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CD Projekt is developing two “massive” expansions for The Witcher 3

Posted on April 7, 2015 by John Scalzo

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CD Projekt Red says they want to bring back “a time when add-on disks truly expanded games” with the announcement of two “massive” expansions for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt…

Hearts of Stone will take Geralt on an all-new, 10-hour-plus adventure into the wilds of No Man’s Land and the nooks and alleys of Oxenfurt, where he’ll try to complete a contract from the mysterious Man of Glass. Caught in a thick tangle of deceit, Geralt will need all his cunning and strength to solve the mystery and emerge unscathed.

Blood and Wine is a 20-hour-plus tale that will introduce the all-new in-game region of Toussaint, will take Geralt to a land untainted by war, where an atmosphere of carefree indulgence and knightly ritual masks an ancient, bloody secret.

As you can see, when CD Projekt Red says massive, they mean massive. But massive takes time. The developer plans to release Hearts of Stone in October while Blood and Wine will be available sometime in early 2016. CD Projekt Red co-founder Marcin Iwinski believes it’ll be worth. He said, “Both our expansions offer more hours of gameplay than quite a few standalone games out there.”

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on May 24.

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Mysterious symbols in CoD: Black Ops II multiplayer might point to Black Ops 3 reveal

Posted on April 7, 2015 by John Scalzo

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For the past few years, Activision has revealed the newest game in the Call of Duty franchise in May. But this year, it looks like they plan to tease out the latest announcement using a series of secret messages and hidden clues.

The first clue was found yesterday within Call of Duty: Black Ops II‘s multiplayer maps by YouTube user Drift0r. According to Drift0r, posters in the “Terminal” map have been edited to include a Snapchat watermark. Scanning the watermark in Snapchat will add a Call of Duty-connected user to your Friends List. Eventually, your new friend will send you videos that hint at the brainwashing techniques used in Black Ops II. Videos such as this one:

Treyarch, the developer behind Black Ops II, will the main developer of this Fall’s Call of Duty title. So while we don’t know for sure that these clues are hinting at Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, it certainly seems like a very real possibility.

[Source: Polygon]

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2013’s Tomb Raider becomes best-selling game in franchise after selling 8.5 million copies

Posted on April 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Square Enix has announced that 2013’s Tomb Raider has become the best-selling game in franchise history, shifting more than 8.5 million copies on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Some of those copies were also sold on the PS4 and Xbox One as an enhanced remake known as the Definitive Edition.

“Tomb Raider ignited and expanded the fan base, pushing the series to a new level. The game’s incredible sales success reflects the passionate response of players,” said Darrell Gallagher, the Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics. “Our studio is proud of what we accomplished with the game.”

A sequel to Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, will be released this Fall exclusively for the Xbox One and Xbox 360.

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Square Enix’s “Can’t Kill Progress” reveal stream is now live

Posted on April 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Square Enix is attempting to perfect the slow burn announcement with their three-day “interactive reveal” for “Can’t Kill Progress.” Though it’s unlikely that “Can’t Kill Progress” is the game’s final title. However, we can’t prove that it’s not, either.

As of right now, all we know for sure is that the game is in development at one of Square Enix’s western studios. All three of Square Enix’s western studios have previously-announced projects in the works that are still mostly shrouded in mystery, but I think it’s fair to discount Crystal Dynamics’ Rise of the Tomb Raider. The sci-fi theme of the teaser image doesn’t suit Lara Croft’s style. Besides, what we’re seeing at the Twitch livestream could easily be hinting at IO Interactive’s Hitman 6 or Eidos Montreal’s Deus Ex Universe.

So far, the livestream has mostly featured a captive man trapped in some kind of prison. If you’ve been watching, you’ll see that he screams a lot about not knowing where he is. When he’s not doing that, he sleeps a lot. It’s definitely not much to go on, but Square Enix has promised an online vote to “decide what happens next” will occur at 6:00 PM (Eastern Time). More votes will take place tomorrow (1:00 PM, 6:00 PM, and 8:00 PM) and Wednesday (11:30 AM). A Square-Enix-run Instagram account is also cataloging some of the stream’s “Archive Footage.” There’s scary doctors and grainy footage of something… it’s real 1984-type stuff.

If we all keep watching, we’ll eventually find out what “Can’t Kill Progress” is all about by Wednesday. But I’ll be very surprised if it’s not related to Deus Ex Universe in some way.

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Mortal Kombat X launch trailer is here… because it launches next week

Posted on April 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

NetherRealm Studios has absolutely bombarded the Internet with Mortal Kombat X announcements and trailers over the last few weeks, but that’s all about to end very soon. And that’s because Mortal Kombat X is only eight days away from its PC, PS4, and Xbox One release (PS3 and Xbox 360 owners will have to wait until the Summer).

Of course, that’ll just lead into a neverending cycle of downloadable content announcements and trailers. But since those trailers will include Jason Voorhees and The Predator, I’m OK with that.

Anyway, now that Mortal Kombat X’s launch is imminent, NetherRealm Studios has released an official “Launch Trailer” that is absolutely packed with kameos from some of the franchise’s most-popular (and not-so-popular) kombatants. There’s Noob Saibot and Baraka and Rain and Zombie Nightwolf and many others. They may not be available as playable characters (karacters?), but it looks we’ll find out what happened to all our favorites in Mortal Kombat X.

In addition to all the chaotic (kaotic?) kombat, the Mortal Kombat X “Launch Trailer” is back by System of a Down’s “Chop Suey,” courtesy of bassit Shavo Odadjian. Odadjian, for some reason, also directed the trailer.

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H-Hour: World’s Elite will be available through Steam Early Access on April 21

Posted on April 6, 2015 by John Scalzo

The SOCOM: US Navy SEALs franchise built up a reasonably large fanbase thanks to the ten titles released across the PS2, PS3, and PSP between 2002 and 2011. But with the closure of Zipper Interactive in 2012, and Sony’s general disinterest in the series, fans have had to look elsewhere for a new tactical military shooter. Perhaps they should look to H-Hour: World’s Elite, which will be available through Steam’s Early Access program on April 21.

H-Hour: World’s Elite is a tactical military shooter that is in development at Special Operations Forces Studios. Also known as SOF Studios, the team counts several members of America’s retired warfighter community among their employees to help create the most realistic military shooter they can. A few former SOCOM developers are also employed at SOF Studios. With the Early Access version of the game less than three weeks away, the team has released a new trailer for H-Hour, showcasing the work they’ve done using Unreal Engine 4.

It’s unknown when the final version of H-Hour: World’s Elite will be released for the PC, but a PS4 release is also planned for the future.

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Goro lives in this new Mortal Kombat X trailer

Posted on April 4, 2015 by John Scalzo

NetherRealm Studios has been teasing Goro’s inclusion in Mortal Kombat X for more than six months, but today we finally got our first look at the four-armed Shokan Prince in action. The trailer is a bit on the short side, but stick with it until the end to have a peek at one of Goro’s awesome fatalities. Sometimes, four arms come in handy.

Fans will be able to play as Goro if they pre-order Mortal Kombat X before its release for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on April 14. Goro will also be playable in the PS3 and Xbox 360 editions of Mortal Kombat X, which will be released in the Summer.

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Insert Quarter: Axiom Verge’s Creator Talks About the Journey From Idea to Finished Game

Posted on April 3, 2015 by John Scalzo

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Insert Quarter is our showcase for some of the best and most interesting writing about video games on the Internet.

Axiom Verge is Tom Happ’s baby. The developer is the Programmer/Artist/Designer/Composer on the title and he essentially put the whole thing together by himself over the last five years. Happ’s persistence paid off as the PS4 launch earlier this week was met with enthusiastic reviews (including our own) and great sales. But what was the journey from scrap of an idea to finished game like? Happ wrote about this recently on the PlayStation Blog:

I didn’t start off with Axiom Verge fully designed in my head. It really more started off as an exercise in game design. I wanted to deconstruct my favorite games from my youth and see what would happen if I took the best elements of each and put them together. The Yo-Yo weapon of Rygar and the grapple hook of Bionic Commando in the setting of Blaster Master and Shatterhand. What would fit together? What wouldn’t work?

The full article is available for your perusal at the PlayStation Blog.

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