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Alleged ‘Fortnite’ hacker's mom fights anti-cheating lawsuit
The fight against people cheating in online games is getting ugly. Specifically, Epic Games is suing 14 year-old Caleb Rogers for allegedly modding the game and causing the developer to lose profits from his activity in the free-to-play "Battle Royale" mode for Fortnite. Rogers' mother filed a letter with North Carolina's US District Court saying that Epic "has no capability of proving any form of modification" because her son merely installed cheats he downloaded from Addicted Cheats, versus altering the game's source code himself.
‘Fortnite: Battle Royale’ claims 10 million players
We were initially skeptical of Epic's attempt to repurpose its zombie tower defense-shooter Fortnite into a battle royale mode -- after all, the genre's champion PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds sold ten million copies only six months after it launched. We shouldn't have doubted it. Fortnite: Battle Royale just surpassed the ten-million-player milestone last weekend just two weeks after it launched.
'PUBG’ studio isn't happy about ‘Fortnite: Battle Royale’
Epic Games' cartoony horde game Fortnite is still in early release, but the studio recently announced that a free-to-play version of the game would come out for free next week... and it looks a lot like another really popular game. Fortnite: Battle Royale's gameplay doesn't just closely resemble PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds: Epic admitted it inspired their new title while promoting its game. Bluehole, the studio behind PUBG, is none too happy, and even stated in a press release that it's considering 'further action.'
Epic hopes 'PUBG'-style 'Fortnite: Battle Royale' will tempt gamers
Epic Games' Fortnite has been out for a while in paid Early Access, but hasn't quite taken off in the same way that, say, Player Unknown Battlegrounds (PUBG) has. The hot new indie "battle royale" title has a massive, rabid user base and an impressive sales record. It even knocked perennial chart-topper Dota 2 off the Steam charts - an impressive feat, indeed and one that developers like Epic and Rockstar are keen to reproduce. Now, Epic Games has revealed its strategy to compete with PUBG via a standalone title set in Fortnite's cartoonish, building-focused, zombie-infested universe. The new game, Fortnite Battle Royale, will arrive on Xbox One, PS4 and PC on September 26th, too, beating out PUBG's late-2017's console release date. Better yet, Battle Royale will be free to play.
Epic Games gives developers a taste of ARKit ahead of iOS 11
ARKit on iOS may blow up perhaps sooner than expected. That's because Epic Games have added experimental support for it to the latest version of Unreal Engine. The idea is to give developers an early look at the features before iOS 11 goes live later this fall.
The real-time motion capture behind ‘Hellblade’
In a makeshift changing room filled with Disney Infinity figures, I strip down to my boxers and pull on a two-part Lycra suit. It feels tight, and the top half shimmies up toward my waistline as soon as I stretch or stand up straight. How anyone is able to act in this thing is a mystery to me. Sheepishly, I gather my belongings and trot back to the motion capture studio that sits at the end of Ninja Theory's offices in Cambridge, England. Inside, a couple of engineers scurry about, prepping cameras and cables. For years, movie and video game studios have used mocap to bring digital characters to life. From detective Cole Phelps in L.A. Noire to the powerful Caesar in Planet of the Apes, the technology has delivered some truly moving, actor-driven performances. Normally, however, motion capture scenes are processed by an animator hours, days or weeks after they've been captured on set. It's a time-consuming process, and one that involves some guesswork. In a sparse, lifeless room, directors are forced to imagine how a take will look in the final sequence. Not so with Ninja Theory. The video game developer has a unique setup that allows Chief Creative Director Tameem Antoniades and his team to preview scenes in real time. Pre-visualisation, or pre-vis, has existed before in the industry, but it's typically limited to body tracking. Full-character modelling is rare, especially at the kind of fidelity Ninja Theory is shooting for with its next game, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.
HP made a VR backpack for on-the-job training
To date, VR backpack PCs have been aimed at gamers who just don't want to trip over cords while they're fending off baddies. But what about pros who want to collaborate, or soldiers who want to train on a virtual battlefield? HP thinks it has a fix. It's launching the Z VR Backpack, a spin on the Omen backpack concept that targets the pro crowd. It's not as ostentatious as the Omen, for a start, but the big deal is its suitability to the rigors of work. The backpack is rugged enough to meet military-grade drop, dust and water resistance standards, and it uses business-class hardware that includes a vPro-enabled quad Core i7 and Quadro P5200 graphics with a hefty 16GB of video memory.
DHS has a video game-like trainer for active shooter incidents
Today, the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate announced the release of a virtual training platform for active shooter incidents. The Enhanced Dynamic Geo-Social Environment, or EDGE, is a program that creates a virtual active shooter scenario through which first responders can train themselves. EDGE launches today and is free for all first responders.
In 'Fortnite,' building is just as important as fighting monsters
Epic Games' Fortnite, once described by company founder Tim Sweeney as Minecraft meets Left 4 Dead, has been six years in the making. That's a long time to keep someone excited about a game, but you can't fault Epic for not wanting to rush its latest Unreal Engine 4 project. And based on my first experience with Fortnite, it has the potential to be a solid survival game. Not everything here is about fighting or killing monsters, though, as your success in the Fortnite world will also largely depend on your building and exploring skills.
Inside The Mill’s mind-bending alternate reality art showcase
I stepped inside a small, dark room in a large, airy loft space in New York's Soho district early Wednesday morning. Our host fitted me with an HTC Vive and told to explore the world around me. Within moments, I was trapped in a glass box, surrounded by other people, also wearing VR headsets, also trapped in glass boxes, one of whom continued to claw at the glass until both of our headsets were consumed by our own flesh. We were one with the machines. Over the next two hours I watched semi-autonomous robots run in circles, randomly scribbling on large sheets of butcher paper; pulled the virtual puppet strings of a CGI llama that lip synced to Mariah Carey; watched as Reeps One, a world-famous dubstep beatboxer, created unique digital sculptures with the incredibly nuanced tones of his voice; and floated through a VR dreamscape using my breathing and brain waves to propel me upward.
Epic's long-awaited 'Fortnite' hits consoles and PC July 25th
We've been waiting on Epic Games' fort-building monster defense game Fortnite for a long, long time. First announced in 2011, the developer's initial Unreal Engine 4 title was slated to be a PC exclusive. A trailer released in 2014 gave interested fans a bit of hope, and we even saw the gameplay at E3 in 2015. Now that we've hit 2017, though, Fortnite is poised to actually release on July 25th to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Mac, along with "paid early access" to the game via pre-order.
NASA trains astronauts with zero-G virtual reality
To train ISS astronauts, NASA uses physical mockups, zero-G "vomit comet" airplane rides, neutral buoyancy (underwater) and other pricey and complex schemes. However, virtual reality has become a new option, allowing astronauts to do realistic training for things like maintenance in an accurate, simulated zero-G environment. The company that helped them build the sim, Epic Games' Unreal Engine, recently unveiled a video showing exactly how that works.
Epic Games shows the potential of high-end augmented reality
Epic Games has a reputation for bringing bizarre demos to its GDC keynotes. The company loves to show developers what Unreal Engine can do, not just in gaming but other genres as well. As such, Epic Games has now demoed "Project Raven," which makes it possible for content creators to blend real-time visual effects with live-action shots. The technology, created in partnership with Chevrolet and video production company The Mill, was designed to convey the promise of high-end augmented reality.
Watch Epic Games' GDC 2017 keynote right here!
Unity already had its moment at GDC 2017, and now it's Epic Games' turn to take the stage in San Francisco. The company's "State of Unreal" keynote will be presented by founder Tim Sweeney, who is expected to share new developments around the Unreal game engine. We'll probably also hear about Epic's latest efforts in virtual reality and get some captivating demos from its partners, like the Hellblade real-time motion capture from last year. You can watch the event live at 9:30AM PT/12:30PM ET -- we embedded a video of the stream below for your convenience.
Lead an army of cartoon heroes in Epic's latest game
Epic Games announced Battle Breakers, its new free-to-play title for mobile and PC, at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The game looks like a Saturday-morning cartoon, complete with larger-than-life characters and a huge, cinematic soundtrack to enhance the gameplay.
'Robo Recall' for Oculus Touch is fun, frantic and completely free
At Oculus Connect 2 last year, Epic Games' Bullet Train demo stole the show -- leaning heavily on the "bullet time" effect popularized by the Matrix films to create a smooth, action-packed shooter that let players take down multiple enemies in slow motion. It had a neat gimmick: it used virtual reality to bend reality in a way we've only seen in the movies. The team brought the concept back to Oculus developer conference again this year as the heavily refined Robo Recall: a frantic, physics-based shooter with a sense of humor. Hands-down, it's one of the best Oculus Touch experiences I saw at the show. Even better? When it launches early next year, it will be absolutely free.
The co-creator of 'Rick and Morty' just founded a VR studio
Most folks know Justin Roiland as the co-creator and lead voice actor behind Adult Swim's Rick and Morty, but it's less widely known that he's obsessed with virtual reality. The entertainer was one of the first backers of Oculus' original Kickstarter, and has reportedly filled notebooks with game ideas and concepts. Now, he's is going all in on his obsession: today, in partnership with former Epic Games executive producer Tanya Watson, Roiland announced Squanchtendo Games. It's a VR game studio with, in Roiland's words, one simple goal: "We just want to make super duper games dooood."
'Gears of War 4' writers are striving for a deeper story
Gears of War has never been known for its deep, imaginative storytelling. Each game is a popcorn-friendly thrill ride, pitting muscular soldiers against an army of bloodthirsty monsters. It's a simple concept: Grab an assault rifle, dive behind some cover and empty your clip until it's safe to move forward. Rinse and repeat. Gears of War 4, the first entry by a new developer called the Coalition, is trying to break that tradition. It's still a brutal shoot-'em-up, but the characters and plot are more complex this time around. More nuanced. So much so, in fact, that for people who have cooled on the franchise, it might be enough to reel them back in.
Google's Android-powered VR platform supports Unreal games
Yesterday during Google's annual I/O keynote, the company made a point of mentioning that Electronic Arts and Ubisoft -- two of the biggest third-party game studios -- were working on projects for Google's new virtual reality platform, Daydream. Now the company is ready to announce another: Epic Games. The latest version of the company's powerful and ubiquitous game-design toolset, Unreal Engine 4, is coming to Google's next-gen mobile VR system. For developers it ensures easy porting of existing apps to Daydream with little extra work required. For consumers, it means higher-quality mobile VR experiences, and maybe more of them too.
Google's new Android VR platform is called 'Daydream'
Google might be making waves with its low-cost Cardboard virtual reality headset, but that was 2014. Daydream is now. Daydream is hardware and software baked into Android N: a headset that looks an awful lot like the Gear VR and Rift headsets, complete with a controller that looks similar to an Apple TV remote. From the sound of it, this won't usurp other hardware makers that are doing VR on their own handsets; Samsung, for instance, is actually partnering with Google here. So are Alcatel, HTC and LG, among others.
