Angry Birds Epic is a turn-based RPG spin-off

The Angry Birds franchise continues to expand. Go! turned the avian-flinging franchise into a kart racer. With Angry Birds Epic, Rovio is turning the series into a turn-based role-playing game.

Watch: The epic teaser trailer »

Carbine Studios has been eager to show off various aspects of WildStar's vast world, like the game's PvE quests and Adventures. Today, the studio is ready to go more into detail on what the MMORPG's PvP will entail, while also giving Shacknews an opportunity to try it out.

Read more: Arenas, Battlegrounds, and Warplots detailed »

Diablo III may not have been quite what everyone wanted at launch, but after two years of patching, including a big revamp of loot recently, it's in pretty decent shape all right. With the expansion Reaper of Souls launching in a few weeks, now's probably the best time yet to buy the click 'em up, especially as Blizzard is selling it at half-price for a while, down to $19.95.

For those already in on the monster-clicking fun, Blizzard has also released a trailer delving into the backstory and abilities of the expansion's new Paladin-y class, the Crusader.

Read more: The downloadable PC and Mac edition »

11 bit studios, developer of the Anomaly series, has announced their next game: This War of Mine. The debut trailer may make it seem like any ol' war game, but there's a twist: it's all about civilians.

Instead of having players control an elite soldier, This War of Mine puts civilians in the crossfire. Described as a "dark survival game," players must stay alive in a besieged city. "During the day snipers outside stop you from leaving your refuge, offering players time to craft, trade, upgrade their shelter, feed and cure their people. At night they must scavenge nearby areas in search for food, medicines, weapons and other useful items," the announcement reads.

Watch: The debut trailer »

Heroes of the Storm is adding a new character to its expanding roster and is welcoming in StarCraft II's renegade outlaw, Tychus Findlay. The Terran Marine will serve in the Assassin role, like Diablo's Valla and Warcraft's Falstad.

Watch: 'Hell, it's about time' »

R.B.I. Baseball 14 is the only officially licensed multi-platform baseball alternative to MLB The Show. Launching April 10 for Xbox 360, PS3, and mobile platforms, the new game will attempt to stay close to its classic roots, while featuring a more modern art style and brisker pace.

See: more screenshots »

Sonic Boom is another attempt to modernize and update the classic Sega character, but this time the publisher is handing it off to western developer Big Red Button. Creative director Bob Rafei is heading up the effort, and says he's thinks kids' properties need the sensibilities of popular shows like Adventure Time and Phineas and Ferb.

Read more: "Pop culture today requires a healthy blend of story and humor" »

WildStar is going to offer far more than a vast world and a variety of quests. In an effort to become the definitive MMORPG that Carbine Studios wants it to be, the game will also feature a robust dungeon system that both clings to traditional elements and also adds a number of new twists. And Shacknews got to experience part of that by going hands-on with a traditional five-person dungeon and also a much larger and more competitive 40-person Post Cap Playspace instance.

WildStar's dungeon system fully embraces the MMORPG genre's vaunted 'holy trinity' system. Five-person dungeon raids are built for parties of one tank, one healer, and three DPS characters. In order to tackle my first dungeon, I joined forces with four fellow WildStar players and picked up a DPS character to tackle Stormtalon's Lair.

Read more: Dungeons, Raids, and PCP events »

The Elder Scrolls Online is the rare MMO that will launch with a subscription fee. Surely, the company would attract a larger audience by going free-to-play? Bethesda VP Pete Hines defended his company's decision, saying that restricting the audience was intentional. "We're not trying to make a game that everybody who plays games will automatically buy," he said. "It is a certain kind of game. There's no shooter elements. There's no aliens."

Read more: Not tryign to make 'more palatable' game »

Blizzard's collectible card game Hearthstone officially launched yesterday as free-to-play, with a little free-to-pony touch on top. Playing only a few Hearthstone matches will net you a special flying horse mount to gallivant around atop in World of Warcraft.

Watch: Space pony, away! »

Take-Two, parent company of 2K Games and Rockstar, has placed a casting call for an "untitled video game." According to the listing, the game will feature three males born in Louisiana--all who have connections to organized crime. Tony, for example, is an Italian man in his 30s that runs betting operations. He's described as a "gangster." Mickey is another Italian male who makes "himself seem higher up in the criminal ladder than he really is."

Read more: African American mixed race star »

Carbine's upcoming sci-fi fantasy MMORPG, WildStar, is just about to ready to venture into new galaxies. The game will be available for pre-order starting on March 19 and with this announcement comes an official release date. WildStar will take to the skies on June 3.

Read more: Standard and Deluxe pre-order incentives »

Fable Legends will use the Xbox One Kinect, Lionhead has revealed. But unlike Fable: The Journey, Kinect will only be a secondary control option for specialized situations, and the majority will rely on the main Xbox One controller.

Read more: Kinect possible "especially potentially with the villain mode" »

Metal Gear Solid's main character, Solid Snake, has the gravel voice and mullet of Snake Plissken from the Escape from New York and Escape from L.A. films. But even with creator Hideo Kojima's film-loving sensibilities, and contrary to some previous comments, his name had more to do with the reputation of his animal namesake than the Kurt Russell character.

Read more: "The most appropriate symbol of living thing that hides his presence" »

This year is shaping up to be a big one for Game of Thrones fans. The new season of the HBO series begins on April 7, Telltale is working on a new, and now the popular Facebook game from developer Disruptor Beam, Game of Thrones: Ascent, is about to make the leap onto iOS devices this spring.

Read more: Android coming later »