Tag: Hi-Rez Studios

Paladins Ditches Heavy Customization


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Paladins is a MOBA game that puts emphasis on players being able to customize their characters via collectible cards, at least until Hi-Rez decided not to. While originally billed as a game that would carry a small number of highly customizable heroes, a recent interview with Erez Goren has revealed that the developer plans on limiting just how much the cards can change a character. In the interview, Goren points to play tests revealing that players wanted more heroes, but heroes that were easily identifiable much like they are in Dota or League of Legends.

“People don’t seem to appreciate the variation on a character as much as they do having a new character that does things that particular way.”

Check out MMO Fallout’s coverage of Paladins here.

(Source: Rock, Paper, Shotgun)

Hi-Rez Announces Support Returning For Tribes


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It’s been more than two years since Hi-Rez Studios announced that development would cease on Tribes Ascend, owing to the fact that the game just about broke even in terms of revenue versus cost to develop. While much of the community has long since given up hope of Hi-Rez ever returning to the game, given the ongoing success of Smite, the recently announced Paladins shooter, CEO Erez Goren announced via Twitter that the company now has the resources to go back to their old games.

With the success of Smite and Paladins, we have more resources than ever in the Studio. We can now afford to go back and improve older game.

Right now we only have confirmation of a new map and small updates, but a further Tweet also indicates “continuing support.”

Tribes will be getting a new map and some other small changes as well as continuing support. PTS in about two weeks if all goes well.

Tribes players will no doubt be happy to hear of the game’s revival.

(Source: Twitter)

SMITE Launches Oceanic Servers


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Hi-Rez Studios has announced new SMITE servers for the Oceanic region. Players who opt into the new servers will be able to keep all of their progress, and can even still play with North American and European players if they so wish.

“As SMITE grows, we continue to expand servers into key regions so that we can provide the best service and performance for our international players” said Todd Harris, Chief Operating Officer of Hi-Rez Studios. “The Australian community has always been very vocal and supportive, and we are excited to improve the game experience for the community in this region.”

SMITE will be on display at PAX Australia, where attendees will receive a free Sydney Shredder skin for He Bo.

(Source: Hi-Rez Press Release)

Global Agenda 2 Closed Beta This Year, Possibly


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It’s been quite a while since we last heard about Global Agenda 2, to the point where here at MMO Fallout we weren’t quite sure if the game was still in production (see: Titan, World of Darkness). Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly depending on who you ask, the game is not only still in development, it is on track for beta release sooner than you think (or I think). Over at the Global Agenda Reddit subforum, Hi-Rez CEO Erez Goren posted a few snippets of information about the much awaited sequel.

Global Agenda 2 is a spiritual successor, with a classless system, a focus on pvp, and another attempt at an e-sports shooter. Furthermore, the goal is to have the game ready to beta test by the end of the year, if all goes well. Meanwhile you can still play the original Global Agenda. It hasn’t had any updates in quite some time, but the servers are still up and running.

(Source: Reddit)

MMOrning Shots: $600k Smite


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Today’s MMOrning Shot comes to us from Hi-Rez Studios, who want everyone to know about the upcoming world championship for Smite to be held in Atlanta, Georgia, home of the Atlanta Georgians. The prize pool currently stands at six hundred thousand and is expected to grow in time thanks to community contributions and content sales. The top two teams from North America, Europe, China, as well as the top teams from Brazil and Spanish-speaking South America will be present to face off.

Check out MMOrning Shots between 7am and 11am every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

SMITE Launches March 25th


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Hi-Rez today announced that their upcoming MOBA, SMITE, will finally be launching on March 25th, 2014. Since the game entered open beta, over 2.5 million people have signed up for the free to play game. The opening also coincides with a $100,000 tournament to be held on March 29-30 in Atlanta, Georgia between the top American and European teams.

All player progress in SMITE’s Open Beta will carry over to the game’s general release. Also, all Beta players who reach level 30 before the launch date will unlock the Cacodemon skin for the playable god Ymir.

(Source: SMITE)

Major Development Ends On Tribes: Ascend


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Major updates have ceased for Tribes: Ascend, as confirmed today by Todd Harris over at Hi-Rez Studios. Instead, the developer of the fast paced shooter is focusing its efforts on launching their upcoming MOBA game, SMITE, as well as the continued development of the sequel to Global Agenda, also known as Global Agenda 2. As a result, however, there are no major updates planned for Tribes: Ascend in the next six months, and Harris notes that the company would more likely develop a Tribes: Ascend 2 than add a substantial update to the existing game.

Per the development blog on our forums, the recent TA work has been Kate developing some additional maps. If time allows then these new TA maps (along with some bug-fixes) would be finalized and deployed but no committed date yet.

The move isn’t entirely surprising, as development for Global Agenda was all but abandoned around the time Tribes: Ascend began picking up speed, a fate that will likely meet SMITE in favor of Global Agenda 2 and whatever else Hi-Rez happens to be developing at the time.

(Source: Tribes: Ascend Forums)

$10,000 SMITE Tournament At PAX East


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As a MOBA, SMITE is somewhat reliant on attracting the competitive eSports gamers, and that can only mean one thing: Tournaments. In a press release circulated today, Hi-Rez Studios has announced an upcoming 5v5 tournament at Penny Arcade Expo East from March 22nd through 24th. Eight teams will compete to dip their collective hands into the ten grand prize pool. Seven of the eight teams have already been selected with the eighth to be decided at a Wildcard event on March 10th.

“PAX is always a great time because we get to meet and talk directly with the fans of our games,” says Todd Harris, Hi-Rez Studios Chief Operating Officer. “We’ve been attending PAX events consistently since 2009 and this year we’re excited to return and show off SMITE competitive play.”

You can find the rules of the event, and wildcard tournament, at the link below.

(Source: Hi-Rez Studios)

Global Agenda Was Not Financially Successful, GA2 In The Works


It looks like Darkfall won’t be the only MMO getting a revamp in the next year or so. In a post on the Hi-Rez forums, Shadow Control discussed the current iteration of Global Agenda, as well as the future of the brand. In the post, he reveals that while Global Agenda was not a financial success, the team learned a lot about the game, lessons that eventually made their way into Tribes: Ascend. But as he points out, Tribes is more of a niche-oriented brand, geared towards a far more hardcore audience than Global Agenda.

The majority of the responses was to release a new version of GA ‘GA2’ with a PvP focus and make that as good as possible. So we are currently in the process of making that game. We will use a lot of the GA assets, some of the maps, and some of the game modes. We plan to add new maps, game modes, class weapons, and build it all on our newest platform.

Hi-Rez hopes to have Global Agenda 2 in beta sometime mid-2013. Whether or not Global Agenda will remain operational after the launch of its sequel will have to be seen. Hi-Rez is also working on its MOBA title, SMITE, as well as continued support for its first person shooter, Tribes: Ascend.

(Source: Global Agenda)

Tribes Ascend: Now With More Experience


Tribes: Ascend, the free to play shooter, is great for the very idea that any weapon or upgrade that can be bought with cash can also be purchased by simply playing the game. Granted, by the time you play Tribes: Ascend long enough to unlock every weapon and upgrade, you might be cashing in your retirement check and playing on virtual reality machines.

As part of the June update, Hi-Rez Studios is greatly increasing the rate at which unlocks are obtained. The new system will operate in a manner familiar to sandbox MMO fans: Each piece of equipment has its own experience bar which increases as you use it. To speed up the process even more, you still obtain experience and GP that can be spent on unlocking further upgrades even faster.

Now that Tribes Ascend can (reasonably) be played for free, there is no reason not to jump in and start killing the deserving Sandrakers.