Author: Jack Grimshaw

NME

The website for GSC Game World’s upcoming Stalker 2 has now been blocked in Russia after the developer said that it would no longer sell its products in the country.

• READ MORE: A round-up of all the action taken by developers and studios across the globe

According to a report from RIA Novosti (Via VGC), the website has been blocked in Russia by an order from the prosecutor general’s office. The website can no longer be viewed by those in the country.

GSC Game World is based in Ukraine but has recently begun moving its offices to the Czech Republic. The information came from reports that the company was applying to open its business in the country. GSC Game World made the move after Russia invaded Ukraine, which forced the developer to push back the release date of Stalker 2.

To help aid Ukraine, GSC Game World announced that it would be launching a charity sale. All of the developer’s titles were discounted, and any money earned through the sale was to be donated to humanitarian organisations based in Ukraine. Overall the developer was able to donate £612,557.

GSC Game World tweeted after the sale, saying, “The charity sale of GSC Game World games is over. Together with you, we’ve managed to raise more than $800,000. Thank you! After taxes and store commissions, all funds will be donated to the Come Back Alive Charitable Foundation. We will remember that. Always.”

The developer also updated the title of their upcoming game. Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl now includes the Ukrainian spelling of the region instead of the previously used Russian one. During the same update, GSC Game World also announced that it would be cancelling all pre-orders of the game in Russia.

In other news, Sony is advertising a position for a PC planning and strategy senior director role, which suggests that the publisher is looking to put greater focus on its PC releases.

The post ‘Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl’ website blocked in Russia appeared first on NME.

NME

The website for GSC Game World’s upcoming Stalker 2 has now been blocked in Russia after the developer said that it would no longer sell its products in the country.

• READ MORE: A round-up of all the action taken by developers and studios across the globe

According to a report from RIA Novosti (Via VGC), the website has been blocked in Russia by an order from the prosecutor general’s office. The website can no longer be viewed by those in the country.

GSC Game World is based in Ukraine but has recently begun moving its offices to the Czech Republic. The information came from reports that the company was applying to open its business in the country. GSC Game World made the move after Russia invaded Ukraine, which forced the developer to push back the release date of Stalker 2.

To help aid Ukraine, GSC Game World announced that it would be launching a charity sale. All of the developer’s titles were discounted, and any money earned through the sale was to be donated to humanitarian organisations based in Ukraine. Overall the developer was able to donate £612,557.

GSC Game World tweeted after the sale, saying, “The charity sale of GSC Game World games is over. Together with you, we’ve managed to raise more than $800,000. Thank you! After taxes and store commissions, all funds will be donated to the Come Back Alive Charitable Foundation. We will remember that. Always.”

The developer also updated the title of their upcoming game. Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl now includes the Ukrainian spelling of the region instead of the previously used Russian one. During the same update, GSC Game World also announced that it would be cancelling all pre-orders of the game in Russia.

In other news, Sony is advertising a position for a PC planning and strategy senior director role, which suggests that the publisher is looking to put greater focus on its PC releases.

The post ‘Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl’ website blocked in Russia appeared first on NME.

NME

CCP has released a blog post detailing an increase in prices across subscriptions and in-game currency for Eve Online.

• READ MORE: The 6 best strategy games you should play today

In the post, CCP explains that the price increase is due to a rise in the production cost for creating modern MMOs. They also note that this is the first time that subscription prices have changed since 2004, which will also impact the cost of other in-game purchases. (via PCGamesN).

“To continue investing in Eve Online’s evolution and growth, and to realise our mission of Eve Forever, we are updating the price of all existing Omega and Plex. This adjustment reflects global trends impacting general production costs and accounts for years of inflation, amending the 1-month USD subscription rate for the first time since 2004. These adjustments will have an impact on other currencies.”

Previously, it would be cheaper to buy three months of an Omega subscription than it would be one month. However, the pricing is being majorly redesigned. Now buying three months will cost more than buying one month, but less than buying one month every month.

Two new tiers are being introduced to Eve Online, a two-month tier which will cost £28 ($35.98), and a 24-month tier, which will cost £210 ($270).

The in-game currency Plex will also be available for different prices, with a new 50 Plex option available, up to 20,000 plex.

The post says, “the new prices on Omega include all upcoming content releases for the game and have been structured to offer substantial savings when you purchase larger amounts of PLEX and Omega time. Players benefit from even bigger monthly savings between lower and upper Omega time tiers, and more Plex options to choose from, right down to the economical 50 PLEX offering.”

In other news, Koei Tecmo has announced that it will be increasing all of its employee salaries by 23 per cent.

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NME

Three years after Gearbox released Borderlands 3, the game is finally receiving cross-play with PlayStation consoles.

• READ MORE: ‘Portal 2’ was perfect – but can Valve pull it off again with ‘Portal 3’?

Gearbox’s most recent release, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, arrived with cross-play that supports all platforms, including PlayStation. So it is no surprise that the company’s previous title will soon receive the same support.

When Borderlands 3 was released in 2019, it supported cross-play for all of the platforms it released on, excluding Sony’s PlayStation consoles. This decision appears to have been made on Sony’s end, but now that is changing.

During Gearbox’s keynote address at PAX East, it was announced that Borderlands 3 cross-play for PlayStation consoles would arrive this spring.

While many titles offer crossplay between PlayStation and other consoles, it appears that Sony was charging developers for the feature. During the Epic vs Apple trial last year, documents revealed that Sony charged developers based on the popularity of a game on the PlayStation Network and would calculate costs to offset the potential revenue loss.

However, now that Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands and Borderlands 3 both support PlayStation crossplay, it appears that a new deal has been established, or Sony has dropped the charges for allowing crossplay on its platforms.

Gearbox has recently announced that it will be releasing a new narrative adventure game set in the Borderlands universe. This will be a sequel to Telltale’s Tales From The Borderlands, released in 2014. The sequel will be developed in the same style as Telltale’s original. However, Telltale themselves will not be involved in the project.

The game is set to release in 2022 and will feature new characters and stories, suggesting it will not be a direct sequel to any game in the Borderlands franchise.

In other news, Project Q is a new third-person shooter from Ubisoft, which was revealed after several leaks.

The post ‘Borderlands 3’ finally adds cross-play support for PlayStation consoles appeared first on NME.

NME

Relic Entertainment has released a new developer diary for Company Of Heroes 3 detailing the art and authenticity of the upcoming real-time strategy.

• READ MORE: ‘Skábma – Snowfall’ review – a creative coming-of-age fairy tale

The video shared by Relic details some of the upcoming art choices that will be present in Company Of Heroes 3. First, they discussed tanks and how they will change based on their environment.

When a tank is moving around the battlefield, it will pick up dirt that will match the environment. This allows the vehicles to feel more grounded in the combat area. This redesign also extends to damage. Now each tank will have defined regions of its model that will show visible damage that matches the location and type of impact it has received.

In the video, Kristian Bourdage, the principal artist on Company Of Heroes 3, said that in previous games, “things like damage and wear and tear were kind of baked down into vehicles. So, you would have your panzer, and it would have some grit and dirt, and that was just baked on the unit. What we’re doing this time is we’ve actually invested heavily in this complex vehicle shader.”

Soldiers will also receive similar cosmetic upgrades that better match the history of the conflict. Now units will have patches and insignias that match the division they are fighting under.

The team at Relic has done extensive research, saying in the video that they have watched a lot of historical footage, and documentaries, and read lots of historical texts and technical diaries to ensure they achieve as authentic an art style as possible.

In other news, Infinity Ward has teased that Ghost may return to the franchise’s campaigns as they prepare to reveal the next entry in the rebooted Modern Warfare series later this year.

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NME

A release date for the VR version of Among Us appears to have been leaked through an internal Steam update.

• READ MORE: Why can’t I let myself be a bad guy in games?

After the recent update, SteamDB picked up on a change in Steam’s back end which appears to reveal a potential release date for Among Us VR. However, SteamDB also acknowledges that this may be incorrect (via PCGamesN).

The Steam store API for Among Us VR was updated on April 15 and included a release date of December 13. Whilst not confirmed, the Among Us VR release date is likely to be announced during the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase on April 20, which developer Innersloth is attending to share some new details of the game.

The VR version of Among Us was initially announced during The Game Awards in December last year. At the time, it was accompanied by a brief trailer and a post from Innersloth that detailed what players could expect.

“This new 3D experience will place you and our suspicious spacebeans in the heart of the Skeld, with all of the core mechanics of teamwork and betrayal you know and love. The VR edition will continue to support the multiplayer experience too, of course! Now you can really have an emergency meeting together.”

Innersloth also confirmed that the VR version of the game would not be compatible with its flat-screen counterpart, meaning that VR players will only be able to play with other VR users.

Last month a cyberattack took down the Among Us servers for several days. While the service was restored, no official statement on the incident was made. Instead Innersloth updated fans daily with updates regarding the sabotage, but ended with a tweet that only said, “hopefully the sabotages don’t come back.”

In other news, an issue with Final Fantasy 14‘s housing lottery has been addressed by producer Naoki Yoshida.

The post ‘Among Us VR’ could release this December according to Steam data appeared first on NME.

NME

Patrick Plourde, the creator of Child Of Light and director of Far Cry 3, has left Ubisoft after working there for 19 years.

• READ MORE: ‘Moss: Book 2’ review: a spellbinding fairy-tale bursting with VR magic

Plourde spoke to Axios about his departure from the publisher (via VGC). After working as creative director on titles such as Far Cry 3, Watch Dogs 2, and Child Of Light, Plourde intends to retain relations with Ubisoft but to work independently as a consultant.

“Most of my time will be working with Ubisoft, but now I’ll have a position outside a traditional structure (with mandate cross department), and I will be able to dabble with other fields outside gaming that I had eyes on for a while without having to ask my employer’s permission,” Plourde said.

A statement was sent to Axios from Ubisoft regarding Plourde’s departure, confirming the news. Plourde will consult with some Ubisoft creative directors and engage with the editorial team on “certain projects.”

Plourde also shared a message on his LinkedIn, which said, “Rainbow 6: Vegas, Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry 3, Child Of Light, Watch Dogs 2, the FunHouse and Editorial, it’s been a privilege to collaborate with everyone at Ubisoft on these great games for the past 19 years!

“Now, I’m happy to share that I’m starting my own independent creative consultancy, where I will keep working with Ubisoft and also spend time on some personal projects I’ve had in mind.”

In March, another Ubisoft veteran resigned from the publisher, as studio head Dan Polfeldt departed from Ubisoft Massive. He had previously announced that he was stepping down from his managing director role with the intention of returning in a new position after a six-month break. However, he then submitted a resignation notice and left the company for good.

In other news, No More Heroes 3 is ending its Nintendo Switch exclusivity and is coming to other platforms later this year.

The post ‘Far Cry 3’ director and company veteran Patrick Plourde leaving Ubisoft appeared first on NME.

NME

Sucker Punch has released an update for Ghost Of Tsushima that marks the end of the studio’s active work on patching the game.

• READ MORE: ‘Seal World’ is a bad game made good through great vibes

Patch 2.18 was released earlier this week (April 12) and included a note from the developer suggesting that this is the end of planned patches for Ghost Of Tsushima. That said, support channels will still be monitored in case of significant bugs or issues.

The patch notes said: “While we aren’t actively working on any additional patches at the moment, we will continue to monitor feedback on the community-run [GOTlegends] subreddit and messages sent to [Sucker Punch] on Twitter for any high priority bugs or issues that emerge. We want to say a huge thank you to the entire community for the incredible amount of support and feedback we’ve gotten since launch.”

The patch itself targeted the multiplayer Legends mode in Ghost Of Tsushima, which was released as a standalone game last year. Teammate health should no longer dip below zero, and a PS4 save import button has been added as well. A dialogue and cutscene issue has also been fixed in single player, and the New Game Plus merchants should have a higher silk inventory.

Last month it appeared that work may have begun on a sequel to Ghost Of Tsushima. A job listing posted by Sucker Punch asked that applicants have played the original game and understand its core gameplay systems. The advertised roles are for the Senior Combat Designer and Technical Combat Designer.

Another listing for AI Systems Designer said: “We’re looking for someone who understands that to truly make a world come alive, it has to be populated with compelling characters.”

In other news, Horizon Forbidden West’s creative director has said that the game’s cliffhanger ending is allowing the team to create new mysteries for a sequel.

The post ‘Ghost Of Tsushima’ patch 2.18 marks the end of the game’s active updates appeared first on NME.

NME

Ukrainian developer GSC Game World has concluded its charity sale, which has raised around £612,557 for humanitarian organisations assisting the people of the country.

• READ MORE: How the games industry has responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

After Russia commenced its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, GSC Game World – who is based in Kyiv, Ukraine – announced that it would sideline the development of its upcoming title, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl. Then on April 4, the developer announced that it would also be offering all of its released games for a discount, and that any earnings from the sale would be transferred to the Combe Back Alive fund.

The sale has now come to an end and raised around £612,557 ($800,000 USD). GSC Game World announced the news in a Steam post, saying: “[A] great reason to be proud of our community. Thank you all! Those who hear Ukrainians. Those who open their doors to Ukrainians.

“Those who do not stand aside: tweet, show their support, correspond, offer help, take to the streets all around the world, donate money, participate in charity sales, join the ranks of volunteers, feed those who are starving, dismantle blockages, protect, treat, transport, rescue and never back down.”

The developer added that after taxes and store commissions all funds would be donated to the Come Back Alive Charitable Foundation – which aims to help the Ukrainian military during the Russian invasion.

In March, information was released suggesting that GSC Game World was moving its studio and all employees to the Czech Republic. The chairman of the Czech Game Developers Association, Pavel Barák, said at the time: “I can confirm that the GSC studio approached the Association at the beginning of last week, saying that they are looking at the Czech Republic and neighbouring countries. They needed help from us regarding legal and employment matters.”

As of publication it is unclear if GSC Game World has successfully relocated from Kyiv, Ukraine.

In other news, an Elden Ring fan has calculated how tall the Erdtree is, finding that it could be taller than the Alps.

The post GSC Game World raises over £600,000 for Ukraine aid appeared first on NME.

NME

Ukrainian developer GSC Game World has concluded its charity sale, which has raised around £612,557 for humanitarian organisations assisting the people of the country.

• READ MORE: How the games industry has responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

After Russia commenced its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, GSC Game World – who is based in Kyiv, Ukraine – announced that it would sideline the development of its upcoming title, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl. Then on April 4, the developer announced that it would also be offering all of its released games for a discount, and that any earnings from the sale would be transferred to the Combe Back Alive fund.

The sale has now come to an end and raised around £612,557 ($800,000 USD). GSC Game World announced the news in a Steam post, saying: “[A] great reason to be proud of our community. Thank you all! Those who hear Ukrainians. Those who open their doors to Ukrainians.

“Those who do not stand aside: tweet, show their support, correspond, offer help, take to the streets all around the world, donate money, participate in charity sales, join the ranks of volunteers, feed those who are starving, dismantle blockages, protect, treat, transport, rescue and never back down.”

The developer added that after taxes and store commissions all funds would be donated to the Come Back Alive Charitable Foundation – which aims to help the Ukrainian military during the Russian invasion.

In March, information was released suggesting that GSC Game World was moving its studio and all employees to the Czech Republic. The chairman of the Czech Game Developers Association, Pavel Barák, said at the time: “I can confirm that the GSC studio approached the Association at the beginning of last week, saying that they are looking at the Czech Republic and neighbouring countries. They needed help from us regarding legal and employment matters.”

As of publication it is unclear if GSC Game World has successfully relocated from Kyiv, Ukraine.

In other news, an Elden Ring fan has calculated how tall the Erdtree is, finding that it could be taller than the Alps.

The post GSC Game World raises over £600,000 for Ukraine aid appeared first on NME.