Crucible
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Amazon Games chief Mike Frazzini is leaving the company
Amazon Games Studio head and longtime employee Mike Frazzini is stepping down, he announced in a LinkedIn post.
Amazon pulls the plug on its first AAA game, 'Crucible'
The six-on-six multiplayer game launched in May but quickly returned to beta status as developers cut down the available modes and said they were adding polish.
Amazon's 'New World' MMO is delayed again
For the second time this year, Amazon is delaying its upcoming New World MMO. It's now slated to come out in 2021.
Amazon's 'Crucible' returns to closed beta to rework gameplay
Amazon is reverting 'Crucible' to a closed beta test as it rethinks gameplay.
Amazon extends 'Crucible' pre-season indefinitely to refine gameplay
Amazon and Relentless have postponed the start of the first 'Crucible' season to improve the game.
Amazon's free-to-play shooter 'Crucible' is now available on Steam
Amazon Games has officially launched Crucible, one of the two titles it’s been planning to release this year. The game has also launched with three game modes. Amazon Games has also kicked off an 8-week Pre-Season period for the game, allowing players to learn skills and hone strategies before Season 1 begins.
‘Crucible’ proves that Amazon is finally serious about video games
Crucible is a promising blend of the MOBA and battle royale genres.
Amazon's free-to-play hero shooter 'Crucible' arrives May 20th
Amazon's first AAA title will be available via Steam.
'Destiny 2' March update brings the thrill back to competitive play
Bungie has spent much of its recent time addressing gripes with Destiny 2's story and cooperative play, but players in the competitive Crucible mode? Not so much -- some have complained that the Crucible just isn't that exciting, and the infamous Prometheus Lens incident arguably wouldn't have happened if Bungie had been paying closer attention to Crucible gameplay. You might not have that complaint for much longer, though. The studio has detailed some of the changes coming with the March 27th update, and a large chunk of them are designed to ratchet up the intensity of player-versus-player fights.
Bungie is banning Destiny's biggest cheaters
As video game makers continue to incorporate more online and multiplayer elements into their games, they need to give special consideration to how they deal with cheaters. Consoles are locked down by default, meaning players have fewer tools to manipulate their experience, but Bungie has confirmed it's (finally) ready to drop the banhammer in an attempt to stop people ruining Destiny's competitive multiplayer modes.
'Destiny' player matching focuses more on good connections
Destiny's Crucible multiplayer mode can be a blast... up until you're lumped into a match so laggy that you may lose simply because your rivals keep jumping around. That might not be a problem after this week, though. Bungie is trying out a matchmaking update that puts more of an emphasis on connection quality. The move should not only give you a better chance at pulling off that kill streak, but speed up the matchmaking process itself -- you'll spend less time twiddling your thumbs while Destiny finds a final player for that Control game. Skill will still matter in match-ups, but it won't be quite the be-all, end-all factor that it was before.
Destiny combines arms in the Crucible this weekend
The next two community events for Bungie's Destiny will start this weekend. We had names for the two events before, Combined Arms and The Queen's Wrath, and now we have dates and descriptions for them as well. The Combined Arms event is an "all out war on a massive scale" in the Crucible multiplayer section. Players form fireteams of up to six, driving across the map and making use of increased heavy weapon ammo drops. The event starts today and lasts through the weekend. Next up is The Queen's Wrath, a set of bounty missions that begin on Tuesday, September 23 and runs through Monday, October 6. By completing the mission, players earn unique rare and legendary gear. The following two Destiny events are September's Salvage mission and October's Iron Banner mission. This week's Vault of Glass quest was first conquered roughly 11 hours after it opened. Bungie opted to double its well-broadcasted shooter's public events for players to encounter while patrolling areas in the game. [Image: Bungie]
This weekend's Destiny event goes 3-vs-3 in the Crucible
Bungie's freshly-launched Destiny is more than just a first-person shooter, it's an MMO-like game with planned community events for players to pepper with bullets. The developer unveiled the next set of missions in a blog today, starting with the 3-vs-3 Crucible event, Salvage. The playlist spans this weekend and has players fighting to "claim and salvage relics on small to medium sized maps." Players earn Crucible reputation, marks and gear by taking other teams of three on in the mode. Then starting on September 16, the Vault of Glass level 26 raid opens. Set in a mysterious area beneath Venus, players take on "your greatest challenge yet," which happens to be long division for us. Vault of Glass champions receive raid set gear and ascendant materials. The last three sets of challenges are without description at the moment. Two of them, Combined Arms and Queen's Wrath, are planned for September, with the Iron Banner event set for October. These online events are playable as long as Destiny's servers are stable, which are in good shape as of our initial State of Service update. [Image: Bungie]
Gamescom 2014: Destiny's first expansion, The Dark Below, arrives in December
Bungie Director of Production Jonty Barnes just announced at Gamescom that Destiny's first expansion, The Dark Below, will arrive in December, just a few months after the game officially launches. Bungie also released a new competitive multiplayer trailer. Aliens are threatening our way of life and our very existence, but that doesn't mean that we can't take a break from combating this common threat and squabble amongst ourselves, right? Destiny will allow just that with its competitive multiplayer mode, also known as "PvP" if you're new to MMOs. This game mode will take place in the Crucible, a skirmish arena full of good hidey-holes and a ton of objectives for teams to accomplish. There will be special gear that can be attained by duking it out, so at least you have that justification when your commanding officer asks why you're not out there fighting the invaders. The video is below.
EVE Evolved: EVE needs real colonisation now
MMOs have absolutely exploded in popularity over the past decade, with online gaming growing from a niche hobby to a global market worth billions of dollars each year. Once dominated by subscription games like EverQuest and World of Warcraft, recent years have seen free-to-play games take centre stage. Global MMO subscriptions have been reportedly shrinking since 2010, and EVE doesn't appear to be immune to this industry-wide trend. Though February 2013's figures showed EVE subscriptions have technically grown year-on-year, those numbers were published just after the Chinese server relaunch, and CCP hasn't released any new figures since. Developers have done a good job of catering to current subscribers and polishing existing gameplay with the past few expansions, but the average daily login numbers are still the same as they were over four years ago. EVE will undoubtedly hook in plenty of new and returning subscribers when its deep space colonisation gameplay with player-built stargates and new hidden solar systems is implemented, but time could be running out on these features. Hefty competition is due in the next few years from upcoming sandbox games such as Star Citizen, EverQuest Next, Camelot Unchained, and Elite: Dangerous, and CCP will have to release something big soon to bring in some fresh blood. In this week's EVE Evolved, I ask whether CCP should focus on new players and suggest plans for two relatively simple colonisation-based expansions that could get EVE a significant part of the way toward its five-year goal in just one year.
EVE Evolved: Strategic resources for everyone!
The past four EVE Online expansions have mostly focused on adding small features and overhauling old game mechanics and content that were beginning to show their age. Crucible delivered dozens of small but highly-requested features and gameplay improvements, and Inferno and Retribution continued with overhauls of several aging PvP systems. Even Odyssey contained mostly small features and revamps, its biggest gameplay features being a new hacking minigame and a streamlined scanning interface. It's been several years since EVE has received a truly massive and game-changing feature like wormholes or a sovereignty revamp, but that may all be about to change! CCP recently announced its intention to start reaching for big ideas again, but this time set over a more realistic timeframe. If everything goes according to plan, the next five years could see the introduction of player-built stargates and true deep space colonisation. I wrote about the potential of this concept last week and looked at some of the big features we'd need to make it a reality, but I didn't really delve into my personal favourite idea for a potential future expansion: New strategic resources and player-created deadspace complexes. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at how strategic resources could be used to get even individual players invested in something worth fighting for, and how player-created deadspace dungeons could be a great way to introduce them.
EVE Evolved: Bring on the big expansions!
I don't normally jump out of my seat shouting "hell yes!" to an EVE Online dev blog, but this week's announcement on the direction of future expansions has me a little bit excited. In two somewhat dry and lengthy posts, Executive Producer Jon Lander and Senior Producer CCP Seagull detailed the approach they intend to take to ongoing development in 2013. Instead of announcing any big headline features or making vague promises, the developers looked back at the success of 2009's blockbuster Apocrypha expansion. Apocrypha was hands-down the best expansion EVE has ever had, adding 2500 hidden solar systems accessible only through shifting unstable wormholes. We saw a renaissance of exploration, collaborative research, and colonisation efforts that defied EVE's war-like reputation, and moreover, we saw a rebirth of small-scale PvP. The magic sauce that made Apocrypha work was lateral design: Rather than add one massive vertical feature, the expansion offered a little something for everyone. Apocrypha was EVE at its best, and hearing that developers are going back to that style of expansion honestly makes me a little giddy! In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the future for EVE's expansions, why the Apocrypha model works, and why I'm optimistic for 2013 and beyond.
Wings over Atreia: Twelve things to be thankful for in Aion
I can't really help it. I was trying to pen an article or a guide about any of a number of features in Aion, but my mind kept wandering back to the spirit of Thanksgiving. This time of the year I just get to feeling so extra thankful for those things that make life better, easier, and more enjoyable. So instead of fighting it, I decided to go with the flow and just share some of the top things I am grateful for in Aion. As luck would have it, once I started this top 10 list, I kept thinking of more things, as you no doubt noticed by the title! I am sure I could keep adding, but the article had to stop at some point, so I ended my list at 12. Take a look at what made the cut and see if anything from your own list made it on mine.
Wings Over Atreia: Bite-sized Aion
It happens. No matter how much you enjoy Aion, there just comes a time when you can't do marathon gaming sessions, with snacks stockpiled next to you and no regard for the clock. Sometimes life demands attention, and you just can't really delve in and lose yourself for untold hours on end. It could be flooding or house fires (been there, done that), a change in employment, a move, impending term papers, or a change in your household. Regardless the reason, any number of things -- from the mundane to the truly unbelievable -- can occur and prevent solid chunks of gaming time. Such has been my case over the past couple of months. Sadly, real life intervened in both some wonderful and some tragic ways that have prevented me from spending any length of time in-game at one sitting. And even when I did get in, I'd feel so paralyzed by how much I need to do that I'd end up doing nothing. So what's a Daeva to do? Well, just because you or I cannot spend hours at a time in Atreia doesn't mean we can't still enjoy it! Even if you find yourself temporarily unable to spend quantity time in Aion, you can still indulge in quality time; there are plenty of smaller tasks that move you toward your goals without requiring inordinate amounts of time to actually accomplish. Today, Wings Over Atreia explores some of those bite-sized bits of Aion that can be enjoyed when only quick bursts of gaming time are available.
CCP unveils EVE Online: Retribution, coming this winter
Earlier this evening at the VETO EVE fan gathering in London, CCP announced EVE Online's 18th expansion: EVE Online: Retribution. Due in December, this latest content overhaul promises to bring some of the biggest changes yet to the space-themed sandbox MMO, which is steadily ramping up for its 10th anniversary next May. We sat down with Jon Lander and Kristoffer Touborg, EVE's executive producer and lead designer respectively, to get a first-hand look at some of Retribution's key features as well as the enormous pile of tweaks, updates, and adjustments players might expect with any CCP-helmed update. One thing is certain: After Retribution, the world of internet spaceships will never again be the same.
