Magic: The Gathering Duels of the Planewalkers’ devs aren't worried: “Hearthstone is at the other end of the spectrum”
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“I wouldn’t say that they’re competitors,” European community manager Dan Barrett told me. He’s showing me the latest build of Magic: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2015, the digital version of Wizards of the Coasts Collectible Card Game, Magic: The Gathering. “Hearthstone is at the other end of the spectrum. It’s what I would call an Action Trading Card Game whereas Magic is more of a Strategy TCG.”
Hearthstone has made major waves since it was released earlier this year, introducing thousands of players to the genre, a genre created by Magic: The Gathering more than 20 years ago.
Elder Scrolls Online devs talk absent Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood quests: "We aren't trying to be evasive"
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The Elder Scrolls Online’s stealth quests are disastrous. Its one-way-in, one-way-out houses are populated by instantly hostile guards to sneak attack. Pray they don’t respawn before you’re done rummaging in the quest-marked hotspots.
Rubbish. But there’s hope in the shadows - Zenimax have said their first words on the missing Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood questlines since launch.
Battlefield 4 gets a dedicated pre-server squad join screen - but only on the consoles
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Playing Battlefield 4 right now is a bit like attending a rave in an old factory (non-UK residents: yes, that is a thing we do). Everyone’s having a certain amount of base fun, but they’re surrounded by machinery nobody’s using - the commander abilities and squad tools the game was sold on. There’s simply not enough incentive to play nice - no incentive better than running down perps in jeeps or levelling skyscrapers, anyway.
Finally, DICE are doing something to fix that. They’re running a beta for a feature that really should’ve been there at launch - a squad set-up screen for before you join a server. But they’re not doing it on PC.
$2.5 million to whoever is best at driving tanks: Wargaming.net League 2014 begins
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Victor Kislyi has entered the blue-hued command centre. It is resplendent with bright LEDS and doomy bloops, reminiscent of war but signifying nothing. Men and women in military caps sit in their swivel chairs, far too close to their monitors.
It is time for the Wargames to begin.
Carbine declare Wildstar open for beta for 10 days beginning May 8
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Sad news: we’re never going to be able to run another Wildstar giveaway on the site. /sad news: that’s because Wildstar is very nearly in open beta and, invite or no, everybody will soon be able to go hoverboarding in Carbine’s green (and white, and purple), pleasant land.
Now that's an Expedition: Titanfall DLC screenshots promise treetop parkour
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We’re going on an expedition! Tickets for Titanfall’s first DLC pack are $10, and will get you into War Games - an intensely convincing simulated battlefield for people who take their paintball really seriously. More lethal are Runoff, the vertiginous industrial complex, and Swamplands, the forest battlefield. They’ll kill yer. Take a look.
It's not the size that counts: EVE Online does away with big expansions
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CCP is doing away with gigantic expansions in EVE Online. Where once massive updates changed the entire universe, introducing new systems and features all at once, CCPs new approach will see the online space sim continuously updated with smaller content packs.
Ten of these updates are planned over the next year, compared to the 20 larger expansions that have built up EVE over the better part of the last decade. The first of these new updates, Kronos, is due out on June 3rd, and it’s one for the industrialists.
Valve pulls Earth: Year 2066 from Steam and is offering full refunds until May 19th
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The saga of Earth: Year 2066 looks like it’s finally drawing to a close. An open-world post-apocalyptic survival affair, it was well-positioned to take advantage of gamers’ recent hunger for such titles. But after folk dropped $19.99 on the Early Access title on Steam, they were presented with a game that was essentially unplayable, irredeemably ugly and bearing little resemblance to the promotional materials.
The Escapist’s Jim Sterling drew attention to the game, even making a Jimquisition about it, and he was far from the only one that has serious problems with it. Thankfully, Valve has taken action, removing the game from Early Access while offering full refunds until May 19th.
Chronology throws together a man and a snail and tasks them with saving a dead world
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“Think Day of the Tentacle meets Lost Vikings,” says Chronology developer Osao Games. Well, I think to myself, that’s a bit dangerous. Drunk Scandinavians and time travel sounds like a recipe for disaster.
But it turns out that Chronology isn’t about drunk Scandinavians at all, but is a time jumping platforming puzzler. It’s been Greenlit and will go live on May 12th.
Telltale spills the Tales from the Borderlands beans
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Telltale producer Adam Sarasohn has spilled the beans on the adventure game studios Borderlands spin-off. Not all the beans, but enough beans so that it’s hard to count them all.
Why is Telltale forging an adventure game out of Gearbox’s shooter, you ask? “Because, if you pause to take a breath between shooting everything in sight and stealing your buddies’ loot in multiplayer, you’ll know that Borderlands features some amazing characters and stories in a world that’s rich in dark humor,” says Sarasohn.
Activision Blizzard's first quarter was dominated by Diablo, World of Warcraft and Hearthstone
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Activision Blizzard hasn’t made as much money in the first quarter of 2014 as it did over the same period last year. But before you start feeling bad and sending them cheques, you should know that “not as much money” is still $1.11 billion.
The figure is higher than what Activision expected back in February, and has mainly been attributed to Blizzard’s output: Hearthstone, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls and World of Warcraft.
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