FLIPPING THE PLATFORM GENRE UPSIDE DOWN, THE LAND OF EYAS TO RELEASE THIS SUMMER

Rising Star Games to Bring Ingenious Gravity Switching Action Platformer to PC and Mac

Los Angeles, CA – March 10, 2016 – Rising Star Games, a video game publisher renowned for bringing unique and diverse games to players everywhere, has announced a new partnership with Happy Square Productions to publish The Land of Eyas on PC, Mac, and Linux. Combining lovable 2D visuals with gravity-based platform mechanics, gamers will use two opposing gravities to explore an enchanted world, experience huge sling-shot momentum jumps, and avoid dangerous enemies and obstacles in search for a way Home.

Upside down you’re turning me, so use the gravity instinctively

“The fine folks at Rising Star Games are stellar promo experts that give indie game titles the star power and attention that they deserve,” said Stephen Hoskins, founder of Happy Square Productions. “They disconnect the extremely arduous and time consuming tasks of promoting games from developers, delivering well-coordinated strategies designed to showcase the joyful greatness of indie games. The gamer community is in for a jolt of indie gaming goodness thanks to Rising Star Games.”

“Innovative, unique game experiences like The Land of Eyas are a great example why indie games are so special”, said Martin Defries, managing director of Rising Star Games. “When players experience The Land of Eyas they’ll find a unique platforming treasure that will challenge in new, exciting ways while captivating gamers with its delightful art style and story.”

In The Land of Eyas, gamers take on the role Eyas, a little boy wearing an oddly-styled cat outfit, who is caught in a world split between two opposing gravities. To find his way Home, Eyas has to learn how to navigate the strangely beautiful world using the opposing gravitational forces and the objects he interacts with along the way. On his journey, he is guided by tree wisps that direct him to find the one they call Mother. By manipulating jumps between the different gravity fields, Eyas will be able to use the additional momentum to sling-shot to new heights and access new areas.

Developed by the indie developer Happy Square Productions, The Land of Eyas will be available this Summer on Steam and selected digital retailers. For more information, follow Rising Star Games on Twitter and visit the official Rising Star Games website.

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ABOUT HAPPY SQUARE PRODUCTIONS

Headquartered out of Fairfax Station, Virginia U.S.A. Happy Square Productions is a collaborative and integrated network of creative specialists in the field of interactive digital entertainment. The Land of Eyas project is written and coded by Stephen Hoskins, with distinguished artwork by Matthew Kiehl, Trung Nguyen, McKenzie Kerman, and Kristin Parker.  Additional contributions and influences were taken from many luminary individuals active in the digital entertainment space.  All music in The Land of Eyas is composed by Stephen Hoskins. thelandofeyas.com www.facebook.com/HappySquareProductions

ABOUT RISING STAR GAMES

Rising Star Games is a privately held video games publisher with a global reach. With operating offices in Europe and USA the company publishes video game entertainment across all gaming platforms from Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and via Steam. With decades of combined experience and a genuine passion for interactive entertainment, Rising Star Games is proud of its ever-expanding and enormously diverse catalogue of over 120 titles.

Devour your rivals IN FINAL FANTASY XIV Patch 3.21 “The Feast” PvP mode

LONDON (10^th March 2016) –   Players of the acclaimed, BAFTA nominated MMORPG,FINAL FANTASY® XIV, can now battle one another in the Feast, a new PvP mode released with Patch 3.21. The player’s primary objective is to steal their opponent’s medals in teams of four or eight. The Feast dramatically shifts the playing field and a team’s strategy with the introduction of a variety of boosts from supply boxes, as well as detrimental effects where players can receive additional damage based on how many medals they hold and how much time has elapsed without a KO. Players who have unlocked the “Wolves’ Den” will automatically be able to access this new content.

Players of the Feast will also be able to participate in a ranked PvP system, introduced for the first time in FINAL FANTASY XIV with Patch 3.21.The initial update will mark the beginning of the pre-season period, where players can get acquainted with the ranking system, before Season One officially commences in Patch 3.25. Top competitors will receive special awards at each season’s end. Player ranks will be updated daily on theLodestone.

Further details on The Feast can be found on the promotional website at:http://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/pr/special/3_2_The_Gears_Of_Change/

FINAL FANTASY XIV: HEAVENSWARD is available now on the PlayStation®3 system, PlayStation®4 system and on Windows PC. For newcomers, an all-in-one bundle including both the award-winning FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn and FINAL FANTASY XIV: Heavensward is also available now. A free 30-day trial is included for new accounts, with monthly subscriptions starting at £7.69 / 10.99 €. Those who have not yet had the chance to try FINAL FANTASY XIV Online can do so by downloading the 14 day free trial for PC here; http://www.ffxiv-freetrial.com/en/ or, for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 directly from the PlayStation Network.

Related Links:
Promo site: http://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/pr/special/3_2_The_Gears_Of_Change
The Lodestone:  http://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/
Official Website: www.finalfantasyxiv.com
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FinalFantasyXIV
Official YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/FINALFANTASYXIV
Official Twitter: @FF_XIV_EN

About Square Enix Ltd.
Square Enix Ltd., a part of the Square Enix Europe business unit, develops, publishes, distributes and licenses SQUARE ENIX, EIDOS® and TAITO® branded entertainment content in Europe and other PAL territories as part of the Square Enix Group. Square Enix Ltd. also has a global network of leading development studios such as IO Interactive™, Crystal Dynamics® and Eidos Montréal. The Square Enix Group boasts a valuable portfolio of intellectual property including: FINAL FANTASY, which has sold over 110 million units worldwide, DRAGON QUEST® which has sold over 66 million units worldwide and TOMB RAIDER® which has sold over 45 million units worldwide; and the legendary SPACE INVADERS®. Square Enix Ltd. is a London-based, wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.

More information on Square Enix Ltd. can be found at http://www.square-enix.com/eu/en/ .

FINAL FANTASY XIV © 2010 – 2016 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved.
HEAVENSWARD and A REALM REBORN are registered trademarks or trademarks of Square Enix Co., Ltd. FINAL FANTASY, FINAL FANTASY XIV, FFXIV, SQUARE ENIX and the SQUARE ENIX logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

Rope-swinging game Rope Racers is now available in the App Store

The new free-to-play instant multiplayer game Rope Racers from Small Giant Games is now available for download on the App Store. Starting on March 17^th, Rope Racers will also swing onto Google Play.

Helsinki, Finland – March 10^th, 2016 – Rope Racers, the addictive new multiplayer game from the Finnish mobile developer Small Giant Games, is now available free for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch in the App Store via http://bit.ly/RopeRacers. The Android version will be available on Google Play as of March 17^th. Check out the official trailer here https://youtu.be/F4groT47tvA.

Players will have to swing, run, and race around the whole world against nine other players in order to become the best Rope Racer of all time. From the very start, the focus of the gameplay is on the multiplayer aspect, while the “intelligent matchmaking” ensures that the competitors in the race are on a similar game level and thus everyone starts with similar conditions.

During the game, players must attach a rope to the ceiling by touch and hold, giving them momentum and speed, while at the same time dodging many obstacles which can slow them down. Every level also has turboboosts and coins to collect, which can be used later for racing advantages.

In order to participate in a race, players use virtual currency for a participation fee. At the end of the race, every participant receives prize money – the amount depends on their position – as soon as they cross the finish line. Cool and funny characters can be collected in the game to build teams. These characters can be upgraded with the coins earned to change their appearance or improve their skills.

Along with the career mode, the game also includes a feature for friendly races, where players can challenge their friends on social media to find out who the ultimate Rope Racer is! Get ready now to be able to keep up in Rope Racers, one of the fastest multiplayer action games ever!

Features:

• An addictive rope-swinging game!
• Compete against real people from around the world
• Tens of exciting levels spread in 20 challenging leagues
• Insanely fast gameplay with simple controls
• Impressive graphics with gorgeous locations such as Paris and Las Vegas
• Large roster of cool and funny characters that can be unlocked and upgraded
• Friendly tournaments against Facebook friends
• Available in 9 languages: English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, Italian, Russian, Turkish

About Small Giant Games

Small Giant Games is a mobile games company based in Helsinki, Finland. The company was founded by a team of game industry experts, who were the core team members and pioneers of free to play game development at Habbo Hotel. Small Giant focuses on creating beautiful and deeply engaging character driven multiplayer mobile games for advanced casual gamers.

http://www.smallgiantgames.com

http://www.facebook.com/SmallGiantGames

http://twitter.com/SmallGiantGames

Sheltered launches on PS4, Xbox One and PC next week

UK – 10^th March – Games industry veteran and games label Team17 and independent developer Unicube are excited to announce that their co-developed post-apocalyptic survival game, Sheltered, will be available to download for Xbox One, PS4, PC, Mac and Linux on the 15^th March.

After a global apocalypse, a frightened family find their way to a deserted shelter, where they try to survive. You take on the role of protecting four family members. Their wellbeing and survival is your responsibility. One mistake, one bad decision and a loved one is gone, forever. Sheltered is a world where death is permanent.

Combat claustrophobia, radiation and mental exhaustion as you try to turn the cold and cramped shelter into a home. And as they cling desperately to life, you must send family members from the scant protection of the shelter, outside into the dangerous, desolate wasteland to scavenge for vital supplies. You’ll come across abandoned towns, roaming factions and feral beasts.

How you handle the many moral choices you’ll encounter could be the difference between the family surviving or dying.

Features:
•    Family comes first: Keep your family alive and protect them from the ravages of the harsh post-apocalyptic world
•    Pets: Your pet is family too. Choose between the dog, cat, fish, snake or horse
•    Make the shelter a home: Maintain your shelter – keep it secure, habitable and make sure that the family have enough resources to survive. Protect your shelter from hazards and infiltration!
•    Crafting system: Create comforts for your family’s shelter and weapons for combat
•    Customisation: Your family is unique to you; you decide their gender, names and their appearance
•    Exploration: Send out your family to explore and gather resources for everyday living and crafting
•    Recruitment system: Recruit outsiders with different personalities, integrate them into your shelter life and earn their loyalty
•    RPG mechanics: As your family develop, their stats will adapt with an evolving experience and trauma system. Attributes, strengths and weaknesses will dynamically change based on your choices
•    Dynamic encounter system: Your family will encounter various threats including roaming factions and feral beasts
•    Turn-based combat: For those that cannot be reasoned with, violence can be used as a last resort. Your family may depend on it
•    Vehicles: Make exploration quicker and safer
•    Bloodlines: Extend your family lineage

Sheltered will be available to download for Xbox One, PS4, PC, Mac and Linux on the 15^th March for just £9.99 / $14.99 /12,99  €

Assets are available to download from: bit.ly/ShelteredPressKit

To keep up to date with all the information on Sheltered please visit www.team17.com, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @Team17Ltd.

The Turing Test – first-person adventure puzzler game to be released by Collective on Steam in August 2016

LONDON, March 10 2016: Square Enix Collective™ is to publish The Turing Test, a forthcoming first-person puzzle game created by British studio Bulkhead Interactive, on Steam™.

The game will release in August 2016 and puts players in the shoes of Ava Turing, an engineer for the International Space Agency (ISA), as she attempts to uncover the truth behind the research base on Jupiter’s moon, Europa.

Solve puzzles using your Energy Manipulation Tool (EMT) to transfer power out of one object and into another; power up and take control of artificially intelligent machines, manipulate giant structures and solve complex tasks – all woven into a multi-layered story based on the human struggle for control.

The game, being developed using Unreal 4, is the next project to release from Bulkhead Interactive. The studio previously released Pneuma: Breath of Life, and recently concluded a successful Kickstarter campaign for their next project Battalion 1944 (which is planned to release in 2017).

“I’m very excited to be working with the Bulkhead Interactive team,” said Square Enix Collective creator and project lead Phil Elliott. “It’s our aim to support new development talent in a range of ways, and it’s already clear that this team is destined to have a big impact on the industry in the future.”

“We’re big fans of the platform that Square Enix® has created in Collective,” said Howard Philpott, Creative Producer at Bulkhead Interactive. “We’re excited to be a part of Square Enix’s plans for the future of the industry. For us at Bulkhead they’ve opened many doors that wouldn’t have been accessible to us without their connections or years of experience in publishing games. They’ve given us the opportunity to make The Turing Test a more solid, polished, and ultimately an all-round better game.”

The Turing Test will be one of the games featured in the Square Enix Collective range at EGX Rezzed, taking place in London from April 7-9. As part of the partnership, the game will benefit from marketing services provided by world-leading agency Petrol Advertising and forecasting and evaluation support from EEDAR.

Creative control and all IP rights are retained by Bulkhead Interactive.

Website: www.theturingtestgame.com
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHQmZn88k1E
Assets can be found here: http://square-enix-press.com/download/38002/c60248521c434d89440603da77045f319d6b839b

An Xbox One version of the game will also be released in August, published directly by Microsoft.

Square Enix Collective is a platform that aims to help independent developers find an audience for their projects, by enabling them to tap into our community and media resources. Projects which gamers support through the initial Feedback phase may be offered continued support through crowdfunding too; but developers are free to choose whether to accept, and retain IP and creative control over their projects.

Collective also offers distribution and publishing services to games already funded, and invests in production of a small number of titles to help them complete development and get to release.

Square Enix Collective website: collective.square-enix.com
Follow @SQEX Collective on Twitter®: twitter.com/sqexcollective

SQUARE ENIX, the SQUARE ENIX logo, SQUARE ENIX COLLECTIVE, and the SQUARE ENIX COLLECTIVE logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Square Enix group of companies. BULKHEAD INTERACTIVE and THE TURING TEST are trademarks of Bulkhead Interactive. PETROL is a trademark of Petrol Advertising, Inc. EEDAR is a registered trademark or trademark of Electronic Entertainment Design and Research Corporation. STEAM is a trademark and/or registered trademark of Valve Corporation.  All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

Nexon Group to Acquire Mobile Game Developer Big Huge Games

Enables Long-Term Service of Critically-Acclaimed Strategy Game DomiNations, Which Has Surpassed 19 Million Total Downloads Worldwide

TOKYO – March 10, 2016 – NEXON Co., Ltd. (“Nexon”) (3659.TO), a worldwide leader in free-to-play online and mobile games, today announced that its consolidated subsidiary, NEXON Korea Corporation (“Nexon Korea”) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of Big Huge Games, a developer of strategy gameDomiNations.

Big Huge Games is an independent game studio co-founded by industry veterans Brian Reynolds and Tim Train, renowned developers behind Civilization II and Rise of Nations. Nexon and Big Huge Games announced a strategic partnership in July 2013, and the debut title, DomiNations, has garnered critical acclaim and international success, including surpassing 19 million total downloads[*] worldwide since its launch in April 2015.

Together, Nexon and Big Huge Games will provide long-term, comprehensive service ofDomiNations, including game development, operations, user support and marketing. In addition, combining Big Huge Games’ skilled creative team and development capabilities with Nexon’s global publishing expertise will enable Nexon to consistently provideDomiNations players with fresh content and engaging experiences over the long-term.

“We are thrilled to be joining forces with Big Huge Games. One of Nexon’s core objectives is to empower the best game developers around the world enable them to succeed,” said Owen Mahoney, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nexon. “DomiNations has achieved great success in both the West and Asia, and we’re excited to work with Big Huge Games to deliver the best quality gameplay to fans for years to come.”

Tim Train, Chief Executive Officer of Big Huge Games, commented, “We’ve had such a great relationship with Nexon on DomiNations, and we’re very excited to become part of the family. We share Nexon’s vision that games are most successful when passionate, talented designers can create innovative gameplay, and we look forward to many years of working together to create worldwide hits that change the mobile landscape”

Nexon creates and publishes creative and entertaining games for players around the world. Going forward, the Company will continue to focus on the development and service of high-quality games through in-house development and strategic partnerships.

About DomiNations https://dominations.nexonm.com/
The engaging single- and multiplayer, base-building strategy game challenges players to develop and rule their own civilizations throughout world history, from the Stone Age to the Space Age. In the game, players relive history’s most famous conflicts and build Wonders of the World in an expansive and immersive environment. The title has been critically acclaimed on both stores and selected as “Best of 2015” by App Store in four countries in Asia (Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong). In addition, it was awarded as Google Play’s “Best Games of 2015” in Korea.

About NEXON Co., Ltd. http://company.nexon.co.jp/
NEXON Co., Ltd. (“Nexon”) (3659.TO) is a worldwide leader in free-to-play online and mobile games. Founded in Korea in 1994, Nexon developed one of the world’s first graphics-based massively multiplayer online games. Nexon also pioneered the concept of microtransactions and the free-to-play business model, setting a new standard in which play is free, and users have the option to purchase in-game items to enhance their experience. Nexon currently services nearly 100 titles in more than 190 countries. The Company is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and its shares are listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

About Big Huge Games www.bighugegames.com
Big Huge Games specializes in mobile strategy games. The studio was founded in 2013 by 25- year game industry collaborators Brian Reynolds and Tim Train, along with several other long- time veterans, and hopes to keep the flame alive of the original Big Huge Games which ran from 2000 to 2012. We build prototypes and improve them constantly until we love playing them ourselves – we know you won’t love our game until we love it. Big Huge Games is represented by Ophir Lupu of United Talent Agency.

Contact information
Nexon Corporate PR  [email protected]

Fractured Space Update Introduces Custom Matches — Battle with or against Friends for Bragging Rights

Guildford, 10^th March 2016.  Edge Case Games, developers of the team-based space combat game, Fractured Space, revealed that today’s eagerly anticipated game update introduces Custom Matches, one of the features most requested by the game’s community.

The system has been designed for matches with friends, including both friendly encounters and clan training. It allows for everything from one-on-one games to full five-on-five matches.

A Steam Community Group, Fractured Fight Club, has been set up to facilitate challenges and the establishment of casual teams.

Team leaders will decide the number of players and game mode before the game begins, and players can invite others to the lobby to quickly and easily fill out a match. During this process, ranks and Matchmaking Rating (MMR) will be fully visible to assist with balancing.

“Fractured Space is at its heart a team game, and Custom Matches will bring a number of important player benefits, from playing fun matches with friends to full-on clan training exercises,” said Sam Bennett, Community Director at Edge Case Games. “Thanks to our open development model, ECG is able to listen and adapt to features that are important to our community.”

Fractured Space is a team-based space combat game fought in gigantic capital ships with the intensity of a shooter and the big-picture-thinking of a strategy game.

Originally launched on Steam Early Access in November 2014 to critical and commercial success, Fractured Space has attracted over 500’000 players as the game continuously evolves using an open development model where the community is encouraged to talk directly to the development team, highly influencing the development of the final game.

For updates on Fractured Space please follow:

https://www.fracturedspace.com/
https://twitter.com/fracturedspace
https://www.facebook.com/FracturedSpace

https://twitter.com/RenaissancePRUK
https://www.facebook.com/RenaissancePR

About Edge Case Games
Formed in 2014 from the team behind the hit space game, Strike Suit Zero, Edge Case Games brings its expertise and passion for space games to its inaugural title, the tactical space MOBA, Fractured Space. Based in the development hotbed of Guildford, UK, the team is dedicated to expanding the scope and scale of space-based gaming through an open development philosophy that leverages the enthusiasm of the gaming community.
About Fractured Space
Fractured Space is team-based space combat fought in gigantic capital ships with the intensity of a shooter and the big-picture-thinking of a strategy game. Fractured Space is currently available for PC on Steam Early Access and is set for a wider free-to-play release in 2016.

Today kicks off Naughty Dog’s five episode behind-the-scenes series, ‘The Making of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End’.

The video team at PlayStation has been given incredible access to the Naughty Dog studio, game assets, and many of the people working on Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End including Creative Director Neil Druckmann to craft a compelling series to cap off this final chapter for Nathan Drake.

The first episode, titled ‘The Evolution of a Franchise’, kicks off the series with a brief look at how Naughty Dog and the Uncharted series has evolved, since Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune made its debut on the PS3 in 2007. It also includes mentions of the lasting influence of The Last of Us on the team and its development process.

You can view the first episode here.

The five-episode series is scheduled to be released throughout March and April, so we hope you tune in to each episode. The rundown of episodes is:

• The Making of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End: The Evolution of a Franchise
• The Making of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End: Growing up with Drake
• The Making of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End: Pushing Technical Boundaries Part 1
• The Making of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End: Pushing Technical Boundaries Part 2
• The Making of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End: In the End

Several years after his last adventure, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End sees retired fortune hunter Nathan Drake forced back into the world of thieves. With the stakes much more personal, Drake embarks on a globe-trotting journey in pursuit of a historical conspiracy behind a fabled pirate treasure. His greatest adventure will test his physical limits, his resolve, and ultimately what he’s willing to sacrifice to save the ones he loves.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is launching exclusively on PlayStation 4, 10 May, 2016. 

You can read the full blog post here.