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Players cast 97 million spells in Magicka: Wizard Wars
After dropping into open beta only a week ago, Magicka: Wizard Wars has reached 500,000 downloads, Paradox Interactive has announced. The publisher adds that players have cast a total of 97,704,758 spells. That's just about 195 spells per download, by our reckoning. The warm reception has prompted Paradox to increase Wizard Wars' server capacity – quadrupling it, according to Paradox North studio manager, John Hargelid. If you want to try out Wizard Wars particular brand of sorcerer blasting, you can grab the free open beta from Steam (just don't call it a MOBA). [Image: Paradox Interactive]
Paradox casts 'open beta' on Magicka: Wizard Wars
Those looking to murder somebody with arcane energies will be pleased to hear that the mano a mano magical duels of Magicka: Wizard Wars have now entered open beta testing. To celebrate the milestone, developer Paradox North has added a handful of new content to Magicka: Wizard Wars, including a new map set in the caves of Galdrhöll Halls, as well as new robes, staves and character skins. Additionally, the new "Raise Dead" spell does exactly what its name claims, by summoning a group of undead imps to torment your opponent. Though entry into the Magicka: Wizard Wars open beta is free, those who especially enjoy the game's novel take on sorcery can shell out real-world cash for a Starter Pack full of items useful to a nascent spell-slinger. From the $15 Apprentice Starter Pack to the $50 Archmage Starter Pack, there's a wide range of bonuses available to those with cash and poor self-control. For more information, take a look at the game's Steam listing. [Image: Paradox Interactive]
Magicka: Wizard Wars take to the betafield May 27
It's a what? Wizard Wars, Harry. A what? Wizard Wars! Beginning May 27, everyone, including boys who sleep under the stairs, can participate in Magicka: Wizard Wars. Paradox Interactive's "not a MOBA," which is currently available through Steam Early Access, will be free in beta. Set in the Magicka universe, the game finds two teams of four wizards engaged in player-versus-player combat. So, if this totally still sounds like a MOBA to you, feel free to try your wand at it on May 27.
Sign up for Magicka: Wizard Wars, help shape the game
Starting today, October 15, Steam users can jump into an Early Access version of Magicka: Wizard Wars. Interested parties simply need to sign up for a Paradox account through the game and should be able to dive right into the tutorial match afterward. Expect Magicka: Wizard Wars to change over the course of development as Paradox North looks to incorporate fan feedback during the Early Access run. Magicka: Wizard Wars is a free-to-play multiplayer-based affair where two teams of four battle over spawn points within an environment, though you do need to pay to get into the Steam Early Access version. The game is anchored by the original Magicka's unique DIY spell-casting system where players queue up an assortment of elements in a specific order, which then produces a spell. Once a team has captured all three spawn points and killed the other team, it's game over – or as soon as one team has burned through their 75 spawn tickets, and can no longer respawn onto the battlefield. We were able to sample Magicka: Wizard Wars back in July and found it to be an inventive and highly-competitive romp.
MOBA is all the mage in Magicka: Wizard Wars
Magicka, a whimsical independent action adventure game released by Arrowhead Game Studios in 2011, took everyone by surprise with its excellent spell-crafting system and blend of satire and comedy. Using its original as a base, developer Paradox North has wrapped a MOBA framework around Magicka and created a Frankenstein's monster of pick-up-and-play fun. Magicka: Wizard Wars, a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena game (MOBA) set in the Magicka universe, is currently in Alpha testing. The premise is simple: two teams of four mages do battle over three spawn beacons, with the entirety of combat being driven by the spell system and some rudimentary melee combat. As saturated as the MOBA genre is, Magicka: Wizard Wars surprisingly never felt like retreaded ground. Its delightful marriage of spell construction and tug-of-war gameplay ultimately left me wanting more.
Magicka: Wizard Wars conjures first gameplay footage
Magicka: Wizard Wars, the upcoming MOBA-like from Paradox North, has finally issued its first gameplay footage. A lot of common MOBA elements can be seen in this footage, married to Magicka's unique magic-crafting system, in which combinations of elements produce varying spells. Magicka: Wizard Wars will be Paradox North's first game, an outfit formed specifically to craft the competitive online game. Paradox North is headed up by John Hargelid and currently enlists former DICE and Avalanche Studios talent, among others.%Gallery-193878%
Magicka: Wizard Wars 'not a MOBA,' revenue model still up in the air
For Paradox North's Executive Vice President, John Hargelid, Magicka: Wizard Wars has been labeled improperly as a MOBA. It features themes seen in the genre, but for Hargelid the differentiator is the simple gameplay that provides a vehicle for high-level tactics."This is why we think we're not a MOBA," Hargelid said. "Magicka: Wizard Wars is much more skill-based, much more hardcore to be honest. At the same time, anyone who hasn't played this type of game before can simply be satisfied by gameplay. It's quite simple to get into it and it's not this 40-minute game mode you have to learn what the progression looks like and halfway through, you'll know if you lost or won."
Paradox North is a new Stockholm studio of former DICE and Avalanche vets
Following today's news of Magicka: Wizard Wars, we inquired with publisher Paradox Interactive about the news of a brand new development studio: Paradox North. The studio opened in February and will be headed up by executive vice president John Hargelid, who's had stints at DICE working on Battlefield: Bad Company 2 as a producer and EA's business side before making his way over to Paradox.Paradox North lead designer David Nisshager also spent time at DICE, while lead artist Staffan Norling and senior animator Patrick Kling both worked on Just Cause for Avalanche Studios. Right now Paradox North is about ten deep, with a mixture of new talent and old veterans, but a Paradox Interactive representative tells us plans to expand the team are in place.Magicka: Wizard Wars will be Paradox North's first game.
Magicka gets a touch of MOBA in 'Wizard Wars'
The mages of Magicka are headed to the online arena in a multiplayer-focused, four-on-four PVP battle game called Magicka: Wizard Wars. Paradox's announcement doesn't mention the genre explicitly, but the new game sounds like it falls under Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA).In Magicka: Wizard Wars, two teams of four wizards duel to the death using Magicka's established spell-crafting system as the foundation for combat. The game is differentiated by "short battles, persistent character progression, and plenty of laughter."Magicka: Wizard Wars is in development at Paradox North, a new studio in Stockholm under the banner of Paradox Interactive. The studio is composed of former DICE and Avalanche Studios talent, and led by executive vice president John Hargelid.
Paradox announces Magicka: Wizard Wars
Paradox Interactive has announced the development of Magicka: Wizard Wars, a "PvP-focused multiplayer game based on the celebrated slapstick sorcery franchise." The game pits two teams of four wizards against each other and features "short battles, persistent character progression, and plenty of laughter." No gameplay footage has been released as of yet, but Paradox has produced a teaser trailer that you can watch by clicking past the cut. [Source: Paradox press release]
