breaking posts

TERA launching May 1st in North America [Updated]

by Jef Reahard Jan 17th 2012 at 9:18AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Launches, MMO industry, New titles, News items, TERA

Well, it's officially official. En Masse Entertainment is launching its long-awaited TERA MMO on May 1st in North America. A posting on the game's website confirms the date, and it also mentions both standard and collector's edition offerings, the contents of which will be revealed in February.

In the meantime, En Masse is accepting beta applications, and the company also promises "lots more in store" for the month of January.

TERA was originally developed by Bluehole Studio; the title launched in Korea in early 2011. The game is a high fantasy MMORPG focused around action combat and featuring an endgame political system.

[Update: Frogster has also announced that the EU version of TERA will be available on May 3rd.]

Tags: action-combat, bluehole, bluehole-studio, breaking, en-masse, en-masse-entertainment, fantasy, finally, launch, launch-date, launches, tera

Rumor: WAR40K canceled, THQ readying itself for sale [Updated; rumor debunked]

by Jef Reahard Jan 15th 2012 at 7:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Rumors, Warhammer 40k

Warhammer 40: Dark Millennium Online - giant robot thing

It's been a rough couple of years for Warhammer MMORPG fans, and if the rumors are true, it's about to get a bit bleaker.

Kotaku reports on a tweet by games industry insider Kevin Dent that indicates that THQ has "canceled its entire 2014 slate of releases to position the company for sale." This would include Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online, which Dent referred to as "the Games Workshop MMO" on his Twitter page.

We'll keep you posted as we learn more.

[Update: THQ's Australian PR department has issued a statement asserting that the company has not in fact canceled its 2014 lineup and "has not made any decisions" regarding WAR40K.]

Tags: breaking, canceled, cancellation, dark-millennium-online, mmo-industry, new-titles, rumor, sci-fi, thq, war40k-dark-millenium-online, warhammer, warhammer-mmo

TERA opens the door for beta sign-ups [Updated]

by Justin Olivetti Jan 12th 2012 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, TERA

Just when you thought the day would never come, En Masse has put out the call far and wide: TERA testers are needed! Come one, come all, bring your huddled masses yearning for true action combat, and enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of epic loot!

As of today, TERA is accepting applications for closed beta testing in North America. What must you do to be part of this exciting event? Will you be forced to slay dragons, mail En Masse your life savings, or promise your firstborn child? Nay, my friend -- all you need to is head over to the site and enter your email address. That's it.

TERA closed beta testers will be invited randomly and via special giveaways, but everyone who signs up at any point will automatically be included in the open beta test later on down the road.

[Update: The EU beta for TERA is undergoing a similar sign-up process: "Those who register by 11:30 CET tomorrow will go into the draw to win one of 1000 keys that will give 'em access to the whole testing period," a Frogster rep told us.]

Tags: beta, beta-sign-up, beta-test, beta-testers, beta-testing, breaking, closed-beta, en-masse, en-masse-entertainment, open-beta, sign-ups, signups, tera

Diablo III heading to a gaming console near you [Updated]

by Matt Daniel Jan 10th 2012 at 9:30AM

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Consoles, Miscellaneous

For some time, the Diablo franchise has been touted by PC-gaming purists as one of the landmark reasons that PC gaming is superior to all others. Well, not anymore! Though Blizzard has made numerous statements that they were "seriously considering" a console version of the title, CM Bashiok tweeted today that the upcoming Diablo III would be making the jump to consoles, giving us our first official confirmation. Josh Mosqueira, who has worked on such titles as Company of Heroes and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, is heading the charge as the console version's lead designer. Aside from those small details, however, we know absolutely nil about the title's console version (or to which consoles it will be coming, for that matter), but now that the news is out and about, we imagine that Blizzard will be making an official announcement very soon, so keep your eyes peeled and we'll bring you the latest as it comes.

[Update: Blizzard is saying that Josh Mosqueira's tweet was not, in fact, official confirmation.]

Tags: bashiok, blizzard, blizzard-entertainment, breaking, console, consoles, d3, diablo, diablo-3, diablo-iii, josh-mosqueira

God save the green: Deal makes Jagex a US company

by Justin Olivetti Jan 9th 2012 at 12:00PM

Filed under: MMO industry, RuneScape, Free-to-play, Legal, Miscellaneous, Transformers Universe

Jagex is trading up the Union Jack for the Stars and Stripes, as controlling interest in the studio has changed hands to a US firm.

Insight Venture Partners, a venture capital firm from the US, completed a deal last year to increase its ownership to 55% of the UK-based company. Previously, the firm had 35% interest in Jagex. Now that the scales have tipped to the new ownership, this technically makes Jagex a US-controlled company and has US investors leading its board of directors.

While revenues were up 2% for Jagex in 2011, both operating and net profits were significantly down from the previous financial year. Jagex is a major player in the MMO free-to-play market, with RuneScape, Transformers Universe, and 8Realms as part of its project portfilio.

Develop reports that the controlling interest was made possible by Jagex co-founder Andrew Gower selling off his ownership claims to the firm for $115.65 million. As part of the deal, Jagex paid $3.85 million in expenses. The studio will remain in Cambridge while its controlling firm is in NYC.

Tags: 8realms, andrew-gower, board-of-directors, breaking, controlling-interest, deal, insight-venture-brothers, investors, jagex, jagex-game-studios, profit, profits, revenue, revenues, runescape, takeover, transformers-universe, uk, us

Trion Worlds customer database hacked, 'no evidence' credit card info stolen

by Justin Olivetti Dec 22nd 2011 at 10:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, Legal, RIFT, Miscellaneous

Trion Worlds has become the latest in a long string of MMO studio security breaches this year, as the company reported an intrusion into its customer database. At risk of compromise were customers' user names, passwords, birthdates, email and billing addresses, and partial credit card info. However, the company states that "there is no evidence" that full credit card numbers were stolen at this time.

In a message posted on the Trion Worlds website, the company promises that it is both researching the intrusion and taking steps to increase security. As part of this, all RIFT players will be asked to change passwords and security questions, and their mobile authenticators will need to be reconnected.

The company urges customers to watch their bank statements for questionable activity, and provides customers with resources to get a free credit report and putting a freeze on credit reports.

To compensate customers for the issue, Trion is providing all RIFT players with three extra days of gaming time and a Moneybags' Purse that increases all money looted by 10% in-game.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Tags: authenticator, breaking, compensation, credit-card-info, credit-cards, customer-database, database, hack, hacked, hackers, intrusion, mobile-authenticator, moneybags-purse, passwords, rift, security, security-breach, trion, trion-worlds

EVE Online senior producer stepping down

by Jef Reahard Dec 22nd 2011 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, MMO industry, News items, Sandbox

Big changes are in the works for EVE Online's management team, as senior producer Arnar "CCP Zulu" Gylfason is stepping down. In a brief blog post on the game's official website, Zulu describes EVE's past 18 months as "an incredibly intense time" filled with "quite a few harsh lessons."

Taking over for Zulu is Jon "CCP Unifex" Lander, who has been playing EVE since 2005 and heading up CCP's Carbon technology team since 2009. Lander spends his introductory post outlining the challenges in the offing for CCP's sci-fi sandbox, and he also mentions that the dev team currently numbers close to 200 people. In a nutshell, it looks like EVE is heading back to basics, as Lander says that the team "will be concentrating on those features we already have in the game after eight years of development."

Finally, all capsuleers who have an active subscription on December 31st will have their character names and images launched into space aboard a high-altitude balloon (yes, really). Head to the official website for more.

Tags: arnar-gylfason, breaking, ccp, ccp-games, ccp-unifex, ccp-zulu, development, eve, eve-online, jon-lander, sandbox, sci-fi

Star Wars: The Old Republic opens up pre-loading for early players [Updated]

by Eliot Lefebvre Dec 7th 2011 at 5:45PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Launches, Patches, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Wait in line politely, everyone will have a chance.

It's almost the time that many players have been waiting for -- the opening of the gates for Star Wars: The Old Republic. According to the most recent news posts, mail will be sent out starting on December 13th to notify players of when their early access period will begin. But why wait that long when you can download the client now, making sure that you're patched up and ready to go when your early access goes live?

The pre-order page for player accounts now includes a link to download and install the client, assuming that you've entered the code you received when you ordered. Curiously, this latest announcement says that players can receive up to seven days of early access, although that may well be a typo. If you'd missed previous announcements, players who took part in a beta weekend prior to November 24th will need to reinstall the game, so go ahead and download the updated client and get ready for the early launch in a few days.

[Update: Darth Hater has collected several forum and Twitter posts that confirm the December 13th date is not a typo and is "different from previously advertised." Early-early-access, here we come!]

Tags: bioware, breaking, ea-bioware, early-access, electronic-arts, news, pre-load, pre-order, preload, preorder, star-wars, star-wars-the-old-republic, sw, swtor, the-old-republic, tor

Dan Stahl beams back aboard Cryptic Studios

by Jef Reahard Dec 1st 2011 at 9:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, News items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play

Star Trek Online - captain and bridge officer

Dan Stahl couldn't stay away from Star Trek Online for long, and now the former executive producer is back in the fold to head up the Foundry team for Cryptic Studios and parent company Perfect World Entertainment.

Stahl, who left STO for Zynga in September, posted on the o-boards earlier this evening announcing his return. "There is something magical going on at Cryptic these days and I'm very happy to be back working on the MMOs that I personally love to play," he said.

The Foundry is Cryptic's suite of user-generated content tools that is currently available in Star Trek Online and slated to appear in the company's upcoming Neverwinter title.

Tags: breaking, cryptic, cryptic-studios, dan-stahl, foundry, mmo-industry, perfect-world-entertainment, player-generated-content, pwe, star-trek, star-trek-online, sto, the-foundry, user-generated-content, zynga

DUST 514 community manager CCP Shadow steps down

by Brendan Drain Nov 27th 2011 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, DUST 514, Sandbox

In February of last year, Massively writer James Egan joined developer CCP Games as a community representative for EVE Online under the name CCP Shadow. He went on to become the community manager for upcoming MMOFPS DUST 514 and an integral part of CCP's customer relations department. In a lengthy post on EVE's off-topic forum, James let everyone know today that he will be leaving CCP at the end of this month. His replacement as DUST 514 community manager has already been picked from the existing team, and James will be taking a much-needed break before deciding whether to return to writing or take a new career direction.

In the forum thread, James remembers the good times he's had over the years thanks to the EVE Online community, both as a writer for Massively and as a community representative for CCP. While he wasn't part of the recent 20% staff layoffs, he relates that many of his friends were. While James will no longer be present under the name CCP Shadow, he will still be playing EVE Online on his normal character with the goal of killing everyone in sight. Everyone here at Massively would like him the best of luck in whatever career he decides to pursue.

Tags: breaking, ccp, ccp-eve, ccp-games, ccp-shadow, community-manager, dust-514, eve, eve-ccp, eve-mmorpg, eve-online, james, james-egan, mmofps, news

EVE Online's Crucible expansion coming Nov 29th

by Jef Reahard Nov 15th 2011 at 2:15PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Sandbox

CCP's feel-good post count has been building to a fever pitch in recent weeks, and today the company has announced the ultimate win-back promotion in the form of EVE Online's 15th major expansion. The content drop is called Crucible, and it's currently scheduled to debut on November 29th.

"Crucible evolves the graphics, interface, and game mechanics with over three dozen updated and improved features based on feedback and challenges put forth by its players. This is EVE re-forged," CCP says on the expansion's teaser page. The web portal also provides a handy collated list of the aforementioned developer updates, and in spite of what was unquestionably the rockiest summer in the sci-fi sandbox title's eight-year existence, the future is looking pretty bright.

Tags: breaking, ccp, ccp-games, crucible, eve, eve-crucible, eve-online, expansion, expansions, flying-in-space, new-content, new-eden, new-ships

Bigpoint working on Game of Thrones MMO

by Jef Reahard Nov 9th 2011 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Browser

Winter is coming, and according to USA Today, so is a rogue's gallery of games based on George R.R. Martin's trendy Song of Ice and Fire IP. In addition to the recently released A Game of Thrones: Genesis strategy title, the lands of Westeros will be featured in an upcoming single-player RPG, a social networking game, and an MMO.

The massively multiplayer entry is being developed by Bigpoint, a German browser-game specialist known for its Battlestar Galactica game and its love of selling in-game advantages.

Whether you're excited about the prospect of killing 10 Lannisters or slitting your wrists over the inevitable MMOification of another beloved fantasy world, the next few months should be interesting to watch.

Tags: a-game-of-thrones, a-song-of-ice-and-fire, breaking, browser, browser-based, f2p, fantasy, free-to-play, game-of-thrones, george-r-r-martin, kill-10-lannisters, mmo-industry, mmoification, nooooooooo, song-of-ice-and-fire, trendy, valar-morghulis, westeros

Rumor: Senior Titan designer laid off by Blizzard

by Jef Reahard Nov 7th 2011 at 4:15PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Rumors

The recent spate of MMO industry layoffs isn't discriminating in terms of company size if the latest rumors are true. We've just been informed that one of Blizzard's golden boys has been served his walking papers, joining hundreds of devs from the likes of NCsoft, GamersFirst, GameForge, and CCP in recent weeks.

John Staats, the senior level designer on Blizzard's secretive Titan project, has been let go, according to our tipster. Staats has been with the company for over a decade and is responsible for some of World of Warcraft's most celebrated content including all the raid dungeons, Blackrock Mountain and Booty Bay, and numerous other instanced dungeons.

Staats was also described by Jeff Kaplan as the "hero of the WoW dev team."

[Thanks to Steve for the tip!]

Tags: blizzard, blizzard-titan, breaking, fantasy, jeff-kaplan, john-staats, layoffs, mmo-industry, rumor, rumors, sci-fi, titan, wow

MechWarrior Online announced

by Eliot Lefebvre Oct 31st 2011 at 7:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, News items, Free-to-play

No BattleTech game is complete without a solid 100 tons of Atlas.

In the future, battles will be fought via BattleMechs -- enormous walking tanks covered in weapons, waging war for control of the region of known space called the Inner Sphere. Sound familiar? It's the premise behind the BattleTech series of games, including the popular MechWarrior franchise. And apparently, in late 2012, players will have the chance to get inside a 'Mech of their own in a new online installment to the series, MechWarrior Online, announced by Piranha Games.

The announcement comes with a slew of questions and answers for expectant players, including information about customizing one's 'Mech, which of the classic designs will be seen in the game, and of course details about the world and timeline that the game takes place. There are no details regarding a beta at the moment, but the team seems quite insistent that the game will launch in 2012. It's certainly going to make next year interesting for all life-long MechWarrior fans.

Tags: announcements, breaking, f2p, free-to-play, mechwarrior, mechwarrior-online, mwo, new-titles, piranha-games, upcoming-titles

DC Universe Online to go free-to-play on November 1st

by Eliot Lefebvre Oct 27th 2011 at 8:10PM

Filed under: Super-hero, Business models, News items, Free-to-play, Consoles, DC Universe Online

Free and clear. In terms of payments, anyway. This scene is kind of a mess.

It was promised and now it's come true. Yesterday, we were promised that today would see the revelation of the date for DC Universe Online's business model switch, but now we're here, and all the tortured chronological phrasing doesn't change the fact of the matter. On Tuesday, November 1st, the game will be launching its hybrid business model, according to the live webcast taking place at the time of this announcement.

As reported previously, the game will be moving into a tiered model, allowing players to access the game with no subscription requirement. Current subscribers who continue to maintain the monthly fee will gain access to a variety of perks, starting (obviously) on November 1st, but if you've always been curious about the game, get ready to jump in and dress up the day after Halloween. Expect further details to be available from Sony Online Entertainment in the near future.

Tags: breaking, business-model, dc, dc-universe, dc-universe-online, dcuo, f2p, free-to-play, soe, sony-online-entertainment

Massively Features

Events Calendar

Name	Date
Cataclysm Launch	Dec 7, 2010
DCUO Launch	Early 2011

Massively Staff

Name	Title
Shawn Schuster	Editor-in-Chief
Brianna Royce	Senior Editor
Rubi Bayer	Community Manager
Brendan Drain	Contributing Editor
Eliot Lefebvre	Contributing Editor
Jef Reahard	Contributing Editor
Justin Olivetti	Contributing Editor
Krystalle Voecks	Contributing Editor
Larry Everett	Contributing Editor
Beau Hindman	Columnist
Edward Marshall	Columnist
Greg Waller	Columnist
Jeremy Stratton	Columnist
Karen Bryan	Columnist
MJ Guthrie	Columnist
Patrick Mackey	Columnist
Ryan Greene	Columnist
Lisa Poisso	Columnist