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Thursday, Sep 28, 2017

Call of Duty: WWII PC Open Beta Begins

The promised PC open beta for Call of Duty: WWII is now underway on Steam, offering the chance to check out the World War II shooter. The Windows beta will continue until October 2nd, and the game is expected to fully launch on November 3rd. This post says they are soliciting feedback, and this Steam Community Announcement elaborates:
Hey PC community!

The Call of Duty: WWII PC Open Beta is now live! We know you’ll have comments and feedback, and so we’re starting this thread as a place where you can tell us what you think. In addition to Steam, we will continue to monitor Twitter, as always, and will also be reading your comments on our official Reddit thread.

Don't hold back! Tell us what you think, but please keep it constructive and be as specific as possible. Your feedback is crucial for us, and will help make this game the best it can be for launch on November 3rd.

We have also set up a survey you can use to give us feedback on your overall experience of the PC Open Beta. You can find that form here: http://www.callofduty.com/BetaFeedback

Thank you so much for your support, dedication, interest, and continued feedback! Let’s have a great weekend and work constructively to make the most incredible experience possible for PC players!

Let the PC Open Beta begin!

The Sledgehammer Games Dev Team

LawBreakers Free Weekend Underway

The free weekend for LawBreakers is now underway on Steam, offering the chance to check out this multiplayer first person shooter from Cliff Bleszinski and Boss Key Games. This post from yesterday lays out the schedule and lays out the rules for getting in on some free loot drops. Here's a description of the game:
In Boss Key Productions’ LawBreakers, players can shoot, ski, grapple, fly, slide, kick, slice, pulverize, blind-fire, wall-jump and more in this competitive, gravity-defying multiplayer FPS that’s fun to pick up and a thrill to master.

RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic Rolls Out

RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic is now available for Windows and macOS on Steam, offering the chance to relive the earliest days of the franchise in this combination of RollerCoaster Tycoon and RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 remastered by franchise creator Chris Sawyer. This press release has all the details:
Fans of the original PC sim can now relive their fondest memories of the classic games as they create, customize and run their own imaginative theme parks. RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic has been remastered by Chris Sawyer and the development team at Origin8 Technologies Ltd., to include the greatest features from RCT 1 and RCT 2 and including add-ons such as the Scenario Editor Toolkit, Wacky Worlds, and Time Twister expansion packs into one tremendous new game.

To download RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic on Steam, visit: http://bit.ly/2fLNKSl.

"When I created the RollerCoaster Tycoon series nearly two decades ago, I never imagined that so many people all over the world would still enjoy the game today," said Chris Sawyer, creator and producer of the RollerCoaster Tycoon series. "It's also great to see that fans still appreciate the classic gameplay of the two titles that started it all and I'm excited to deliver their best combined features and content in the form of RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic to Steam."

Requested Changes Coming to Dead Rising 4

CapCom Unity announces plans to implement fan-requested changes into Dead Rising 4, their zombie-infested sequel. They say all owners of the game can expect a free update on December 5th with the changes. Here's a bit:
The fans have always been an important part of the Dead Rising series. From video Let’s Plays, to cosplayers becoming Frank West, to the players who share all of their feedback, our fans are a big part of what makes working on the series so much fun. All fans have things they’d like to see improved in their favorite games and we’ve been listening to our loyal Dead Rising fan base and have been making improvements to Dead Rising 4 that will result in the game being even better than before.

One important example was with the difficulty level of the game. The Dead Rising series is associated with a high degree of difficulty and many players felt that we let up on that a little too much in Dead Rising 4. Listening to that feedback, the development team at Capcom Vancouver added two harder difficulty modes as a free update to the game the month after launch.

Starpoint Gemini Warlords - Cycle of Warfare Next Week

Publisher Iceberg Interactive and developer LGM Games announce a new Cycle of Warfare DLC is coming to Starpoint Gemini Warlords on October 5th, saying this is their biggest content expansion ever. They offer this trailer with a look, and a bunch of details:
The Cycle of Warfare DLC brings several features that dramatically expand the game with over 100 hours of additional conquest and scenario gameplay. In this new expansion, players will be able to start their conquest over the Gemini system as one of three established factions, each with their own rivals and advantages: Iolian Pact, Korkyra, and Outerlands.

In addition, two new challenge scenarios are included. Play as the A'shriari, the unforgiving alien race bent on humanity's extinction, or choose the life of an ambitious privateer and lead your clan to wealth and glory. Both challenges modify the game's rules in different ways, moving away from empire management towards riskier gameplay.

The A'shriari are convinced that the only way to complete victory is a brutal scorched-earth military strategy. In the A'shriari scenario players will be able to:

  • Fly and command capital ships of an exclusive new alien ship line, from gunships to carriers;
  • Vanquish all human life from the Gemini system by shutting down all of the infrastructure;
  • Fire a massive weapon directly from their mothership, burning planets and vaporizing all means of sustaining life.

These conquest scenarios can be easily modified in-game to allow the players to customize their own starting advantage as they see fit.
Owners of the base game will also discover new content such as encounters with rare enemy alien ships that will drop epic equipment.
Key features:

  • Five new playable factions: Iolian Pact, Korkyra, Outerlands, A'shriari, and privateers
  • Three new conquest scenarios
  • Two new challenge scenarios
  • New ship line, a new weapon and new ability (as the A'shriari)

Continue here to read the full story.

Battlerite Free Weekend

Battlerite is free-to-play on Steam for the next couple of days, concluding a week of free play for the team arena brawler that we failed to mention before now (sorry about that). Here's word on the chance to try the game for free, get in on some special Halloween content, and potentially buy it for half off:
Stunlock Studios, the developer of the anticipated PvP arena brawler, Battlerite, invites players to participate in an upcoming Halloween Event. Starting tomorrow, September 29th, and stretching throughout five consecutive weeks, players will enjoy a spooky Halloween theme packed with unique Halloween weapons for all champions, creepy avatars, mounts and four brand new legendary outfits. Players can get their hands on Halloween items by purchasing Creepy Chests with in-game currency.

Players are also welcome to join the last few days of Battlerite’s Free Week and play the game completely for free. In addition, until October 1st 1pm Pacific, anyone can get Battlerite on Steam Early Access with 50% discount for $9.98, €9,98, £7,49. Players who buy into the Early Access receive all current and future champions for free, forever!

Sociable Soccer Early Access Next Month

Finnish developer Combo Breaker announces early access to Sociable Soccer will get underway on October 12th. This trailer celebrates the news, and here are some details:
Legendary football game designer Jon Hare in partnership with “class act” Finnish studio Combo Breaker, today announced that Sociable Soccer, their much anticipated, fast-paced, arcade take on the beautiful game, will launch on October 12th on Steam Early Access. Easy to play and hard to master with a single player campaign mode, classic local multiplayer and online multiplayer available from launch and a 30,000 player card collecting online team mode in the works. Sociable Soccer is a perfect blend of the instant playability of yesteryear and the power of modern technology.

The team also released a new mini trailer to celebrate the announcement that can be viewed on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCXOKZOkzA8&feature=youtu.be

“We’re hugely excited to be launching on Steam Early Access. This is the first step towards our vision of a new, truly cross-platform, online and offline football action game,” said Hare, also referencing the console, mobile and various VR platforms to follow. “Steam Early Access will help us to tweak gameplay, introduce more game modes and respond to fan feedback.”

Total War: WARHAMMER II Launched

Steam News announces the release of Total War: WARHAMMER II, the second installment in Creative Assembly's trilogy of strategy games based on Games Workshop's fantasy franchise. Word is: "Sequel to the award-winning Total War: WARHAMMER, Total War: WARHAMMER II introduces a breathtaking campaign of exploration, expansion and conquest across The New World." A new Enter the Vortex trailer celebrates the launch with a cinematic look at the game, and it looks like there's still time to get a free copy of the Norsca DLC for the first Total War- WARHAMMER as an early adopter bonus. Here's more on the game:
Total War: WARHAMMER II is a strategy game of titanic proportions. Choose from four unique, varied factions and wage war your way – mounting a campaign of conquest to save or destroy a vast and vivid fantasy world.

This is a game of two halves – one a turn-based open-world campaign, and the other intense, tactical real-time battles across the fantastical landscapes of the New World.

Play how you choose – delve into a deep engrossing campaign, experience unlimited replayability and challenge the world in multiplayer with a custom army of your favourite units. Total War: WARHAMMER II offers hundreds of hours of gameplay and no two games are the same.
Continue here to read the full story.

3D Print and Sell Your Own Valve Merchandise

Shapeways Magazine announces that 3D printing company Shapeways is partnering with Valve to offer the opportunity to legally sell your own merchandise based on Valve properties. This program is already underway, and they are highlighting the best offerings in a Shapeways + Valve Hub, though sadly no one has yet figured out a way to 3D print hats. Here's the deal:
We’re incredibly excited to announce that, thanks to a first-of-its kind program, Valve and Shapeways are partnering up to empower our communities of creators to make and sell 3D printed, gamer-created merchandise and accessories based on Valve’s games and hardware.

Starting today, you can take advantage of a new Valve licensing agreement on Shapeways. This will not only allow you to create merch around any of Valve’s games and game assets, but also mods and accessories for hardware like the Steam Controller and Steam Link.

For Shapeways designers, this means that the Valve and Steam game communities will now have access to your products, and you can advertise and promote your Valve-related products anywhere you like.

For Valve games’ fans and Steam hardware users, we’re here to help you take your help you take your fan art into the physical world, whether you’re just learning to design for 3D printing, or have a whole set of heroes ready to bring to life.

But the really revolutionary part of this partnership is how easy it is for you to licence your products. You just upload your model to your shop (as always, make sure to use tags and accurate descriptions to make sure shoppers can find you), and you will automatically be prompted to opt in. You’ll have the option to opt out of the license if you get the prompt in error.

Once you opt in, you’re good to go. No other approvals needed. No takedowns, no missed revenue. We’ll automatically deduct a 10% royalty from sales of merchandise connected to the game franchises and send them to Valve. No royalties are deducted on accessories developed for Steam hardware. And that’s it!

We’ll feature the best of your Valve and Steam-related designs on the Shapeways + Valve hub, and we’ll be promoting some of your most amazing designs in Shapeways Magazine and on social media. We’re already seeing some cool merch inspired by DOTA 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Team Fortress 2, and Portal, but we know you’re just getting started.

We’re thrilled to be able to create a way to reward your creativity while unlocking the incredible potential of Valve’s fandoms. Check out our Valve hub for inspiration and all the nitty-gritty details of how the license works. Then, show us what you can do!

Brakes Are For Losers Next Month

Developer Oudidon and publisher Playdius announce an October 18th release date for Brakes Are for Losers, the top-down racing game that reveals its old-school sensibilities right there in the title. This trailer from E3 shows off the game's throwback arcade style, and word is it will feature equally fanciful environments: "It offers 10 unique tracks inspired by the pop culture of the 80’s and 90’s and full of funny details and surprising events. Each track takes you to a different setting, from peaceful caribbean island to hellish underground, from fabulous Las Vegas all the way to the Moon!" Continue here to read the full story.

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