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Flockers takes cues from Lemmings, shows Team 17 still has it in for sheep
Worms studio Team17 published the first screens and details on new IP Flockers today, which the UK dev described as a "twisted blend of Lemmings' inspired gameplay and Tim Burton style macabre, all topped off with a dose of that classic Worms humor." "Held for years within the evil thrall of the Worms, the sheep are finally making a dash for freedom," reads a YouTube description. "Escaping the tyrannical Worms, the flock must dodge their way past all manner of lethal machinery and traps as they negotiate their path through the confinement of the Worms weapons factory and onwards to pastures green." There's a definite steampunk vibe to the screens and plenty of sheep - including some in purple beanies for some reason - to save from gruesome, bloody demises. We'll all get to meet the Flockers when the game hits Steam Early Access in Q2 2014. [Image: Team17]
Shadowrun Online infiltrates Early Access on March 31
Those anxiously awaiting the turn-based roleplaying action of Shadowrun Online won't have to wait much longer to dip into the cyberpunk world. Developer Cliffhanger Productions has revealed that the game will make its Steam Early Access debut on March 31. Though the version of Shadowrun Online that appears on Early Access will not be the complete game, it should give players a good idea of how the full game is shaping up. According to Cliffhanger, the Early Access build will initially serve as a prologue to the core Shadowrun Online campaign and will introduce players to the game's combat mechanics. Once the basics have been nailed down, the developer plans to roll out periodic updates which will bring new content to Shadowrun Online. No specific schedule for these updates has been established, but Cliffhanger hopes to issue new content on a monthly basis. The final, complete version of Shadowrun Online is still slated for release on PC, Mac and mobile devices toward the end of 2014, but keep in mind that any number of things could happen during Early Access testing to delay that vague release window. [Image: Cliffhanger Productions]
Nosgoth brings a legacy of pain to Steam Early Access
Square Enix's next entry in the Legacy of Kain universe, Nosgoth, is now available in alpha form on Steam Early Access. The competitive online multiplayer game pits humans against vampires for the entry price of $20, though Square Enix is offering "founders' packs" that range from $35 to $150, each 10 percent off until April 2. Each pack grants players in-game bonuses such as war chests, weapons and character boosts. The game entered closed beta in late February, and developer Psyonix noted that Early Access buyers are gaining entry to the closed test phase. It recommended players on the fence to "wait for Open Beta and play Nosgoth for free" when it reaches Steam's free-to-play section. Once in open beta, the Early Access founders' packs won't be available for purchase, but the content will be valid for previous buyers. This isn't the first time a publisher opted for a low-risk Early Access release on Steam. Kasedo Games brought Hegemony Rome: The Rise of Caesar to Early Access in February and Ubisoft launched alpha versions of Might and Magic X: Legacy in August 2013 and The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot in November. [Image: Square Enix]
Cannibals and priest bikers in Sarah Northway's Rebuild: Gangs of Deadsville
Rebuild: Gangs of Deadsville isn't about the zombie apocalypse – it's about what happens after the zombie apocalypse. Society is in tatters, infrastructure is broken, politics are disbanded, religion is extreme, and, somehow, you are in charge. For now. You're the leader of a group of survivors attempting to rekindle normal life in a barricaded, devastated city. Humanity has split into 12 factions; they're not exactly warring with each other, but they don't all get along. There are hippie Luddites, priest bikers, anti-male feminists and a group of LAN partiers, to name a few. Every time you play, you get a random selection of a few factions, and in order to create a peaceful society, you must strike a balance among all of their opposing viewpoints. If you do a bad job, your factions can rise up and start a "true democracy," pushing you out of a decision-making position entirely. It is possible to build a city of peace, but it's difficult, creator Sarah Northway told Joystiq at GDC. "It depends on what the factions are," Northway said. "There is a cannibal faction, and if you ban cannibalism and say that's absolutely not going to happen, they'll get angry. And then there's other factions, that if you embrace cannibalism, they get angry .... They'll just come to you, month after month, and say, 'So, your'e still eating people, eh?'"
Don't be on the menu when The Forest hits Steam Early Access in May
The Forest is about the scavenging that comes with surviving in the woods, but it's also about avoiding a band of cannibals that would very much like to scavenge the meat from your bones. The open-world survival horror game finally has a Steam Early Access release date of May 22. and while there's no news on a final release, the $15 alpha will hopefully make for a decent starter. Ben Falcone, the lead of four-man indie dev Endnight Games, says The Forest is inspired by films like The Descent and Cannibal Holocaust, while gaming inspirations lie in Trespasser and Minecraft. The idea in The Forest is to explore the world around you and scavenge materials to build up your base and weaponry, then defend your base from the cannibals at night - or take the fight to the enemy, if you're feeling brave. In terms of the nitty-gritty, the game runs on Unity 4 and Oculus Rift is supported, and while it'll be single-player only on initial release, there are plans to add "some form of co-op" further down the line. [Image: Endnight Games]
Shadowrun Online heading to Steam Early Access on March 31st
You might be able to play Shadowrun Online sooner than expected, as the title is heading to Steam Early Access on March 31st. In a new video, Managing Director Jan Wagner announced the Early Access release and answered several questions that the community has had for the game. He said that this version of the game will be a "prequel" with many of the core elements from Shadowrun Online, such as combat and PvP. Wagner explained why the game slipped from 2013 (they had to recode the game from scratch), promised a future DRM-free version, and assured the addition of "more building blocks" every four to six weeks as the development progresses. You can watch the full video after the break. [Thanks to Chris for the tip!]
Nom Nom Galaxy puts the PixelJunk in Steam Early Access today
Last week, Q-Games announced a name change for the game formerly known as PixelJunk Inc. That game, Nom Nom Galaxy, launches on Steam's Early Access service today at 9:00 a.m. PDT / 12:00 p.m. EDT. Additionally, Q-Games mixed up the standard approach to a Steam Early Access launch by offering up crowdfunding-style reward tiers through the PC game's site, giving players access to Nom Nom Galaxy and other PixelJunk games as well as bonus DLC materials and a spot in the game's credits. The $9 Early Bird tier is limited to 1,000 copies, and gives players a copy of the game as well as digital wallpaper. The Pioneer Pack tier offers the same rewards for $19. [Image: Q-Games]
Frozen Endzone blitzes onto Steam Early Access
Frozen Endzone takes the turn-based strategy Mode 7 delivered in Frozen Synapse, but makes it all sportsball by swapping out the guns for pigskins - snazzy, futuristic-looking pigskins, but pigskins all the same. If that's a combination that has you ready to pad up and get tactical, the good news is the Windows PC game is now available on Steam Early Access. It's priced $25 stateside and £19/23 euros in the land of the other football, and that includes a bonus key to pass to a friend. In essence, Frozen Endzone is about plotting runs and working out where you want your players to be, one turn at a time, as you try to keep control of the ball and score some neon-tinted touchdowns. Of course it gets much more complicated than that, but on that basic level it was challenging to stop the Mode 7 devs from piercing through my robot team of players a few months ago, which they did time and time again. As it stands, the "early beta" version offers both single-player and multiplayer modes including a ranking system for the latter, while Mode 7 says the next thing on its agenda is to get the single-player campaign mode added. The game proper is due in "late 2014." [Image: Mode 7]
PixelJunk Inc is now Nom Nom Galaxy, chomping on Steam next week
Q-Games' PixelJunk Inc has long been in development, and will see an alpha version launch on Steam's Early Access service on March 13. The game, which was originally codenamed "PixelJunk 1-6" in November 2012, will also undergo a name change and be known as Nom Nom Galaxy from here on out. Q-Games originally planned to launch Nom Nom Galaxy on Steam last year, and now has a quirky Early Access trailer to make up for lost time. In the trailer, Q-Games serves up the game's new name and places items like a PS3 and a copy of StarFox Command in a giant pot of soup. Given that players use lasers to destroy the environment in the 2D platformer and in turn build their soup empire, we guess boiling a game console in a video makes sense on some level. [Image: Q-Games]
Toy Soldiers Complete advances onto Steam Early Access
Signal Studios is on standby for a full Steam release of Toy Soldiers Complete after launching it on Early Access over the weekend. The bundle includes tower defense/shooter mash-up Toy Soldiers, follow-up Toy Soldiers: Cold War, and the two games' downloadable expansions. The Early Access price is $10 in North America, and £7/10 euros in Europe. While both games launched on Xbox Live Arcade, you can already find the little plastic paratroopers on PC; Toy Soldiers is available as a Steam standalone, while Toy Soldiers: Cold War is on Windows 8. So it's a bit curious to see Signal taking the Early Access route, but the Ascend: Hand of Kul studio says it's looking for players to "help us find bugs, give feedback and most of all – help us shape the game before its full release!" [Image: Signal Studios]
Carmageddon shifts to Steam Early Access on March 27
Carmageddon: Reincarnation will arrive on Steam's Early Access service on March 27, Stainless Games announced. The UK developer also offered a pre-alpha trailer for the vehicular destruction game, which focuses on damage tech for the reboot. Carmageddon: Reincarnation is the result of a successful Kickstarter project in June 2012 during which the indie developer earned $625,143. The developer earned a total of $3.5 million in funding for the game as of March 2013 thanks to the investment of Bullfrog co-founder Les Edgar, bringing the game to Xbox One and PS4 in addition to PC, Mac and Linux. Since the developer first unveiled its plans for an alpha-level launch on Steam in September, it stressed that all of its Kickstarter and PayPal backers who pledged at least $15 for a copy of the game will also get every piece of Stainless Games' DLC "for the rest of time." [Image: Stainless Games]
Super Motherload drops on Steam Early Access, PSN versions on sale
You can excavate with PC mates now, because an Early Access version of Super Motherload is available on Steam. XGen Studio's follow-up to Flash game Motherload combines local co-op with treacherous mobilized quarrying, and on PC that includes controller support for four simultaneous players. Super Motherload pits you (geddit?) as you an employee of a galactic mining corp, and your job is to dig as far into Mars' procedurally generated depths as you can. Sounds like a day at the beach, but in addition to precious resources beneath the Red Planet's surface, there are puzzles, dangers, and dark secrets waiting to be unearthed. To celebrate the news, XGen has the Steam release going at 10 percent off until March 4; the regular price is $15 in North America, and £12/14 euros in Europe. Meanwhile, PSN discounts for North America dig even deeper into the cross-buy PS4 and PS3 versions: $7.50 until March 3, or $3.75 for PS Plus subscribers. [Image: XGen Studios]
Schafer: Broken Age split release a success, second half now funded
Broken Age, the Double Fine adventure game too big for its $3.3 million Kickstarter campaign, released its first half last month. Now, studio founder Tim Schafer tells GamesIndustry International that the release has been a success, and that part two has been successfully funded. "We've made enough that we can make the second half of the game for sure," Schafer told GamesIndustry, before noting that he believes the first half isn't quite done yet, since it has yet to release on iPad like the studio promised it would. Still, Schafer seemed upbeat. "We've shipped enough that people can see we weren't kidding, and that's a big relief. Because I think there's a lot of pressure on Kickstarter projects, especially the really big Kickstarter projects, to just not screw it up for everybody else. It's such a great, positive thing for us, and being able to be funded by our fans opens so many doors for us to do original, creative things that we just wanted to live up to [expectations]." The decision to break Broken Age into two parts was not one met with overwhelming enthusiasm by some backers (just take a look at the comments). It would seem that the wallet speaks louder though, and the wallets want a conclusion to Broken Age. [Image: Double Fine]
New sandbox pseudo-MMO Windborne hits Steam Early Access
It may not technically be an MMO, but we thought that Hidden Path Entertainment's "social sandbox creation" game, Windborne, might pique your interest. The game, which is now available via Steam's Early Access program, allows players to explore "an infinite number of islands, each full of wonder and surprise," on which they (and their friends) can utilize "a wide variety of building materials, furnishings, and artifacts" in order to build new civilizations and alter the world as they see fit. They can also befriend and trade with the island natives, creatures called the Jin, and the current build also boasts a "basic quest system," which gives players a "guided tour" of the game to help them gain their footing in this new world. Windborne's Steam page also outlines a number of features planned for the game's future development, such as the ability for players to help "guide the Jin to civilization" by protecting and defending them. Future updates will also add "millions of ruins filled with puzzles and treasure," dragons that can be tamed, bred, and ridden as mounts, and combat and quest systems. One last planned feature that should appeal to MMO fans is the implementation of systems to allow players to see the islands of other players surrounding their own and visit neighboring islands where they can trade, build, and generally interact with the islands' owners. If that sounds up your alley, Windborne is currently available on Steam Early Access for $29.99 US, though the game is on sale for $23.99 until February 24th. To read (and watch) more about the game or pick it up for yourself, check out Windborne's Steam page at the link below.
Windborne adventure and Starwhal fencing flip to Steam Early Access
Both Starwhal: Just the Tip and Windborne recently landed on Steam's Early Access service yesterday. Windborne, a sandbox adventure game from Counter Stike: GO and Defense Grid 2 developer Hidden Path Entertainment, is 20 percent off ($23.99) on the service until February 24. Starwhal, the narwhal fencing game set in outer space, earned $24,450 CAD ($22,294 USD) on Kickstarter in late December. The game comes from indie developer Breakfall, who will bring the game to PC, Mac, Linux, Wii U and PS4. Breakfall is hoping to carry Starwhal over to Ouya and Xbox One as well. As for Hidden Path, the developer is also partnering with Harmonix to create the recently-revealed Chroma, a free-to-play rhythmic FPS. [Image: Hidden Path Entertainment]
The Golf Club takes a shot at Steam Early Access
HB Studios' socially-driven golf simulator The Golf Club will launch for PC through Steam. The developer announced the news on its blog and says that after a closed beta on PC, The Golf Club will be made available as an Early Access game. The Golf Club, launching on PS4, Xbox One and PC this spring, features a social hub where players can share the game's procedurally-generated golf courses. Included editing tools will allow players to tweak those courses, and they can even create and share custom tournaments through the social hub. Founded in 2000, HB Studios is located in Nova Scotia, Canada. Throughout the 2000s HB Studios worked mostly on EA Sports games but most recently the studio is responsible for the out-of-left-field rhythm game, NBA Baller Beats. [Image: HB Studios]
Drunken Robot Pornography takes (it all) off on February 19
Drunken Robot Pornography, the high-flying robot shooter from Dejobaan Games, launches in full on February 19 via Steam and the Humble Store. DRP has been sitting pretty on Steam Early Access since the day that service launched in March, and next week it's finally ready for deployment. In the game, players don jetpacks to battle giant robots called Titans – Dejobaan started working on DRP two years ago, ages before that other game about titans showed up – and attempt to stop the metal beasts from destroying Boston with their fancy lasers, rockets, bullets and claws. It's a first-person shooter in a bullet hell (not Boston – that's just the game style). DRP will retail for $15, but it may come with a Steam discount on launch day. That's all outlined in Dejobaan's open marketing document, a Google Doc that displays the studio's launch plans, marketing strategies and hopes for the game's release, including the repeated phrase, "NOTE TO SELVES: None of this matters if we don't make a great game." This open marketing plan joins Dejobaan's public design document for Drop that Beat like an Ugly Baby as an example of transparent development in the indie world. Dejobaan will stream DRP in a Twitch marathon on February 20 from 10AM ET to 10PM ET, featuring a lineup of fellow streamers. And giant, drunken robots, of course. [Image: Dejobaan Games]
Broforce hits Steam Early Access in March, bro
Aptly self-described "rogue publisher" Devolver Digital has announced an agreement with developer Free Lives to release Broforce on Steam's Early Access come March, with full-fledged PC and console releases to follow this summer. "When evil threatens the world, the world calls on Broforce - an under-funded, over-powered paramilitary organization dealing exclusively in excessive force," reads the game's official description. "Brace your loins with up to four players to run 'n' gun as dozens of different bros and eliminate the opposing terrorist forces that threaten our way of life. Unleash scores of unique weapons and set off incredible chain reactions of fire, napalm, and limbs in the name of freedom." If that last paragraph didn't grow hair on your chest, take a look at the above trailer, which depicts Broforce as a retro-styled, multiplayer platformer homage to the action films of the 1980s. You've got your classic action hero archetypes, your over-the-top machismo, and an eagle made of metal flexing in front of the American flag. Short of Sylvester Stallone arm-wrestling the ghost of Ronald Reagan, this is about as bro as it gets, bro. [Image: Devolver Digital/Free Lives]
Rust alpha sells 750,000 copies
Rust, the MMO-meets-survival game from Facepunch Studios, sold 750,000 copies in a month and a half since entering Steam early access. The news is courtesy of an update from creator Garry Newman, who described the sales mark as "an amount we never even imagined selling over the game's lifetime." The PC/Mac/Linux game's success has been consistent since its launch, as it reached 250,000 players less than two weeks ago. Newman is the developer of the ever-popular Garry's Mod, a Source engine-based physics sandbox that saw 3.5 million copies sold as of November 2013. As for how Rust compares to Newman's mod, the developer says it "already made us 2/3rds the amount of money that Garry's Mod has made in 8 years." Garry's Mod is priced at $9.99 on Steam, whereas the alpha version of Rust can be purchased for $19.99 on Steam Early Access. Newman described Rust's success as "both a blessing and a curse," citing a "sensory overload" on the behalf of the developer from its popularity. "We see all these amazing things happening, voices from all directions, ideas, bugs, cheaters.. and we're scrambling to catch up with everything," he wrote.
Next Car Game earns $1 million from Steam Early Access
Next Car Game has earned over $1 million on Steam since its pre-alpha version arrived on Early Access this month for $29.99. The sales mark came from one week of activity on Steam and the game's pre-order site. The racing game comes from FlatOut series and Ridge Racer: Unbounded developer Bugbear Entertainment, which canceled its Kickstarter funding campaign for the game in November 2013. The developer was initially looking to raise $350,000 on the crowdfunding platform, of which it reached $81,772.
