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Kingdom Under Fire II took seven years and $50M to complete
After spending over seven years in development, Kingdom Under Fire II may be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It's currently in beta testing in southeast Asia and has plans for US and EU tests before the end of 2014. Game Director Sang Youn Lee said that the title's lengthy development was compounded by a format switch from a single-player Xbox title to an MMO for the PC and PlayStation 4. The cost for the game also spiraled upward over the years. "The scale of the game has expanded to three or four times what it was at first," Sang Youn Lee told Kotaku. "$15,000,000 was the first budget for the game. Now it is $50,000,000." Kingdom Under Fire II blends RPG and RTS elements to allow players to lead up to 500 soldiers in battles against each other rather than against the computer. Reportedly, the game can handle displaying 10,000 troops in combat at the same time.
Kingdom Under Fire II interview highlights development
Kingdom Under Fire II, which is finally releasing this summer, has undergone a number of changes during its six-years-plus of development. And in a recent interview, Executive Producer Sang Youn Lee sat down with Worlds Factory to discuss the evolution of the game and highlight its upcoming features. Players can look forward to guild-owned territories, a persistent world, territory disputes and sieges, PvE dynamic events, and much more. Sang Youn Lee also noted that while the game will be available on multiple platforms, it will not have cross-platform play. Check out the full interview for all the details. [Thanks to David for the tip!]
MMORTS Kingdom Under Fire 2 picks a platform, will release this summer
If Kingdom Under Fire 2 sounds vaguely familiar but you just can't quite place it, that could be because the MMORTS was announced six years ago this month then went underground, popping its head up only a couple times in 2010 and resurfacing once in 2013. And over the coarse of those years, the game switched platforms, from the Xbox 360 to the PlayStation 3. Now, Kingdom Under Fire 2 has returned, and it will launch this summer on the PlayStation 4 (which will feature content exclusive to the platform) and the PC after a period of open beta testing.
Kingdom Under Fire II gets 2013 launch window in SE Asia
It's been a couple of years since we last heard about Kingdom Under Fire II, so it's good to check in with one of our neighborly MMOs to see... oh hey! You're launching! What are the odds that this would happen during a completely random house call? OK, so the good news is that Kingdom Under Fire II has been scheduled for a 2013 launch. Unfortunately, the bad news is that so far this release will be limited to Southeast Asia at first. Apparently developer BlueSide wants to see the game in action in that region first before rolling it out elsewhere. The title is a combination of action-RPG and real-time strategy, promises battlefields with "thousands" of soldiers fighting at once, and will be launching on the PC and PlayStation 3. [Thanks to Steparu for the tip!]
G-Star 2010: PS3 version confirmed for Kingdom Under Fire II
Rumors of a Playstation 3 version of Blueside's upcoming Kingdom Under Fire II MMORTS were confirmed at G-Star 2010 today. The game is a sequel to the Xbox-exclusive Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders, and gameplay for the new title will be similar to Blueside's previous RTS efforts (albeit with a fleshed-out MMO component that includes online castle sieges and huge battles). Players will control characters and combat from a third-person perspective and can also draw on many different unit types in order to adapt to various situations and multiplayer tactics. Blueside says that Kingdom Under Fire II "will not only inherit all the merits of the previous action RTS [games]... but will also feature an enhanced game system that will allow players to experience immense tactical game play and intense action on an unprecedented [battlefield scale]."
Reminder: win KUF: Circle of Doom
Hackers and slashers take note, we're still accepting entries in our Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom giveaway. For those that have never won anything, now may be the best chance. As of this post, the giveaway hasn't reached even 200 entries. With three chances to enter and the giveaway ending tomorrow at Noon (ET), these are some of the best odds we've ever had. Head over to the official giveaway post and enter.
Fanswag Weekly: Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom
Update: This giveaway is now closed and our winner will soon be notified. Check your email and don't forget the spam box! This week for Fanswag Weekly, we've got a copy of Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom. Yeah, we know it's not exactly the hottest title around, but sometimes it's good to have a mindless hack and slash, you know? Besides, it's got 1000 fresh achievement points just waiting to be unlocked. Oh, and did we mention that it will cost you zero dollars? Well, there you go. For your chance to win, follow the super simple directions below. Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom is all about hacking and slashing. Leave a comment on this post wether you prefer hacking or slashing. Be sure to explain your preference. You can leave one comment per calendar day (Eastern Time). Be sure you only leave one comment per day. Posters of multiple comments during the same day will be disqualified. We'll accept entries until Friday, April 25, 12:00pm noon, Eastern Time. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. This giveaway is open only to residents of the U.S. and Canada (excluding Quebec). On Friday, we'll pick one winner via a random drawing One winner will each receive a copy of Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom for Xbox 360, worth $60. The complete rules can be found here
Kingdom Under Fire MMO in the works
The massively-multiplayer real-time-strategy genre has never had a breakthrough title. There have been obscure, niche MMORTSes, but we'll bet most of you haven't even played one! Well, Korean companies Blueside and Phantagram intend to bring the genre into the mainstream with their sequel to the 2001 XBox title Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders. This new game, like the original title, will feature a mesh of action and RTS gameplay elements. There will be a complete single-player campaign in addition to the MMO mode; that's starting to look like a trend now. Oh, and if you didn't notice ... it's beautiful. CVG has a few more screenshots for your pleasure, as well.Expect Kingdom Under Fire II on PC and "consoles" -- presumably XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 -- next year.
Kingdom Under Fire's new direction
The official web site for Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom is now live, and while the scantily-clad warrior babes remain, the addictive mix of action and strategy that has defined the series is being replaced by a hack-and-slash RPG. If you were turned off by the disappointing Ninety-Nine Nights, you might say Phantagram has done the smart thing by giving Blueside a little creative freedom to experiment with "never-before-imagined innovation and fresh ideas" (from the web site). 2006 has also been a banner year for RPGs, not to mention the fact that 30% of Joystiq readers prefer role-playing adventures. So why not ride the wave?There are some potential pitfalls: random dungeons, branching stories, and characters who get tired aren't all that innovative. There's also Blueside's inexperience with RPGs, and the imminent risk of diluting the franchise. On the flip side of the coin, you have KUF's rich fantasy world to play in and the impressive production quality that highlighted KUF: Heroes. Do you think Circle of Doom will be another Champions of Norrath, or a Seven Sorrows?And despite N3's shortcomings, Phantagram hasn't necessarily become gun-shy. This RPG diversion is supposedly just a side quest in the series, and the Korean developer is currently working on another KUF sequel of the more familiar action-strategy variety -- after they finish the PC version of Circle of Doom.
TGS: Today's Marketplace content, 9/21 [update 1]
Another day, another batch of content. TGS rolls on, and Microsoft gives us more to drool over. Now, without further ado, today's content:Vista Game MontageFusion Frenzy 2 trailer (Weren't we just talking about this?)Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom trailerTeam Fortress 2 trailerTable Tennis trailer (Japan only)TGS ThemeWe haven't had a chance to watch any of these, but we'll give you the skinny once we do. If anybody spots one of these trailers floating around the interweb, send us a tip and we'll post it.360 at the Tokyo Game Show:DOAX2 video makes us feel naughtyLost Odyssey intro videoVideo of Trusty BellSee Blue Dragon gameplay (finally)And the mystery XBLA game is ...Update: We've realized there will be a lot of content in the next few weeks. Changed headline to reflect the date that the content went up.
