Category: News

Astellia Online Already Shutting Down In Korea


Astellia Online is shutting down in its native home of Korea. The southern one.

Nexon has announced the sunset of Astellia Online in Korea with servers set to shut down on Thursday January 16, 2020. The website is a little tough to read given Google’s automatic translation tools but it looks like limited refunds will be available to customers going back sometime through this year. Astellia Online launched about a year ago in Korea and was published by Nexon. The western launch was self-published by the game’s developer Barunson.

The news has the western Astellia audience concerned about an impending sunset in our territory, as player estimates show that the western population isn’t doing so well either. People have also raised questions about the impending Russian launch as pre-order packages have gone on sale.

Source: Astellia

Mortal Online 2: It’s Coming Out


Mortal Online 2 is happening, Star Vault this week released a teaser trailer and a heap of information.

Coming soon, Mortal Online 2 continues the level-less skill system of the original title, introducing an open-ended skill system where players become better at abilities just by simply using them. The company aims to make player characters more versatile and move away from the Mortal Online system that tended to push players toward specific roles.

The world of Myrland is built on the Unreal Engine 4 technology and features a massive four hundred square kilometer landscape to play around in. A closed combat alpha will be held in Q2 2020 for those interested in testing out the new game.

The Game Awards Will Have Playable Demos On Steam


Say what?

If you’re one of those people who doesn’t particularly care about the Game Awards, well now you have a reason to be at your computer this week (outside of the usual reasons). Geoff Keighley’s annual public display of affection toward Hideo Kojima is also renown for having a fair number of game reveals, something that only gets larger every year. This year however you won’t just sit at the television computer screen being told what’s coming out, you’ll be able to play them.

This year The Game Awards is working with Steam to bring playable demos of about a dozen games that will be available for 48 hours before they are removed.

“Six years ago I bet everything I had to create The Game Awards as a way to celebrate our passion for gaming,” said Geoff Keighley, creator, The Game Awards. “Now feels like the right time to take the next step with The Game Festival, a completely digital approach to the consumer event space. Let’s face it: Not everyone can attend a physical trade show or consumer event. The Game Festival is designed from the ground-up as an event without barriers, extending the benefits of a physical event to the global gaming community that watches The Game Awards.”

  • System Shock (Nightdive Studios)
  • Eastward (Pixpil/Chucklefish)
  • Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus)
  • Moving Out (SMG Studio/Devm Games/Team17)
  • Röki (Polygon Treehouse/United Label)
  • Chicory (Greg Lobanov)
  • Wooden Nickel (Brain&Brain)
  • Haven (The Game Bakers)
  • Heavenly Bodies (2pt Interactive)
  • Acid Knife (Powerhoof)
  • The Drifter (Powerhoof)
  • CARRION (Phobia/Devolver)
  • SkateBIRD (Glass Bottom Games)

More information has been posted in an article on Medium. Steam users will also have the chance to win free games through game drops. Exact times have not been established, however the Game Awards airs Thursday Dec. 12 at 8:30p.m. eastern standard time.

PSA: Wasteland 2 Is Free On Good Old Games


Unless you expect to be paid to play games, you can’t get much better than free. For the next couple of days, you can get your hands on the Wasteland 2 Director’s Cut Digital Classic Edition, uh, Redux Remastered Ultimate Collector’s Replication. Edition. For free.

Wasteland 2’s director’s cut features a rebuilt game engine in Unity 5, perks & quirks to customize your characters, precision strikes, over eight thousand lines of new voice-overs, and more. Oh yea, and the classic edition includes a code for Wasteland 1 in case you haven’t played that game. Wasteland 1 isn’t a digital remake extreme director’s cut like the sequel, but it is still a fun game and a free addition to your free game.

And if you really want to spend some dosh, Good Old Games is hosting its winter sale.

Source: GOG

Black Desert Xbox Adds Valkyrie Class


The Black Desert news isn’t over.

Over in Xbox territory, Black Desert is expanding with the release of a new character class. The Valkyrie is a melee character that boasts offensive and defensive skills and wields a sword and shield to bring their enemies down. In addition, Black Desert on Xbox now features equippable alchemy stones that can be purchased at market or created with the alchemy skill. Alchemy stones provide buffs to players at regular intervals.

For more information on the Valkyrie, check out the trailer below.

Black Desert Officially Launches On Mobile


Black Desert Mobile is officially here, as the game goes live globally. Black Desert Mobile generated successful response with 4.5 million pre-registrations and has enjoyed a successful launch in multiple countries including Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.

To celebrate the successful launch, Pearl Abyss is rewarding mobile gamers with a series of in-game items and gifts from the Bunny Bunny Ornament, a Tier 1 Horse Emblem, a Verdon Outfit Chest, and Krenvatz Barding. Additionally, those with Amazon Prime will be able to redeem monthly goodies starting immediately. Black Desert Mobile is available in English, German, Spanish, French, Russian, Thai, and Indonesian, with Portuguese to be added in 2020.

Device information available here.

Redbox Kills Off Gaming Rentals, Ruins Christmas


Redbox is killing its game rentals, by which I mean Redbox has already killed off game rentals.

The sad news came this week as customers began to notice that Redbox kiosks were no longer allowing people to rent video games from the service. Users began asking questions to Redbox customer support, who acknowledged that due to “changes in the industry,” the company would no longer be renting out video games. The move has already gone into effect.

Redbox’s plan is to sell off its remaining stock, which means you can get some relatively new games at a discount. Titles like Death Stranding are being sold for $40 with Fallen Order and Modern Warfare running roughly $45.

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For those who still wish to rent physical games, your only options are to go with a subscription service ala Gamefly or a local video rental store/library that has video games available.

Source: Twitter

PUBG Mobile Charity Event Raises Money To Save The Amazon


This week PUBG Mobile partnered with Global Green to help save the Amazon. On December 9 a star studded roster including actress Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green, hosted the #fight4theamazon event at Avalon Hollywood. The event kicked off with Fox and Green facing off in a 4v4 PUBG Mobile match joined by influencers Nikki Bella, Stephen Boss, Pickles, Allison Holker Boss, Artem Chigvintsev, and McCoffee. Megan Fox’s team was ultimately victorious.

The event also played host to a 90210 reunion, a trivia contest, and an aerialist duo. Megan Fox presented Global Green with a check for $100,000 on behalf of Tencent and PUBG Mobile.

But those of you who didn’t attend the event are not out of luck, as a separate contest is ongoing offering a chance to win a Tesla Model S and $20,000. Contest details can be found here.

Source: Press release.

Corepunk Tastes Like A MOBA-Turned MMORPG


I have no proof that Corepunk was originally designed to be a MOBA title before transitioning into an MMORPG, but the trailer makes it look like one. Perhaps it is the slower combat combined with the fog of war, interface, art style, and the health/mana bars above the heads of the characters that give me that feeling. Perhaps. Maybe they’re just future proofing it for a console launch.

Regardless, you should check out Corepunk, an MMORPG coming out between tomorrow and the end of time. Learn a bit from the trailer above, then check out the official website.

Mobility: Elder Scrolls Blades Cans Chest Timers


Chest timers are so early 2019.

Monetization in Elder Scrolls Blades is getting a little less ridiculous this week as Bethesda released patch 1.5. The latest patch completely removes chest timers, allowing players to immediately open them. In addition, players who spent gems on increasing chest limits will have those gems refunded. Even better, ESB has promised that the update will add more chests to each level, each with a guaranteed gem, along with more loot dropped from enemies, and bosses in each job that may drop legendary equipment. You’ll also have 20 more inventory spaces to store that extra loot.

The full list of changes can be found on the patch notes page here.