Wont play

Did you think that Fortnite’s announced decision to avoid the Google Play store was just about money? Just because, you know, that was one of the reasons explicitly cited? Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeney is walking that back and arguing that it’s not about that and it’s not about clones. In his words, it’s a matter of keeping parity between all of the platforms, and since Google doesn’t offer any sort of marketing push like console titles, he doesn’t see why Epic should distribute the game through the Play store. Sweeney stresses that there is cross-purchase functionality between the various platforms of Fortnite (which is broadly accurate) and that the company would avoid the iOS marketplace as well if it were possible. He also states that the company is aware of concerns over spending limits, which will supposedly be addressed via the game not locking in payment methods after individual purchases. No word about phone security or avoiding malicious … [Read more...] about Epic’s Tim Sweeney argues that Fortnite won’t be on the play store because of openness

At PAX South this weekend, Astellia reps did indeed sit for a panel on the game as promised – a panel hosted, apparently “at the last minute,” by none other than Linda “Brasse” Carlson and Barunson E&A Producer Wes Conner. You folks are going to like Conner, by the way; he rightly characterizes the last couple of years of MMOs as a “smash-and-grab,” that show up in the west, dump their content, turn their profit, and then basically have nothing left and therefore create zero emotional attachment in players, and so the playerbase dries up and the studio moves on to the next game. (We call those “temports” around here.) “Astellia wants to be part of the change,” he explains. He also dives into the business model, officially confirming that the game will be buy-to-play in the west and that the pay-to-win microtransactions currently in the Korean store will be ousted and made part of regular gameplay for us – for … [Read more...] about Astellia confirms it’ll be buy-to-play in the west, won’t be a ‘smash-and-grab’

So it happened last week: My kid told me I was mean because I wouldn’t let him play Fortnite when all his friends got to play. Of course, his friends’ parents don’t run an online video game blog for a living, so that doesn’t surprise me at all. I bet they have no idea what hellholes these games can be for their precious babies. But he’s right, I am mean! This is a kid who maxed a Guild Wars 2 character when he was four years old, but man, Fortnite still seems like way too much for the littles. It’s one thing to go around setting plants and robots on fire, but I get squeamish about turning him loose with more realistic weapons and PvP settings. Heck, I don’t even want him to see the chat in something tame like Trove, let alone in Fortnite. Is there an MMO or other online title you won’t let your kids play? And am I, in fact, the worst? Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players … [Read more...] about The Daily Grind: Is there an MMO or other online title you won’t let your kids play?

Battlefield V is getting a battle royale mode soon, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Called Firestorm, it will be played out on “the biggest Battlefield map ever” and will be available on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on March 25. What it won’t be, however, is free-to-play — not yet, at least. John Stanley, a senior producer at Criterion Games — to whom EA DICE has outsourced the development of Firestorm — was asked about the prospects of the mode being free-to-play. According to VG 24/7, his response was, “Nothing to talk about at the moment, no.” To be fair to Stanley, he’s probably been asked that a number of times and — judging by his overall response to the questioning — that part of his answer wasn’t the most refined, from a PR perspective. It’s probably about as close as he could come to hedging his bets against Firestorm being part of the paid package now and going F2P later. One … [Read more...] about Battlefield V’s Firestorm Battle Royale Mode Won’t Be Free-To-Play At Launch

I might be slightly over gaming conventions, having covered several as media and following PAX, BlizzCon, and E3 for years now. Oh, they’re still good for the odd surprise announcement and the bevy of trailers, but it seems that messaging and marketing has shifted away from emphasizing cons. You know, since the internet exists and all. But this year’s E3 had a few interesting stories, so I thought I’d jaw about them as I look back over the last week-plus. Perhaps the biggest story and delight for me personally was SEGA’s announcement that Phantasy Star Online 2 was finally, finally coming to the west in 2020. It’s not my most-anticipated MMO ever, but it was definitely one I wanted to play and one that I think will be well received and give MMO players something to look forward to next year. It’s still a pretty big story for that genre and I’m a little disappointed that most of the mainstream gaming media ignored it. Bethesda’s presser … [Read more...] about E3 2019: Stuff we won’t be playing for a while