Epic – Page 7 – MMO Fallout

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

The Game Awards: Epic Store Sale & Free Games

The Game Awards is here, or at least will be here in roughly eight hours from this article’s publishing.

Ahead of Geoff Keighley’s award show, the Epic Game Store has launched a Game Awards sale. The sale runs from today (Dec. 12) through December 16 and includes discounts on titles up for awards including Control, Borderlands 3, and The Outer Worlds. Check it out at the link above. Nintendo has similarly launched a sale for its favorite titles, including current and previously nominated games. Over at the Square Enix store, you can get a good deal on Final Fantasy XIV.

Meanwhile The Escapists is available for free on the Epic Game Store. You can grab a copy between now and December 19.

Over at Steam, Crytek is hosting a free play period for Hunt: Showdown. Hunt launched back in August and is a competitive PVP bounty hunting game with heavy PvE elements. The free weekend runs until Sunday. Team-based tactical FPS Insurgency: Sandstorm is also holding a free play period on Steam along with a 50% sale if you decide you want to pick the game up after giving it a trial run.

Tune in to the Game Awards tonight.

Epic Game Store Black Friday Sale Highlights

It’s Black Friday sale time and that can only mean one thing; giving Epic your money.

Instead of boring all of you by putting every single game that is currently on sale, I will do the Epic thing and curate the list. There is quite a bit on sale and at a deep discount too. Warm up those Chinese shill comments.

Red Dead Redemption 2: ~~$59.99~~ $47.99
Borderlands 3: ~~$59.99~~ $40.19
Sinking City: ~~$59.99~~ $38.99
Operencia: The Stolen Sun – ~~$29.99~~ $14.99
Conarium: ~~$19.99~~ $6.79
Alan Wake: ~~$14.99~~ $2.99
Alan Wake’s American Nightmare: ~~$8.99~~ $1.79
The Division 2: ~~$59.99~~ $14.99
Ghost Recon: Breakpoint – ~~$59.99~~ $29.99
Watch Dogs 2: ~~$59.99~~ $17.99
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil’s Daughter – ~~$49.99~~ $9.99

There are over 80 games on sale, so check out the link below and see if anything catches your fancy.

Source: Epic Game Store

Epic Games: We Would Not Ban Political Speech

With Blizzard being tossed into a shallow grave and spat on by the public reaction to it banning and stealing thousands of dollars in prize money over a player expressing support for Hong Kong, it was only a matter of time before other developers showed up and used this opportunity to score some quick PR points. And who else is best to show up to the conversation than Epic Games which is 40% owned by Tencent, a company behind much of the backlash to western companies supporting Hong Kong.

In a statement to The Verge, Epic’s spokesman said:

“Epic supports everyone’s right to express their views on politics and human rights. We wouldn’t ban or punish a Fortnite player or content creator for speaking on these topics,”

Tim Sweeney personally backed this statement on Twitter, expressing “Epic supports the rights of Fortnite players and creators to speak about politics and human rights.”

Source: The Verge

Epic Condemns “Disturbing Trend” Of Abuse After Fake Ooblet Developer Comments

Epic Games has released a statement today to condemn the circulation of false information intended to incite harassment against one of its developer partners over the weekend. This weekend fake screenshots and even a falsified video appeared on the net alleging to show evidence that one of the developers of the game Ooblets making a statement in their Discord chat. The images purported to show the developer advocating for the gassing of gamers, apparently in response to outrage following the decision to make the game Epic Store exclusive.

The fake photos and videos were circulated and promoted by a number of people over the weekend, including Youtuber SidAlpha who publicly berated the developer, Tim Sweeney, and those who were skeptical of the claim. SidAlpha later deleted his tweets claiming the photos/video as authentic, and has posted a video to spread the message about the fraudulent claim.

Epic’s statement about the event has been posted below in its entirety and can be seen here.

We at Epic Games have often shared our views about the game business and companies in it, and we support the entire game community’s right to speak freely and critically about these topics, including the topic of Epic, our products, and our store. When everyone shares their earnest views, the best ideas ultimately prevail.

The announcement of Ooblets highlighted a disturbing trend which is growing and undermining healthy public discourse, and that’s the coordinated and deliberate creation and promotion of false information, including fake screenshots, videos, and technical analysis, accompanied by harassment of partners, promotion of hateful themes, and intimidation of those with opposing views.

Epic is working together with many game developers and other partners to build what we believe will be a healthier and more competitive multi-store world for the future. We remain fully committed, and we will steadfastly support our partners throughout these challenges. Many thanks to all of you that continue to promote and advocate for healthy, truthful discussion about the games business and stand up to all manners of abuse.

US Copyright Office: No, the Carlton Is Not Copyrightable

Alfonso Ribeiro is best known for his character Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Ribeiro came back into the public spotlight after launching lawsuits against Epic Games and Take-Two Interactive over copyright claims that he owns the famous dance popularized by the TV Show, informally known as The Carlton. The lawsuit alleges that both developers used The Carlton without permission, that Ribeiro is the sole owner, and that he deserves compensation for use of his creation.

Unfortunately for Ribeiro the Copyright office has been rather explicit regarding the copyright status for simple dance routines: They can’t be copyrighted. The Carlton as it turns out is no different.

In a response to his copyright application, the US Copyright Office officially refused registration for The Dance by Alfonso Ribeiro – Variation B, and noted in no uncertain terms that the dance qualified as a simple dance routine and could not be classified as a choreographic work. Choreography is legally defined as a composition and arrangement of a related series of dance movements and patterns organized into an integrated, coherent, and expressive whole. Choreographic works do not include social dance steps and simple routines, and must contain a sufficient amount of choreographic authorship.

As The Carlton is a routine consisting of three dance steps, it is not registrable as a choreographic work. The Copyright office went further in questioning whether or not Ribeiro was even the sole author of the work.

Epic and Take Two are currently fighting legal battles against a growing number of performers and internet celebrities over the use of popular dance moves in Fortnite and NBA 2K. Now that the copyright office has spoken on Ribeiro’s ownership status, it seems likely that Epic’s next move will be a motion to dismiss.

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