EA Partners may be facing closure. Electronic Arts' contract-based program for independent developers has been particularly active in the last few years, publishing the Crysis series, Bulletstorm, and retail copies of Portal 2, but sources claim it will be shutting down soon.
Another month brings another MMO. The Secret World, made by Age of Conan developer Funcom, lands on store shelves for PC today, heralded by a snazzy launch trailer. Have you been playing through pre-order early access, or do you plan to buy it?
Guaranteed access to The Secret World's beta weekends can be yours, if you're already sold on Funcom's MMORPG and willing to slap your money money on a pre-order. You'll also get a smattering of in-game bonus items for your troubles.
"If you have a hard drive, for the love of god, please install," Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning lead designer Ian Frazier begged gamers. "If you're on 360, please install. You will have much, much smaller load screens. Please, please, for the love of all that's holy, install."
Speaking to the bugs found in the game's recently released demo, Frazier noted that it wasn't developer Big Huge Games at the helm of the promotional release. Citing an outsourced job on the demo based on three month old code, Frazier says that some of the more recent bug fixes made to the game were not added to the recently released demo. "So we're all nervous, like, the demo's really buggy," he said.
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is just around the corner, with EA Partners publishing the 38 Studios Big Huge Games-developed RPG on February 7 for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.
Xbox 360 owners will get a chance to test drive the fantasy world in a demo scheduled to arrive on January 17. Shacknews has contacted EA to find out if a demo is also planned for the PC and PlayStation 3. While you wait, however, check out the game's modest PC system requirements after the break along with a new trailer detailing the game's "skills and crafting" system.
Electronic Arts' Partners program, through which the company helps publish and distribute third-party games, is looking to new horizons. Electronic Arts announced today that subsidiaries Chillingo and Playfish will be taking part in the Partners scheme, respectively focused on mobile and social games.
"The EA Partners program has proven to be a phenomenally successful model. It is an all around win-win situation. The program allows EA to partner with some of the world's best console, PC and digital developers while providing those independent developers with a global distribution/publishing partner," EA Partners general manager Bryan Neider said in the announcement, naturally tooting his own horn somewhat. "We're excited to be able to offer current and future partners the mobile and social expertise of Chillingo and Playfish respectively. Like EA Partners, Chillingo and Playfish work with the best development talent in the mobile and social gaming space." Read more »
Though Funcom self-published its last two MMOs, Age of Conan and Anarchy Online, the developer today announced that it'll co-publish The Secret World with EA Partners.
"The experience and the knowledge that Electronic Arts brings to the table will be instrumental in allowing us to realize the full potential of 'The Secret World,'" Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas said in the announcement. Read more »
Resistance and Ratchet & Clank series creator Insomniac Games has announced it is working on a new franchise that'll hit both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, its first new intellectual property since 2006 and its very first title to hit a non-Sony platform.
While it's not yet known what the project is or when it will arrive, being multiplatform and published by Electronic Arts' EA Partners scheme is a break from the norm for Insomiac. All of its previous titles have been exclusive to the various models of PlayStation, while Sony Computer Entertainment was responsible for publishing the bulk of them. Read more »
Following this morning's announcement of Jason West and Vince Zampella--formerly of Call of Duty series creator Infinity Ward--founding a new development studio dubbed Respawn Entertainment, IW owner Activision has issued a strong response:
This agreement comes as no surprise to Activision given the myriad of improper activities detailed in the cross-complaint filed on Friday against Jason West and Vince Zampella. We look forward to continuing to work with Infinity Ward's deep bench of proven talent on exciting new projects.Read more »
The recently-sacked Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vince Zampella today announced they have formed a new development studio 'Respawn Entertainment' and signed an exclusive publishing agreement with IW owner Activision's rival EA Partners.
"Respawn Entertainment marks a fresh start for Jason and me," said Zampella. "For the past decade we led a great development team and poured our hearts into creating an epic game franchise. We're very proud of what we built--and proud that so many millions of fans enjoyed those games. Today we hope to do it all over again--open a new studio, hire a great team, and create brand new games with a new partner, EA." Read more »
Having saved Rise of Nations developer Big Huge Game from closure, owner 38 Studios today announced that Electronic Arts will be publishing Big Huge's "epic single-player role-playing game" Project Mercury through its EA Partners initiative.
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion designer Ken Rolston is leading development of Project Mercury, suggesting that it may be based upon or incorporate elements from Big Huge's reportedly cancelled action-RPG Ascendant. Read more »
Having helped distribute such externally-developed retail titles as Rock Band and Left 4 Dead, Electronic Arts' publishing division EA Partners is now expanding to the digital download market with Klei's Shank and Hothead's action-RPG DeathSpank.
"Secret World didn't go Free to Play. It dropped the subscription model. You still have to buy ..."
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