Category: News

Yanked PUBG Ad Is Basically Plagiarized From Community Artwork


The above photo is an Xbox One ad concept created by Reddit user Macsterr and posted on PUBG’s subreddit about a month ago. This image may look familiar if you follow Xbox on Twitter because someone from the company saw the concept and apparently loved it enough to create official advertising that you might refer to as an…aggressive homage. The following appeared on the Xbox Twitter account yesterday, December 26.

The original tweet has been deleted, but the internet doesn’t forget things so easily and the archived version can be found here. The tweet on the Xbox account as deleted with no additional statement by Microsoft.

(Source: Reddit)

Funcom Announces Acquisition Of Conan Property


Funcom has announced that it has approved plans to acquire 50% of the Conan the Barbarian portfolio. The acquisition, approved by the board and pending approval at a general investor meeting in January, would see Funcom benefiting from a 50% royalty reduction on Age of Conan and Conan Exiles while also acquiring 50% royalties for any game developed using Conan and various other properties acquired as part of this venture.

The joint venture company will hold interactive/video gaming Intellectual Property (IP) rights based on the works of Robert E. Howard and classic Swedish pen & paper and board game properties, including attractive IPs such as “Conan the Barbarian”, “Solomon Kane”, “Mutant Chronicles”, “Mutant: Year Zero”.

The acquisition will allow Funcom to secure more frequent launches of games both produced internally as well as co-developed and published from third party partners. Rather than paying cash, Funcom will be paying with shares, reducing risk and increasing revenues. More information on the acquisition can be found at the link below:

(Source: Funcom)

Giveaway: Global Adventures Closed Beta Key


MMO Fallout is pleased to announce that we have partnered with Suba Games and Pixelsoft in order to give away closed beta keys to Global Adventures, an action MMO that invites players to travel the world and seek hidden treasures. The beta does not start until December 29, however you can pick up a key now and register it to be prepared.

Check out the trailer below and grab your key even further down. Keys are IP-restricted, so if you’re trying to get your hands on multiple keys and aren’t having any luck, that would be why.

[keys id=20031]

Steps to Join Global Adventures’ Closed Beta
  1. Obtain a beta key. 
  2. In the Steam app, from the “Games” menu pick “Activate a Product on Steam…” 
  3. Follow the steps and enter your key when prompted. GA will be added to your Steam Library.
  4. Once GA has been released, you will be able to install and play the game.

Daybreak Game Company Hiring For Unannounced Game Project


Just in case you thought their days of making new games was over, Daybreak Game Company is hiring for an unannounced title. The company is hiring for numerous positions in relation to what appears to be an action-based MMO that is being developed for PC and consoles, is on the Unreal 4 engine, free to play, and is very early on in its life. Daybreak is looking for some industry veterans with heavy requirements like 10+ years experience for the creative lead.

If you think you have what it takes, head on over to the official website. Or just mine some data to see what this game might be.

(Source: Daybreak Game Company)

Crytek Suing Star Citizen For Copyright Infringement/Breach of Contract


Always read your fine print, folks, it’ll help you out of a lot of problems.

Crytek has officially launched a lawsuit against Cloud Imperium Games and Roberts Space Industries, alleging copyright infringement and breach of contract. The lawsuit alleges that CIG violated its contract with Crytek back in 2016 when they announced that the first person shooter spinoff Squadron 42 would be sold as a separate product. According to the lawsuit, Crytek contacted CIG to inform them that their license only covered one game, and thus Squadron 42 was not licensed for use with their engine.

Crytek has not been compensated for Defendants’ unlicensed use of Crytek technology in the Squadron 42 game, and has been substantially harmed by being deprived of that compensation, which would ordinarily include a substantial up-front payment as well as a substantial royalty on game sales.

Star Citizen has not been on the CryEngine in some time, it moved over to the Amazon Lumberyard engine which, incidentally, is based on the CryEngine. Based on the lawsuit, Chris Roberts was able to successfully negotiate a substantially reduced licensing fee as long as they promised to prominently promote both Crytek and CryEngine. In return, CIG allegedly reduced and then removed the copyright notices and trademarks completely.

Outside of copyright infringement and breach of contract, it looks like CIG may have signed a clause into their license that made CryEngine the exclusive engine, thus making their move over to Lumberyard in violation of said agreement. Outside of the obvious now-missing revenue stream, Crytek’s lawsuit also notes that CIG’s license included requirements to send bug fix and optimization reports on at least an annual basis, an obligation that the company did not meet. Crytek also alleges that the Bugsmashers video series constitutes publicizing confidential information regarding CryEngine.

On May 6, 2015, Defendants began posting a series of videos online titled “Bugsmashers.” The videos contain excerpts of information from CryEngine that were confidential, in breach of the GLA, and should not have been shown to the public. The series continues today.

Crytek is asking for damages well in excess of $75,000 (the exact number will be seen). The charges seem pretty cut and dry, if Crytek has the supporting evidence than the next step would be for the court to determine damages.

CIG has commented to several websites on the matter:

“We are aware of the Crytek complaint having been filed in the US District Court. CIG hasn’t used the CryEngine for quite some time since we switched to Amazon’s Lumberyard. This is a meritless lawsuit that we will defend vigorously against, including recovering from Crytek any costs incurred in this matter.”

(Source: Scribd)

Neverwinter Winter Festival Starts Thursday


In spite of its name, it is without a doubt winter in Neverwinter. This year your favorite activities return in Neverwinter’s Winter Festival, from sled racing to ice fishing and everyone’s favorite Winter tradition, killing monsters. Players will be able to get their hands on prior years rewards as well as two new sled designs.

The festival starts on Thursday, December 14 at 7:30am PT (PC) and 10AM PT (Console)

The festival comes to an end on Thursday, January 4 at 7:30AM PT (PC) and 10AM PT (Console)

For more information, check out the official website at the source below.

(Source: Neverwinter)

Bungie Admits Mistake, Reverses Content Lockout


Not a stranger to controversy, Destiny 2 came under the spotlight yet again this past week during the launch of the Curse of Osiris expansion. While introducing new raids and quests, players quickly became angry over the news that players who did not own the expansion would be locked out of existing content, namely prestige raids, Trials of the Nine, and more.

In a post on the Bungie Blog, the team has confirmed the changes as an “unacceptable lapse,” and confirmed that prestige raids for the base game would be brought down to their original power level requirement, allowing all players to obtain the prestige raid trophy as well as complete the Legend of Acrius exotic shotgun. In the future, the team hopes to add a third prestige difficulty that will scale with the new power available in each expansion.

We’ve heard from the community that both of these plans aren’t working. The Prestige Raid was a novel experience that players value, even if they don’t own Curse of Osiris, and it was a mistake to move that experience out of reach. Throughout the lifetime of the Destiny Franchise, Trials has always required that players owned the latest Expansion. However, for Destiny 2, Trials of The Nine launched as part of the main game, so it’s not right for us to remove access to it.

The full Bungie Blog contains details on how each activity will be handled going forward.

(Source: Bungie)

Santa’s Gone Missing In This Week’s RuneScape Update


This week’s RuneScape update introduces a new mini-quest, ‘The G-Nome Project,’ and sees players searching for none other than Santa himself who has none other than gone missing. The G-Nome Project continues a storyline first started in November where players assisted in the building of a clockwork boy. Now Santa has gone on a journey to turn him into a real boy.

In addition to this festive mini-quest, the holiday aura is now active in RuneScape, offering a 50% experience bonus as well as a cosmetic effect.

(Source: RuneScape Press Release)

Winter Celebrations Begin Around Perfect World’s Library


Winter is here, and that means seasonal events returning to your favorite MMOs. Perfect World Entertainment has officially announced its schedule for December, starting with most of its library this week with Neverwinter’s Winter Festival next week.

The list of festivities includes:

  1. Neverwinter Winter Festival of Simril: December 14-24, complete events to win event-exclusive mounts, companions, and costumes.
  2. Star Trek Online Q’s Winter Wonderland: December 7 – 18, help Q defeat the Kramp’lhri, compete in ice races, and more to earn exclusive cosmetics including a winter sweater worn by Wesley Crusher.
  3. Champions Online Attack of the Misfit Toys: December 7 – January 4, defeat the deadly toys unleashed on the city for new winter themed costumes.
  4. Perfect World International: (Varying) A slew of winter updates await, including login rewards, special NPCs, and more.
  5. Forsaken World: (Varying) In-game events, login rewards, and photo contests abound guarantee that players will receive their share of presents this month.
  6. Swordsman: December 21-26, earn charge points for logging in and exchange them for rewards.

You can learn more about any game’s upcoming events by heading over to the official Arc Games website.

Destiny 2 Costs The Same, Now With Less Content


Destiny 2’s Curse of Osiris released this week on consoles and PC, and if anything could test the waning resolve of the Destiny fanbase after the recent revelation of secret experience throttling, it’s the notion that the game, which still costs $60, now offers less content in its base game.

As of this week, prestige raids in Destiny 2 now require a minimum power level of 330 in order to access, a bit of an issue if you’re still on the base game with its level cap of 305. For some players, this move is not surprising. After all, Bungie did the exact same thing when launching The Dark Below for the original Destiny. For others, such as PC players who haven’t had access to the game for two months before getting locked out of content, or for those new to the series, it looks like Bungie is locking away already purchased content behind further walls.

About 11.8% of players have beaten a prestige difficulty raid on Playstation as of this writing. Without the ability to complete a prestige raid, players will be locked out of Destiny 2’s platinum achievement.