Yearly Archives: 2015

Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Expansion Now Live

Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Expansion Now Live news header

ArenaNet®, publisher and developer of the award-winning Guild Wars franchise, today launched Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns. The highly anticipated expansion to Guild Wars 2 is now live and available at digital and retail stores across North America and Europe. The expansion to the PC MMO comes less than three months after ArenaNet announced that the core Guild Wars 2 game is available to play for free, a move that has significantly grown the game’s player community. To highlight that growth, ArenaNet also released an infographic today announcing that Guild Wars 2 has reached more than 7 million player accounts globally.

 

“This has been a memorable year for ArenaNet and our Guild Wars 2 player community,” said Mike O’Brien, co-founder and president of ArenaNet. “We energized our fans in January with the announcement of Heart of Thorns as the first expansion to Guild Wars 2, and we’ve seen steady growth in our player base ever since. Our community is widely recognized as one of the best and friendliest in MMOs – many of our veteran players organized in starter zones to welcome new players the weekend we made the core Guild Wars 2 game free. We’re eager to see how our fast growing community continues to flourish, and we hope they’re eager to embrace where their Guild Wars 2 journey takes them next in Heart of Thorns.”

 

The new infographic from ArenaNet catalogues hard data and fun factoids that highlight the continuing popularity of Guild Wars 2 across the game, from open world players who focus on story content and world exploration to those who participate in the game’s increasingly competitive Player vs. Player (PvP) and World vs. World (WvW) scenes. ArenaNet recently announced the launch of a $400,000 Guild Wars 2 Pro League PvP tournament, launched in partnership with ESL, and the infographic highlights how PvP player participation has grown by 135 percent since last year. There is a statistic showing that 40 percent of max level players showed up in starter zones to welcome new players the day the core game went free, showcasing the friendly reputation of the player community. Topping it all is an astronomical figure – more than 1.4 billion hours – totaling the amount of time players have put into Guild Wars 2 since launch, nearly the same time modern humans have spent walking the earth.

 

Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns now extends the core game experience for this growing community as a paid expansion with a range of new content and features, including a unique new system called Masteries that redefines endgame character progression in Guild Wars 2. The expansion marks a couple of additional firsts for Guild Wars 2, introducing Guild Halls where guilds and groups of players can claim and customize a piece of the game world, and setting the stage for the first-ever Raids coming to the MMO and activating shortly after launch. As with the original Guild Wars 2, which delivered more than 40 major content updates without charging a subscription fee, players who purchase Heart of Thorns will have access to future releases coming to the expansion free of charge.

 

Heart of Thorns continues the Guild Wars 2 journey for players with the next chapter in their Personal Story saga, where armies in the game world led by players go deep into the heart of the Maguuma jungle to take on a sinister elder dragon. It also brings new game modes, features and game play improvements that touch on nearly every aspect of the game. There is an all-new profession called the revenant along with elite specializations that add new weapons and skills to every existing profession in the game. There is brand new competitive game content with an all new PvP mode called Stronghold and the massive new Desert Borderlands map for the game’s epic WvW warfare mode. Heart of Thorns also sets a strong foundation for endgame MMO content. Masteries introduce new ways to pursue skills and progress characters. Raids and new Fractal dungeons deliver extremely challenging group content. There are new ways for players to earn Legendary rewards. For competitive players, there are in-game systems and leaderboards such as PvP Leagues and Guild Challenger Leagues that pave the way for players to develop skills to compete at an elite level.

 

For a fun tour and an interactive trailer highlighting all of the features in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, please visit: http://heartofthorns.guildwars2.com.

Shadowrun Chronicles: INFECTED! is Available Now

Shadowrun Chronicles: INFECTED! is Available Now news header

Nordic Games and Cliffhanger Productions Games have released INFECTED! The first add-on for the turn-based, tactical co-op game, Shadowrun Chronicles, INFECTED! continues the Boston Lockdown story arc set in the 2070s of the Shadowrun timeline.

INFECTED! puts players in a race against the clock to save themselves from the nanite-induced disease that has struck Boston following a failed experiment by two megacorporations, costing the lives of thousands and turning the city into a battlefield infested by crazed cyborgs trying to take over any metahuman they can find.  After discovering that they were infected during one of their fights against the headcases, they players struggle desperately to find a cure for the Cognitive Fragmentation Disorder they are suffering, while an AI inside them tries to assert control over their body and mind.

The add-on for Shadowrun Chronicles features all new enemies, missions as well as skills, weapons and cyberware for the player’s Shadowrunners and various improvements to balancing and solo gameplay. The players will have to face evolving headcases, a cult of fanatic technomancers and a competing team of runners (chosen from actual player avatars in a recent contest) crossing their path time and again.

The game is available in digital stores for $9.99 and is also part of the Deluxe Edition of Shadowrun Chronicles.

Total War: Warhammer Release Date, Pre-Order and High King Edition Revealed

Total War: Warhammer Release Date, Pre-Order and High King Edition Revealed news header

SEGA® Europe Ltd. and Creative Assembly today revealed the Pre-order Bonus, High King Edition and Limited Edition for Total War™: WARHAMMER®, the game that brings to life the most comprehensive vision possible of the Warhammer Fantasy Battle world –Total War: WARHAMMER will be the first in an epic trilogy, supported with free and paid-for content post-release and is set to launch on April 28th, 2016.

 

Pre-order Bonus – Chaos Warriors Race Pack:

Those gamers who pre-order any edition from participating retailers will receive Total War: WARMAMMER’s first DLC for free alongside the game on release day. The Chaos Warriors Race Pack includes three new playable Legendary Lords, enabling you to select the corrupted and powerful Chaos Warriors as your race in the Grand Campaign.

Featuring unique new mounts, bloodthirsty units and monstrous creatures, this Race Pack also brings with it a brand new, narrative-driven quest chain for each Legendary Lord, and an armoury of twisted and cursed magic items.

The Total War: WARHAMMER standard edition is now available for pre-order from Steam http://store.steampowered.com/app/364360/ and other retailers world-wide.

 

High King Edition:

The Total War: WARHAMMER High King Edition will be produced in a single, extremely limited run.

Modelled on the legendary Book of Grudges, the High King Edition will ship in a large ornate presentation box, featuring metallic gold and 3D sculpted detail in the iconic Dwarfen style. Contained within is a host of treasures guaranteed to sate the gold-lust of the mightiest Dwarfen High King; including:

 

  • Grudge Ring: This quality metal ring, with a rotating inner band is perfect to spin whilst brooding over grudges and plotting revenge. Six numbered bevels on the inner hoop allow the ring to double as a fully functioning die.
  • Slayer’s Whetstone Pendant: Made of genuine, functional whetstone and inscribed with the talismanic Master Rune of Spite, this hefty trinket would be treasured and jealously guarded by any self-respecting Slayer, who aims to keep a keen edge on their blades.
  • Dwarfen Drinking Horn & Stand: Toast your victories with this beautifully decorated drinking horn; wrought with icons and sigils in the Dwarfen craftsman style. Suitable for both display and practical use, it can hold a full pint and comes complete with its own unique metal display stand. Please note, liquid cannot be ‘sipped’ from this drinking horn, it may only be ‘quaffed’.
  • Canvas Map: Plan your campaigns of conquest as any High King should with this gorgeously illustrated canvas map of the game world.
  • Integrated Artbook: Integrated into the High King Edition’s impressive packaging is a large art book featuring exclusive concepts.
  • Metal Case: Protect your game disks from the perilous dangers of the Old World with this exclusive metal case.
  • Insider Guide: A printed strategy guide for Total War: WARHAMMER; this book will help get you started with the game and offers invaluable tactical advice to help you dominate the battlefields of the Old World.
  • Chaos Warriors Race Pack: The Chaos Warriors Race Pack offers a new playable race with a full roster of bloodthirsty units, terrifying mounts and monstrous creatures. Lead the corrupted Chaos hordes as one of three new playable Legendary Lords and embrace the Ruinous Powers as you embark on brand new quest chains, unlocking powerful items and gaining the favour of the dark Chaos Gods.

 

The High King Edition is available for pre-order now.

 

Limited Edition:

Alongside the extremely rare High King Edition, a Limited Edition will also be available at select retailers. This version includes the metal case and Insider Guide detailed above in the High King Edition.