Pearl Abyss Announces Shadow Arena Open Beta


Pearl Abyss announced today that Shadow Arena’s beta will take place on February 27 and run through March 8.

Originally conceived as a game mode within Black Desert, Shadow Arena has spun off to become a standalone title. Shadow Arena draws from MOBA, battle royale, and MMO genres to create an arena fighter that players can tackle solo or as a team.

“Shadow Arena pits 40 players against one another in a ruthless competition to be the last person standing on the battlefield. Players can choose from one of nine playable characters in the beta, each with their own unique fighting style. To climb to the top of the pack, players must hunt monsters and collect loot to upgrade their gear and gain buffs. However, impeccable skill execution and well-timed evasive tactics are critical in turning fights in one’s favor to secure victory.“

Beta signups are available on the official website.

Sign up for the beta here.

Anthem Finally Getting That Overhaul We’ve Heart Rumors About


It’s been a while since we last heard from Anthem.

Hard to believe Anthem launched nearly a year ago next week but it’s been pretty quiet on the western front with Bioware not doing a whole lot of updating to the game. It’s been so quiet in fact that people noticed Bioware hasn’t taken down the Christmas decorations, despite being nearly Valentine’s Day. Speculation has run rampant over the past few months, with signs pointing to Bioware working on an overhaul for Anthem that would address many of the bigger gripes of the player base.

Well that overhaul has been confirmed in case you didn’t read the title of this article. Bioware has posted an updated blog confirming that the team is still alive and working on Anthem and will be focusing on a long term redesign, with attention being paid to the core gameplay loop.

“Over the coming months we will be focusing on a longer-term redesign of the experience, specifically working to reinvent the core gameplay loop with clear goals, motivating challenges and progression with meaningful rewards – while preserving the fun of flying and fighting in a vast science-fantasy setting.  And to do that properly we’ll be doing something we’d like to have done more of the first time around – giving a focused team the time to test and iterate, focusing on gameplay first.”

There will be updates for Anthem as the team works toward the redesign, with events and store refreshes coming but the game moving away from seasons for the time being.

Source: Anthem

Early Access Fraudsters: Lonath Online Is A Scam


Today’s Early Access Fraudsters comes in the form of Lonath Online, a title by 4NetGames that is by all measures a scam. How much of a scam?

If you head over to Lonath Online’s forums the two stickied threads you will see are warning people to stay away. Stay far away. 4NetGames is the product of one developer who apparently decided to just up and abandon his work way back in 2016, leaving the game in a state where it is still online and being sold for money ($7) while not actually functioning as a game as the server is offline. Yes, the forum moderator is recommending you stay far away.

Although I’d rather not do this, it has been too long. I’m marking Lonath online as abandoned(?), but 4NetGames may just be on hiatus for a little while. I have no idea if he plans to ever return or work on Lonath Online again. It has been (as of now, on the 21st of February) been marked abandoned.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them, I will try to help out as much as possible.

EDIT: Servers are officially OFFLINE, please do not purchase this until the developer (if) comes back.

Lonath’s website is gone as is its social media presence, and the developer has been unreachable for years. Given Valve’s reputation for poorly responding to broken/nonfunctioning/abandoned games, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise to learn that users have been reporting Lonath Online for the past four years only to have absolutely no action taken.

Is the game selling copies? Presumably no. Is it wasting valuable real estate on the Steam store? Definitely. From my search I haven’t been able to find any other titles created by 4NetGames, but we’ll be keeping in eye out in case anything pops up under this developer title. To give people a heads up on who they are giving money to.

Video: See Planetside 2’s New Expansion


Daybreak Game Company has revealed the next big expansion coming to Planetside 2. Escalation is now live on the public test server and introduces a bunch of new gameplay systems including the massive Bastion war machine that can be called in to rip the battlefield a new hole.

“Each Outfit now has access to their own Bastion! This massive interplanetary craft can be called into battle once refueled and rearmed. The Bastion is the ultimate force multiplier on the battlefield, capable of engaging enemies at long distances with mannable turrets, and serving as an air vehicle spawn point for your Outfit. They require a coordinated effort to bring down (multiple weak points must be destroyed), and when an Outfit calls one planetside, their enemies must respond or risk being overwhelmed!”

The livestream showing off upcoming content changes can be seen above with more details available on the official website.

Early Access: Paycheck: City RPG


Paycheck: City RPG is the latest MMO to hit Steam Early Access and for first impressions the game is leaving players wanting.

At its core, Paycheck is shaping up to be a role playing game in the biblical sense; players actually playing roles such as shop owner, police officer, and thief. Developer Happy Dog Interactive LLC has promised functionality to address players who might try to make the game a living hell for others just trying to play by the rules.

“One of the biggest challenges in designing a game like this, is how do you ensure constructive gameplay? In other words, how do you prevent players from constantly shooting one another for no reason? Our solution to this and other gameplay related problems are the Fair Kill System and the Fair Arrest System. These intricate systems enable players to have fun in their respective roles without having to constantly deal with problematic players.”

The good news is that Paycheck: City RPG is free to play. The bad news is that it doesn’t seem to have launched into Early Access with much to do, and players are wondering why their time is being wasted. Complaints seem centered around the lack of activities and specifically the absence of anti-griefing mechanics that the Steam store page talks about.

“This game is a long way from being playable, very buggy with not many things to do. The map is way too small for the type of game it is. Players start with weapons and new spawns start same place every time and can get killed straight away. There is no real character building mechanics so its kind of just a TDM game at the moment.”

One player logged in to find a low population being harassed by a single person.

“My first five minutes into a server there was just a cop in spawn arresting people the minute they spawn in, and since anyone can be any job they want this just allows trolls to do stuff like this. I only played about 30 minutes because there was only 5 people on the server and one was just standing in spawn waiting to arrest people like i said before, but i hope this game reaches it’s potential it’d be fun.”

Another review notes a lack of enjoyment of being a shopkeeper when one can’t interact with their store.

“this needs some serious help. the game was pushed back for whatever reason and still feels terrible. driving a car is a nightmare, being a store owner makes no sense, cant even lock a room or interact with your store. i think this game needs to be worked on longer it wasnt ready for this launch.”

Many of the reviews agree that the game has potential to be something good. Someday, just not right now. For now, you might want to give the game some extra time in the oven before diving in.

RuneScape Esports Initiative Gets Indefinite Delay


RuneScape is getting an esports/competitive update. Eventually. Maybe. Someday. Let’s just play it by ear.

Jagex’s head of esports took to Twitter today to confirm that news of esports and competitive initiatives in the company have been delayed again to an unspecified point in the future. News has been slow especially since the seasonal Deadman Mode has been dead since the Summer 2019 tournament, and Jagex has been promising news for several months now on the future of the game’s competitive…future.

“Due to some extra work needed on our side, we’ll be delaying the esports and competitive gaming update until further notice. We thank you for your continued patience and look to share information with you as soon as possible.”

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Daily Esports ran a piece last year which can give more insight into RuneScape’s problems with esports and competitive play. Primarily the company’s attempts at introducing esports elements have been met with problems from domination by clans, game-breaking issues that were further complicated by mismanagement, allegations of misconduct by Jagex staff, and all kinds of problems that won’t be fixed overnight.

Where will RuneScape esports end up? Your guess is as good as ours.

Video: The RuneScape Tactical Nuke


Today’s video was created by Youtuber Gudi and provides quite the interesting experiment in Old School RuneScape. Gudi stacks low level accounts to create what he refers to as the tactical nuke capable of doing a lot of damage in an instant. The set up involves quite a lot of legwork and the use of multiple accounts, but the payoff is very entertaining to watch.

Gudi is an ex Jagex employee.

Activision Blizzard Q4 Finances: Lesser Billions


Activision Blizzard has released their fourth quarter financial reports and if you were hoping the company would burn to the ground following last year’s Hearthstone debacle, well you’re going to be sorely disappointed.

The positive side of this year’s Q4 report is that Activision didn’t pair an announcement of record revenues with hundreds of layoffs. We still expect the company to siphon a few hundred million in taxpayer dollars for simply existing in 2019. Unfortunately Activision hasn’t been able to keep up its record results from last year as the company has seen multiple straight quarters of revenue loss. Sad for the investors, but since Activision isn’t infinitely expanding not quite a surprise.

Despite this, Q4 results exceeded expectations according to Bobby Kotick.

“Our fourth quarter results exceeded our prior outlook for both revenue and earnings per share,” said Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard. “Our recent Call of Duty® success illustrates the scale of our growth potential, as we expanded the community to more players in more countries on more platforms than ever before. With our strong content pipeline across our franchises and momentum in mobile, esports, and advertising, we look forward to continuing to delight our players, fans and stakeholders in 2020 and beyond.”

Net revenue dropped from $2.3 billion for Q4 2018 to $1.98 billion in 2019, while overall net bookings similarly fell. Activision boasted a monthly average user rate of 409 million with a large portion coming from King (249 million) and of course the ongoing success of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch.

Investors are happy because Activision increased dividend payouts by 11% and you have to focus on the important things.

Source: Activision

EGS: Kingdom Come: Deliverance Free Next Week


This week’s list of free Epic Game Store titles includes Carcassonne and Ticket To Ride, but gamers might be looking more forward to next week’s offering.

Starting February 13 and running through the 20, you’ll be able to get your hands on Kingdom Come: Deliverance at no cost. Kingdom Come launched in early 2018 from Warhorse Studios and publisher Deep Silver. A story-driven RPG that features an open world, challenging combat, and an authentic feeling medieval Bohemia. Kingdom Come currently holds a mostly positive rating on Steam where user reviews are allowed.

Also available alongside Kingdom Come will be Aztez. Aztez bills itself as a hybrid beat-em-up and turn-based strategy game. It originally launched in 2017 by Team Colorblind.

Source: Epic Game Store

Black Desert: Kunoichi Hits PS4, Awakening On Consoles


Pearl Abyss has a bunch of new content this week for Black Desert players on console.

Playstation gamers will be able to get their hands on the Kunoichi class. The Kunoichi is the mistress of blades and utilizes the Kunai shortsword as well as the following skills:

  • Flash Slash – Kunoichi disappears and unleashes powerful hits upon her enemies.
  • Kuno Stab – Using her elite reflexes, Kunoichi uses her Kunai to stab the vitals of her enemies, rendering them useless.
  • Ninjutsu: Shadow Explosion – The Kunoichi draws power from the shadows and unleashes an explosion in front of her, knocking back opponents.
  • Tragic Blade – The Kunoichi deceives her opponents to think that she is vulnerable, and during their next attack she picks the opportune moment to strike a killing blow.

Players on Xbox and Playstation who level the Kunoichi class to 56 can awaken the class. Awakening unlocks the Chakram weapon and new devastating combo attacks. Awakening unlocks the following skills:

  • Lethal Spin Spree – The Kunoichi grabs her Sah Chakram with both hands and spins, using centrifugal force to deliver devastating damage to enemies around her.
  • Chain Crash – The Kunoichi releases the Sah Chakram as it spins into her enemies hitting them multiple times.
  • Half Moon Slash – Swiftly moving side to side, the Kunoichi uses that momentum to deliver powerful hits and recover her WP.
  • Wheel of Wrath – Unleashing the rage pent up inside, Kunoichi unleashes a powerful upward strike then immediately brings her enemies back down to earth with a downward attack.

For more information, check out the official website.