General game developing news and updates.
Play Homefront®: The Revolution for FREE starting now through Sunday at 1PM Pacific Time. You can also pickup Homefront®: The Revolution at 75% off the regular price!*
You can also get a free copy of the original Homefront to keep forever! Offer valid until Friday 10AM Pacific Time
If you already have Steam installed, click here to install or play Homefront®: The Revolution. If you don’t have Steam, you can download it here.
*Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Portal Power is Now Available on Steam and is 25% off!*
Shredder and the Kraang have spread chaos and evil across dimensions, and it’s up to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to stop them!
*Offer ends December 21 at 10AM Pacific Time
“I want other developers to put their own spin on the genre… not just lift things from our game. I want this genre of games to grow. “
– Creator of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Brendan Greene on copycat titles.
During an interview with the BBC, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds creator Brendan Greene discusses his frustration over copycat games, expressing that “If it’s just copycats down the line, then the genre doesn’t grow and people get bored.”
Greene wants developers to take risks and contribute new ideas should they choose to emulate Battlegrounds, lamenting the borrowed ideas as a lost opportunity to subvert genre conventions.
After the success of Battlegrounds a slew of similar game’s emerged, contributing to the oversaturation of copycat titles. “I want other developers to put their own spin on the genre,” Greene says. “not just lift things from our game.”
There’s also little protection over a games intellectual property, as Greene explains: “In movies and music there is IP protection and you can really look after your work. In gaming that doesn’t exist yet, and it’s something that should be looked into.”
According to Greene, the industry could do more to protect developers who have good ideas but lack the right resources. “Someone else takes the idea, has a marketing budget, and suddenly has a popular game because they ripped off someone else’s idea. I think it’s something the industry needs to look into.”
Check out the full interview available at the BBC.
When it launched in Japan 17 years ago, Pokémon Crystal introduced many new and exciting elements to the beloved Pokémon franchise. The game, an expanded version of the popular Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver games, was the first in the Pokémon franchise to allow players to choose between a boy or girl playable character, as well as being the first game to introduce animations during Pokémon battles.
Now this groundbreaking game is coming to Nintendo eShop on the Nintendo 3DS family of systems on Jan. 26 for only $9.99.*
On the day it launches, Pokémon Crystal will also be compatible with Pokémon Bank, a paid service that lets players bring select Pokémon from classic core games to the newest core games in the series. With the addition of Pokémon Crystal to this service, it is now possible for players to bring Pokémon from all 29 core games in the series to Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon.
In this version of Pokémon Crystal, players will also have the chance to encounter the mythical Pokémon Celebi in an event after completing the game. In the original Pokémon Crystal game, Celebi could only be obtained by using a special accessory.
As with the Nintendo eShop editions of Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver, Pokémon Crystal will take advantage of the wireless communication capabilities of the Nintendo 3DS family of systems, allowing players to enjoy Link Trades and Link Battles with each other. With the Time Capsule feature, players can even trade and battle Pokémon from Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue and Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition, which are all also available in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS.
Fans also have the option to play Pokémon Crystal on a New Nintendo 2DS XL system that resembles an iconic Poké Ball. The Poké Ball Edition New Nintendo 2DS XL system can be purchased in stores at a suggested retail price of $159.99. (The Pokémon Crystal game and Poké Ball Edition New Nintendo 2DS XL system are sold separately.)
For more information about Pokémon Crystal, visit https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/pokemon-crystal-version-3ds.
*Pokémon Crystal for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems is only playable in 2D.
Game Rated:
Crytek has filed a lawsuit against Star Citizen developers Cloud Imperium Games and Roberts Space Industries, accusing the development duo of both breach of contract and copyright infringement.
The complaint stems from a number of incidents surrounding the development of Star Citizen, the developers’ in-development online space exploration game. Star Citizen hit Kickstarter in 2012, raising a record $2.1 million during that campaign. Since, the game has raised a total of $173 million through crowdfunding.
While the game was originally developed using Crytek’s CryEngine, CIG and RSI swapped development over to Amazon’s Lumberyard engine in December 2016, which itself was built around an earlier version of CryEngine but developed with online games in mind.
That 2016 switch from CryEngine to Lumberyard is where the bulk of Crytek’s allegations stem from since, according to the court filings, the game license agreement signed between Crytek and the Star Citizen developers required exclusive use of CryEngine for the game’s development.
Among other things, that game license agreement required CIG and RSI to “prominently display Crytek’s trademarks and copyrights notices” in Star Citizen and associated marketing and use Star Citizen‘s development to provide bug fixes and optimizations to CryEngine on an annual basis, while barring them using CryEngine in a standalone, non-Star Citizen game and from sharing CryEngine source code with third parties.
Between the jump to Lumberyard, the announcement of the now-delayed standalone game Squadron 42, and creation of the ‘Bugsmashers’ video series involving Star Citizen‘s development, Crytek alleges CIG and RSI violated all of those previously mentioned terms.
As such, Crytek is now seeking damages from the two developers, including direct damages that it estimates are in excess of $75,000 in addition to assorted indirect, consequential, and special damages as well. Additionally, Crytek is seeking an injunction against CIG and RSI that would prevent the developers from using, possessing, or infringing on Crytek’s copyrights.
UPDATE: A Cloud Imperium Games rep has responded with the following statement to Gamasutra: “We are aware of the Crytek complaint having been filed in the US District Court. CIG hasn’t used the CryEngine for quite some time since we switched to Amazon’s Lumberyard. This is a meritless lawsuit that we will defend vigorously against, including recovering from Crytek any costs incurred in this matter.”
The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry!
Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now.
Location: Austin, Texas
The Software Engineer is responsible for owning the implementation and support of features for games, the creation of games, and game services. This includes working with Art, Design, and Production to fully understand the requirements of each feature and working with a team of engineers to ensure a quality and timely delivery.
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Interested? Apply now.
Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.
Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.
Looking for a new job? Get started here. Are you a recruiter looking for talent? Post jobs here.
Greetings to everyone playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2. This is Director Takahashi at Monolith Soft. Today I’d like to talk about the main updates that will be seen in the Ver. 1.1.1 update, which will be distributed next week on Friday, December 22.
In addition to some bug fixes, we will address the following points:
We will further improve the convenience of the mini map as we add more quests and additional elements for second playthroughs next year for all players (not just those who purchased the Expansion Pass!) We appreciate your continued patience.
– Driver Essentials Set: 10 x Rare Core Crystal, 1 x Legendary Core Crystal, 3 x Overdrive Protocol
– Upgrade Parts for Poppi: 30,000 ether
– Pyra’s Favorite Things: 5 x Jenerossi Tea
– Nia’s Favourite Things: 5 x Ardainian Bear Carving
Monolith Soft will continue to add improvements that will make the world of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 even more enjoyable for a long time. And even though there may be times when we cannot address every need immediately because we are working on these improvements in parallel with the Expansion Pass, we truly appreciate your continued support for Xenoblade Chronicles 2!
For more information about Xenoblade Chronicles 2, visit the official site.
My Nintendo™ is celebrating with a special December calendar and wallpapers featuring imagery from the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 game. Redeem your points for these rewards today!
Game Rated:
Language
Suggestive Themes
Use of Alcohol and Tobacco
Violence
Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc., an interactive destination where Guests can create personalized furry friends, today announced a new licensed partnership with Nintendo, unveiling three new Make-Your-Own Super Mario furry friends—plus, a pre-stuffed Toad, sound chips and accessories. This is the first time Super Mario products have been offered at Build-A-Bear Workshop.
Starting today, one of the most beloved Nintendo characters, a few of his friends—and a foe, of course—are joining the fun at buildabear.com (U.S.)
Full-sized, Make-Your-Own Friends
Pre-Stuffed Plush and Accessories
Complete your Super Mario team with costumes, wrist accessories and sound chips for your own real-life Mushroom Kingdom!
“Super Mario is a classic game franchise many of our Guests know and love, and we’ve had a lot of fun bringing these characters into furry friend form,” said Jennifer Kretchmar, chief product officer, Build-A-Bear Workshop. “Like Build-A-Bear, Nintendo’s characters appeal to everyone, so we couldn’t wait to team up for the first time and offer another way for Guests to enjoy the timeless brand.”
The complete Build-A-Bear Workshop Nintendo collection is available online now at buildabear.com and buildabear.co.uk. Mario Bear, Yoshi, Bowser (select stores only) and all outfits and accessories will begin rolling out in U.S., U.K. and Canada stores this weekend.
“Bringing beloved characters like Mario, Yoshi and Bowser to Build-A-Bear aligns our shared goal of engaging kids and families in fun and new ways,” said Tom Prata, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. “Now, even the youngest member of the family can interact with Nintendo by creating their own powered-up furry friend.”
For more information about Build-A-Bear, visit buildabear.com, and follow the brand on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
It’s crucial for artists to be able to keep a steady flow of new ideas and inspirations in order to feed the desire to create, but what happens when real life gets in the way of those ambitions?
In this 2014 GDC session, visual designer Peter Chan (Monkey Island 2, Grim Fandango) discusses how artists of all skill levels can rediscover their creative drive even in the face of adversity.
Chan introduces a question which leads to the core of his talk: “What feeds your creativity? How do you produce art, how do you come up with original ideas and thoughts when you’ve got busy brain or you’re running on empty?”
Artists curious about how to maintain creativity through all sorts of challenges can now go back and watch the talk completely free via the official GDC Vault YouTube channel!
In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.
Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.
Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas.
“In order for a company to be successful and control its own destiny you need to own your own IP, and we didn’t own Dungeons & Dragons or Star Wars. Mass Effect was something we decided we had to do instead of another Star Wars game.”
– BioWare’s James Ohlen shares why KotOR 2 plans gave way to the creation of the Mass Effect series
Eurogamer has shared an insightful story on BioWare and the making of its Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic game. Through an interview with BioWare Austin creative director James Ohlen, the story traces Knights of the Old Republic‘s history back from its initial concept to its eventual 2005 launch.
There are a lot of interesting game development tidbits to be found in the full interview, but one particularly interesting point brought up by Ohlen involves the moment when BioWare moved on from Knights of the Old Republic to Mass Effect.
Though the studio is now working with both original and licensed intellectual properties, BioWare made the call to leave brands like Star Wars and Dungeons & Dragons behind following the release of Knights of the Old Republic. Though the company did draft up a concept for their own Knights of the Old Republic 2, BioWare heads eventually decided to create an original game instead.
Looking back, Olgen notes that “it was a very smart decision on their part.” Instead of creating a new Knights of the Old Republic game, BioWare and the KotOR team started work on Mass Effect. Meanwhile, the itch to dive back into the Baldur’s Gate world eventually led to the Dragon Age series.
Some features from Knights of the Old Republic would go on to inspire things in BioWare’s later games. Ohlen explains that the Millennium Falcon-like Ebon Hawk that transported the party from one planet to another in KotOR would later inspire the design of the Normandy in Mass Effect and the campsite hub in Dragon Age: Origins.
“We wanted to have the Ebon Hawk be your own Millennium Falcon, we wanted it to be a core of the game. It was, essentially, your home base,” Ohlen tells Eurogamer. “It worked out really well for us. It was a good place for you to roleplay with your companions and to make the world feel bigger than it actually was.”
The full Eurogamer piece is well worth a read as well and offers a sizable amount of history on the development of that pivotal Star Wars game.
