The Linux server and client for RTCW v1.3 is now available, you can grab it from the id Software FTP here. If you missed it, the client for Windows users is here.

A day late, but the Return to Castle Wolfenstein 1.3 patch has been released. The 8.0mb file can be downloaded from Fileshack, Blues News or 3D Gamers. As we mentioned previously, 1.3 adds a new multiplayer map called "Ice", Punkbuster support, an ingame auto-updater and a mod button. Several multiplayer and single player issues have been fixed as well. You can read about those fixes here while you download.

For those of you waiting for the new Return to Castle Wolfenstein patch, Activision sends word it has been delayed until tomorrow. If you missed the news about the patch, you can read up here.

Return To Castle Wolfenstein v1.3 is slated for a release tomorrow afternoon according to Activision. Here's a big description of what is going on, or a quickie list I've put below. Hey, another new map! I really dug TrenchToast.

- Autoupdater
- PUNKBUSTER
- New map called ICE
- Mod support, and a cute button!

Wolfenstein Extreme has posted a brief Wolfenstein multiplayer Q&A. They talk to Josh Jay of Nerve about working together with 3 companies, plans for updates to the MP part of RTCW, the hardest part of creating the multiplayer mode, why the FG-42 didn't end up multiplayer and a few other things.

The LA Times website is carrying an interview with Drew Markham of Gray Matter. The interview is about (not much of a surprise here) Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

id Software's Christian Antkow updated the ol' .plan file saying he now has a 64 player Wolfenstein server running. The IP is 192.246.40.64:27960.

The OGL Home Page has word of the news that the maximum amount of teams that can sign up for the Battle on the Beachhead tourney is now 128. Previously only 64 teams could enter.

Activision sent along word that the RTCW Battle on the Beachhead tournament has a new sponsor, NVidia. The winning team will now receive GeForce 3 cards in addition to the previously announced prizes. You can still sign up for this tournament, registration closes on Monday.

The QERadiant website has the first release of GtkRadiant with support for Return to Castle Wolfenstein. You can still use it to edit Quake 3 maps too though.

Activision's Caryn Law sent along a reminder that sign ups for the Return to Castle Wolfenstein Tournament (see story) start today. You can check the OGL site for all kinds of information regarding the tournament, including the available match servers.

Fragnation has interviewed Tony Ray of Punk Buster, asking him about the future of this program. As you might know, EvenBalance (makers of PB) was recently contracted to create a PB for Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Thanks GG.

Activision and id Software have announced a tournament for Return To Castle Wolfenstein, Battle on the Beachhead. The tournament will be ran by the OGL and will run from January 29 until March 12. Between the 22nd and the 28th, people will be able to sign up their 8 person teams. Here's how the tournament will be played and what you can win

During the tournament, players will be pit against one another in an Axis vs. Allies battle against time. Each map will include a set number of mission objectives that must be completed as quickly as possible. Teams will play four rounds, both as the attacker and the defender and the team that wins the most matches will advance to the next bracket. The tournament finals will be held on March 12, 2002.

Prizes will be awarded to each member of the top three winning teams and include the following prizes for each team member: Grand Prize -Nintendo GameCube, a copy of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and a dedicated port on a Return to Castle Wolfenstein game server with administrative access for one year from Speakeasy; Second Place - a Game Boy Advance hand-held video game system and copies of DOOM and Commander Keen; Third Place - A collection of Activision’s award-winning PC titles. A complete list of tournament rules and prizes can be found at wolf.worldogl.com.

More info can be found here.

id programmer Robert Duffy updated his .plan file trying to clear up some confusion about the Return to Castle Wolfenstein SDK released yesterday. As people might've noticed, it only includes the tools to create new levels. According to Duffy, the source code "will be available soon."

The long awaited SDK for RTCW has finally been released for everyone to mess with all weekend. There arent any release notes and its just a bunch of tech developer stuff, but if you wanna hax0r RTCW here ya go. Fileshack mirror (14mb) courtesy of Speakeasy.

id Software has released the 1.1b Linux binaries for Return to Castle Wolfenstein. You can check their FTP server for the full and small sized 1.1b single player demo, but if you just want the updated multiplayer binaries and single player binaries you can grab those from us (9.4mb). New in this release: "made the installers and binaries more BSD friendly, Alt+Enter shortcut toggles between windowed and fullscreen, initial public release of the single player binaries, fixed a giant memory leak (client code only) for multiplayer"

According to Planet Xbox, Return to Castle Wolfenstein will find its way to the Playstation 2 and Xbox. The ports will "feature unique design and technical modifications that take full advantage of each platform's advanced technology", and are being developed at developed by Raster Productions. No release date for either port is given. Thanks Blue's.

Activision has released the promised 1.1 patch for Return to Castle Wolfenstein, which is a mere 1.5mb download. As we posted before, it's multiplayer compatible with version 1.0 and doesn't affect save games. Here's the list of changes again

- Zombie Clients issue resolved
- Lieutenant grenade spamming solved
- Issue with loading single-player maps in multiplayer fixed
- Various server stability issues implemented
- Link to easily find future updates
- Added Voice-Chat abuse fix

Mirrors of the patch can be found at Blues News and RTCW Files.

Activision has put out a press release announcing they have acquired Gray Matter Interactive, the developers of the single player part of Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Not too surprising as Activision likes to buy developers that bring them the good selling games.

Gray Matter Interactive Studios is an L.A.-based game developer founded by the top designers formerly from Xatrix Entertainment, the developer of such popular games as Redneck Rampage and Kingpin. The company has proprietary technologies that can be used to create compelling first-person action entertainment experiences. Industry veteran Drew Markham has signed a long- term employment contract with Activision and will continue to manage Gray Matter studios. Additionally, key employees also have signed long-term employment contracts with Activision.

Under the terms of the agreement, Gray Matter Interactive Studios will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision. Activision issued 133,690 shares of common stock in connection with the acquisition.

update Jack - Made this a full story. Also, based on today's share price that looks like a buyout price of $3.2 million. Congrats guys.

With the patch not being released yesterday after all (you know developers), Activision has posted the intro movie to Return to Castle Wolfenstein in the mean time. It shows the work of Blur Studios who created this intro.