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Uber axes Human Resources Kickstarter campaign
Planetary Annihilation developer Uber Entertainment canceled its Kickstarter campaign for Human Resources, the developer's human-harvesting, apocalyptic real-time strategy game. "Every Kickstarter prediction model is showing that we will come up woefully short of our goal," the developer wrote in an update on its funding page, adding that it can't continue spending time and money on a project that won't get funded. "One thing is for sure, Human Resources, as pitched in this Kickstarter, is over. But we adore the world of Human Resources and will endeavor to do what we can to bring it to life in some form." The developer raised $384,358 of its $1.4 million goal on the funding platform. The lofty goal would have been difficult for any aspiring developer to overcome; just four of the 341 Kickstarter games tracked in our one-year Crowdfund Bookie research series earned that much money in their campaigns. Even the $844,127 hauled in by Harmonix for Amplitude in May was an anomaly in a funding space that scarcely supports big-budget projects like it once did. Human Resources was planned to end in two weeks on Tuesday, November 4. [Image: Uber Entertainment]
Planetary Annihilation creator unveils robot apocalypse RTS Human Resources
Monday Night Combat creator Uber Entertainment revealed its next project, Human Resources, today. The game is the follow-up to its previous Kickstarter success story Planetary Annihilation, with another uniquely-themed crowdfunded RTS. Taking place during an apocalypse, players control one of two warring factions ("ancient squid monsters from another dimension" and "giant killer robots") that compete to control Earth's sole remaining resource: humans. The project aims to capture "the tone, character, and pacing of a Command & Conquer game mixed with the mammoth battles of an Annihilation game," and will feature large-scale battles that take place in fully destructible city environments. Uber is seeking $1.4 million in Kickstarter pledges to fund Human Resources, and aims to have a PC release ready by February 2016. [Video: Uber Entertainment]
'Why not' release Planetary Annihilation Early Access at retail, says dev
Early Access is in something of a delicate situation right now; a pickle, if you will. A dill, kosher, crunchy pickle, with some people excited over the pickle and some people disgusted. Either way, pickle juice is leaking out of the digital world and getting stores shelves just a little bit sticky; a copy of Planetary Annihilation, the successfully-Kickstarted game by Uber Entertainment, was spotted at a retail outlet and posted on Reddit today, igniting a debate about where, when and how games should be sold. Game Informer reached out to Uber, and asked why they would sell an unfinished game at retail. "The real question is, why not?" asked Jon Mavor, one of the game's directors. "After all, they are getting the same game, just earlier. It's a changing world and we hope to continue trying out new and innovative ways to make games." Planetary Annihilation currently exists in "gamma" state, a post-beta-but-not-quite-full-release stage not often used to describe a game's development. Of course, you could always wait until the game is complete and makes a full launch, which Uber says will happen "when it's done." [Image: kamauaf / Reddit]
Meet the computer that's learning to kill and the man who programmed the chaos
In Kirkland, Washington, sits a computer ready to wage war. It drains the planet's resources, amasses massive armies and prepares for world domination. "It's trying to get smarter and it is, very quickly," says the man who sits next to the computer as it calculates routes toward victory. While the warring machine sounds like something out of a James Cameron film, it's the foundation for the artificial intelligence in Planetary Annihilation, the Kickstarted real-time strategy game from developer Uber Entertainment. That doesn't make it any less terrifying.
Planetary Annihilation adds single-player 'Galactic War' campaign
It turns out that war can definitely change, as long as its battle began as a Steam Early Access project. Uber Entertainment has announced the single-player campaign for its Kickstarter-funded strategy title Planetary Annihilation is now available as a free update via Steam. The campaign, titled Galactic War, puts players in the space boots of "a reawakened Commander with a limited tech tree." Galactic War's real-time engagements take place on the game's procedurally-generated planetary systems, with randomized technology drops, maps, unique abilities and perks "to make each playthrough feel different." "Rediscover, rebuild, and take control. Play as a reawakened Commander, scour the stars for technology, and annihilate enemy Commanders to secure the galaxy," a press release noted, flying in the face of everything Ron Perlman ever told us. Planetary Annihilation earned over $2 million in its Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, far surpassing the game's $900,000 goal. The game is available on Steam Early Access for $50 and, until now, has been a dedicated multiplayer experience. [Image: Uber Entertainment]
Monday Night Combat dev's Toy Rush available now on iOS
Monday Night Combat developer Uber Entertainment has launched its tower defense-styled strategy game Toy Rush as a free download at the iTunes App Store. Toy Rush's gameplay revolves around a collectible card component, adding a randomized element to the proceedings while upping the compulsion factor. Players open packs of cards in search of murderous teddy bears, dapper sharks, and other creatures they can use to fortify their defenses while upgrading their home base. Toy Rush includes 50 single-player campaign levels, and players can also battle friends using built-up troops and artillery in an asynchronous multiplayer mode. [Video: Uber Entertainment]
Nordic Games partners with Uber for release of Planetary Annihilation
Publisher Nordic Games will team up with Planetary Annihilation developer Uber Entertainment to bring the real-time-strategy game to Earthly retail shops, a press release announced this week. Nordic will also be involved in a "non-exclusive partnership" regarding PA's digital release. When said partnership will result in finished copies for everyone is currently up in the air though, as Uber's "when it's done" mentality is focused on launching PA when the developer feels "confident about its level of polish." Nordic purchased the Darksiders, Titan Quest, Red Faction and MX vs ATV properties from THQ's auction earlier this year. It also bought the rights to Costume Quest and Stacking, but Nordic gave those licenses back to their developer, Double Fine, in a heist-free transaction that totally wasn't in Vienna.
Planetary Annihilation to launch 'when it's done'
Uber Entertainment, developer of real-time strategy game Planetary Annihilation, has stopped furiously clicking on a December launch window in favor of releasing the game "when it's done," an update to the game's website has revealed. "Planetary Annihilation will launch when we feel confident about its level of polish and the amount of awesome we can jam into it," the statement reads. "We don't have a hard date moving forward. However, we do expect it to be feature-complete in early 2014." The Kickstarter campaign for the project began back in August 2012 and harvested $2.2 million, outperforming the requested $900,000 by far. Planetary Annihilation's beta launched this month and is available to backers or those that purchase the $45 Warfare Edition (or above) of the game from Uber's store.
Planetary Annihilation targets beta this month, launch in December
Planetary Annihilation, the upcoming large-scale real-time strategy game from Super Monday Night Combat developer Uber Entertainment, will launch a beta later this month. The final retail release is planned for this December on PC. The Kickstarter update post announcing the beta promises interplanetary war, colonization and planetary destruction will be featured. There are two ways to gain access to the beta, either by pre-ordering the Planetary Annihilation "Warfare" edition or above through the Uber store, or by having pledged $40 to the Kickstarter campaign. Planetary Annihilation hit Kickstarter on August 15 with the hopes of achieving $900,000 to finance the PC RTS. The pledge drive was a success and earned Uber Entertainment $2.2 million in total to make the game.
Monday Night Combat dev announces Toy Rush
Uber Entertainment, developer of Monday Night Combat and Planetary Annihilation, recently announced it's getting into the tablet and mobile space with tower defense game Toy Rush. The company is working in conjunction with Tilting Point, which will handle "monetization, retention, marketing, and user acquisition strategies." "We've combined [Toy Rush] with unique card mechanics, asynchronous multiplayer gameplay, and deep strategy elements," said Uber Design Director John Comes. Toy Rush will make its debut at the Indie Megabooth at PAX Prime in Seattle on August 30. Its plushy release window is "soon."
Uber's 'Planetary Annihilation' Kickstarter raises $2.2 million
Planetary Annihilation, a new real-time strategy game to be created by Super Monday Night Combat developer Uber Entertainment, has concluded its Kickstarter founding round at $2.2 million."We're excited to be able to bring back a genre that wouldn't have been funded through traditional means," Uber Entertainment CEO Bob Berry told us today.Uber hit its initial goal of $900,000 with 15 days to spare, since then it's been adding other bonus milestones, with the $2 million mark promising a full orchestral soundtrack for the game."Our Kickstarter page says July 2013, so we'll be shooting for that timeframe," Uber executive producer Chandana Ekanayake said when asked about a release window for the game. "We're still amazed at the reception to the Kickstarter and very thankful for all our supporters."Kickstarter recently declared 2012 as "the year of the game" at the crowd funding site. Planetary Annhilation was the latest of seven Kickstarter projects to surpass $1 million in funding this year.
Kickstarter declares 2012 'the year of the game'
Seven of the eleven Kickstarter projects to surpass $1 million in funding belong to the games category. In a post entitled "The Year of the Game," the crowd funding site reveals that games have gone from the eighth most-funded category in the site's three-year history to the second.This year has seen over $50 million pledged toward game projects on the site, with film and design several million behind at $42 million and $40 million, respectively. In 2011, games only had $3.6 million in funding and in 2010 it was at a mere $519,885.The great change began in February, when Double Fine Adventure surpassed a million dollars in 24 hours and concluded with $3.3 million pledged. The most recent game to surpass a million was Uber Entertainment's Planetary Annihilation. Head on over to Kickstarter for "the year of the game" breakdown.
Planetary Annihilation hits Kickstarter target, nears $1m
Like one of its own asteroids, Uber Entertainment's Planetary Annihilation has smashed through its $900,000 goal on Kickstarter – with 15 days to go. The space-faring RTS still has a number of stretch goals to hit, the first of which is $1.1 million which will fund water planets and naval units. At $1.3 million, Planetary Annihilation gets gas giants and enhanced orbital units.The remaining goals have yet to be revealed. We're still holding out for Jell-O planets.
Planetary Annihilation Kickstarter nears goal, reveals stretch goals
Having nearly reached its $900,000 goal on Kickstarter (over $660,000 as of this writing), Uber Entertainment has announced the first stretch goal rewards for Planetary Annihiliation. Should the project hit $1.1 million, the planet-hopping RTS will receive water planets and naval units. This is one of the most request features, according to Uber, and if the goal is reached, players can expect water-only planets, ice asteroids and several units including "subs, amphibious units, floating buildings and of course battleships."If Planetary Annihilation amasses $1.3 million, Uber will add gas giants and new orbital units to the mix. Said units will likely include "a more expanded set of orbital recon units, space platforms" and others based on community feedback.In addition to the stretch goals, Uber has announced several "add-ons" for the existing reward tiers, including extra copies of the finished game, extra beta keys and extra T-shirts. Three more stretch goals are in the works, though they remain "locked" at the moment. We're holding out hope that one of them is reserved for Jell-O planets.
Planetary Annihilation, a new RTS Uber wants to get Kickstarted
Super Monday Night Combat developer Uber Entertainment is looking to branch out from its free-to-play MOBA game and create a real-time strategy title called Planetary Annihilation. Of course Uber is using Kickstarter to finance the $900,000 cost of the game, but they're also taking donations directly through its Planetary Annihilation website.Planetary Annihilation aims to do just that: present "Total Annihilation-inspired gameplay on a planetary scale." Players will wage galactic war and conquer entire solar systems, or games can be scaled back to take place on a single planet. Like other RTS games, Planetary Annihilation will allow players to create their own maps – in this case, their own planets and systems – which players will be able to publish and share to the community.Multiplayer skirmishes can have anywhere between two and 40 participants. And to handle the load of these intense skirmishes, Planetary Annihilation will employ a client-server model to handle the lion's share of work running multiplayer matches, so that real-time multiplayer won't be bogged down by those with lesser-quality rigs.
The rules have changed: Wrapping up Super Monday Night Combat
As free-to-play games are constantly changing, traditional reviews can't really do them justice, so Joystiq relies on a series of unscored review diaries to record our experiences with them. Today brings part three of our Super Monday Night Combat diaries. Read parts one, two and three if you haven't! Monday Night Combat fused class-driven warfare with tower defense in 2010, heavily focusing on frenetic, fast-paced combat. While Uber Entertainment meant for the game to favor teamwork, the mechanics and character balance allowed players to eschew teamwork for lone-wolf play. Monday Night Combat was still a fun endeavor, but Super Monday Night Combat and it's methodical, team-oriented gameplay is what Uber Entertainment meant to unleash the first time around.To quickly recap, Super Monday Night Combat has teams of pros escorting A.I. bots to the enemy "Moneyball." The first to destroy the opposing Moneyball wins. It sounds simple, but players have to watch out for giant chickens, murderous mascots, and weather controlling blimps, all while defending turrets from relentless bot waves. While MNC nailed the campy, satirical tone – with its characters poking fun at consumerism and the spectacle of sports – SMNC improves on this by adding more original character classes. In addition to archetypical classes like "assault," essentially the traditional soldier class, we also have zany choices like Leo – as in the actual Leonardo Da Vinci.These classes are not only better balanced, but designed to fulfill specific roles, such as the position-holding defenders and the player-harassing commandos. These roles work with the overall design mandate of the game, which encourages players to work together and focus on the objective.%Gallery-132035%
Amazon Game Connect links free-to-play, MMO games to store accounts, turns 1-Click into way too many
Amazon must have a lot of free time for gaming during its summer vacation: just a day after unveiling GameCircle as a cloud infrastructure, it's trotting out Game Connect to make buying game content that much easier. Once it's integrated into a title, the new platform will let customers buy content in free-to-play games, or subscribe to massively multiplayer online games, directly from their Amazon accounts -- no copy-and-paste juggling involved, even if the game account has to be made on the spot. A handful of game developers have already lined up, including Super Monday Night Combat creator Uber Entertainment and World of Tanks' Wargaming.net. If you're engrossed in gaming enough that you'll need 1-Click to buy virtual goods and MMO renewals that much faster, Amazon has you covered... although you may also want to slow down and relax.
The rules have changed: Paying for Super Monday Night Combat
As free-to-play games are constantly changing, traditional reviews can't really do them justice, so Joystiq relies on a series of unscored review diaries to record our experiences with them. Today brings part three of our Super Monday Night Combat diaries. Read part one and part two if you haven't! With free-to-play games, the big question always boils down to, "How free is it, really?" Super Monday Night Combat is no exception. Fortunately, the folks at Uber Entertainment engineered Super Monday Night Combat so that players don't have to drop any money. To date, after over 100 hours of playtime, I've spent around 8 or 9 dollars – and they were completely unnecessary expenditures.%Gallery-160114%
The rules have changed: Classes in Super Monday Night Combat
As free-to-play games are constantly changing, traditional reviews can't really do them justice, so Joystiq relies on a series of unscored review diaries to record our experiences with them. Today brings part two of our Super Monday Night Combat diaries. Read part one if you haven't! The key to winning in Super Monday Night Combat – aside from teamwork – is to play to your character's strengths. While customization options such as endorsement slots and products help tailor characters to different styles of play, each character is still married to overt roles.The game features five types of classes: commandos, strikers, enforcers, defenders, and sharpshooters. Trying out each of the class types to find what you work best with is highly recommended. Here's a short primer on each of the class types, as showcased through my favorite character in each category.%Gallery-132035%
Steam Trading comes to Super Monday Night Combat, hats and costumes in tow
If you were home schooled through Kindergarten, or grew up as a single child, the concept of sharing may be foreign and difficult to understand, but allow us to break it down for you: By giving someone something they want, there's a good chance you'll receive something you want in return, either immediately or down the road!It's a system that's worked well for millennia, and now it comes to Uber Entertainment's Super Monday Night Combat in the form of Steam Trading support, which allows Steam users to trade in-game items. To celebrate, two Super MNC hats ("Gunslinger Hat" and "Assassin Helmet") are now available in Team Fortress 2, earned by achieving levels five and 20 (respectively) in Super MNC. Conversely, TF2 costumes have been added to Super MNC: An Engineer's uniform for CombatGirl and a Soldier uniform (plus rocket launcher skin!) for Megabeth, unlocked at levels 10 and 15.
