Category: News

One Year Later, Pathfinder Online Still Hasn’t Secured A Buyer


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The news on Pathfinder Online has been dead for the better part of the last year, and for pretty good reason: Nobody is left. It has been one year since we learned that everyone on the development team, sans three people, were laid off with CEO Ryan Dancey resigning his post and user acquisition virtually nonexistent. When you look at the company overall, their success (or lack thereof) isn’t exactly hard to pin down. An overly ambitious plan coupled with a monetization model that presumes a gaming population willing to pay a premium subscription price for a game that is in “early enrollment,” otherwise known as alpha.

Naturally the company is seeking a buyer or an investor and that process isn’t going so well. Acting CEO Lisa Stevens announced that she had received a signed letter from a company willing to take on Pathfinder Online and see it through to completion. This was, as those of you who follow the game will know, part of the end of the year announcement posted December 23rd, 2015. According to the post, acquisition was meant to be completed by March 1st, 2016. It never happened.

According to Stevens’ posts on the official forums, dated April 13th, things are progressing slowly. They are progressing, however.

Unfortunately, this one is taking longer than anyone wants, but is progressing nicely. I will let you know that Newcorp has been putting money towards the current expenditures for PFO while things are finishing up. They wouldn’t do that if they didn’t think it was likely to go through. Now is it a guarantee? No. Because if it was a guarantee then we would be moving forward. But it is likely. And they are behaving as it that is the case. They have even hired a real estate firm to start looking for office space for a studio up here in Seattle.

Stevens later clarifies that Newcorp is footing the bill for half of the operating costs each month. At the end of May, players were told that “the finish line is in sight.”

The pace has really picked up on the deal for NewCorp to take over Pathfinder Online. The finish line is in sight. We are hoping to give NewCorp a voice through the Goblinworks forums in the near future prior to the deal closing so that they can interact with the community and start to convey their vision for the game to you. Look for news about this in the coming weeks. The team here at Goblinworks is very excited about the future and would like to thank all of you for your support through this long process.

Those of you with calendars are well aware that the “coming weeks” has translated to nearly four months with no apparent further action. Over the past couple of months, Pathfinder’s acquisition announcement has been delayed time and time again, with the company more recently targeting September 1st, then September 9th, and now apparently September 23rd to give some news. These deals tend to be pretty shaky, despite the fact that Newcorp has enough interest to fund the game and keep it going for the past six plus months, but with these business deals literally nothing is guaranteed until the papers are signed and the checks clear. Up until that point, the deal could go sour at any moment.

I’ll leave you on a note of interest that a few players have pointed out to me. In about three months, Pathfinder Online hits the point where subscriptions from the highest backers on Kickstarter run out. I’m not going speculate on the progress of the business deal, but this seems like an important milestone when it comes to keeping the game operational.

MMO Fallout will update as soon as news becomes available.

Hero’s Song Is Back, Launches Indiegogo Campaign


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After taking some time out of the spotlight, John Smedley’s latest title Hero’s Song is back in the public’s eye and ready for another round of crowdfunding. For those who just recently joined us, Hero’s Song is an ARPG with friendly fire, permanent death, and player-run servers. You can join worlds created by other players or create one of your own, where your choice of gods and their influence is supposed to shape the way the world develops.

It’s a very interesting concept, assuming that the theoretical instances can be put to practical effect. In one world, as the campaign describes, Dwarves are wiped out by generations of a war whose bloodshed gives rise to the art of necromancy. So far 10 classes and 10 gods have been revealed, with more than 20 classes revealed as well.

We will offer two versions of Hero’s Song. The regular version will be $19.99 and the Deluxe Edition version will be $49.99. The Deluxe Edition includes the soundtrack by Inon Zur, the digital strategy guide and a wallpaper pack. Aside from that there are no differences.

Early adopters can grab the standard edition for $15 through the Indiegogo campaign.

(Source: Indiegogo)

Webzen Will Be Shuttering ELOA, ASTA This Year


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Webzen has announced that two of its titles will be shutting down by the end of this year. First on the plate is ASTA Online, which will be taken offline October 4th. Beginning this week, the cash shop has officially closed and players will be able to utilize 100% boosts to experience, fame, and drops if they wish to continue playing until the service shuts down. All purchases from the past month will be reimbursed.

Many of you followed us all the way from IBT, to OBT, to multiple expansions, and your support made us believe we could succeed. Sadly, we were wrong. The players we have are awesome, and any company would be happy to have such a dedicated community, but sadly the recent player numbers are not sufficient for us to be able to continue the service. So, after discussions with Polygon Games, we have agreed that the game servers will close on the 4th of October.

Second on the chopping block is Elite Lord of Alliance, which will sunset further along. Similar to ASTA, the cash shop will close and all purchases from the last 30 days will be compensated.

Since official launch, we have been working hard to build a strong community and various events. Unfortunately, we have come to a difficult decision to end this long journey we have enjoyed and cherished together. We understand that this will disappoint many of our players.

More details can be found at each game’s respective website.

Eve Online Introducing Unlimited Trials


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Eve Online is going free to play!

Well, not really. While other websites are heralding today’s news as the coming of free to play for the 13 year old MMO, the term doesn’t entirely fit the package. What Eve Online is receiving is more akin to the unlimited trials that we saw in subscription games like World of Warcraft and Warhammer, allowing players to play endlessly but only obtain a certain level that restricts them from progressing past a certain point.

For Eve Online, this means being restricted to tech one ships, only allowed to use skills native to your faction, and having your skills locked out if you drop your subscription.

The most important thing to know about Alpha clones is that they may only use a specific set of skills and skill levels. To begin with, we are planning that the Alpha skill set will be focused on using tech one Frigates, Destroyers and Cruisers. Alpha clones will only be able to use ship and weapon skills native to their faction. If you have skills trained on a character in Alpha State, which are not part of the Alpha skill set, those skills will be locked and unusable until Omega state is reactivated. Characters will start the game with the same 400,000 skill points as they do now and will be able to train freely within the Alpha list. A fully trained Alpha will have roughly 5 million skill points. You can find the full Alpha list in the Q&A below the blog.

You can read all of the details on the official website.

Wild Terra Sale: Up To 70% Off


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From August 30th to September 5th, you can get your hands on early access packages for sandbox game Wild Terra at a discount of up to 70%. You can find the early access packages on the official website, with prices down below.

The latest update to Wild Terra, v0.8.11 introduces blacksmithing, a new skill that allows players to create metal equipment and tools. You can also repair items now.

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Livelock Hits PC, PS4, and Xbox


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Today, Perfect World Entertainment Inc., a leading publisher of free-to-play MMORPGs, and Tuque Games announced Livelock – a fast-paced cooperative top-down shooter combining intelligent action and unique characters is now available on PlayStation®4, Xbox One and PC for $19.99. A three-pack of Livelock will be available on Arc and the Humble Store at a discounted $44.99 for groups of players that want to play through the top-down shooter together.

Earth has entered the age of the machine. Following a devastating cataclysm that wiped out all organic life, Clusters of corrupted machines now wage an infinite war against each other for what’s left of the ravaged planet. Players will control one of three Capital Intellects – Hex, Vanguard and Catalyst – large and powerful mechanical chassis, each loaded with their unique consciousness. Livelock arms players with a diverse arsenal of weapons and special functions that the awakened intellects will use to fight the Clusters of corrupted machines. Break the cycle of infinite war and forge the fate of humanity.

Livelock’s features are listed below:

  • INTELLIGENT ACTION: Overcome chaotic skirmishes where complete mastery of your arsenal and understanding of enemy behaviors is the key to survival.
  • THREE-PLAYER ACTION CO-OP: Combine forces and coordinate with friends to take advantage of class strengths; each chassis has a distinct personality and arsenal to match.
  • INFINITE WAR: Explore the post-cataclysmic world and attempt to revive humanity in Story Mode or fight through dynamically generated waves of enemies in Survival Mode.
  • DEVASTATING FIREPOWER: Combine your weaponry with devastating class-based skills. Create earth-shattering shockwaves, summon lethal automated drones, and call down searing lasers from orbit at the push of a button.
  • HUMAN INTELLECT vs ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Turn the difficulty up to Singular and battle against an A.I. that has evolved over centuries with the sole purpose dismantling you as efficiently as possible.

Firefall Disappears From Steam After Downtime


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Firefall is still missing from Steam following a period of downtime, although the game is still running and people are still playing. While Red5 Studios has yet to make a statement on why the game was removed, only to state that it is expected to come back in the next couple of days, speculation is rampant that a mob of player reports to Steam that the game had been shut down were responsible for its delisting.

Our servers are back up running at full strength now, Sorry and Thank you all for being patient and understanding through this unexpected downtime.

According to Polygon, nobody at Red5 was responding to inquiries earlier today.

We attempted to reach Red 5 by phone, but no one picked up; the developer’s phone system no longer lists any active extensions. An email sent to Red 5’s press line bounced back.

It isn’t hard to understand why people assumed that Firefall’s website and server going offline was merely a precursor to the game suddenly sunsetting. According to reports, all of the remaining staff on Firefall were let go in July’s layoffs. Players have panned the game as dead, abandoned by a developer that apparently no longer exists in any real capacity.

(Source: Firefall)

Barely Competent: Dungeon Souls


Today’s Mostly Competent is for Dungeon Souls, a retro-inspired dungeon crawler with perma-death and other buzzwords. Despite that, it is actually quite a fun game, and you should check it out in Early Access on Steam.

Ubisoft Shutting Down Mighty Quest and Ghost Recon Phantoms


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Ubisoft has announced that it will sunset two of its free to play titles in the coming months. The Mighty Quest For Epic Loot will shut down on October 25th while free to play shooter Ghost Recon Phantoms will go offline on December 1st.

GR Phantoms has been a tremendous undertaking and we really relished the opportunity to bring to you a different take on the GR franchise. We are proud of what we have achieved but of course, a game like this would be nothing without its community. We’d like to sincerely thank you for your support, enthusiasm, patience and above all, your loyalty. For the hours played, the fun in your company, the never ending deaths at Balaklava Sub-Pen, the fights to control Tomsk-9, the sounds of shotguns and the fear of the P90 SD WAR, we are grateful.

If you look at Ghost Recon Phantoms on Steam Charts, you see a game that is still pretty well populated despite its age, albeit one that is progressively slipping in traffic with each month. As I write this, close to three thousand people are playing on a Sunday afternoon. As it stands, the current base is not spending enough to keep the game viable as low revenue was cited as one of the primary reasons for shutting the service down. As it stands, however, GRP’s run of four years is rather standard for a shooter’s life expectancy.

The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot, meanwhile, has seen a severe drop in Steam traffic, down to just a few hundred over the past six months. As a mostly single player game with a cash shop, Mighty Quest’s appeal was always bound to have some issues with consumers despite the overall game being rather fun.

Ghost Recon fans can look forward to the release of Ghost Recon Wildlands on PC, PS4, and Xbox One in 2017.

(Source: Steam)

RuneScape: Embrace What You Know, Forget What You Don’t


There is more to the world, and Jagex is asking its players to embrace what they know and forget what they don’t with the unveiling of the Eastern Lands, a massive update coming to the long standing MMO. Players already have access to the islands at the western edge of the Eastern lands, and have been working for the past few weeks building a reputation in a land where no one knows their deeds. More zones will become available as players discover them.

The addition of the Eastern Lands was a key player-driven content decision; voted on by over 100,000 RuneScape players. Every year, RuneScape players are given the power to decide which content concepts are taken forward and realised in-game. The decisions made by the player collective can see characters die and geography reshaped as player-driven consequences alter RuneScape’s future.

RuneScape is currently at the tail end month of its Summer of Adventure.

(Source: Jagex press release)