Heroes of Newerth devs turn the MOBA single player with Strife's episodic campaign
S2 Games' Strife is an attempt to rebuild the MOBA according to lessons learned running Heroes of Newerth. It’s distinguished from its peers by rampaging apes, player-controlled pets, and four years of genre experience. Plus, now it’s in open beta, a modest single-player campaign.
Prophecy of Darkstone: Child of the Dawn is the first in a series of episodes that will spotlight individual heroes from Strife’s roster.
Dreamfall Chapters trailer flicks excitingly through the pages of Book One: Reborn
Dreamfall Chapters strikes me as an adventure game for those who normally consider themselves disciples of a different genre: the RPG. Ragnar Tørnquist’s sequel to Dreamfall and The Longest Journey before it incorporates dialogue wheels, direct third-person control and environmental hubs waiting to be squeezed for every last NPC soundbite.
GOG are going to start selling its season pass soon - and have uploaded a new trailer to keep our tails wagging and tongues lolling.
Google anti-hacking expert builds Hearthstone deck-prediction tool - but won't release it
Google’s lead anti-abuse researcher has hacked Hearthstone. Elie Bursztein and wife Celine have built a tool capable of divining the cards in an opponent’s deck - but were persuaded by Blizzard staff not to publish their work.
Oculus and Samsung announce the Gear VR headset for smartphones
That rumoured Oculus and Samsung-developed Gear VR headset has become a real, tangible device you’ll be able to plonk on your noggin in the Autumn.
Strap an empty Gear VR to your face and you’ll simply look a bit like Watchmen’s Owlman. But slide a Galaxy Note 4 into the side and you’ll be subject to a virtual reality experience not entirely unfamiliar to Oculus Rift dev kit owners.
City of Heroes spiritual successors might be able to drop the "spiritual" part
City of Heroes might not have been sustainable for NCSoft, but its popularity and legacy was great enough to spawn several spiritual successors like City of Titans, Heroes and Villains and Valiance Online, all of which are in development.
On Monday, Nate Downes, President of Missing Worlds Media, the team behind City of Titans, announced that he, along with other members of the company and the City of Heroes community, had been in negotiations with NCSoft in the hopes of acquiring the CoH property.
The Elder Scrolls Online developer hit with layoffs now that the game "runs smoothly"
The Elder Scrolls Online developer, ZeniMax Online, was hit with layoffs this morning. While unfortunate for those affected, Bethesda’s Pete Hines assures that these changes are down to the game no longer needing as large a workforce and isn’t down to problems at the company.
“As is the norm for games of this type, we had ramped up a large workforce to develop a game of vast scale, and ramped up our customer service to handle the expected questions and community needs of The Elder Scrolls Online at launch," Hines said. "Now that we are nearly 6 months post launch, we have a thriving online community in a game that runs smoothly.”
Sci-fi RTS Ancient Space is warming up its warp drive for a September 23rd launch
CreativeForge Games and Paradox’s Ancient Space, a sci-fi RTS that - with its 3D movement - is immediately evocative of Homeworld was only announced a fortnight ago, but it launches this month.
Come September 23rd, fleet commanders will be able to duke it out in space against sci-fi threats. It all takes place in the Black Zone, where space is given texture and terrain with gargantuan floating chunks of rock and massive clouds of gas.
Get up to speed on Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare's multiplayer
Sledgehammer seems to have brushed away a lot of the cobwebs in Call of Duty’s multiplayer, chucking in a slew of new features in its sci-fi spectacle. Activision has put together a seven minute video detailing exactly what shiny new things you can expect, from the flashy exoskeletons to the customisation system.
Sega claims that Gearbox is just as responsible for the marketing of Aliens: Colonial Marines as the publisher
The legal drama surrounding Aliens: Colonial Marines and the class action lawsuit against publisher Sega and developer Gearbox continues, with both parties attempting to place the blame on the other. Court documents filed this week by Sega allege that Gearbox was just as responsible for the marketing, and thus should be included in the suit.
The suit claims that the game was falsely advertised, particularly at E3 2011, where Pitchford and co showed off a demo to press that wasn’t representative of the actual game.
Third time's a charm: The Evil Within now due out on October 14th
We don’t really know when The Evil Within is coming out. I mean, I can tell you that the campy horror game is due out on October 14th, but since we’ve already told you that it would arrive on August 29th, and then October 21st, I’m not really sure if you’d believe me.
Maybe this is all a joke at your expensive, and we’re just sitting around, sipping wine out of ornate chalices, laughing at you. I guess you’ll have to take that chance.
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