Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA Soccer, and Silent Hill are the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026
- BAFTA Games Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- Spore: An oral history – Design Room (2026)
- We Pitched a Museum a 1993 Game Hint Line (And They Actually Said Yes) – Yarn Spinner (2026)
- The History Of The Word “Metroidvania” And How It Spread – A Critical Hit (2025)
- Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment – Bloomberg (2025)
- Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history – Design Room (2025)
Most Recent: PC
Civilization VI will be released exclusively for the PC on October 21
Firaxis Games is returning to Earth for the next entry in the Civilization series, which will be available exclusively for the PC on October 21. Civilization VI marks a new beginning for the franchise, as players will be able to expand their empire across the map and interact with the world in new ways:
Civilization VI Features
- Expansive Empires: See the marvels of your empire spread across the map like never before. Each city spans multiple tiles so you can custom build your cities to take full advantage of the local terrain.
- Active Research: Unlock boosts that speed your civilization’s progress through history. To advance more quickly, use your units to actively explore, develop your environment, and discover new cultures.
- Dynamic Diplomacy: Interactions with other civilizations change over the course of the game, from primitive first interactions where conflict is a fact of life, to late game alliances and negotiations.
- Combined Arms: Expanding on the “one unit per tile” design, support units can now be embedded with other units, like anti-tank support with infantry, or a warrior with settlers. Similar units can also be combined to form powerful “Corps” units.
- Enhanced Multiplayer: In addition to traditional multiplayer modes, cooperate and compete with your friends in a wide variety of situations all designed to be easily completed in a single session.
- A Civ For All Players: Civilization VI provides veteran players new ways to build and tune their civilization for the greatest chance of success. New tutorial systems are designed to introduce new players to the underlying concepts of Civilization so they can easily get started on a path to victory.
“Sid Meier’s Civilization VI builds on the firm foundation of the Civilization franchise, and we’ve added many exciting new elements,” said Ed Beach, the Lead Designer at Firaxis Games. “The visual presentation of the game is inspired by the maps and tools of the Age of Exploration, and we’ve made several key gameplay changes such as expansive cities and active research that makes Sid Meier’s Civilization VI an entirely unique experience while remaining true to what makes the Civilization series so special.”
In addition a game-only standard edition ($59.99), Civilization VI will also be available as a special Digital Deluxe Edition ($79.99) that includes the 25th Anniversary Digital Soundtrack and access to four post-launch DLC packs with new maps, scenarios, civilizations, and leaders.
Posted in News, PC
Tagged Civilization VI
Motiga partners with Perfect World to publish Gigantic later this year
Motiga relentlessly crisscrossed the country last year to promote Gigantic, their third-person 5×5 arena fighter. But after some money troubles forced the game to miss its planned Late 2015 launch, the developer went quiet.
But like an ancient god awakening from a lengthy slumber (hey, just like the Guardians at the center of Gigantic), Motiga is back, and they’ve got big plans for Gigantic. Partnering with Perfect World, Motiga will expand Gigantic’s reach beyond its originally-announced platforms. The game is still on track for Windows 10 PCs and the Xbox One, but it’s now also in development for 64-Bit users of Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. The 64-Bit version of Gigantic will be available as a standalone launcher and through Perfect World’s Arc Games service.
“Our team is thrilled to work with Perfect World Entertainment who shares our vision for our game. This partnership will enable us to focus on creating the best experience possible.” said Chris Chung, the CEO of Motiga. “Motiga has always thrived off of the excitement of our players, and the continued success that Perfect World Entertainment has had in the free-to-play space has solidified our desire to partner with them for our upcoming launch.”
This is all good news, but we still don’t know when Gigantic will be released. Though it is expected to be out sometime this year.
Enter the Gungeon Review: A Few Steps Forward, More Steps Back
Strange though it may seem, in 2016, video games are an old medium. The various genres and mechanics of the medium have, over time, formed a kind of complex language that makes sense to those who are video game literate but is impenetrable to those who aren’t. Good guys are blue, bad guys are red. This is simple if you’ve played a few shooters, but is not immediately obvious. This creates a problem for the critic when describing a game’s mechanics: to some people, Red Dead Redemption is a simulation of the Old West in which you meet with people who need tasks doing; to others, it’s GTA with horses.
Enter the Gungeon is a top-down, twin-stick shooter in which you explore procedurally generated dungeon floors armed with weapons, bombs, keys, and a special item. You fight your way through each floor looking for shops and item rooms to arm yourself for the boss fight that allows you to move down to the next floor of the dungeon. It’s usually best to avoid comparisons, but if this description reminds you of The Binding of Isaac, then you’re on the right track. (more…)
Posted in PC, PS4, Reviews, Top Story
Tagged Enter the Gungeon
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is officially coming in 2017, alongside a new original title from EA
I think it’s time to dust off your “Evil Empire” jokes, because EA executives delivered an uncanny impression of Emperor Palpatine during their quarterly financial report yesterday. According to CFO Blake Jorgensen, the megapublisher has mapped out their plan for global domination of the video game industry with a massive slate of upcoming titles that’ll take us all the way into 2020.
First, Jorgensen confirmed that Star Wars: Battlefront will be released in 2017, complete with maps based on the new series of films: “Next year we will see Star Wars: Battlefront back with bigger and better worlds, because we now have the new movies to work off of, not just the historical movies that we used before.” He added that EA will also release at least one Star Wars game per year until 2019 or 2020. That includes Visceral’s Star Wars game, which will be released in 2018, and Repawn’s recently announced game, which has no release date but should probably be penciled in for 2019.
The executive then pivoted away from Star Wars to reveal that an internal EA studio is working on an original property for 2017, and the publisher has started development on multiple action games that’ll be released 2018 and 2020:
“We do have a new IP coming next year. We haven’t yet announced it, but it’s something that you’ll see probably coming up soon.”
“We’re making broad investments that fuel the growth of the company well beyond [2017 and 2018]. Really today we’re building an action genre product that’s probably [due in 2019 or 2020]. Most of what we’re investing in that’s incremental now probably comes in [2018 or 2019]. But clearly, some of our investment is to grow out our product base for what we’re going on as well.”
It might be a while before we learn more about some of the more distant games, but there’s a good chance we could hear something about the upcoming original title at this year’s E3 Expo.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars: Battlefront II, Star Wars: Visceral
Disney shuts down all console development and cancels Disney Infinity franchise
Two months ago, the Disney Infinity franchise was put on hiatus by Disney Interactive. Yesterday, the Walt Disney Company announced the end of Disney Interactive with the cancellation of all console development and the closure of the entire division.
Speaking during the company’s quarterly financial report, Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy said, “During the quarter, we took a charge of $147 million in connection with the shutdown of our Infinity console games business. Going forward, our console games strategy will focus solely on licensing our great portfolio of content.”
This closure extends to developer Avalanche Software, and Disney Interactive General Manager John Blackburn thanked them for all their hard work on the publisher’s official website:
Our goal for Disney Infinity was to bring the best of Disney storytelling to life in homes around the world, and with your support we accomplished that. We hope you had as much fun playing the game as we had making it.
And as we turn to the next chapter in our story, I want to thank everyone who helped bring Disney Infinity to life, particularly Disney’s Glendale-based production and publishing teams, our external development partners, and of course the incredible Avalanche team for their tireless dedication to this project.
Avalanche will complete work on the remaining Disney Infinity content that is currently in development, including three figures from Alice: Through the Looking Glass (which will be available later this month) and a Finding Dory Play Set (coming in June).
With Disney’s console development future tied up in licensing deals, we should probably expect to hear about more third-party partnerships, like the one the company struck with EA to create Star Wars: Battlefront, soon.
Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Disney Infinity, Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes, Disney Infinity: Star Wars
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine expansion will be available on May 31
Prepare to ride with Geralt of Rivia one last time as CD Projekt Red has announced the Blood and Wine expansion to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be available to download on May 31.
“Blood and Wine makes The Witcher 3 complete [because] it’s Geralt’s final mission. Containing more than 90 new quests, and over 30 hours of brand new adventures, it’s something that I think gamers will remember for a long time,” said Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, the Game Director at CD Projekt Red.
“There’s also a massive amount of features we’re giving gamers with this expansion like a dynamic Point of Interest system, a new Gwent deck, new endgame mutation mechanics, and even a place Geralt can call home…. And it’s all happening in a new region as big as No Man’s Land in the base game,” he added.
In addition to the absolutely massive expansion, European fans of The Witcher 3 will be able to pick up a special Limited Edition that contains a Blood and Wine download and two real-life Gwent decks (Northern Realms and Nilfgaard). More information on this rather cool extra is available at The Witcher 3’s official website.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
EA will release next Need For Speed game in 2017
Ghost Games brought the Need For Speed franchise back last November with the simply-named Need For Speed. Since then, they’ve added to the racer with a number of expansions, including the upcoming SpeedList update. But don’t worry, they’ve got big plans for the future.
Writing on the franchise’s official website today, the developer revealed that an untitled new Need For Speed game will launch in 2017:
We are now building upon the foundations that have been laid with Need for Speed and delivering our next game in 2017.
That’s not to say that we’re going quiet between now and then… far from it. We’ll be working with our community and there will be multiple opportunities to bring many of you into the studio in the coming months to get your feedback on where we’re headed.
Your passion and dedication for Need for Speed continues to motivate, inspire and drive us forward. It’s absolutely amazing. From all of us at Ghost, thank you.
It’s possible, though unlikely, that EA might discuss the next Need For Speed game during their 2016 E3 Press Conference, which will be held on June 12.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Need For Speed Payback
Mass Effect: Andromeda blasts off for E3 2016 (and an Early 2017 release date)
EA and BioWare are very excited about Mass Effect: Andromeda, and they’ve confirmed that fans will be able to share in this excitement beginning next month. Writing on the the game’s official website, Aaryn Flynn, the General Manager of BioWare said that Mass Effect: Andromeda will be a big part of EA’s E3 Press Conference, which is scheduled for June 12.
Flynn also shared some details about the team’s progress:
- More Freedom: One of our biggest ambitions is to give players an unprecedented level of freedom for a Mass Effect experience –where you’ll go, how you’ll get there, and how you’ll play.
- New Uncharted Worlds: We’re leaving the Milky Way behind and headed to Andromeda, where we’ll meet new allies, confront new enemies, and explore fascinating new worlds.
- The Next Great Mass Effect Experience: Mass Effect: Andromeda will be the first Mass Effect game for today’s consoles and the first built on the Frostbite engine. We’re pushing the technology to deliver visuals, story, and gameplay that have never been done in franchise history.
Finally, Flynn also thought he was announcing a slight delay for Mass Effect: Andromeda, but EA CFO Blake Jorgensen actually beat him to the punch a few months ago. Regardless of who said it first, the game will officially be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One in “Early 2017.”