Category: News

[Not Massive] Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey Released


Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is one of the strangest games that I have ever played, and you too can play it as it is available on PC with console coming at a later date. The game comes to us from Panache Digital Games, co-founded by Assassin’s Creed creative director Patrice Désilets, and takes place ten million years ago as players take control of the earliest ancestors of humanity. The game hands the future of the species evolution in the hands of players.

“I am extremely proud of what my team and I have accomplished with Ancestors. I wanted to make a game about evolution that would help remind us of our shared primal instincts. Once I thought of this concept, I could not shake this idea of struggling, trying to survive in this massive, dangerous world,” said Patrice Désilets, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Panache Digital Games. “Today is a great day because we can now share this game with the real world. It may be a difficult journey but hopefully you can survive just as our own ancestors did.”

More information can be found at the official website. Console versions to launch in December 2019.

Funcom Q2 2019: Conan Exiles Strong, Unconquered Not So Much


Funcom this week published their second quarter results for 2019 and they are pretty much okay.

Funcom’s CEO Rui Casais referred to 2019 as a transition year for Funcom between the turnaround and growth phases of the company where those changes may not be immediately visible. Presumably he is referring to Funcom’s revenue and profit for the second quarter which despite boasting a 53% increase from last quarter is moderately over half of last year’s numbers. $8.9 million in revenue in Q2 2019 compared to $15.2 million in 2018 as well as $600,000 in profit compared to $5.8 million in 2018.

The numbers makes sense as 2018 brought in Conan Exiles and Mutant: Year Zero and Funcom didn’t have as big of a title to publish this year outside of Conan Unconquered which didn’t quite live up to expectations. On the plus side, the company has shed its $3.4 million in debt since last year and is in a strong, growing cash position.

With Conan Unconquered we saw an opportunity to experiment with a low budget game in a new genre for Funcom, “Real-Time Strategy”. We worked with a developer with a long track record in the genre to create a small game that isn’t a classical example of the genre, but a twist on it. Unfortunately, the reception from the players was not as positive as we hoped for. We are grateful for their feedback and based on that feedback we have made free updates to the game and have a larger update ready to go out soon. We are improving our processes based on this experience and we still believe in this genre, but it’s clear that the budget and quality of this game was not high enough.

Conan Exiles continues to be the strong performer in terms of revenue and funding Funcom’s other projects. The report does note that the success of Conan Exiles showing the company’s strength in multiplayer games as a service, that the Conan single player game has been put on hold in order for the Oslo team to focus on continued content for Exiles as well as the Dune open world multiplayer game set to release soon™. The Funcom North Carolina team is working on a multiplayer shooter that they hope to bring to market in 2020, while the company is also publishing Moons of Madness and Conan Chop Chop, as well as other titles yet to be announced.

Dune is currently listed as in pre-production while the coop shooter based in the Mutant: Year Zero IP is in production. Moons of Madness, a game set in the Secret World universe, is on track for a Halloween 2019 release with Conan Chop Chop to come in 2020. Funcom is also engaged in joint operations surrounding the Kult RPG franchise, Solomon Kane, Mutant Chronicles, and Doom Trooper along with other lesser known franchises.

Source: Report, Presentation

In Plain English: Youtube Hauls Copyright Troll Into Court


Youtube is finally taking the fight to copyright trolls and this week filed a lawsuit against an individual for allegedly abusing the DMCA takedown system in order to extort and harass Youtube creators into paying him money.

The defendant is Christopher Brady, an individual residing in Omaha, Nebraska. According to a complaint filed in the District of Nebraska, Youtube alleges that Brady has sent dozens of DMCA takedown notices making false claims of copyright infringement. The DMCA takedowns were part of a campaign to harass and extort money from the creators, with Brady threatening to send additional fraudulent notices in order to cause the termination of his victim’s Youtube accounts unless they paid him off. Brady is also accused of misusing the personal information that his victims supplied to him during the counter notification process.

Youtube’s attorneys went as far as bringing attention to the DMCA’s built-in risk of abuse:

“Further abuse can arise because of the DMCA’s counter notification process. Under the DMCA, users who believe that their content was removed because of an improper takedown notice may ask YouTube to restore the content pending resolution of the question of infringement. To trigger the counter notification process, a user must supply their name, address and phone number to YouTube, provide details of the allegedly wrongful takedown notice, and consent to be sued by the original complainant. In accordance with the DMCA, YouTube forwards a copy of complete and valid counter notifications to the original complainant. Instead of using the personal information in a counter notification for purposes of resolving an infringement dispute, abusive complainants may use it for purposes of harassment.”

Brady is accused of targeting multiple Youtube accounts although the lawsuit notes two in particular that Brady allegedly proceeded to send ransom letters to, promising that he would rescind the strikes if money was sent via Paypal or bitcoin in the sum of over $100. Both Youtubers publicized their experiences which brought the extortion attempt to Youtube’s attention.

But the story gets worse. It always gets worse.

Further on, Youtube alleges that Brady attempted to extort a Youtuber going by the handle Cxlvxn. When Cxlvxn submitted a counter notification, his house was swatted.

“Cxlvxn submitted a counter notification on July 4th, 2019. On July 10th, he announced via Twitter that he had been the victim of a swatting scheme that day. “Swatting” is the act of making a bogus call to emergency services in an attempt to bring about the dispatch of a large number of armed police officers to a particular address. Given the timing of (i) Defendant Brady’s online dispute with Cxlvxn, (ii) Brady’s false copyright claims against Cxlvxn; (iii) Brady’s receipt of Cxlvxn’s true home address via Cxlvxn’s counter-notification; and (iv) the reported swatting incident, it appears Brady used the personal information gained through his abuse of the DMCA process to engage in swatting.”

All in all, Youtube alleges that Brady submitted more than two dozen false DMCA claims, which were signed under penalty of perjury, using at least fifteen fake identities all of which were traced back to him. The false claims have caused Youtube a substantial sum in investigating to detect and halt his behavior, and the very real possibility that Brady will continue his abusive conduct into the future.

Youtube is requesting compensatory damages for violation of 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), attorneys’ fees, injunctive relief barring Brady and his associates from filing false DMCA strikes, and anything else the court may deem appropriate. When parties file at DMCA takedown, they affirm that they do so under penalty of perjury for false claims and may be held liable for damages incurred by their false claim.

As always, the docket related to the case has been uploaded to the MMO Fallout Google Drive. All allegations laid forth in the lawsuit above are mere allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. More information to come as the case progresses.

Mobility: Alliance x Empire Update Adds New PvP Mode


Mobile MMO Alliance x Empire has added in a new PvP mode in the latest update. The update also introduces adorable new companions, new costumes, new special events, and the wheel of fortune rewarding players for every event mission completed.

“In this all-new relay battle mode, player trios go head-to-head in turn-based combat for valuable rewards. Spectating team members can take advantage of their position by using debuffing skills against enemies; “

For more details check out the official website.

Black Desert Launches on PS4 With Celebrity Endorsement


Black Desert is here and it has some celebrity chops behind it.

Launch day is here for Black Desert on the Playstation 4 and Pearl Abyss is breaking out the celebrity collaborations. Actress Megan Fox has talked about her love of Black Desert in previous interviews and has worked with Pearl Abyss to create a teaser trailer for today’s launch.

“Launching on the PlayStation 4 marks an important milestone for our company and the game’s continued expansion into new territories, fulfilling player needs for a strong MMORPG on console system,” said Robin Jung, Chief Executive Officer of Pearl Abyss. “We’re launching on a strong note and will maintain a steady drumbeat of regular content expansions to make Black Desert the best action MMORPG available in the world.”

Black Desert is launching with three starter packs from the standard ($29.99), Deluxe ($49.99), and Ultimate ($99.99). Six classes are available at launch with more to be added in future updates. Pearl Abyss has also launched a content creator partnership where interested parties can sign up and be rewarded for promoting Black Desert.

More information on Black Desert can be found at the official website.

Netmarble Posts Q2 2019 Fiscal Results


Netmarble has posted its Q2 2019 financials and the results are a mixed bag. Company sales rose 10.2% over last year to $459.2 million while operating profit plummeted 46.6% to $29 million and net profit dropped 42% to $33.2 million.

“We have been focusing on enhancing our competitiveness by successfully launching new games of various genres in the global market,” said Young-sig Kwon, CEO of Netmarble. He added, “We expect a turnaround in Q3 as new successful titles launched in Q2 will be reflected in full Q3 sales. We also expect the proportion of sales outside of South Korea to continue to increase to 70% in the second half of the year with the launch of Blade & Soul Revolution in Japan, The King of Fighters Allstar in North America, and new games based on our popular franchise games.”

Netmarble’s top performing games include MARVEL Contest of Champions (15%), Lineage 2: Revolution (14%), Blade & Soul Revolution (10%), MARVEL Future Fight (8%), and Seven Deadly Sins: GRAND CROSS (8%) among others. Sales outside of South Korea made up 64% of total revenues and the second half is expected to bring in a number of new titles from YOKAI WATCH: Medal Wars in Japan and Koongya Catchmind in Korea, Blade & Soul Revolution in Japan and THE KING OF FIGHTERS ALLSTAR in North America, along with the Korean launches of its proprietary franchise games, Seven Knights 2, and A3: STILL ALIVE.

Source:

Black Desert Launches Into Head Start On PS4


Good news, everyone!

You Playstation gamers looking to get your hands on Black Desert are finally in luck, as the game has just gone into head start on PS4 before the full launch on August 22. If you want to take part, you can go ahead and pick up one of the starter packs available on the Playstation Store. Black Desert is a buy to play MMO from Pearl Abyss that initially launched on PC and subsequently launched on Xbox One.

PS+ members can get their hands on the starter pack for 10% off, but only if you buy before the game fully launches on the 22.

[Video] Gamigo Announces ArcheAge Unchained


What happens when you have a game like ArcheAge? Start anew, at least that’s the plan that Gamigo seems to be taking with today’s announcement of ArcheAge: Unchained.

Your feedback over the years encouraged us to provide a different game experience for you, our community. ArcheAge: Unchained is a new way to play the game with a different business model. We’ve changed entirely its monetization which was simply not possible to this great extent with the already existing ArcheAge F2P version.
In ArcheAge: Unchained there is no longer a subscription model. With a onetime purchase, you can enjoy the content as often as you want. You will be able to purchase vanity items via Credits and we will implement seasonal ArchePasses. We are focusing on fairer gameplay which is why we decided to change a few monetization features for ArcheAge: Unchained. There’ll be more information in the next couple of weeks so stay tuned!

For more information on ArcheAge: Unchained, check out the FAQ.

MapleStory Explains Server Mergers With Worlds Unite Academy


MapleStory is merging servers and Nexon wants to make sure that you know exactly what is happening. The existing worlds will be reduced to five in the North American region: Scania, Bera, Aurora, Elysium, and the Reboot server.

Maintenance starts late on August 27 and the servers aren’t expected to be back up until some time on August 28. Nexon recommends that you don’t fashion weapons out of cookware and creeping down dark alleys looking for hogs. Instead, you can mow some lawns, build a website, or do some reading. You’ll be limited to fifty characters. If you had purchased character slots that exceed this amount, the cost will be credited to your account. Nexon notes that you have until January 2020 in order to decide which characters are going to be kept, otherwise the game will keep the 50 highest leveled people.

More information can be found at the official website.

Nexon Talks: The Story of MapleStory


This week I got the opportunity to chat with a couple of the folks behind MapleStory, a game that you may have seen a fair amount of coverage here in recent months. Yes, this game that launched in 2003 is still going very strong, with major content updates coming out on a rather impressive schedule.

You see, every time I talk about MapleStory there are some questions that I see revolving the content that I’m talking about and often times I don’t exactly have an answer. Who is the Black Mage, what are these theme dungeons, what’s the deal with the Reboot server, etc. So we brought Nexon on board, and they were happy to provide two of their own to give us some answers; Nam Jun (NJ), Global MapleStory Lead Game Designer, as well as Young Mi (YM), Global MapleStory Leader of Planning and Designing.

 

Us: What is the current state of the MapleStory story for those that may not have kept up with the game in recent times?

Nam Jun: Going back to the story from last winter in 2018, Black Mage, the character that reigned as the “final boss” for a long time in MapleStory, was defeated. Black Mage had planned to destroy Maple World, and to create a new world without transcendents. Empress Cygnus of Maple World formed an alliance in order to fight against his great power, and triumphed after a hard fight in Tenebris, located at the end of the Arcane River.

After Maple World found peace again, we then presented players with ‘Pathfinder’ as the next storyline, which included a new Explorer Bowman class captivated by ancient artifacts.

Us: How do theme dungeons factor into the overall plot of MapleStory?

NJ: In theme dungeons, we sometimes include hints or characters that may relate to the future plot, or provide players with a glimpse of different events that take place in various parts of Maple World that may not necessarily tie to the main plot. When players play through the theme dungeons, on top of each job’s story quests, they’ll be able to enjoy the added fun that comes with understanding MapleStory’s supplemental plot.

Us: How many total classes are there right now?

NJ: There are a total of 45 classes at the moment.

Us: Can you explain what the idea is behind having temporary characters like the Beast Tamer and Pink Bean? Why not make them permanent?

NJ: Because MapleStory has 45 different jobs, we’ve been servicing some jobs to only be available to be created or played during a certain period. For example, Pink Bean, one of the most beloved boss characters in Maple World, was specially made available as a playable character for a limited time, so players can experience something new.

Us: Are there any functional differences between named hero classes and explorer classes?

Young Mi: Heroes refer to the five heroes who have sealed the Black Mage, and therefore praised most highly in Maple World.

Explorers are new heroes that appeared in Maple World after the heroes who sealed the Black Mage have disappeared, and they try to protect the peace in Maple World.

Regarding the functional differences, we do try and make a general distinction by giving each job a unique story, theme, function (combat method), and etc. So we’d like players to experience those differences and enjoy them in various ways.

Us: Has the Pathfinder class been positively received?

NJ: Yes! Pathfinder drew attention as the first Explorer Bowman Class character to be released in a while. We also received feedback that she was enjoyable to play with given her exceptional hunting abilities–dealing high amount of damage and displaying excellent secondary skill functions—and her superior abilities when it comes to bossing.

Us: Do the burning character events bring back a high number of people who may not have played in a while?

NJ: Absolutely! We heard a number of people saying they returned to the game after hearing the news that a Tera Burning Event (benefits until Lv. 200) and a Burning Event (benefits until Lv. 150) will take place back-to-back this summer.

Players will be able to level up their character quickly with the burning event providing various equipment, items, and the perk of 1+2 leveling. So a lot of new and returning players, and of course the existing players who are leveling up various characters for link skills and Legion bonuses, usually take advantage of this event.

Us: What are the tradeoffs of the reboot server for people who might be looking to come back to MapleStory?

NJ: Reboot server is a special server where trade between other characters is limited, and obtained meso rate is 6 times as high and EXP obtained is 2.5 times than that of a regular server. Because trade is limited, more time and effort may be needed than in regular servers in the beginning stages of growing the character to obtain equipment items.

However, players can benefit from the feeling of achievement by leveling up their character, and earning equipment items on their own.

Us: What is next on the plate for MapleStory?

YM: Right around the corner, we plan on proceeding with the world merge that a lot of people have been looking forward to. We also have various new events and contents in the works. 

We know players will be most curious about the story after the battle with Black Mage. An entirely new story is planned to unfold, beginning with the story of Explorers standing up against a newly approaching danger. We hope that you look forward to it as the story continues.

I’d like to thank Nexon for getting us this Q&A session, as well as both Nam Jun and Young Mi for taking time out of their busy schedules to answer them.