Author - Jerry Paxton

Men of War II Open Beta Starts Nov 16

Fulqrum Publishing and Ukrainian studio Best Way are happy to announce the upcoming Beta weekend for the highly-anticipated real-time strategy title Men of War II coming on 16th November and concluding on November 21st on Steam. This new beta showcases the progress in development and offers players a more polished experience, including match-making and leaderboards for each of the PVP match setup modes, shorter loading times, and various graphical improvements.

Launching next week, the upcoming open beta introduces “Officer” mode, a challenging PVE scenario that demands strategic prowess from players. In Officer mode, participants must skillfully balance offensive and defensive tactics as they strive to protect an NPC officer for a set amount of time; if the enemy manages to eliminate him, it’s game over. This intense mode will test players’ ability to coordinate their forces effectively and make split-second decisions to achieve victory. Alongside this new mode, all PvE and PvP modes from previous open betas will return for players to enjoy.

Additionally, players can look forward to two gripping new single-player missions that delve into pivotal moments of World War II history for the USA and German troops. These immersive missions provide players with a chance to experience the intensity and complexity of wartime decision-making, plus the Soviet campaign from previous betas returns for players to jump back into the action with all single-player missions.

This beta also introduces four new multiplayer maps, ‘Witch’s Vale’, ‘Village’, ‘Champagne’, and ‘Polesie’, with a total of ten available for players.

This open Beta has been based on feedback from thousands of players who have already played, tested and provided their thoughts on the previous three public tests. The developers will continue to work on polishing and balancing based on fresh player feedback from this Beta. Players’ progress and saves in this open beta test will not carry over to release.

Demiplane Partners with Critical Role’s Darrington Press to Launch Candela Obscura Nexus

Today Demiplane, the digital home for tabletop roleplaying games, announced an exciting partnership with Critical Role’s Darrington Press to create and host the official digital companion for the Illuminated Worlds-powered roleplaying game Candela Obscura, launching alongside the physical release of the Candela Obscura Core Rulebook on November 14.

As part of the partnership, Demiplane will launch a dedicated section for Candela Obscura on the platform, hosting both the Quickstart Guide and Core Rulebook. The Quickstart Guide material will be freely accessible in the Nexus, allowing players to create select characters and attributes, interactively explore the compendium with tooltips, delve into the game mechanics, and more. The full Candela Obscura experience features interactive character sheets, an intuitive creation process, easily accessible overviews of specialities, characters, creatures, game rules and more – the full gambit of the game system as well as the lore, which will be available to purchase for $29.99 USD on the platform.

“Our aim with every new game system added to Demiplane is to ensure it’s inviting for both newcomers and seasoned gamers, focusing on the sheer joy of play,” said Demiplane Co-founder Peter Romenesko. “Working alongside the talented team at Darrington Press has been a dream and we’ve been able to tailor our digital companion to offer smooth entry points like an intuitive step-by-step character creation and a user-friendly game rules compendium. We believe packaging these elements, combined with the Candela Obscura’s deep lore, creatures, artifacts, and more in the players’ hands allows us to enhance the immersion of the Candela Obscura experience whether it happens online or at the table.”

Within the secret society Candela Obscura, individuals of varied talents work as a team—known as a circle—to investigate strange occurrences and dangerous magick, fighting back against a mysterious source of corruption and bleed. As the digital companion to the Candela Obscure Core Rulebook, Demiplane’s dedicated Nexus features everything you need to start a thrilling and terrifying game session, including:

  • The core rules to play and create your Candela Obscura investigators and their circles
  • An overview of the turn of the century-inspired setting of the Fairelands and the city of Newfaire
  • A look at what lies beneath Newfaire, the ancient ruins known as Oldfaire
  • Pre-made sample sessions for gamemasters to learn from and expand upon into their own playthroughs
  • Immersive, in-world ephemera and notes, illustrations, sketches, research notes, correspondences, advertisements, maps, and more to bring the Fairelands to life
  • Digital dice mechanics, and so much more!

Candela Obscura is the latest title to be added to Demiplane’s ever expanding platform, alongside Pathfinder, Avatar Legends, Vampire the Masquerade, Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game and more.

For more information and updates, please visit demiplane.com

Space Trash Scavenger Gameplay Trailer

Today, Paradox Interactive and SquarePlay Games are thrilled to announce the launch of Space Trash Scavenger in Early Access on Steam. Space Trash Scavenger is a third-person interstellar survival sandbox game set in a procedurally generated zero-gravity world, where players must scavenge resources, craft equipment, and trade their way back home. You can now access it on Steam for €19,99/$19,99/£16,99.

In Space Trash Scavenger, players are employed by the megacorporation ScavCorp to retrieve a wide range of resources from space debris, abandoned outposts, and spaceship wrecks, refining them at their space rig. Within this base, they can upgrade their equipment, produce their own food and fuel, while also preparing to defend against roaming alien threats that may come knocking at their door. Space Trash Scavenger is set in a vast procedurally generated spatial open world, inviting players to explore deeper and deeper into the cosmos.

“We’re super hyped to launch Space Trash Scavenger today” says developer Alastair McQueen, of SquarePlay Games. “With local micro-gravity, toybox-sized procedural asteroid fields and a dynamic economy, we tried to bring something new to the survival genre. We’ll be listening to players on where to take the game during Early Access.”

“Space Trash Scavenger is a unique game with an exceptional tone, just waiting to be played and supported by its community. This Early Access phase offers the perfect opportunity to build upon the strong foundations established by the talented team at SquarePlay Games,” declared Ross Kaminskyi, executive producer at Paradox Arc.

Crusader Kings III: Legacy of Persia Launch Trailer

The decline of Abbasid rule in the east has opened the door to new challengers. Powerful vassals, foreign chiefs and the caliph himself struggle to unite a land diverse in cultures, faiths and geography. Rise to the challenge and walk in the footsteps of mighty emperors before you, and claim the Legacy of Persia.

Available today, Crusader Kings III: Legacy of Persia is a new flavor pack for Paradox’s award-winning medieval grand strategy game. New historical color and pageantry await you as you try to win the Struggle for the Iranian heartland as the once mighty Caliphate fights to keep control. Unite the divided lands under your new dynasty, or restore the Caliph to a place of strength and security.

Features of Crusader Kings III: Legacy of Persia include:

  • The Iranian Intermezzo: The Abbasid Caliphate is on the decline, and strong-willed Iranian rulers are set upon independence and a new future for the region. Will you forge a new Empire, subjugate the faltering Caliphate for your own benefit, or see a resurgent Caliphate bring order to the region?
  • More Historical Flavor: New decisions, interactions and buildings for rulers in the Persian region, as well as special content highlighting the importance of clan leadership and protecting the frontier regions.
  • Changes to Iranian Cultures: New Iranian traditions include innovative Court Scholars, unique Men-at-Arms, and powerful new buildings to bring riches out of barren lands.
  • New Art and Music: Persian characters get new clothing, Persian buildings get a redesign and the UI can take on a more Iranian appearance in this Flavor Pack. There are also 8 new music tracks, some cued to events and some to set the mood.

Bahnsen Knights – Release Date Announce Trailer

Bahnsen Knights, a pulp fiction visual novel centered around cars, cults, and catastrophic storms from developer LCB Game Studio and publisher Chorus Worldwide (Coffee Talk series, A Space for the Unbound), revs onto PC and Mac via Steam, PlayStation 5|4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on Thursday, Dec. 14

Guide undercover detective Boulder through a perilous landscape full of F5 tornadoes with the eponymous cultspreading gospel between cracks of thunder in this bite-size horror visual novel. Manage trust levels with cult members, discover what happened to Boulder’s missing partner, and build the case to bring them down…or die trying.

Bahnsen Knights releases on PC and Mac via Steam, PlayStation 5|4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch on Thursday, Dec. 14. Would you like to play the game for coverage ahead of launch? If so, just fill out the form below. Keys will be ready soon!

Assetto Corsa Competizione Getting Nordschleife Course DLC

Assetto Corsa Competizione will add the famed Nordschleife course as DLC available season 2024 on Steam for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Watch the new trailer here for the 24h Nurburgring Pack revealed by 505 Games and developer KUNOS Simulazioni at the Lucca Comics sim racing event.

Key Info:

  • Long requested by fans, the 24h Nurburgring Pack DLC features the famed 15.7 mile Nordschleife track that has played host to some of the most historical races in motorsports history
  • Tackle the Nürburgring 24 Hours for the first time in Assetto Corsa Competizione. experience the beautiful views of the Eifel mountains and the Tower of Nürburg Castle seen by some of racing’s most prestigious drivers.
  • Assetto Corsa Competizione, the official Fanatec Gt World Challenge game, continues to regularly release both free and paid DLC packs featuring new cars and tracks in its quest to be the most realistic racing simulator on the market.

Spelljammer Coming to Neverwinter

Today, Gearbox Publishing and Cryptic Studios announced that Neverwinter’s new module, Spelljammer will launch on PC, PlayStation and Xbox consoles on November 7. The upcoming major update for the free-to-play Dungeons & Dragons MMORPG will let adventurers go on thrilling space-based adventures within the infinite, airless world of Wildspace. Originally introduced in the Dungeons & Dragons Spelljammer: Adventures in Space book, Neverwinter’s Spelljammer module will introduce a brand-new Spelljammer story arc. Featuring an Adventure Zone unlike any other in Neverwinter, Spelljammer brings various planets to explore, a new challenging Trial to conquer, and new quality-of-life improvements.

In Spelljammer, reports of falling stars across all of Toril has led Lord Neverember to summon adventurers to investigate this ill omen. However, while bolstering the city’s defenses, the city of Neverwinter is struck by an astral seed – leading to an assault from Astral Elves of the Xaryxian Empire. During this battle, a spelljammer ship, the Moondancer arrives with the offer of assistance against his deadly empire and departs to Wildspace. Alongside the crew of the Moondancer, you’ll need to journey to various planets and convince the inhabitants to ally against the Xaryxian Empire and save Toril!

Heroes who take on this thrilling space-based adventure will find plenty of content in Neverwinter:

  • New Adventure Zone – Wildspace – A new style of adventure zone never seen before in Neverwinter! Wildspace isn’t a single planet, or area, and it’s not on Toril/ Faerûn — Wildspace is composed of different Landing Sites, each with a unique story, various quests, and different inhabitants all inspired by Spelljammer: Adventures in Space. In addition, there is a special Invasion site where the players battle against the Xaryxian Empire in a race against the clock.
  • New Trial – Defense of the Moondancer – In this new trial, The Moondancer is ambushed by a Xaryxian ship, the Dirty Deceit. Damaged in a surprise attack and boarded, players will need to battle through the Moondancer’s halls and fight their way aboard the Dirty Deceit to defeat Captain Xoor’lar. The new trial will have three difficulty tiers (Normal, Advanced, Master) along with new rewards unique for each difficulty, with the best rewards from the challenging Master difficulty version of the trial.
  • New Quality-of-Life Improvements – The new module will bring multiple quality-of-life improvements to Neverwinter:
  • Boon System Update – Players will be able to unlock multiple different master boons, using their boon points. Master boons have been reworked and upgraded, adding powerful new customization options.
  • Trial Interface Update – Trials have a new interface to help showcase the full team status.
  • Paladin Class Update – As requested by Neverwinter’s community of players, updates, bug fixes and improvements have been made to the Paladin class.
  • Barbarian Sentinel Update – Updates and bug fixes to the Barbarian tank paragon, the Sentinel, have made the class a much more robust option for defeating the Xaryxian Empire.

Neverwinter is a free-to-play action MMORPG featuring fast-paced combat and epic dungeons. Players explore the vast city of Neverwinter and its surrounding lands, learning the vivid history of the iconic city in the Forgotten Realms and battling its many enemies. Neverwinter is available on PC and is free to play digitally on Xbox (Xbox Live Gold membership not required) and PlayStation (PlayStation®Plus not required) consoles.

Wartales Xbox and PC Launch Trailer

Wartales, the medieval open-world tactical RPG developed and published by Shiro Unlimited with more than 800,000 copies sold, lights a campfire on Xbox and PC today!

Command a party of brute mercenaries through a land where everything can be done for the right price. Execute bounties while traveling through swallowing forests, corrupt kingdoms, and perilous mountainsides. Strategically dominate intense turn-based battles, gaining loot and materials to forge weapons, expand the party and sharpen skills by the campfire with the crew.

Winter Survival Gameplay Trailer

Winter Survival, the story-driven, sanity-testing sandbox survival game from developer DRAGO entertainment, endures a blistering battle against nature’s wrath on PC via Steam Early Access beginning Wednesday Feb. 28, 2024.

Check out the all new gameplay trailer debuting today, highlighting the enhanced visuals, model fidelity, and improved vistas gained in Winter Survival’s transition from Unreal Engine 4 to 5.

Little Goody Two Shoes – Launch Trailer

Square Enix Collective® has today released Little Goody Two Shoes™, a mysterious new fairytale anime adventure with a dark twist. The narrative-focused fairytale horror adventure is developed by AstralShift, an independent game development team based in Portugal specialising in creating stunning cinematic games with immersive storylines and evocative soundtracks.

Little Goody Two Shoes is set in the hand-painted fairy tale environment of the devout Kieferberg Village. Beware, there’s more than meets the eye here, while the village may appear normal on the surface, you must manage multiple aspects of Elise’s life in the village to stay alive.

During the day, players will need to strengthen Elise’s bonds with her fellow villagers and work to make a living by playing fun minigames. Once the moon rises, make sure to keep Elise fed, healthy and sane in the multiple encounters with deadly foes as she makes her way further into the Woods. Your decisions and actions will lead to one of 10 possible endings to discover.

Little Goody Two Shoes is visually inspired by 90s adventure games and anime, immersing players in a beautiful world full of nostalgia and sights to see!

Be ready to step into Elise’s shoes and find yourself immersed in mysterious and treacherous world.

Little Goody Two Shoes is OUT NOW for $19.99 on Steam, Windows, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch™, and PlayStation®5 (PS5®).