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Far Cry 3 up to 6 million shipped, digitally sold
Ubisoft has shipped and digitally sold 6 million units of Far Cry 3 since its release late last year. That's 1.5 million more than the figure reported in Ubi's Q3 report back in February. Assassin's Creed 3 sits at 12.5 million shipped and digitally sold (it was at over 12 million back in February), while Just Dance 4 is up to 8.5 million shipped.
Martin Kevan, Far Cry 3's Dr Earnhardt, passes away, aged 66
Actor and author Martin Kevan has died at age 66 after a brief battle with cancer. Kevan, best known for his roles in Happiness is Loving Your Teacher and Un Tuer si proche, as well as penning the novel Racing Tides, played the mad Dr. Earnhardt in Far Cry 3. As the Montreal Gazette notes, Kevan enjoyed a successful career in film, TV, and theater speaking in both English and French. We pass on our condolences to his friends, family, and colleagues.
Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon listed on XBLM for May 1, stars Michael Biehn
Not only is Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon very real and very, very neon, it also could be here in just over three weeks. The 80s-inspired Far Cry 3 spin-off emerged on the Xbox Live Marketplace this weekend, where its release date is listed as May 1. The listing confirms Blood Dragon as a standalone shooter which won't require a copy of Far Cry 3, likely only to be single-player given its online features are restricted to "leaderboards."More important than that, or the confirmation of previously leaked screenshots (see the gallery below), is that Blood Dragon features the radness of Michael Biehn, he of Kyle Reese in Terminator and Corporal Hicks in Aliens fame. Biehn's starring role is just a part of the "80s VHS vision of the future" that is Blood Dragon, according to the XBLM listing.It reads in full: Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon is THE Kick-Ass Cyber Shooter taking place on a bizarre open-world island crawling with evil. Welcome to an 80's VHS vision of the future. The year is 2007 and you are Sargent Rex Colt, a Mark IV Cyber Commando who's fighting against a cyborg army gone rogue. Your mission: get the girl, kill the baddies, and save the world. Experience every cliché of a VHS era vision of a nuclear future, where cyborgs, blood dragons, mutants, and Michael Biehn (Terminator, Aliens, Navy Seals) collide. Playing Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon doesn't require a copy of Far Cry 3.Quite how Blood Dragon ties in to Far Cry 3 beyond the island remains to be seen.We've reached out to Ubisoft for more info. While details are so far restricted to XBLA, Brazilian classification ratings point towards releases on PS3 and PC as well. %Gallery-184983%
Arkham City Wii U, Far Cry 3, AC3 on sale at Best Buy this week
Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition, the Wii U version, is $20 at Best Buy as part of its weekly deal offer. Also on sale are the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Far Cry 3 and Assassin's Creed 3 for $30, or PS3, Xbox 360 and PC editions of Black Ops 2 for $40 each.We found the Wii U version of Arkham City to have some cool features, such as the WiiPad audio function whenever Batman picks up a conversation on his earpiece. Otherwise, it's definitely not the prettiest way to play a Batman game.
Leaked Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon screens are swathed in neon
Several purported screenshots for Ubisoft's mysterious, potentially standalone Far Cry 3 continuation Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon have surfaced on All Games Beta, and they seem to mesh with the game's over-the-top, post-apocalyptic plot.Three first-person perspective shots show what appears to be gameplay from the perspective of the Blood Dragon's protagonist, Mark IV Cyber Commando Sergeant Rex Power Colt. We've reached out to Ubisoft for more information.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon gets 80s teaser video, retro website [update]
It's appropriate on both counts that the first official confirmation of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon comes on April Fools' Day and is totally warped. This teaser video and a new website, both revealed today, indicate some kind of 80s-styled take on the island setting of Far Cry 3.The website's "Story" section, for what's advertised like a movie, reads: "The year is 2007. It is the future. Earth has been ravaged by a nuclear war and new paths for peace must be found. A U.S. cyborg army may have found a solution: a powerful bioweapon on a distant island. A Mark IV Cyber Commando, Sergeant Rex Power Colt has been sent over to gather information and figure out what the hell is going on."As with everything today, take what you're looking at and reading with a great big grain of salt. On the other hand, we've seen plenty of evidence FC3: Blood Dragon is a genuine standalone continuation of Far Cry 3. It received Brazilian classification ratings for Xbox 360, PC, and PS3, there was leaked XBLA art which matches with today's reveals, and a list of achievements recently popped up too.Also, in relation to a possible Far Cry 3 continuation, Far Cry 3 lead writer Jeffrey Yohalem recently told us "I'm working on something now that will be surprising, I think, when it's announced. But it definitely is a 'strike while the iron's hot' thing, and we'll see."We've reached out to Ubisoft for more details.Update: As clever commenter Nhauga spotted, if you enter the Konami Code while on the website, your cursor turns into a crosshair. You can use that crosshair to shoot up all of the site's gaudy 80s-ness, eventually leaving you with this mysterious gif.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon achievements emerge, indicate standalone game
A listing for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon achievements surfaced this morning, suggesting the rumored continuation of last year's game is a standalone digital release. The listing on Exophase, which seems to indicate a shooter, show achievements totaling to 400G, the base GamerScore allotment for an Xbox Live Arcade game.Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon first surfaced via classification ratings for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, along with XBLA artwork. Far Cry 3 lead writer Jeffrey Yohalem told us last month that he had something in mind in terms of continuation for the game, saying "I'm working on something now that will be surprising, I think, when it's announced. But it definitely is a 'strike while the iron's hot' thing, and we'll see."We've reached out to Ubisoft for comment.
Steam Daily Deal: Far Cry series for $40, Ubisoft games on sale
The Far Cry Franchise Pack is on sale for $40 on Steam today as the platform's Daily Deal. This deal is part of a larger Steam sale, as today is day three of the Ubisoft Publisher Weekend, so other Ubisoft-published games are 35 to 50 percent off on the platform as well.The Far Cry Franchise Pack includes all three games in the series along with the Far Cry 3 Deluxe Bundle DLC, which is 40 percent off ($5.99). Far Cry and Far Cry 2: Fortune's Edition are each 75 percent off today ($2.49), and Far Cry 3 has been hacked down by 40 percent ($29.99). Among the other Ubisoft games on sale today, Rayman Origins is 66 percent off ($6.79) and Assassin's Creed 3's price has been chopped by 35 percent ($32.49).
PSA: Far Cry 3 patch out today, adds new difficulty, outpost reset
Those who think they've gotten everything out of Far Cry 3 are in for a treat today. As promised, a new update has been released, adding some special options to the game. Players who have beaten the game can start a new game in Master difficulty, which populates the world with tougher enemies and animals. Or, if you've reached the end and just want something to do, you can now reset liberated outposts and recapture again. Furthermore, most HUD options can now be toggled on or off.Multiplayer sees a few improvements too, most notably the ability for players to beta test their created maps via a special playlist before releasing them publicly. Additionally, you can now search for maps by author, idle players will no longer be kicked out of private or custom matches, and map voting time has been increased.The update is available now on the Xbox, PS3 and PC versions of Far Cry 3.
Far Cry 3 lead writer hints at upcoming continuation [Update: Blood Dragon?]
Update: The unannounced continuation in question may be an XBLA game called Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. Via a tip from the typically reliable @lifelower, we've learned of Brazilian classification ratings for a "first-person shooter" by that name, alongside possible XBLA artwork for the game - the ratings are for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, though. Either way, that would certainly be a 'surprising' enough announcement. We've reached out to Ubisoft for comment.Original Story: Far Cry 3 lead writer Jeffrey Yohalem hinted to Joystiq the game is getting some form of upcoming continuation, although whether that's via downloadable content or a new series entry altogether - or maybe something else entirely - isn't clear.With Ubisoft's recent disclosure that fans won't have to wait four more years for another Far Cry in mind, if we were Ubisoft, we wouldn't want to leave Far Cry 3 and its characters and world behind just yet. We asked Yohalem if that was something he had in mind too."Yes," Yohalem told us, "I'm working on something now that will be surprising, I think, when it's announced. But it definitely is a 'strike while the iron's hot' thing, and we'll see."Ubisoft's recent earning call revealed just how hot that iron is, with 4.5 million copies of Far Cry 3 shipped worldwide. Yohalem previously worked as lead writer on Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, so maybe Ubisoft has a Brotherhood-like continuation in mind for Far Cry 3. For now, as Yohalem said, we'll have to wait and see.
Far Cry 3 getting Outpost reset option, new 'Master' difficulty
Ubisoft is taking a cue from Far Cry 3 fans, issuing a series of changes to both the single-player campaign and multiplayer mode. The most notable changes involve the ability to reset all outposts – allowing you to assault and capture each one again –and a new higher difficulty mode called Master.On the multiplayer side, the additions focus on user-generated maps. Ubisoft promises a "more intuitive feedback interface" with the ability to add "feedback tags" to better parse custom maps. There will also be beta map testing available to editors, so they no longer need to create a map and simply publish it. Others who wish to help during beta testing of these maps can hop into a special playlist and test it out, and authors can go into a spectator mode to watch those playing.Ubisoft promises a series of patches to add all of this stuff to Far Cry 3, so don't expect it all at once. The full list of changes is available through the source link below.[Thanks, Thomas.]%Gallery-179114%
Ubisoft: 'Fans certainly won't have to wait four more years for next Far Cry'
Speaking in an earnings call today, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said "fans will certainly not have to wait four more years for the next Far Cry." With Far Cry 3 performing "way better than expected," helping it to ship 4.5 million, Ubisoft is keen to take advantage of what it feels is the right gameplay and brand formula for the series, despite partially attributing the third entry's profitability to the four-year-wait between it and Far Cry 2.
Ubisoft sales crest $1 billion during Q3
Ubisoft's performance figures for the three month period ending December 31, 2012 have been released, and while we don't have specific net/operating/sticky/whatever income figures on account of the company's Frenchness, we do have an overall indication of how it performed in Q3. Which is to say, pretty good.Sales for the period totaled €802 million ($1.07 billion), which is a 23 percent increase over the €652 million reported for the same quarter last year. Ubisoft's nine month year-to-date figures are also outperforming last year's: €1.08 billion ($1.45 billion) versus €900 million by this time last year, an increase of 21 percent.Ubisoft attributes a large amount of this income with Assassin's Creed 3's 12 million shipped units and Far Cry 3's critical success, in addition to a 143 percent year-over-year increase in digital sales, totaling €55.2 million ($74.3 million).
Assassin's Creed 3 at more than 12M shipped, Far Cry 3 over 4.5M [update]
Update: During Ubisoft's earnings call, the company revealed the sell-through percentage for Assassin's Creed 3 is around 70 percent. Applying that to shipment figures of 12 million, that translates into 8.4 million units sold. Ubisoft also noted that 1 million of the 4.5 million Far Cry 3 copies which shipped were for PC. Ubisoft revealed Assassin's Creed 3 shipments and digital sales combined are now over the 12 million mark, while Far Cry 3 has shipped and digitally distributed 4.5 million copies of its own. The Assassin's Creed 3 figure represents a near-70 percent increase on the corresponding amount for the series' previous game, Revelations.In December, Ubisoft announced it had sold 7 million copies of Assassin's Creed 3, making it the fastest-selling game in the company's history. This new figure is for shipments, but it still indicates the game continues to do impressively at retail.
Far Cry 3 drops to $35 in Amazon's all-day gaming Gold Box
If it's as ludicrously cold where you are as it is where we are, you should consider buying Far Cry 3 on Amazon today for $34.99. While it's not that Caribbean vacation you've been saving for, the tropical island in Ubisoft's open-shooter sure looks warm, and maybe that virtual warmth will osmose through the screen and into your near-frozen frame.That Far Cry 3 price is the deal of the day in Amazon's all-day, all-video-games Gold Box event. The first Lightning deal is already up, knocking the Plantronics Gamecom X95 wireless headset down to $49.99. The full list of upcoming deals teases discounts on the way for NHL 13, Hitman: Absolution, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and NBA Baller Beats. Well, the NBA Baller Beats deal isn't so much teased as it just says the game's name. It's just too cold to come up with a riddle for everything, you know.
'DmC: Devil May Cry' premiere tears up UK charts
Capcom's DmC: Devil May Cry flies on the wings of angels and demons to debut at the top spot on Chart-Track's UK sales chart. The reboot, developed by Ninja Theory (Heavenly Sword), sold just over a third of what Devil May Cry 4 had when it comboed the number one spot in 2008.The rest of the chart is full of the regular suspects, with FIFA 13 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 sliding down to second and third, respectively, to make room for the Capcom brawler. DmC was the only new release to chart in the top 40 last week. Stylishly swing past the break for the UK top ten.
'Ultimate' Far Cry, Splinter Cell bundles spotted on UK retail site
UK retailer GAME has listings for an Ultimate Far Cry Compilation and something called Ultimate Splinter Cell, each with tentative release dates of 2013. The Far Cry compilation is priced at £40 for Xbox 360 and PS3, and £30 for PC, and Splinter Cell comes in PC flavor only, for £30. The product listings don't provide any extra details and there is so far no word of any similar bundles existing on US shores.Tomorrow Far Cry 3 gets a dose of free DLC exclusively for the PS3, with the High Tides co-op expansion. We thought Far Cry 3 had "excellent, explicit design" and it taught us the dangers of trusting in goats, which is probably the most important lesson we've ever gleaned from a game.
Far Cry 3 free PS3-exclusive 'High Tides' DLC lands January 15
Free 'High Tides' co-op content for Far Cry 3 is washing up on PlayStation Network shores on Tuesday, January 15. The PS3-exclusive DLC includes two chapters, Jailbreak and Redemption, that tell the epilogue of the game's co-op campaign.Multiplayer-focused developer Massive Entertainment says High Tides features the "final moments" of the co-op campaign's quartet and their adventure on the island. Going by the description of "tougher fights," "bigger competitions," and "explosive moments unlike anything you've seen before," we suspect it won't chronicle a long day of struggling to nap on a rock-solid airport couch, which is how our island adventures usually end.
Far Cry 3 erects free Outpost app for mobile multiplayer decoding
A free, legitimately useful Far Cry 3 app just washed up on the shores of iOS and Android, allowing violent vacationers an opportunity to monitor their multiplayer progress and customize loadouts when away from the game. The "Far Cry The Outpost" app decodes your in-game encrypted data for immediate rewards through a smartphone or tablet, unlocking weapon mods that can be kept, given away or sold for additional experience points. On top of the decoding stuff, The Outpost also provides a landmark for weapon loadout customization, cataloguing tweaks for the next time you play. Other dedicated sections allow tech-savvy vacationers to keep an eye on their own progress on the daily and weekly challenges lists, plus leaderboards and light map editor tracking. Not included: suggestions for how to handle a bad mushroom trip on an island full of deranged murderers.
FIFA 13 storms back up to first on UK charts
The new year kicks off with FIFA 13 seated first on the UK all formats sales chart. The game hadn't been in the top spot since that naughty Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 showed up, followed by a surprisingly strong showing by Far Cry 3. Blacks Ops 2 and Far Cry 3 currently hold third and second place, respectively.If the historical pattern holds up, FIFA and Just Dance franchises will show strong in the weeks ahead as the year gears up. Just Dance 4 is currently in seventh.New games entering the top 40 (thanks to discounts) are Batman: Arkham City - Game of the Year Edition at No. 25 and Saints Row: The Third - The Full Package at 40. Yes, you want to play Saints Row if you've yet to indulge.
