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Grab Magicka for $2.50 on Steam, or free for the weekend
What's that? You still haven't experienced the boundless joy of mashing-up already hazardous incantations? That's inexcusable, but you'll be rewarded for your oversight: Steam has Magicka discounted for $2.50, and is letting users play it for free for most of the weekend!
Magicka: The Stars are Left trailer crafted with love
If the world's in danger from a creeping, Cthulhu-inspired nightmare, who you gonna call? Umm, perhaps not the four wildly powerful wizards ... imbued with a clumsy tendency to immolate one another.
Magicka takes on Cthulhu and Minecraft in The Stars are Left expansion
Have you and your three wizardly cohorts blown up everything in the universe using your crossbred incantations? No, friend, you haven't. Just ask the subtitle of Magicka's recently announced expansion: The Stars are Left. The add-on isn't just a commentary on your failure to destroy heavenly bodies; it will add a whole new campaign to the title featuring a "horror-mystery inspired by the popular Cthulhu Mythos." Cthul-who? (We kid.) The campaign, which is set to launch this Winter, will feature new enemies and (assumedly tentacle-faced) bosses, items and, according to a fact sheet sent to us by Paradox Interactive, "we make fun of Minecraft this time." Man, it's about time someone took that game down a peg.
OnLive is putting six new indie games online this fall
OnLive is feeling the indie love at Indiecade 2011 this weekend with the announcement of six new indie titles landing in its library this fall: Orcs Must Die Limbo Magicka Bastion Space Chem Avadon: The Black Fortress OnLive already offers popular-indie games such as Braid, Trine, World of Goo and The Maw. OnLive veep of games and media John Spinale said, "OnLive has long been a supporter of independent publishers. Simply put, they're making some really great, innovative games these days," because that's true, and the more exposure for the talented underdarlings, the better, at least in our book. Er, website.
Magicka sales near 800K, Vietnam expansion a financial success
Last we heard, Paradox Interactive's publishing deal for Magicka with Arrowhead Games was working out pretty well. This morning, just after a GDC Europe presentation by the niche Swedish publishing house, Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester further added to the game's history of financial success, when he told me that the title has now sold nearly 800,000 units. "It's gonna pass that [sales milestone] in the next week, week after or so," Wester said. "We're still doing between five and seven thousand a week, so it's a great sales number." He also added that Paradox hopes to pass the one million sales mark by the end of 2011 -- a major achievement for a small team like Arrowhead. As for the much-loved Vietnam expansion, I wondered if it had achieved the same success that both Paradox and Arrowhead had hoped for. "It's done a few hundred thousand, so the attachment rate is really high," Wester explained. With those kinds of numbers, it's clear why Paradox is interested in fostering and furthering the relationship with Arrowhead. Back in May, Wester told me that sequels for Magicka are a lock.
Magicka PVP update released, new DLC available
As promised, new player-versus-player content has been released for Magicka. The free update features three new modes including Classic Deathmatch and a last-man-standing mode called Brawl. The Krietor mode, named after a Magicka modder, unlocks new spells -- and thus new strategic possibilities -- as the round progresses. New Magicka DLC is up for purchase as well. First is the Final Frontier pack, priced at $2.99, which includes the Vulcanus Arena map and some new sci-fi goodies (remember that episode of Star Trek?). Also, for $1.99 each, players can pick up the Frozen Lake map, the Watchtower map or the Party Robe pack.
Magicka PvP patch dated for June 21
Arrowhead has finally conjured up a launch date for its proposed PvP patch for Magicka, details on which were previously reported. The patch is free and releases on June 21, allowing up to four mages to step into the arena and duke it out a test of willpower. Hit the jump for the press release and a new trailer showing off the dangers of locking four mages in a closed-off environment. Nobody puts mage in the corner!
Ex-Battlefield lead Gordon Van Dyke joins Paradox Interactive as senior producer
After exiting the dev battlefield of DICE back in 2010, Gordon Van Dyke recently left his second EA gig at Visceral Games in favor of a different Swedish game company: Paradox Interactive. Before wild accusations start flying, know that his reason for leaving was rather heartwarming. "During my time back in California [with Visceral], I married my girlfriend from Sweden and we had a baby. We decided it was best to raise her in Sweden," Van Dyke told Joystiq this afternoon. In the process of moving, a friend of Paradox CEO Fred Wester put he and Gordon in contact. The rest is Swedish history. "I got an email from a friend introducing me to Gordon. Two days later he was hired," Wester explained of his rapid hiring process. Van Dyke, unsurprisingly, had nothing but nice things to say about his new employer, explaining that the studio "offers me more room to explore, take risk, and work on creative niche IPs."
Magicka PvP patch changes detailed
A PvP patch is currently in development for Magicka (sure, we knew that) but Arrowhead Games Studio CEO Johan Pilestedt has offered a clearer picture of what to expect in a post on PC Gamer -- one that details measures being taken to ensure play balance in the patch.
Magicka sequel planned, first game and Vietnam expansion sold 'over expectations'
Arrowhead Studios' first game, Magicka, has been a runaway success. Publisher Paradox Interactive told Joystiq in a recent interview that the game "sold over 30,000 copies in the first 24 hours," and the five dollar Vietnam-themed expansion has moved "well over 100,000" copies since launching in mid-April. Even at just $5, that's plenty of extra ducats. Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester also confirmed a Magicka sequel on the books, though the folks at Arrowhead are still hard at work on the first game's PvP, set for a free release in the near future. "When we -- and I'm not saying 'if' -- but 'when' we are doing a sequel to this game, it's going to be done on a totally different technology," Wester explained, airing some of his company's grievances with Magicka's game engine, XNA Studios. "It was super buggy at release," he added, speaking to Magicka's less-than-perfect state at launch. "We addressed most of them in the first week, but there are still issues with laptops and a few other things. It's due to the engine that we produced the game on." As for the oft-requested console version of Magicka, Wester and his company are taking an all-or-nothing approach at this point. "We wanna do XBLA or nothing for the Xbox," Wester matter-of-factly stated when asked about the possibility of the game still heading to Xbox Live Indie Games. Beyond it being a smaller marketplace, he noted, "We looked into that, but it was not as simple as it seemed at first." PlayStation Network, thankfully, is an easier task. "PSN should be a no brainer, and I'm saying should because ... I can't really say anything more at the moment," he coyly added, noting, "I'll let you know as soon as I can say more." ESRB listings discovered earlier this year certainly indicate that something is in the cards.
Magicka 'Marshlands' and 'Caverns' challenge maps now on Steam
Paradox has released two new challenge maps for the four-player dungeon crawler Magicka, called Marshlands and Caverns (after their respective settings, of course). Based on a player vote, Caverns was chosen as the free map (and is available the next time you log in to Steam), but Marshlands remains paid DLC on Steam for $1.99. Both maps have new challenges available for up to four players, requiring you to fight enemies across 20 deadly waves. If you haven't bought Magicka yet, Steam is also offering a Magicka Pack, featuring the original game along with the Vietnam expansion pack and both the Wizard's Survival Kit and this new add-on DLC for $12.99. For less than the price of a movie ticket, that's a lot of four-player magicking.
Magicka: Vietnam dev happy to 'save the world from communists'
You might've thought that the success of Call of Duty: Black Ops and Battlefield: Bad Company 2's Vietnam expansion were what precipitated the tongue-in-cheek Vietnam expansion for Magicka. As it turns out, the folks at Arrowhead just want to save the world from communism!
What's in a Name: Arrowhead Game Studios
Johan Pilestedt is CEO of Arrowhead Game Studios, the Swedish developer responsible for Magicka. He recently revealed to us the origin of the studio's name and the meaning behind its seemingly dim-witted mascot. Originally, when the studio was just a "student project," the group called themselves Team Arrowhead. "Arrowhead" was a play on Pilestedt's name, which, in English, means "arrow stead." "But wait, there's more to this story!" says Pilestedt.
April Fools: Paradox expands Vietnam theme to King Arthur series
Magicka's Vietnam-themed DLC has apparently been a huge hit with the folks at Paradox Interactive. Such a hit, in fact, that the company is now theming the upcoming King Arthur sequel in the same way -- nothing quite says "Knights of the Round Table" like napalm! Furthermore, the sequel to Sword of the Stars will receive similar treatment. "A wise journeyman once told me, 'Don't stop believing,' and that's exactly what we're doing here," company head Fredrik Wester noted in the announcement. Okay, okay, the folks at Paradox are just having a laugh on this day of days to have a laugh, but you'll excuse us if we stand fully in support of the idea. Heck, it sounds like a much better idea than the publisher's East India Company game themed around the Opium Wars of the 19th century. Who greenlights this stuff?!
Magicka: Vietnam is seriously coming out April 12
Okay, we're starting to believe that Paradox Interactive and Arrowhead Game Studios' upcoming expansion to their successful, arcane action-RPG, Magicka: Vietnam, is not the most elaborate hoax ever pulled on the gaming industry. See, we were operating under that assumption, but earlier today the creators revealed 10 screenshots for the add-on, and gave it some formal release details: It's coming to "all major digital distribution channels" April 12 for $4.99. We're excited to check out this bizarre-sounding addition to Magicka -- especially after perusing the gallery below -- but we're going to temper our excitement for another 36 hours or so. Tomorrow would be an awfully appropriate day for the developers to reveal that we all done got goofed.%Gallery-120101%
Direct2Drive knocking 15% off March's best sellers
In celebration of, um, March, Direct2Drive is reducing the price of this month's top fifteen games by fifteen percent. The list of titles includes the likes of Dead Space 2, Rift, Shogun 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Crysis 2 and Bulletstorm. Fifteen percent amounts to a reasonably hefty $9 discount on $60 titles and around $7.50 on $50 titles, and it also has the effect of lowering Magicka's already ridiculously low $10 price to just $8.50. Head over to Direct2Drive to see the full list of titles, and enter the promo code "MARCHMAYHEM" at checkout to receive the discount.
Official Magicka (bath) robe will soak up $85 from your wallet
Whether you've played Magicka or not, there's a good chance you're familiar with its iconic wizard robes. Now, thanks to Sinn D'Signed (a.k.a. Cindy Guillermo, gaming fashionista), you can grab a Magicka bathrobe for $85. The robes are available in red, green, blue and yellow and will be up for pre-order until April 11. Alas, the robe won't grant you any magical powers, though it's 100-percent cotton terry cloth construction should impress your friends nonetheless.
Magicka devs say work on PvP starts after Vietnam
Arrowhead already created the funniest premise for an expansion this year with Magicka: Vietnam, and it seems the developer has already decided how it will follow up that triumph: Player-vs-player combat. A pair of messages on the game's official Twitter page read, "How about an achievement for defeating a developer/paradox? A good way to vent your frustration - yes? Wait, we need PvP for that ... we better build it right after#MagickaVietnam then." We knew PvP was in the works, but it's nice to have something approximating a timetable for official support. Here's hoping we'll be accidentally setting ourselves on fire -- in an ill-fated attempt to set you on fire -- soon.
Magicka on consoles is 'up to Sony and Microsoft' right now
There's been talk of bringing Magicka to the PS3 and Xbox 360 for some time now. Developer Arrowhead Game Studios has been quite vocal about wanting to bring the game to "all consoles," but right now, it would seem there's a considerable roadblack. Speaking with Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt, we asked him what the delay in conjuring a console port was. "We're working on bringing Magicka to consoles -- we are, really. The problem is that it's not up to us. It's up to Sony and Microsoft, really, but we're working on getting it to consoles. That's the way it should be played." It would appear for now, at least, the only way to get that console feeling is to play on PC with an Xbox 360 controller.
Magicka Vietnam to launch 'in about a month,' Arrowhead CEO says
If there's one thing that Arrowhead Game Studios has proven with its accident-prone wizardfest Magicka, it's that they can make me laugh. But is that an appropriate reaction in Magicka Vietnam? Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Johan Pilestedt suggested that we'll find out "in about a month."%Gallery-115067%
