In what has become an unfortunately common practice from Sony and third-party developers, it has been announced that Spider-Man will be a PlayStation exclusive character when he is released in Marvel’s Avengers sometime in early 2021. The character, which was not shown off in any form, will “debut with an in-game event that will introduce him to the wider world of Marvel’s Avengers.”
The announcement has emphasized that it will be “Crystal Dynamics’ take on Spider-Man” meaning things may not be quite the same as most fans expect but the character will feature a number of costumes, a unique move-set, and a special upgrade tree. Currently Square Enix‘s Marvel’s Avengers is set to be released on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, and Stadia on September 4th with the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 versions coming sometime this holiday season.
Arc System Works has narrowed down their release window for Guilty Gear: Strive as well as given us a few extra platforms to expect the fighting game on in their latest announcement. The company has announced that the game will be releasing sometime in spring 2021 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC. Alongside this announcement the company also revealed two more playable characters that will be added to the game’s roster in the form of Leo Whitefang and Nagoriyuki.
Leo is one of the three “Allied Kings” of the Allied Kingdom of Illyria, and is responsible for the governing of Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania. He is also an accomplished warrior in his own right, with a relentless fighting style. As for Nagoriyuki, he is the newest addition to the Guilty Gear universe. A vampire with a number of unique and powerful abilities, he wields a huge sword with impressive skill in battle and slashes at his enemies with punishing blows.
Rogue Company is Hi-Rez Studio’s latest foray into competitive shooters using their new in-house studio First Watch Games. The 4v4 third personal tactical shooter features a motley crew of elite mercenaries teaming up to tackle various missions around the globe to simultaneously save the world and get paid. The game is currently in closed beta on Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows via the Epic Games Store. Access can be purchased through a variety of founder packs or snagging a closed beta key during Twitch drops and other giveaways.
Whether you trace the root of the current hero shooter craze to Overwatch or further back to studios experimenting with shooter MOBAs, Hi-Rez Studios has a lengthy resume of shooters, MOBAs, and hybrids of the two. Rogue Company is new, but familiar territory for the developers behind Global Agenda, Tribes: Ascend, Paladins, and Smite. We had the chance to check out their closed beta build that launched alongside paid beta access.
Currently, Rogue Company offers two 4v4 PVP modes. Demolition is deemed their premiere mode and is a riff on the classic one life per round to destroy one of two points rule set popularized by Counter-Strike in 1999. Strikeout is their casual single capture point mode with limited respawns. The game offers a roster of heroes, each with a unique active and passive ability. There is also a Counter-Strike inspired store, though purchases carry over between rounds.
The hero roster is a solid group covering a variety of niches. First Watch Games classifies heroes as Duelists for DPS, Defenders, Breachers for attacking, Intel, Snipers, and Supports. Players lock in their character pick at the beginning of the round and half time in the case of Demolition mode, so teams will need to coordinate their picks. Right now, there is no way to see what types of characters other players are picking besides sheer memorization. While that is doable with a small roster, First Watch Games will need to replace the individual character icons with a role icon or augment them with a separate role icon.
The initial library of maps is solid. There are seven maps for Demolition and six of those are available for Strikeout. The maps are sized well for 4v4, striking the right combination of long alleys for snipers to dominate and tight corners for flankers. The design sticks to the tried and true three lane design with a degree of symmetry to keep things fair for both sides. I particularly like the fact players drop into the map with wingsuits like a battle royale at the beginning of a match. This gives teams a little flexibility on their initial engagement, allowing teams to rush a point or getting a flanker into the enemy backline faster.
Like any beta, Rogue Company still needs some major balancing work. Some character abilities like Saint’s revive and Dallas’ tracking are early standouts. Some characters like Gl1tch may have powerful abilities but are reliant on how gameplay evolves as players become more familiar with the game mechanics. Others need fixes outright, like Scorch’s incendiary rounds. Her activated ability is awkward because it lasts for a short period of time, requires the weapon magazine to be reloaded, and does not reload the weapon. Removing one of the mechanics will likely be a quick and easy fix.
On the weapon side, things are in a usable spot. The game has some tactical elements but are still well outside the realm of a simulation style tactical shooter. The weapons handle well, but the shotguns need attention. Notoriously difficult to balance, the developers have it right with some of them, such as the SKL-6. On the other hand, the automatic Striker 8X10 is a mess. It has too little damage, too little range, too little rate of fire, and a painfully slow reload that makes it too cumbersome to use.
The user experience is decent so far. The worst issue is the lack of ping display, a practically unforgivable sin for an online shooter. On the other hand, the controls are solid. First Watch Games use the basic third person control scheme with only a few extra buttons for abilities, equipment, and rolls. The set up is especially user friendly as many abilities have arc previews. I do find the arc for the quick grenade throw to be painfully short compared to other games.
The audio/visual presentation is solid so far. The sound effects are enjoyable and the soundstage is pretty good. While it is not laser accurate, I could get a very good idea where enemies were based on their footsteps with a pair of headphones and a virtual surround sound processor like Windows Spatial Sound. The voice acting is decent, though there are a few rough spots. The music is limited, so I hope a few more tracks are added for the menus. The visual style is excellent, combining flashy, unique characters with designs paying tribute to their histories with a near future tactical twist. On the technical side, I only ran into a single issue with switching between windows and fullscreen modes using alt-enter. I noticed the game dropped the resolution in windowed mode but does not increase the resolution going into fullscreen mode.
Rogue Company is a solid tactical shooter with a high degree of accessibility right out of the gate, likely a testament to Hi-Rez Studio’s lengthy experience in shooters and hero-based titles. With any early beta, the devs have a long road of balancing ahead of them, but I was pleasantly surprised at the state of the game balance. The real challenge for Rogue Company in the long term will be to differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded market of hero-based competitor shooters.
Digital Extremes’ TennoCon Unveils Wealth of Surprises With Pilotable Mechs, New Player Introduction, and Infested Open World. New Warframe ‘Xaku’ and End-Player Customization Feature Push Warframe into the Future
LONDON, ONTARIO, CA – August 2, 2020 – Canadian developer and publisher Digital Extremes culminated its first all-digital TennoCon, it’s fifth annual Warframe® convention, by announcing the Heart of Deimos open-world expansion and — for the first time for any of its major updates — a simultaneous system launch date of Tuesday, August 25 on all platforms (PC, PlayStation®4, Xbox One, and Nintendo™ Switch).
Weaving the grotesque and the beautiful, old and the new, the Heart of Deimos will propel Warframe into a completely new era — one that now starts with a Cinematic New Player Introduction and has three open worlds to explore. A living moon, the new open world Heart of Deimos unwraps the Infested factions’ murky, complex origins, unveiling the lost Entrati family and the marvels of technology and horror it left behind. With the Cinematic New Player Introduction, new and veteran players alike will feel like they are playing a significant part in a larger universe with greater consequences. And with the newly revealed Helminth Chrysalis System, Tenno can transform their space ninja by transferring Abilities between Warframes, kicking off one of the game’s deepest customization systems yet.
Devastating pilotable mechs (“necramechs”) will thrill players aching for heavy power combat. Exploration into the densely packed, vertical “fleshscape” of Deimos will aim to surprise with Infested “K-Drives”, combining hoverboard mobility with shooting firepower, for a whole new combat dynamic.
Heart of Deimos features a wealth of even more eye-opening features and surprises starting with 2020’s second Warframe, the imaginative community-designed, gender-neutral Xaku. Unveiled in Heart of Deimos, Xaku wields the power of the Void, assembled into a trio of different Warframe visuals and functions. Following in the footsteps of Protea, Xaku is the 44th Warframe.
Heart of Deimos follows Digital Extremes’ two previous open worlds, Plains of Eidolon and Fortuna, with a new design twist, connecting an open world on its surface to a procedurally generated tileset underground.
On the moon surface, players will find themselves thrust into the sticky, pulsing, and terrifying hivemind landscape of the Infested faction, where nearly everything feels alive and connected. Giant towering wyrms, silhouetted against the darkened red sky, battle for control over night and day, while on the ground bulbous pods burst open with Entrati NPCs consumed and transformed by the Infested hive mind or a cadre of belligerent Infested creatures, ready to attack.
Underground, a series of procedurally generated networked tunnels and vertical spaces lead players to further explore the secret origins of the Infested and the twisted Entrati experiments. One remnant from the Entrati’s past works are giant, powerful ‘combat mechs’. These giant war machines might have served multiple purposes in the past but will play a key to players’ survival against a relentless enemy on their home planet. Players will fight against and in them!
Tenno will discover their K-Drives (introduced in Fortuna) upgraded to living ‘Infested hoverboards’, while re-experiencing open-world gameplay elements such as conservation, fishing, and Archwing flying and combat. Harbored on the second moon of Mars, Heart of Deimos is located early in the Star Chart progression, making it accessible for new players.
A charity event, a portion of all TennoCon proceeds will be given to Autism Ontario London and Alzheimer Society London and Middlesex (ASLM), each of which serves their communities with specialized services, education, and resources to make Ontario a better home for every kind of person. To donate during the event itself, visit Tiltify.com/. Players can attend Baro Ki’Teer’s Relay for extraordinary deals until Monday, August 3, and all players who log in to play Warframe will receive 2X Affinity from August 1-12 and 2X Credits from August 12-25. Heart of Deimos will ship on all platforms (PC, PlayStation®4, Xbox One, and Nintendo™ Switch) on Tuesday, August 25.
For more detailed info on, go towww.warframe.com. Warframe is available for free on PC, PlayStation®4, Xbox One, and Nintendo™ Switch. Download it now! To keep up with the latest updates from the development team, be sure to follow Warframe on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
ABOUT DIGITAL EXTREMES Founded in 1993 by James Schmalz, Digital Extremes ranks as one of the world’s top independent video game development studios. Originating with the co-creation of Epic Games’ multi-million unit selling Unreal® franchise including Unreal and Unreal Tournament, Digital Extremes went on to develop Dark Sector®, BioShock® for the PlayStation®3, the BioShock 2 multiplayer campaign, and The Darkness® II. The studio has reached its greatest critical and commercial success with the free-to-play action game, Warframe®, boasting a global community of 50 million registered players on PC, PS4™, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch™. For more information about Digital Extremes, visit www.digitalextremes.com. To sign up for Warframe, visit www.warframe.com.
With EA bringing EA Sports UFC 4 to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in a bit under two weeks, the company has decided it was about time to show off what fans of MMA can expect in this game’s version of the career mode. Players will see their custom fighter grow in strength depending on how they train as well as how they fight and more than ever will the player’s relationship with other fighters and the fans play a major role in the game as players can choose to play through the game in a number of ways.
One thing that some may be on the fence with is the new injury system that will be “unscripted” and can potentially see their fighter suffer from either a temporary injury that hurts their stats or a career long wound that will put an end to that fighter far earlier than some may hope. The trailer can be found below while the game itself is set to be released on August 14th.
For a bit now Microsoft has been keeping the release date for Battletoads rather under-wraps but now the company has revealed exactly when side-scrolling brawler fans can expect the revived game to debut on the Xbox One and PC. The company has announced that Dlala Studios and Rare will be releasing the game on August 20th and alongside this reveal the company also shared a new trailer highlighting the (unfortunate) CalArts style that has plagued nearly every type of Western animation in recent years.
One to three players will take control of Rash, Zitz, and Pimple and team up to storm through wild and unpredictable stages with only one rule, expect the unexpected. With a unique hand-animated cartoon style and packed with memorable characters and locations, the Battletoads are back for a larger-than-life brawl.
Although People Can Fly is currently working on Outriders for Square Enix it doesn’t mean they don’t have their own unique projects in the work as the company has just announced that they are developing a new and original AAA game that they describe as being “a highly ambitious, groundbreaking action adventure title” that will be releasing in the future for next-generation consoles, streaming platforms, and PC.
Led by Studio Head, David Grijns, and Creative Director, Roland Lesterlin, People Can Fly New York will work hand-in-hand with its sister studios in Warsaw, Rzeszow, and Newcastle to work on the game and in an effort to match the scale of the project, the company will be looking to grow its New York studio over the next 12-18 months and additionally open a new startup studio in Montreal.
Some new details were revealed recently for Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal’s Marvel’s Avengers and these details mostly regarded the fact that a beta will be happening on August 7th exclusively for the PlayStation 4 owners that pre-ordered the game and will run until the 9th, August 14th through the 16th for Xbox One and PC pre-orders, and finally for everyone on August 21st through the 23rd before the game is released on September 4th on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and PC with an eventual release on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.
Square Enix also revealed that Marvel’s Avengers will see Clint Barton’s version of Hawkeye added into the game sometime after launch at no extra cost. In an original story-arc inspired by some of the best-known Hawkeye moments in the comics, players wield Clint’s iconic high-tech bow and trick arrows in missions either solo or co-op online with friends. Also the company mentioned that those who link their Epic and Square Enix accounts can unlock some bonuses in Fortnite.
PC players will soon have a chance to play Disgaea 4 Complete+ on their platform of choice as NIS America has announced that they are bringing the game to Steam and the Microsoft store sometime this fall with the game also being included as part of Xbox Game Pass for PC. The company has noted that network features for the game will be coming sometime after launch however so players will need to be wary of that upon release.
Disgaea 4 Complete+ features everything that was ever released for the original game with over thirty unlockable characters, extra storylines, and modern updates all while telling the story of Valvatorez who finds himself at the helm of a fiery revolution. The former tyrant will need to call upon new allies, recruit a formidable army, and learn a thing or two about political unrest if he hopes to take down the corrupt regime and bring salvation to all.
Sydney, Australia – July 31st 2020 – After announcing the Pre-Season last week, Deep Silver and KING Art Games are inviting all players to join the Open Beta for Iron Harvest 1920+.The game is set to release on September 1st 2020 (1.9.20) on PC via Steam, GOG and the Epic store as well as in retail. The console version will be released early 2021. Players on Steam can dive deep into the fascinating world of 1920+ and experience the first single player missions of the epic, overarching storyline they will encounter when the game launches. All unlocks and progress from the Pre-Season on Steam will be available after launch!
Pre-Season Cup
Additionally King Art and Deep Silver have teamed up with ESL to bring competitive RTS gamers the very first Iron Harvest tournament. The Pre-Season Cup will ramp up to a big finale at Gamescom 2020 with prizes totalling over 7000€! The four winners of the qualifiers, kicking off with the first round on August 8th 2020, will qualify for the finals at the digital Gamescom.
Details about broadcasting and the finals will be revealed soon.
Pre-Season Tournament featuring qualifiers and the grand finale at the digital Gamescom!.
Qualifier 1: Saturday August 8, 2020
Qualifier 2:Saturday August 15, 2020
Qualifier 3:Sunday August 16, 2020
Qualifier 4:Saturday August 22, 2020
Finals: Will be played between 27th-30th of August (TBD)
Reward Season: Players who beat a variety of challenges will unlock in-game cosmetics.
New quests and challenges will unlock over time. Progress will be kept after purchasing the game at launch
All three factions, Rusviet, Saxony and Polania will be playable in Multiplayer, Skirmish and Challenge maps for the first time publicly
Please check the tournament website for exact qualifier times
Future Season Content:
Iron Harvest 1920+ will feature seasons. Each season will contain new game content such as Skirmish and Challenge maps and dedicated season events both for single player as well as multiplayer content. Players will be able to rise through the ranks in multiplayer (ladder) and unlock unique visual season content by solving dedicated quests and challenges.
While none of the unlockable items will have a direct impact on the balancing or gameplay, the achievements guarantee a long lasting RTS gaming experience with new challenges for true Diesel-Punk strategists!
Players who purchase the Iron Harvest standard edition will have free access to Season 1. Buyers of the Iron Harvest Deluxe Edition will have free access to the first two Seasons and the not yet announced big Add-On. Future plans will be revealed later.
About Iron Harvest
At the dawn of the 20th century, shortly after the end of the Great War, the world is full of secrets and mysteries, of opportunities and challenges. Tradition clashes with scientific and technological progress, while Europe is still recovering from the brutal battles of the World War. Iron Harvest is a real-time strategy game (RTS) set in the alternate reality of 1920+, just after the end of the Great War. To create the perfect RTS-experience the team has been working in close cooperation with global RTS-fans ever since the highly successful Kickstarter campaign.
ESL is the world’s largest esports company. Founded in 2000, ESL has been shaping the industry across the most popular video games with numerous online and offline esports competitions. The company operates high profile, branded international leagues and tournaments under the ESL Pro Tour including ESL One, Intel® Extreme Masters, ESL Pro League, and other premier stadium-size tournaments, to more clearly define the path from zero to hero. ESL also produces the ESL National Championships, grassroots amateur cups, and matchmaking systems, creating a world where everybody can be somebody. With offices all over the world, ESL is leading esports innovation on a global scale through the combination of global ESL competitions, amateur leagues, publisher activations, and more. ESL is a part of MTG, the leading international digital entertainment group. About.eslgaming.com
About KING Art Games
KING Art is an independent game developer with years of experience in creating high-quality games for all major platforms. More than 40 employees across several teams are located at the offices in Bremen, Germany and work with about as many freelancers around the globe. Founded in 2000, KING Art has since released more than 50 titles in different genres, with a focus on narrative games, RPGs and strategy games. The company and its games have received multiple prestigious awards, including Best Strategy Game and Best Development Studio.
KING Art is a licensed developer for Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo plattforms and member of Verband der deutschen Games-Branche (GAME) and bremen digitalmedia.
About Deep Silver
Deep Silver develops and distributes interactive games for all platforms. The Deep Silver label means to captivate all gamers who have a passion for thrilling gameplay in exciting game worlds. Deep Silver works with its partners to achieve a maximum of success while maintaining the highest possible quality, always focusing on what the customer desires.
Deep Silver has published more than 200 games since 2003, including its own brands like the open world extravaganza Saints Row, the zombie action franchise Dead Island, and the grim post-apocalyptic future of the Metro series. Upcoming highlights from Deep Silver include Dead Island 2. Deep Silver also owns the development studios Deep Silver Dambuster Studios in Nottingham, UK; Deep Silver Fishlabs in Hamburg, Germany, Deep Silver Volition based in Champaign, IL, USA, Warhorse Studios based in Prague, Czech Republic and Milestone s.r.l. in Milan, Italy. For more information please visit www.deepsilver.com
About Koch Media
Koch Media is a leading producer and distributor of digital entertainment products (games, films and software). The company’s own publishing activities, marketing and distribution extend throughout Europe, North America and Australia. The Koch Media group has more than 25 years of experience in the digital media business, and has risen to become the number one publishing partner in Europe. It has also formed strategic alliances with numerous games and software publishers: Bethesda, Capcom, Codemasters, Kaspersky Labs, Konami, Koei Tecmo, Sega, Square Enix, etc. in various European countries. With Headquarter in Höfen, Austria Koch Media owns branches in Germany, England, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Nordic regions, Benelux, Australia, Czech Republic, Poland, and the United States.
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