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Blacklight: Retribution loses studio, continues on anyway
It turns out that the worst news for an online game -- having its studio close -- may not be the end of the world after all. Zombie Studios, the devs behind multiplayer shooter Blacklight: Retribution, announced today that it's closing shop and that a new studio has arisen from its ashes to take care of the game: "Now it is time for us to part ways and close our doors [...] We want to congratulate and wish nothing but success to Builder Box, the new studio starting up that has acquired some of the work Zombie is parting with, including all rights to Blacklight: Retribution. The new studio is comprised of past Zombie employees that put their hearts into Blacklight and we have no doubt will continue to do so." Builder Box's Facebook page also posted a notice, reaffirming the game's future: "What does this mean for you the fan? While ownership of the game has changed, the people behind the scenes who have been constantly contributing to the Blacklight universe for the last four years remains intact. Builder Box will be working with Perfect World so that, as a fan, you can look forward to more updates and exciting changes in the coming year."
Daylight developer closes, passes Blacklight IP to new studio
Seattle-based developer Zombie Studios is closing its doors after over twenty years of operation. The developer announced the news on its website, noting that the studio's owners are retiring. As a result, former Zombie Studios employees started a new company, Builder Box, and "acquired some of the work Zombie is parting with." That includes all rights to Blacklight: Retribution (seen above), Zombie Studios' 2012 cyberpunk first-person shooter. Builder Box was formed by Andy Kipling and Russell Nelson, Zombie Studios' director of production and technical director, respectively. In a PlayStation Forums post last week, Kipling assured Blacklight: Retribution fans that "the people behind the scenes who have been constantly contributing to the Blacklight universe for the last four years remains intact," and that players "can look forward to more updates and exciting changes in the coming year." Zombie Studios formed in 1994, launching its first game the following year, a spaceship simulator known as Ice and Fire. The developer is known for creating the Spec Ops line of tactical shooters, starting with Spec Ops: Rangers Lead the Way in 1998 for PC. Among the final games developed at Zombie Studios is the Atlus-published survival horror game Daylight, which arrived on PC and PS4 last year. [Image: Zombie Studios]
Daylight review: Whistling in the dark
Daylight is a procedurally generated horror game, promising players a new spooky environment and a new experience every time they play. That's the game's big selling point, or so developer Zombie Studios would have you believe. The truth is that procedural generation is one of Daylight's least interesting features, doing little to either heighten the tension or encourage multiple plays. Unfortunately, apart from a handful of heart-pounding frights, the rest of Daylight isn't much better.
Joystiq Streams: Blinded by Daylight [UPDATE: Relive the stream!]
Daylight by Zombie Studios is full of lies! Just look at screenshots of that game. There is not an abundance of sunshine present. Indeed, darkness, creeping madness, and monsters seem to be the only things well-stocked in the recesses of Daylight. Doesn't matter! Who needs light anyway? Clear vision is for suckers. That's why we're willing to march into the early version of Daylight blind, having never played it before at all. Joystiq Streams is about as afraid of horror games as Ray Parker Jr. is afraid of ghosts. To demonstrate our fearlessness, we'll stream Daylight live at 4PM EST on the Joystiq Twitch channel. Anthony John Agnello (@ajohnagnello), having never played the game before, will blindly barge his way into its dark recesses and attempt to convince viewers that he isn't frightened by things very clearly going bump in the night. Richard Mitchell (@TheRichardM) will be hanging out in the chat, feeding your questions, encouragement, and Stygian warnings of unknowable terror to Anthony as he plays. Joystiq Streams airs every Tuesday and Thursday at 4PM EST on the Joystiq Twitch channel. [Images: Zombie Studios]
Turn the lights on and tune into these new Daylight trailers
Daylight is the opposite of nightlight. Nightlights are meant to keep you safe while tucked into bed in a dark, silent house. They're the glimmer of assurance that no, there's nothing hiding in your closet, under the bed or behind that door. Daylight's purpose is to drive you to paranoia, anxiety and fear. It's meant to make you think that yes, there is something behind that door – and that wall. And under that scaffolding. And down that hallway. Everywhere, really. If the first trailer doesn't spook you, try the second one below. And tonight, maybe leave the lights on. Daylight is due out on April 29 for PC and PS4. [Image: Atlus]
Survival-horror game Daylight delayed to April 29
Savor the additional time you have until Daylight crams you into its creepy corridors: The first-person survival horror for PC and PlayStation 4 is missing its launch date of April 8 and moving to April 29. According to Atlus, developer Zombie Studios is taking a little extra time to tighten up the scares on level three. Atlus is also updating its pricing plans for Daylight, which will be regularly priced at $14.99. For two weeks after the game's launch, PlayStation Plus subscribers can grab Daylight for $9.99, with non-subscribers charged $11.99. Folks who pre-order Daylight on PC before launch can grab it for $9.99, then go screaming into Starbucks for that Caramel Macchiato they just saved.
Blacklight: Retribution patch adds new game mode, multiplayer maps
Developer Zombie Studios has issued a patch for the PlayStation 4 incarnation of Blacklight: Retribution that, along with the standard bug fixes and balance tweaks, delivers the new Onslaught game type as well as two decrepit multiplayer maps. Onslaught pits four Blacklight players against endless waves of the infected. Over time these waves of enemies grow progressively more difficult and complicated, forcing players to adapt or be overrun. According to Zombie Studios producer Kael Hammond, "[t]hose who find a way to succeed will be rewarded for their efforts," though it's not mentioned what exactly that reward might be. Today's patch also introduces two new multiplayer maps, "Metro" and "Decay." The former drops players into an abandoned subway station full of tight corridors and narrow passageways, while the latter takes place in a "slum fortress" featuring multiple floors and just as many angles of attack. Best of all, this content is being added to Blacklight: Retribution at no cost to players. More details on the gameplay tweaks introduced by this patch can be found at the PlayStation.blog. [Image: Zombie Studios]
Daylight hits PS4, PC on April 8 for $15, includes Twitch interaction
Winter is almost over. Know what that means? That means more daylight! And starting on April 8, more Daylight. An email sent to Joystiq reveals that the procedurally-generated horror game for PC and PS4 from Zombie Studios has been given a new release date that corresponds with comments from studio director Jared Gerritzen's made earlier this week. Zombie Studios has also announced that the game will feature not just Twitch integration, but Twitch interaction. Twitch interaction should be familiar to anyone following the Twitch Plays Pokemon saga, where viewers control the in-game avatar using commands typed into the stream's chat. In the case of Daylight, the game will recognize certain words from chat and produce correlated results in the game. For (non-finalized) example, if someone were to type "meow" into a stream's chat, the game would make the sound of a cat. The commands will be on timers so they can't be spammed, and Zombie doesn't plan to release the list of compatible words. Zombie also revealed two new areas that players will explore - should they survive long enough, of course. The Prison and Forest take place in, you guessed it, a prison and a forest. These levels, along with everything else in the game, will also support RealD 3D rendering. If you've got an Oculus Rift, the game is designed to be compatible with the virtual reality headset as well. Daylight will cost $14.99 on both PC and PS4 when it launches. [Image: Zombie Studios]
Daylight coming to PC, PS4 in April
Procedurally-generated PC and PS4 horror game Daylight will see the light of day in April according to Jared Gerritzen, studio director at developer Zombie Studios. Gerritzen revealed the release window during a preview with IGN, which also showed off some of the Unreal Engine 4-powered gameplay. Witches, glowsticks, an abandoned hospital ... either the main character is one unlucky person or this is the worst rave ever. [Image: Zombie Studios]
Daylight trailer says you shouldn't look back
Here's a quick look at Daylight, the Unreal Engine 4-powered psychological horror game that should be running and screaming on PC and PlayStation 4 soon. The procedurally generated game is scheduled to launch in the next few months and should have a release date shortly. We hope, pray ... curl up into a a ball and rock back and forth in fear.
Daylight explores an abandoned hospital and its spooky roots
Atlus, publisher on Daylight, has shared some story details about the upcoming exploration-based horror game. The game is set in 1983 on Mid Island and stars Sarah Gwynn, who one day wakes up in a derelict hospital to find herself all alone. The hospital, which has seen better days, was once going to be fitted as a high-end hospice care unit for the wealthy, but the company financing the renovation suddenly backed out at the last minute and left the hospital to rot. And, surely enough, the hospital looks like it was suddenly vacated years ago, as you can see in the new bunch of screens in our gallery below. One day in the '40s, all of the staff and patients just upped and vanished. The hospital was forced to permanently close its doors in 1948 and presumably nobody has been back since. Sarah will explore this derelict hospital, among other locations, in early 2014 when Daylight launches for the PC and PS4. The game runs on Unreal Engine 4 and is being written by Jessica Chobot, who also lends her voice as protagonist Sarah Gwynn.
Blacklight: Retribution arrives on European PS4s following brief delay
As launch delays go, it's no Driveclub - free-to-play shooter Blacklight Retribution is out today on PlayStation 4 in Europe, after missing the console's arrival on the continent last week. The Zombie Studios game is already out for PS4 in North America, and was released on Steam earlier this year. Blacklight: Retribution was one of two super-last-minute delays for the PS4's European launch, the other being aquatic eco-sim flOw. According to EU PlayStation Blog Manager Fred Dutton, the thatgamecompany game should surface sometime this week.
Zombie Studios outlines cel-shaded shooter Phantom Army
Blacklight: Retribution developer Zombie Studios has given Destructoid the first glimpse of Phantom Army, its collaborative effort with SmileGate on a free-to-play, third-person, cover-based shooter. Before a round in Phantom Army begins, each team will pick an L-shaped portion of the match's map. Once both are locked in, the center is filled with a random square. Zombie Studios head Jared Gerritzen explained that it's meant to stave off boredom and avoid the problem of having players "just run their routes" through the game's maps. Rushing to a firefight might not just be a street-level sprint through alleyways, either. The game's mechanics will let players vault over obstacles and crawl into holes, diversifying path options and gameplay strategies. Gerritzen also described his dissatisfaction with the "let's charge the fans for this premium gun" mentality that some free-to-play games fall into, so hopefully Phantom Army stays away from such a pitfall. The game will use the Unreal Engine and is planned to launch on Steam in 2014.
Blacklight Retribution adds Sonic Tomahawk, Dropzone map
Zombie Studios has updated its Blacklight Retribution multiplayer shooter. The title, which is published by Perfect World, now boasts a new map called Dropzone that hearkens back to Zombie's 2010 Blacklight: Tango Down. Zombie says that due to the map's small size, gameplay will be "fast and frenetic." The team has also raised the level cap from 40 to 50 and added new titles, camouflage, and gear including Riot Shield and Sonic Tomahawk melee weapons. [Source: Perfect World press release]
Special Forces: Team X getting price drop after going on sale on Steam
Special Forces: Team X, the third-person shooter from Blacklight: Retribution developer Zombie Studios, is taking its price down to $5 on Steam from May 6 at 10 a.m. PT, through May 13. After the sale, Special Forces: Team X will get a permanent price drop to $10, forever and ever, or until Zombie Studios, publishers Atari and/or Microprose decide to change that number again. Before 10 a.m. PT today, Special Forces: Team X costs $15. Special Forces: Team X is a cel-shaded, cover-based shooter with more than 100 possible map combinations and five multiplayer modes. When it first hit Steam in February, the game had a bug that could randomly reset character XP, but that issue has been resolved via a series of patches, Microprose says in a press release. A Title Update for the XBLA version is in testing now. "We are hoping that this price drop will bring players into the game that may have been scared away by the initial launch problems," the press release reads.
Blacklight Retribution announced for PS4, first Pub Fund game for platform
At a PlayStation Indie Arcade event, Blacklight Retribution has been announced for the PlayStation 4. Developed by Zombie Studios, it is the first game from Sony's Pub Fund for the platform.Although no pricing was announced at the Sony event, Blacklight Retribution is a free-to-play shooter that arrived on PC last year.Update: Jared Gerritzen, studio head of Zombie Studios, tells Joystiq the game will be free to play on PlayStation 4 as well.
Special Forces: Team X is next game from Blacklight dev
Blacklight: Retribution developer Zombie Studios is bringing players back to war this fall with Special Forces: Team X. Currently only confirmed for PC, the downloadable game features a cel-shaded art style akin to Ubisoft's XIII, along with a "dynamic tile map system," allowing for battlefields to be generated in "over 100" combinations based on player votes.Though the reveal trailer for the game hides some of the more gruesome action with censor bars, the game itself won't shield fragile stomachs from such unrelenting action.As well as standard gametypes like team deathmatch, capture point, and capture the flag, Special Forces: Team X will include high value target and hot zone modes. Other hot-button requests for any new shooter seem to be included as well, including dedicated servers, detailed player customization, and authentic weaponry. Also, blood. Zombie tells Joystiq that PAX attendees will get a chance to see Special Forces: Team X at next week's event, though it won't be playable.%Gallery-162946%
Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition out on July 10
Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition is set to run into XBLA, PSN and WiiWare during the week of July 10, this week's PlayStation Blogcast confirms.Zombie Studios, the team behind Blacklight: Retribution, is developing Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition. It will feature traditional and new game modes, and a few different skins, including sprites from classic Castlevania and Contra games.
Blacklight: Retribution coming to Steam soon
Zombie Studios recently announced that Blacklight: Retribution is heading to Valve's Steam platform. The free-to-play shooter, a sequel to Blacklight: Tango Down, has been available for months via Zombie Studios' site.The game will support Steam achievements and stats, and some in-game items will be created specifically for Steam users. No (re)release date has been announced, but we have an idea of what the price will be.
Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition is official, downloadable this spring
Frogger: Hyper Arcade Edition is officially a thing, coming to XBLA, PSN and WiiWare this spring. Hyper Arcade Edition updates Frogger's classic core mechanics and adds new game modes, including Tile Capture, Battle Royale, Freak Out and four-player matches against friends or the CPU.This new Frogger also totes a variety of different skins, with the version's default neon, original 8-bit sprites, and classic Castlevania and Contra skins. As noted previously, Hyper Arcade Edition is in development from Zombie Studios, the team behind Blacklight: Retribution. We're still holding out for the realistic 3D mode with frog-et launchers.%Gallery-151091%
