For a second year, New Game+ Expo (NGPX), a collaborative initiative of video game developers based around the world, will present a digital showcase featuring dozens of games that includes new title announcements and live gameplay demos.
The live showcase will be shown exclusively on Twitch on Thursday, March 4th beginning at 8 AM PST/5 PM CET, followed by additional gameplay, Q&As and more. The full showcase, along with trailers and highlights, will be available to view after the livestream on NGPX’s YouTube channel. Find the official Twitch channel at www.twitch.tv/newgameplusexpo.
Movie Games Lunarium announced that the new release date for the Lovecraftian horror game “Lust from Beyond” is March 11th, 2021. The game’s beta version is available for testing to the press.
‘Lust from Beyond’ is a first-person survival horror game set between our world and a world of endless ecstasy. As Victor Holloway, an American antiquarian, the player pursues the mystery of otherworldly visions, which seem related to Victor’s sex addiction.
This bold, mature production with erotic and occult themes, inspired by the works of Lovecraft and Giger, was already introduced to gamers via two free standalone chapters: Prologue and Scarlet. Both have been enthusiastically received on Steam.
New Release Date
The new release, scheduled for March 11th, was chosen after the beta tests showed an opportunity to further optimize the code and environment, to make the game run and look better on older hardware.
ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE will be made available worldwide in all markets day and date with the US on THURSDAY, MARCH 18 (*with the exception of China, France and Japan, where the release dates are TBD). The feature film will be available in each market via one of the following distribution options – PVOD, PEST, EST, SVOD, TVOD, HBO linear and on HBO Go (in HBO Europe and HBO Asia territories), or via a local TV provider. Additional details for each specific market will be shared in the upcoming weeks.
Today, Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema released the official global red band trailer for their explosive new cinematic feature “Mortal Kombat.”
Inspired by the blockbuster video game franchise, which most recently enjoyed the most successful video game launch in its history with Mortal Kombat 11, “Mortal Kombat” features MMA fighter Cole Young, a brand new character to the Mortal Kombat universe, played by Lewis Tan (“Deadpool 2,” Netflix’s “Wu Assassins”).
In the film, Cole is unaware of his heritage, and why he is being hunted by Outworld’s Emperor Shang Tsung’s best warrior, Sub-Zero. Fearing for his family’s safety, Cole goes in search of Sonya Blade at the direction of Jax, a Special Forces Major who bears the same strange dragon marking Cole was born with. Once he is brought to the temple of Lord Raiden, Cole begins his training with experienced warriors Liu Kang, Kung Lao and rogue mercenary Kano. Soon he will stand with Earth’s greatest champions against the enemies of Outworld in a high stakes battle for the universe.
Helmed by award-winning Australian commercial filmmaker Simon McQuoid, marking his feature directorial debut, and produced by James Wan (“The Conjuring” universe films, “Aquaman,”), Todd Garner (“Into the Storm,” “Tag”), McQuoid and E. Bennett Walsh (“Men in Black: International,” “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”), “Mortal Kombat” is releasing worldwide on April 16, 2021 in theaters and will be available in the U.S. on HBO Max for 31 days from theatrical release.
Today on the Nintendo Direct livestream, Annapurna Interactive and Mobius Digital announced that Outer Wilds, 2019’s critically acclaimed mysterious first-person space simulator game, is coming to Nintendo Switch this Summer 2021. Previously released on Xbox One, PC and PlayStation 4, this open-world exploration game rewards players’ curiosity as they probe their surroundings, track down mysterious signals, decipher ancient alien writing, and roast the perfect marshmallow. Watch the official announcement during the Nintendo Direct reveal here:
Outer Wilds started as a student project by Creative Director Alex Beachum, and the alpha version of the project won the Seamus McNally Grand Prize and Excellence in Design awards at the 2015 Independent Games Festival. Following its launch, Outer Wilds has garnered numerous industry accolades including award wins from the BAFTA Game Awards 2020, New York Game Awards 2019, Golden Joystick Awards 2019 and Pégases Awards 2020, as well as nominations from The Game Awards 2019, D.I.C.E. Awards 2020, SXSW Gaming Awards 2020 and Game Developers Choice Awards 2020.
Outer Wilds Key Features:
From planets and moons to alien structures and spacecraft, discover the mysteries of this hand-crafted, fully dynamic solar system.
Play as the newest recruit of Outer Wilds Ventures, a fledgling space program searching for answers in a strange, constantly evolving solar system.
The planets of Outer Wilds are packed with hidden locations that change with the passage of time. Visit an underground city before it’s swallowed by sand, or explore the surface of a planet as it crumbles beneath your feet.
Use a variety of unique gadgets to probe your surroundings, track down mysterious signals, decipher ancient alien writing, and roast the perfect marshmallow.
Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. today unveiled a new online commerce store – Official Konami Shop. Developed in conjunction with Los Angeles-based creative agency WAYPOINT, the site has now soft launched and features a huge variety of official KONAMI brand merchandise, from home goods to a variety of apparel, accessories, specialty items, and classic collectibles.
With ever-growing interest from fans for KONAMI-brand items, this new eStore provides direct access to items from some of its most iconic brands, including Castlevania, Metal Gear, Goemon, Suikoden, eFootball PES and others that will roll out in the coming months. Throughout the soft launch period, the store will be continually updated, providing a fresh stock of rotating fan-favorite KONAMI items. WAYPOINT will manage day-to-day activities for the store and will work closely with KONAMI on strategic planning and new product updates to share with fans. Additionally, WAYPOINT will be responsible for managing all additional elements of the site, including orders and customer service.
“KONAMI houses more than 50 years of history with its brands, many that span generations of gaming fans,” said Mike Rajna, Senior Director of Business Development & Licensing, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. “With the Official Konami Shop launch, we are thrilled to provide those fans direct access to unique merchandise and one-of-a-kind collectibles across our suite of brands.”
WAYPOINT and KONAMI will carefully consider fan and consumer feedback in ongoing efforts to develop future selections of brand items. All purchases made through the Shop will be available for worldwide shipping.
“There is an incredible wealth of brand content in KONAMI’s catalogue, and partnering with them to create and manage this site is an exciting endeavor,” said Sean Murrin, CEO and Creative Director, WAYPOINT. “Our team’s expertise is creating dynamic brand experiences, and we will be carefully curating every item that fans see in the store and continually evolving the store and product line to match consumer preferences.”
Today at its second Panel From Hell livestream, Larian Studios unveiled Baldur’s Gate 3’s fourth major update: Nature’s Power. This huge update will include the first new playable class for Baldur’s Gate 3, which launched into early access in October 2020. The changes coming to the game when Patch 4 arrives will be greater than all three prior patches combined!
The Druids
The Druid class comes with over 30 spells and abilities, including Wild Shape. New dialogue and voice-over have also been recorded so that playing a Druid delivers the same deeply narrative experience as the other classes (Humans, Elves, Half-Elves, Halflings, Dwarves, Tieflings, Drow, etc.). We won’t spoil them, but those who visit Druid’s Grove as a Druid may enjoy a game of spot-the-difference. And of course, as a game that reacts to who you are, there will be new rewards, options, story moments, and interactions scattered throughout Act 1.
With the power of the wilderness at their fingertips, Druids can transform their shape to adapt to different situations. Crunch bones and slam into enemies as a Dire Wolf or Polar Bear. Spin your silken thread over the environment as a Spider. Soar above Faerun as a Raven. Sneak into hostile spaces unnoticed as a Cat. Burrow under the earth and ambush opponents as a Badger. Or temporarily embrace the tadpole that the Mindflayers have implanted inside you, discovering a new, mysterious Aberrant Shape.
There will be eight Shapes available: Deep Rothé, Cat, Raven, Dire Wolf, Badger, Spider, Polar Bear, and Aberrant. NPCs will react to your animal form in procedural ways. Bear blocking your path? Assume Bear Shape and speak his own language!
D&D fans will know that Druids traditionally come from one of a number of Circles. Druids will be able to choose from one of two Circles to inform how they play:
Circle of the Land: Keepers of the Old Faith, these Druids are connected to arctic wastelands, sunny coasts, scorching deserts, fair forests, green grasslands, tall mountains, treacherous swamps and even the vast, otherworldly realm of the Underdark. Based on what type of geography they’re connected to, they gain additional power.
Circle of the Moon: Changeable as the moon, these stewards of nature haunt the deepest parts of the wilderness. Transformation is no problem for most Druids, but those who keep the ways of the moon gain the ability to morph into more powerful combative Wild Shapes like the Polar Bear.
For further information on Druids in D&D, be sure to check out the VOD version of the Panel From Hell 2, where Lead Systems Designer Nick Pechenin and D&D Principal Rules Designer Jeremy Crawford explored the ways in which Larian has incorporated the versatile character class into the game. With the aforementioned Wild Shape ability taking center stage, the panel talked through many more spells, abilities and character interactions that the Druid has enabled.
Global Expansion
The Panel From Hell 2 also covered the ways in which Larian has and continues to meet the challenges of such a gargantuan RPG. Already situated in Belgium, Ireland, Russia, and Canada, the studio today formally announced expansion into England and Malaysia with its Guildford and Kuala Lumpur studios, respectively. This expansion is not only about increasing the number of developers working on the game, but also allowing development to follow the sun, with each studio acting as a mirror-image of one another, insofar as it’s possible.
The result of this continued commitment is, of course, all the updates through to Patch 4, but also, as covered in the Panel From Hell 2, specific examples of how Larian was able to quickly address and work with player feedback to create tangible quality-of-life improvements to the game.
Big Changes in BG3’s Patch 4
Along with Druids, Patch 4: Nature’s Power will bring a number of changes to the game, many of which have been requested by the community or influenced by community feedback, including (naturally) fixes, but also major overall improvements like:
Optional Loaded Dice: This optional change will help smooth out the extremes of the bell curve. It retains the core elements of RNG, ensuring a player can no longer be unlucky or super lucky with several dice rolls in a row. The system also runs in two parts: dice rolls in dialogue are different to those in combat, and this change only impacts the d20, not damage rolls.
Improved Cinematics: Narrative cinematics will be given a new lease on life thanks to major improvements in lighting and animation, resulting in some truly spectacular story sequences.
Speak With Dead Cinematic Functionality: Cinematics in special cases like Speak with Dead will get huge improvements, along with the ability to join conversations as an animal. The patch will also add improved animations with the Druids in the Grove as they cast spells and use their abilities.
Multiplayer: Those embarking on their adventure together with friends will be able to see other players’ equipment, spells, inventory and character sheets (as well as the ability to take and place items to and from). There is no lock function — that will come in a future patch. As a result, your friends could, for example, steal your items. But don’t worry. They’re your friends. They wouldn’t do that to you, would they?
Quality of Life: A series of much-requested features will be implemented. Players will be able to target friends and enemies with spells and equipment by clicking on their portraits. As an alternative to clicking on a character in the world, players will also be able to easily select and attack whoever they want from the UI. We’ll also be adding a flee button for the errr… tacticians among us. And using torches will be easier thanks to the long-awaited addition of the torch button!
Now, this PR is getting insufferably long, so be sure to recap on the Panel From Hell 2 for all the latest news and updates, as well as the patch notes once they’re published ahead of Patch 4’s launch, which is coming very soon (…when it’s ready).
Victura and Highwire Games today announced Six Days in Fallujah, a first-person tactical military shooter based on true stories from the Second Battle for Fallujah in 2004, coming to PC and consoles in 2021. Originally announced by Atomic Games in 2009, Six Days in Fallujah returns with a new publisher, new developer and an all-new game from many of the core leadership team who created the original Halo and Destiny games.
“Sometimes the only way to understand what’s true is to experience reality for yourself,” says former Marine Sergeant Eddie Garcia, who was wounded during the Battle for Fallujah and proposed the original idea for Six Days in Fallujah in 2005. “War is filled with uncertainty and tough choices that can’t be understood by watching someone on a TV or movie screen make these choices for you. Video games can help all of us understand real-world events in ways other media can’t.”
The Second Battle for Fallujah began in 2004 after Al Qaeda seized control of one of Iraq’s major cities. The battle proved to be the toughest military conflict for Western forces since 1968.
Atomic Games announced Six Days in Fallujah in 2009, but saw the title abandoned by its original publisher following controversy about the ability of video games to cover challenging real-world events. Victura is a publishing and production company founded in 2016 by former Atomic Games CEO Peter Tamte with the goal of bringing a new Six Days in Fallujah to players, along with other games based on true stories.
Working in partnership with frontline Marines and Soldiers who fought in the Battle for Fallujah, Victura and Highwire have spent more than three years building unique technologies and game mechanics that bring players closer to the uncertainty and tactics of modern combat than other video games have explored.
Over 100 Marines, Soldiers, and Iraqi civilians who were present during the Second Battle for Fallujah have shared their personal stories, photographs, and video recordings with the development team. The game gives these stories voice through gameplay and first-person accounts captured in original documentary interview footage. Six Days in Fallujah aims to be the most authentic military shooter to date and to tell these military and civilian stories with the integrity they deserve.
“It’s hard to understand what combat is actually like through fake people doing fake things in fake places,” says Peter Tamte, CEO of Victura. “This generation showed sacrifice and courage in Iraq as remarkable as any in history. And now they’re offering the rest of us a new way to understand one of the most important events of our century. It’s time to challenge outdated stereotypes about what video games can be.”
Six Days in Fallujah will launch for PC and consoles in 2021. Victura will announce more details about Six Days in Fallujah in the coming weeks.
For more information about the game go to Six Days in Fallujah at www.sixdays.com where you can also read a letter from the team about why it’s important for this game to be made (https://sixdays.com/why). Six Days in Fallujah is also on Twitter (@VicturaGG), and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0_ZHfbMbeosqhCQutQgzVw).
Today, Skybound Entertainment, home of The Walking Dead, Invincible, The Grim Forest and more, officially launched its highly-anticipated Kickstarter campaign for Bloodstone, a first of its kind PvP/PvE (Player vs Player / Player vs Environment) arena tabletop roleplaying game.
Created by Skybound Entertainment’s Senior Director of Tabletop Games, James Hudson, and available exclusively on Kickstarter, Bloodstone boasts eight playable characters with their own unique backstories and playstyles who are trapped in eternal combat and forced to fight to the death – then get up and do it again – all to the whims of a cruel tyrant who has been corrupted by the Bloodstone, an evil and powerful relic that enchants any who possess it. Utilizing a custom dice mechanism to determine your character’s attacks and movements (ranging from dealing straightforward damage towards enemies in the arena to banking dice for a later turn that can aid allies or beleaguer foes) Bloodstone allows for PvP bloodsport or coordinated PvE attacks against a common foe.
wwwwwwwwBacking this 24-day Kickstarter-exclusive campaign is the only chance to experience the world of Bloodstone as games will be made to order with a very limited number available to purchase from Skybound following the campaign.
To accompany Bloodstone, Skybound is releasing a book tie-in that explores the lore behind the game, fully explaining how the dangerously powerful Bloodstone works and diving into the backstories of each combatant as well as how they become trapped in the deadly pit. In Bloodstone: Awakening, veteran game and fantasy author Ari Marmell (A Mick Oberon Job urban fantasy detective series, Widdershins Adventures YA series, The Goblin Corps) brings to life the characters from this soon-to-be-beloved tabletop game with vivid realism and intense combat for fans of sword-and-sorcery fantasy and tabletop gaming alike. The tie-in novel, published by Simon & Schuster, is set to release in Spring 2022, with the first five chapters available to Bloodstone Kickstarter backers.
SnowRunner, the ultimate off-road driving experience from Saber Interactive and Focus Home Interactive, is expanding once again with “Season 3: Locate & Deliver.” Available now for all Season Pass and Premium Edition owners on PlayStation®4, Xbox One, and PC, Season 3 brings two original maps in a new region, plus new vehicles, vehicle skins, stickers, and the return of the franchise’s iconic logging gameplay. There’s also a free update today with new content for all players.
Season 3 introduces Wisconsin, USA, a new region that’s all about logging lumber for big paydays. A limited number of generators are needed to power all the buildings in the area, and it’s up to you to pick and choose what you need and when as you repair a train station and its accompanying lines.
Your new vehicles for Season 3 are the International PayStar Twin Steer, the Pacific P512 PF, and the BOAR 45318. They’ll help power you through the new maps of Grainwoods River and Black Badger Lake, two flooded, densely forested landscapes filled with broken-down machinery and challenging missions to discover.
Season 3 also adds a free content update for all players featuring new trials, cargo, missions, and various cosmetic upgrades. More logging activities have been added to previous maps, meaning everyone can get a taste of the action. And don’t forget to check out the ever-expanding selection of community-made mods on both consoles and PC to further enhance your SnowRunner experience.
“Season 3: Locate & Deliver” is also available as standalone DLC. SnowRunner’s Premium Edition, which includes both the base game and its Season Pass, can be purchased on the official store.
