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New players get World of Warcraft free until September 26th
You read that right. It's apparently as easy as downloading the Battle.net app, using it to download World of Warcraft and launching the game. If you're on the fence about returning or have someone you want to show the game off to, now is possibly the best time imaginable, since you won't have to pay for the majority of the month. There's also a helpful link to Blizzard's beginner's guide, which can help you dive in and get started in WoW. Probably a pretty good time for a promotion like this, with a lot of people having let their subs lapse during the long content drought, it's an easy way to try and ease some of them back into the game while also giving new players a painless way to explore whether or not WoW is the game for them. Edit: Turns out it's not all new players. It's part of a specific email promotion.
Star Trek Online celebrates the end of summer with giveaways [Updated]
The days get shorter, the heat diminishes, and students collectively go back to actually studying things. Yes, summer is coming to a close, and the team behind Star Trek Online is pretty happy with how this past summer went. Sure, seasons are kind of a meaningless concept when you're talking about a setting that spans multiple planets with their own annual cycles, but the players are still here on Earth, and they can celebrate the end of the season with free stuff. An as-of-yet undisclosed ship will be going live in the game's cash shop tomorrow, but that's not the really free part. From August 29th to September 1st, around 1:00 p.m. EDT, a new promotional item will be flagged in the store as free. These items are all account-wide unlocks so long as an eligible character is available to claim the item. Who wouldn't like some free stuff for the end of summer? [Update: The team has also today released more information about upgrading tier 5 ships.]
Star Trek Online sells costumes at a discount this weekend
They say that clothes make the man. Is that true? Who knows. But clothes certainly do make your Star Trek Online captains stand out, and wouldn't you like to look particularly pretty with a new expansion coming up? Of course you would. So pick up some costumes this weekend and do so at a steep discount. All costumes for sale in the game's microtransaction store are priced 20% off until Monday, August 18th, at 1 p.m. EDT. Whether you want to grab Seven of Nine's bodysuit for the upcoming Delta Rising content or just have your eye on a racing uniform, you can nab it now for less. Who wouldn't like that?
SOE Live 2014: Studio to stream convention for free
SOE Live's streaming schedule is up for this week's convention on the official Twitch channel, and fans of the studio have a very good reason to check it out: It's totally free. SOE announced today that players will not need to spend any money to watch the convention's 20-plus hours of livestream coverage. The stream will begin on Thursday evening at 10:00 p.m. EDT and continue off and on through Saturday night. If you really insist on giving SOE money for this, however, the studio will bow to your demands. SOE is selling a SOE Live Digital Pass upgrade that will deliver to the buyer a 7-day Landmark beta key, a Twitch chat badge, several emoticons for the Twitch channel, and in-game items for both H1Z1 and PlanetSide 2.
Marvel Heroes unleashes Cosmic Chaos Week
Bad things to unleash include krakens, tempers, and the hounds. Good things to unleash include puppy parades and Marvel Heroes' new Cosmic Chaos Week. This soon-to-be monthly event features a week full of double boss loot drops, double prestige earned, and cosmic doops as far as the eye can see. There will also be opportunities to save up for special rewards and to buy certain galactic-themed heroes for a discounted price. The event is currently live and will go until the patch next week.
Firefall launches its referral program
Are you playing and enjoying Firefall? That's great, but if your friends aren't, the game might be just a little bit more lonely. You could abduct your friends and chain them in front of a computer with the game already loaded, but that seems a bit extreme, not to mention really illegal. Maybe you'd be better off just taking advantage of the game's referral program to drag your companions into the game. That's legal, and it offers some nice benefits. If you refer someone who creates an account, you get night vision goggles, as pictured above. Score one for you! Meanwhile, if said friend goes on to purchase some Red Bean, you both get 10 extra Red Beans. So if you have friends who aren't yet playing, send a mail and see if you can't get them to sign up after all. It's cheaper than buying chains and secondary computers, too.
DC Universe Online DLC is 75% off right now
Not everyone is as rich as Bruce Wayne, so for those of you who have been pinching your pennies instead of splurging on DC Universe Online content, here's where your thriftiness pays off. Steam is holding a 75% off sale for much of DCUO right now. This includes 10 DLC packs for $2.49 apiece and the Ultimate Edition bundle for $7.49. In fact, you could buy the whole kit and kaboodle (that's a superhero term) for only $32.39 $22.50. That's less than the cost of many box games these days right there, so what are you waiting for? [Thanks to Balsbigbrother for the tip and to greaterdivinity for the math!]
Star Citizen's latest ship is ready for the races
Not every spaceship is slated for combat or trade; some ships exist to go as fast as possible. The Origin M50, Star Citizen's newest offering, is a racing ship that can do double duty as a courier or interceptor. The craft is dominated by a pair of engines that provide an incredible amount of thrust and maneuverability. Players who cough up $90 can put one of these sleek machines in their collection right now. The devs promise that the M50 is "hanger-ready," meaning that you can admire it in person via the hanger module. Taking it out for a spin? That may be a while yet. [Thanks to James for the tip!]
Amazon's offering 30 free Android apps to help make you a better person
Another month, another batch of 30 free Android apps courtesy of Amazon. Like the bookseller's last Appstore promotion, the "Summer Self-Improvement Bundle" features $100/£100's worth of complimentary apps, as long as you download them within the next two days (so don't leave it 'til the weekend, basically). On-theme apps include exercise, nutrition, sleep, budgeting and learning aids, while games such as Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and Carcassonne should provide a little entertainment. Other notable freebies include Kayak Pro for travel planning and management, and popular read-it-later app Instapaper. Remember, Amazon's Appstore is available to any Android device (some side-loading required), not that we're saying you could use a little self-improving. You're perfect just the way you are.
Path of Exile Supporter Packs are about to disappear
If you love Path of Exile but haven't converted that support into monetary form yet... well, that's fine, the game is free-to-play. But you're running out of time to take advantage of the Supporter Packs that were introduced as part of the game's launch. The packs will be officially discontinued very shortly, so if you haven't grabbed one yet, now's the time to do so. The official announcement notes that you will be able to arrange a payment plan and/or upgrade your pack, but you need to set that in motion before the packs are gone for good, not after. So if you've been loving the game and want to buy a little power boost... do it now. You're running out of time.
Landmark on sale on Steam
If you want to get in on testing Landmark, you've got to drop some cash first. That's just the way it is. But the good news -- aside from the fact that buying test access also involves owning the game when it launches for real -- is that you can get away with dropping substantially less cash for a little while longer. Landmark is on Steam as an early access title, and it's currently having a sale that shaves 66% off of every founder's pack available right now. Due to the sale, prices range from $6.79 for the lowest tier to $33.99 for the highest. Already bought one of the entry packs? You can also pick up an upgrade for your founder's pack at a similar discount, so if you bought the lowest tier a while back you can upgrade to the top for a cool $27.20. Act fast, though; this sale is only running for a little while longer. [Thanks to Christian for the tip!]
Massively interviews EVE executive producer Andie Nordgren
If you've been following the development of EVE Online lately, chances are you've heard of Andie 'CCP Seagull' Nordgren and her mission to make deep space colonisation and player-built stargates a reality. Andie has spearheaded the direction of EVE's development over the past few expansions and has gathered a considerable following in the EVE community. At EVE Fanfest 2014, we heard her plans to overhaul EVE's outdated sovereignty and corporation management systems, and to eventually introduce new deep space colonisation gameplay. Today CCP announced that Andie Nordgren has been promoted to the position of Executive Producer on EVE Online. I caught up with her for a chat about development on EVE and to find out what this promotion means for the future the game. I've pulled together the important details from the interview in this article, and if you still have burning questions for Andie Nordgren, she's doing an AMA thread on Reddit right now!
Final Fantasy XIV offers a free weekend to lapsed accounts
Final Fantasy XIV is looking to pull back in its lost brothers, sisters, and furries with a free login weekend. From 3:00 a.m. EDT on Friday, July 18th, through Monday at the same time, inactive accounts will be switched on. The free weekend is only for previous players who purchased the game and have since stopped paying for it. Square Enix is hoping that the new Patch 2.3 and its features will woo returning players to sub back up after getting a taste during these three days.
Wizard101 introduces Fishing
Fishing is the eternal side activity of MMOs, the reason for players to sit about and cast their line over and over in the hopes of receiving something worthwhile. Wizard101 joins the lineup of fantasy games offering a fishing option today with a new patch, although you will be fishing in an appropriately magical fashion. Rather than a mundane line and sinker, players summon magical orbs to help snare fish; the ones they catch can be sold, used for crafts, or displayed as trophies around your house. If this is the one thing you've been waiting for before you get into the game, you can also take advantage of the new promotional bundle on sale at Target. The Spiral Cup Gauntlet Bundle includes a new housing item, a new pet, new clothes, and a new mount for players, along with either a month's subscription or 5000 crowns. You can pick it up for $39 and then jump right back into casting orbs and looking for fish. Or doing other things, presumably. [Source: Kingsisle Entertainment press release]
EverQuest II throws bonus XP weekend, extends summer promotion
EverQuest II is opening up the throttle on in-game promotions this month, as Executive Producer Holly Longdale announced on Twitter that the game will be host to a double XP weekend from Friday afternoon through Sunday evening. In addition to that, EverQuest II is extending its Gear Up, Level Up promotion through the end of July. During this period, players will get bonus Etyma and a discount on the upcoming expansion. Subscribers are treated to even more goodies, including a 25% XP bonus and a discount on purchasing heroic characters.
Path of Exile comic books hint at upcoming expansion
We all know that you haven't made it as a video game unless you're immortalized in a comic book. Path of Exile has joined that very select club as it announced today that it will be the focus of an official comic book mini-series. The four upcoming Path of Exile graphic novels will be based on the lore of the game and penned by Dynamite Entertainment. The comics are slated for some time this summer and will be 22 pages apiece, with a compilation release in early 2015. So other than the cool factor, why should players care? Well, not only will the comics feature a lead-in to the game's unannounced expansion, but each issue will have codes for in-game goodies such as cosmetics.
Select Xbox 360 owners offered $75 credit with Xbox One purchase
A selection of Xbox 360 owners are turning on their systems and finding the above image, offering them an "exclusive" $75 code for Xbox credit with the purchase of an Xbox One. Microsoft confirmed the promotion to Joystiq today after 360 users posted their discoveries on NeoGAF and official Xbox forums. According to the Microsoft spokesperson, "this short-term promotion is offered to select Xbox fans in the US, Canada and the UK." Going by the image, Microsoft's dealing out the promo to some of its "very best customers." As can often prove the case with offers like this, however, the criteria for who qualifies is seemingly random. For example, it's fair say the Joystiq staff's spent oodles of times with their 360s, and none of us received the offer. As Eurogamer notes, the original NeoGAF poster got the promo despite already owning an Xbox One tied to his Xbox 360 gamertag.
Amazon Appstore promo offers 30 free apps including Plex and AccuWeather
Whoever said "nothing in life is free" obviously doesn't have Amazon's Appstore installed on their Android device. The software marketplace already offers a different paid app for free each day, but for today and tomorrow only, it's upped the number of discounted apps to 30. The "Epic Summer App Bundle" features over a $100/£100's worth of popular apps for free, including the Plex mobile client, AccuWeather Platinum, games such as Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the 3D RPG Ravensword: Shadowlands and Kairosoft's Dungeon Village, as well as some utility and productivity apps like Splashtop Remote Desktop HD and OfficeSuite Professional 7. The full selection can be found here, and if you have Amazon hardware you know where to head to get downloading. Anyone else with an Android smartphone or tablet can install the Appstore by following these instructions, and it's going to be worth the small effort if you fancy even a couple of the apps gratis.
Guild Wars 2 is half price before Season 2
There's not long to go until Guild Wars 2 starts up its second season of story updates, which you can hear about at length by asking almost any Guild Wars 2 fan. Want to jump in on the ground floor? You can do so at a discount until June 29th. The game is being sold at a 50% discount; that's $25 for the regular edition and $35 for the deluxe edition. Already an owner of the game? Well, then, there's not much for you, except for these two ominous sounds that have appeared on the game's website to forecast what comes next, which is something. But let's face it, if you're a fan you're already looking forward to the next season, you don't need the extra encouragement.
Entropy discounts Founder's Packs for Steam Sale
The Steam Summer Sale is that glorious time of year when we drop money on games that we subsequently won't remember purchasing until months later, leaving us collectively scratching our heads and asking when we bought these titles. So how'd you like to add an early access MMO to that pile of games you won't remember you have? All three of the Entropy Founder's Packs are now available at a 33% discount until the end of the Summer Sale on June 30th. The sale coincides with a recent update to the game introducing the gladiatorial combat sport known as NOVA, a free-for-all brawl where five people enter and only one leaves. The smallest package available gives players access to two character slots as well as full game access, with higher tiers including a variety of extra ships, more character slots, and bonus character creator options. If it sounds like it's right at your speed, jump in on the deal before the end of the month. We've included the latest video interview with the devs after the break.
