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Ubisoft brings online middleware dev Quazal into its brotherhood
On a bit of a spending spree this week, Ubisoft today added Montreal-based Quazal Technologies to the family. Creator of multiplayer middleware and services, Quazal has worked with Ubisoft for a number of years, and its products power components in a range of the publisher's titles, including this month's Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the last three Splinter Cell games and Far Cry 2. "We're happy to be able to continue to express our creative vision via the projects we'll be working on with Ubisoft," Quazal co-founder Martin Lavoie said in a press announcement. Ubisoft has plenty to be happy about, too. While no representative stood up and said as much, executives were no doubt preparing to bathe in a fresh pool of licensing loot. Quazel tech is all up in plenty of other companies' games, after all.
Battlefield: BC2 console update coming May 11
Recons! Medics! Assaults! Lend us your Engineers! If you're still adhering to your nightly routine of playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2 until your eyes refuse to stay open any longer, you'll be pleased to hear about some upcoming changes coming to console versions of the game. Unless, of course, you actually like the game's unkillable, super overpowered deathcopters. In that case, you're about to be sorely disappointed. Changes coming in the update -- due out May 11 via Xbox Live and PSN -- include a few balance tweaks of most weapons, a slight nerfing of the attack helicopter and an increase in the velocity of tracer darts, making it easier to stick 'em to that aforementioned helicopter. Joy! Check out the full list of changes after the jump.
Indie dev Chair signs exclusive deal with Epic, new Undertow images
Despite 2005's disastrous Advent Rising, which was built on Unreal Engine 2.0, Chair Entertainment will continue to use Epic's tech ... for-ev-AR. The indie developer has signed an exclusive deal with Epic to license Unreal Engine for all current and future projects. While the deal extends across the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 platforms (no Unreal for Wii, remember?), Undertow, Xbox Live Arcade's submerged shooter, is the studio's only project known to be in development (not that we've been holding our breath for the rest of the canned Advent trilogy). As previously disclosed, Undertow will feature both a 15-level campaign (with co-op support) and a pair of 16-player multiplayer modes, packed tight like shredded tuna into the old 50MB XBLA standard. Undertow is tentatively scheduled for release this summer. [Via press release] %Gallery-4096%
Shadowrun forgoes TrueSkill for 'party' play, Epic told the truth [update 1]
Shadowrun will use a friend-linking party system for ranked matches, yes, but developer FASA had to forgo the use of Microsoft's TrueSkill matchmaking system to implement the feature. In fact, according to Knuckles Dawson who had a chance to play Shadowrun, FASA has built its own matchmaking system from scratch. Microsoft's TrueSkill system does not allow friends to play together in ranked matches -- the explanation Epic used in its own defense.It's hard to knock Epic for opting to go with TrueSkill. Heck, the system was already in place, and there were seemingly more important areas of development to focus resources on -- and Epic succeeded with an exceptional title. But there's no denying that the Xbox Live community has been upset with how the limitations of TrueSkill affect Gears of War. Epic is certainly considering these opinions, and it wouldn't be too far-fetched to predict that a future update will replace TrueSkill with an Epic-designed matchmaking system that supports parties.[Update: We incorrectly identified Knuckles Dawson as an employee of Shadowrun developer FASA when he is in fact an echidna an avid Xbox Live player invited by the FASA team to test out their title. The post has been amended.]
