Devolver Digital and Deadtoast have announced that a free-to-play spin-off from the chaotic shoot-'em-up game My Friend Pedro, called My Friend Pedro: Ripe for Revenge, is coming in August for iOS and Android.
]]>MMORPG publisher NCSoft managed to turn a profit this year despite a dry third quarter, thanks to a year-end jump in the fourth.
]]>Aion: Steel Cavalry is the next expansion for NC Soft's MMO, and it's dropping for free next week.
]]>Aion version 4.0 will be getting new class when it is updated to version 4.5 later this year.
]]>Aion version 4.0 should arrive on European servers in August, local publisher Gameforge told Massively. The uopdate arrives in North America next week, but has been delayed by localisation in Europe, where there are more languages to support. Executive product director Volker Boenigk said he's "confident" about the launch window and that work is progressing well. Update 4.0 adds a new zone, Katalam, and transforms the Engineer and Artist classes into Gunner and Songweaver respectively.
]]>As new purchases of Guild Wars 2 tail off, publisher NCSoft has noted a dramatic drop in sales revenue - but is still very much back in the black after a few chancy years.
]]>Aion went free-to-play in Europe a year ago, and the developers are celebrating the anniversary with events.
]]>Aion players based in Europe finally have the opportunity to catch up with their North American cousins. Gameforge has launched patch 3.5 onto the EU servers, bringing a host of new content along with it.
]]>Gameforge has announced Aion update 3.0, the largest expansion since the MMO's release, will launch on August 15. It contains two new areas, countless new features such as mounts and the housing system. Shots are below.
]]>NCsoft and Gameforge have released some extra details regarding update 3.0 for Aion free-to-play, starting with the MMO's housing areas which will be influenced by the seasons.
]]>Starting today, Aion players can start prepping for the MMO's relaunch by logging into the game's new Kahrun server to create their characters. While you won't be able to the play the game just yet, you can reserve your character's name. Also, if you've been inactive but your account is still in good standing, your account has been reactivated, and if you have a subscription, all remaining time will be converted to NCoin. Aion goes free to play on April 11. Thanks, Massively.
]]>NCsoft has announced it will merge the Zikel and Vaizel servers in Aion on March 28. Players will be given the option to change their name and faction for free if needed. The server merge should help balance the playing field for players who were a bit outnumbered by opposing factions. Thanks, TenTonHammer.
]]>Aion is officially free-to-play in Europe and NCsoft has released videos for the Asmodians and the Elyos nations.
]]>NCsoft has announced starting February 27, it will be hosting and event in Aion called Rallying the Troops which will allow players to get a head start before update 3.0, Ascension, hits.
]]>Aion will go free-to-play on February 28 in Europe, it's been announced. The change-over will occur simultaneously for the English, French, and German language versions.
]]>NCSoft has announced Aion will go free-to-play in North America this spring. To be re-branded as Aion: Ascension in the region, as with Europe, the new business model will allow folks to download the entire game for free along with two major expansions. The new model will launch alongside update 3.0 which will include new additions to the housing system, mounts, some new content and a level cap increase. The closed beta for the European version of free-to-play just closed and the game is set to be relaunched this month.
]]>Head on over to the Aion Free-to-Play website, and you can pre-load the new client, sign up for the beta, and study up and what you'll need to do to transition your account smoothly to Gameforge's new servers. The MMORPG's European servers make the switch in February, but in the US, the game remains subscription-based.
]]>NCSoft's announced it's to make Aion free-to-play from February next year.
]]>NCSoft have revealed that they're going to kick of a variety of different celebratory events this week in honour of Aion: The Tower of Eternity, which turns two in the US and Europe this week.
]]>Snuggle up to this second batch of shorts.
]]>NCSoft's confirmed that update 2.6 for Aion will go live on August 3.
]]>The holiday is over, the fireworks were cool; let's have some shorts, there's no Dana only Zuul.
]]>Another round of shorts for your hump day is below.
]]>While NCsoft showed slips in both profit and revenue for the first quarter today, the company has told VG247 it plans to "steal headlines" at gamescom in August and has massive plans for 2011.
]]>The delicately-feathered MMORPG Aion will receive a major update before the end of the month, as the European and US servers hit version 2.5.
]]>NCsoft's Sean Neil has said Aion's 2.5 update promises to "further refine" the MMO's experience and to continue focusing on player suggestions.
]]>NCSoft's announced it's holding double XP weekends for Aion.
]]>The Assault of Balaurea sure likes like a pretty war.
]]>NCsoft has announced plans to re-release Aion in North American and European retailers on September 7 and 10, respectively.
The retail box will contain the original game, and the upcoming free expansion, Assault on Balaurea.
]]>NCsoft has sent over a lovely mail about some updates coming to Aion. To be more specific, it was about patches 1.9 and 2.0.
]]>NCsoft has released its financial report for Q3 ending on December 31 and it proves that business is good for the MMO publisher.
]]>Aion players could see the long-awaited gender change and plastic surgery services happening in the next couple weeks.
Also, the developers posted a nice bit of information on how you can protect your account, and what it's doing to combat hackers and gold farmers.
]]>NCsoft has announced that Aion associate producer Chris "Kinslon" Hager is now the game's full-fledged producer.
]]>Aion players on the Azphel server were given 30 trillion Kinah yesterday, as a game bug caused money sacks to overflow with in-game cash.
]]>Oh the hilarity. NCsoft devs are on a banning rampage in Aion, and the video posted below the break shows how much fun banning can be.
Instead of just quietly banning coin vendors and evil bots, moderators show up on the form of a giant rabbit and squish you or take the form of a fire breathing squirrel and toast your ass.
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
See for yourself, courtesy of Kotaku.
]]>This was a rather large week in MMOs as far as news went, and not all of it was Halloween related.
Past the break you will hear all about how Ultima Online is still going strong, get familiarized with the new patch for Aion, read up on Cryptic's Blood Moon event via a dev chat, PvP henchmen and Guild Wars, Alganon's delay, China's ban on males playing females in games, and many other bits of stuff that didn't hit the front page during the week.
Also, we hope everyone who plays MMOs enjoyed the Halloween and Fall festivities that their particular favorites hosted. Loads had celebrations, more than likely every single one of 'em. If we forgot to mention your particular game, head on over to the list through the link ther and add it in the comments section so that we may give it its proper shout-out.
]]>NCsoft's announced a ton of in-game Hallowe'en events for its MMOs, bringing seasonal quests, costumes and contests across across Aion, City of Heroes, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lineage II and Exteel.
It's all very spooky. All details, including dates, are listed after the break.
]]>Aion's launched in Europe, NCsoft confirmed today.
The MMO is by far the largest game of its type taking off this year, and those looking to inhabit the European servers will no doubt be praying the crippling rush of the game's pre-start program has calmed somewhat.
“We’re extremely excited to finally deliver the game to Western audiences and believe they will enjoy Aion as much as Eastern players have,” said Jaeho Lee, CEO NCsoft West.
“The effort we put into Westernising Aion is unprecedented in our industry. Players will experience a completely rewritten storyline spanning more than two-million words, along with a variety of enhancements specifically for Western audiences.”
PR after the break.
]]>In case you've been living under a rock, NCsoft MMO Aion releases this week. More than 400,000 people are lined up to play the Korean fantasy import, and it's looking very much like this is the largest MMO event of the year by a substantial margin.
To celebrate, we had a chat with brand manager Christian-Peter Heimbach at NCsoft's Brighton office on westernizing the game, plans for the future and plenty more.
After the break.
]]>Loads of news this week in MMO land, kiddos.
Massively is giving away Beta keys to Star Trek Online, Aion dropped GameGuard and launched its first server, Pirates are everywhere, and Sony is giving you double station cash this weekend.
There is also news concerning Champions Online, EVE, Guild Wars 2, EverQuest, Warhammer, Runes of Magic, and loads of other stuff you can find here instead of searching everywhere.
It's all past the break.
]]>NCsoft has announced that Aion preorders are nearing the 400,000 mark, making it the "biggest MMO launch of the year".
As a bonus to those who preordered their copy, NCsoft is allowing buyers to pre-select their servers starting September 18 and participate in the five-day headstart period, beginning September 20.
The game goes live for the rest of the world on September 25.
Full press release through the break.
]]>NCsoft said today that imminent MMO Aion was constructed from the ground-up to appeal to both Asian and western gamers.
"From the beginning, Aion was designed for a global audience," said lead desginer Yong Chan Jee, speaking in the game's latest video podcast.
"Aion adopted a global mind-set, not only in gameplay, but also in other components of the game, such as its visuals, that were designed to embrace both east and west."
The game has been active in Korea for the past year, and has seen high levels of activity so far. More than 300,000 in the west have activated pre-orders ahead of launch later this month.
Americans get their hands on the western version on September 22, with Europeans getting in on the action three days later.
Watch the video after the break, courtesy of Kotaku.
]]>NCsoft has announced that its open Beta test for Aion will take place September 6-13.
Open Beta will retain a level cap for both Elyos and Asmodians characters at 30 allowing players to focus on getting to the same level so they can explore Atreia and the Abyss.
Those who have preordered the game will be "treated" to a Pre-Select and a two day Headstart period which will give players a bit more time to get ahead of the curve before it launched on September 22 and 25 in the US and UK, repsectivley.
Pre-Select will take place on the 18th, and Headstart on the 20th.
Full thing below.
]]>Loads of World of Warcraft stuff is coming out of BlizzCon 09, but you knew that already.
We also told you about the new CCP game Dust 514 this week thanks to GamesCom, but there is other stuff that went on in the world of MMOs as well.
The Avaline service is now available in Second Life, Warhammer Online is having it's Wild Hunt Event, an Aion has revealed the Cleric class.
More is through the break.
]]>The latest trailer for Aion: The Tower of Eternity tells the MMO's backstory for the game.
It's posted after the jump courtesy of Kotaku.
As per all Aion videos, it's drop-dead gorgeous.
It releases on September 22 in the US and September 25 in Europe.
]]>After the break. The NCsoft fantasy MMO's just silly-pretty, as the footage testifies.
Whether you pick the elyos or asmodians you're going to be doing a lot of fighting. For eternity, apparently.
It's out on September 25.
]]>Loads of Beta news this week in MMO round-up.
IncGamers made good on its promise, and has posted part-two of its Aion Beta preview, Mortal Online's second stage of Beta testing begins soon, CrimeCraft started its Beta and Alganon is prepping for one.
Loads of MMO are going to be coming out soon, and there will be more than just fantasy offerings on the table. Sci-fi, apocalyptic, modern, and steampunk are all heading our way.
Hit the jump for more on the week in MMOs.
]]>It's Saturday again, and time for your dose of MMO news.
This one has been branded the "trouble" edition, because certain MMOS were either in trouble, or getting out of it this week.
First off, Stargate Worlds is rumored to be in massive trouble, Age of Conan isn't in as much any more, and China has ungrounded World of Warcraft but only a tiny bit. It can still go out on dates, but not whore about the countryside like it had been doing. What a tart.
Other than those bits, the week in MMOs was a bit uneventful. Yeah sure, the major news hit the front page as usual, but there are a few things you may want to know about that didn't. For that, and the rest of it, along with a song devoted to Second Life, read on below.
]]>Loads this week in MMO news, and some is more interesting than what we have been offered in previous weeks.
FussionFall is getting an expansion for its 5 million users, the EQI&II trademark rumors turned out to be new expansions, Star Wars will be on hand at Comic-Con, and Conan got a new update.
Also, Warhammer and LotRO are celebrating the summer with festivities to make things a bit more zany and fun.
Find out all about these and others after the break.
]]>Good gravy. Aion's first proper dev diary lies after the break, showing an MMO like no other. Whether or not it p;lays like a bag of s**t is yet to be determined, but on the visual front it looks astonishing.
There's a bunch of stuff in there, including the game's flight ability and a good explanation of the world and races.
It's out in the West later this year. Thanks, Massively.
]]>This week there is a bit more going on in MMOs than last week.
Seems quite a few got game updates, WoW's Midsummer Fire Festival is in full swing, and City of Heroes is getting power customization.
Loads of stuff really. Read on past the break for the lot of it.
Within the first four days of launch, Aion pulled in one million players who happily paid for at least one hour of gameplay, reports GI.biz.
]]>NCsoft has entered the Steam age, and is now offering all of its MMOs through the digital distribution service.
Starting today, all current NCsoft titles are available, and once it's released, the lovely Aion: The Tower of Eternity will also make an appearance.
Over the next few weeks, the service will be offering exclusive deals for the publisher's MMOs, although no specific details have been announced at this time.
Full thing below.
]]>NCsoft's latest zone tour video for Aion: The Tower of Eternity shows off the Morheim zone.
There's not much to dislike here. It's lovely. Watch on.
Aion's out in the West this year, all being well.
]]>NCsoft's Aion: Tower of Eternity is looking prettier than ever today, which a bunch of new shots showing the MMO's spookier aspects.
It's out this year, hopefully. Screens after the break.
]]>NCsoft has put out a new trailer for Aion: Tower of Eternity, showing off the lush zone of Poeta.
It's home to peaceful farmers and villagers who cut timber in accordance with an ancient agreement with the tree people, apparently.
Too bad their existence does not stay peaceful for long. Well, it isn't really. There'd be nothing to do in the game otherwise.
Watch it below.
]]>Aion: The Tower of Eternity is lovely to say the least: NCsoft wants to show you just how much by giving you a tour of its Altgard zone.
Game's out this fall. Watch the video below.
Area backstory is posted as well.
]]>The Korean beta for forthcoming NCsoft MMO, Aion: The Tower of Eternity, has reached a total of 170,000 users, making it the most popular event of its type in the country's history.
More than 11,000 people were logged into the game after only two minutes of the beta service launching, apparently.
"In less than an hour, that number had ballooned to 40,000," said the firm in a release.
So, quite popular then?
Aion: The Tower of Eternity hits US and Europe next year. Full thing after the break.
By Mike Bowden
]]>NCsoft just confirmed that Korean MMO Aion: The Tower of Eternity will be shown to western press for the first time in over a year at the end of this month.
"Showing between July 29-31, this will be the first time for western journalists to see Aion since the summer of 2007," the company said in a statement.
The game has been promised before the end of this year, and is being keenly watched by fantasy MMO buffs.
Full thing after the break.
]]>Speaking to VG247, NCSoft Europe CEO Geoff Heath has confirmed that the company is planning to launch new titles in the City of Heroes franchise "in the next couple of years" and will bring Korean swords-and-sorcery MMO Aion: Tower of Eternity to Europe in "Q4 of this year."
"We have some major plans for City of Heroes for the future," he said. "Again, for this year we're going to be doing regular updates, but there's a lot of exciting stuff going on around City of Heroes, not for this year in terms of new releases, but certainly in the next couple of years."
He added, talking of an Aion release date, "We're being as brave as saying Q4 of this year. Within a month or two I'm sure we'll firm the exact date up."
Heath was talking on the back of strong full year financials, which showed near-static sales but good profit increase.
"They're a solid set of results," said Heath, adding, "For the UK and Europe, I think it's good that the group made a good profit, and also we're forecasting growing again this year. Europe is a healthy part of it these days."
Heath also confirmed previous reports that NCSoft's first PS3 MMO is to be shown this year.
"We're going to be showing some stuff on PS3 later this year," he said. We're not quite ready to say what it is yet."
Read the full transcription of our interview with Geoff after the link.
]]>
