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Valiance Online is coming soon to Steam early access
Great news for Valiance Online, as the fledgling superhero title announced recently that it has been voted onto the Steam Greenlight program by the community. This means that Valiance Online will "soon" be available to play through the digital platform via early access. The team said that it still discussing its release and pricing plan, although fans can currently access it in the open pre-alpha test going on right now. Valiance Online is making good progress as a City of Heroes spiritual successor and even picked up a former artist from the sunsetted superhero game in December.
Early Access zombie survival hit DayZ tops 3 million sales
Publisher Bohemia Interactive has revealed that DayZ, the cult-hit, open-world zombie survival game, has attracted more than three million sales since its debut on Steam's Early Access platform. DayZ arrives at this milestone only a year after reaching Early Access. Despite pragmatic warnings from DayZ creator Dean "Rocket" Hall that the Early Access version of DayZ is incomplete, the game was an immediate hit, selling over a million copies in its first month, owing largely to the cult following it attracted in its original incarnation: a modification for Bohemia's ArmA 2 first-person military sim. "We would like to say thank you to every single one of the three million players, that have joined us on the journey of making DayZ," writes project lead David Durcak. "You all have helped make DayZ the best open world, zombie survival game. This is an amazing achievement, and we are really looking forward to start sharing with you all of our game design improvements, anti-hack solutions and other optimizations we have been working on for a majority of the last year." [Image: Bohemia Interactive]
First Impressions: H1Z1 is more boredom than terror
What would video game purgatory look like? After spending an afternoon wandering aimlessly across a mostly-deserted countryside, I'd have to say that H1Z1's early access build fits the description of limbo perfectly. I even smacked into a wall of grey nothing that bordered the eight square kilometers of play space and wondered whether it might be more interesting in that haze than back among the living dead. H1Z1, as SOE will emphatically tell you, is not anywhere near to being done. Features are missing, placeholder art is everywhere, and there isn't a female character to be seen. It's only just playable on a larger scale, and yet the studio felt fit to open hundreds of servers (and take in thousands of dollars) so that the early crowd could sate its curiosity. There's no NDA, either, which means that the studio definitely wants people to chat the game up, whether good or bad. I'm happy to oblige.
Life is Feudal unveils its 2015 roadmap
So what will the next year bring for Life is Feudal? Lots of things, since the game is still in its early access phase. But you don't have to take our vague and noncommittal words for it; you can just take a look at the game's official 2015 roadmap. The page outlines what will be coming to the game each month from here until September, along with progress bars to give hopeful players an idea of how far along the team has gotten on these features. The team is going to be taking a break on all of this during their first trip to a convention, though; the staff from Bitbox will be in-person at PAX South, displaying at Booth 1261 for fans and those who have never heard of the game before. In other words, it should be a pretty busy 2015 for the game. [Thanks to Saxxon for the tip!]
The Long Dark welcomes 250K survivors, January update to nearly double size of wilderness
The Long Dark, Hinterland Studios' Northern woods survival simulator that's currently in Early Access, has surpassed 250,000 sales since launching on Steam's service on September 22. Unfortunately, the life expectancy for its inhabitants isn't very lengthy – an infograph coordinated with the sales announcement notes that only 24 percent of players have persevered for more than five days, with only 1.4 percent of players demonstrating the wit needed to last 50 days. While a dedicated story mode is still on the way, an update planned for later this month will nearly double The Long Dark's stretch of wilderness, adding fresh locales and threats amongst the game's snowy pines. We look forward to learning whether that helps or hinders the probability of its playerbase lasting more than a week. If you've yet to brave The Long Dark's chill, PC and Mac users can endure the elements for $19.99 on Early Access. [Image: Hinterland Studios]
Xsyon kicks off season of in-game events
Why settle for one measly event when you can have a whole host of them? That's the approach that sandbox MMO Xsyon is taking with its event season. The season, which begins today, will feature a slew of in-game events on different days. These include treasure hunts, timed battles, navigation competitions, capture the flag games, and a Valentine's Day event. The team is scheduling the events on different days and times "to accommodate players from every time zone." A calendar of upcoming events is on the official website. Xsyon is fresh from its debut on Steam's early access, which began earlier this month.
H1Z1 is now available, here's a trailer
Zombie survival sandbox H1Z1 is now available to play. Or test. Or whatever it is ya'll are doing inside these half-finished games that are killing it on Steam. What can you expect for your $19.99 or $39.99? Well, lots of bugs, placeholder artwork, and low-quality character models, according to a recent dev post. You also get to shoot your fellow zombie fans in the face, though, and purportedly influence development of the game going forward. SOE has released a new trailer to mark today's launch. You can view it after the break!
Tell me, Muse, when The Next Penelope launches on Steam
The Next Penelope, an interstellar spaceship racing game from Arkedo co-founder Aurelien Regard, is due out on Steam Early Access on January 22. The Early Access version includes a complete single-player campaign for PC, Mac and Linux. The Next Penelope is also confirmed for Wii U, with other consoles "likely." The Next Penelope is a fast-paced racer with weapons and boss fights, and it will eventually feature four-player local multiplayer and extra-hard missions. Its story is based in Greek mythology, but placed in a futuristic world – Penelope, faithful wife of the famed adventurer Odysseus, travels a neon-tinted galaxy as Poseidon's evil threat grows, managing suitors and taking out baddies. Arkedo, the studio behind Hell Yeah! and Big Bang Mini, is now a one-man operation: Co-founder Aurelien Regard is responsible for the code, art and music of The Next Penelope. Arkedo closed shop as a studio in February 2013 under "good conditions." See the Early Access trailer for The Next Penelope below.
H1Z1 boasts 150-200 early access servers, including 'carebear' servers [Updated]
In preparation for the early access launch of zombiebox H1Z1, SOE's John Smedley has been busy on social media. Over the weekend, he asked Redditors for suggestions for 50 zombie-themed server names. Last night on Twitter, he indicated that the game will have far more servers come Thursday: looking like we'll have 150-200 H1Z1 servers on 1/15. [9:19 PM - 12 Jan 2015] we'll be announcing the distribution of them (i.e. rulesets, etc) in the next day or two. I think people will be happy. [9:19 PM - 12 Jan 2015] even the disgusting PVE carebear servers will be ready day 1. I'm not happy about that but people tell me I need to get over it. [9:20 PM - 12 Jan 2015] Don't worry, PvE players who've been buying SOE MMOs for 16 years. We're pretty sure he was kidding. H1Z1 early access launches January 15th. Smed has previously warned players that they should "NOT BUY EARLY ACCESS" if they are hoping for a completely finished game, but given the number of servers, we expect no one is listening to that advice.
The Daily Grind: Do you Kickstart MMOs for the donation or the reward?
I hope it goes without saying in 2015 that Kickstarter really, really isn't an investment; it's a donation. There are no safeties, assurances, or returns on the sums you hand over to indie developers on crowdfunding platforms, even if they promise (without using that word) you a game or a t-shirt at some point. Even with Steam early access games, there's no guarantee you'll ever get the finished product. Some developers take your money, shrug, and move on to the next project, ignoring the comment fury from "backers." That doesn't stop most of us from gambling that the $20 we plunk down now will morph into a $50 game at some point down the road, though, does it? That's how I think of it, anyway, though I've seen some of you folks, particularly the big-spending backers, really become personally and financially invested in a game's development, such that you give way more than you need to to cover the cost of your copy. You're clearly in it for the dream, not the t-shirt or the art book. Let's do a headcount: Do you Kickstart MMOs for the sense of having contributed to an original work of art or for the shiny, tangible reward at the end of your pledge? 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!
Under construction: Who benefits from MMO early access?
On its Early Access page, Steam posts a manifesto of sorts praising this radical new type of development in which players get in on the alpha or pre-alpha stage, saying, "This is the way that games should be made." Is it? I'm not so sure. Early access -- and all of the other similar names for the same concept -- appears to be the latest trend that's sweeping not just MMOs but video games in general. Both Steam and crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter are largely responsible for promoting early access, and it has been a popular attraction for players who previously had to sit on their hands and wait for a game to get, y'know, finished. Now we can indulge instantly and run around the structure even as it's still under construction. I was talking about early access with Bree on the podcast the other day, and both of us were expressing distaste and an increasing uneasiness with the early access trend. Popular as it may be, is it really the way that games should be made? Will it result in better titles in the end? And who is getting what, exactly, out of it? It's this last question I want to address today.
Xsyon enters early access on Steam
Want to play Xsyon but hate the mere concept of not being able to play it natively through Steam? Then we have good news! The game is now available on Steam as an early access title, so if you don't already own the game, you can start playing there. If you're wondering how the game could be considered early access when it's been launched and playable for some time, well... that's a good question. Sharp thinking! If you're already an Xsyon player and want to have the game on your Steam account, you can shoot off an email to a special account requesting a Steam key for no extra cost. Everyone else who's already playing will just want to look forward to the hopeful influx of new players enjoying the game for the first time. [Source: Notorious Games press release]
The Repopulation looks back on December and Early Access
For the first time in testing, The Repopulation didn't quite keep pace with its normal biweekly update schedule for the test client. Why, you ask, were the developers being such lazy bums? Because of the holidays? Or was it because the game was busy launching on Steam as an early access title, thus requiring extra work by the team to make sure that previous backers and newcomers alike were having fun? Mostly the latter, as it happens; not so much with the lazy bums. Of course, a slight schedule slip doesn't change the fact that the team was hard at work on the game, with the biggest focus being bug fixes (as the new influx of players has resulted in many more bug reports). There are also improvements to the game's missions, with a focus on more challenging variations and the possibility of random fitting rewards from clearing them. Check out the full recap for a picture of everything that's been added or improved over the past month.
Project Gorgon is coming to Steam
Indie sandbox Project Gorgon finally caught a break this week in the form of Greenlight approval on Steam. Two separate Kickstarter drives failed to fund, one in 2012 and another earlier this year, but former Turbine and Perpetual developer Eric Heimburg continued work on the project and has now announced a forthcoming Steam launch. "There's a lot of work to be done to get the game Steam-ready, and I don't know the exact timeline yet," Heimburg wrote. "But the hard part was getting Greenlit." Gorgon seeks to marry old-school and new-school MMO design; it includes features like player-authored books, exploration without signposts, and additional goodies that you can see in the video past the cut.
Natural Selection 2 dev's 'Subnautica' dives into Steam Early Access
Natural Selection 2 developer Unknown Worlds launched its latest game on Steam Early Access this week, Subnautica. In it, players submerse themselves in an "alien underwater world" with brightly-colored creatures and environments, such as coral reefs and volcanoes. Fighting to survive, the swimmers also hunt for resources to build new gear and submarines, allowing them to further explore the aquatic areas. Subnautica is currently 10 percent off ($18) until December 23 and supports virtual reality headsets such as Oculus Rift. Unknown Worlds handed development duties for Natural Selection 2 to a group of dedicated fans in June, after announcing Subnautica one year ago. Head past the break to see a trailer for Subnautica, showing some of the pretty (and some of the ferocious) creatures in the Early Access game. [Image: Unknown Worlds]
Zombie sandbox MMO Immune enters early access on Steam
If you can't wait for H1Z1 and want to slay some zombies this Christmas, perhaps isometric post-apoc sandbox Immune will suffice. Billed by developer Vidiludi Games & Entertainment as an MMORPG, Immune launches into early access today and is pushing for Steam greenlighting. "Immune is a humorous early access sandbox survival MMORPG with PVP and PVE, in which you scavenge, hunt, and even grow your own food to survive. Inspired by classics such as DayZ, Rust, and Stalker, Immune takes place in a post-apocalyptic world following an outbreak of a devastating pandemic leaving only a handful of survivors. But beware of the gasmask wearing NPCs doing everything in their power to avoid the infection by shooting everyone sick or immune in the face!" The game is currently $10 US on the developer's website, half off as a holiday promotion.
Elite: Dangerous is due for zero more wipes, releases launch trailer
If you weren't clear on whether Elite: Dangerous has launched yet, prepare to remain slightly unclear. Frontier Community Manager Edward Lewis hit the forums earlier this week to clarify that the gamma 2 test phase open to backers will not be wiped prior to next week's official launch: Hi guys, This is just a quick update to confirm that there won't be a wipe at launch. So it's not formally launched until December 16th, but it's pretty much launched in the ways that matter. Lewis further dismissed concerns about exploits benefiting early access players. "We're looking at ways to find people who have used exploits. Don't worry about that! But also, don't worry about it if you have used an exploit - the guys on the dev team know the difference between testing something out and abusing the systems!" Massively's Mike Foster toured the game a few weeks ago, writing that "the gamma version finally brings Frontier's full vision into focus, and the result is a challenging, complex title." The buy-to-play MMO took home Massively's Most Underrated award this year. We've got the new launch trailer tucked behind the break!
Molyneux: Kickstarter, Early Access can be 'destructive'
Peter Molyneux's Godus earned £526,563 ($852K) on Kickstarter in December 2012, yet the designer recently admitted that he would delay the funding campaign entirely if he could go back to the game's pre-planning stages. In an interview with TechRadar, the Fable series designer deemed Kickstarter and Steam Early Access as "very destructive to the final quality" of games that aren't particularly far along in their development stages. In the case of Godus, 22 Cans' spiritual successor to Populous, Molyneux said supporters had a "view of what the game is going to be like" based on the Kickstarter project, which differed from what the "invest to play" game wound up becoming. "I'm not saying I would never do Kickstarter again, but if I was to do Kickstarter again, I would say 'look, we've done half the game, you can download this demo, you can play the game,'" he said. "'You know what the game's going to be, now we're going to take it from this point to this point.'" Godus is currently available on PC, Mac and Linux via Steam as well as iOS and Android. [Image: 22 Cans]
Line of Defense Tactics makes in-roads with mobile devices
Line of Defense Tactics, the RTS spin-off of the upcoming sci-fi MMOFPS by Derek Smart, is now available on both Windows 8.1 and Windows Mobile. The game costs $9.99 and $4.99, respectively. The team's also added a $9.99 version on iOS devices that includes the full Lyrius campaign, in-game currency, and weapons. Both Android and iOS mobile platforms have access to the first three missions of the squad-based game for free. Line of Defense Tactics actually allows players to query the MMO database for information on units and equipment to help in their tactical battles.
Shroud of the Avatar unleashes a community update
Do you want to venture into a dark mine filled with kobolds? This time it will be different because it will be taking place in Shroud of the Avatar once the game patches Release 13 to a live release. But that's hardly the only point of the game's most recent update for the community, which comes hot on the heels of the game's overall success on Steam's Early Access service. This most recent update also includes several player-made screenshots and guides as well as the community event schedule running through the weekend for Release 12. A 12-hour telethon is also planned for December 1st, starting at 11:00 a.m. EST; the development team will be live to answer questions and interact with players through the broadcast. Check out the full dispatch here to catch up on community news and get a peek ahead.
