Elder Scrolls Online Delayed Six Months


eso 2014-04-04 14-43-47-01

With one month left until the launch of Elder Scrolls Online on the Xbox One and Playstation 4, Zenimax is in the unfortunate position of bearer of bad news. Due to “a number of unique problems specific to those platforms,” the release of both console versions has been delayed from its initial date. The announcement doesn’t reveal a specific date, but says that the delay is expected to be “about six months.” As a result of the unexpected delay, Zenimax is offering players the option to start playing now on the PC and transfer their characters to either the Xbox One or PS4 when the console edition is released.

Additionally, players who purchase the PC version of Elder Scrolls Online will have an opportunity to shift their copies over to either console for $20 alongside an additional 30 days of game time.

(Source: ESO)

Jagex Remaking Transformers Universe Within Six Months?


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Back when Jagex announced that Transformers Universe was taking a full 180 degree spin and transforming itself from a traditional MMO into a League of Legends style MOBA, I removed it from our listings. After all, we don’t cover MOBA titles here and a recent poll showed that the majority of you have no interest in us changing that policy. I’ve talked a lot in the past about how Jagex has massive problems with their non-RuneScape titles, with literally every in-house project either dead in the water (Funorb) or never seeing release (8Realms, MechScape, Stellar Dawn), with the exception of a Facebook racing game called Carnage Racer released last year.

Enter Transformers Online, an MMO announced in 2011 for a 2012 release date, delayed for over a year, and the subject of a 100% makeover from MMO to MOBA because Transformers do not fish or bake bread. Eurogamer is reporting today that Jagex has confirmed that the Transformers Universe team has been scaled back, noting that most of those affected were moved over to RuneScape with thirteen being let go from the company entirely. The game will not be “adversely affected” from these changes, and the move comes from a recent decision to stray away from in-house technology in favor of an established engine. The article notes concerns from employees within the company as to the sudden change over to unfamiliar technology, and pressure from Hasbro to get the game out by the end of the year.

So where do we stand now? With the change in direction, and now a sudden tech swap barely six months before the intended release, what could possibly go wrong? My earlier predictions still stand: Either Transformers Universe will launch in a rushed and unfinished state, or Jagex will attempt to delay it further and risk incurring the wrath of Hasbro.

(Source: Eurogamer)

Blizzard’s Titan MMO Rebooted, Restructured


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“Interested” isn’t quite the word I would use to describe my attitude toward Blizzard’s upcoming MMO, Titan. It isn’t anything personal against the developer or the game itself, it’s just that at this early of a stage in development where everything we know about the title is from rumors and even the title itself is in codename phase, to get excited for Titan makes about as much sense as getting your hopes up for Sony Online Entertainment announcing Video Game: The Video Game. I say this because the news that Blizzard has drastically reduced the development team and has rebooted the title with a new direction and a delay until 2016 means nothing to me.

Rebooted to what? From what? I can hardly be happy or sad to see the old version go when I knew absolutely nothing about it. I’m sure that if Titan does indeed find its way to release, in some form or another, we will eventually find out what the original game was intended to be. Until then, you can’t miss what you never knew you had.

Blizzard's Titan MMO Rebooted, Restructured


ah010810blizzard

“Interested” isn’t quite the word I would use to describe my attitude toward Blizzard’s upcoming MMO, Titan. It isn’t anything personal against the developer or the game itself, it’s just that at this early of a stage in development where everything we know about the title is from rumors and even the title itself is in codename phase, to get excited for Titan makes about as much sense as getting your hopes up for Sony Online Entertainment announcing Video Game: The Video Game. I say this because the news that Blizzard has drastically reduced the development team and has rebooted the title with a new direction and a delay until 2016 means nothing to me.

Rebooted to what? From what? I can hardly be happy or sad to see the old version go when I knew absolutely nothing about it. I’m sure that if Titan does indeed find its way to release, in some form or another, we will eventually find out what the original game was intended to be. Until then, you can’t miss what you never knew you had.

Darkfall Reveals Launch Plans For Unholy Wars


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It is December 11th, and that can only mean one thing! No, not that. Gear up that sandbox, because tomorrow Darkfall: Unholy Wars is launching right into your…no, I’m getting word that Darkfall: Unholy Wars will not be launching December 12th. In a surprise, out of nowhere, could not be seen by anyone no matter how dedicated of a gamer they are to the company and I’m not fooling anyone, am I? Yes, the company well known for sudden, last minute delays has suddenly delayed at the last minute.

Instead, Darkfall: Unholy Wars will launch at some point in January…probably.

We have come to a decision, not without much internal debate, that instead of commercial release this Wednesday as planned we are going to launch the game for playtesting first. We also believe that we owe the community a thorough explanation for this last minute decisions, so the reasons behind it are the following:

The reasons come down to a desire to have the game tested by people who will actually be playing it, over people paid to test it. Additionally, some last minute bugs and a desire to fully integrate Steam in before launch were noted. Aventurine did not expect Steam to greenlight Darkfall as quickly as it did, and the approval was very short notice.

Playtesting will begin on January 17th for pre-orders, as well as current customers who sign up for a month’s subscription.

(Source: Darkfall Epic Blog)

Darkfall: Unholy Wars Delayed Into December


Bad news (and possibly unsurprising), bears. On the Darkfall Epic Blog today, Tasos Flambouras has announced that Darkfall: Unholy Wars will not be able to meet its November 20th launch date. Rather, the relaunch of Aventurine’s MMO will take place on December 12th, slightly under one month from now. The announcement is due to “external factors, last minute issues, and testing feedback.” Unfortunately for players, this will not be extending the life of Darkfall’s current iteration. The shut down of Darkfall 1.0 will go ahead as planned tomorrow.

(Source: Epic Blog)

Big Darkfall Announcement Coming…Maybe, At Some Point.


Darkfall. The game hasn’t been featured here at MMO Fallout much lately, in fact not since June when Aventurine announced that the client price would be suspended in favor of simply subscribing after the trial runs out. Meanwhile, Aventurine is still plugging away at Darkfall 2.0 (or Darkfall 2010 as many of you know it), and Community Liason Unuldur appeared on the forums last Friday to announce an upcoming announcement:

Hello Darkfallers!

Apologies for the delay. We have an important announcement to make this Monday and we needed to turn our attention there.

And yes, I realize that it is already Tuesday. So what was the announcement? It wasn’t made. Granted, Aventurine is only off by a day, so we’ll have to wait and see what the important announcement is.

(Source: Darkfall Forums)

Alganon Expansion Delayed To Q4 2012


Alganon is a game that doesn’t get a whole lot of coverage here at MMO Fallout, namely because it suffers from the same affliction that most small studios undergo, which is spending too much time working on actual development to put out press releases. Last we heard, Alganon was set to release an expansion in “Winter 2011,” titled Rise of the Ourobani. The expansion brings in a new race, the Ourobani, a new continent, the new Warden class, and flying mounts. Unfortunately, player housing has been cut for the time being and will probably not be

In Quest Online’s April newsletter, the developer announced that the expansion has been delayed until Q4 2012.

Due to unforeseen circumstances and the massive amount of work that our small team had to do on the expansion, after evaluation of the project, it was decided that more time was needed in order to do some critical bug fixes as well as to spend more time on certain areas and features of the expansion in order to do the best work possible. For this reason, the expansion has been delayed to Q4 2012.

More on Alganon as it appears.

(Source: Quest Online Newsletter)

(Source: Derek Smart Twitter)

Xsyon Last Minute Delays


Word to your delays...

You may recall that Xsyon, the sandbox MMO from Notorious Games, was pushed back from its original May 2010 release date to August 2010, and then to a nonspecific date in early 2011. Earlier this year, a confirmed date of March 1st was announced, with the prelude going live two weeks before. As Notorious Games was gearing up for its final character wipe before prelude, however, last minute hardware and database issues arose, causing the servers to lag so badly that the game was nonfunctional for the night. After deliberation, it was decided that the launch would be pushed back, with the “official launch” pushed back to March 15th. The final wipe and prelude launch is, as of yet, undetermined, but according to NG’s Virtus, should occur before March 1st.

The server issues can be attributed to a sudden and unforeseen explosion in Xsyon preorders in the two days leading up to the original prelude launch, those server issues in turn contributing to the database errors. Players are, understandably, perturbed by the announcement of yet another wipe, as the initial launch had tribes competing against each other, not to mention unplayable conditions, fifteen minute delays in action, consistent server rollbacks, and other glitches, in order to lay down claim of territory in the game’s map. Although Notorious Games has promised that they will do everything in their power to restore Tribe territory, they may be unable to leading to another rush for land when the game launches a second time.

More on Xsyon as it appears.

DC Universe Online Delayed Until 2011


Sorry Preorderers...

Holy batjinks, Batman! It’s a letter from The Riddler! It reads,

Dear Batman and Robin,

No doubt you’ve put down fifty or sixty bucks on the upcoming MMO DC Universe Online, with the hopes of playing it this November. You’ll find that I have stolen all of the DC Universe Preorders and have hidden them in a location that neither you or your insipid heroes will ever find without my help. If you want any chance of finding your precious preorders by early 2011, you will need to follow this riddle. The answer lies in a 1979 song by new wave band Oingo Boingo.

Thanks to the hijinks of the Riddler, DC Universe Online will not be launching this November. Instead, the title has been pushed to sometime in early 2011, whatever that might mean. If you’ve preordered the game, you’ll find yourself with a guaranteed spot in the ongoing beta. Other than that, you’re out of luck for the full version. Look at it this way, you’ll get that much more time playing the (albeit broken and unfinished) game that much longer!

Looking forward to more information on DC Universe.