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Game developers say they're working longer hours due to the pandemic
Ahead of the all-digital “GDC Summer,” the Game Developers Conference polled nearly 2,500 game developers to get a sense of COVID-19’s impact on the industry.
GDC Summer will go all-digital
GDC Summer will hold an all-digital event in August.
Facebook reveals launch dates for latest Oculus games
Facebook's Game Developer Showcase is now in full swing, and we've been given a little more info on exactly what we can expect from games arriving on the Oculus Quest and Rift platform. Following yesterday's announcement that rapper Timbaland has created a music pack for Beat Saber, Facebook has revealed launch dates for a number of hotly-anticipated titles, including B-Team, Lies Beneath and Phantom: Covert Ops, as well as what's in store for Pistol Whip's "Full Throttle" update.
Intel's 9th Gen mobile Core processors will launch before July
Intel has promised to launched its 9th Gen Intel Core mobile H-series processors in the second quarter of 2019 at the ongoing Game Developers Conference. An Intel spokesperson told PC World that the upcoming chips are based on the older 14nm Coffee Lake architecture. They could apparently give rise to a crop of powerful laptops gamers can use to play AAA titles while recording and streaming at the same time without having to worry about lags and performance drops. Those machines would be especially useful to creators who need to run resource-intensive programs, such as video editing tools, as well.
Watch Google's GDC game-streaming event right here at 1PM ET
Google is planning to reveal its "vision for the future of gaming" at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) later today, where it seems we'll finally get a look at the company's long-rumored streaming project. Likened to a "Netflix for games," Project Stream will allow players to stream a huge number of AAA games on their PC or laptop for a set monthly fee.
GDC survey: eSports rising, consoles cresting
The Game Developers Conference revealed its third annual "State of the Industry" survey results, which found that 79 percent of North American game developers believed eSports is a "sustainable business." GDC surveyed over 2,000 developers, 12 percent of which said they are working on an eSports-style, skill-based, competitive multiplayer game. The State of the Industry survey also found that 21 percent of developers said they made most of their profits from microtransactions, whereas 29 percent said "direct sales to consumers or digital sales" was their biggest draw. This compares to 13 percent of the developers surveyed, which pointed to sales at retail as the source of the majority of their profits. Of those surveyed, 41 percent said profits for their companies were higher in 2014 compared to the previous year. Lastly, 56 percent of the polled developers said their current projects would launch on PC and 50 percent said their games would reach smartphones or tablets. 26 percent said they were currently working on a game for PS4 while 22 percent said they were developing an Xbox One game. Head over to GDC's site for a more detailed breakdown of its State of the Industry survey results. [Image: GDC]
Report: Steam Controller design finalized, more at GDC
After a number of revisions since its inception, the design of the Steam Controller has reportedly been finalized and will be introduced during March's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Origin PC CEO Kevin Wasielewski discussed the official Valve hardware with GameSpot at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. "So now they're going to production and at GDC is when they're going to announce more stuff," Wasielewski asserted, noting that Origin PC will be in attendance, though the CEO did not divulge what products the company will show off. Valve announced the Steam Controller alongside SteamOS and Steam Machines in September 2013. It later showed off an updated version of the controller in March 2014 that featured a more traditional face button layout (which we went hands-on with at GDC 2014). Valve then added an analog stick to the gamepad in July before seemingly tacking a d-pad onto it, according to images of the controller's design that surfaced last month. Origin PC launched two small form-factor "Chronos" gaming machines last year after announcing the SteamOS-compatible rigs just over one year ago. The company teased new living room gaming systems this week, though it is now downplaying the system's compatibility with Valve's operating software. Wasielewski told GameSpot that the "Steam Machines" moniker is "kind of pretty much dead," and while living room-focused systems are nothing new, "it seems like there's a legitimate demand and push for living room PCs." [Image: Valve]
GDC Europe survey finds devs flocking to PC, mobile
The European wing of the Game Developers Conference has unveiled the second annual European State of the Industry Survey, a study that suggests most European game developers see their future on the PC or mobile devices. According to the survey, PC and mobile platforms boast the lion's share of active development projects. 58 percent of developers replying to the survey had PC projects in the works, while 65 percent were developing mobile games. On the console side of things, the PlayStation 4 holds a minor advantage over its Microsoft counterpart. 18 percent of those surveyed claimed to be working on PS4 games, while that number drops to 13 percent for the Xbox One. That gap may be widening though, as 33 percent of respondents believed their next project would appear on PlayStation 4 while only 23 percent said the same of the Xbox One. Before you visit the comments, keep in mind, this survey is not an objective judgement on which hardware is best for gaming. GDC Europe did not just dictate that your iPhone is a better gaming machine than your PlayStation 4, or that your Xbox One has no value. These findings say nothing of technological quality, only where game developers feel they might be able to make money employing their skills. [Image: Rovio]
GDC 2014: A video interview with Elite: Dangerous' David Braben
GDC 2014 in San Francisco is a great time to catch developers and ask them burning questions about their games. And that's exactly what one fan of Elite: Dangerous did, sitting down with Frontier Developments' CEO David Braben for a long chat about the upcoming MMO edition to the Elite franchise. The nearly 25-minute video interview includes information about the game, Braben's history in the gaming business, and footage of the interviewer playing the game using an Oculus Rift. Braben revealed that "the original Elite was never conceived initially, in [his] opinion, as a space game." Instead, it was all about the freedom, being an open world. How did it come to be in space then? According to Braben, that setting was ultimately chosen because "it was easier to render." Hear more of his thoughts in the video below.
Game Developers Choice Awards honor Anita Sarkeesian, Riot founders
Organizers of the 14th annual Game Developers Choice Awards have named this year's Special Award winners, honoring Riot Games founders Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill alongside Feminist Frequency creator Anita Sarkeesian at an upcoming ceremony event. The event's Pioneer Award will go to Beck and Merrill for their work on the genre-defining League of Legends, an online multiplayer game that reports 27 million players daily. League of Legends has spurred exponential growth within the eSports arena, and attracts a dedicated viewership on streaming services like Twitch. Sarkeesian will receive the GDCA's Ambassador Award, a prize honoring individuals who help the video games industry "advance to a better place" through advocacy or action. Sarkeesian promoted widespread discussion regarding video game gender roles in her Kickstarter-funded Tropes vs. Women in Video Games video series, and regularly addresses related social issues within gaming communities. The Game Developers Choice Awards will be held on March 19 at the San Francisco Moscone Center, as part of the upcoming Game Developers Conference. [Image: Riot Games]
GDC 2014 opens registration
November's been a really quiet month, hasn't it? Just nothing going on at all ... no notable releases still coming this month, nope. It's a good thing everyone has so much free time though, because potential attendees can now register for Game Developers Conference 2014. This year's event will run March 17 - 21 at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center. You'll pay $1,475 if you buy an All Access Pass before January 31, which is a decent discount from the on-site price of $2,100. If you're a student aged 18 or older, you may be eligible for the Friday-only, $75 Student Expo Pass. Passes for individual "tracks" of the event, such as the Audio Track or Business, Marketing & Management Track, are also available to be purchased separately. If you're on the fence, the chart on the registration page breaks down what each pass will grant access to. The GDC Summits will precede the main event, offering two days of lectures and panels focusing on specific parts of the gaming industry. Summits are dedicated to topics like localization or narration, but the press release notes that they all will teach through the "experiences and best practices of industry leaders."
Path of Exile interview reveals plans for player-generated races
Although there is no Some Assembly Required in the title, don't let that fool you; today's focus is on one of the founding precepts of this column, player-generated content. It's just not sandboxy player-generated content like we've covered before. Today's special edition explores the PGC proposed for the decidedly non-sandbox action RPG Path of Exile. At GDC I sat down with managing director Chris Wilson and technical director Jonathan Rogers to discuss Path of Exile and their idea of adding player-run races to the game. A fan favorite, these timed gaming experiences are currently only officially sponsored events grouped into seasons, the first of which just concluded. However, devs would like to give players the opportunity to create and host unofficial events (meaning results won't have any bearing on the seasons) to allow players to enjoy this wildly popular facet of the game in a place where they can practice skills, test themselves against friends, or just enjoy a unique challenge.
Wings Over Atreia Exclusive: Aion 4.0 launches in June!
Good news! (Well, at least for my police record.) As it turns out, I didn't have to resort to kidnapping to convince someone from NCsoft to talk to me about Aion at this year's GDC. I swear, Sean Orlikowski, the game's associate producer, came willingly. It does, however, appear that in the fine print of the meeting proposal, I agreed to be outfitted with a special electronic device that would send massive jolts of electricity through my system if I tried to speak about something I shouldn't. So let's see how much I can share with you before this apparatus leaves me unconscious. Can I tell you that Aion has a special celebration planned for the first anniversary of the Truly Free conversion? So far, so good, folks. Hmm... can I add that the next big expansion has a North American launch date planned without going unconscious... oh, appears so! OK, let's push this a little further: How about if I happened to mention that 4.0 will hit servers in June 2013 -- would I be zapped? Nope! So there you have it, folks: 4.0 is indeed going live in just two short months!
GDC 2013: City of Steam demo showcases crafting and other streamlined features
It may seem like a while has passed since we last experienced City of Steam, the fantasy steampunk MMORPG that fits in your browser. That's because it has! The game's last closed beta testing round was back in December, and fans have been eagerly waiting to get back into the city-state of Nexus. Of course there has been some news to tide us over in the meantime while developers have been turning all of that beta feedback into fixes and updates, but that's not the same; people want to play. Luckily, it's GDC to the rescue! While the rest of the world won't actually get to access City of Steam until it launches open beta (which is anticipated to be within the next two months!), I was able to dive in and explore the fruits of the devs' winter labors. And let me tell you, they've put their time to good use! I met with Communications Manager Gabriel Laforge and Operations Director Andrew Woodruff from Mechanist Games who showed off all the work that has gone into the game since the beta closed, from graphics to crafting to airships. They also highlighted the game's cash shop and revealed numerous rewards players can earn simply by playing the game.
GDC 2013: Activision's pursuit of photorealism
At a GDC panel titled "Next Generation Character Rendering" last week, research and development staffers at Activision-Blizzard showed off some stunning computer-generated portraits. The catch? They don't represent in-game assets; instead, they showcase the tech behind the graphics. So while these we won't be seeing the lady above as the protagonist of Titan, it's reasonable to expect that the characters of Blizzard's future games could look just as convincing and real. As I looked on from the audience, my iPhone's camera focused on the projected slides as if they beheld actual faces.
GDC 2013: Hands-on with Vendetta Online on the iPad
When we talk about getting our hands on a game at GDC for a little playtime, we don't usually get to literally grasp said game in our fingers. But that's exactly what happened when I tested out Vendetta Online on an iPad 3; instead of just relating to the space-based sandbox through the standard accessories like mouse, keyboard, or joystick, I held the entirety of the game universe in the palms of my hands. My own 10 digits were the only accessories. And the experience impressed me! I had the opportunity to sit down with John Bergman, Founder and CEO of Guild Software, to talk about the new iOS platform for Vendetta Online while doing my best Goose impersonation (he's way better than Maverick) playing it.
GDC 2013: The MMO impact of the Webzen and Gala-Net merge
Acquisition. Though it sounds pretty benign on its own, when used in reference to one developer taking over another, the word can inspire fear in the hearts of gamers. Questions quickly arise about the future of titles that fall on the acquired side of the equation. How will the games and players be affected by the change? Will there even still be a game? I sat down with Claas Wolter (European PR Manager) and Deanna Peter (Marketing/PR Associate) to discuss just this topic regarding the recent purchase of Gala-Net (the parent company of gPotato) by Webzen and how that acquisition will affect Allods Online, Age of Wulin, Terras Militaris, and the company's other MMORPGs.
GDC 2013: World of Warplanes keeps flying toward the horizon
World of Warplanes is still in testing, but it's been playable at a few events now and has staked its claim as a distinct entity from World of Tanks. Wargaming.net's CEO Victor Kislyi and global operations director Vlad Beloserov were at GDC recently showing off more highlights from the game, which promises to deliver exactly the sort of high-energy dogfights you would hope for. As it stands now, the game has about 10 maps and 100 planes. Each of the planes can be fully customized, while each map is meant to play differently rather than just being different background scenery -- some maps are foggy, some have skyscrapers or mountains, some are set at different times of day, and so forth. Actual gameplay has continued to receive polish tweaks; the game retains both easy and expert control modes, with the latter playing more like a flight simulator and the former allowing you to simply point your mouse in the direction you want to fly. Enemy planes and your own can be riddled with holes that show the sky through your shredded wings, and the UI allows you to track your plane's optimal speed and altitude to maximize performance in combat. One extra tidbit revealed on the show floor was that players of both World of Tanks and World of Warplanes can reap extra benefits from both games, as experience earned in the former can be used to improve in the latter. While there's no set release date for the game at this time, the game continues to impress and will be flying into more open testing as soon as Wargaming.net's teams are happy with its performance in smaller test venues. %Gallery-130862% Massively sent its ace reporters to San Francisco to bring you back the biggest MMO news from this year's GDC, the largest pro-only gaming industry con in the world! Whether it's EVE Online or Star Wars: The Old Republic or that shiny new toy you've got your eye on, we're on the case, so stay tuned for all the highlights from the show!
Leaderboard: Which convention reveal excited you the most?
So March's gaming convention madness is in our rearview mirror (although some coverage is still trickling in during the early part of this week). There were plenty of big reveals and plenty of smaller details, too, and chances are there was something that caught your eye from our GDC and PAX East coverage over the past two weeks. For today's Leaderboard, let's pit a few of the noteworthy reveals against one another to see which game excited the Massively commentariat the most. Vote after the cut. Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
GDC 2013: How APB exploded into a franchise
By now, pretty much everyone knows the story of how GamersFirst swept in to save the DOA All Points Bulletin by relaunching it as APB: Reloaded. Since then, the title's done immensely well for the company and has prompted Reloaded Games to look into turning APB into a bona fide franchise. How this happened was explained to us by PR Manager Darek Connole at GDC. Connole said that the devs are constantly taking suggestions from the community and sorting them into different buckets. While some of the buckets represent doable ideas, one bucket is full of great ideas that are impossible to implement in the current game. "We're taking the NPCs from APB: Reloaded and bringing them into their own game," Connole said. "It's going to be a traditional first-person shooter, but it's also going to have non-traditional elements." Read on to discover how APB's world is going to get a lot more crazy with APB: Vendetta -- and how the team is even thinking about future games in the same world.
