The Rainbow Six Siege Starter Pack is available once again in the Ubisoft store, but unlike last time it won’t be around for a limited time. Up for $15, the starter pack gives you access to the entire game with one caveat: The price to unlock operators is significantly higher, we’re talking 5-6 times the price.
Alternately, you can just pick up the full game on sale for $24.99. If you do go the cheap route and decide to upgrade later on, you can do that as well.
(Source: Ubisoft Store)
NCSoft has released their fourth quarter financial statements and the news is quite positive. Compared to the same period last year, sales rose 20% with operating profit up 36% over the same period, thanks to strong performance from major IPs and strong launches in the mobile market. The report notes that sales have hit a historic high thanks to geographical expansion and new business models.
Over on the game’s front, Lineage 1 continues to impress with a 42% increase in sales over last year, an insane jump for an MMO that is going on nineteen years old. Another title to see solid annual growth was Blade & Soul, which continues to be popular as it rolls out worldwide. Lineage II saw a fair amount of growth while Guild Wars 2 continues to rock steadily as it awaits a new expansion pack. The other category contains Lineage Red Knights, whose successful rollout boosted the category by 97%.
One game you may note as missing from the sales breakdown is Wildstar. It isn’t there. It appears that the game’s sales have dropped enough that it is no longer worth listing as a product separate from the “other” category.
(Source: NCSoft Finance)
MMO Fallout has once again partnered with Webzen to give away beta keys for MU Legend, the second closed beta period set to start on February 21st. All you need to know going forward is that if you have a beta key from previous dates, you don’t need a new one. The work has already been done. Sit back, enjoy a cold one, and wait another two weeks. Alternately, you can spend your time watching the trailers below.
[keys id=18528]
City of Steam was a rather highly spoken of game here at MMO Fallout from years back, although it only shut down about a year ago, but I’ve found myself thinking about the game every now and then. As it happens, I stumbled onto the website for no real reason only to find that it is still operational, with a message to fans of the game: We are resting, not retired. As it turns out, the team over at Mechanist Games still wants to do proper by the game via a sequel.
City of Steam certainly isn’t retired, but we’ll need time to reflect on these things. A sequel would have to do justice to the world in a way that honors the original, addresses as many critiques and quirks as possible, and improves or innovates at the same time. It would also have to be good enough to make up for the shortcomings of the original – stuff that no one was really happy with. Rushing into such a massive commitment would be foolish, and would risk destroying the goodwill that still exists for the game.
When I originally talked about City of Steam back in 2012 (my how time flies), I had nothing but praise to heap unto Mechanist Games. Following several successful closed beta weekends, Mechanist announced an unholy union with R2 Games and turned it into the form that ultimately killed it: A watered down grindfest with casino-style blinking lights and everything geared toward a horrendously opportunistic cash shop. The prior fans abandoned ship and City of Steam became a ghost town.
The thought of a City of Steam sequel seems pretty interesting, hopefully Mechanist Games can figure out where the title went wrong last time and realize what was looking to be an incredible title.
RuneScape is great, but what about those times when you don’t want to play RuneScape but you’d like to listen to it, preferably through a smart device manufactured and sold by Amazon. If you fit that demographic, there is finally good news. Jagex has partnered with Amazon and released RuneScape Quests: One Piercing Note, an interactive murder mystery audio adventure in which the player takes on the role of investigator.
Showcasing dramatic voice acting and atmospheric music wrapped in compelling audio gameplay, RuneScape Quests: One Piercing Note is based on a classic quest adapted from the PC MMORPG. Players become the voice of a courageous adventurer, tasked with solving a murder at the Abbey of St Elspeth. The crime scene investigation soon takes a turn for the unusual as demonic dark secrets are uncovered in the seemingly serene abbey.
RuneScape Quests: One Piercing Note is available in the skills section of the Alexa app.
(Source: Jagex/Amazon Press Release)
Zenimax has announced the next massive update to The Elder Scrolls Online, bringing players to the Morrowind province of Vvardenfell. Set to launch on June 6th, Morrowind is being called a ‘chapter,’ with content around that of an official expansion but accessible to all players thanks to the One Tamriel system. Also coming with the expansion is a new class, the Warden, capable of summoning a War Bear ally (seen in the trailer above). Also set for launch with the expansion is a 4v4v4 PvP mode.
Vvardenfell is the largest zone added to The Elder Scrolls Online since launch and utilizes the same geographic footprint as The Elder Scrolls III, including all key points of interest from the classic game. Players will embark on a dangerous journey through legendary locales in Vvardenfell, 700 years before the events of The Elder Scrolls III, from the docks of Seyda Neen, to the volcanic Ashlands, to dense, mushroom-filled forests, and through the glory of Vivec City, still under construction in this time period.
Morrowind will cost $39.99, or $59.99 for the full package with the base game included. The big box, set at $100, includes a hefty looking Dwarven Colossus statue.
(Source: Zenimax Press Release)
Perfect World Entertainment has announced the next big update for Neverwinter, dubbed The Cloaked Ascendancy. Taking place after the events of Storm King’s Thunder, adventurers return to the city of Neverwinter only to find a new threat in the form of the Cloaked Ascendancy. In order to crush this new threat, players will head into The River District, a new adventure zone, to complete a new campaign with new skirmishes, levels, items, and the return of the Spellplague Caverns.
The Cloaked Ascendancy launches on PC on February 21st, with consoles to follow at a later date.
(Source: Neverwinter press release)
The entertainment industry is speaking out against recent orders by the Trump Administration to impose a travel ban over the weekend, with the Entertainment Software Association being the latest to comment. In a press release issued today, the association had this to say:
“The Entertainment Software Association urges the White House to exercise caution with regard to vital immigration and foreign worker programs. As a leading force in technology and exporter of entertainment, the U.S. video game industry thrives on the contributions of innovators and storytellers from around the world. While recognizing that enhancing national security and protecting our country’s citizens are critical goals, our companies rely on the skilled talent of U.S. citizens, foreign nationals, and immigrants alike. Our nation’s actions and words should support their participation in the American economy.”
Protests have sprung up all over the United States and in countries abroad, over orders suspending entry to the United States of people with nationality in a list of countries identified as ‘terrorist hotbeds.’ Countless organizations have weighed in on the issue, including the Game Developers Conference who have promised to refund tickets to anyone unable to attend.
GDC is a global community – we’re horrified by the #MuslimBan. Of course we’ll refund affected attendees, and keep fighting for inclusivity.
— Official_GDC (@Official_GDC) January 29, 2017
(Source: ESA)
Another day, another indie developer accused of engaging in some shady practices. Today the topic is Karabas Studio, developer of the upcoming The Sorceress on Steam, or currently existing Fabulous Journey on Itch.io.
Looking at the game’s screenshots, it seems to be a pretty run of the mill Unity engine RPG, nothing spectacular or particularly special about it. You may notice, hovering over the game’s store page, that this title is the recipient of several awards. A lot of awards, like a whole show of awards. Best atmosphere, best graphics, best action, and the Indie World Award, all from one year. Last year, even, plus a Dev Gamm award with ‘Moscow 2017’ written on it. Pretty impressive considering The Sorceress wouldn’t have been groundbreaking or noteworthy on any of those fronts even ten years ago, but maybe the competition at the Indie World Awards was just really that poor last year?
As it turns out, no, but that’s not the point. A skeptical mind might head on over to Indie World 2016 website to check the awards and find that The Sorceress didn’t win. Anything. At all. Possibly because Karabas wasn’t even in the list of participants. The whole list of awards is fake. Just to make sure there wasn’t some crazy mixup with the translation, I tracked down each game via the website’s list of participants. You can even head on over to Russian Facebook, also known as VK, to see the awards being handed out in action.
But don’t take my word for it, check out the real winners of the awards:
As for Dev Gamm 2017, I’ll assume that the logo is just noting that the game will have some kind of presence, as Dev Gamm 2017 in Moscow hasn’t happened yet and thus no awards have been handed out. Certainly we haven’t hit a point where a developer would stoop so low as to claim awards from shows that haven’t happened yet. The next step may come as a surprise to those of you who have seen how shady indie developers operate, but upon questioning the award listing I was promptly banned by the game’s developer.
Incredibly, the award listing has seemingly been pulled down since my ban. Through the power of internet archiving, however, you can see the page here with its awards on full display. The Sorceress releases February 1st.
Perfect World Entertainment has released a new developer blog discussing the River District, and a new threat from a group of wizards hell bent on taking over Neverwinter (who isn’t these days?). The goal of the River District is simple: Stop the wizards from taking control and reclaim the district for Lord Neverember. The campaign revolves around clearing enemies, assisting with efforts to rebuild guard posts and maintain security, and defending against counter-attacks from the wizards and their minions.
The goal, however, is to provide a campaign that has more content than the simple rotation of daily quests that players are used to.
The dynamic nature of the zone means more choice when it comes to completing dailies for the campaign. Rather than having several rotating quests that must be completed each day, the bulk of your daily credit simply comes from playing in the zone. You can play the territory control game with the guard posts, activate and explore treasure vaults at the dig sites, participate in heroic encounters to stop wizard rituals and counterattacks, or just defeat enemies throughout the district. Any and all of these things grant credit toward daily campaign progress.
For more information, check out the developer blog at the link below.
(Source: Neverwinter)
MMO Fallout 