News archive

This page contains an archive of older game related news. For the latest news, please read the Main Page.

The following news items were listed on the Main Page in 2009. For previous news, please see the news archives for years 2008, 2007 and 2006.

News Archive

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Shattered Horizon launch date announced

Futuremark studios have announced the launch date for the multiplayer first person shooter Shattered Horizon: the 4^th of November.

Gamers that will decide to pre-order the game will receive a 10% off the 19.95 Euro retail price and as a bonus will be able to test some of the game's levels and features before the game is officially released.

TopWare Interactive to distribute Scivelation

The rights to distribute Scivelation have been recently obtained by TopWare Interactive.

The Unreal Engine 3 based 3rd-person shooter's action takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, where a corrupt tyrannic government takes over Earth and players have to survive by taking part in the Resistance.

Scivelation is currently developed by Black Wing Foundation studios and will be available in 2010 on PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 may be delayed by two weeks

According to a recent launch dates list presented by Activision-Blizzard, the launch date of the first person shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be delayed by two weeks and is now scheduled to be released on the 24^th of November.

Funcom fires 20% of its employees

Norwegian studio Funcom has announced that 20% of its employees will be fired, in order to reduce expenses. This move will add several months to the launch date of the MMORPG The Secret World, a game that the studio plans on concentrating and improving until it meets fans' expectations.

According to the announcement, the Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures expansion called Rise of the Godslayer is not affected and will be launched in South Korea as planned, with a free beta test scheduled for following months.

Dominion expansion announced for Eve Online

CCP Games will launch in Winter 2009 the eleventh expansion for Eve Online.

Titled Eve Online: Dominion, the expansion will focus on what is often cited as Eve's "end game", the alliance warfare, offering a complete overhaul of the current sovereignty mechanics in favor of a system that's a mix of game vision and input from game fans. According to the official announcement, the extension will also feature new epic arcs for pirate factions, offering the first iteration of the integrated social networking platform known as COSMOS, setting our artists free to re-beautify planets and more.

bitComposer Games to distribute STALKER: Call of Propyat

Ukrainian game developer GSC Game World has announced that bitComposer Games has secured the worldwide rights to distribute S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat. The first-person shooter, follow-up to the highly successful S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, is scheduled to be released for PC on Fall 2009.

The game takes PC gamers once again into the deadly area surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion of 1986. Cordoned off by the military, this highly contaminated "Zone" is scoured by treasure hunters known as s.t.a.l.k.e.r.s, who search the irradiated lands for unique artifacts. In the role of Agent Alexander Degtyarev, the player must go undercover as a s.t.a.l.k.e.r., investigating the mysterious disappearance of five military helicopters while standing against various s.t.a.l.k.e.r. groups.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat skilfully combines first-person shooter action with role-playing elements in a realistic post-atomic world. The grim realities of this deadly environment are underscored by the many desolate industrial ruins, reproduced using aerial pictures and the developers’ own photographs. Mutants, s.t.a.l.k.e.r. groups, and lethal anomalies are everywhere, posing a constant threat to the player. The thrilling story is advanced through numerous quests, taking gamers through such diverse areas as a secret military base, the Jupiter factory site, and the titular city of Pripyat. The player decides how far to explore and which tasks they undertake – freedom determines the gameplay. Other s.t.a.l.k.e.r. groups respond to the player in a friendly or hostile manner, depending on the group to which they belong. In this ever-dangerous world, the player is supported by various weapon systems and upgrades, as well as several types of equipment.

ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead announced

Bohemia Interactive studios have announced the development launch on the first person military shooter standalone expansion titled ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead.

In contrast with the original game, players will act as American forces deployed in Takistan three years later and will enlist into various roles within the US Army, from basic infantrymen, through special operatives, to pilots and tank crew.

Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead will be presented during the Gamescom trade fair for interactive games and entertainment in Cologne, Germany 19th, on the 23^rd August 2009.

Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes launch date delayed

During the San Diego Comic-Con 2009 event, LucasArts has announced that their action game Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes will be delayed by a few weeks.

The Krome studios project was planned to be available in stores starting from the 15th of September but instead the game will be available from the 6th of October.

FIFA Soccer 10 launch date released

Electronic Arts has recently announced the launch date for FIFA Soccer 10.

The game will be available in retail stores starting from the 2nd of October and players will be able to choose from versions for PC, Xbox360, Playstation 3, PS2, PSP, Wii and Nintendo DS.

PC version of Colin McRae: DiRT 2 delayed until December 2009

According to its British publisher Codemasters, the PC version of the racing simulator Colin McRae: DiRT 2 is going to be delayed until December.

The reason for the delay is the desire to add DirectX 11 features and improvements to the game, which will be available to any game using Windows 7 and a DirectX 11 compatible video card:

"While the console editions of Colin McRae: DiRT 2 will retain their September ship date, we believe that the DirectX 11 feature set is too compelling to ignore, especially considering how much more it can add to the visual experience for PC gamers," said Bryan Marshall, chief technical officer, Codemasters. "As a leader in digital racing entertainment, we are staying ahead of the pack by immediately taking advantage of key new technologies such as hardware tessellation, multi-threading and Shader Model 5.0 to deliver the most realistic, immersive and exhilarating racing experiences in the business. The fusion of DirectX 11 with Codemasters' EGO™ Engine will raise the technical bar considerably in the racing genre."

"The shader performance of Shader Model 5.0 (SM 5.0) will aid in creating an even richer 3D experience, enhancing key image quality parameters such as depth of field, ambient occlusion and shadows. These DirectX 11 features, and many others, will add the horsepower needed to improve performance."

Dawn of War 2 update called "There is Only War" announced

The real-time stragey game Warhammer 40.000 - Dawn of War will receive a major update titled "There is Only War".

According to an announcement by Relic Entertainment on the official websites, the update will bring improvements to the multiplayer part of the game and new game content, besides fine tuning of existing parts of the game. Among the improvements will also be the Referee and Observer options, which will allow viewing multiplayer games from an observer's perspective.

There will be an open beta testing session in July but information about this will only be provided in the following weeks.

Valve announces Left For Dead 2

Valve has announced today Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2), the sequel to their best-selling and critically-acclaimed co-operative multiplayer thriller.

The game will be ready for release on November 17, for Xbox 360 and PC and will feature a much larger game than the original with more co-operative campaigns, more Versus campaigns, and maps for Survival mode available at launch, besides new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons and items.

Left For Dead 2 will also add melee combat to enable deeper co-operative gameplay, with items such as a chainsaw, frying pan, axe, baseball bat, and more.

Terminator Salvation PC release recalled in North America

After the Tuesday's game release on Tuesday, players trying to install the game noticed the following error:

"An error (-5006:0x80070002) has occurred while running the setup. Please make sure you have finished any previous setup and closed other applications. If the error still occurs, please contact your vendor: Evolved Games."

The error appears during the installation of the PC edition and causes the game to be unplayable. However, the Steam version of the same game has no issues. Evolved Games acknowledged the error in a statement posted to its official forums, saying that it will recall and replace all afflicted copies of the game.

"Unfortunately a defect occurred during replication of the PC version of Terminator Salvation, which does not allow end users to install the game."

"The Xbox 360 and PS3 are not affected and function properly. We have recalled all PC copies of Terminator Salvation from retail in North America and are currently in the process of replicating new copies."

"The new copies will be on store shelves in a few days."

"A replacement plan for all end users that purchased the defective units is currently being set up. Details to get a replacement copy will be announced shortly. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused the end users that purchased the defective copy."

Terminator Salvation available for pre-purchase on Steam

The third person shooter game developed by Halcyon Games is now available for pre-purchase to Steam users in North-America, the rest of the Steam users following in a few days.

Along the PC version, the game is also scheduled to be released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, mobile phones and iPhone.

The game's action takes place in the Los Angeles of 2016 and is an interquel that takes place between the events of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator Salvation. Players will assume the control of John Connor and will battle Skynet enemies from the upcoming film as well as new enemies specifically designed for the game.

King's Bounty: The Legend available on Steam

Valve Software has announced that the RPG and TBS hybrid game King's Bounty: The Legend is now available on Steam. Gamers can purchase the game with a 10% discount until the 8th of May.

Fallout: New Vegas announced

Bethesda Softworks has announced during a London press event that it will collaborate with Obsidian Entertainment to create the new Fallout title, Fallout: New Vegas.

The game will be released in 2010 and will work on PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

According to Peter Hines, the vice-president of Bethesda Softworks, Fallout: New Vegas will not continue the story of Fallout 3 - it will be just another RPG game taking place in the Fallout universe.

Braid delayed

According to the official blog, Braid's launch on the PC will be delayed by 10 days.

Johnathan Blow wrote in his blog post that this delay is caused by a few issues discovered during the final testing of the game.

Crysis Maximum Edition to be released soon

Crytek and Electronic Arts are planning to release Crysis Maximum Edition, a package containing all three Crysis games: Crysis, Crysis Warhead and [[Crysis Wars].

The package will be available on all well known download platforms like Direct2Drive or Steam, starting from the 5th of May.

Eve Online retail box contents released

CCP has released details about the contents of the retail version of Eve Online.

The retail box will feature:

• 60 day subscription which can be split in two 30 days subscriptions or changed into the game currency, ISK
• VIP pass which allows players to invite a friend to the game for 21 days
• Instant War Access which gives new players quick access to organized battles
• Exclusive Career Guide, a guide with useful informations and also available online
• an improved in-game spacecraft called Interbus Shuttle, which has a larger cargo space and is a bit faster

This retail box will be available for $34.95 in US stores starting from the 10th of March or from the 12th of March in Europe.

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures v1.04 update released

Funcom has announced on the official forums an update for their MMORPG, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.

The forum messages list a lot of changes and improvements attributed to this 1.04 game update, like the addition of four new instances (three for Level 80 players) and tweaks to make player classes more balanced.

THQ plans to fire 600 employees

After reporting 191.8 million dollars of losses in the 3rd financial period of the last year, THQ has announced they're planning to become profitable again by firing over 600 employees.

BattleForge release date announced

Electronic Arts has announced that their online real time strategy game BattleForge will be launched on the 24th of March.Gamers can take part in the open beta stage after requesting a key from the official website.

A rather unique approach to online gaming constitutes the fact that gamers can build armies using collectible trading cards. These armies can be also sold or exchanged between players.

Mirror's Edge available on Steam

Valve has announced that the Electronic Arts' action game Mirror's Edge is available on Steam.

For the moment, the game can only be purchased and downloaded by American players. Players from other regions of the world will be able to buy it in a few days.

Saints Row 2 is now available on Steam

THQ has announced that the PC version of Saints Row 2 is available on Steam.

For the moment, the game can only be bought by US players, at a reasonable price of $39.95; European players will have to wait until the 23rd of January to buy the game.