According to a news report from VentureBeat, John Smedley, long time CEO of Daybreak (going back into its early days as Sony Online Entertainment), has stepped down and is being replaced by former COO Russell Shanks.

Since Daybreak went independent from Sony, it has been in the news frequently, dealing with layoffs, DDOS attacks, and community reassurances that EQNext, H1Z1, and other titles are still being worked on lovingly by the staff. At this time, it’s unclear what this change in staffing will do to affect Daybreak’s games and services.

Studio Wildcard unveiled today a completely new way to survive the dinosaur-filled landscape of the wildly successful game ARK: Survival Evolved. This “Survival of the Fittest” mode introduces a brand new last man standing, fight-to-the-permadeath contest, designed to create a completely new dynamic in the world of ARK.

Starting at 12 pm PST, Saturday, August 1, 2015, Studio Wildcard’s Kayd Hendricks and Twitch’s Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez will host a live five-hour tournament to debut ‘Survival of the Fittest’ from Twitch headquarters in San Francisco, CA. Thirty-five teams will step into the ARK arena to compete in this PvP ‘Hunger Games’-style deathmatch where the last tribe standing will receive a Grand Prize of $20,000 along with killer gaming gear from Logitech and Gunnar Optiks. During the event, the Twitch audience can vote on Evolution Events – powerful world-altering sequences that will occur every 30 minutes (Freak Weather, Dino Assault, Supply Drop, etc.). Alex and Kayd will deliver play-by-play and color commentary of the action from a roaming spectator point-of-view, with both pre- and post-interviews from fallen warriors as they exit the battle.

In this new mode specifically balanced for tournament competition, contestants begin in a neutral staging area where they can communicate pre-game, strategize, or talk trash. After a count-down, they dramatically descend from the sky onto the ARK in a circular formation via beams of light. There is a cache of valuable items in the center – do survivors dash for the goods and fight it out, do they run into the forest and hide, or do they freeze up from the sheer terror of death? A continually shrinking “ring of death” forces contestants ever closer together over time. The game is on!

The new demon hunting action-RPG Victor Vran officially releases today. After just five months in Early Access, Victor Vran is released with amazing 94% user approval from the Steam Community. The game won the hearts of the players with its action packed combat dynamics, where dodging and jumping mean the difference between life and death.

Victor Vran features four player online co-op gameplay, a class-less gear-based character progression system, dozens of secrets, over 400 different challenges and dynamic difficulty personalization. The game was created with replayability in mind and promises many hours of pure fun on top of the 20-hour story campaign.

The developer will continue to roll out free updates for Victor Vran. While the production of the first big expansion has already begun (details to be announced at Gamescom), Haemimont Games are hard at work on the first three free DLCs and a Local Co-op update, coming in the following months:

• The Tome of Souls DLC will introduce a brand new weapon type that unlocks new active abilities and a spellcaster playstyle. Of course, there will be legendary tomes of forbidden words and endless power, such as The Nekonomicon and Fifty Shades of Slay.
• The Highlander Outfit DLC will open even more character build options and an exciting new look for the title character.
• The Cauldron of Chaos DLC will add a huge new map which will offer a randomized layout, encounters and daily challenges.
• A Local Co-op multiplayer mode will allow two players to play together on the same system.