the crew
Latest
The Crew rounds the bend, heads for Xbox 360
Ubisoft's team-oriented racer, The Crew, will burn rubber on the Xbox 360 on November 11, in addition to its previously-announced drifts on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Development of the 360 version will be lead by Asobo Studio, with support coming from teams at Ivory Tower, Ubisoft Reflections and Ubisoft Shanghai. [Image: Ubisoft]
The Crew revs up for second beta test on August 25th
Gas up those cars and wipe down the upholstry, because the second beta test for The Crew is set to begin on August 25th and end on August 29th. Ubisoft promised to hand out more keys for this second round of closed beta testing, saying that players will now be able to register for it through Steam if desired. You can get into the beta by pre-purchasing The Crew prior to the start of this next test, having played the first beta test, or snagging one of the new keys. Ubisoft announced that there will be no NDA for the beta later this month. According to a new infographic, over 237 million miles were driven during the first beta test, in addition to 387,113 police chases and over a million skill challenges attempted. You can view the full infographic after the jump.
The Crew takes another lap through beta later this month
Following a recent beta test (that eventually spawned this Joystiq Streams roadtrip), Ubisoft has announced plans for another public test of open-world racer The Crew. According to Ubisoft, the second beta test will begin on August 25 and run through August 29. No progress earned during the prior beta will carry over to this second test, though this time players will not be constrained by an NDA, and can freely discuss The Crew as they'd like. If you took part in the first beta test you're automatically granted access to the second test, but any new players should register as soon as possible as there are a finite number of spots available to the public. Barring any major catastrophes, The Crew should make its official retail debut on November 11. [Image: Ubisoft]
Joystiq Streams: Last licks in The Crew beta [Update: Watch the replay!]
Update: The live stream has ended. You can relive the magic in the stream archive above. What in the world is in that STREAM, what you got in that STREAM? Get up out ya hater, we're playing The Crew beta, wait to take place at a similar pace So shake, shake it Roll out! Roll out! Roll out! Roll out! Get out my business, my biznass Unable to get the lingering sense of defeat from Tuesday's stream out of our collective heads, the Joystiq driving club is going to get in some last licks with The Crew beta on Joystiq.com/Twitch. Starting at 4PM EST, we're going to roll back into the crime ridden open world of Ubisoft's new racer. Xav de Matos, Jess Conditt, and Anthony John Agnello will be racing across the land. Alexander Sliwinski will be chilling in the chat, relaying your many questions to, well, the crew. Remember, that's Joystiq.com/Twitch at 4PM EST! Joystiq Streams broadcasts every Tuesday and Thursday at 4PM EST, but make sure to follow us on Twitch for when we decide to get brazenly weird like we're doing right now. [Images: Ubisoft]
Joystiq Streams: The Crew beta giveaway road trip [UPDATE: Relive the stream!]
[UPDATE: We're live at Joystiq.com/Twitch... but we're not playing The Crew! The beta is currently down, but we're still giving away a ton of codes for when the beta is back up.] The end of July is dangerous for the Joystiq crew. As the heat continues to climb and the days stretch on and on, our lust for summer adventure reaches its zenith. We want to fill the car with mixtapes and take to the open road, wearing nothing but swimsuits, sunglasses, and bravery! How could we possibly abandon our audience, though? We can't rightly stream video games for you if we're tearing up the asphalt from here to Kalamazoo! The Crew, Ubisoft's open-nation racing game in beta testing this week, must slake our thirst for a road trip. Plus, you can join us! Starting at 4PM EST on Joystiq.com/Twitch, Joystiq's newly formed racing team will take to The Crew beta to put it through its paces. Xav de Matos, Richard Mitchell, and Anthony John Agnello will be tearing up the road. Meanwhile, Alexander Sliwinski will be doling out a few dozen beta codes in the chat. How do you get the codes? Just show up and hang out. Joystiq Streams broadcasts every Tuesday and Thursday at 4PM EST, and many other times when it strikes our fancy. Never miss a stream by following us on Twitch! [Images: Ubisoft]
Take a road trip through The Crew's beta features
The Crew's closed beta test began today and will continue through Friday, July 25th. Since there are plenty of features to this online racing title for testers to explore, the developers have put together a six-minute video to point players in the right direction. The beta features tour begins with story missions and continues through skill challenges, PvP missions, customization, free roaming, co-op connections, and a few more. You can get the full beta features overview after the jump.
The Crew's PC closed beta starts July 21
Ubisoft's open-world racer The Crew kicks off its PC closed beta on July 21st. The firm has posted a news blurb on its website stating that the first test phase will run through July 25th, which is earlier than previously announced. Players will be able to "explore the entire United States with no loading screen" including all missions and skill challenges in the Midwest, all skill challenges on the East Coast, and free roaming in the South, Mountain State, and West Coast regions. The Crew launches on November 11th.
Open-world racer The Crew to reach PC beta two days early
Though Ubisoft originally planned to launch the closed PC beta of The Crew on July 23, the publisher has decided to kick things off a bit early by moving the beta launch to next Monday, July 21. "Since we've announced The Crew last year, we've received many messages from players around the world, eager to get their hands on the game," reads a notice posted on the game's website. "We've heard you loud and clear, and as we can't wait for you to play, we announce [to] you that our PC Closed Beta will be starting earlier than what we first announced. Get ready to play from Monday 21st of July to Friday 25th." Additionally, Ubisoft has revealed that the closed beta will include full access to The Crew's abridged map of the continental United States. Missions and skill challenges will only be available in the Midwest and East Coast regions, but players can still tour the Rockies, the American South and the West Coast at will. [Image: Ubisoft]
The Crew dev blog talks Raid, Circuit, and Perf spec cars
Ubisoft's latest dev blog for open world racer The Crew is worth a read if you're partial to cars, MMO-style groups, and boss fights. It describes a takedown challenge mission called A Little Nudge that "wouldn't be out of place in a Driver game." It also mentions the Raid spec, and that's not "raid" in the typical MMO sense of the word but "raid" as in a car class designed to "tear through the hills, valleys, and backroads" of Yosemite and survive plenty of "high-speed brutality." In addition to Raid, Circuit, and Perf specs, The Crew also features 20 upgrade slots per car, which Ubisoft says will please gearheads and gamers alike.
E3 2014: Fighting car bosses in Ubisoft's The Crew
I still can't believe racing MMOs are a thing. I know some people say they're just racing games and not proper MMOs, but once you get inside something like The Crew, you'll find a lot of interesting stuff. I demoed Ubisoft's persistent-world racer at last year's E3, and this year's hands-on revealed some changes for the better.
E3 2014: The Crew launches November 11th, is totally an MMO
While a lot of attention has been focused on The Division, not as much discussion has gone on surrounding Ubisoft's other MMO-ish title, The Crew. According to a recent development blog, though, the game is totally an MMO, even if you're not necessarily taking all of it on as a group. The game is based around an asymmetric multiplayer model in a persistent world, and there are even different classes of cars for players to specialize in depending on preference. Of course, you won't have to rely upon the word of the developers about that for much longer. The game has been given an official release date of November 11th, with beta starting on July 23rd. There's also a trailer past the break that shows in-game time-lapse footage of driving from Miami to LA, covering the entire United States during the trip. Check out the development blog regarding customization, game mechanics, and the game's MMO nature as well.
EA / Ubisoft E3 2014 conference round-up: Prototypes and push-ups
The big three console manufacturers aren't the only ones having all the fun at E3; Ubisoft and Electronic Arts are known to get in on the party as well. These two publishers can do many things, but one thing they can't do is take you back in time in the event that you missed their press conferences. Fortunately for you, Joystiq does what reality don't. Ready to travel with us and wrangle up all the news from the Ubisoft and EA pressers? Let's go!
The Crew beta on July 23, crosses finish line November 11
Ubisoft's racer The Crew will arrive on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on November 11, Ubisoft announced during its E3 2014 press conference. Want to put the pedal to the metal finger to the trigger sooner? A closed beta will hit on July 23. [Image: Joystiq]
Joystiq Weekly: PAX East, The Last Of Us: Remastered, Super Smash Bros. and more
This week's reveal of Charizard in Super Smash Bros.' roster is a bit of a blow to our argument that Squirtle is the best starter from Pokemon Red/Blue. Yes, both pocket monsters were in the Pokemon Trainer's arsenal in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but Charizard flying solo is a whole different level of awesome, one that's left us Squirtle enthusiasts drowning in envy. Playground rivalries aside, there's a lot more going on this week beyond Pokefeuds. Sony admitted that The Last Of Us is coming to the PS4, Borderlands fans are finally going to be able to play as Claptrap in Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and we've got a faint glimmer of hope for the Xbox One to eventually be backwards compatible. This is also the weekend of PAX East, which you can treat as a source of news or, if you're attending, a giant game of "Where's Waldo?" Track down Joystiq's away team and say hi! Provided you can catch them between appointments, panels and the lone meal of their day, that is.
The Crew's five swappable classes, er, specs
What you call "classes" in other MMOs, The Crew calls "specs." There are five of them and they are swappable on the fly, offering the player control over his or her racing destiny. A new official blog post today details these five specs. Street specs are versatile jack-of-all-trade cars, Dirt specs are great for off-roading, Perf specs sacrifice maneuverability for speed, Raid specs are terrific for exploring rough environments, and Circuit specs are built for top-notch technical racing. If a player has not attained a certain spec yet and a mission requires it, the game will provide a loaner for the duration of the mission.
Leaderboard: Are you looking forward to The Crew?
Ubisoft hosted a preview event for The Crew earlier this week, and while I was already excited for the game, seeing some of the press coverage that emerged got me even more hot and bothered. And the fact that I saw a MINI in the latest batch of screenshots didn't hurt, either. While The Crew may not be an MMO in the massive numbers of players sense, it certainly does feature a massive open world, quests, and plenty of character progression to go along with its sweet, sweet car porn. How about it, Massively gear heads? Are you looking forward to The Crew? Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
The Crew targets fall 2014 launch window
Ubisoft's racing MMO, The Crew, will be joining this fall's increasingly crowded line-up, the studio announced today. While Ubisoft isn't being more specific as to a launch date, it did say that The Crew will be available on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC when it arrives in fall 2014. The studio also put out two pre-order editions for the console versions: the Limited Edition and the more packed Muscle Edition. The latter can only be pre-ordered at Gamestop. Joystiq has a video preview of The Crew that you can check out after the jump.
Video preview: Ubisoft's open-world racer The Crew
Even the long, flat, dull, utterly unentertaining drive from downtown San Francisco to Salt Lake City is bearable in Ubisoft's The Crew, a new open-world racing game that draws its roads and racing tracks from the entire United States. It's a compressed, embellished America, allowing you to drive from, say, New York to Miami, with three of your friends and a desire to collect and upgrade a sparkling set of vehicles. With challenges and events littering its massive country, The Crew is less a white-knuckle test of driving skill, and more of a steady road trip meant to amass better cars, better parts and better loot. It's not quite Diablo with cars, though, and we see why in our new video preview above. The Crew is set to arrive on PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One this Fall. Check out the latest trailer right after the break. [Image: Ubisoft]
Free for All: MMORPGs for your new console
Consoles and MMOs do not have the stand-offish relationship that they used to have. In fact, there are so many different MMOs to choose from on consoles that it's seriously tempting to pick up one of the new ones -- the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 -- even though I wasn't planning on it for a long, long time. I enjoy using a controller with MMOs so much that I plan on covering the subject more in the future. So let's get to the list of MMOs that are currently on consoles or that will be coming out on consoles in the near(ish) future. Massively's own Mike Foster put together a fantastic list last summer, but I thought I would update and pass it on. After all, the new consoles are officially here... so be sure to reference the list when you need a new MMO to play on your shiny new console!
Ubisoft delays The Crew's launch window
I can't wait to play Ubisoft's open-world racing MMO called The Crew. Unfortunately, it looks as if I'll be waiting longer than I first thought now that the firm has delayed the title's launch to sometime during fiscal year 2014 to 2015 (that's April 2014 to March 2015 if your business-speak is rusty). The Crew, which was announced earlier this year at E3, was originally scheduled for an early 2014 launch. "Our long term goal is to win the next generation," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot explained. "The tough decisions we are taking today to fully realize the major potential of our new creations have an impact on our short-term performance. We are convinced that, longer term, they will prove to be the right decisions both in terms of satisfaction for our fans and in terms of value creation for our shareholders. We are building franchises that will become perennial pillars of UbiSoft's financial performance."
