I don’t know what it is about Double Fine, but every time they put out a game, I get pretty excited. The Cave is no different, as this romp for the Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, and PC (with a soon to be released Wii U version) is now available, and has a lot to offer.
This Ron Gilbert () produced gem lets players explore the mysterious cave, while solving puzzles and going on an all out adventure. Yes, the tone of the game is rather dark compared to other Double Fine offerings of the past, but I would say it suits the brand as a whole, as it looks absolutely enchanting. You can dive in this cave yourself for 1200 points (or $14.99 for you PSN/PC owners) today, and get to exploring what is sure to be an inspired locale.
Demon’s Souls can now be purchased on the Play Station Network and downloaded from the comfort of your home. Now you can hours of frustrating, couch punching fun without even leaving your home.
If you have no played the game yet, Demon’s Souls is a challenging game with a dark and beautiful atmosphere. This challenging game takes place in the kingdom of Boletaria, a place that is heavily influenced by mediaeval Europe. Follow or ignore hints left by other players, or work together with others to take down awe inspiring bosses. To catch a glimpse of what this game looks like, watch the video below.
We now have the answers we’ve been seeking through our financial restructuring and
Chapter 11 case. While much will be written, here are the facts of the bids and auction
that occurred t:
Yesterday morning, we received a competing bid for the operating business,
along with Clearlake’s offer, and numerous offers for separate assets.
During an auction process that lasted over 22 hours, the final conclusion was
that the separate-asset bids would net more than a single buyer for the majority
of the company.
Shortly, we will, present the results to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which must
concur with our assessment.
The proposed sales of multiple assets is as follows :
Sega agreed to purchase Relic
Koch Media agreed to purchase Volition and Metro
Crytek agreed to purchase Homefront
Take 2 agreed purchase Evolve and
Ubisoft agreed to purchase Montreal and South Park
We expect these sales to close this week.
Some assets, including our publishing businesses and Vigil, along with some other
intellectual properties are not included in the sale agreements. They will remain part of
the Chapter 11 case. We will make every effort to find appropriate buyers, if possible.
What this means for employees
We expect that most employees of the entities included in the sale will be offered
employment by the new owners. However, we cannot say what these owners may
intend, and there will likely be some positions that will not be needed under the
new ownership. You should receive notice this week or early next week if the new
owners intend to extend employment to you. Please note that the terms of your new
employment, including pay and benefits, may be different from the current terms of
your employment with THQ.
If you are an employee of an entity that is not included in the sale, we regret that
your position will end. A small number of our headquarters staff will continue to be
employed by THQ beyond January 25 to assist with the transition. THQ has sufficient
resources to pay these employees for work going forward, and we will be contacting
these employees immediately to ensure their continued employment during this
transition period. We are requesting the ability to offer certain severance pay to
minimize disruption for employees of non-included entities as they determine the next
steps in their careers.
We know you will have many questions about this news. We’ll be meeting tomorrow
when we return to talk through this announcement and to answer any questions you
have. You will receive a benefits fact sheet and FAQs with answers to some questions
that may be on your mind. Please review these materials closely.
A personal note
The work that you all have done as part of the THQ family is imaginative, creative,
artistic and highly valued by our loyal gamers. We are proud of what we have
accomplished despite today’s outcome.
It has been our privilege to work alongside the entire THQ team. While the company
will cease to exist, we are heartened that the majority of our studios and games will
continue under new ownership. We were hoping that the entire company would remain
intact, but we expect to hear good news from each of the separate entities that will be
operating as part of new organizations.
For those THQ employees who are part of entities that are not included in the sale, we
are confident that the talent you have displayed as part of THQ will be recognized as you
take the next steps in your career.
Thank you all for your dedication and for sharing your talent with the THQ team. We
wish you the best of luck and hope you will keep in touch.
Sincerely,
Brian Farrell
Chief Executive Officer
Jason Rubin
President
Again, we offer our gratitude to THQ for all of their great games over the years. Their legacy will live on through a new lens.
THQ just sold the majority of their assets in their Bankruptcy induced auction earlier today. The following is a rundown of who acquired what and for how much:
Relic, developer of Company of Heroes 2 and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, has been purchased by SEGA for $26.6 million – the highest single bid of the day – with the second-place, and backup bid of$26.3 million from Bethesda parent company ZeniMax Media (according toPolygon).
Saint’s Row developers Volition, and the Metro IP, have been bought by Deep Silver owner Koch Media. Details here.
Homefront 2, which is already being developed by Crytek, and the entire Homefront IP/rights now has an official home with the company for $500,000.
Rockstar and 2K Games parent company Take-Two has agreed to purchase Turtle Rock Studios’ project codenamed ‘Evolve’ for a cool $10.8 million. Also rumoured to have purchased the WWE Games license outside of the auction proceedings.
‘South Park: The Stick of Truth’ will now be published by Ubisoft, who also bought out THQ Montreal. Details here.
I’m sure many will have noticed the lack of news regarding Darksiders and it’s developer studio Vigil. Unfortunately, they were not purchased in the auction and it seems they have been disbanded. Nothing is 100% confirmed yet on that front, but the chances of their survival are slim. We are sorry for all the employees who have lost their jobs due to these events.
THQ CEO Brian Farrell’s letter to his employees can also be found here.
Looking forward to the Crysis 3 release? Just dying to get a feel for the game? Well, the chance to try it out for yourself is coming sooner than you’d think thanks to a multiplayer beta coming January 29th. Yep, in less than one week, players can log onto their Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or PC and download the open beta.
The beta will include two different team modes on two maps where players can go head to head and test what the Nanosuit is packing this time around. Running for 2 weeks, players will have that time to prepare not only for the multiplayer for the retail release, but should have a good handle for the single player as well.
Crysis 3 is the latest in the Crysis series from developer Crytek GmbH and publisher EA, which is set to release on February 19th in North America, followed by the 21st in Australia, and the 22nd in Europe and New Zealand.
At the THQ assets auction, Volition Inc., developers of the ‘Saint’s Row’ franchise, were bought out by Koch Media, owner of ‘Dead Island’ publisher Deep Silver.
Not only that, but Koch Media has also paid for the rights to develop, market and publish future titles in 4A Games’ Metro series. The total price of these sales is a reported $28.2 million, the highest combined expenditure made at the auction by a single entity. Koch Media has stated, “Deep Silver, Koch Media’s international publishing powerhouse, will lead all further development and marketing on the Saints Row and Metro franchises… Koch Media and Deep Silver will roll out future plans for each franchise in the coming months.”
It’s comforting to know that Volition will be able to continue working on their beloved franchise and original IP. Did you guys expect such a coup (at least in my eyes) for Deep Silver? Also, go hereto find a detailed rundown of all of the other THQ assets that were sold in the auction. THQ CEO Brian Farrell’s letter to his employees can also be found here.
Today Capcom revealed when fans of Dragon’s Dogma can expect it’s expansion, Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen, to be released in North America and Europe. The game will be available both as a retail purchase and as a digital download on April 23rd in North America and April 26th in Europe while Australians get the game on April 25th.
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen will allow you to import your existing character and save data from the original Dragon’s Dogma and if you own the original game, you will receive unlimited Ferrystones, 100,000 Rift Crystals and the Gransys Armor Pack which provides six new outfits.
As for Dark Arisen itself, the game takes place on Bitterblack Isle which features 26 new enemies and over a hundred pieces of new equipment. Each character class will also be given a new tier of skills and a number of new character customization options have been added to the game. Check out the latest trailer for the DLC below.
Awesomenauts just keeps pushing out the updates with Patch 1.13 to ensure that all the various characters are balanced to provide fun and fair gameplay for all players, but in addition this patch adds a new skin that should have all Minecraft fans looking around for the familiar hiss.
That’s right, working in collaboration with Mojang, Awesomenauts is adding in a new Creeper skin for playable character Clunk. But, don’t be logging on and trying to immediately apply or purchase this new skin as the only way to receive it is to defeat a “Creeper Clunk” in battle. Which the devs are more than happy to log on with their own Creeper skins and get the viral skin going.
The new patch is live now, so those interested go ahead an log on and start hunting down your own Creeper Clunk. Consider being kind and applying it thereafter, so that you can help someone else claim their own, just be sure to make them work for it.
Hot off the heels of the THQ assets auction, the rumour is that the WWE Games license (which reportedly didn’t sell during the auction itself) will find a home with one of the big two sports games developers. And it’s not EA Sports.
Take-Two, the parent company of 2K Games, has snapped up the WWE Games license from THQ, according to IGN‘s sources. Details have not been finalised so we can not give you specifics on how much was paid or what the other terms of the sale might be. Going into this auction, we WWE fans had hoped that it would be picked up for future development by either EA Sports or 2K, so it seems we got our wish.
How do you wrestling fans feel about this? Optimistic about the future of WWE Games? Let us know. Also, check out this rundown of all the THQ assets that were sold at the auction. THQ CEO Brian Farrell’s letter to his employees can also be found here.
Fans of dungeon crawlers like the Diablo and Torchlight franchises should keep their eyes and ears open for days like this.
The developers of Path of Exile, a free action role-playing game from Grinding Gear Games, announced today that the Open Beta is live. With the launch of the open beta, 50 percent more content has been added from the alpha including access to the third act of the story.
According to the press release, some key features of Path of Exile include:
A dark and deep action RPG
Build unlimited unique characters on a gigantic skill tree
Combine over 110 skill gems to create unique combat strategies
Explore a dark and gritty world rendered from a fixed 3D perspective
Download and play for free, but never ‘pay-to-win’
Explore randomly generated levels for extreme replayability
Craft weapons, magic items and even end-game maps to become more powerful
Cooperate or compete with thousands of other exiles in a persistent online world
Ascend online ladders in every game mode
Battle in PVP tournaments for worldwide recognition
Players interested in giving Path of Exile a try should head over to their website and sign up today.
“WHAT?!”