Author Archives: 1080Partners

Troll & I coming to Nintendo Switch

February 22, 2017 – Walnut Creek, CA – Video game publisher Maximum Games, in partnership with developer Spiral House, has released a brand-new features trailer for its upcoming action adventure game, Troll and I. Today’s video further delves into the world of Troll and I, providing an extensive overview of key gameplay features including the in-game foraging and crafting systems, as well as the split-screen co-op feature. Maximum Games and Spiral House also confirmed today that Troll and I will be releasing on the Nintendo’s upcoming new system, the Nintendo Switch, later this Spring.

In Troll and I, players will be tasked with strategically utilizing Troll and Otto’s unique strengths to overcome the many enemies they will face in the Scandinavian backcountry – whether they be the human hunters pursuing Troll for their own greedy ends or mythical orcs known as ‘Ahky’ unleashed from the depths of the earth. Solo players can seamlessly switch between Otto and Troll in-game, using Troll’s massive size and strength to throw boulders at enemies or Otto’s speed and resourcefulness to stealthily take out a lone hunter without raising an alarm. Troll and I also supports split-screen gameplay for couch co-op, as two heads, and pairs of hands, are always better than one.

Throughout the game, players will encounter various natural resources when playing as Otto, and should make use of Otto’s keen senses and attunement to nature to track down wildlife, which can be hunted and used to heal him during battle. Otto will exploit the materials of the forest to fashion spears and other weapons that will prove crucial to the duo’s survival. Otto’s connection to his surroundings and the environment around him plays a key role in the player successfully navigating treacherous situations.

In addition, Maximum Games is proud to confirm that Troll and I will be releasing on Nintendo’s revolutionary new system, the Nintendo Switch, this Spring! The game will be fully playable at home or on the go using the Joy-Con™ controllers for both solo and split-screen co-op gameplay, allowing players to continue Troll and Otto’s adventure wherever they are. Additional details about the Nintendo Switch release for Troll and I will be available at a later date.

Troll and I is currently in development from Spiral House and will be published by Maximum Games. The game will be available on March 21, 2017 in North America and on March 24, 2017 in Europe for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, and digitally on PC, with the Nintendo Switch release slated for Spring 2017. This title has been rated “T for Teen” by the ESRB.

For the latest news on Troll and I, please follow the official Facebook and Twitter pages.

For more information on Maximum Games, please visit: http://www.maximumgames.com.

The Golf Club 2 First look!

February 7, 2017 – Walnut Creek, CA – Foooore! Video game publisher Maximum Games, in partnership with developer HB Studios, has today released a brand-new first look trailer for their highly anticipated sports game, The Golf Club 2. Further expanding upon the popular first installment, The Golf Club 2 aims to hit a hole in one with its huge community of players, as well as newcomers to the franchise, when it releases this Spring on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, and Windows PC via Steam®.

In this first in-depth look at the game, Maximum Games and HB Studios shed light on the process behind the game’s development, focusing on all-new features that take the game to a whole new level. Now with a progression-based Career Mode, the addition of Societies, and improved Course Creator, The Golf Club 2 replicates a compelling and authentic experience of being on the green. Alongside these giant improvements to the game, The Golf Club 2 scores big with a host of new environments, cutting-edge swing mechanics, limitless customization options and dynamic online tournaments.

Responding to the request of The Golf Club community, the developers have now built out a series of tournaments players must advance through in Career Mode to move up in status. As you progress through your season, your competition grows with you, pushing you to improve your game. Career earnings from each event and season give you the freedom to purchase clothing and accessories for your golfer, along with membership dues to Societies.

Players will now be able to create their own online Society or join a pre-existing one. While you can be part of more than one Society, one of them will be your Primary Membership. You’ll represent your Society in all events you play, climbing your way to the top of Team Leaderboards and upgrading your clubhouse as you progress.

The Course Creator, a signature feature that HB Studios is committed to perfecting in each of its titles, also sees vast improvement in this upcoming sequel, with more creative freedom to build the ideal course to suit any player’s style. Fans of the first installment can either start fresh or upgrade a previous masterpiece from The Golf Club. Included in the new additions to the Course Creator are: tournament dressings with media stands, crowd placement, multi-level water features, and more.

Players can get a head start on their career and pre-order The Golf Club 2 now for $49.99. They will receive the “Day 1” edition which includes the following bonus content:

• Moneybags – Save time and get rich quick with an instant payout that will boost your career and give you serious purchasing power
• Elite Club – Make your competitors jealous and stand out among the crowd with an exclusive 24K solid gold driver
• Premier Clubhouse – Gain access to an exclusive high society clubhouse for you and your friends
• Heirloom Apparel – Play in style with a throwback outfit from the golden age of golf
• Elite Emblem – Add class to your Society logo with a signature badge

For additional pre-order and product information, please visit: www.thegolfclub2.maximumgames.com.

E3 will be open to the public this year

For the first time ever, E3 is opening its doors to the public. The Entertainment Software Association, which organizes the event every year, announced today that an allotment of 15,000 tickets will be made available for anyone to buy this coming Monday, February 13.

Priced at $250 (or $150 as part of an early bird discount available on February 13), tickets provide access to the show floor, panel discussions, and other events from Tuesday through Thursday of E3 week. The ESA will partnerwith games media veteran Geoff Keighley to provide attendees with access to special benefits associated with Keighley’s own E3 programming, such as developer interviews and more. Full details on this and other elements of E3’s new public plans will be announced in the coming weeks.

For years now, there have been calls to open E3 to the public. The ESA conducted an experiment of sorts for this in 2016 with its E3 Live event, which was free and open to the public. It was located outside of the Los Angeles Convention Center, the site of E3, and attendees could go hands-on with upcoming games and take part in other events. There was “incredible attendee enthusiasm” for this event, the ESA’s senior VP of communications, Rich Taylor, tells GameSpot. So the next step was to invite fans to actually walk the halls of E3 and get closer to the action.

“The feedback we heard was clear–they wanted to play the games inside the convention center. In addition, exhibitors inside the convention center wanted to have access to the fans. So this year we’re bringing the two together,” Taylor said.

“It’s a changing industry, and E3 has always evolved to meet industry needs and anticipate where we’re heading together–as an event, as an industry, and as fans. The decision to open our doors to 15,000 fans was a strategic decision. It is thanks to our members and their vision and leadership that made this possible. We have a model that allows the business of the industry to continue for our business and media attendees and provides an opportunity for video games’ biggest fans to experience the latest in innovative, immersive entertainment.”

Every year, it seems, the question comes up, “Is E3 still relevant?” A number of companies pulled out of E3 2016, including Activision and EA. Certainly, the industry is changing, and gaming shows like E3, Gamescom, and PAX–which has always been open to the public–remain popular. Taylor says E3 faces “the relevancy question” every year because it’s the year’s juggernaut when it comes to gaming shows.

“I think there are those who always enjoy questioning those at the top of the leaderboard,” he says. “E3 has a reputation around the world as the place where video game hardware and software launches happen. Last year, E3 generated more than 65 billion media impressions around the globe. That doesn’t happen accidentally, and it’s a testament to E3’s strength, its connection to the fans, and the event’s position in the industry.”

Disclosure: GameSpot and the ESA are media partners for E3.

Via GameSpot

Will 2017 be Sold Out’s biggest year yet?

Despite the narrative of digital sales becoming a bigger part of today’s games market, 80% of new releases are bought in a box.

This is a sector within which publisher Sold Out has built its business, and it’s done it rather successfully, too. The current version of this company formed at the beginning of 2014, after being spun out of Mastertronic, producing a turnover of more than £4m in its first year of operation. Now in its third year, the firm is targeting a turnover of between £18m and £20m.

2016 was a sizeable year for Sold Out, too, with the publisher releasing the likes of Worms WMD and Overcooked from Team17, as well as Introversion Software’s Early Access darling Prison Architect and vehicular violence title, Carmageddon: Max Damage.

“We’re now getting traction,” the firm’s boss Garry Williams says. “People are discovering us. In publishing, Year One is about putting your goods out there and having a good year. The second year, we kept putting releases out and gathering more partners. We’re in our third year now, and it’s been all about the consolidation.

“We have the traction and some good people have joined us. We want some more smart people from developers to actually see that gap.”

While the firm’s 2016 was rather promising, what we know of its 2017 release slate is even more impressive. The company has the latest entry in Rebellion’s Sniper Elite series hitting shelves on February 14th, while Yooka-Laylee, the Kickstarter release from former Rare developers Playtonic, launches in April.

“Our Q1 will knock everyone out the park,” Williams says. “They’ll start to take notice. The people who work with us know that we know what we are doing, so they’re happy and not going anywhere. But when you start seeing the chart stuff and see how many copies Sniper Elite 4 sells next month, people will pay attention. Yooka-Laylee will probably do very well, too. There’s a real love from the fans for that product that I just didn’t appreciate. A lot of people didn’t know that the consumers who go into retail are actually really big Nintendo fans and love that sort of game.”

He continues: “Our expectations [for Sniper Elite 4 and Yooka-Laylee] are extremely high. Both of those put us in the Top Ten publisher ranks. That’s a place we haven’t lived before. We have offered great choice and great titles, but now we have the best that we ever had. Then there’s our Q2 – I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people in the second quarter. There are three major releases coming up that are very interesting, which we’re going to announce around GDC.”

“For us, February is great because January sales have finished, people are thinking about buying again and quality rises to the top. You lose all that background noise. All that discovery, all that looking at other stuff just disappears. Those games that launched at the end in Q4 are now down to £20, so your bar really needs to be higher for a £40 product.

In general, despite a rather disappointing Q4 season, Williams is confident about that the games market will increase over the course of 2017.  “The games market is going to grow this year,” he says. “It might come from more digital. We’re not against digital, we have more digital projects in the works, we’re just not talking about them yet. In Q3 and Q4 you’ll probably hear a lot more from us regarding our digital line-up.

“We’re still very much in the boxed market because those developers are still there and we need to take them to market.”

Via Mcvuk.com

Prey – Release Date, Gameplay Trailer 2 & New Details

An alien-infested space station. Badass weapons and powers. And… Yu. Fight your way through the deadly Typhon aliens as Morgan Yu while unraveling the mysteries behind the infestation – and your own identity – in this sci-fi thriller from Arkane Studios. Prey will be available on May 5, 2017, on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.

NEW GAMEPLAY TRAILER

The latest gameplay trailer ratchets up the tension while revealing a little more about the central conflict in Prey. After you watch the trailer, continue on for some new insights into what you just saw…

“What the hell have you done?”
Near the start of the trailer, we hear a gravely voice questioning… someone. “What the hell have you done?” he growls. Shortly after, a different voice pierces the chaos with a panicked fervor: “Oh my God! Security! Security!” Clearly, something’s gone very wrong aboard Talos I. The Typhon aliens have escaped containment, slaughtered many of the people aboard, and now have free reign on this massive space station.

The Office of Morgan Yu
Who exactly is Morgan Yu? While Prey’s protagonist remains shrouded in mystery (for now), one new detail has been revealed thanks to a quick glimpse of his office door. Morgan is the VP, Director of Research for TranStar Corporation aboard Talos I.

Playing with Powers
What kind of research is Morgan conducting aboard Talos I? Among other things, he had been studying the Typhon aliens. “We’ve been testing a new kind of Neuromod based on the Typhon organisms,” he says in the trailer. These Neuromods are what you use to gain alien powers. And you “install” these powers by injecting needles into your eye socket. Ouch!

Making copies
The trailer shows several different Typhon in action, including the Mimic, which can do exactly what its name suggests: copy almost anything in the space station. Once you learn this alien’s power, you can do the same – mimic anything that’s roughly the mass of the player or smaller, and that’s not bolted down. Later in the trailer, we show Morgan using a higher-level version of the Mimic ability, becoming a fully functioning turret and blasting away some aliens.

Take a shot
Powers are great, but sometimes you just want to shoot something. That’s where the weapons come in. The new trailer shows off a range of firearms, including: the S4 Tactical Pump Shotgun, the GLOO Cannon (also handy for building new traversal paths and covering up gaseous jets of flame), the Typhon Lure, the Q-Beam (or “TS-QPB-S11 Quasiparticle Beam,” to be precise), the Disruptor Stun Gun, a Recycler Charge and, of course, a handy wrench when you just need to bash an alien in its alien head.

All aboard
We already said the Talos I is massive. But the station is also a fully contiguous area that you can explore at will – both inside Talos I and out in the cold vacuum of space. Along with the stately “neo-deco” lobby and lavishly appointed offices, Talos I includes austere laboratories, an industrial underbelly, a lush arboretum and many other diverse areas to explore. Just beware: you never know what lurks around the bend.

COSMONAUT SHOTGUN PACK

Along with Prey’s release date, Bethesda revealed the Cosmonaut Shotgun Pack. Exclusively available when you preorder the game, this pack includes a few new tools that’ll come in handy when fighting the Typhon. Along with three Neuromods (which you can spend to acquire new abilities), two medkits, and a fabrication plan to create shotgun ammo (because ammo, in general, is scarce aboard Talos I), you’ll also receive a Yu family heirloom – the Margrave shotgun.

Designed especially for Catherine Yu’s participation in the Centennial European Shooting Championship, the Throne Margrave is a masterpiece of firearm craftsmanship. Mahogany stock, a proprietary metal-alloy barrel and 24-karat gold inlay combined with superior electronic gun control systems deliver the ultimate shooting experience. Mrs. Yu worked closely with Throne ergonomic experts to make this gun an extension of the shooter’s body – fast to point and easy to discharge.

The Cosmonaut Shotgun Pack also includes one unique upgrade that’ll help you preserve your limited resources. Preorder today to receive the Cosmonaut Shotgun Pack.

Via Bethesda

Worms WMD may enter the eSports arena

The Worms franchise has long been seen as one of the most competitive out there. Countless hours have been lost by many playing against friends on the sofa, with screams of laughter and more than a few arguments and disagreements. As new titles in the series have added new ideas and tweaked almost everything the core gameplay has always remained the same, and does require a lot of skill.

All of that makes it sound like the perfect candidate to become an eSport. There are a few hurdles to overcome, but with the latest title in the series, Worms WMD, developers Team17 think they have a shot at finally building an eSports community around Worms.

“I suppose the first thing to say with Worms is that we want to enter it into eSports,” says Kevin Carthew, the creative director on Worms WMD. “I think the latest version that we have developed, Worms WMD, is a really good jumping off point for Worms becoming an eSport. If you look at the user reviews on Steam one of the top rated ones has the first line “thumbs up for Worms becoming an eSport” and that made me really really happy, because it means that there is a chance that we can actually explore something, that we can do something with Worms.”

Of course it isn’t just as easy as saying Worms is an eSport now. The game itself has to be right, there needs to be a rule set, there needs to be some kind of tournament organiser and most importantly there needs to be a community willing to invest in the game.

“What ultimately decides if a game becomes an eSport is the community itself, and the support you get from your players,” says community manager Jonno Stanton. “What we can do from a developer’s side, we can engage with the right people to give our players a platform on which they can compete and they can craft the scene. Communication is key. Its shows you are listening to the competitive scene, because the quickest way to kill that flame is to starve it of oxygen, and the oxygen they get is exposure and response from the developer to craft what they feel is the right platform for eSports and Worms.”

Team17 have tried Worms as an eSport before, even running competitions with ESL at the end of last year. The tournaments were hailed as a success, but they also helped to highlight a few issues within the game that could hinder its progress as a top eSport.

“[Worms is] also an RNG based game in regards to when crates spawn, where crates spawn and what spawns on the map,” adds Stanton. “So the challenge for us is to decide to what extend RNG is a good thing. We have the bonus that our game is skill based in regards to weapon usage and map position, so a big challenge is how we handle the random elements of the gameplay that Worms is known and loved for. There is obviously a vast difference between being beaten by someone because they were better than you, and being beaten by someone because a crate spawned right next to them and it had an airstrike in.”

While RNG and the multitude of ways to play the game creates some issues for Worms entering the world of eSports it does have a few key advantages over many other titles that have tried and failed to do so. It is fundamentally a skill based game and allows for the amazing plays and unbelievable action that all the top eSports have, but it is also incredibly simple to understand and watch.

“Worms is a fantastic spectator sport,” says Carthew. “You don’t need to be a wizard on the ninja rope, or be great at the game to enjoy someone getting blown into the water, or prodded into the water, or dying in any endlessly amusing ways. I think Worms is really good fun to watch and I think people could come to it just because they get a kick out of watching it.”

For more, visit eSports Pro.

Sniper Elite 4 publisher will be in Top Ten list

Sold Out says that it will be in the publisher Top Ten rankings by the end of Q1. The company says that it predicts strong sales of the physical release of Sniper Elite 4 – developed by Oxford-based Rebellion – as well as the boxed version of Kickstarter darling Yooka-Laylee.

Sold Out began life in February 2014, and generated £4m in turnover, and is targeting £18m-to-£20m for its third year in business.  

“In the last three years we have come from a small operation to something that I think will be a Top Ten publisher for this first quarter,” MD Garry Williams said. 

“Nobody else has a line-up like it that I’m aware of. Sniper Elite 4, then Yooka-Laylee boxed release will propel Sold Out into the ‘triple-A’ stratosphere of worldwide publishing. Demonstrating that with controlled overheads and enough passion together we can still compete with the biggest publishing names. 

“The fact that the lion’s share of the revenue is going to the developer, there’s no loss of IP for the developer, no claim on digital rights whilst utilising an open and transparent business model is of the greatest pleasure to Sold Out.” 

He added: “Sold Out thank all those who have chosen to work with us over the early years, co-incidentally the revenues generated have been reinvested to ensure that in 2017-2018 we once again double our growth. We do the ‘heavy lifting in operating a boxed publishing model’ and would love more developers to contact us.” 

Via Mcvuk.com

Telltale is looking to hire you

We want experienced designers to help create interactive action and exploration beats, compelling choices, and narrative branches that reward player investment.  Use your skills in traditional design principles like pacing, mood, risk/reward, and action to entertain and surprise players, within a strong story and character-based context.  You won’t be placing enemies or building levels, but you WILL be leveraging those hard-earned skills in exciting and challenging new ways.

You’ll work in close partnership with our world-class writing and cinematic teams to craft compelling interactive narrative in the vein of Telltale’s award-winning The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Minecraft and Batman.

Candidates with a serious passion for creating interactive stories and player agency grounded in narrative will be rewarded with creative ownership, highly-skilled collaborators and opportunity for rapid advancement.

Responsibilities

• Create role-playing design and choices that enhance overall narrative and make it truly playable.
• Work in close partnership with writers to craft emotionally-engaging pieces of interactive entertainment.
• Collaborate with art, animation and programming to design new and better action sequences that offer great feedback and consequence.
• Most important – always be an advocate for The Player!

 Essential Skills

• Minimum 2 years game design experience.
• Preferred at least 2 shipped titles in a design role.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills.
• Maturity and flexibility: Telltale is a fast-paced highly-iterative development environment.
• Diverse interests such as psychology, writing, improvisational acting, or tabletop role-playing experience a plus. (Designers at Telltale need to know and care about what makes people do the things they do, and how to react accordingly.)

Interested? Apply now.

Pokemon Go was Google’s most searched term in 2016

It was the year of Donald Trump and Brexit and Bowie and Prince and political lies and mainstream racism, but it was Pokemon Go that got internet users hottest under the collar in 2016.

Google has revealed that Pokemon Go was the most searched term on its site last year. Donald could only manage third place, actually, coming in just behind the iPhone 7 in second. Browser and iOS game Sliter.io claimed ninth, with Prince (4^th), Powerball (5^th), David Bowie (6^th), Deadpool (7^th), Olympics (8^th) and Suicide Squad (10^th) claiming the other spots.

Nintendo Switch was the only games hardware to feature in the Consumer Tech chart, coming in ninth. That listing was also topped by iPhone 7.

Oddly, Norway was the country in which Pokemon Go was searched for the most by total share of requests, followed by Bolivia, Brazil, Peru and Costa Rica.

In the UK alone Pokemon Go was actually the second most searched term behind Euro 2016 but ahead of Bowie (3^rd), Trump (4^th) and Prince (5^th).

Pokemon Go also topped the UK’s “What is…” charts (as in, ‘what is Pokemon Go?’). That means it beat What is Brexit? (2^nd), What is the single market? (3^rd), What is the EU (4^th) and, amusingly, What is a Coup? (5^th).

Via MCVUK