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Archived News:
Crytek Share New Details on their Plans for the Future is an announcement
from the German publisher/developer on where things stand following
today's news that Deep
Silver has bought the Homefront IP. The update talks of transferring
development of HUNT: Horrors of the Gilded Age from their Austin Studio
to Frankfurt, saying the staff remaining in Austin will be maintaining the
CRYENGINE support team to assist North American licensees. An unconfirmed report
on Kotaku says that Crytek USA's senior management actually departed last
week because they weren't being paid. Here's where things currently stand
according to Crytek: The internal restructuring will also see the
development of Crytek IP, "HUNT: Horrors of the Gilded Age", transferred from
their studio in Austin, USA to Frankfurt. Crytek will retain a presence in
Austin, with several staff members maintaining the CRYENGINE support team to
assist North American licensees. Employees who are not set to be part of that
support team will be invited to apply for new positions at Crytek in Germany.
Crytek founder and CEO, Cevat Yerli, said: "As we look to cement Crytek's
future, this strategic deal with Koch Media would allow us to continue with our
ambitious goals to become an online publisher. With Warface, Arena of Fate and
HUNT, we believe we have the perfect portfolio and teams to make that happen. We
would like to thank all our staff – past and present – in both Nottingham and
Austin for their contributions to the company, and we wish all the very best to
anyone who may no longer be under the Crytek banner moving forward."
Crytek's studios in Budapest, Istanbul, Kiev and Sofia will continue to operate
as usual. A closer collaboration between Crytek’s studios in Shanghai and Seoul
is under review.
Dungeons of Dredmor developer Gaslamp Games announces an August 15th
start date for early access to
Clockwork Empire, their steampunk sandbox building and management game,
which is currently available via the more unusual "earliest access." They
promise frequent updates, and offer the following list of features that will be
present when early access begins:
- Build a colony and your character, each with
unique histories: The colony set in a Victorian steampunk era, populated
by the lower, middle and upper class characters, have their own memories and
unfolding futures which are shaped by the player’s choices.
- Free-form goals: Every scenario is what the
player makes of it. As the player colonizes an unknown land, objectives are
handed down by “The Empire,” but players may choose to align with another
faction - or none at all - if so they desire.
- Cosmic Horror, Factories, Booze, Science,
Farming, and more: Complete with all the elements for an industrial
revolution, a colonial society pushed too far will begin to break down and
unleash horrors such as cultists, marauding fish-people, axe murders, and
things darker still from beyond the stars.
Trion Worlds announces the Silicon Valley expansion for
Defiance will go live on August
5th, adding new content to the free-to-play TV tie-in MMORPG. Here's the outline
of what this will bring: "Within the world expansion, players will find Karl Von
Back has disappeared into Silicon Valley with his EGO-imbued followers, but it’s
not the paradise they promised. The valley is overrun with Grid, and a strange
cult, the Pilgrims of the Guiding Light, have taken hold in locations across the
zone. As all new mysteries unravel, the populace of Silicon Valley calls for
help, and only ark hunters have what it takes to face the trials ahead."
A new trailer from
The Sims 4 shows how you can influence the emotions of your sims, just as if
it was real life (and if you were a horrible manipulative person). The clip is
suitably Sims odd, with one example showing a sim staying "focused" by cheating
at chess. This is not the only example of a Vulcan's understanding of this topic,
as besides actual emotions, they include states like playfulness, boredom,
energized, dazed, flirty, uncomfortable, and more. No Sims remained unharmed in
the making of this video. Continue here to read the full story.
A post on the
APB Reloaded website has word that the MMO crime game has implemented the
Fair Fight anti-cheat system along with a new Open Conflict matchmaking system.
The good news is that it turns out they have fewer cheaters than expected, but
the unsurprising bad news is that there weren't none, and they are taking the
step of
publicly listing a sampling of 212 people they detected cheating. They say
it turns out 98.8% of their daily players were not cheating at all, and they
offer some other statistics they learned out the players who were cheating
before they were banned: For some even more startling facts; 60% of the
players banned in this sample were paid players. That’s surprising on several
levels. For comparison, about 10% of the monthly unique players in APB make a
new purchase in the game in any given month. On a cumulative basis about 30% of
all players playing the game have paid money for something at some point during
their account history. So in simple terms, paid players turned out to be 2X
over-represented in the initial ban sample, compared to the APB population as a
whole.
Another startling fact; paid players who were banned had on average 260 hours of
play time in the game, had played for over 1 year, and had on average spent $180
on virtual goods.
Now clearly they got their monies worth already (in comparison they could have
chosen to pay $59.99 for 20-40 hours of play time in a traditional single-player
game, or pay for 12 months of MMO subscription time for about that amount of
money) and it's crazy that they chose to have themselves eliminated from the
"sport of APB" by cheating.
CapCom Unity announces a livestream on
Twitch gets underway at the top of the hour (7:00 pm EDT) to show off the PC
edition of Dead Rising 3: Catch more blood and gore with Dead
Rising 3 Apocalypse Edition this afternoon at 4pm PT! You know the drill--the
game comes out September 5th, but you can tune into our
Twitch channel for a glorious early look. Remember, the game also includes
the four "Untold Stories of Los Perdidos" add-on chapters at no additional cost.
Pre-order today!
Publisher Deep Silver announces the acquisition of the Homefront
intellectual property and all related assets from
financially troubled
publisher/developer Crytek, offering no hint about what they paid for the
shooter series. Word is development of Homefront: The Revolution will
continue in Nottingham, England at a newly formed studio called Deep Silver
Dambuster Studios. Here's the announcement: Today, Koch Media together
with its publishing label Deep Silver announces that it has acquired the
Homefront brand and all coherent assets from Crytek. This includes Homefront:
The Revolution which has been announced on 2nd June 2014. The development will
be continued in newly founded, Nottingham-based Deep Silver Dambuster Studios.
“We are thrilled to see another great IP joining the Deep Silver universe,” says
Dr. Klemens Kundratitz. “We strongly believe in the potential of Homefront: The
Revolution and trust in the new team to continue the path we have been walking
in the last years.”
Deep Silver Dambuster Studios is the third development studio within the Koch
Media Group, joining Deep Silver Volition and Deep Silver Fishlabs.
Elite Dangerous is now in beta testing
as promised, with the premium beta
having come to a close. This does not make the "regular" beta cheap, however, as
buying access will cost $75.00 USD. Frontier Developments calls the beta a
"significant milestone" in development of the space combat sequel, and offer a
new beta trailer to
show it off. Here's an outline of what's changed: Beta 1 increases the number of playable
star systems in the game by a factor of 10 compared to Premium Beta, and covers
a greatly expanded 38,000 cubic light-year volume of Elite: Dangerous’
accurately modelled Milky Way galaxy centred around the Boötes constellation
familiar to Premium Beta players.
The greater volume of Beta 1 space has an increased variety of celestial bodies,
trading economies and star ports, and plays host to a large number of additional
features and enhancements which together provide a richer gameplay experience
over the whole expanded volume of space.
Significant Beta 1 additional features include:
- 55 star systems covering 38,000 cubic light-years
- Initial online mission system functionality (to be
further developed through Beta)
- Player-to-player communication by text and voice
- Friends management and matchmaking
- Private Group play option
- On-line single player option
- Overview trade route mapping
- The concept of fuel consumption
- Docking computers to automate safe star port
landings
- Additional Viper heavy fighter and Lakon Type 6
medium trader ships
Beta 1 will be available in English only. Future builds will be localised in
the following languages:
German, French, Russian, Polish, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Mexican Spanish,
Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and Simplified
Chinese.
Continue here to read the full story.
The
Hearthstone website announces the release of the Curse of Naxxramas: The
Plague Quarter, the second wing of their Hearthstone expansion. On
this topic,
Eurogamer.net has word that some players have been accidentally charged
twice for this, and others have been unable to access it after the purchase,
offering a statement from Blizzard: "Some players are unable to access the new
wing after purchase. Some players have been charged twice in order to access the
new wing. We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience
while we work to resolve them."
U.K.-based independent developer Autelia LTD announces Human Orbit, a sci-fi
"social simulator" set on an orbiting space station coming to Windows and OS X
next year. Since HAL, GLaDOS, and the NSA usually have all the fun, this is a
game where you play as the all-knowing A.I., and here's a bit on how this will
work: "As a sentient AI, you take control of a simple droid able to explore the
space station and access its communications network uninhibited. Gather
information, discover emergent stories, and - if the fancy takes you - take
control of the station and those aboard it." The
Human Orbit website is where to keep up
with this going forward, and in the meantime, here's a list of highlights:
- Advanced AI system
- 100 unique and complex characters, each with their
own personalities and histories
- Immersive 3D world created by Dan Raihert
(environment artist on Dead Space 3, The Sims 3)
- Procedurally-generated storytelling
- Atmospheric SFX by Eli Hason (senior sound
designer on Thief (2014))
- Node-based dialogue editor
- Modding tools
Slitherine announces
Pandora: Eclipse of Nashira, an upcoming expansion coming later this year to
Pandora: First Contact, their Windows OS X, and Linux 4X strategy game.
There are details and system specs on
the product
page for the add-on, which will require the original game to play. Here's
word on what this will involve: With Eclipse of Nashira, new dangers and
opportunities enter the world of Pandora. A new faction shows its face, talking
of peace and friendship while their spies operate behind enemy lines. Nothing is
what it seems anymore, as agents conduct covert warfare of espionage and
sabotage, inciting revolts and stealing technologies. At the same time, another
alien species native to the planet has appeared, lurking in the shadows. In
order to overcome this new alien menace, the different factions start to expand
beyond the planet's landmass to generate more resources, opening up a new
frontier. To deal with all of these unfamiliar threats and opportunities,
Pandora will be seen in a new light and players will have to develop a whole
array of new strategies to maintain dominance over the planet.
Merchants of Kaidan is now in early access
on Steam, where the
strategic/RPG/trading game is 10% off through tomorrow.
This post has details on the latest patch for the game
and this trailer
offers a look. Here's a bit on how this will work, putting the player in the
role of a merchant who would typically be an NPC: "To be a successful merchant
you'll have to learn everything about the market. Always be on the lookout for a
deal, always listening, always engaging and deepening your knowledge. You'll
have to listen to rumours and gossips whispered by travelers at inns and
taverns; hoping for a clue, a hint where to go, where a good deal awaits. You'll
have to surround yourself with a team of specialists, people who help you
maximize profits and minimize losses. You'll expand your fleet of carts, maybe
establish a partnership and become the wealthiest merchant in the Kingdom. Or
you'll bankrupt and become a laughingstock." Continue here to read the full story.
The Path of
Exile website informs us that "The Karui Way," the first issue of the Path of Exile comic
book is now available via digital distribution as a tie-in with Grinding Gear
Games' MMORPG. They say this offers clues about an upcoming add-on: "The Karui
Way reveals backstory from an upcoming, unannounced expansion, weaving elements
from the existing in-game narrative with an entirely new and gripping conflict." The first issue is $4.00, and
the four-issue bundle is $20.00, which doesn't add up unless you account for the
two in-game masks this includes. Word is they plan on releasing one comic per
month and will follow with a printed graphic novel with all four issues early
next year. This trailer
shows off the two in-game masks. Continue here to read the full story.
GameArt Studio let us know Quantum Rush is now available
on Steam, offering the
chance to test your skills in this free-to-play futuristic racer. When we
investigated an error accessing the
game's Steam page we
learned a key detail about this is that it is not yet launched in North America.
Here's the explanation: "Due to the game servers located in Germany, Quantum
Rush Online will be available on Steam only in Europe, Russia and CIS at the
moment! The reason is, under the present circumstances, ping times outside of
these regions are too high for a good gaming experience."
The surprising progress I'm making with my shoulder continues, it's recovered
enough that it feels normal all of the time. I'm still nursing it along, but it
feels strong enough to start doing some rehab exercises to strengthen it
further. This is certainly a far cry from the point not to long ago when I was
sure this was going to result in surgery.
Also, there was a Last of Us popup ad that was appearing here yesterday, but
this should be gone now. Apologies.
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