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Lead producer pens requiem for Molten Games
Former Molten Games lead producer Oksana Kubushyna has penned a lengthy requiem for the recently closed studio on her personal blog. Molten was working on a title called Blunderbuss when it unexpectedly lost its funding last month. The post features a series of snapshots and videos detailing what it was like to work at the San Diego studio on a daily basis, and Kubushyna also says that the game itself was pretty far along. "It was a complete vertical slice with an installer, patcher, back-end platform (multiplayer, basic matchmaker, persistence, monitoring, telemetry), back-end administration tools, automated deployments, automated test framework, gameplay systems, UI, and of course content -- multiple champions and a beautiful map," she writes. You can view the Blunderbuss cinematic demo after the cut. [Thanks Paul!]
Molten Games lays off staff, halts work on Blunderbuss
Molten Games, which sent out press releases last year touting everything from its lineup of former SOE and Blizzard devs to its NCsoft funding, has apparently laid off its entire staff. The company was working on some sort of Unreal 4-powered multiplayer title called Blunderbuss, but Gamasutra reports that all that is out the window as of this week. Molten director of technology Joshua Kriegshauser shared some alpha footage of the company's project through his Twitter account, and Gamasutra has collected multiple links from affected staffers around the web. You can click past the cut to view the alpha vid.
Molten Games is building something called Blunderbuss
Remember last summer when Molten Games sent out a press release saying that it had picked up ex-Blizzard and SOE personnel as well as a substantial chunk of funding courtesy of NCsoft? Well, the company has revealed the name of its project, though not much beyond that. The concoction is called Blunderbuss, and according to 2P it is an Unreal 4-powered title that is "expected to launch with [a] free-to-play model in the summer of 2015." The genre is still unknown, though the source article says it's a "core game" designed for e-sports. What's a core game? Your guess is as good as mine, since that's basically a marketing term that could mean anything from hardcore to softcore to Andrea Corr. OK, maybe not that last one, even though MOBAs with Irish pop musician heroes should be a thing. [Thanks Zedrick!]
Molten Games picks up NCsoft funding, former Blizzard and SOE execs
NCSoft and Molten Games want you to know about... Molten Games. What is Molten Games? It's a new San Diego-based company that says it's "focused on breaking free from the traditional developer/publisher relationship and putting gameplay first and foremost." That's nice, we hear some of you saying, but why should you care? According to Molten, you should care for two reasons. Number one, the firm has secured a multi-million dollar investment nest egg from NCSoft. Reason number two, or more accurately, reasons two, three, and four, are team members Paul Della Bitta, former global head of e-sports and community at Blizzard, Jungwon Hahn, former head of Blizzard's Korean office, and Blaine Smith, former senior producer at SOE and a veteran of Relic's Company of Heroes and Dawn of War franchises. So, there you go. Molten says it will release information pertaining to its first online game "at a later date." [Source: Molten press release]
Patch 4.2: Druid tier 12 revealed, new tier armor information and models
Wowhead has put up some excellent shots of the previously unseen druid tier 12 armor set called Obsidium Arborweave, as well as new information about the names of other classes' tier 12 sets. Also, we were anxiously awaiting the new molten giant model -- and lo and behold, it is awesome and is definitely the source of inspiration for the warrior tier 12 set.
Razer introduces two special edition MMO gaming mice
Razer is releasing a couple of new Naga gaming mice designed for MMO fans, and before you protest that the company already did that, take a look. Razer says that the first Naga mouse received a "phenomenal response," so the company has created two special edition versions: the Maelstrom and Molten. The Maelstrom has a "whirlpool of entrancing blue light emanating from its swirling core," while the Molten offers "lava-red fissures cutting a jagged path across the mouse." They're pretty, but are they a good fit for MMO gamers? The Razer site has a decent overview and list of technical specifications. If you decide it's a must-have, the special editions will be available in November.
Razer unveils special edition Naga MMO gaming mice
How do you improve on awesome? That's a tough question, but the clever folks at Razer seem to have come up with an answer: Add some molten lava or a raging maelstrom. The gaming peripherals manufacturer announced today the Razer Naga Molten and Razer Naga Maelstrom special edition mice. Both mice sport the same specs as the original 17-button Razer Naga plus the addition of new, pulsating designs -- a swirling, cool blue maelstrom or glowing hot lava. If the themes seem familiar, it's probably no coincidence that these mice arrive just in time for Cataclysm, which is set to launch on Dec. 7. The Razer Naga is designed specifically for MMO gaming, with a special addon for World of Warcraft, allowing players to bind their spells and abilities to the mouse's numerous buttons. The mouse also supports key mapping, the way most full-featured gaming mice can be configured, and also comes with drivers for the Mac. The new designs take the place of the current pulsating Razer logo on the palm end of the mouse, adding a different level of cool to the popular mouse. Either version of the special edition Razer Naga gaming mouse will retail for $79.99 -- about the same price as the regular version -- and will become available for pre-order on Oct. 12.
