SABER INTERACTIVE ANNOUNCES NBA PLAYGROUNDS OWNERS ON NINTENDO SWITCH PRIOR TO UPCOMING ONLINE PLAY UPDATE WILL RECEIVE SHAQ FU: A LEGEND REBORN FOR FREE

Developer shares details on recent and future NBA Playgrounds title updates

MAPLEWOOD, N.J. – June 1, 2017 – As a heartfelt thanks to the patience of its community, independent developer Saber Interactive has announced that anyone who purchased the recently released NBA Playgrounds on Nintendo Switch™ prior to a pending update which will bring online play functionality to the game will receive a free copy of Saber’s Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn on Nintendo Switch when it launches this fall.

“We had every intention of launching online play for NBA Playgrounds on Nintendo Switch within days of release, but, despite our best efforts, it didn’t play out that way,” said Matthew Karch, CEO of Saber. “We sincerely apologize for the delay and want to let everyone know the fix will be coming very soon. But words are cheap, and games are not. So we’re giving everyone that bought NBA Playgrounds on Nintendo Switch before the online play patch hits a free copy of Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn on Switch when it is available this fall to express our gratitude.”

Saber will have further details to reveal in the future about how eligible NBA Playgrounds owners on Nintendo Switch will receive their free copy of Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn on the Switch when it releases.

Saber has been interacting closely with the NBA Playgrounds community to release title updates for all platforms that reflect player interests. The first update is now live for PC and PlayStation®4, and will be live for Xbox One and Switch within days. 15 new players have been added, including Isaiah Thomas and Dennis Rodman, and Shaq can now be played with the various teams from his career. Challenge Mode, which allows players to challenge each other to online matches, has been added to the PlayStation®4, Xbox One and PC versions, and will be added to the Nintendo Switch version once online play is live. Other additions include a new connection manager, which monitors the connection of players during ranked matches and penalizes disconnections from games that are made to avoid losing. Saber has also tweaked the entire shooting system, reworking the timing and adding a meter while clarifying the UI.

Saber’s focus going forward will be giving players new ways to compete with online tournament functionality, and dozens of new players will be released shortly.

NBA Playgrounds is out now for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC (Steam) as a digital-only title for $19.99. Published by Mad Dog, the game is rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB and PEGI 3+.

For the latest updates, visit www.NBAPlaygrounds.game, like NBAPlaygrounds on Facebook, and follow @NBA_Playgrounds on Twitter. Details on Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn can be found at www.alegendreborn.com.

About Saber Interactive

Based in the U.S. and Russia, Saber Interactive is an independent developer whose credits include Quake Champions, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo: Master Chief Collection, and others. The company has multiple development studios across the world making great games and bringing fun interactive experiences to life.

About Mad Dog

Mad Dog is a publisher of digital video games, focused on independent games with a potential for wide appeal. Offering seasoned production, marketing and distribution services, Mad Dog shepherds games through development and testing, then promotes and releases them on Steam, Twitch, the PlayStation®Store, Xbox Games Store, Nintendo eShop, GOG.com, Humble Store and the Mac App Store.

FUNCOM REVEALS THE NEW ACTION COMBAT OF SECRET WORLD LEGENDS^TM

When Funcom’s MMO The Secret World emerges as the shared-world RPG Secret World Legends^TM on June 26, players will experience a completely revamped combat system

OSLO, Norway – June 1, 2017 – Reimagined, rebooted and revamped, Funcom’s MMO The Secret World will emerge this month as the shared-world RPG Secret World Legends. Now fully free-to-play (learn more about the new business model here), Secret World Legends promises to shake the foundations of the 2012 MMO as it introduces a newly designed progression system, improved visuals, a sharpened focus on the player’s journey through the world and story, as well as a revamped action combat system.

Today Funcom is excited to release a new video where lead developers explain just how different combat will feel in Secret World Legends. In addition to moving from traditional MMO tab-targeting to a more action-inspired reticule mode, each of Secret World Legends’ nine weapons features entirely new and unique mechanics that are sure to keep even the most experienced players on their toes.

Secret World Legends plunges players into a shadowy war against the supernatural in an adventure that crosses our world with the realms of ancient myth and legend. As players traverse the globe unraveling complex investigations into the unknown, they’ll need to uncover clues and use their own wits as much as their characters’ abilities. A highly extensive and customizable arsenal of firearms, weapons, gear and otherworldly powers will give players the strength to battle the forces of darkness as they dig deeper into these vast and mysterious lands. Players can go at it alone and enjoy over 100 hours of story at their own pace, or team up with others as they explore the world and unravel its mysteries.

Secret World Legends will launch on June 26 via Funcom’s own channels and on Steam on July 31. For more information, please visit www.SecretWorldLegends.com.

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About Funcom

Funcom is an independent developer and publisher of online games for PC and consoles. Funcom has provided outstanding entertainment since 1993 and continues to expand its track-record of more than twenty released games. Titles include ‘Conan Exiles,’ ‘Secret World Legends,’ ‘Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures,’ ‘The Longest Journey,’ ‘Anarchy Online,’ ‘The Park,’ ‘Hide & Shriek,’ and ‘Dreamfall: The Longest Journey.’ For corporate information, please visit www.funcom.com. For information about Funcom games, visit www.conanexiles.com, www.secretworldlegends.com, www.anarchy-online.com, www.dreamfall.com, www.theparkgame.com, www.hideandshriekgame.com, www.ageofconan.com. Funcom is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker FUNCOM.

2010 RED BULL RACING RB6 REVEALED AS NEXT ICONIC CLASSIC CAR IN F1™ 2017

The 2010 Constructors’ Championship Winning Car Unveiled

Lakespur, Calif – June 1^st, 2017 – Following the recent announcement by Codemasters® and Deep Silver of F1™ 2017, the official videogame of the 2017 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™, that the game will include the return of classic F1 cars to the series, as well as an even deeper career mode, numerous multiplayer enhancements, and a brand new ‘Championships’ game mode, Deep Silver today unveiled the 2010 Red Bull Racing RB6 as the fourth classic F1 car that will feature in the game. F1 2017 will release onto PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one entertainment system by Microsoft, and Windows PC via Steam worldwide on August 25^th, 2017.

Deep Silver has released a brand new trailer showcasing the World Constructors’ Championship winning 2010 Red Bull Racing RB6, as driven by the 2010 World Champion Sebastian Vettel and teammate Mark Webber.

The Red Bull Racing RB6 was a dominant car in 2010, with nine wins, 15 pole positions and six fastest laps. Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing said, “The RB6 is our first Championship winning car, and as such is very special to us. 2010 was a dream year for Red Bull Racing, to achieve our ambition and to do so in such a compelling and dominant fashion was a fitting testament to the car, the drivers and commitment of the team. We are delighted the RB6 is included in the new F1 game as a classic car, it’s certainly a classic to us and I’m sure gamers will love driving it and trying to recreate those golden moments on track.”

Consumers who pre-order or purchase ‘Day One’ copies of F1 2017 will have exclusive access to the iconic 1988 McLaren MP4/4, as part of the ‘F1 2017 Special Edition.’ Alternatively, the McLaren MP4/4 car will be available to be purchased at a later date. The eleven other classic cars are available in all editions of the game.

Follow Codemasters F1 games blog and social channels on Twitter and Facebook for future news, YouTube for video content, and visit the product website for additional information. Further details will be released on the upcoming game soon.

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ABOUT CODEMASTERS

Codemasters, the award winning video game developer and publisher, has a 30 year heritage. With titles distributed globally, Codemasters is a leading developer and publisher of driving and racing entertainment games including DiRT, GRID and the official BAFTA award-winning FORMULA 1™ series of videogames. The company is fully controlled by Reliance Big Entertainment Ltd. (RBEL). For more information on Codemasters’ product portfolio, please visit www.codemasters.com. Join in the conversation with @codemasters on Twitter or Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/codemasters.

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.

New Bethesda Classics Arrive on GOG.com

Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion® are now available DRM-free, with full mod support.

Warsaw, Poland – June 1, 2017 – GOG.com (https://www.gog.com), the digital distribution platform that offer exceptional AAAs and the best of classic gaming, is adding more games to the DRM-free selection of Bethesda Softworks offering.

Leave the Vault 101 and set off on a journey through wastelands in Fallout 3, the first installment in the acclaimed series developed by Bethesda Game Studios. And if you’re in need of more open-world, post-apocalyptic adventuring Fallout: New Vegas is now also available on GOG.com. Both games are major overhauls in the series, taking players into a full 3D environment and switching the combat into real-time.

But if you’re looking for a grand RPG in a fantasy setting, you can’t go wrong with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – the critically acclaimed open-world RPG that solidified Elder Scrolls as a household name. Prepare for breathtaking locations, engaging exploration, and an abundance of quests to tackle at your own pace.

All three titles, considered modern classics among many PC gamers, were heavily supported with community mods which added new items, missions, characters, changed gameplay options, as well as enhanced graphics. Keeping all this in mind, GOG.com’s versions of those games fully support modifications.

To celebrate the release of new Bethesda classics, all three games are now available with a 50% discount, while Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY, An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire and The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard are all 75%, until Tuesday June 6th.

Wreak Havoc And Raise Cities To The Ground In VRobot For HTC Vive, Oculus and PSVR

Something went badly wrong… Robots and driverless cars have flooded Earth! Humans have built a Giant Robot to help reclaim civilisation, enter VRobot!

Moscow, Russia – 1st June, 2017 – Independent VR development studio Luden.io today announced its city sized robo smash ‘em up, ‘VRobot’ is now available exclusively on Steam for HTC Vive via the Early Access program for £10.99/€14,99/$14,99. Other major VR platforms such as Oculus Rift and PlayStationVR will follow later this year.

Earth has been taken over by robots! Humanity’s last hope now rests with the giant VRobot built to combat the invasion and wipe the slate clean. Destroy everything in your path and help rid the earth of the robot scourge!

VRobot can acquire various weapons to annihilate major cities as well as the new robot overlords. Use a devastating tractor beam to pull skyscrapers towards you and fire them out to sea. Summon gigantic tornadoes capable of sucking up entire neighbourhoods and direct them with your tornado maker device. Battle SuperRobot 3000 and restore civilisation so humans can return to their homes.

“What started life as a test project for Epic Games Mega Jam in 2016 has literally turned into something mechanically monstrous!” commented Oleg Chumakov, CEO of Luden.io. “We’re really looking forwards to adding a giant robot sized amount of content to VRobot in Early Access, getting feedback from the community and ultimately launching the game across all VR platforms later this year.”

About VRobot:

• 8 cities to destroy
• 2 additional weapons to unlock (Tractor Beam & Tornado Makеr)
• Run amok against the clock! Ensure 100% destruction within the time limit
• Awesome interactive with objects (shake buildings, speak with robots, catch planes and ships)
• Great realistic entourage (shadows, changes of time of day, dusks and downs)
• Full support at Early Access
• Due for launch across all major VR platforms 2017

VRobot is available on Steam Early Access here
VRobot official website is here
VRobot assets can be found here
VRobot YouTube trailer can be found here<

Follow Luden.io:
Official Website
On Twitter
On Facebook
On YouTube

About Luden.io
Luden.io was initially started as a Research and Development group at Nival. Nival’s track record includes best-selling PC strategy games like Blitzkrieg, Heroes of Might and Magic V, Silent Storm and Etherlords.

First experiments in VR started in 2013 with the very first development kit from Oculus. Free games InMind and InCell were published in 2015 for all VR platforms including Google Cardboard, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Gear VR. The games reached over 3 million installs.

The company is working on a new ways of mixing science and gaming as well as experimenting with VR and AR devices. More at https://luden.io/

MIDAS TOUCH INTERACTIVE LAUNCHES “MIDAS CREATURE” – 2D AUTOMATED ANIMATION ENGINE AND WORKFLOW TO QUICKLY AND EASILY CREATE COMPLETE ANIMATIONS

Developed by Veteran Technical Director at Pixar, Jiayi Chong, Premium Editions of Cutting-Edge 2D Animation Software Now Available

REDWOOD CITY, CA – (June 1, 2017) – Midas Touch Interactive, a groundbreaking physics based animation and VR/AR interaction technology studio, today released its latest product, Midas Creature – a Directable Automated Animation Engine and workflow for quickly and easily creating complex 2D animations for video games and other creative applications. As part of the product rollout, the company is also launching a new website that contains product information along with a purchasing shop.

Midas Creature was developed by Jiayi Chong, a former Technical Director at Pixar Animation Studios whose experience includes working on many feature films, including Toy Story 3, Wall-E, UP, Brave, and Monsters University. Chong’s role at Pixar spanned ten years and involved developing physics simulation tools and engines, including simulations for rigid body dynamics, deformable solids, cloth, hair, fluid dynamics, and skin simulation tools. In his role as Technical Director of Animation for Midas Touch, Chong leads his team on creating cutting-edge animation pipeline and service, such as Midas Creature, that is made available to both internal projects as well as licensing partners.

“Midas Creature is the ideal pipeline for game developers and anyone else looking for a more powerful, efficient, and easy-to-use 2D animation process,” said Kevin He, CEO of Midas Touch Interactive. “The Directable Automated Animation Engine of Midas Creature allows you to create animations you might have previously thought impossible with key frame or flash animation. This includes motion like hair and cloth fluttering in the wind, as well as 3D-to-2D Mocap transfer.”

Video game developers and others can use Midas Creature’s powerful Skeletal Rigging and Animation tools to build, pose, warp, and bring their art to life. These tools are made to streamline the user’s workflow, reducing time and money spent while maintaining high-quality results.

“We’re very excited to have Jiayi on our team as he brings tremendous passion and expertise,” continued He, “which he utilizes to build and implement our next-gen AI driven physics based animation pipeline helping to further establish Midas Touch Interactive as a burgeoning immersive entertainment technology expert developing cost effective and deeply interactive content creation services.”

Midas Creature caters to 2D developers of all sizes with its “Creature Enterprise” and “Creature Indie” levels. Enterprise is a premium offering that gives users everything they need to get started using Creature for their company and projects. This is the full-featured version of the tool and gives users a license for Sprite Bump, a normal mapping tool that gives 3D lighting effects to 2D images. Unlimited support tickets are included in the Enterprise package. And for first-year Enterprise customers, a Creature Lead Engineer will offer one hour a month of feedback on their projects. “Creature Enterprise” is offered as a subscription, renewed annually.

Indie is designed for small-scale development teams who prefer more flexibility without an annual commitment, while still offering product complete features and support for indie teams to realize their animation needs. The “Creature Indie” license is available to those with less than $100,000 in gross revenues in the current year, and can be purchased for $19.99 per seat for a 30-day license and to be renewed month-by-month. Committed to inspiring young and aspiring creative developers, Midas Touch is also offering students a version of Midas Creature that allows them (with proof of enrollment/student ID) to use the tool free for one month.

Midas Creature is a blend of traditional tools and new technologies. Both premium levels will have comprehensive customer support to aid user needs.  Early adopters have used Midas Creature and seen positive benefits, including a 10x increase in speed of art pipeline performance (source PlayStudios).

Midas Creature is available at the shop page: http://www.creature.midasphysics.com/shop

About Midas Touch Interactive:
After holding senior positions at Blizzard, Roblox, and Disney Interactive, Midas Touch Interactive CEO Kevin He had a unique vision for next-generation AI driven physics based animation technology. Instead of focusing on key frame animation for linear media, as other solutions had in the past, Kevin felt that it was more important to use artificial intelligence and simulation to drive character movement and interaction for games, film, VR and AR. His vision has been realized in the company’s first of its kind tech demo game released from the Midas Touch Games studio, Fist of Physics, a robot beat ‘em-up featuring robot opponents that respond to attacks precisely as they would in real life, with no canned animations; and followed by the introduction of Midas Creature, one of the multiple products to be unveiled in the year to come. Learn more about Midas Creature at: http://creature.midasphysics.com/

Charm Games Launches Surreal Virtual Reality Game FORM on HTC Vive Today 

Vancouver – June 1, 2017 – Discover the inner dreams, fears and hopes of the human mind as independent video game developer Charm Games today launches psychedelic, virtual reality puzzle game FORM on HTC Vive for $19.99. To celebrate release, FORM is available for a 25 percent discount until June 8th. In addition, FORM will release on Oculus Touch this summer and on PlayStation VR in early 2018.

Set in a remote Alaskan research facility, players guide Dr. Devin Eli, a brilliant physicist with superhuman powers of geometric visualization, on a VR journey to uncover the secrets behind a recently discovered ancient artifact, The Obelisk. As Dr. Eli, players solve stimulating puzzles and explore surreal environments built from Dr. Eli’s memories, dreams and fears.

In FORM players assemble puzzle pieces, unlock doors and open rifts to alternative realities. While advancing through the game, puzzles and environments become more complex and intertwined, accessing the deeper and more distant recesses of Dr. Eli’s mind. By solving these puzzles and “unlocking” the constraints of Dr. Eli’s mind, players will ascend through progressively higher levels of consciousness to discover a path toward Dr. Eli’s true destiny.

“FORM is driven by the game’s robust narrative that makes people think more than just how to solve complex puzzles,” said Alan Jernigan, Co-founder of Charm Games. “Story is often an afterthought in VR so we brought it to the forefront in FORM for an even greater emotional experience. However, FORM is still a game at its core so we’ve intertwined our narrative between challenging and, more importantly, entertaining puzzles that we’re sure VR gamers will enjoy.”

For more information regarding FORM please visit the game’s website, or Charm’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

About Charm Games

Charm Games is one of the world’s leading VR content developers. The company creates extraordinary and mysterious interactive VR experiences that make players feel like they have powers beyond belief. Based in Vancouver, Canada, thanks to the city’s rich history and depth of talent in the game development, digital media, and entertainment industries.

Hits Like a Meteor: ELEX Release Date Announced, Collector’s Edition Unveiled

VIENNA, Austria and ESSEN, Germany – June 1, 2017 – THQ Nordic‘s upcoming science-fantasy, open world, action RPG ELEX, developed by Piranha Bytes, creators of the award-winning Gothic and Risen series, will be out on October 17, 2017 for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One and Windows PC.

Publisher THQ Nordic and developer Piranha Bytes are thrilled to present a new CGI trailer for the game. Moving to the beat of Benj Heard’s “Whatever Doesn’t Kill Me (Better Run),” the video sets up the road at the heart of the player’s journey, as they walk the line between the many character progression and faction choices that lay ahead.

Developer Piranha Bytes and publisher THQ Nordic are also proud to announce a fine Collector’s Edition for ELEX. Inside the premium package is:

• A 10-inch-high figurine of an Alb Mage
• A 2-inch amulet in the form of a combat drone
• A cloth map, showing the world of Magalan
• The original score on CD
• An artbook
• The game’s manual
• The game itself, obviously

For more information about ELEX, please visit:

www.elexgame.com
https://twitter.com/Elex_Game
https://www.facebook.com/elexgame

About ELEX

Developed by Piranha Bytes, creators of the award-winning Gothic and Risen series, ELEX is a handcrafted action role-playing experience set in a post-apocalyptic science-fantasy universe, putting players into a huge, seamless open world full of original characters, mutated creatures, deep moral choices and powerful action. From swords and axes to bows, crossbows and harpoons, ELEX offers one of the widest selection of weaponry in the history of role-playing. Pick up a shotgun, power up a plasma rifle or unleash a flamethrower – there’s a weapon and combat style for every fighter out there. Then find a companion, choose a faction and influence the world; in ELEX, every choice will forge the future of your game.