Erez Goren, CEO of Hi-Rez Studios, revealed on Reddit that both Global Agenda and Tribes Ascend lost money. While discussing future plans for Smite, the free-to-play MOBA, Goren wanted to clear up the notion that some people had that his company had been “milking” Tribes Ascend in order to fund development of Smite. He denied this accusation by pointing out that Smite was already profitable and that he had largely funded Global Agenda and Tribes Ascend with his own money from previous business ventures.
“How much did it cost to do the above? At that point I personally funded all the game development with over $30 million of funding (losses) and generated about $10 million in revenue (split fairly evenly between GA and Tribes) so overall we spend about $40 million running the company vs $10 million in revenue. Yes, my wife thinks I’m crazy, but what does she know about playing and making video games :)”
Erez Goren also said that outside companies looked at publishing Tribes Ascend as a console port or taking it to China, but the game was deemed “too niche” for a wider audience. In the end, Smite ended up supporting Hi-Rez and keeping the Tribes Ascend servers online.
Jason Alexander’s character on Seinfeld learned a lesson about nicknames the hard way. It’s almost impossible to determine your own nickname. Whatever resonates with the crowd is going to be it. You may want to be called “T-Bone” but you could end up as a “Koko.”
Almost immediately after Microsoft revealed the Xbox One, internet wiseguys started calling it the “XBONE.” It stuck because it fulfilled the requirements of a good nickname. It’s short, memorable, and can be said in a derogatory way. Although Microsoft has reversed almost every unpopular facet of the Xbox One, as George Costanza learned, nicknames stick. Microsoft’s Major Nelson even expressed his dislike for the name, but “XBONE” is just too good to stop using.
“I don’t like it…it disrespects the teams that have put in thousands of hours (already) into the development of the product. Sure, it’s cheeky but I don’t care for it myself.”
Fusible reports that Microsoft has purchased the Xbone.com domain, cementing the nickname forever. For now, the site just redirects to a Bing search for “xbone” but it will likely get tied to the official Xbox page eventually. For example, xbox180.com, a snarky reference to the console policy reversals, already sends internet surfers to Xbox.com.
Take heart Microsoft! At least people aren’t calling your console “Koko.”
The PC version of Terraria will finally get the long-awaited 1.2 update. According to a post on the official forums, the free patch will be released on October 1st through Steam. Developer Andrew Spinks previewed the update back in May, showing off some of the new additions to the Minecraft and Metroid mash-up game. New items, monsters, bosses, and a minimap are just some of the things that Terraria will gain with the patch, but the rocket launcher looks like it’s going to give me the best way to blow myself up while battling a giant skull boss.
Arma 3, the latest combined arms military sandbox game from Bohemia Interactive has officially launched. The game features a new lighting engine, improved animation, Steam Workshop integration, and almost 300 square kilometers of sun-dappled Mediterranean island on which players can experience the lethal mechanisms of war. Lay out on a beach. Take in the sights. Kill the enemy. Although the game releases without a traditional singleplayer campaign, Bohemia has promised to add that in three installments of free DLC. Joris-Jan van’t Land, project lead on Arma 3, spoke about the lengthy Early Access period.
“We’re incredibly proud of the release of Arma 3, as well as of the unique collaboration with the people who joined for the early-access development. We experienced some significant setbacks in the past years, but the fantastic public response to the Alpha and Beta kept us going.”
If you’ve ever wanted to play a military sim that unapologetically lets players get shot from 200 meters away, or that pits a squad of infantry against a tank platoon, then this is the game for you. Arma 3 is available on Steam, at retail locations, and the developer’s web store.
Valve has announced Steam Family Sharing. The program will allow Steam customers to designate up to 10 devices on which to share a library of games. Sharing will allow separate cloud saves and achievements, so you don’t have to worry about your little brother mucking up your 60th level Bosmer in Skyrim.
“Our customers have expressed a desire to share their digital games among friends and family members, just as current retail games, books, DVDs, and other physical media can be shared,” explained Anna Sweet of Valve. “Family Sharing was created in direct response to these user requests.”
Before you think you can just group up with buddies and share your Steam accounts to get free access to everyone’s games, there are restrictions. A shared library cannot be used by two people at the same time, even if they want to play different games. The account owner will always have priority. If the lender starts playing a game, the borrower will be given a few minutes to save and log off before Steam closes out.
Indie games Take on Mars and Kerbal Space Program have exciting new updates that will allow gamers to blow virtual tax money into stardust. Bohemia Interactive released Update 2 for Take on Mars that adds Steam Workshop support so budding Mars rover engineers can share their user creations. The developer also announced that on October 3rd, the game will receive a “Deimos Update” that will add two new locations, a Zero-G Probe, and dynamically generated missions. Bohemia plans to also add martian weather so Mars explorers can lose expensive equipment in dust storms. Gamers on the fence should pick it up before the release date of the Deimos Update because the price will increase from $12.99 to $17.99.
Squad released a preview video for Kerbal Space Program to announce a substantial version 0.22 update that will add a R&D Center to the game. Research and design will feature a tech tree with spacecraft parts to blow up. Items will unlock by fulfilling scientific missions which will require successively more advanced parts to complete. Rocket designers should be glad to hear that they will also be able to save sections of created craft for future use in the forthcoming update.
Both spacecraft destruction simulators are available on Steam Early Access or on the developers’ websites.
Activision should just make Call of Duty: Ghosts about the dog. Gunfights in space? Bah! Who cares? Roger Moore did that in 1979. Check out the dog at the 1:28 mark in the video. He can do anything!
The standalone version of The Stanley Parable has an estimated release window. According to an update on the devblog, Davey Wreden expects to release the full game in October of this year on Steam. The indie developer has not settled on a price yet.
The project, previously known as The Stanley Parable: HD Remix, is a remake of Wreden’s own Half-Life 2 mod released in 2011 which is still available for free. In the game, the player battles (or doesn’t) a narrator in a drab office setting while testing the concept of free will. The mod garnered critical praise for its exploration of narrative control.
Stardock Entertainment has announced that they have promoted Derek Paxton to vice president of games development and production. Paxton, the creator of the Fall from Heaven mod for Civilization IV, has been working at Stardock as the lead designer on Fallen Enchantress and Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes since 2010. Brad Wardell, CEO and president of Stardock, praised Paxton’s project management skills.
“Derek has really transformed the game studio. His experience at managing multiple projects combined with his amazing design skills has resulted in not just better games but a better working environment for our teams.”
In an interview with PC Gamer, Derek Paxton spoke about what he plans to do with his newly gained powers. Crush his enemies? See them driven before him? Hear the lamentations of their loved ones? Nothing so mundane!
The big change that I would like to make at Stardock is really organizing those roles. Once you have as many people as we have now, and as many different teams as we have now, making sure there’s a producer devoted to that job, somebody scheduling things out and talking to all the various people and seeing what can be done to make their jobs easier, really, producers are what allow the wheels to turn at companies. And that we have dedicated designers, so the designer isn’t doing that as a side job along with something else. Someone, every day, should be playing the game and focusing on, “Is this fun? Is there a better way that we can do it?” That would probably be the biggest change that I’ll be making at Stardock.
Tom’s review of Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes can be found here.
Tom Clancy’s EndWar is coming back but as a free-to-play browser game. I’m sorry. That’s probably not what you wanted from a next-gen EndWar revival. Ubisoft announced EndWar Online with the release of the trailer above. It’s being developed by Ubisoft Shanghai and uses “next stage browser technology” to bring the online RTS to life with magically growing buildings next to the Eiffel Tower. Grind for levels, buy microtransactions. You know the drill. “F2P never changes” should be the tagline.
Square-Enix has reaffirmed their committment to big-budget projects and HD gaming in their latest investor report. Yosuke Matsuda, President of Square-Enix, made the bold statements in the just-published 2013 Annual Report.
Matsuda blames the recent financial troubles at Square-Enix on the changing realities of the gaming industry and the poor performance of three HD games made for western markets. Sleeping Dogs, Tomb Raider, and Hitman: Absolution all sold under expectations. He supplied a number of reasons why these games did not blow up the charts, including the fact that retail disc sales fell off quickly and incentives to retailers had a negative impact on profits. Despite the performance of HD gaming in the West, Matsuda threw down the gauntlet.
“Titles of large-scale development are our flagship titles, showcasing our technologies. We will never lower the flag of such titles. In fact, they are strong brands and therefore have the potential of diverse content exploitation.”
In your face investors! Square-Enix plans to continue producing HD games and soldier on in the hostile environment by streamlining development, offering more game tie-in merchandise, and publishing games on mobile devices. Matsuda went on to say that they could expect more profit from digital distribution and suggested that free-to-play and other business models could be explored.
Star Citizen, Chris Roberts’ crowd-funded space game, will add first-person combat if a newly announced $20 million stretch goal is attained. The game recently hit the $18 million mark, and continues to rack up an impressive pledge amount from backers. According to a post on the Roberts Space Industry site, the new stretch goal will add shooter gameplay to “select lawless planets” and allow players to “take the fight to the ground.”
“While goals will continue after $21 million, they will take a new form representative of what additional funding can add to the game!”
While mixing first-person shooter gameplay with spaceship piloting and trading in the same game has been explored with limited success before, this marks a significant addition to the Star Citizen concept. Ship-to-ship boarding actions were added to the game in a previous goal, but ground combat would be a major gameplay change. Hopefully, it turns out better than Universal Combat.
The Letter from the Chairman continues by explaining that prices for decorative items for the Hangar module will be reduced following player input. Roberts also reminds players that the initial entry package is all they will need to experience the game.
Quick-scoping is the highly effective technique of flicking the scope up on a sniper rifle to make a split-second headshot while maintaining mobility in Call of Duty multiplayer. It allows Ghillie-suited marksmen to run around getting kills like all the other players instead of staying in a position making carefully aimed shots. Quick-scoping has become mandatory for pro players to master even while they complain about its use.
Infinity Ward’s Mark Rubin posted on TwitLonger that sniping in Call of Duty: Ghosts will change from previous games. Marksmen players may not be using sniper rifles in the ways they’ve been used before.
“In re-envisioning sniper rifles some aspects, such as sway timing, have changed the way sniper rifles function and so traditional ‘quick-scoping’ has been affected. Is it gone completely? Maybe. It certainly won’t be viable in the way it previously was. Can’t wait for you snipers out there to get your hands on these new sniper rifles and try them out for yourselves.”
The elimination of quick-scoping, while welcome to many players, would likely create a major shake-up in pro league Call of Duty gaming.
Sony has announced the new PlayStation Vita TV. It’s a small device that allows owners to play PS Vita games on their television. It has a slot to accommodate the physical cards, downloaded games from the PlayStation Network, and will also be able to play media services like Sony’s own Video Unlimited. The PlayStation Vita TV will also play PS4 games via Remote Play with a planned software update.
The console will launch in Japan on November 14th “before other regions” and will retail for 9,954 Yen, or about $100.
BattleForge, developed by EA Phenomic, is closing down at the end of October. The “Play 4 Free” branded hybrid card-collecting real-time strategy game will be shut down on October 31st by publisher EA. According to the notice on the official forums, players are encouraged to spend any remaining in-game currency before the lights go out.
The decision to retire older games is never easy. We hope you’ve enjoyed playing BattleForge as much as we enjoyed making it and we wish to extend our sincerest thanks to all of our passionate and dedicated players for supporting BattleForge over the past 4 years.
