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E3 2013: Behaviour announces Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade
"In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war." These are the ominous words that greet visitors of the brand-new website for Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade. The game, announced today and in development at Behaviour Interactive (with the support of Games Workshop, of course), is a third-person action MMORPG set in a persistent world. Details are scant as the title's unveiling has just begun, currently sitting at phase one of nine. The only clear information available on the official site is a targeted release window of late 2015. We'll have more for you tomorrow after we sit down with Behaviour's head of online games, Miguel Caron, at E3, but for now, here's the press release blurby: Montreal, 10th June, 2013 – Behaviour Interactive and Games Workshop® proudly announce a new online game in the Warhammer® 40,000® universe: Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade. Behaviour Interactive has obtained the rights to create a wholly new MMORPG persistent war experience for PC, PS4 and Xbox One set in Games Workshop's universe of the 41st Millennium. In the game, players choose a Warhammer 40,000® race and fight directly as one of their warriors in massive conflicts for territory. It will be up to each faction's community to determine their own destiny as they vie for control of an entire planet. Massively's on the ground in Los Angeles during the week of June 10-13, bringing you all the best news from E3 2013. We're covering everything from WildStar and Elder Scrolls Online and ArcheAge to FFXIV's inbound revamp and TERA's latest update, so stay tuned!
E3 2013: World of Warplanes soars into open beta on July 2nd
After last week's initial open beta details for Wargaming.net's World of Warplanes, today we get a date for that open beta. Beginning on July 2nd, players will not only join the public testing but see several new features, including "in-game tactical tips to help pilots learn the ropes of aerial combat, the implementation of crews and crew skills, access to consumables and premium ammo, a brand-new tutorial, [and] two new in-game maps." For more information on joining the open beta, head on over to the North American or European World of Warplanes websites and check out the brand-new E3 trailer after the jump. [Source: Wargaming.net press release]
E3 2013: Bungie reveals Destiny's first 'gameplay' video
During tonight's Sony press conference at E3, Bungie revealed a fresh new trailer with some gameplay bits for its upcoming co-op FPS, Destiny, a game many MMOFPS fans would gladly claim as one of theirs. With thanks to our sister site Joystiq, we've embedded it after the cut. Expect no less than breathtaking vistas, terrifying dropships, and guns that are on fire.
E3 2013: The Elder Scrolls Online will land on the PS4 and Xbox One
Bethesda has just announced plans to bring The Elder Scrolls Online to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in spring 2014. Sony confirmed during its conference at E3 tonight that the PS4 will be the first platform (or possibly just the first console -- it's unclear) on which the ESO beta will be available. The game was slated to release on PC this fall, but the press release (and a tweet from Bethesda's Pete Hines) seems to imply that the PC launch window has also been delayed to next spring: "The game will launch on these consoles, in addition to the previously announced PC and Mac versions, in Spring 2014." ZeniMax has also today released a brand-new trailer to coincide with the announcement; we've tucked it behind the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in! Additional source: Bethsoft press release.]
E3 2013: The Crew racing game boasts 'persistent online world,' boss fights [Updated]
Here's another one for the is-it-or-isn't-it-an-MMO file courtesy of E3 2013. The Crew, a racing title from publisher Ubisoft, boasts a "persistent online world" that spans the entirety of the United States. The Escapist reports that other drivers encountered by the player may be AI, but they may also be other player characters. Ubisoft's press conference revealed that the game has no lobby system, so players can chat, group, join crews, and play through group content in the game world proper. Vehicle customization is apparently a big deal as well, as is the ability to "infiltrate and take over a criminal organization one city at a time." [Update: Joystiq reports that the title will be coming to PC and next-gen consoles. Click past the cut for a demo video. Thanks to Paul for the official website link!]
E3 2013: Ubisoft announces 'MMO shooter' The Division
Ubisoft has announced Tom Clancy's The Division, a "massive online" title about which very little is known. Game Informer labels it an "MMO shooter," but thus far there is no information about the number of supported or simultaneous players or whether or not the title will feature some sort of persistent world. The website says that Ubisoft has "designed the title without classes and with solo play in mind," including a flexible build system, instanced encounters, and group content that encourages players to actually group due to a lack of difficulty scaling. Touch Arcade reports that tablet players can jump in as drones alongside regular players. You can view a gameplay teaser after the cut. [Thanks to Paul for the official link!]
E3 2013: World of Tanks hits Xbox 360 this summer
E3 has only just begun, but we've already received some pretty big news on the MMO front: Wargaming.net has announced that its absurdly popular free-to-play bash 'em up, World of Tanks, will be launching on the Xbox 360 this summer. The Xbox 360 version of the game has been "tuned specifically" for the console and will feature 15-on-15 matches. World of Tanks Xbox 360 Edition will remain free-to-play, as long as you're an Xbox Gold subscriber. The E3 trailer is behind the cut.
The Daily Grind: What must E3 deliver to MMO fans this year?
The 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo kicks off next week, and Massively will be on the show floor feeding opinions and news and videos back to you this year as every year. Our lineup is more than respectable when it comes to upcoming MMOs; we'll be looking at blockbuster MMOs like The Elder Scrolls Online, WildStar, ArcheAge, and Final Fantasy XIV as well as up-and-comers like HEX and Black Gold, just to name a few. But even with a full roster of games to preview, I've worried the last few years that E3 is being eclipsed, at least for MMO fans, by more player-friendly and MMO-friendly venues like PAX. What do you guys think -- am I wrong? What must E3 deliver to MMO fans specifically this year to seem more like a chance for the industry to showcase games in one convenient location and less like an advertising platform for the biggest companies as they trample each other with hype? Bonus question: What, above all else, do you want Massively's attendees to focus on at E3 this year? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Then there were three: Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and the evolution of the Electronic Entertainment Expo
In mere days, the ESA will host the 18th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, a multimillion-dollar event that serves as a soapbox for industry leaders, game developers and peripheral manufacturers as well as a focal point for video game enthusiasts. The show is a driving force for the industry, dictating Christmas lists in early June and establishing what products will live, die and fade from the public mind. Retailers eye consumer reactions to help them finalize their holiday orders and fans devour coverage of the event as if it was manna from heaven. Since the show's 1995 launch, video games have grown from a niche category to a central facet of modern entertainment -- finding their own place in the music industry, our national museums and even organizations like the Boy Scouts of America. No other event celebrates and glorifies the industry so thoroughly. Yes, it's a trade show at heart -- as well as the industry's best hype machine -- but it's also a very prominent part of gaming fandom. Following the news, scrutinizing announcements and arguing over who "won" the show is almost an annual tradition. Amid all of the event's excitement, it's easy to forget its strange origins. The industry's biggest spectacle wasn't born from a rational need to create a unifying trade show, but instead from a federally imposed stalemate in the console wars of the 1990s.
E3 commits to Los Angeles through 2015
The Electronic Entertainment Expo will be gracing the good citizens of Los Angeles for at least three more years. The ESA announced that a deal was made between the city and the trade show to continue operating in L.A. through 2015. This is news because for a while it looked as though E3 would be moving its location away from the city that's hosted the show for 16 out of 18 years. The possible move concerned a renovation of the L.A. Convention Center and the nearby construction of a new Farmers Field stadium. However, the city has promised that it will schedule construction between the 2013 and 2014 shows so that E3 would not be disrupted. When the renovations are complete, the new hall will boast even more space for future shows. Considering just how much MMO news occurs at this show, we're happy to know that it has a home for the time being. E3 is the largest conference that L.A. has every year; it brings in $40 million to the city. 2013's E3 is scheduled for June 11th through 13th.
E3 loves LA, staying through 2015
Video game journalists worried about not being able to make their annual trek to Amoeba Records and Secret Headquarters Comics can breathe a collective sigh of relief -- through 2015, at least. The Entertainment Software Association, the organization behind E3, announced today that it will be keeping the massive gaming show in Los Angeles for another three years. Next year's show will be hitting the LA Convention center on June 11th. More info and some quotes from a very happy Southern California mayor after the break.
E3 2012: Dragon Eternity's cross-platform warfare and weddings
Harken back, o reader, to ye olden days of E3 2012, if thou canst recall, as a great and powerful force of dragons has arrived among us. OK, so E3 wasn't that long ago (although it often feels like it), but something dragon-like has certainly surfaced: During the expo, I saw an impressive demo of Dragon Eternity, a cross-platform fantasy MMO from Game Insight, and as of this morning, the embargo on all the details of that demo has finally lifted. Hit the break and I'll tell you all about it!
The Firing Line: Defiance, Arctic Combat, and other E3 leftovers
Ah, home. A full-screen monitor, a fridge stocked with Diet Sunkist, plenty of columns to be written, and my own vehicle! Public transportation doesn't agree with me, folks, as I learned last week at E3 in Los Angeles. I also learned a lot about PlanetSide 2, a little about DUST 514, and tidbits about Defiance and something called Arctic Combat. For this week's Firing Line, I figured I should pay a little lip service to those last two. And we'll also recap some of this week's crucial online shooter news. To the cut!
E3 2012: SOE teases Vanguard F2P trailer
Sony Online Entertainment hasn't revealed the release day for its free-to-play version of Vanguard yet, but the firm did slip a new trailer past us at last week's E3 shindig in Los Angeles. The spiritual successor to EverQuest has been playable since early 2007, of course, but it looks like SOE is gearing up for a relaunch of sorts (or at least a reboot of the game's long-dormant PR machine). The trailer runs a hair under two minutes and bills Vanguard as both "the ultimate experience for true gamers" and an "action-packed seamless world." The clip also gives us a good look at many of the game's classes, races, and various locations throughout its sprawling three-continent world. Check out the embed after the break. [Thanks to John for the tip!]
E3 2012: CJ Games Global's arsenal of games
At this year's E3, we got a bit of time to sit down with CJ Games Global, part of CJ E&M, to talk about everything from its origins in Korea to its transition to the states and some of its MMOs, including work with Uncharted Waters Online, the re-release of Prius Online, and upcoming games Sin Streets, Bloody Hunter Online, Monarch, and Hounds. CJ E&M's main focus has actually been in the movies, owning theaters and distributing films. It's also gotten some KPop stars for its music division, but... well, you're at Massively to hear about games, right? That's where Netmarble comes in. CJ E&M bought Netmarble and opened eight studios, six of which focus on PC gaming. Oh, and of course, the company publishes just a few hundred games. This also led to the opening of CJ Games Global in April to help bring over Korean games and publish others, such as Uncharted Waters, with 64 more games to be published in the next three years. One of the main goals of CJ Games, though, is releasing games that aren't as well represented in the current market, such as Uncharted Waters.
Massively's E3 2012 awards and impressions
E3 is a sweaty, seething mass of geekdom incarnate. There are other big-ticket gaming events, of course, but they don't quite compare. From its sunny, southern California locale to its tacky and omnipresent booth babes, there's the Electronic Entertainment Expo and then there's the rest of the circuit. And the people, oh-em-gee, don't get me started. The snippets of color you catch at a show like this are among the week-long highlights. "I love sushi," for example. This one exploded above the normal hum of conversation, it was heavily accented, and it drew hearty guffaws for minutes thereafter. Plenty of other noteworthies found their way onto my scribble pad, though tragically, none of these gems is printable. Oh, and next year, remind me to pack an extension cord, thanks. Anyhow, you're probably here to see Massively's Best of E3 2012 awards, yeah? Go on ahead past the cut; I've got to find a charging station. %Gallery-157784%
E3 2012: DUST 514 hands-on
Well, my first E3 is in the books, and though I got a good look at pretty much everything, I spent most of the time looking at shooters. MMO shooters came first, of course, and there was plenty of PlanetSide 2, Defiance, and even an 8v8 lobby title called Arctic Combat to be had (more on this last in an upcoming The Firing Line). There was also CCP's DUST 514. This is a title that I'm rooting for both because of my affinity for EVE Online and because the design document is outrageously ambitious. While my first hands-on with the game featured its share of warm fuzzy moments, it also exposed a few concerns about CCP's grab for the casuals.
E3 2012: A chat with Final Fantasy XIV's Naoki Yoshida
Final Fantasy XIV's major upgrade had been announced well before this year's E3, but this was its first public showing. While many of the major changes were only appreciable by long-term fans of the game, what was there was massive, ranging from major changes to the interface to several dazzling new areas. It was a lot to take in, and needless to say, we had some questions. Luckily for everyone, executive producer Naoki Yoshida was on hand to answer some of those questions and discuss the game's pending update. Previous interviews with Yoshida have indicated that the version 2.0 update should begin alpha testing in late September, with a beta to follow not long after. He's also stressing the fact that version 2.0 is a major change for the game, almost an entirely new game in many respects, and while the live game has seen the fruits of a great deal of work there's still more to be done. As Yoshida put it, the game is an MMORPG, but it's an RPG before that, and a Final Fantasy game even before that.
The Mog Log: What we saw of FFXIV at E3
When it became clear that we weren't getting our 2.0 trailer at this year's E3, I sort of assumed that Final Fantasy XIV fans would have to be content without much new information. As usual, Naoki Yoshida proved me wrong in the most excellent way possible. So while we've only seen the tip of the iceberg about what's coming into the game, that tip is providing quite a bit of fascinating information all on its own. My first thoughts on seeing the screenshots for the second version was that it might as well be an entirely different game. It's familiar elements ported into an altogether unfamiliar setting. I've been looking forward to it before, but I think this was the first time that I truly believed that this was going to happen and that it would be awesome. So if you've been following along with the game's E3 coverage across the web -- and I know you have -- let's just dive into reaction.
The Road to Mordor: Breaking down Riders of Rohan's pre-purchase
This past week or so has been absolutely nuts with all the new information flooding in about this fall's Riders of Rohan. We've gotten confirmation about the release date, the expansion website, pricing information for the different expansion pack editions, a partial feature list, an official FAQ, word of a forthcoming instance cluster, and a first look at the mounted combat system. Expansions always rile up the Lord of the Rings Online faithful, and I'm pretty jazzed to see whether Turbine can pull off what's probably the most epic addition to the game since Mines of Moria. I'm going to save analysis of the expansion as a whole until next week because today I want to dive into the slightly confusing morass of pre-purchase options and pricing to see what's worth pursuing -- and what might be worth ignoring.
