Guardians of Ember Is Shutting Down Again


Guardians of Ember is the game that just would not survive. Guardians of Ember, who MMO Fallout readers might remember when original publisher Insel Games was booted off of Steam, is shutting down once again. The last time around Insel Games managed to get Guardians of Ember removed from Steam by manipulating reviews. This time it appears to be good old difference of opinion.

Gameforge took over publication back in January 23, 2019 and it looks like after a year’s probationary period Runewaker is no longer interested in working with them.

So what led to Gameforge losing the rights to Guardians of Ember? Only Gameforge and Runewaker know for sure, but we’re willing to bet it has to do with the gross mismanagement of the relaunch with Gameforge failing to secure replacement on Steam even one year later.

Is this the end for Guardians of Ember? There is always hope of Runewaker finding a new publisher or self-publishing. Tomorrow is another day.

Source: Twitter

Steam Cleaned: Cyber Watch Abuses Screenshot Flags, Valve Does Nothing


Update 1/21/20: Valve has finally intervened and prevented Kartikay from banning the screenshots associated with my account.

I’m going to flood this article with screenshots to emphasize how Cyber Watch is a pre-alpha product and also so they show up on Google image searches.

It’s time for another update to our Steam Cleaned piece about the underhanded shysters working on Cyber Watch. Cyber Watch for those not keeping score is a low quality piece of shovelware pushed onto Steam in a pre-alpha state by publisher Kartikay Rathi. I published my review of Cyber Watch due to the fact that this game that had clearly been cobbled together in a short time-frame had been pushed onto Steam in a non-Early Access state, and the developer has since retaliated in ways to remind us just how shady and unprofessional they are. And just like the game itself, the cover up was lazy and low quality.

Unfortunately for Cyber Watch I keep my receipts. The four reviews posted under fake developer accounts were quickly hidden from public view after I posted my expose and it got extra exposure, but the evidence is still freely viewable to anyone who wants to see it. Head honcho Kartikay Rathi even went so far as to DM me on Twitter offering a backhanded apology while simultaneously lying about the reviews being done by college friends (again, I have the receipts) and summarizing with how he apologized and it should be good enough for me.

Sorry, it isn’t. Especially since at this point Kartikay decided that he would issue community guideline violation strikes to the four screenshots I had posed to Cyber Watch’s community page, resulting in a four day ban from uploading content. I appealed the decision to Steam support and received a response from a Sarah-Lynn who was more than useless. When any dev removes uploaded screenshots for community violations, it puts a universal upload ban on that account for one day per screenshot. To top it off the screenshots have been unflagged and reflagged, renewing the community upload bans each time.

The dev team, a group of college students who act more like a gaggle of preteens, have taken to trolling from private accounts that still have their names in the URL. Take Keshav Bhadana here for example:

And of course it wouldn’t be an update without another fake review, this time from yet another account located in Uttar Pradesh, India with only one game reviewed, and it’s Cyber Watch and a whole .2 hours on the game. This one I presume is an actual college friend of the devs, and I hope for their sakes that they weren’t forced to pay money for this garbage just to do a friend a favor.

Since its launch, Cyber Watch has peaked at one concurrent player. Nobody is buying it outside of the accounts used to push fake reviews, and after this dismal show of lunacy, nobody is going to buy it. The developer is now in full meltdown mode. This is the last post I’m going to make about Cyber Watch as the game and its developer’s reputation are already a smoldering pile of ash.

The Adventures Of Space Comabat Issue #2: The Mandible


Video: Netmarble Announces Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross With Trailer


Netmarble has officially announced its next title: Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross, coming to mobile in 2020 with pre-registration now available.

Seven Deadly Sins emphasizes combining cards and characters for special moves, as well as extensive interaction with the main Seven Deadly Sins crew. Netmarble also boasts the return of original Japanese voice actors to once again play their characters.

“It is an honor to be a part of brand’s history of The Seven Deadly Sins franchise that made global success with the upcoming launch of The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross. The game made the initial success with taking the #1 spot in the App Store and Google Play charts in Japan, and we are eager to see how fans across the globe take to traveling with Meliodas and his team when we launch the game this year,” said Young Jae Park, Executive Producer of Netmarble Corp.

Players who pre-register will receive:

  • 1x Meliodas in-game character, the main hero of The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross
  • 1x in-game costume and weapon for Meliodas
  • 30 Diamonds (The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross’ premium currency, 10 Draws value)
  • 100,000 Gold (The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross’s in-game currency)
  • An exclusive box that offers in-game items, including a special costume for Elizabeth, a the main heroine of The Seven Deadly Sins

Check out Seven Deadly Sins on Android and iOS.

In A Christmas Miracle: Z1 Battle Royale Population Spikes


In a post-Christmas miracle, Z1 Battle Royale has received the breath of life from…someone somewhere. At least it’s a lot more lively than it has been.

Z1BR’s death has been slow cooking in the crockpot of Steam’s lavatory for the last seven months or so, so it’s all the more surprising that the last few days have seen the population spike. Insanely spike. I’m talking hitting peaks of nearly six thousand concurrent players if you bothered to read the header image in this article. All this from a game that wasn’t . What gives?

A tournament. With Twitch streamers.

This Friday (1/17), a tournament is going to take part in H1Z1 with a lot of the big streamers from back in H1Z1’s heyday…except Ninja. The attention of streamers has brought people back into the game to take part in the scrimmages that have been going on this week, and it has breathed a bit of life back into the mostly dead title.

Will Z1 hold its traffic up after the tournament is over? Only time will tell.

Source: Steam Charts,

Not Massive: Tower of Shades Is A Tower of Charm


Tower of Shades is one of those games that I talk about knowing someone’s going to link to it to say “oh that Connor he’s not a real gamer, look at this hipster trash he calls a game.” I don’t care, Tower of Shades is charming as hell and I enjoyed every minute of it.

In Tower of Shades the entire game is comprised of beating the final boss of an RPG. That’s it, you fight the final boss. You won’t beat the boss on your first try, your second try, your third, and so on, but the whole goal here is to reinforce the idea that you should keep trying. If you don’t keep trying you’ll never win, and if you give up then why did you start at all?

All in all, Tower of Shades might take roughly 30 minutes to complete, give or take a bit. It also costs a whole $2 on the Steam store, which is more than reasonable for what is more of an experience than a “gamer’s game.” The fight does require you to think strategically, and each time you get a bit closer to beating the boss the game encourages you to keep on keeping on. Keep trying, even if you fail now you still have another chance.

One warning I will offer is that Tower of Shades has a few points where there is extreme flashing lights. The game has a warning at the beginning, but it is definitely not safe to play for those with epilepsy.

Otherwise Tower of Shades is a very uplifting game and I recommend it to anyone who needs a quick confidence boost. Check it out, nerds.

Video: Guild Wars 2 Shadow in the Ice Trailer


Arenanet today released the latest trailer for the Icebrood Saga. Shadow in the Ice introduces a new expanded map, new tier 3 upgrades, raven attunement, raven armor set, and world boss Drakkar.

Shadow in the Ice launches January 28 and is free for current expansion pass owners.

Rise of Agon Focuses On PvE Experience In New Update


Rise of Agon is focusing on player vs environment in its latest patch. The latest update tweaks daily quests to provide significantly more appealing rewards, chests have been made more rewarding, and the gold cost to combine treasure map fragments has been removed completely. In addition to the content tweaks, players should be happy to hear that Big Picture Games has taken steps to fix uncompletable quests, removed obsolete crafting tools and spells from various loot tables and crafting, and optimized the texture loading.

The entire list of patch notes can be seen at the link below.

Source: Rise of Agon

MapleStory M Casts Shade As New Hero


It’s that time of the year again, and MapleStory M is releasing a new character.

Shade is one of the six heroes to bring an end to the reign of the Black Mage, and is a pirate that utilizes knuckles and fox marbles to combat their enemies. Shade has been reborn and is using this newfound life to investigate claims that the Black Mage may be back from the dead as well.

Of course a new character can only mean three things: First, a growth support event offering additional rewards as players attain higher levels with their new Shade characters. Second, a burning event offering an additional two levels for every level earned between 3 and 100. Third, a log-in reward event.

  • Growth Support: Runs through February 24
  • Burning Event: Runs through February 10
  • Log-in Event: Runs through January 22

Furthermore a series of events honoring the six heroes will run through February 11 and provide rewards for players with those six heroes. A Lunar New Year event also begins on January 20 and provides a bevy of rewards for those who log in and participate.

For more details, check out the official website.

Mobility: More Heroes Enter Spiritwish


Mobile game Spiritwish deployed a new update this week introducing new heroes and new activities. The update deploys two new heroes as well as expands on the backstory of two other heroes. Adventure mode is permanent content available for higher tier players while those who take part right now can get in on the firework festival offering great loot.

More details on Spiritwish can be found at the official website. Spiritwish is a Nexon title.

  • Adventure Mode – In this all-new mode, players with achievement scores above 900 can earn rewards by tactfully commanding idle heroes to embark on quests to earn Spirit Cards
  • New Heroes – Two powerful Rare heroes join the fray, with Mononofu, a melee-wielder who uses a Tachi to take down ghostly enemies, and Vanguard, a protector who utilizes superior defense skills to stun and taunt
  • Recruitment Quests – The Fire Mage and Soothsayer now offer two new quests for players to unlock their respective character cards and learn who they are and where they came from
  • Firework Festival Event – Players can celebrate today’s content update by collecting randomly-dropped fireworks and exchanging them for items at the Premium Shop. Red Envelopes can unlock Legendary++ Weapon Boxes, Character Cards, costumes, Blue Diamonds and Gold.