Category: News

Prey Developer: Consider Steam’s Refund Policy Your Demo


Prey launches on PC and consoles this week, and while gamers on Xbox and Playstation were able to gauge their interest thanks to a pre-release demo, PC gamers haven’t been afforded the same luxury. Thankfully, Co-Creative Director Raphael Colantonio has a solution: Buy the game anyway, and just make use of Steam’s refund policy. Steam, for those out of the know, allows automatic refunds for games within two weeks or two hours of gameplay, whichever comes first.

“It’s just a resource assignment thing. We couldn’t do a demo on both the console and on the PC, we had to choose. And besides, PC has Steam. Steam players can just return the game [prior to playing] 2 hours so it’s like a demo already.

There are a few important notes to keep in mind that if you’re using Colantonio’s suggestion, foremost being that you have to buy the game through Steam. Registering a third party key will invalidate your eligibility for a refund. Furthermore, the two hour gameplay cutoff isn’t a hard line, but you’ll be dealing with Steam’s customer support and the good will of whoever you happen to be sent to. Finally, there are no guidelines for what constitutes refund abuse, so if you’ve been refunding a lot of games Valve may cut you off.

Otherwise, just think of Prey on PC requiring a $60-80 deposit, depending on your region.

(Source: Aus Gamer)

[Video] “No Vagina Losses,” Streamer Before Losing To Female Team


The above video, provided for your viewing pleasure, involves a Halo 5 streamer who enters into a capture the flag match with his team only to discover that his group has been matched with four female players. “We’re not losing to vaginas,” he says, before promptly losing to said team. “Bro, oh my god bro, we just lost to girls, bro.” If you want to watch a man’s ego die slowly, watch the video from the beginning. If you want to skip to the post-game tantrum, start at around the seven minute marker.

Outside of an assumption based on the screen names, we don’t know if the streamer was actually playing against an entire team of women, but we’re willing to go along with it if he is.

ZX Spectrum Websites Taken Over By Internet Trolls


It looks like the tribulations of Retro Computers Ltd never seem to cease. In an update posted to Indiegogo backers today, Retro Computers Ltd has warned that their domains have been taken over by a third party and are redirecting to other websites (full announcement below). The zxvega.co.uk domain now redirects to a website “Bum Fun Gaming,” who hosts a Youtube channel heavily criticizing the company while the retro-computers.co.uk domain is forwarding viewers to a website that has been archiving the events of the Vega+ crowdfunding campaign.

It is unknown at this time what involvement, if any, the hosts of these websites have. While Retro Computers Ltd. is referring to this incident as a security breach, domain records for both websites suggest that both domains were not renewed by a third party company put in charge of managing said domains, and as such both were opened up to the public. RCL has denied these claims and is stating that they owned the domains until 2018.

We have been made aware that late yesterday afternoon a security breach occurred on a number of domains belonging to Retro Computers Limited.  This includes the zxvega.co.uk and retro-computers.co.uk URLs

We do not currently have control of these domains and an unauthorised third party has taken over these accounts. We we are working to recover our property from this person or persons whom we have identified and reported to Action Fraud and the Metropolitan police.

For security reasons please only contact us through the Indiegogo portal and not via emails that contain either URL  We will provide a new email address for team members in the very near future.

Do not send any personal details via email and this information may not be secure.

Former Funcom Execs Sentenced To Prison Term In Fraud Investigation


While Kingdoms of Amalur may take the title of the game that Rhode Island paid for, The Secret World will go down as one of the few games to result in criminal convictions. We’ve been covering on and off the tribulations of Funcom’s former executives who have been under investigation since the launch of The Secret World in 2012 (yes it has been five years) and subsequent resignations. For those who have forgotten, then Funcom CEO Trond Aas resigned from his position and sold off a huge chunk of his stocks. Funcom’s offices were raided in 2014 over allegations of insider trading and last year Aas and a few other executives were arrested and charged with market manipulation and insider trading.

The men involved have been convicted and sentenced to serving between 85 days and 13 months in prison. It is important to note that Funcom itself has not been involved in the litigation for quite some time. The developer was fined in 2015 for irregularities and it appears that their involvement ends there.

(Source: Massively)

Neverwinter Hits 15 Million Players Across 3 Systems


Neverwinter has plenty of reasons to celebrate today as the MMO announces that it has reached 15 million customers across PC, Xbox, and Playstation. Perfect World Entertainment has released a video thanking the community, embedded below.

Since its original launch in June 2013, Neverwinter has continued to receive expansions, bringing exciting and diverse content from the Forgotten Realms and Dungeons & Dragons lore. From defeating the elven lich Valindra Shadowmantle to facing off against monstrous demon lords in the Underdark and going toe-to-toe with frost giants in Icewind Dale, adventurers continue to experience the Forgotten Realms with players around the world. The Cloaked Ascendancy, now available on all platforms, marks the 11th major content expansion to the action MMO.

Elder Scrolls Online Is Cheaper Than Cheesecake This Weekend


Haven’t yet given in to the temptation to buy The Elder Scrolls Online? Now is the time, frugal PC gamer, as the game is available at a steep discount on the Humble Bundle Store. There are three packages up for sale, starting out at less than $10 for the basic package with the gold edition running $29.99. The gold edition comes with the game and four DLC packs.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Edition comes bundled with 4 DLC Game Packs. Imperial City: Join a PvP-focused battle for the ancient seat of power at the heart of the Empire. Orsinium: Aid the Orcs as they rebuild their great capital city in the snow-capped mountains of Wrothgar. Thieves Guild: Become the newest recruit in the infamous guild of pickpockets, burglars, robbers, and thieves in a dangerous port city of Abah’s Landing in Hew’s Bane. Dark Brotherhood: Join the merciless guild of assassins, the Dark Brotherhood of the Gold Coast, and carve a bloody swath across Tamriel.

The sale won’t last forever! Check it out at the link below.

(Source: Humble Bundle)

Star Trek Escalation: Season 13 Hits PC


Star Trek Online has released Season 13, continuing the story related to the Tzenkethi that began earlier this year. The update continues the Tzenkethi storyline, introduces new class-specific gear, and makes improvements to the matchmaking system. Escalation also introduces War Games, where two teams of five players compete against each other for rewards.

The Alliance needs to continue to explore the space surrounding the Tzenkethi advance to try and determine a pattern to their attacks.  With our new featured episode “Mirrors and Smoke,” captains will work with the Lukari as they explore a mysterious nebula and discover the secrets within.  The mystery of the Tzenkethi continues in Season 13 while new mysteries of the Lukari are discovered!

The full details of the update can be found here. Patch notes are here. Completing the feature episode this week will reward players with some extra gear. Escalation hits Xbox and Playstation at a later date.

RuneScape’s First Expansion Hits June 5th


RuneScape is set to shake things up with the launch of Menaphos: The Golden City of June 5th. The update takes players to the lost city of Menaphos, an area first hinted at over a decade ago and finally opened to the public. Players won’t find themselves so easily welcomed by the citizens of Menaphos, and instead must work to increase their reputation among the city and go from outsider to exalted. The update brings with it an ever-changing network of tombs to plunder, new quests, a new slayer dungeon, as well as an increased slayer level cap: 120 from 99.

“RuneScape has always been underpinned with the telling of great stories and quests, and launching RuneScape Expansions – beginning with Menaphos: The Golden City – allows us to do that in an entirely new way,” said David Osborne, Lead Designer, RuneScape. “We’re working hard to ensure this gleaming metropolis eclipses the Menaphos that’s been in the imagination of our many millions of players for more than a decade, and we can’t wait to share more details over the coming weeks before the gates open.”

Menaphos is the first piece of content to be released under RuneScape’s new content system, focusing on massive expansions every three months. You can find the new trailer on the official Youtube channel, or below on this page.

(Source: Jagex Press Release)

[Video] Kill Your eSports Career In 60 Seconds Or Less



(Video warning: Very loud, NSFW language)

How do you end your eSports career in less than the time it takes to order a Little Caesar’s Pizza? If you want the answer to this question, imagine the video above as something of a tutorial. Matt “Dellor” Vaughn, formerly of Toronto eSports, has left the scene after a mid-game tirade in Overwatch in which he shouts a racist slur for around 30 seconds straight after being killed by the other team’s Widowmaker, following a short exchange with his team.

Vaughn denies being racist in a subsequent message on Twitter, blaming everything from lack of sleep, frustration over internet problems, and the other player cheating.

The only thing I can say is that despite me using that word, I am not a racist. I was extremely upset, and I was trying to make the person I was angry with upset as well, and so I said the most offensive thing that came to mind.

Toronto eSports has posted a message that Vaughn has been removed from their organization.

Toronto Esports has today announced the release of Matt “Dellor” Vaughn from their organization, citing breach of contract. The circumstances of the dismissal relate to an incident where Dellor used abusive and discriminatory racial language while streaming. “Toronto Esports is an organization built on inclusivity, and we have always had a zero- tolerance policy for any forms of discrimination.” Said President Ryan Pallett. “Immediately upon learning of the incident, the player was interviewed, admitted to the offence, and was notified that his contract with the organization was being terminated”

This isn’t Vaughn’s first recorded incident of using racist language, another example can be found here.

(Source: Toronto eSports)

KingsIsle Wants Help Getting On Steam


KingsIsle, makers of popular MMOs including Wizard 101 and Pirate 101, have a new game coming out: EverClicker. If you can’t tell by the title, it is a clicker game. Effectively, KingsIsle wants to learn about the process of submitting and having a game put up on Steam, and EverClicker happens to be the guinea pig that will be going through said trial.

It’s easier to start our journey onto Steam with a game that isn’t hugely complicated with a lot of moving parts. Starting with EverClicker on Steam allows us to learn the process. If successful, we hope to be able to offer more of our games on Steam and other distribution outlets in the future, which could include games such as Wizard101 and Pirate101.

If you’d like to see more of KingsIsle’s games on Steam, head on over to the EverClicker page and check it out.