Crate Entertainment will surely be twitterpating some folks today with the announcement that the Grim Dawn expansion, Ashes of Malmouth, will be released on October 11th! Players will be able to get hold of the expansion for $18 or as part of the Loyalist Edition. To celebrate the big news, Crate also released a brand new cinematic trailer.
– A Tale as Old as Time – Offline Mode & Robust Chat Channels May Finally Come to BattleNet
According to new “strings” of code datamined out of the latest BattleNet desktop build, players may FINALLY be getting an offline mode — a feature that has been requested for years and often hinted at by the developers. In addition, a robust channel creation system ala Discord may also be part of the next build. It’s likely that many of the improvements to BattleNet are being made in preparation for the PC launch of Destiny 2 coming later this month.
Final Fantasy XIV – A Growing Subscription Base to Rival WoW’s Heyday & F2P ‘Could’ Happen
In a new interview at GamesIndustry.biz, Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida has revealed some interesting tidbits about the game’s player base and its overall health. While no firm current subscription numbers are stated, Yoshida does say that “our active subscribers is the largest it’s ever been”. Additionally, the launch of Stormblood saw FFXIV cruise over the 10M player mark, only 2M shy of World of Warcraft at its highest ebb, though this number also includes free trial players.
Divinity Original Sin 2 – Rising to the Divine
Like many of you who love cRPGs, when Larian Studios announced that it was making a sequel to Divinity: Original Sin, the heavens lit up. The KickStarter campaign funded almost immediately and hopes were set high for Divinity: Original Sin 2. I am here today to tell you that your hopes were not in vain and that it is everything we could have hoped for and so much more
Final Fantasy XIV – Patch 4.1 Trailer + Job Changes!
It’s here! There’s finally a trailer for FFXIV Patch 4.1, Stormblood’s first major content update. It was released as part of Naoki Yoshida’s monthly Letter from the Producer Live, and shows — among other things — the footage from the 24-man raid, super-savage, and Rival Wings, a brand new PVP mode that lets you fight alongside a Cruise Chaser. It’s like all my namedays came at once!
Ship of Heroes – New Mercenary Clan Introduced: The Yekus
The Yekus are a newly revealed mercenary clan that will be present in Ship of Heroes. This group is a multi species group that can be used as soldiers no matter which side a player is on. In essence, they are “muscle” for all sides and can be present in eleven worlds.
Warframe – Devs to Participate in 100 Hours of Charity Streaming
From October 5-9, Warframe developers will be taking part in a charity event organized by WarframFanChannels and the National Breast Cancer Foundation, INc. Starting at 4:00 pm Pacific / 7:00 pm Eastern, you can check out over four days of “uninterrupted streaming” to help raise funds and awareness about breast cancer as this is the International Month of Breast Cancer Awareness.
Camelot Unchained – Friday Update Shows Gorgeous Artwork for Bows, Faces & Quivers
The Camelot Unchained Friday newsletter is out and shows off some pretty amazing artwork showing how concept art has been implemented into the game. This includes bows, quivers, bow animations and even some facial models players will have access to.
Wild West Online – Nearly All Weapons Revealed in Newest Developer Post
The Wild West Online forum has a new post for fans of the game that includes a visual look at nearly all of the weapons that will eventually be available in the game. Over twenty firearms are shown along with the context that all of the weapons are historically accurate while retaining the ‘fun’ aspect for using them as well.
Overwatch – Posting on Forums Can be ‘Scary’ & ‘Intimidating’ for Developers According to Kaplan
According to Jeff Kaplan, posting on the Overwatch community forum can be scary and intimidating for developers. He alludes to members of his team who have been “personally attacked and intimidated” by players fans. While the OW team appreciates the enthusiasm, it can be a frightening experience for devs when they are constantly concerned about ‘saying the wrong thing’. Game forums are not a “safe environment” for open communication due to harassment and out of context interpretation.