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Steam News announces the
promised free-to-play era is now
underway for Awesomenauts.
You can find all the details on how this works in
this post, and here's the announcement: Awesomenauts
is Now Free to Play on Steam!
Conflict spans the stars as huge robot armies are locked in an enduring battle.
Head out to the battlefields with your friends in this 3-on-3 action platformer.
Best of all: it's completely free to play!
GOG.com
announces open beta testing of
GWENT: The Witcher
Card Game. The announcement features a new
extended cinematic trailer,
a new gameplay trailer,
and some details on testing and the run up to the game's official release:
Time to make those cards sing.
CD PROJEKT RED just announced the start of Public Beta for GWENT: The Witcher
Card Game for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
For those who still haven't felt its warm embrace, GWENT is an engrossing card
game featuring creatures, characters, and lore from The Witcher series.
You can download
GWENT from GOG.com and start playing immediately.
Moreover, since the game is powered by GOG Galaxy, those playing on PC will be
able to do battle with their Xbox One and PS4 friends!
“Public Beta is an important step towards GWENT’s final release,” said Marcin
Iwiński, co-founder of CD PROJEKT RED. “We’re opening the gates to everyone who
wanted to play, but didn’t make it into the Closed Beta, and — at the same time
— we’re introducing some pretty significant content and gameplay changes like
adding animated versions of cards for every card in the game, new starter decks,
or how weather cards work,” Iwiński adds. “I’m extra curious how all of the
community feedback we’ve incorporated will resonate with both current players
and those who’re just starting. Please keep the feedback coming, we’re
listening!”
In addition to the cinematic trailer, CD PROJEKT RED has also released a
gameplay video presenting GWENT’s features (you can watch them both below), and
a set of faction videos covering the playstyles of each of the game’s five
factions.
More information about GWENT and the Public Beta is available in the
FAQ section of
playgwent.com.
Continue here to read the full story.
Bethesda.net announces a free weekend will get underway tomorrow for the
Windows and Xbox One editions of Fallout 4. They include a
new trailer to
celebrate the news, and explain that the post-apocalyptic RPG sequel is also
going on sale: This weekend you can explore everything a post-nuclear
Boston has to offer with the first-ever Fallout 4 Free Weekend. From May 25 to
28, Xbox Live Gold Members and Steam users will be able to play all of Fallout
4's base content and try out Mods for free.
In tandem, Steam, PlayStation Store and Xbox Live will offer savings for Fallout
4's base game and Season Pass, with discounts up to 67% off.
Continue here to read the full story.
Larian Studios announces a September 14th release date for Divinity: Original
Sin 2, their upcoming RPG sequel. This will mark exactly one year of early
access for the game, as the beta version launched
on September 15, 2016. The
news is accompanied by a new early access patch, and a
new Kickstarter update
video that offers a rambling nine-minute look at the new patch, showing off
gameplay and building renovation. Here's word: Larian Studios has announced that Divinity: Original Sin 2 will launch on
September 14, 2017. Much larger than its highly-awarded predecessor, Divinity:
Original Sin, the game gives players tabletop RPG-like freedom to complete
quests and explore a world like no other. Divinity: Original Sin 2’s critically
celebrated Game Master and PvP modes will also be available at launch, giving
players a toolbox to create their own tabletop-style adventures, as well as
arenas where they can compete in strategic multiplayer combat against each
other.
Players can already purchase Divinity: Original Sin 2 on Steam for $44.99 and
play the game’s first act in Early Access here:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/435150/Divinity_Original_Sin_2/
To celebrate this announcement, Larian Studios is releasing a new Early
Access patch, featuring two never-before-seen areas and a new companion
relationship system. Character creation and crafting have also undergone a
serious transformation, and players will finally have a first glimpse of the
upcoming new origin story, a pirate dwarf named Beast. For more information on
this patch and all it contains, check out a new Kickstarter Update video at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiWM2nuCTSQ.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 promises a darker and more expansive story than its
predecessor. Set a thousand years after the original, Divinity: Original Sin 2
puts players in the role of a renegade user of forbidden magic. Our heroes will
decide who will be the next god of Rivellon and what that god will do with its
powers.
Continue here to read the full story.
Publisher Iceberg Interactive and developer Zoetrope Interactive announce a June
6th release date for Conarium, their Lovecraft-inspired horror game. The game's
official launch trailer
accompanies the news, as does this overview of what to expect: OVERVIEW
Conarium is a chilling Lovecraftian game, which follows a gripping story
involving four scientists and their endeavor to challenge what we normally
consider to be the ‘absolute’ limits of nature. Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s
novella "At the Mountains of Madness", but largely set after the original story.
KEY FEATURES
- A deep and suspenseful homage to H. P. Lovecraft
with many secrets and Easter eggs.
- Ominous but wonderful graphics created using the
Unreal 4 engine.
- Multiple endings.
- A haunting and atmospheric soundtrack.
Continue here to read the full story.
Soldak Entertainment announces Orc Schism, the first expansion for Zombasite,
their zombified action/RPG for Windows, macOS, and Linux. The plan is to release
it this summer, though they will stick to their normal "when it's done" for a
final determination on this. You can keep tabs on the project on the
Zombasite site, and
here are more details: Soldak Entertainment today announced Zombasite: Orc Schism.
Zombasite: Orc Schism is the first expansion for the unique action RPG,
Zombasite. This zombie apocalypse action RPG is set in a dynamic, evolving,
fantasy world for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Long ago, when a necromancer attempted to raise Elves he thought to be dead, it
went very wrong. Instead of raising an army of zombie slaves, a new race was
born. The irate Orcs ripped the necromancer to shreds. Dormant necromancer magic
has protected Orcs from zombie infection ever since, but the Zombasite, a zombie
parasite, is intelligent. It has finally learned to break the defensive magic.
The new infection swept through the entire Orc population like wildfire. Again
it went very wrong. A war raged within each Orc between the Orc blood, the
Zombasite, and the original Elven blood.
When the Orc blood won, a Dark Orc arose. With less Elven influence in their
physiology, Dark Orcs’s aggressiveness and strength intensified, and they
expanded their terrible savagery.
Continue here to read the full story.
Maximum Games, Psyop, and IllFonic announce Dead Alliance, a competitive
first-person shooter coming to Windows, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on August
29th. The Dead Alliance website is
home to all this, offering
a trailer that features some gameplay. The announcement includes details on
the game and has word that preorders are already underway, with some perks for
the advance commitment: Leading publisher Maximum Games has announced
Dead Alliance, an inventive take on zombie games and team-based first-person
shooters expected to launch Aug. 29 on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment
system, Xbox One and Windows PC. Zombies in Dead Alliance are not just the
enemy; they are weapons that can be strategically used to distract and destroy
unsuspecting human foes in combat. Seize the dead – or find yourself counted
among them.
Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where military bases are humanity’s last
city-states, Dead Alliance pits warring teams of players against each other for
survival in a world ravaged by the zombie plague. It features a variety of
single-player and 4v4 multiplayer modes, including Team Deathmatch, Free for
All, King of the Hill, and Capture and Hold, as well as the MOBA-inspired
Attrition mode and Solo Survival mode.
Dead Alliance lets players customize and upgrade their loadouts with an arsenal
of high-powered, military-grade weapons and advanced zombie-controlling tech
called zMods. Examples of zMods include the Enrager – a pheromone bomb that
turns a single zombie into a soldier of superior strength and resistance on your
side – and the PAM grenade, which puts four zombies to work for you, but does
not increase their damage resistance. Use these and many more zMods available in
the game to get the undead to join forces with you!
Those who pre-order Dead Alliance for $39.99 will receive the “Rapid Dominance”
Day One Edition of the game, which contains three bonus loadouts featuring
unique weapons and perks for use in multiplayer. Pre-orders are available now at
major retailers.
Continue here to read the full story.
Stardock is now offering the "Ludicrous update" for Galactic Civilizations
III: Crusade, saying this fulfils the frequent fan request for larger maps
in the 4X strategy expansion (though it sadly does not include
ludicrous speed). The
game supports maps up to 500x500 tiles large, though they warn that this is not
for the faint of heart, or at least the faint of computer, as it requires
"considerable CPU resources." The update also includes lots of improvements,
balance updates, and bug fixes. The announcement has all the details: Owners
of the Crusade expansion pack to Stardock's best-selling space 4X strategy game,
Galactic Civilizations III are receiving a major update today.
Dubbed the "Ludicrous" update, the new version replaces the largest sized galaxy
option with a new one called "Ludicrous." This option doubles the maximum size
over the previous biggest map size ("insane size") and includes a host of
quality of life improvements, balance updates, bug fixes, and much more.
"Galactic Civilizations III already supported very large maps," said Brad
Wardell, CEO of Stardock Entertainment. "But among the many improvements that
the new Crusade expansion pack brings is a multi-core game AI which allows for
much bigger galaxies to play, thanks to the drastically reduced turn-times."
In early May, Stardock released the critically acclaimed (87 metacritic)
expansion that introduced citizens, spies, diplomats, privateers, interactive
invasions, commanders, the civilization builder, three new civilizations, and
much more. Fan response has been tremendous, and Stardock has channeled that
into this update, which is filled with not just bigger map sizes, but dozens of
important improvements across the game.
"The best way to describe Galactic Civilizations III: Crusade is that it is the
answer to the mid-to-late game grind that 4X strategy games have struggled with
for years," said Wardell. "With Crusade, we answer this with both features such
as the new citizen system that allows players to execute powerful actions late
game, as well as taking full advantage of the new, 64-bit, multi-core custom
game engine that was made exclusively for creating space 4X games."
Continue here to read the full story.
Bethesda.net offers a
new trailer showing off Sorlag, another of the champions coming to Quake
Champions, id's upcoming first-person shooter. Here's her introduction: Trained from birth to hunt the warmbloods, Sorlag is the best there is at
what she does. After her clan gorged themselves on the spoils of her work, the
remains would be placed in a sacred bowel-bowl and used by the Haruspex to open
terrifying windows to the Other Place. Sorlag’s people credited the Haruspex
with their prosperity, and this infuriated the huntress.
Determined to subvert the authority of the Haruspex, Sorlag stole one of the
warmbloods’ forcefield devices and made plans to topple his bowel-bowl and
interrupt his ritual. Morning came, the ritual began, and all saw the Other
Place – a twisted world, so unlike their own. Sorlag leapt with the device, but
her claws had crossed the window. She watched the Haruspex’s sacred bowl fall as
she was pulled into the Other Place.
Continue here to read the full story.
Bossa Studios announces closed beta testing is now underway for
Worlds Adrift, their upcoming
physics-driven sandbox MMORPG. Another way of putting this is that they've
soft-launched the game, since you can get access to the beta by buying one of
their "Founder's Packs." This includes in-game items as well as beta access. You
can pick up a pack
on Steam,
and if you're still on the fence they offer a cinematic
introductory trailer
and some details: Bossa Studios today announced that Worlds Adrift, their
upcoming sandbox MMO, has entered into limited closed beta. Following Surgeon
Simulator and I am Bread, Worlds Adrift represents the acclaimed London-based
studio’s most ambitious project to date. Built with Improbable SpatialOS
technology, Bossa Studios is able to deliver a truly unique MMO with massive
in-game scale & complexity. Players will team up to design and build their very
own custom sky-ships piece by piece. They will be masters of their own destiny
and take on the role they want such as scavengers, explorers or heroic captains
of the skies in a vast open world with a scale and complexity that has never
been achieved before in the MMO genre.
MMO newcomers and veterans alike will want to check out the brand new trailer to
understand Bossa Studios’ unique vision and unique approach for Worlds
Adrift.
Continue here to read the full story.
Kritika Online is another MMOG offering paid early access to its closed beta
testing by offering founder's packs. This is an upcoming free-to-play brawler
from En Masse Entertainment, who note that there are also closed beta keys to be
had through their website and some media
partners. They say testing should run through June 13th, and they illustrate the
news with a new story
trailer. Here are more details: En Masse Entertainment, a player-driven publisher focused on delivering great
games and great service, today announced the beginning of their closed beta test
for the upcoming, hyper-stylish action RPG Kritika Online. Starting today,
players who have purchased a Founder’s Pack or those with a closed beta access
code will be able to sign in with their En Masse account and begin playing an
early version of ALLM’s free-to-play action MMO brawler. This closed beta will
run through June 13, 2017.
The nonstop action of Kritika Online will be on full display in this closed
beta, as players select from 4 character types — the Warrior, the Gunmage, the
Rogue, or the Reaper — and rampage through the lavish 3D worlds solo or with
friends, defeating bad guys and super-sized level bosses using oversized blades,
alchemical superguns, and dazzling acrobatics. In addition to Kritika Online’s
over-the-top action, the closed beta gives players their first hands-on look at
the game’s deep progression systems and story. Check out the new story trailer
for a deeper look inside the world of Kritika Online:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo7jMfc7paY
Players can get access to the closed beta by purchasing a Founder’s Pack or
by acquiring a beta code from participating media partners.
Continue here to read the full story.
Quarantine is now available
on Steam,
offering a contagious Windows turn-based strategy game following a run on early access. You
can find details and a launch trailer on
the Quarantine website, and here is the
announcement: Quarantine has left Early Access and officially launched on
Steam today. The riveting single-player game, developed by Sproing and published
by 505 Games, enlists players to contain outbreaks and cure diseases in an
effort to save the world from deadly outbreaks. First released through Steam’s
Early Access program, the team at Sproing used the program to source feedback
from players while the game was still in development. This allowed them to add
and test new content and modes, like the workshop mode where players can create
additional diseases. It also provided time to finetune gameplay mechanics to
polish and improve the game before today’s official launch.
“For an independent developer, the Steam Early Access program is such a great
tool,” said Harald Riegler, CEO Sproing. “Being able to get our game in front of
players early on helped us finetune the experience and provided insight into
what players wanted from a single-player strategy game. For our official launch,
we’ve added new content based on that feedback, including several new diseases
and the ability to name your own pathogens. We hope people will enjoy playing
the game as much as we enjoyed working with the community to make it.”
In this immersive turn-based strategy game, players are enlisted as the director
of Pandemic Defense, an international biosecurity agency, and must respond
quickly to the onslaught of widespread, deadly contagions. When new pathogens
arrive, every turn counts - survival rests in each player’s hands as they
recruit a team of specialized operatives and deploy them on high-stakes missions
across the globe. Time is of the essence as players research the disease,
upgrade the tech and quarantine the outbreak before it infects —and kills—
humanity.
Continue here to read the full story.
This trailer shows
off "the thrill of the race" in Micro Machines World Series, the upcoming
miniaturized racing remake. The clip shows off your bitty little cars going
though their paces, car customization, combat, and atmospheric touches like a
mini-copter observer and a playful dog obstacle. Here's a bit on the game's
devotion to racing: Racing has always been at the heart of Micro
Machines, and Micro Machines World Series jolts that heartbeat back into action.
With hundreds of customizations available, you can race in style and make sure
you stand out on every race’s starting line. Chief Game Designer Gavin Cooper
said, “For the first time in a Micro Machines game, every car has its own
entirely distinct personality ... and arsenal. Each gives players a different
way to play and enjoy the game, meaning fans of the series will have plenty to
sink their teeth into.”
“Players will quickly gain an affinity with a particular vehicle and find it
suits their style of play,” he continued. “You can master one vehicle collecting
all the 25+ customizations, but then have a whole host of variety choosing and
mastering all the other vehicles in the game.”
Each ride has a slightly different feel, and even sound, in Micro Machines World
Series. Choose from 12 distinctly individual vehicles, from the
twitchy-but-agile rear wheel drive hot rod of El Incendio to the scarily-good
all-rounder monster truck of Hank N. Stein.
Continue here to read the full story.
Steam
now offers a new MAN Lion's City CNG DLC pack for Bus Simulator 16 as
well as a new Gold edition of the transportation sim that includes all its
current DLC.
This post has the details: Great news: The MAN Lion's City CNG DLC
gives players access to three officially licensed and faithfully recreated
natural gas powered buses of the popular MAN Lion's City CNG series. The
maneuverable two-door MAN Lion's City A 21 CNG is, with a length of 12 meters
and offering 30 seats, perfectly suited for the winding alleyways of Sunny
Springs’ city center. Fans of huge articulated buses can look forward to driving
the 18.75 meters long MAN Lion's City A 40 GL CNG sporting 5 doors and 39 seats.
The 14.6 meters long MAN Lion's City A 44 L CNG comes with three doors and 44
seats and counts as the game’s first real three-axle bus with a self-steering
rear axle!
Here's the opening
cinematic for Tekken 7, paving the way for next week's release of the
fighting sequel. The introduction to this is short and sweet: "The blood feud
intensified, and the world was forced to take sides. Watch Tekken 7's official
opening movie and get ready for the next battle in less than 10 days on June
2nd!" Continue here to read the full story.
The Linux and macOS editions of Gold Rush! 2 are now available
on Steam
along with the previously release Windows version of the adventure sequel.
Sunlight Games also announces that a boxed retail version of the game is coming
on June 23rd, and will offer all three versions of the game with no DRM.
This post has a brief update on the macOS and Linux releases: "After the
release of Gold Rush! 2 for PC on Steam, the Mac and the Linux versions was also
released in the last days. Both versions contain the update to 1.0.3 already!"
The promised release of the Linux editions of Total War: SHOGUN 2 and the
Fall of the Samurai expansion are now available. These are available on
the Feral Interactive
website where they offer these details: The time has come for a new
shogun!
Command samurai, ninja and warrior monks in two spectacular Total War games
featuring strategic gameplay inspired by the samurai code of honour.
Embark on an epic conquest across snowcapped mountains, hilltop citadels and
fields of cherry blossom, by taking possession of
Total War: SHOGUN 2 and
Fall of the Samurai from the Feral Store.
The TrackMania 2 Lagoon demo is also now offered
on Steam
(thanks Frans). This is also
ManiaPlanet as mentioned in
yesterday's news of Lagoon's release,
but this will make it easier for some to check out. Here's their intro to the
new gameplay: Trackmania² Lagoon has players racing on raised tracks
above a tropical island filled with insane activities.
It comes with a FREE Trackmania multiplayer channel, an exclusive solo campaign,
a new game mode and a world of possibilities with user-generated content thanks
to an upgraded Maniaplanet system increasing the creative power of players.
Like other TrackMania² games, TrackMania2 Lagoon is pure fun and simple,
offering thrilling graphics and instant gameplay.
A new trailer from DiRT
4 shows off some on-road racing for off-road sequel, "showcasing the
game’s incredible rallycross content across various classes and circuits."
Here's word on this game mode: Rallycross is thrilling multicar, circuit
racing on mixed surfaces made up of both dirt and asphalt. The short, quick-fire
races take four to six laps and each car must complete at least one ‘Joker Lap’
which is longer than the traditional lap leading to tactical, enthralling
wheel-to-wheel racing. Drivers compete in four qualifying races before the top
drivers make the semifinals and final. The supercar class in the FIA World
Rallycross Championship consists of 600bhp beasts that accelerate from 0-60mph
in under 2 seconds – faster than a Formula One car.
Launching on PlayStation® 4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the
all-in-one entertainment system by Microsoft, and Windows PC via Steam on June
6th, 2017 DiRT 4 challenges you to Be Fearless as you take the wheel of the
world’s most iconic and powerful off-road vehicles. Featuring two different
handling models, Gamer and Simulation, DiRT 4 offers both depth and
accessibility for players old and new to the franchise. The game’s innovative
Your Stage system allows you to produce a near infinite number of unique rally
stages at the touch of a button.
Continue here to read the full story.
The Dota 2
blog announces today's release of more fixes that cap a spate of
improvements in client performance in Valve's MOBA. Here's the explanation:
No matter which aspect of Dota captures your interest, all players
benefit from improvements in the performance of the game client. With that in
mind, today’s update delivers multiple changes focused on providing smooth and
consistent gameplay regardless of the hardware setup you’re running.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve released many small incremental updates aimed at
improving client performance. In today’s update, we’re releasing many more fixes
that will also improve overall performance and FPS stability. Specifically,
low-end machines will see a higher peak frame rate, while high-end machines will
experience improved frame-rate consistency, resulting in fewer performance
dips.
An
Early Access Month 2 Update for PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS has
details on the next patch for the battle royale game (thanks Blahman). They say
this will go live on the test server at some point today, and should go live for
everyone tomorrow. They offer detailed patch notes for what's changing, and also
touch on next month's update: Next, another quick word about server
performance. I have seen a lot of speculation about the cause of the lag some of
you experience. One of the more popular theories is that we run our games on
potato quality servers. I would like to put this theory to bed by telling you
our servers run on the highest possible spec machines that AWS offer.
We are currently in the middle of profiling the servers to attempt to track down
the cause of the lag, but as I have said before, this will take us time to
complete, so I ask for your patience while we work to improve server performance
for all players.
While next monthly update will be focused on improving server performance, the
optimisation process won't stop there, and we will continue to improve
performance of the servers all the way through Early Access.
There's a new Spider-Man:
Homecoming trailer 3 and an even better new
International Trailer
for the upcoming movie. The previous high point for the series for me was
probably Spider-Man 2, but this looks like the proper MCU Spidey movie
fans would wish for. If I had to quibble, I'd say I don't love the high-tech
spider suit, but that certainly still makes sense. Definitely stoked for this
one.
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