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SirMadsen

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Blog Entries posted by SirMadsen

  1. The fact that money has been raised for Star Citizen for almost ten years does not diminish people's willingness to contribute to the mammoth project. Last year, the game raised $85 million, according to Tweaktown.
    That is over 8 million dollars more than the previous record year 2020. Between 2013 and 2018, it pulled in just over 30 million dollars a year. In 2019, it increased to 47 million, followed by 77 million in 2020 and thus 85 million last year. That according to compilations here and here. That means an inflow of 232,000 dollars a day.
    Star Citizen has been crowdfunded since its launch in the fall of 2012, and a total of $427 million has fallen into the developers' account. By comparison, GTA V is often said to have been the most expensive game of all time, with a price tag of around 260 million dollars.
    The latest alpha version of Star Citizen was released at Christmas, and now carries version number alpha 3.16. Release dates do not yet exist, and are expected to be delayed. The same applies to the stand-alone campaign part Squadron 42, which can not yet be tested by buyers.
  2. It feels a little funny that Pharaoh, a game about ancient Egypt, has the title A New Era. But! At the same time, we must remember that the game is a remake of Pharaoh that was released at the end of the last millennium. A lot is similar in the remake that "soon" will be released on Steam. The isometric perspective is in place, and the gameplay seems pretty untouched. Graphically, however, it is polished.
    The new 4k trailer shows the evolution from 1999 to today, and a lot has happened. The team reveals in the trailer description that the interface has received a boost. The package also includes the expansion from 2000, Cleopatra: Queen of the Nile. All in all, we will be offered many hours of strategy.
    "The game's campaign challenges players to develop cities throughout six different periods of ancient Egypt, building up trade centers, grand cities, and more. Pharaoh: A New Era includes the 2000 expansion, Cleopatra: Queen of the Nile, bundling more than 100 hours of gameplay, 53 missions, a full map and mission editor, and a Free Build mode into the ultimate celebration of the original genre-defining classic."
    There is no release date, but "soon" still sounds pretty optimistic.
     
  3. Streamelements has released its State of the Stream review for 2021. Among other things, we see that the number of streamed hours on Twitch increased sharply compared with the year before. In 2021, we have streamed 24 billion hours, while the sum for 2020 was "only" 17 billion. Streaming on Facebook has also increased, from 3.6 billion to 5.3 billion hours.
    When it comes to individual games, it is Grand Theft Auto 5 that has established itself in this year's first place, with 2.1 billion streamed hours. It is followed by League of Legends, with 1.8 billion hours, and then Fortnite, with 1 billion hours. The biggest debut game was in turn New World, with 259 million hours and an 18th place on the list of teams.
    However, gaming has not been the biggest category on Twitch during the year - not in the long run actually. Instead, it was "Just Chatting" that snagged that honor, with 3.1 billion hours. As the name suggests, it is a category where you mostly sit and talk, and many game streamers hang out there between their game sessions to talk to fans, among other things.
  4. Sam Fisher is on his way back, but not in a whole new game (as far as we know), but in a remake of the first game.

    The remake will be made in Snowdrop Engine, which has been used primarily in The Division games. Matt West from Ubisoft says that they are still early in development and that the game is being rebuilt from scratch. However, they want to maintain the spirit of the original game, and for example, it will still be about linear paths rather than an open game world.

    Ubisoft Toronto is responsible for the development, and they themselves state that there are many veterans in the team who have worked on previous Splinter Cell games. They say they want to build a stable base for Splinter Cell's future, and in the video above they also say that "the return of the series is glimpsed on the horizon". It therefore sounds like the series may be revived seriously, unless they just refer to the VR game that is underway.

    We do not yet have a release date for Splinter Cell Remake, nor do we know which platforms it will be released on.

  5. Funcom is once again in the process of creating a multiplayer / survival game, but instead of barbarians and hydrographs, rival families and sandworms are common. In October , they announced that they were looking for new people to develop this Dune game, and now we know that they will also receive help from the studio Nukklear.
    Nukklear has previously worked with games such as Everspace 2 , Destroy All Humans and Comanche , and on their website they write that the Dune game will be inspired by one of Funcom's other survival titles, Conan Exiles . According to Nukklear, the scope of the game has been significantly expanded thanks to an investment from Tencent, which is why they have been hired to provide assistance.
    Kirk Lenke, CEO of Nukklear, had the following to say:
    "We are grateful that Funcom has hired us to help bring Dune to a new medium. We have provided support to and collaborated on many projects over the years, but tackling Dune is without a doubt the biggest so far."
  6. Around sixty employees at Raven Software arranged a walkout on Monday in protest of Friday's dismissals in the studio's Quality Assurance team. During the period 3-8 December, the contract employees in the QA team will find out if they get a full-time job at Raven, or if their time at the studio is over. Twelve employees, a third of the studio's QA team, were notified on Friday that they had been laid off. It states the Washington Post.
    The demand from the strikers, which consists of both full-time and contract employees, is that the entire QA team should get full-time employment at Raven. This also applies to those who are fired on Friday. They also highlighted the importance of the QA team for the studio's work and well-being. Eurogamer quotes:
    "In response to the events of Friday, the Raven QA team and other members of Raven's staff will be walking out with a singular demand: Every member of the QA team, including those terminated on Friday, must be offered full time positions. The Raven QA department is essential to the day-to-day functioning of the studio as a whole. Terminating the contracts of high performing testers in a time of consistent work and profit puts the health of the studio at risk."
    The parent company Activision Blizzard has announced that they support their employees' right to express their opinions and concerns without fear of reprisals from the company. They also stated that the dismissals on Friday were part of a major restructuring of contract employees at the company, and that within the coming months they plan to provide full-time employment to 500 of them.
    "Activision publishing is growing its overall investment in its development and operations resources. We are converting approximately 500 temporary workers to full-time employees in the coming months. Unfortunately, as part of this change, we also have notified 20 temporary workers across studios that their contracts would not be extended."
    The work environment at Activision Blizzard has been a hot topic lately, yesterday's walkout was the third of its kind at the company since July, when the allegations of sexual harassment at the company emerged. Since then, employees have also demanded the resignation of CEO Bobby Kotick when they revealed how much he knew about the harassment, and most recently it was announced that Activision Blizzard is not welcome at The Game Awards this Thursday night.
    For most people today, Raven Software is probably best known as a support developer for the Call of Duty series, but the older ones among us probably also remember the Jedi Knight - and Soldier of Fortune series among the studio's works.
  7. Bad Company 2 characters with Battlefield 3 vehicles on El Alamein? Yes, please.
    Battlefield 2042 offers a lot of new content, including maps , weapons and specialists . But many learn to spend most of their time in the Battlefield Portal game mode, which contains material from Battlefield 1942 , Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3 . What can you invent there? EA and Dice give us a taste of this in the latest trailer.
    They have also published a blog post where they describe the process of tailoring the game modes. We have a variety of maps to choose from (see image below), including classics like El Alamein and Battle of the Bulge, but please note that Playstation 4 and Xbox One will not have access to the seven major maps.
    On these maps, soldiers from the various games can collide, and we can set everything from bullet speed and damage to health regeneration and whether vehicles should be called in, placed on the map or simply not included. And these are just a few examples, there are lots of other things to set up.
    You will be able to do all this via a website, and you do not need to own the game to put together your own game modes. When you are done, you get a code that can be shared with people who actually have the game, so they can test.
    Battlefield 2042 will be released on November 19 (early access November 12).
     
  8. They have everything from target explosives to ballistic shields.
    The fact that Battlefield 2042 will use specific characters named specialists instead of more anonymous classes has not directly become the most acclaimed feature of the game. In the beta test , we got to test four of them, and via a video, Dice has now shown five more.
    First out is Navin Rao, who is of the recon class. He can hack both objects in the environment as well as players, and if he kills a hacked player, the trojan network kicks in and shows all enemies nearby. Then we have Santiago "Dozer" Espinoza, and just as the name suggests, he is a heavy assault guy who can use a portable ballistic shield and also take less damage from explosions.
    Next in line is Emma "Sundance" Rosier, also of assault class. Her specialty is a set of smart explosive charges that, for example, can search for targets on their own. She also gets a wingsuit that allows her to glide long distances. Then we have Ji-soo Paik, who is recon class. Her passive ability is that she automatically "spots" enemies that do damage to her, while her active ability allows her to see the silhouette of enemies behind objects.
    Last out is Constantin "Angel" Anghel, who is a support class. He can quickly revive other players and restore their armor, as well as summon an ammo and equipment box.
    Battlefield 2042 will be released on November 19 for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S and Playstation 4/5.
  9. Which in the series is your favorite?
    You never talk about a lady's age, but today we have to make an exception. Today it is exactly 25 years ago that the first Tomb Raider was released for Sega Saturn. Playstation and PC versions followed, followed by an almost innumerable stream of sequels, reboots, movies, books and more.
    The latest game in the series, Shadow of the Tomb Raider , has a few years on its neck and also became a finale in the trilogy that was created to take Lara back to its roots. No new game has been officially announced, but Crystal Dynamics has already started releasing little hints. The new adventure will connect the reboot games with Core's classic series . But when ...? No clue.
    However, if you have a clue about Lara Croft trivia, our anniversary quiz about Tomb Raider is recommended . Then it's time to find out once again: which is the best game in the main series?
  10. Good news for anyone who has Battlefield friends spread across multiple platforms: Dice plans to build and test cross-play for Battlefield 2042 so people on different platforms can play with and against each other. Unfortunately, this also means that the technical, closed alpha test will be postponed until later this summer.
    During this test, they will test the cross-play functionality, and a few thousand players will be invited to play against each other on PC, Xbox Series X / S and Playstation 5. However, they point out that this is a relatively limited and controlled testing, and not in line with the open beta test that will be held later.
    In the final version of the game, they aim for players on PC, Xbox Series X / S and Playstation 5 to be able to play together, and for players on Xbox One and Playstation 4 to be able to play together. If you only want to play with people on the same console, you can also opt out of cross-play. Together with the bots that are to be included in the game, it will not be overly difficult to find servers to connect to.
    In addition to cross-play, the game also support cross-progression, which means that everything you unlock in e.g. The Playstation 5 version of the game will be available when you log in to the PC version.
  11. Everyone will meet Jabba the Hut, but a specific mission costs extra.
    When Star Wars Outlaws was shown off and given a release date last week, it was clear that Ubisoft is trying to lure buyers to the more expensive versions with exclusive content.
    The standard edition costs $69.99, but for an extra $40 for the Gold Edition or an extra $60 (as much as a full game) for the Ultimate Edition, you get to start playing three days before the real premiere, plus the season pass (and with the future dlc) and some cosmetic stuff. As well as a mission with Jabba the Hut missions that you can't play if you buy the regular game.
    This move received stinging criticism from many, and now Ubisoft has commented on the matter. PC Gamer is told that Jabba the Hutt and his cartel are included in the game for all buyers. But for the specific assignment mentioned in the pre-booking information, you have to pay more.
    "To clarify, Jabba the Hutt and the Hutt Cartel are one of the main syndicates in Star Wars Outlaws and will be part of the experience for everyone who purchases the game, regardless of edition. The 'Jabba’s Gambit' mission is an optional, additional mission with the Hutt Cartel along Kay and Nix's journey across the Outer Rim. This mission will be available to those who purchase the season pass or an edition of the game which includes the season pass."
    Star Wars Outlaws is coded by in Sweden Malmo-based Massive Entertainment and thus published by Ubisoft. The release date is August 30, and it can be played on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series.
  12. According to Taiwanese Digitimes Asia, Charles Huang, CEO of HTC, in connection with MWC has announced that the company has plans to present a new flagship phone. According to HTC, the phone, which can be launched as early as April, will have a metaverse connection, which means a focus on AR and VR.
    HTC has also presented the platform "Viverse" which will act as a springboard into the so-called meta-summary and connect VR games, movies and apps with, among other things, blockhains, crypto and NFTs.
    In addition to a number of midrange phones, HTC has not introduced a flagship phone since the launch of the HTC U12 +, which took place in June 2018. A phone that received a lot of criticism due to slow and not completely bug-free updates. The company has since chosen to focus on developing VR headsets under the “Vive” brand together with associated ancillary services. The company's latest VR product - HTC Vive Flow - is developed to be paired with a smartphone.
  13. Microsoft will stop selling both services and products - including Xbox Series consoles - in Russia. Microsoft CEO Brad Smith confirms this in a new statement (via VGC).
    Smith condemns Russia's invasion and expresses terror, anger and sadness.
    As of today, sales for the tech giant in Russia will cease. It remains to be seen how long. At the same time as the decision has been made, actions is also being taken to follow the sanctions at, among others, the EU.
    Microsoft and Smith do not rule out that more information is to be expected in the future. He thinks they...
    The invasion of Ukraine characterizes the gaming world in different ways, in the small and the big.

  14. Is Ubisoft for sale?

    · SirMadsen · 04/26/2022 09:12 PM

    The rumor keeps on going. Bloomberg reports that Ubisoft is talking to potential buyers about a sale of the company. It all doesn't seem entirely unreasonable given all the problems Ubisoft has faced lately, with declining share prices, sales that didn't meet expectations and internal personnel issues that have received a lot of negative attention.
    According to Bloomberg, it is private equity firms that are currently feeling Ubisoft on the pulse, two of which are named: Blackstone and KKR & Co. According to Kotaku, Ubisoft has been questioning potential buyers and their intentions for a year.
    However, the big boss Yves Guillemot has relatively recently stated that the company can remain independent of other owners:
    At the same time, he left the door open:
    Given what the recent past has delivered in the form of unexpected takeovers, perhaps a Ubisoft deal wouldn't raise too many eyebrows.
  15. Finding the Map Pieces in Evil Dead: The Game
    When entering a match as one of the defenders of humanity, you will receive a mission objective in the top right corner that will read something like “Collect a piece of the map near Faison farm.” This usually points to the map piece closest to your location, and I believe all players have the same piece to look for at the same time.
    You may find when approaching this area that the building you were supposed to search doesn’t contain the map piece; Fret not, because this isn’t a piece of demon trickery. You have to search the entire grey circle area outlined on the map in order to find the map piece.
    This is easier to do if you open up your full map. You can do this by pressing M on the keyboard or with the select button on the controller.
    When you do approach the area of the map piece’s location, you will see a highlighted exclamation point over the area. Approach this, hold down E, and you will collect the map piece. Your mission objective should now change, telling you where to look to find the next piece. The map will also be highlighted with a green aura.
    Keep in mind, though the placement of the map pieces is different every game, the map can only spawn in certain areas. It will often be on a wall, at eye level, facing the rest of the room where the player would be standing. Look for areas that logically would have a map there.

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