Category: News

Neverwinter: Sea of Moving Ice Launches November 8th


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Perfect World Entertainment has announced that Sea of Moving Ice, the followup to Neverwinter’s latest expansion Storm King’s Thunder, will launch November 8th. Picking up where Storm King’s Thunder left off, Sea of Moving Ice will see players sent to take on Jarl Storvald, a new villain who threatens to cover the land in a permanent winter.

Sail the seas in your new boat, see what new fish you can catch from the icy depths, discover parts of a treasure map, and hunt down pieces of the new artifact weapons.

Sea of Moving Ice hits shore on November 8th. For more information, check out the official website.

Akaneiro Appears To Be Dead, Customer Support Closed


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ARPG Akaneiro is offline and Spicy Horse Games has shut down, at least that’s how it appears if you have tried to play their games recently. Users attempting to log into Akaneiro are finding that the servers are not responding, and neither is Spicy Horse’s customer support, who are auto-responding to support tickets with the following message:

We regret to inform you that the Customer Support area for Spicy Horse Games is now closed as we shift away from F2P mobile games. To be clear though, The Gate, Critter Academy, Chains of Darkness, Heroes of Night and Akaneiro WILL continue to remain online for the foreseeable future, but there will be no further customer support or assistance for these games. We will however we will continue to monitor the servers and reboot them as and when needed.

Evidently not. As it turns out, Spicy Horse Games shut down way back in July, when founder American McGee announced that he would be retiring to his sailboat.

10 years, 10 games, tons of wonderful memories. The Shanghai studio of Spicy Horse Games is closing its doors. The company itself will remain intact, and we’ll continue to operate existing games online. At our peak, during development of Alice: Madness Returns, the studio contained 85+ people. These days we’re down to just 6, and it feels like a good time for a radical shift. I’m going to turn my focus to indie development and will continue to publish small titles under the Spicy Horse brand. Much of this work will be done in a challenging new environment – aboard my sailboat, bobbing around the S.E. Asia region.

Is Akaneiro down for good or has American simply forgotten to check the server status for the past few days? We’ll have to wait to find out.

Jagex Plays Pivotal Role In New Publicly Listed Games Company


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Back in July, I reported that Jagex had been acquired by Chinese investors, and that the deal would mean the formation of a new company. Today, Jagex has finally unveiled that the acquisition is moving forward and that the new publicly listed company will be called Zhongji Holding. Rod Cousens, who took over as CEO after the departure of Mark Gerhard, will continue his role as CEO, Chairman, and member of the Board of Directors for the foreseeable future.

“Zhongji Holding has great ambition in the gaming space and Jagex is at the forefront of its charge. China is the biggest gaming market in the world and Zhongji Holding’s motivation in the sector will prove a compelling proposition for other gaming businesses seeking access to the region. While an integral part of Zhongji Holding’s plans, Jagex’s operations remain unchanged and its business as usual for our games, players and our employees.”

Also revealed in this statement is that Jagex’s 2015 revenues hit an all time high of $88.4 million with $36.1 million in profits.

(Source: Jagex Press Release)

MU Legend Beta Starts October 25th


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The first global closed beta test for MU Legend is set to begin later in October, according to MMO developer/publisher Webzen. The successor to MU Online, MU Legend features hack and slash combat with four classes.

Richard Moon, Head of Global Business at WEBZEN, commented: “We are happy to finally be able to give players a first look into a brand-new chapter for the continent of MU, a world that millions of players around the globe have cared deeply about for over a decade. We are inviting players to take part in the first closed beta test in order to help us build upon our vision for MU Legend.” He continued: “This beta test brings us one step closer to delivering a new generation of MU to the global audience. We cannot wait to welcome players to our test servers.”

Beta keys will be available via various media websites, probably including MMO Fallout.

Hi-Rez Studios Announces $150,000 Paladins Tournament


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Paladins has had a massive response, and Hi-Rez Studios has wasted no time in announcing the first major tournament with a grand prize that could only be described as…grand. Teams from Brazil, North America, Europe, Latin America, Australia/New Zealand, and China will all compete over $150 grand from January 5th through the 8th, with 8 teams battling it out to see who makes it to the finals and walks off with that sweet cheddar.

“The Paladins Open Beta had an explosive first weekend with well over 100,000 new accounts created in the first 24 hours”,  said Todd Harris, Hi-Rez Studios co-founder and COO. “We’ve also seen a very strong interest in Paladins from competitive players and esports organizations worldwide and are therefore extending the Paladins Invitational to include more regions and more teams”

More information on the tournament can be found at http://www.hirezexpo.com/

[Not Massive] Capcom Quickly Rolls Back Malware Rootkit In Street Fighter V


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Capcom very quickly rolled back an update to Street Fighter V on PC meant to curb cheating on the platform. The update introduced a rootkit that, according to tech savvy users, includes a vulnerability that grants kernel-level privileges to any installed application. Capcom.sys shuts off crucial security defenses on the computer before running whatever instructions are given to it, before turning those protections back on. In short, it’s a fully open back door for hackers.

We are in the process of rolling back the security measures added to the PC version of Street Fighter V. After the rollback process to the PC version, all new content from the September update will still be available to players. We apologize for the inconvenience and will have an update on the time-frame for the PC rollback solution soon.

It is important to note that the update does not uninstall the driver if it is present, but merely no longer installs it. A user on Reddit has already offered a couple of methods of detecting and removing the driver.

Rootkits of this type are not just harmful for users, they can also be a massive liability for the companies that install them. Sony has paid out millions to settle various lawsuits over the BMG rootkit scandal from more than ten years ago that saw countless computers infected thanks to anti-piracy software on Sony music CD’s.

(Source: Steam)

Alliance of Valiant Arms Returns Under En Masse Entertainment


Alliance of Valiant Arms is back up and running, after the decision was made to transfer publisher rights from Aeria Games to En Masse Entertainment. Luckily for players, the transfer doesn’t just mean signing your check over to a new company. The new release comes with graphical updates, a new user interface, and a new map, and more.

Check out Alliance of Valiant Arms at the official website.

Defiance Introduces Loot Karma For Patrons


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The Neo Votanis began this week and runs through October 10th, but there is more to do than simply knocking about the Shrill and Neo Votanis Front. Trion Worlds is looking to reward Patrons with armfuls of loot courtesy of the new Paradise Karma system.

Paradise Karma is simple. Complete Major Arkfall events or purchase Synergy lockboxes from the Defiance store to raise your karma. The higher your karma, the better odds of earning a jackpot, up to 100% or until you receive a jackpot and the counter resets. In addition to this system, Trion Worlds has made Patron even more enticing by upping the following perks:

  • Arkforge Gain: 100% (up from 10%)
  • Experience Gain: 100% (up from 20%)
  • Skill Gain: 100% (up from 20%)
  • Reputation Gain: 25% (up from 20%)
  • Ark Salvage Gain: 25% (up from 20%)
  • Scrip Gain: 25% (up from 20%)
  • Score Gain: 25% (up from 10%)
  • Ammo/Spike/Stim/Grenade Gain: 50% (up from 20%)

(Source: Trion Worlds)

Neverwinter’s Gateway Is Going Away


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Neverwinter’s Gateway has always been a problem for Perfect World Entertainment. On its face, it is an amazingly useful tool where players can manage their inventories, buy and sell goods, level up skills, and play Sword Coast Adventures. It wasn’t available for the PS4 or Xbox, but those on PC managed to get quite a bit of use out of it. On the developer side, however, it was a nightmare. To put it short: Gateway was far too easy for bots to abuse.

Despite numerous attempts at curbing farmable resources, Perfect World Entertainment has been unable to keep the service useful while also preventing its use by bots. As a result, Gateway has shut down. Players who recently used the feature will receive a free companion.

(Source Neverwinter)

Storage Wars: Buying A Banned RuneScaper’s Bank


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When players are banned from RuneScape, what happens to their bank accounts? Does the bank seize the items? Donate the food to some charity to help the children of all the town guards that players murder every day? Does the armor get smelted down and turned into building materials for new content? Or am I simply overthinking what is an otherwise meta concept?

At Runefest, Jagex unveiled Bank Bidders, an upcoming feature that will allow players to bid on a bank (go figure). Here’s the catch: Players have no idea what is in the account other than its age, what the account was banned for, and the current highest bid. That woodcutting bot might have very well been a legitimate player for twelve years and simply made the mistake of botting, his treasure trove might be yours to keep if the price is right.

It’s an interesting idea for a money sink, since no doubt most of the accounts banned will have very little value compared to what players might bid for them. We’ll have to see just what the more adventurous are willing to pony up when Bank Bidders goes live.

(Source: Runefest)