Welcome to the new jungle: Riot test preseason changes for League of Legends
Ganking in one of the universe's best free PC games is great fun, but it’s come to overshadow everything else about junglers in League of Legends. For the 2015 preseason, Riot are looking to improve “strategic diversity” in the jungle. They’d like you to have a wider roster of viable champions to pick from, and more options for customising their items later in the game.
Here's the BlizzCon 2014 panel schedule and floor map
Blizzard have published the floor map and schedule for BlizzCon 2014, which is useful for attendees hoping to navigate through both space and time. If you're not attending and have the temerity to still want to know what's going on, you can either check out your friendly neighbourhood PC games website or grab a virtual ticket, which grants you access to a live stream for the not-insignificant sum of £24.99.
DICE: "we lost player trust" because of Battlefield 4 launch
It is a matter of public record that Battlefield 4 had a shonky launch, with players, developers and publishers now all in agreement that the DICE shooter touched down with all the grace and elegance of a swan landing on a motorway because it's stupid swan-brain thinks roads look like rivers. Get it together, swans.
But while swans refuse to change their ways or admit to their mistakes, an introspective DICE are admitting that the woeful launch and subsequent issues that have plagued Battlefield 4 have harmed player trust in the series.
Evolve's "Xbox One exclusive" alpha is coming to PC a day later
Turtle Rock and their publisher friends at 2K have today announced that the Evolve alpha will indeed be coming to PC on October 31st, one day after launching exclusively on Xbox One. Access to the remarkably fun, four-versus-one monster hunting co-op shooter will available for anybody who pre-orders the game, and concludes on November 2nd. That's a full weekend of tracking and snaring and hiding and seeking.
Hooray for the slow erosion of anti-consumer notions of platform exclusivity! Boo for the forgotten concept of alpha and beta releases being anything other than marketing tools! Woo! Ahhh! Gahhh.
Wild Cards: what does the future hold for Hearthstone's fresh pros?
Hearthstone’s early Twitch explosion has left its creators scrambling to build the scaffolding to support it, while eSports names old and new rush to fill the vacuum around its top players.
Some of those players have the backing of established organisations; others are entirely alone. But none of them know whether they have a full-time job in Hearthstone ahead of them - and they’re all faced with the difficulty of deciding who to trust in a still-growing ecosystem.
Who wants to buy Unity?
Do you have a spare $2 billion lying around? According to VentureBeat, that’s how much Unity’s worth, and this afternoon CNET reported that the company is courting the likes of Google, possibly preparing for a sale.
Inside sources reveal that the company has had serious talks with at least one potential buyer in recent months, while it’s been sharing presentations with other possible acquirers.
Becoming a people person with Warlords of Draenor's Garrisons
By the time you set foot in Draenor next month, when World of Warcraft’s Warlords of Draenor expansion goes live, you’ll basically be one of the most important people in the universe. Your list of feats will include travelling to different worlds, tackling the Burning Legion, the Lich King, Deathwing and saving the world of a daily basis.
Despite all of this, you’ve been a slave to the whims of others. You’ve never been put in charge, constantly performing tasks for quest givers, even if they are clearly inferior to you. With Garrisons, though, you’ll finally get a taste of what it feels like to order people around. Today, Blizzard’s spilled the beans on how you manage your minions.
Sunless Sea's new real-time combat leaves the dock
Sunless Sea is a grand old time, even when it’s extremely unsettling - a nautical adventure in an underground, Victorian sea. The game’s all about collecting stories and exploring the utterly bizarre world, but there’s combat too. It was turn-based, and clever, but ultimately the execution was a bit dull.
The whole point of Early Access, if we’re being optimistic, is for developers to see what works and what doesn’t, and this has lead to them throwing the old combat system out of the nearest port hole. Failbetter Games announced the change a couple of months ago, and after a couple of weeks of testing, the Steel update is now live, providing captains with real-time high seas battles.
Watch 50 minutes of Dragon Age: Inquisition and marvel at ugly elves
Dragon Age: Inquisition is a month-and-a-half away, but in lieu of placing yourself in stasis or just being patient, you can take a gander at BioWare’s Twitch stream containing 50 minutes of unadulterated fantasy action.
The devs show off everything from character customisation and progress to tactical combat and exploration.
Retina-melting Geometry Wars 3 launches in November
Geometry Wars is something I enjoy watching more than playing. I have the dexterity of someone with no thumbs or, indeed, hands. But all the pretty neon colours, drawing me into some sort of drug-fuelled ‘80s cyber world, and glorious digital explosions entertain me to no end.
The latest installment in the twin-stick shooter series is PC-bound next month, landing on November 25th, according to publisher Activision.
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