Every
Sunday Electronista and
MacNN report on some of the important bits of news from the world of video games. In this week's edition we take a look at Blizzard bringing
Hearthstone to smartphones, EA's
Battlefield 4 lawsuit dismissal,
Assassin's Creed: Unity system requirements, Carbine Studios layoffs, and more.
Blizzard bringing collectible card game experience to Android, iOS smartphones
In a developer update that addressed releasing
Hearthstone on Android tablets, Blizzard
announced it was near completion of a version for Android and iOS smartphones. The team currently has a build up and running on the mobile devices, but says it needs more time to complete it. Perhaps the biggest challenge for Blizzard has been changing the user interface "so it feels intuitive and offers the same quality
Hearthstone experience, but this time in the palm of your hand." It's estimated that the smartphone version of the game will be completed early 2015.
The Android tablet version of the game is said to be out before the end of 2014.
Judge dismisses lawsuit against EA over Battlefield 4 misleading statements
Investors targeted Electronic Arts with class-action lawsuit in December 2013 over claims made about its military shooter
Battlefield 4, a game that witnessed a glitch-filled release nearly a year ago. Stating the company made misleading claims over the projected performance of the game, the plaintiffs believed that EA knew the dismal state the game would be in upon its release. US District Judge Susan Illston disagreed, ruling in favor of EA according to the
filing obtained by
Ars Technica.
"The Court agrees with defendants that all of the purported misstatements are inactionable statements of opinion, corporate optimism, or puffery," said Illston.
The plaintiffs in the case have until November 3 to make an amendment to the class-action complaint.
Assassin's Creed: Unity requirements for PC gamers greater than previous counterparts
Ubisoft
posted the specifications required for the PC version of
Assassin's Creed: Unity last week, illustrating the gap between previous games from the publisher. For the minimum requirements, players are said to need an Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD FX-8350 processor, in addition to 6GB of RAM. Video requirements are an Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon HD 7970 with 2GB of VRAM. A 64-bit version of Windows 7 or Windows 8 is required to play the new
Assassin's Creed title, as is 50GB of hard drive space.
By comparison, the problem-plagued
Watch Dogs released in 2013 required only an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 or AMD Phenom X2 940, 6GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 57770. Hard drive space required for a Steam install was 25GB, though 64-bit operating systems back to Windows Vista were supported.
Assassin's Creed: Unity is due out November 11, the same day as
Assassin's Creed: Rogue.
Unity was originally set to be released October 28.
Wildstar developer Carbine Studios lays off about 60 employees, additional NCSoft layoffs
Developer of the massively multiplayer online (MMO) game
Wildstar hit several bumps in the road after its June launch, with many people believing the game was repetitive and unfinished in spite of its unique personality. Just as the team was getting ready to take steps to improve
Wildstar including consolidating servers,
Polygon reports that Carbine Studios was hit with the loss of nearly 60 employees as a result of layoffs. In a statement from NCSoft, the publisher said that it was part of a broad initiative to restructure operations in NCSoft West excluding
Guild Wars 2 developer ArenaNet. The publisher will continue to focus on development of the existing games, while "looking to move into new business segments like mobile and tablet games as we explore emerging technologies."
Duke Nukem developer 3D Realms making a comeback, offers anthology pack to celebrate
PC gamers that remember the old days of keyboard turning and floppy disk loading undoubtedly remember the names Apogee and 3D Realms. After years of publishing cult hits and fan favorites under both company names, the developer ran into issues only to shut its doors in 2009. Several titles made a comeback after the company licensed favorites like
Shadow Warrior and
Rise of the Triad, but now 3D Realms is
rising from the dead. While the details on what the studio is up to are still mostly unknown, a new anthology pack was
released to celebrate the news. For the price of $40, 32 games published or developed under Apogee and 3D Realms are offered, including
Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy,
Wolfenstein 3D,
Shadow Warrior,
Rise of the Triad: Dark War, and the seminal
Duke Nukem 3D.
Max Payne and
Prey are two notable titles missing from the lineup.
Daedalic Entertainment publishing new adventure game with Fictiorama Studios
A new game is coming from Daedalic Entertainment, the studio behind a revival of point-and-click adventure games like
Deponia,
Night of the Rabbit, and
Memoria. In a partnership with Fictiorama Studios, Daedalic will publish
Dead Synchronicity: Tomorrow Comes Today worldwide in early 2015. Digital and retail versions of the "2D dystopian suspense adventure game" will be released for PC, OS X, Linux and iPad. Players control Michael, a man on his path to recovering his identity before time itself dissolves in a moment of "dead synchronicity." His past is important as it holds the keys to discovering how two events brought the world to the brink of collapse.
Notable releases for the week of October 26
Freedom Wars (PS Vita) – October 28
Lords of the Fallen (PC, PS4 and Xbox One) – October 28
Sunset Overdrive (Xbox One) – October 28
The Unfinished Swan (PS Vita and PS4) – October 28
WWE 2K15 (PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One) – October 28
- Jordan Anderson (
@draeno)
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