A sixth character is apparently joining the Borderlands 2 team. Randy Pitchford of Gearbox says they are “working on it,” but no other information was included. More DLC, beyond the Season Pass items, is planned but Pitchford declined to elaborate as he gets “skewered when things change in development, whatever the reason.” Somewhere in the plans is likely the long-sought level cap, but no confirmation was made about that either.
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale has been well-supported with minor DLC, but the playable characters and environments fans want haven’t really shown up yet. That’s changing on March 19th. The new “Graveyard” level is mash-up of MediEvil‘s opening level with The Unfinished Swan (wtf). It will be free for online ranked matches, or $1.99 to own. The character additions are Dead Space‘s Isaac Clarke and God of War‘s Zeus. Both will be fully realized additions to the roster. The two characters will be $4.99 each but you can get them free with a voucher code included in God of War: Ascension (March 12th).
Despite all the fan outcry about adding micro-transactions to Dead Space 3 (but no one really noticing in Mass Effect 3), EA now plans to include them in all games. According to EA’s CFO, Blake Jorgensen, “consumers are enjoying and embracing that way of business.” Which is interesting, fans decry it on the internet, but they’re apparently using it. Hopefully they stick with the method of selling shortcuts, not selling the end game. As part of this plan, EA is also revamping how they process the transactions, as the fees from billing credit cards for each minor purchase means they get “eaten alive.” I’m not necessarily a fan of the gimmick, but if it doesn’t really affect me I certainly want to see a new strategy for monetization.
Speaking of EA, get your salt shakers ready. The rumors are flying about Microsoft‘s planned reveal of the neXtBox in April. You may have noticed the conspicuous absence of EA at Sony’s PS4 unveiling despite other publishers already promising exclusive content. Multiple anonymous sources are claiming that the publishing giant will be on stage at Microsoft’s event to explain an exclusivity deal they’ve signed. Just what will this deal mean? Surely it’s got to a be a single game, maybe two, or even some timed DLC. EA wouldn’t really limit themselves to a single console would they? As the largest game publishing company, it would certainly be a coup for Microsoft. The obvious answer is that EA wouldn’t deliberately miss out on that many customers; it’s just bad for business. But if they thought it would topple Sony and they’d be exclusive to the only viable console on the market? Curious. I’m doubtful it’s that extreme, but I’m definitely going to be paying a little closer attention to the press event.
Vigil Games and Darksiders will be featured in a final auction for THQ’s remaining assets. Five lots will be up for grabs in the last sale, 1. Red Faction, 2. Homeworld, 3. MX, 4. Darksiders, and 5. a whole slew of other internal titles (de Blob, Destroy All Humans, Worms, etc.). The final sale will occur before the end of April.
A couple of interesting trademarks have popped up this week. Square Enix claimed the name Deus Ex: Human Defiance. New game? Tie-in movie? Something else entirely? We shall see. Meanwhile, Ratchet & Clank creators Insomniac Games trademarked Sunset Overdrive. Is this a new project from Insomniac, who’s currently making FUSE for EA? They’ve got a strong pedigree, so it’s worth watching.
We’ve all known a new Assassin’s Creed title was coming this year, but Ubisoft has finally revealed some detail. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is on the way, but we’ll have to wait until Monday for details. It’s clearly pirate-themed, but who will be our Assassin? It’s probably safe to assume that AC III‘s ship battles will return. I’m not in love with the addition, but I seem to be in the minority on that one. They’re definitely better than the awkward tower defense segments in Revelations. The PS3-specific box art was also released, which advertises 60 minutes of exclusive content. That also answers the question of whether this is next-gen or not. At best, it will be cross-gen, which is fine by me.
[Note, there is a countdown to the trailer on Ubisoft’s website. The site, according to some sources, temporarily showed a release date also, October 29th. However, any evidence I’ve personally seen of that date also coincides with a picture of Connor from the George Washington DLC, making me suspicious of its authenticity. A picture of a bearded pirate fellow, possibly Blackbeard himself, also appeared temporarily.]
If you’ve been following Swank-mo-tron’s recent discussions about The Clone Wars you know that the fate of the cartoon is currently in limbo. Turns out that may be true for other parts of the franchise as well. Several “anonymous” sources “familiar with game development at LucasArts” are alleging that production has ceased on Star Wars 1313. No explanation was given for the halt, and the official line is that “LucasArts has been working diligently to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities that the new Star Wars movies present.” That doesn’t actually address 1313 in any way, especially being that it was announced before any movie plans were revealed. It does bring to mind a quote from Bob Iger recently after the acquisition. In regards to LucasArts, he stated they are “likely to focus more on social and mobile than… on console.” The game looked amazing at E3 last year and I’ve been excited to hear more about my favorite franchise’s first foray into next-gen. I’ll be very disappointed if it doesn’t see release.
Quantic Dream has just announced that Willem Dafoe has joined the cast of Beyond: Two Souls. They also finally revealed the release date, October 8, 2013. Preorders are available now and will reward you with an extra playable scene (about 30 minutes). Preordering at GameStop will also score you an extra bonus. The free upgrade to the special edition will include bonus packaging, behind the scenes feature, soundtrack, dynamic theme, and avatar bundle.
That’s it for this week.