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Archived News:
Electronic Arts offers details on a second Battlefield V closed alpha
test that's getting underway on August 14th. They say codes are going out soon
to a small group of players, and those with a valid Battlefield V Closed Alpha
entitlement from the first closed alpha are automatically invited. They say,
"Codes that have not been redeemed yet can also be used to access the Closed
Alpha 2. Additionally, we will be sending out more invites through email to give
even more players the chance to try Battlefield V." They also offer system
requirements for the alpha and discuss their goals for testing: We’ve
read and acted on much of the feedback that we received during the first Closed
Alpha. You’ll get a better glimpse of those changes during our Open Beta period,
but for Closed Alpha 2, we would like you to focus on the matchmaking, squad
joining functionality, as well as simply playing as you normally would, so that
we can evaluate our tweaked leveling curves.
Crytek announces a free weekend is underway for
Hunt Showdown,
their Early Access bounty-hunting first-person shooter. South American players
will be pleased to see that the announcement includes word that they now have
local servers: Great news! We're doing a free Hunt weekend on Steam,
starting right now. During the free weekend, the game will also be 20% off.
From Thursday, August 9th at 10 am PT/1 pm ET/ 7 pm CEST to Monday, August 13th
at 10 am PT/1 pm ET/ 7 pm CEST, you can play Hunt for free on Steam. So clear
your calendar, notify friends, and go download Hunt right now.
The free weekend event also coincides with the addition of South American
servers to the game, bringing a new continent of players to the hunt, and a
brand new set of six Steam trading cards to collect and trade while you're doing
it. Shortly after the free weekend, the game will see the addition of the Water
Devil, a new AI that will make wading through the Louisiana swamps where the
game is set even more dangerous.
This your first rodeo? Let us fill you in: Hunt is a multiplayer, first-person
bounty hunting game that combines the action, the thrill, and the tension of
multiple genres into a unique new gaming experience. During each match, you must
track and kill monsters—solo or in teams of two—then you need to get off the map
with the prize before another Hunter takes you out.
The Overwatch
Website has word that this year's Summer Games are underway in Blizzard's
multiplayer first-person shooter. This includes the return of Lúcioball in a new
stadium, a whole bunch of new skins and other cosmetics, as well as a return of
previous Summer Games goodies as well. Here's the overview: The Summer
Games return for more fun in the sun! This year, we're celebrating the spirit of
competition with a new Lúcioball arena and a smörgåsbord of loot. Unlock over 50
new seasonal items—including legendary skins like Waveracer D.Va, Fastball
Zenyatta, and Cabana Ana—alongside our growing collection of summer gear from
previous years.
The Path of Exile has
details on a new Delve expansion coming to Grinding Gear's action/RPG,
along with a timer counting down to its release on August 31st (thanks
PCGamesN, where they have a preview). Two new two sets of Supporter Packs
are already on sale to
support the expansion. Without delving too far into details, here's the elevator
pitch on what this add-on will add: In Path of Exile: Delve, you will
delve into the Azurite Mine's infinite depths to extract treasure and discover
its subterranean secrets. Our latest expansion features an infinite dungeon and
socketable currency items, as well as a bunch of new unique items, skill gems,
balance changes, graphics engine improvements and more!
Publisher Iceberg Interactive and developer LGM Games announce the release of
the Endpoint DLC for Starpoint Gemini Warlords, saying this is the
fifth and final DLC for the Windows spaceship combat game. The DLC is
offered through
GOG.com and
Steam, and they note that the
Steam version of the base game is currently on sale for 75% off as part of a
sale on
the entire franchise, including the new comprehensive Starpoint Gemini
Warlords Gold Pack bundle. Here's the point of Endpoint: About
Starpoint Gemini Warlords: Endpoint
Many years have passed since the Solari Concord successfully established a
foothold in Gemini – but they haven't stopped there; a combination of rising
military strength and persuasive diplomacy has caused them to become the leading
power in Gemini. After such a long period of turmoil, most other factions became
exhausted, and were eager to side with anyone strong enough to provide some sort
of stability.
The Gemini Protectorate, successor to the legendary Gemini League, is cornered,
and controls only a small region of space, and another cut off enclave, when the
Concord reaches its borders.
The Protectorate High Command is still not willing to yield, but options are
few...what will be the price of survival?
Key Features
- Experience an all new storyline that follows the
unexpected new path of the Gemini Protectorate
- 8 brand new ship designs, covering all ship
classes with a noticeable power edge in each of them
- Multiple new and interesting characters entwined
within the storyline
- Story branching where you can choose how you wish
to approach the challenges in front of you
- Increased replayability as a result of multiple
choices when accepting some story missions
- Modified planetary assault where players can now
strike decisively at individual planets, and automatically seize the whole
enemy territory when the last planet is conquered
Steam now offers a new
Rise of the Republic Campaign Pack for
Total War: ROME II. As
noted on Steam this comes alongside an
Ancestral Update, saying, "make sure you opt out of the Ancestral Update
beta in Steam and disable all mods before playing," pointing to
this article for an explanation. Here's word on the galling pack: The
year is 399 BC, and Rome is poised for greatness. However, its very existence
balances on a knife-edge.
The Gallic Senones tribe, led by chieftain Brennus, are newly settled in eastern
Italy. Ambitious and fierce, they are but a javelin-throw from the nascent
republic.
The tyrannical Dionysius rules Syracuse with an iron fist. He leads the war
against Carthage, but his eyes range across the Mediterranean as he considers
future conquests.
Under the guiding hand of the great philosopher-statesman Archytas, Taras in
southern Italy is reaching the zenith of its glory and power. Rome’s meteoric
rise is cause for concern, to be sure – perhaps an intervention is merited?
Meanwhile, Marcus Furius Camillus seeks the title and powers of Dictator. His
vision for Rome is grand indeed, but can it survive the designs of the young
republic’s neighbours?
A crossroads in history: a time of threat – and of opportunity.
A time for the republic to rise.
Deck13 and Radical Fish Games announce that CrossCode will be officially
released on Steam
on September 20th for Windows, Linux, and macOS. The throwback 2D action/RPG is
now wrapping up its three-plus year Early Access run, and they say the completed
version more than doubles the scope of the story and adds additional areas and
combat.
This post has more details, including their amusing take on quality control:
"Also hopefully less buggy than previous major releases, since we do some
internal testing this time!" They hope to have Steam Trading Cards and
Achievements in the release, but reassure us that achievements will be tracked
properly even if they are added later. They also outline plans for post-release
content that will be free, and say they have ideas for DLC, but this "depends on
how the release will work out," even though the game has already sold over
100,000 units. Here's more: The full release will be huge and by far the
biggest update the game has had so far.
Here is a list of things you can expect from CrossCode 1.0:
- The complete main story with at least
twice the amount of cutscenes
- Awesome and dramatic plot moments™
- A complete new area + dungeon +
several extensions in existing areas
- Rhombus Square - the largest city of the
game
- New party members!
- Over 9 new enemy types + more variations
- Over 13 new boss fight and other major
battles
- About 12 new quests
- Several menu improvements and QoL additions
- A complete German translation
- Countless other small improvements/changes
Codemasters and Deep Silver offer a new
video developer diary 3
for F1 2018, the upcoming Formula One racing sequel. This features Senior Car
Handling Designer David Greco discussing car handling, so expect honesty, even
if you can't handle the truth. Here's word: The third of the four part
series, which is available to watch now at
www.youtube.com/formula1game,
reveals that F1 2018's car simulation and handling has significantly advanced
this year, with revamped suspension and chassis physics, the addition of real
world F1 data for unprecedented accuracy, new “tire carcass” temperature for the
first time, as well as manual deployment of the ERS system. The ultimate result
of these enhancements is that the gamer can experience the pure sensation of the
tire tearing into the track surface, and therefore giving a realistic and
relatable feeling of grip, under all wear, compounds and weather conditions.
Continue here to read the full story.
A new Ni no Kuni II: REVENANT KINGDOM - Adventure Pack is now available
on Steam as free DLC for
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom, the RPG sequel which happens to be on
sale for half-off at the moment. Here's word on what this offers: The
Adventure Pack DLC is now available to download for Ni no Kuni™ II: REVENANT
KINGDOM on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and PC via STEAM®.
This free DLC offers a new challenge for experienced players by adding
additional floors to the Faraway Forest Cave, two new bosses; Blackhart and
Zeta, as well as new quests that will be unlocked after completing the game’s
story. Evan and his friends will also find new costumes and additional rewards
to acquire in the Adventure Pack.
GamesIndustry.biz - "Netflix of games" a threat to developers.
"When working with a digital storefront, developers know how many copies
they sell and how much they're charging for those copies. That makes
figuring out how much money a game brought in a straight-forward process.
Platform holders and creators may argue about how to split the pie, but at
least they can more or less agree on how big the pie is.
Compare that to subscription services, where the metrics a developer has for
their game's performance will likely be limited to the number of times it
was downloaded/streamed, or perhaps cumulative and average time spent
playing. If companies use Netflix as a model (and why wouldn't they, at this
point?), developers
may not even have access to those except through third-party solutions with
questionable accuracy."
Focus Home Interactive and New World Interactive channel their combined interactivity to announce the launch of the promised preorder beta for
Insurgency: Sandstorm, their upcoming first-person shooter. The game is due for
official release on September 18th for Windows, with consoles to follow next
year, but those who preorder the PC edition
on
Steam can play right now and through the weekend.
This recent video
shows some PvP gameplay, and if you are reading this around the time of posting,
there is a Pre-Order Beta Launch
livestream that's currently underway. Here are the details: Focus
Home Interactive and New World Interactive are excited to announce that
Insurgency: Sandstorm will release on PC on September 18th, 2018. Players can
jump into Pre-order Beta 1 and play three maps and four modes from the final
release right now by pre-ordering the game on Steam at a 10% discount for £23.39
/ $26.99 / €26.99. Owners of the original Insurgency, which now boasts a player
population of over five million, will receive an additional 10% loyalty
discount, available through the end of the year.
Pre-order Beta 1, which went live today, features three maps from the final
version of the game, every game mode, dozens of weapons, and hundreds of loadout
options (including explosives, armour, and ammo carriers). Combined with fully
implemented vehicles and support fire, Insurgency: Sandstorm provides the most
intense experience of contemporary war ever. Catch a glimpse of the action in
the Raw PVP Gameplay video released last week, then get playing on Steam.
Press, content creators, and influencers can request an invite to Pre-order Beta
1 below. There are no NDAs or streaming restrictions on this test, and New World
Interactive is greatly looking forward to getting feedback from all across the
gaming community as they work on the launch build. Pre-order Beta 1 is due to
finish on August 13, so please enjoy the game this long weekend.
A second Pre-order Beta will run from August 30 up until release on September
18, with access to the full suite of six maps from the launch version of the
game. Insurgency: Sandstorm is due out on consoles in 2019, please look forward
to more information about it closer to release.
Continue here to read the full story.
The Windows edition of MONSTER HUNTER: WORLD is now available
on
Steam, offering PC gamers the latest installment in CAPCOM's
monster-hit console action series. Updated drivers for this are already available from
NVIDIA and AMD,
and
VG247 offers tips on how to get the game running at 60fps in various
resolutions. Here's the previously released
PC Trailer, and here's
part of the description of the game from Steam:
Welcome to a new world! Take on the role of a hunter and slay ferocious
monsters in a living, breathing ecosystem where you can use the landscape and
its diverse inhabitants to get the upper hand. Hunt alone or in co-op with up to
three other players, and use materials collected from fallen foes to craft new
gear and take on even bigger, badder beasts!
INTRODUCTION
Overview
Battle gigantic monsters in epic locales.
As a hunter, you'll take on quests to hunt monsters in a variety of habitats.
Take down these monsters and receive materials that you can use to create
stronger weapons and armor in order to hunt even more dangerous monsters.
In Monster Hunter: World, the latest installment in the series, you can enjoy
the ultimate hunting experience, using everything at your disposal to hunt
monsters in a new world teeming with surprises and excitement. Continue here to read the full story.
Perfect World Entertainment announces Torchlight Frontiers, saying the new
installment in the Torchlight series will be a shared world experience for PC,
Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. Taking the action/RPG online seems like a natural
move, especially considering Perfect World's MMORPG roots. Development is being
handled by Echtra Games led by Max Schaefer, co-founder of Blizzard North and
original Torchlight developer Runic Games (not to mention Flagship
Studios, which is always better when it's not mentioned). The
Torchlight Frontiers
Website is accepting applications for beta testing, and offers
this trailer with a
look at what to expect. Here's the announcement: Today, Perfect World
Entertainment, Inc., a leading publisher of live service games, announced its
newest development studio, Echtra Games, Inc., is working on the next iteration
of the award-winning Torchlight series: Torchlight Frontiers. Set in the same
beloved Torchlight universe from Torchlight I and II, this shared-world
action-RPG brings back many of the franchise’s signature features and mechanics
that captured the hearts of ARPG fans around the world. Led by former Runic
Games and Blizzard North co-founder, Max Schaefer, the team developing
Torchlight Frontiers is comprised of veteran developers who were responsible for
the games that defined the ARPG genre, including the original Diablo and
Torchlight franchises. Torchlight Frontiers will be available on PC, Xbox One
and PlayStation®4.
“Perfect World Entertainment has had a strong working relationship with Max
Schaefer, dating back to the original Torchlight game, and we believe in his
vision to evolve the Torchlight series,” said Yoon Im, senior vice president of
publishing at Perfect World Entertainment. “Max has put together an all-star
team of developers, and we continue to be amazed by the sheer level of talent
and wealth of experience that they bring to Torchlight Frontiers. We’re proud to
have Echtra Games as a part of the company.”
“Evolving the Torchlight universe into a shared world has always been a goal for
the franchise, and I’m excited that we’re finally able to make it a reality,”
said Max Schaefer, CEO of Echtra Games. “Torchlight Frontiers will be a living,
breathing universe that will still feel uniquely Torchlight, while we add our
own creative spin to the game. The team is building something truly special, and
we can’t wait for fans to play it for the first time at Gamescom and PAX West.”
Torchlight Frontiers combines the heart of the beloved Torchlight series with a
shared, persistent and dynamically generated world. In true Torchlight style,
players will team up with friends and devoted pets to hack and slack their way
through a vibrant world, discover ancient ruins of lost civilizations and brave
dungeons filled with riches and dangerous creatures. Additional details about
Torchlight Frontiers will be revealed at a later date.
Torchlight Frontiers is headed to Gamescom and PAX West! Show attendees can be
among the first to play an early demo of the game and meet the Echtra Games
developers by visiting the Perfect World Entertainment booths at Gamescom in
Germany (Hall 8, Booth# B41) from August 21 – 25 and PAX West in Seattle (Booth
# 1115) from August 31 – September 3.
Learn more about Torchlight Frontiers at TorchlightFrontiers.com. Follow the
game on Twitter (@PlayTorchlight) and Facebook.com/PlayTorchlight for the latest
updates.
Continue here to read the full story.
There's now a
playable demo on Steam for PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2019, the new
installment in the association football/soccer series that's coming out at the
end of this month (thanks Frans).
Konami explains
that they are including more in thus year's demo than in the past, saying, "The
Online Quick Match will now be available in the this year's Demo, and the
Exhibition Match and CO-OP Mode will also be playable all for free!" They also
offer a barebones rundown of the demo's contents: 【Release Date】
【Clubs】
- FC BARCELONA
- LIVERPOOL FC
- FC SCHALKE 04
- INTER
- AC MILAN
- AS MONACO
- C.R. FLAMENGO
- SÃO PAULO FC
- SE PALMEIRAS
- COLO COLO
- FRANCE
- ARGENTINA
【Stadium】
【MODE】
- EXHIBITION MATCH(Offline)
- QUICK MATCH(ONLINE)
- CO-OP(Offline)
Demo bonus
Twitch now offers the August set of
free games for Twitch Prime subscribers, which includes Amazon Prime members.
Redemption requires the use of the Twitch standalone client, and as always, they
say these are free to keep forever as long as you claim your copies by the end
of the month. Here's the rundown on the freebies: Whew… how about all
those July Prime Day games huh? Well, just because Prime Day has come and gone
doesn’t mean the fun has to stop. August’s lineup includes some pretty awesome
games... and they’re yours for FREE with your Twitch Prime membership!
Yours to claim and keep forever all month:
- Jotun: Valhalla Edition
Jotun is a beautifully illustrated action-exploration game themed around
Norse mythology. You play as the viking warrior Thora who must prove herself
to the Gods after dying an inglorious death. Only then will she be allowed
to enter Valhalla.
- Death Squared
Put your teamwork (and friendships) to the test as you try and solve puzzles
in this cooperative puzzle game! Each player must take control of a robot
and guide it to it’s color-coded goal. If only it were that easy…
- Antihero
A turn-based strategy game where you must use your wits to out-steal and
outsmart your opponents in a chaotically paced multiplayer game. Get ready
to assassinate, blackmail and bribe your way to victory!
- Wizardry Bundle
Play through Wizardry 6, 7, and 8, and bring together the 3 artifacts needed
to pursue godhood in the world of Dominus. Once you have assembled all 3
artifacts you must venture forth to Ascension Peak where true terror awaits.
- Steamworld Dig
A platforming mining adventure, highly influenced by “metroidvania” style
games. Play as Rusty as you dig your way through the earth and collect
riches along the way. Just beware of the ominous threat that lurks below…
Be sure to pick up this month’s Free Games with Prime by August 31 and
they’re yours to keep forever.
There's a post on the
Future
and Battlerite Royale on the Battlerite Website announcing that
Battlerite Royale is becoming a new standalone game, rather than a new game
mode for Battlerite. They say they are working to release this into Early
Access next month, but amid the announcements they admit they haven't worked
through all the details yet, saying, "There is still work to do before we have
all the answers regarding what this means for you as a Battlerite player and we
will return with more information when we have a more detailed FAQ fleshed out."
They say they that on Monday they will release a roadmap for the rest of this
year, and in the meantime offer this explanation for the change in plans:
There were several factors that lead to this “new game mode” becoming a
“new game.”
As we continued to develop Battlerite Royale we saw more and more potential in
it with every passing day, but we also noticed the difficulties with keeping
Royale in the same frame as a “Team Arena Brawler.” With the constraints from
Arena limiting us and after seeing the huge reaction from Battlerite Royale’s
announcement, we made the decision to protect the integrity of both experiences
and create a new game instead of a new game mode.
When the decision was made, we suddenly could do more to make the best possible
Royale experience. We re-designed Champion ability kits, rebalanced stats, added
new gameplay systems, and removed systems. We also had to develop new
matchmaking and rating systems, create a new interface, and a separate
onboarding experience.
Continue here to read the full story.
The
Discord Blog announces a Discord Store Beta is now live, as the chat
provider seeks to sow discord in the digital distribution world. This is rolling
out today to about 50,000 Canadian Discord Nitro subscribers today. They have a
couple of twists to offer compared to the competitions. Discord Nitro include a
"curated" storefront to help with discovery and they will have some "first on
Discord" exclusivity on select independent games. They explain they will also be
providing a Universal Library tab to serve as a unified launcher that covers
other game providers, just in time to interrupt the inevitable complaints about
having to add another such service to your system. Here are some details: Beyond
Nitro — The Store
You ever been in one of those smaller boutique book shops with recommendations
from employees written on little note cards? We love that hands-on personal
approach to sharing great content with others. We think this kind of cozy
neighborhood book shop vibe would be great for games. It reduces clutter and
makes it easier to find what you want.
Alongside the upgraded Nitro, we’ll be launching a curated game store experience
similar to one of those cozy neighborhood book shops with recommendations about
the hottest and newest games from us to you.
The Discord Store Directory
We’ll be showcasing a variety of titles that we think you’ll like. As the store
grows, we’ll rely on our community and our team to make the store feel super
personal and focused on games that we genuinely think you’ll enjoy! Here’s an
example of a Discord employee’s recommendation of Dead Cells:
For our store, we’re excited to announce we’ll be supporting “First on Discord”
titles — indie games that we’ve helped bring to life. Supporting indie games
pushes the boundary of creative game design and is important to innovation and
the long term health of the industry. Of course, we think the games are really
cool too!
To be very clear, First on Discord games are temporarily exclusive. They’re
literally first on Discord — usually 90 days and then the developers can sell
anywhere else they want. This beta won’t have any First on Discord titles, but
we’ll be showing off some soon!
One Convenient Library
One more surprise for today! We know it’s frustrating to have a bunch of game
launchers, so we’ll be adding a Universal Library tab to the Discord home screen
as well.
If you want, Discord can scan your computer for games. Then, you’ll be able to
launch any of your games through Discord even if they require another launcher
(Discord will boot the other launcher and game). This way, you don’t have to
worry about which game boots from where!
- ASUSTOR AS1004T V2 NAS Server on
Nikk Tech.
- HP Portable SSD P800 on
TweakTown.
- Input Club WhiteFox mechanical keyboard on
The Tech Report.
- MSI B450i Gaming PLUS AC Motherboard on
Guru3D.
- MSI Radeon RX 570/580 MECH 2 Graphics Cards on
TweakTown.
- Tt eSPORTS Nemesis Switch Optical RGB Mouse on
TechPowerUp.
Well it seems a little incongruous amid the sweltering heat, but preseason
tackle football begins in earnest tonight following last week's hall of fame
game. My hometown New York Football Giants will be part of the proceedings, as
they take on the Cleveland Browns. This seems natural, as folks will get a first
chance to see the first two picks in the draft as pros. Of course this also
means that we're putting a national spotlight on a game between last season's
two worst teams, but I guess you have to take the bad with the good.
R.I.P.:
Richard H. Kline Dead: ‘Camelot’ Cinematographer Was 91.
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