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Infestation producer: The War Z was a 'terrible choice of a name'
Infestation Survivor Stories (previously known as The War Z) Executive Producer Sergey Titov has penned a post-mortem on Gamasutra about the game's launch in 2012, noting how inviting the comparison to DayZ worked against the project. "That said, The War Z was a terrible choice of name, as it naturally invited comparisons between our game and DayZ," Titov admitted. "We made a big mistake in not listening to the vocal minority of our community who thought the name was terrible [...] Beyond not listening to the community, we were also very arrogant in our public communications. We should have taken more care to communicate how and why this was not a DayZ clone, citing specific differences in both design and conception. Instead of saying to ourselves 'Oh well, haters gonna hate!' we should have tried to understand where the hate was coming from and address it." Another key mistake that Titov and his team made was engaging in an "arms race" to get The War Z to Steam before DayZ, which resulted in its being yanked from that platform due to misrepresentation of the existing game features. Even with these missteps, Titov said that Infestation sold 2.8 million copies, and of those, over half logged at least 50 hours of playing time apiece. You can read Massively's hands-on impressions of this title from 2013.
Infestation: Survivor Stories claims 2.5 million players to date
A new state of the game post is up today for Infestation: Survivor Stories (formerly The War Z), and the team claims that the title has seen 2.5 million players pass through its doors, with "over 100,000 people" playing the game daily. The team apologized for not getting its promised updates out on time and said that it's made "sweeping changes" to improve communications and be more accurate with releases. Part of these efforts included hiring CMs and pledging to an internal model of "complete transparency whenever possible." The state of the game post went on to list some of the game's recent additions, including vehicles, Super Zombies, balance tweaks, and an overhaul of the Colorado map. The team also said that it has committed itself to work on Infestation without external funding.
The Daily Grind: Did you reconnect with any games thanks to PAX East?
Now that PAX East is winding down, it seems as good a time as any to take stock of the news coming from this year's convention. On a personal level, I was excited to hear about the (eventual) MMOification of one of my favorite games. I also enjoyed catching up with Guns of Icarus, an indie title already holding its own and with its eyes on a larger persistent world prize. What about you, Massively readers? Did you glean any useful nuggets from PAX East or perhaps rediscover a game you'd not thought about in a while? Massively's on the ground in Boston during the weekend of April 11th to 13th, bringing you all the best news from PAX East 2014. Whether you're dying to know more about WildStar, Landmark, or any MMO in between, we aim to have it covered!
ArenaNet co-founder heads to Undead Labs
Undead Labs announced today that it has hired Patrick Wyatt, co-founder of ArenaNet and co-creator of the original Guild Wars. Wyatt, who left ArenaNet in 2008, joins fellow Guild Wars co-creator Jeff Strain at the State of Decay studio, which has not been shy about its intention to build a zombie-themed MMO. State of Decay, codenamed Class3, launched in 2013 and was confirmed by the studio as a test run for an eventual MMO release, codenamed Class4. Here's Strain on the announcement: Today, I'm very happy to announce that Patrick has joined Undead Labs, and will be working shoulder-to-shoulder with Team Zed as we dive into the development of...well, what's next, and beyond. Undead Labs recently struck a multi-game agreement with Microsoft, paving the way for the studio to continue work on the Class4 project.
Undead Labs says 'big things are going on with State of Decay'
Is Undead Labs working on its long-rumored State of Decay MMO? Maybe so and maybe no, but the company is working on something big according to founder Jeff Strain's latest blog post. "We'll be able to share details later this year," he writes, "but as with State of Decay, we think it's best if we just keep our heads down and build some prototypes before we talk too much. For now, suffice it to say there are big things going on with State of Decay. Strain also intimates that whatever it is will take quite a while. "It's been a long haul from the original vision to this point, and the road ahead of us will take years to travel. We hope you're up for the trip, because we can't do it without you," he says.
Hands-on: Infestation: Survivor Stories, aka War Z, is worse than actually being killed by zombies
If there's one thing we know about the games industry, it's that no success goes uncopied. World of Warcraft breaks a million subscribers, everyone starts building WoW-like MMOs. Minecraft showers its creator with enough money to buy his home country, voxel-based crafting games fall like rain. It's just how things go. It should come as no surprise, then, that some studio somewhere would attempt to piggyback on the success of DayZ, Dean Hall's ridiculously popular mod for Arma II. The title, which drops players into a dangerous, zombie-filled open world and challenges them to survive, resonated so immensely with gamers that a clone wasn't so much probable as it was inevitable. But Infestation: Survivor Stories, formerly known as The War Z, is more than just a clone of DayZ. It is a charmless, cynical, and craven rip-off packaged with one of the most sinister microtransaction models ever implemented into a game, and it's developed by a company that has on multiple occasions proven itself to be only shades away from a dedicated fraud factory.
The War Z now known as Infestation: Survivor Stories
Remember The War Z? Hammerpoint Interactive is hoping that you don't, at least when it comes to the game's checkered development and customer service history that includes being temporarily pulled from Steam and suffering a major security breach. At any rate, the firm is looking for a fresh start and has changed the zombie MMO's name to Infestation: Survivor Stories. The War Z's original URL now automatically redirects users to a rebranded website. [Thanks Paul!]
The War Z returns to Steam
The War Z is back. On Steam. Apparently Valve no longer considers publishing the title on its ubiquitous digital download service a "mistake," and as such Hammerpoint's much-maligned exercise in surviving the zombie apocalypse is now available for 15 bucks. Valve says that it has "collaborated to address community feedback" with Hammerpoint. The company has issued a patch that updates existing customers, and the special refund offering for initial War Z Steam buyers has now concluded.
The War Z attacked, then attacked again
The beat continues for embattled zombie title The War Z. Last night, a Hammerpoint community rep posted on the game's forums regarding a series of ongoing hack attempts. "First we were hit with an attack that would [reset] our DNS IP so that you could not connect," the company said. "This morning we are being hit, again, with a DDoS attack on our login server. We are implementing additional DDoS protection and hope to have this resolved asap. Unfortunately with these types of attacks it is very difficult to give a good time frame of when it will be resolved." If you're still playing The War Z, there are further status updates to be found on the game's official forums.
The War Z executive producer blames problems on the game's success
Sergey Titov, executive producer for The War Z, sent out an email to the controversial MMO's playerbase today addressing the recent problems with the game and the public's opinion of the game. Titov states that there are "hundreds of thousands of players" on the game's servers each day and blames the overwhelming early success of the game for its eventual negative impressions. "I was too focused on how great we are and how a small independent team got their first game to over 700,000 users in a two-month period," Titov says in the email. Admitting that the team made many mistakes in communication and rushing the game out before the holidays, Sergey says that they'll soon be hiring additional community managers and moderators to properly respond to any problems that might arise in the future. You can read the email in its entirety after the cut.
The War Z's creator disputes trademark suspension
A couple of days ago, Massively reported that The War Z looked as though the trademark for its name would be suspended by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, forcing the game to choose another title. The game's creator, Sergey Titov, is disputing the suspension, however. Corresponding with Kotaku, Titov said that he had received no such notice and is investigating the situation. "I assume what you see is one of the preliminary applications since it said that it suspended because [the] other application exists," he said. "I've sent an email to our lawyer who filed [the] application and [is] working with us to to provide more details on all this." The War Z has been in hot water as of late due to prematurely launching on Steam and then being forcibly removed by Valve due to accusations of fraud and missing content.
The War Z's trademark suspended, name change likely
The team at Hammerpoint Interactive isn't having the merriest Christmas, at least if their holiday happiness hinges on the development of embattled zombie MMO The War Z. The troubled game will likely be forced to change its name due to a trademark suspension handed down by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The organization says that the game's name is too similar to Paramount Pictures' World War Z, a Brad Pitt film slated for a 2013 release. The decision comes on the heels of The War Z being pulled from Steam, as well as a bevy of fraud accusations from the game's disgruntled userbase. [Thanks to Armond for the tip!]
Check out two minutes of State of Decay zombie-killing action
It's been a few weeks since we've heard from the Undead Labs dev team. Happily, the newest State of Decay update comes with a gruesome slice of gameplay video. The two-minute clip focuses on the weapons and tactics necessary to clear a path through a horde of undead. There's a brief bit of driving action, too, and we also get a glimpse of the game's map functionality and UI. Community manager Sanya Weathers also offers up a teaser on the, er, state of State of Decay's development. "It's the most wonderful time of the year... that time when we're seeing the light at the end of the development tunnel," she writes. "We're polishing up communications, tactics, and all of the elements that make a game more than a simple 'see zombie, shoot zombie' kind of thing."
The War Z launches on Steam
While it might not be fully cooked, The War Z is now available on Steam for any and all to enjoy the delights of surviving in a zombie age. The title is currently on sale at 10% off for $13.49, with additional packages if you're looking to pick up some in-game currency. If you previously purchased the title through The War Z's website, the developers said that there will be a method to link that game to your Steam account. The War Z's devs also promised that other key features will be added to the game shortly, including leaderboards and private server rentals. You can watch the Steam launch trailer after the break for some rip-roaring zombie slaughter! [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
The Game Archaeologist: Asheron's Call 2 returns from the dead
No, the above picture is not some sort of long-forgotten, dusty archive picture of Asheron's Call 2 from back in the day; it's from the live game this past Thursday evening. How incredibly, insanely weird is that? Turbine absolutely stunned the MMO community the other day when it casually announced that it was bringing back its second title, cancelled since 2005, on a new server. Our editor-in-chief burst into the office chat room screaming, "AC2! AC2! AC2!" It took us a minute to realize that she wasn't just discovering the Assassin's Creed series but had in fact learned that the impossible had happened: An old, deceased MMO had been brought back to life. As the resident MMO historian here at Massively, I felt this was kind of like going to Jurassic Park and seeing all of those dinosaurs after spending most of my time merely reading about them. In the blink of an eye, Asheron's Call 2 went from the ancient past to the playable present. We've got a lot to talk about today, including my hands-on experiences with the title and thoughts about what this means for classic MMOs. Let's not waste any time!
The War Z is officially in beta, world map increased by 50 percent
Zombie MMO The War Z has officially shed its alpha tag. The buy-to-play horror shooter has purportedly cultivated a community of more than 500,000 players, according to its latest press release, and those players can now enjoy the full game map, new playable characters, and a host of additional features as the title transitions into beta. Hammerpoint Interactive has opened up the final sections of its "Colorado" map, which has in turn increased the size of the game world by 50 percent. The firm has also added new clan support features (tags, chat, and visual markers) as well as new marketplace items. [Source: Hammerpoint press release]
The Daily Grind: Do you hold developers accountable for what they say?
Yesterday, Gamespot broke a story about an executive producer for zombie MMO The War Z who took to his game's forums to rant about gankers in the beta test. The developer, Sergey Titov, used a homophobic slur to describe those beta testers, which caused some commenters to erupt in a fury. He later altered his comments and issued an "apology" for the rant, expressing astonishment that anyone would take his homophobic slur as a homophobic slur. "I don't know where they [are] coming from," he wrote, "but I used it as a curse." The sad thing is Titov's probably right: Far too many gamers think nothing of careless insults based on gender, race, and sexual orientation. But to see it from a developer and then see it dismissed by the game's supporters as something trivial and all good in fun between bros is embarrassing for the community. I'm glad he (or more likely, the game's PR) rescinded the slur, but I also know that subconscious and conscious bias seeps into gaming at the design, culture, and corporate levels, and I'm far less likely to pony up for a game whose developers just don't seem to get that the MMO demographic stretches beyond the privileged straight white male 20-something stereotype. So today I'm wondering how you hold devs accountable when they say something that exposes their prejudices or blind-spots or just poor business sense. Do you expect heads to roll? Do you vote with your wallet and pick games where customers aren't subjected to unprofessional tirades by devs, or are you resigned to the suspicion that most studios are saddled with this mentality? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Here's more War Z gameplay footage that will remind you of DayZ
FPSGeneral has posted six minutes of uncut alpha footage from Hammerpoint's upcoming zombie-centric sandbox MMO called The War Z. We know, it looks like DayZ! It also looks pretty cool, particularly the silenced M4, the barricading mechanics, and the glimpses of various items and UI functionality. Hammerpoint recently went on record with the fact that the game's cash shop items may be lost when other players loot your corpse. This, along with the The War Z's unforgiving survival-style gameplay, would seem to be the recipe for a niche title. We'll keep our eyes on it, though, and you can too via the video after the break.
PAX Prime 2012: Hammerpoint shows off The War Z gameplay
The War Z has generated a significant amount of fan interest since its initial hello-world announcement in July. The zombie-centric sandbox MMO boasts a large feature set and plenty of ambitious design goals. It's also generated some skepticism as to whether or not the development team can actually pull it all off. Last weekend's PAX Prime event brought the first opportunity to see for ourselves, as the team from Hammerpoint showed off alpha-state gameplay and allowed GameTrailers to film it. The resulting clip is yours for the viewing after the cut.
The Firing Line: What DayZ means to core gamers
The death of the core gamer has been greatly exaggerated. Yes, MMORPGs (and gaming in general) have kowtowed to the influx of new-school players flush with cash but lacking time, and the genre has reinvented itself and turned its back on virtual world enthusiasts in the process. There's still hope, though, and so far it's not coming from any of the usual sandbox suspects in the MMO space.
