As a company full of creators and storytellers, we believe in the value of teams innovating together, and continue to learn and adopt new ways of collaborating to grow and serve our global communities. Given how and where we are working, we are continuing to optimize our global real estate footprint to best support our business. We are also sunsetting games and moving away from development of future licensed IP that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry. This greater focus allows us to drive creativity, accelerate innovation, and double down on our biggest opportunities—including our owned IP, sports, and massive online communities—to deliver the entertainment players want today and tomorrow. Lastly, we are streamlining our company operations to deliver deeper, more connected experiences for fans everywhere that build community, shape culture, and grow fandom.

This announcement was shared with EA Entertainment employees by Laura Miele, President of EA Entertainment and Technology: "Hi Everyone, over the past six months, you've heard me talk about aligning our portfolio and organization to deliver on our ambitious growth strategy. One of the essential parts of delivering on our plans is making sure we are listening to our players and investing in the games they want to play. As Andrew noted in his EA Action, the reality of a creative business is that market conditions and players' needs are always changing. We're seeing a rapid player shift toward large open-world games, massive communities, and live services. With that in mind, we have shared the following updates with our teams:"

Respawn:
Respawn's unique ability to connect with players and create exceptional game experiences is unrivaled in entertainment. As we've looked at Respawn's portfolio over the last few months, what's clear is the games our players are most excited about are Jedi and Respawn's rich library of owned brands. Knowing this, we have decided to pivot away from early development on a Star Wars FPS Action game to focus our efforts on new projects based on our owned brands while providing support for existing games. It's always hard to walk away from a project, and this decision is not a reflection of the team's talent, tenacity, or passion they have for the game. Giving fans the next installments of the iconic franchises they want is the definition of blockbuster storytelling and the right place to focus.

Job listings posted by Respawn Entertainment last summer indicated that their Star Wars Jedi: Survivor development team had moved onto an unsurprising project—the ideal candidate(s) would help: "create an incredible Star Wars experience for our players in a fun, third-person action-adventure setting." Games industry watchers believe that a third Star Wars Jedi title is in the works, given that the franchise has—so far—generated a large paying audience. Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson reckons that another Star Wars IP has been bestowed upon Electronic Art's action specialist studio—the report posits that this rumored project is in an early stage of development. Veteran developers at Respawn Entertainment have a long history of producing blockbuster first-person shooter titles, although Apex Legends signaled a slight change in course. Their deviation into third-person with 2019's Jedi: Fallen Order also surprised a segment of longtime Respawn fans.

It is possible that the Electronic Arts and Lucasfilm Games partnership has incubated a new first-person title semi-connected to a popular Star Wars television series IP—Henderson has gathered a few tidbits: "according to sources, the game will see the player take control of a Mandalorian bounty hunter (unclear who) set during the time when the Galactic Empire is dominating across the galaxy. It's your job, as a bounty hunter to capture bounties dead or alive for cash rewards." Rumor mill wires were crossed when it was claimed that a former Apex Legend director was heading up development on the unannounced "Mandalorian" project, but an Insider Gaming update reveals that the former Respawn member was involved in development of a cancelled Apex title.

Bungie has announced its new collaboration with EA and BioWare to allow Guardians to join the crew of the Normandy with new cosmetics and in-game items, launching February 13, 2024. The Normandy Crew Bundle will be available at the Eververse store in-game and will include a Commander Shepard-inspired N7 armor set for Titans, a Garrus-inspired Vakarian set for Hunters, and a Liara-inspired Shadow Broker set for Warlocks. In celebration of the partnership, all players will be able to claim the Alliance Requisitions Bundle, including the Enhanced Defense Ghost Shell, Alliance Scout Frigate ship, and Alliance Drop Ship Sparrow, which will be available at no cost. Players can also get the Omni Strike finisher and Flux Dance emote for Silver.

Now released in Destiny 2, Riven's Wishes are new weekly quests open to all players from January 30 until March 12. During this period, Guardians will be tasked with completing a pursuit each week to earn a token redeemable for a treasure trove of rewards. Choose from the Wish for Strength to earn Last Wish raid Deepsight weapons, Wish for Protection to armor up with Exotic gear from the Lightfall year, or Wish for Beauty to collect event mementos and essential Ascendant crafting materials.

Electronic Arts in Canada is actively recruiting for a VFX Director position at its Ripple Effect studio—the job listing implies that the ideal candidate will be set to work on the next mainline Battlefield title. EA has implemented a cross-studio development system, where multiple teams have helped to build AAA games, including their controversial plus troubled Battlefield 2042 entry—the popular online shooter series has been steered primarily by DICE in Stockholm, Sweden. Several satellite outfits assisted in producing BF 2042, including Ripple Effect (an "evolution" of DICE LA), but the multiplayer gaming community was disappointed to discover that EA's massive deployment of resources did not result in comprehensive environmental destruction within 2042's gargantuan maps.

Insider Gaming has been keeping tabs on recruitment drives at EA's miscellaneous "Battlefield 6" studios, in order to extract clues about the game's origins and progress. We know very little about the status of BF6, beyond Vince Zampella's declarations from Autumn 2023. His Los Angeles studio appears to be leading the charge; industry insiders believe that DICE Stockholm has been demoted in EA's studio hierarchy. The latest Ripple effect job advert provides a promising insight for Battlefield fans who enjoyed the "Levolution" aspect of Battlefield 4's changing environs: "We are looking for a Senior 3D Artist like you to help us create the most realistic and exciting destruction effects in the industry. You will report to our Art Line Manager, based in our studio in Los Angeles, CA. We are looking for candidates located in Vancouver with remote options." Zampella and Co. are likely having to up the ante, following the launch of "The Finals"—an Unreal 5 engine-powered shooter developed by former DICE veterans. Embark Studios have implemented some impressive destruction effects—serving as a key component of the game's mechanics.

Gear up with gratitude for more gaming time. GeForce NOW brings members a cornucopia of 15 newly supported games to the cloud this week. That's just the start - there are a total of 54 titles coming in the month of November. Members can also join thousands of esports fans in the cloud with the addition of Virtex Stadium to the GeForce NOW library for a "League of Legends" world championship viewing party.

Esports Like Never Before
This year's League of Legends world championship finals are coming to Virtex Stadium - an online virtual stadium now streaming on NVIDIA's cloud gaming infrastructure. In Virtex Stadium, esports fans can hang out with friends from across the world, create and personalize avatars, and watch live competitions together - all from the comfort of their homes. Starting on Thursday, Nov. 2, watch League of Legends Worlds 2023 in Virtex Stadium with thousands of others. Use props and emotes to cheer players on together via chat.

The wait is almost over. We are days away from the launch of EA Sports WRC, the biggest rally game Codemasters has made to date. EA Sports WRC is out November 3, let's go through everything you need to know before the big day. Jump straight into the action as soon as the game launches. Pre-load on the dates below.

November 3, the worldwide launch of EA SPORTS WRC at 04:00am UTC across all platforms. Get into the game earlier by, pre-ordering the digital version for up to 3 days early access starting on October 31 at 07:00 UTC across all platforms and EA Play Pro.

Hi Everyone, today I'd like to share that the talented team at Criterion Games will be joining EA Entertainment. Criterion has a rich history in gaming, having worked on Battlefield, Battlefront, Burnout, and of course, Need for Speed. I'm thrilled to have a studio with such pedigree join the studios I oversee. As we've said before, we're all-in on Battlefield. Today, Criterion is added to our world-class Battlefield studios dedicated to ushering in a new era for the franchise.

The majority of the team will be working alongside DICE, Ripple Effect, and Ridgeline that are led by Byron Beede, GM of Battlefield. Criterion's experience with Battlefield, our technology and building engaging experiences will have an immediate positive impact as we continue to work on Battlefield 2042, and as we continue pre-production on a connected Battlefield Universe. There is no better studio to join us on this journey and I couldn't be more excited.

Late last year, we officially launched EA's next-generation game platform, the EA app, for Windows OS. A faster, more reliable, and more streamlined experience - it's the best place for you to experience EA's incredible games, services and content.

We've been working to bring the same updated experience to our Mac players. Today, we're excited to say that the EA app for Mac will soon replace Origin as our primary Mac platform. The EA app is our fastest and lightest Mac client to date. With the new streamlined design you will easily find the games and content you're looking for and discover your new favorite games. With simple content downloads and background updates you can ensure that your games are ready to play when you are.

Electronic Arts is excited to introduce EA SPORTS WRC, the official game of the FIA World Rally Championship coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via EA App, Epic Store, and Steam on November 3, 2023. Developed by the team behind the critically acclaimed DiRT Rally series, with over 25 years of off-road videogame heritage, EA SPORTS WRC is a truly next-generation rally game and the quintessential title for sim-racing enthusiasts.

Ross Gowing, Senior Creative Director at Codemasters: "EA SPORTS WRC is the purest form of motorsport where every stage is a fight against the clock, the terrain, and yourself. This is the rally game we've always wanted to make, combining our studio's deep knowledge and expertise with the power of the official WRC license representing the pinnacle of rally motorsport."

Hey, all! We hope you're enjoying the game since it launched last week! We wanted to thank you all for the support, feedback and bug reports. Our second patch update that goes live today across PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S brings a lot of key fixes, so please be sure to read over the release notes below.
As always, be sure to follow our social channels for the latest on Immortals of Aveum, including any future updates for the game, as we're going to continue making it better and adding more options and features that you've been requesting.

Immortals of Aveum is a single-player, first-person magic shooter powered by the groundbreaking Unreal Engine 5.1 technology and set in an original fantasy universe. Developed by a new independent AAA studio made up of award-winning industry veterans and published under the EA Originals label, Immortals of Aveum puts players in a visceral and cinematic fantasy universe that combines modern characters and a story-driven campaign with intense magic-based action, world exploration and puzzle-solving. Summon your power, stop the Everwar, and save the realms starting now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via the EA app, Steam and Epic Games Store worldwide.

Electronic Arts and Respawn Entertainment have today issued Patch No. 7 for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, arriving roughly two and a half months after the last batch of fixes and improvements. The most significant update for PC gamers running NVIDIA GPUs is the addition of official DLSS support, likely coinciding with the end an agreement between EA and AMD to advertise Star Wars Jedi: Survivor as a Team Red sponsored title—their FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.1 system was the only upscaling technology available on day one. Community modders managed to implement unofficial DLSS support a few months later.

It is encouraging to see the game's developer and publisher rolling out a semi-regular release of patches—parts of the gaming community were worried about Respawn Entertainment's recruitment cycle pointing to work starting on a potential sequel two months ago—with priorities shifting to the new project. It seems that a number of team members (software engineering and QA) are still working on refinements for Jedi: Survivor—hopefully we will see further work undertaken following today's release of performance and optimization improvements on PC, as well for Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 consoles.

Today, Electronic Arts Inc. and Ascendant Studios launched Immortals of Aveum, a single-player, first-person magic shooter powered by the groundbreaking Unreal Engine 5.1 technology and set in an original fantasy universe. Developed by a new independent AAA studio made up of award-winning industry veterans and published under the EA Originals label, Immortals of Aveum puts players in a visceral and cinematic fantasy universe that combines modern characters and a story-driven campaign with intense magic-based action, world exploration and puzzle-solving. Summon your power, stop the Everwar, and save the realms starting now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via the EA app, Steam and Epic Games Store worldwide.

Immortals of Aveum tells the story of Jak (Darren Barnet), who discovers that he is a magically-imbued 'Unforeseen' and finds himself reluctantly caught in the middle of the raging Everwar. Recruited under the tutelage of the powerful General Kirkan (Gina Torres) and an elite order of battlemages called the Immortals, Jak must master all three colors of magic - blue, green, and red. With powerful magic-wielders and legions of soldiers on both sides of the Everwar, Jak and the Immortals must uncover the mysteries of Aveum's troubled past, if there's any hope for turning the tides of the Everwar and defeating Sandrakk, the powerful warlord of Rasharn and his mysterious lieutenant, simply known as The Hand.