Interview: Jason Kingsley on what comes after Sniper Elite 3
Sniper Elite 3 has just launched. It's a World War Two game in which you can shoot a man from a ledge a mile away and watch in slow motion as a hot bullet bores a tunnel through one of two unsuspecting testicles, before exploding out of an arse like a horrifying party popper made of flesh and guts. It's more than a little bit gross in its extreme anatomical detail, and more entertaining than you're probably willing to admit.
A short while ago, before Sniper Elite 3 had launched, I met up with Jason Kingsley, Rebellion's CEO and creative director. We had a lovely long chat all about where they draw the line between gore and obscenity (after exploding balls, but before exploding penis), whether we could expect a return of their Nazi Zombie Army spin-off (we can), and what the future holds for the studio (potentially an open world survival horror game).
Dota 2 tournament ESL One Frankfurt had over 12,500 spectators in the arena each day
ESL One Frankfurt 2014, the recent Dota 2 tournament, was the largest eSports competition in Germany and one of the largest worldwide. More than 12,500 spectators crammed into the Commerzbank-Arena to watch the matches each day, while ESL says millions more watched the streams.
We really do need more of this sort of thing in the UK, something Jules championed in regards to League of Legends live events earlier today. As someone who only goes to see the occasional rugby match, I don’t often find myself getting the chance to enjoy passionate crowds roaring and cheering as teams and players clash.
Airtight Games closes its doors shortly after the launch of Murdered: Soul Suspect
Airtight Games sprung up in 2004, made up primarily from ex-FASA folk who designed the excellent Crimson Skies and various MechWarrior and MechCommander games. After a decade the studio is no more.
Its best received game was Quantum Conundrum, but I’ll fondly remember them as the team that made Murdered: Soul Suspect - which only came out last month. It was a confused, inconsistent mess, but one that I’ve had a great deal of fun playing and certainly didn't lack interesting ideas.
IeSF opens male-only Hearthstone tournament to all genders, changes policy for good
The wider news world tends to discourage public u-turns by punishing politicians for ‘flip-flopping’. But a turnaround at the right junction can be a win for all: the replacement of a gross negative with an unmitigated positive.
So it is here: the South Korean eSports organisation which previously prevented women from competing in Hearthstone has revised its rules. Its designated male-only tournaments will henceforth be open to all - and they’re keeping their female-only events in an effort to “improve representation”.
Know your audience: Call of Duty: Ghosts is getting cannabis-themed gear
Let’s be, ah, blunt: Call of Duty is packaged and sold to an audience of young men free from responsibility, and isn’t afraid to be explicit about it.
Clearly, somebody at Infinity Ward has noticed a certain amount of demographic crossover with another product. They’ve capitalised on it with the new Blunt Force character pack for Call of Duty: Ghosts.
Kingsley talks Rebellion's future in open worlds: "We've almost got too much IP"
Rebellion are a more interesting lot than they appear. You’ve probably noticed that they continue to make Sniper Elite games at regular intervals - but maybe not that they also own and publish all the 2000AD comics, and once bravely attempted to make a Judge Dredd FPS.
They have, in the words of their CEO, “almost got too much IP”. So what does their future hold? Let’s take a gruesome X-Ray of Jason Kingsley’s brain.
“What about a Nazi Zombie Army that's completely open world?”, he asks PCGamesN, apropos of nothing.
Battlefield Hardline feedback sees movement speed upped 10%: "It feels much faster now!"
Visceral Games wanted feedback from their Battlefield Hardline beta, and they got it alright: a screeching, sonic wall of complaints that, if recorded, would sound like Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music.
In response, they’ve created the first of many Community’s Most Wanted lists - a flood of fixes headed for the game beginning with a 10% increase in movement speed and ending with weak spots for heavy vehicles.
There's another Assassin's Creed game brewing in Quebec
Assassin’s Creed Unity comes from Ubisoft’s most darling studio in Montreal, where men and women have been animating hoods for absolutely yonks. But there’s a second Assassin’s Creed game in development at Ubisoft Quebec - one of the publisher’s many support studios, who’ve now graduated to the creative directorial spotlight.
End of the Line: Killing Floor gets three new maps in free Summer update
A face like Ellen Page’s wandered into The Last of Us, and now something like her voice seems to have turned up in Tripwire’s latest Killing Floor trailer. Not-Ellen-Page is here to talk about End of the Line - a “hefty” Summer update for the unkillable Steam favourite cannily timed to arrive before America’s Fourth of July Weekend.
Moreowind: Skywind public alpha "coming soon"
Update: The video is back.
I can’t watch a Skywind trailer without being smacked in the face by a wave of nostalgia. The third Elder Scrolls adventure, Morrowind, is the best of the lot and a well deserved entry in my 15 best RPGs on PC list. The Skywind team is recreating the venerable RPG in its younger sibling, Skyrim, and the results are pretty striking thus far.
The new trailer shows off the latest developer update with original content and new assets. It’s not a public build, but a public alpha is on the docket. The team says “coming soon”. Take a stroll through Balmora, Solstheim, West Gash and some lovely caves below.
DayZ grows and becomes more deadly in the latest update
The world of DayZ is a big, violent place, and with the latest update, it’s gotten a whole lot larger and potentially more dangerous.
Update 0.46.124490 throws flashbangs and hand grenades into the mix, lets survivors loot MP5s and expands the map to include new areas to Novodmitrovsk and a new location, Dobroe village. Lots of lovely places for you to die or be mugged in.
Take a gander below for the full changelog.
Case closed: The Wolf Among Us concludes next week with Cry Wolf
We’ll be bidding farewell to the neon-drenched, dirty streets of Fabletown next week, when The Wolf Among us concludes. The fifth and final episode, Cry Wolf, is due out on July 8th.
The Wolf Among Us episode 4 only came out at the end of May, so this has been a pretty quick turnaround. Sort of makes up for the agonising four month wait after the first episode. Maybe.
Divinity: Original Sin is Larian Studios' fastest selling game, so they're going to sleep, then party
Larian’s isometric fantasy RPG, Divinity: Original Sin, launched only a few days ago. It is currently at the top of the Steam charts, the studio’s fastest selling game, and it’s already getting close to becoming profitable.
"It's definitely the fastest-selling game we've ever published,” Larian head honcho Swen Vincke told Eurogamer. “The last figures I saw we were at 160,000. For us that's pretty good. We're definitely going to break even and hopefully we'll make sufficient profit for our next game."
Rob Pardo bids a bittersweet farewell to Blizzard after 17 years
“Every ending is a beginning and today marks a new beginning for me,” Blizzard’s chief creative officer Rob Pardo wrote as he began his farewell letter. Today, one of the industry’s most influential developers leaves the company he’s been with since 1997.
“After 17 years at Blizzard, with long and careful contemplation, I have made a difficult and bittersweet but ultimately exciting decision to pursue the next chapter in my life and career,” Pardo continued as he said goodbye to Blizzard’s community.
Far Cry 4 trailer reveals elephants to be murderous monsters
If Far Cry 4’s soundtrack is anything like the one in the latest trailer, I’m pretty much sold. Yeah, murderous elephants and junkyard helicopters are cool, but they need catchy tunes.
Ubisoft’s showing off some new shenanigans from the explosive, open world romp, in between a bombardment of praise and hyperbole from E3. It looks like good times.
Transformers Universe open beta begins tomorrow; prizes and other goodies to be flung at players
Tomorrow will see Jagex’s Autobot vs. Decepticon MOBA, Transformers Universe, move into open beta. To celebrate the new phase of the game, Jagex is putting on a bunch of activities, two competitions and a double XP weekend.
If you’re not sure you want to dip in, take a gander at Steve’s Transformers Universe preview.
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