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Leaked 'Dead Island 2' copy shows the zombie game that might have been
A leaked, playable build of the original 'Dead Island 2' shows the zombie game before it moved to another developer.
Command a spaceship fleet in the 'Dreadnought' PS4 open beta
Ever dreamed of commanding a whole fleet of giant spaceships? You now have your chance. Six Foot, Yager and Grey Box have launched the PS4 open beta for Dreadnought, their long-in-the-making tactical space battler. The test expands on the long-running closed tests on PC and PS4 by giving everyone access to eight new maps, a new vessel (the Trident Hero Ship), an in-game friends list, squads and a slew of PS4-specific additions like PS4 Pro support and Remote Play. An expanded beta like this wouldn't normally garner so much attention, but the closed betas (and the open beta on PC) have racked up some positive buzz -- this is a game concept that appears to work well in practice.
Former 'Dead Island 2' developer can't pay its bills
The situation with Dead Island 2 and developer Yager took another turn today as the company announced it's filing for insolvency. Yager Productions, the team formed to work on the zombie sequel, can't pay the money it owes to debtors. "At the moment, there are different options to be assessed while wages for employees have been secured for the upcoming months," a company statement reads. The filing is a direct result of being removed from Dead Island 2's development, managing director Timo Ullmann writes. Insolvency helps protect the company's staff and will allow "time to sort out the best options for reogranizing this entity," he says. The rest of Yager, including the team working on the sci-fi, ship-to-ship combat game Dreadnought are in the clear however and are "independent and remain unaffected" by today's news.
'Dead Island 2' needs a new developer
Dead Island 2 is dead. For now at least. Publisher Deep Silver sent out an update today announcing that it's no longer working with the open-world zombie-massacre/absurd-weapon-crafting simulator sequel's developer, Yager, on the title. "With Dead Island 2, Deep Silver has always been dedicated to delivering the sequel that Dead Island fans deserve," the statement reads. "After careful consideration, today we announce the decision to part ways with development partner Yager." The email goes on to say that the publisher will "continue working towards bringing" its vision of the game to life and will have more info in the future. Deep Silver and Yager showed a very early version of the game off at E3 in 2014, but it wasn't all that impressive and the game didn't look anywhere close to the intentionally cheesy cinematic trailer that premiered during Sony's media briefing, either.
Dead Island 2 beta exclusive to PlayStation 4 for 30 days
Tucked inside an unassuming FAQ is news that Yager's first-person open-world zombie apocalypse fantasy Dead Island 2 will enter beta testing on the PlayStation 4 prior to the Xbox One and PC. This timed exclusivity was discovered by players who pre-ordered the recent Escape Dead Island spin-off from GameStop and received a bonus code for an eventual Dead Island 2 beta test. When attempting to redeem the code, players found an official notice that reads, "Those who have selected PS4 as their platform of choice for the Dead Island 2 beta will receive access 30 days before Xbox One and PC users." Unfortunately, there's no word on when the beta might start and publisher Deep Silver has yet to reveal any additional methods to enter the test. We expect more information soon, as Dead Island 2 is slated to debut in early 2015. [Image: Deep Silver]
Dead Island 2 paints the Golden State red (with blood)
The latest trailer for Yager's zombie apocalypse empowerment fantasy Dead Island 2 welcomes players to gorgeous Southern California, where the sun is always shining, the people are beautiful and the streets are filled with walking corpses just waiting to be stabbed, crushed, impaled, dismembered, burned, frozen, exploded ... you get the idea. [Image: Deep Silver]
In the shadow of Gamescom: Germany's game scene struggling to grow up
Germany hosts the world's largest annual gaming convention, Gamescom, which last year drew 340,000 attendees and 635 exhibitors from 40 countries. Gamescom kicks off again this week in Cologne for what is sure to be an even bigger, sardine-packed public weekend. For these few days, it feels like Germany is the place to be for video game developers – and then the show leaves, exhibitors return home, and German studios large and small face the realities of operating in a country still in game development puberty. Germany's video game industry is finding its footing economically and socially, and there's a quiet undercurrent of discontent among developers. Things are getting better – states in Germany offer a handful of programs for studios to find funding, though these trail behind the support seen in countries such as France, Finland, Sweden, Canada, the UK or the Netherlands. "The German government is clearly not doing enough to support our industry," says Timo Ullmann, CEO of Dead Island 2 developer, Yager. "But our local governments – Berlin, Bavaria, Hamburg – are much further ahead of things and have identified our industry as an important partner. However, there is always room for improvement. There are simply not enough projects being run in Germany to support a greater number of studios and developers. And that is what we would need in order to have a more flourishing scene. Eventually we will get there over time, but I am unsure how to fix it."
Dreadnought: This ain't your daddy's Battlestar
The free-to-play shooter market is quickly growing crowded, but developer Yager has a novel take on gunplay involving giant ships, big guns, and nuclear weapons that shake the pillars of heaven and earth. Describing Dreadnought as a "shooter" isn't quite accurate. Though it features the control scheme that's been standard since the days of Quake and pits teams of players against one another in a rush to see who can rack up the most kills, these opposing forces are not populated by your typical hyper-macho space marines. Instead, you pilot spaceships. Huge spaceships. Battlestar Galactica-scale spaceships. The result is a shooter that's equal parts Team Fortress 2 and three-dimensional naval warfare.
Dead Island 2 turns its frown upside down
It's not the "world's first motion-captured cat," nor the lovely, gory graphics that should attract players to Dead Island 2. Instead, it's that developer Yager is proudly crafting a game that lets players live out their gory dreams of surviving amidst the zombie apocalypse with the core goal of using hordes of the undead as so many blood-filled stress balls. Those hoping for a drastic departure from the original Dead Island gameplay formula are likely to be disappointed by Dead Island 2. The focus remains on dispatching zombies with as much brutality as possible, using makeshift weaponry, vehicles and the occasional environmental aid. The game's tone, however, is moving in an entirely new direction. Contrast the above trailer with the much-lauded Dead Island debut cinematic which saw a family being (literally) ripped apart to a particularly maudlin tune, and you'll understand what Yager is going for here. This is a game that revels in its destruction of the undead, and wants you to have as much fun as possible at the end of the world. [Image: Deep Silver]
Dead Island 2 shambles onto systems with exclusive content, beta [Update: trailer]
Sony announced today that Yager's Dead Island 2 is coming to PlayStation 4 with an exclusive character, level, and a pre-release 30-day beta. A release date is not yet known. Update: Deep Silver's press release notes Spec Ops: The Line studio Yager is developing the new Dead Island - we've amended the post to reflect that. Also, the Unreal Engine 4 game is coming to Xbox One and PC as well and the release window is spring 2015.
Spec Ops: The Line dev brands game's multiplayer a 'waste of money'
Spec Ops: The Line lead designer Cory Davis slammed his game's multiplayer in a recent interview, describing it as a "low-quality Call of Duty clone in third-person" and a "waste of money." Davis told The Verge the outsourced mode was just a financially motivated "checkbox" for publisher 2K Games, and that the low number of multiplayer users, coupled with the mode's distinct tone and feel, casts "cancerous" aspersions on the whole game.Davis revealed 2K insisted on the shooter having multiplayer, but the mode was far from a priority for developer Yager, and went against Davis' vision for the game. Nonetheless, the mode was greenlighted and then outsourced to Darkside Studios. Darkside is a small developer most notable for designing Borderlands' fourth add-on, "Claptrap's New Robot Revolution." Davis is clearly furious with the results."It sheds a negative light on all of the meaningful things we did in the single-player experience," Davis said. "The multiplayer game's tone is entirely different, the game mechanics were raped to make it happen, and it was a waste of money. No one is playing it, and I don't even feel like it's part of the overall package. It's another game rammed onto the disk like a cancerous growth, threatening to destroy the best things about the experience that the team at Yager put their heart and souls into creating."We've reached out to 2K for comment.
Spec Ops dev working on a big project, probably isn't another Spec Ops
Yager, the developer of Spec Ops: The Line, has a large project in the works, design lead Jorg Friedrich told us at GDC Europe. Friedrich wouldn't say what the project was or whether Spec Ops: The Line publisher 2K Games would be involved, but he gave a hint as to the company's future in terms of game sales.Without divulging official numbers for Spec Ops: The Line, Friedrich said, "To be honest, it doesn't look too great."Friedrich hosted a discussion on the emotional impact of player decisions within interactive narratives, differentiating the writing in games from other forms of media, such as film. Having a player make decisions based on deep, moral values can hold more impact than passively watching a cast of characters do the same thing, he argued.In a few instances Friedrich wanted to have Spec Ops: The Line players make difficult decisions without receiving any in-game rewards or punishments, keeping the focus solely on the moral implications. Unfortunately, the game had achievements, effectively negating any purely emotional impact each choice could have. That was a mistake and a failure, Friedrich said."I really regret that we had achievements on moral choices," he said.
Spec Ops: The Line review - Dissonance in Dubai
Spec Ops: The Line is explicit about its intentions and inspirations, sometimes to a fault. It's truly a gritty shooter, and not because you're steering a bipedal meat chunk with a scraggly soul patch. The conflict feels isolated and inescapable, with a sand-drowned Dubai hemming in soldiers who only hope to survive and follow orders as best they can. You have permission to take this game seriously.That's why it's disappointing, and often baffling, when Spec Ops underlines its themes with an orange crayon. The discovery of a strung-up, mutilated corpse is meant to shock, but the scene feels deflated alongside an Achievement notification that essentially says, "War is terrible. Have 10 points!"%Gallery-157400%
Dubai looks kinda rough in this Spec Ops: The Line launch trailer
We always thought it'd be interesting to visit Dubai at some point in the future, what with its indoor skiing and BMW 5 series police cars and everything, but if it's anything like the Dubai portrayed in this Spec Ops: The Line launch trailer, we'll probably pass. That haboob looks gross.
Learn how to curb stomp from Spec Ops: The Line's multiplayer
These special operatives in Dubai sure are mad at each other! Spec Ops: The Line's latest trailer, focusing on multiplayer, showcases the various brutal, assuredly anti-Geneva Convention-approved ways to end the lives of your opponents.
Spec Ops: The Line narrative trailer ripped from the headlines
In fairness, the trailer above for Spec Ops: The Line was likely cut and produced over the course of a few months. As such, its "ripped from current headlines" nature isn't really 2K Games or Yager's fault, but it does make for an awkward juxtaposition against recent news.
Spec Ops: The Line drawn into retail on June 26
Spec Ops: The Line has been pushed back and previewed across several years, but now we finally know it'll cross the finish line come June 26. Take-Two revealed as much this morning in a PR missive which also detailed the "Premium Edition" of the third-person shooter. It will feature a variety of multiplayer bonus content to folks who pre-order the game from "participating retailers" (none are listed, but we're thinking places like GameStop and Amazon are fair bets).Perhaps "Premium Edition" doesn't sound militaristic enough for you? Thankfully, Take-Two totally thought of that, which is why part the premium edition gives access to the "FUBAR pack," containing various multiplayer customization options ("unique and visually distinct items). Additionally, premium content includes an AK-47 unlock and an Officer Class promotion (which confers "several team-based advantages") at rank one, as well as double XP for the first week of online play.2K Games producer Denby Grace openly calls out the unbalance in this pre-order scheme, saying "People who pre-order the game are going to have an immediate advantage in the multiplayer mode." G ... great?
Spec Ops: The Line now arriving in 'Spring 2012'
After Spec Ops: The Line had its launch window unceremoniously realigned during publisher Take-Two Interactive's quarterly earnings call last May, the only thing we knew for sure about its eventual release was that it'd be some time after March 2012. As it turns out, the game's gearing up for a spring 2012 launch window (so, like, between March and summer of 2012, then), and there's even a new trailer to prove it. If the trailer doesn't quite do it for you, might we suggest checking out our brand new preview of next spring's shooter? It's light on devastating natural disasters, unlike the game.
The dangerous game of Spec Ops: The Line
It's been more than a year since I've seen Spec Ops: The Line. In fact, I'm one of the few people to have played Spec Ops, back at a pre-E3 event in Los Angeles in 2010. It was an unofficial session, as previews were limited to eyes-on impressions, so I won't go into too much detail about it. But even then, it was clear that Spec Ops: The Line had a long way to go. Now, 18 months later, I've played more than an hour of a Spec Ops that feels solid and functional -- current, even. But now that The Line seems well on its way to relevancy as a game, developer Yager faces what might be an even bigger obstacle. In a quest for a literary sort of statement and message, Spec Ops: The Line has the baggage of the entire medium to overcome.%Gallery-140044%
Spec Ops: The Line delayed beyond March 2012
More like Spec Ops: The Wait, am I right? Much like that joke should have been, Spec Ops: The Line has been pushed back way, way, deep undercover -- like, first half of Take-Two's fiscal 2013 deep -- as revealed in the publisher's earnings report today. For the fiscally challenged among you, that means the game won't appear on store shelves until after March 2012 at the very earliest (it's been pitched into an April–September 2012 release window). Oddly, the game was in beta as of last fall, so we can only imagine whatever's happening now is a significant overhaul.
