General Gaming News II: Steam Helpdesk Site Leak

**6souls** · 2014-06-09 11:10

DEFY Media acquires GameTrailers
http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/...metrailers.png

DEFY Media, a leading creator and distributor of digital content, and Viacom today announced that DEFY has acquired Viacom's gaming focused digital properties Addicting Games, GameTrailers and Shockwave, extending the Company's portfolio of digital properties and further strengthening its reach to 13-34 year old consumers. In consideration for the digital properties, Viacom will receive a minority interest in DEFY (formed by the Alloy Digital and Break Media "merger of equals"). The two companies have also entered into marketing and content syndication agreements that will draw on their respective scale and expertise in developing and distributing entertainment to influential audiences.

The addition of Viacom's digital gaming properties significantly expands and deepens DEFY's gaming and entertainment portfolio, which now includes GameTrailers , SMOSH Games , ranked among YouTube's fastest growing channels ever, award-winning The Escapist , and Gamefront , along with other digital properties and premium partners focused on the interests of gaming enthusiasts. The transaction adds new revenue streams for DEFY, including subscription based platforms, while also greatly expanding the Company's targeted offerings for advertisers.

"We formed DEFY with the belief that our infrastructure and brands represent the strongest platform in digital media for reach and scale to the 13-34 year old audience and with Viacom's partnership we now have additional assets and support to fulfill that vision," commented Matthew Diamond, CEO of DEFY Media. "These outstanding brands represent meaningful and diverse revenue opportunities we aim to expand across our existing brand portfolio."

The transaction is the latest move in expanding DEFY's online reach and further diversifies a brand portfolio that already includes Break , SMOSH , AWEme , Clevver , The Gloss , Made Man and Screen Junkies . In total, the company's owned and operated reach now exceeds 155 million monthly unique viewers watching more than 400 million monthly videos monthly. The DEFY Media brands attract 40 million YouTube subscribers and 55 million followers on social media (both up 40% since the merger), and they recently crossed the 10 million mark in downloads of video viewing mobile apps.

DEFY Media's content ownership model and sophisticated distribution capabilities make the company a logical partner for Viacom, which will benefit from DEFY's targeted digital brands for young audiences. The investment in DEFY Media allows Viacom to benefit from the company's substantial reach and also tap into unique content and marketing opportunities with the company's top digital talent and personalities.

Viacom joins existing DEFY Media investors that include ZelnickMedia, Lionsgate and ABS Capital. A representative from Viacom will join the DEFY Media board.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

**Kirin** · 2014-06-16 19:26

http://www.gengame.net/2014/06/capco...tial-purchase/
http://gamasutra.com/view/news/21930...ossibility.php

Seems Capcom has voted to end their shareholder-induced takeover defense. Which means the company will now be able to openly entertain offers of a stock purchase takeover.

Nintendo immediately comes to mind personally as someone with a large bank account that would be willing to front some cash to snatch up some solid IP's, but no specific company was mentioned in either article.

**6souls** · 2014-06-16 19:40

Originally Posted by Kirin

Nintendo immediately comes to mind personally as someone with a large bank account that would be willing to front some cash to snatch up some solid IP's, but no specific company was mentioned in either article.

**Insanecyclone** · 2014-06-17 00:16

Time to finally get a PS4

http://www.siliconera.com/2014/06/16...playstation-4/

Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory II Is For PlayStation 4

Omega Quintet isn’t the only PlayStation 4 game being developed by Compile Heart. Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory II, the RPG sequel to the last main title in the popular series, is in development for PlayStation 4.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory II has three different game dimensions and a new character named Uranus. More details about the game will be revealed in Dengeki PlayStation this week.

**Kirin** · 2014-06-18 19:31

Edit: Nope, nevermind. From April.

Tencent isn't buying Capcom. Nothing to see here.

**Qalbert** · 2014-06-18 21:09

so uhhh Outlast just showed up on Xbone?
https://store.xbox.com/en-US/Xbox-On...b-3471ed257ade
didn't hear any announcements or anything about an xbone version so that's kinda weird

**Insanecyclone** · 2014-06-26 09:16

**Spoony Bob** · 2014-06-26 14:32

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/...tar/#sf3451114

From Platinum Games.

**6souls** · 2014-07-06 23:20

Rebellion Games (Sniper Elite, AvP) is suing Ironclad Games for it's use of Rebellion in Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, fear of confusing the two

Sniper Elite studio Rebellion Developments filed a lawsuit against Ironclad Games in 2012 over Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, claiming that the title infringed on Rebellion's trademark. A judge dismissed the case more than a year ago, ruling that the title qualifies as "expressive speech" and is thus protected by the First Amendment, and if you're wondering why you didn't hear anything about it until now, it's because Ironclad opted to not to publicize the victory in an effort to "let bygones be bygones." But now Rebellion has launched new legal action against the game in Canada and the U.K., and that's prompted Ironclad to speak up.

In a blog post that went up last week, Ironclad Games Director Blair Fraser spoke in detail about the studio's First Amendment victory over Rebellion, explaining what led to the legal action, the nature of its defense and the potential impact of the decision on the gaming industry as a whole. What he didn't make clear is why the studio opted not to speak about the dismissal of the suit, which actually happened in May 2013, until now.

"We don't like to talk about the business side of things in public. The focus should be on the games themselves," Fraser told us. "We never brought up the cease and desist. We never talked about being served. We never commented when the story broke in the news. We never spoke when we won the case. We kept silent for over two years. However, last week we decided to break our silence."

Fraser said Ironclad decided to speak out now for two reasons: moral and strategic. "For years now there has been a growing sense in our company that trademark issues in the gaming industry were getting out of hand and that talking about our experience might help," he explained. "Our hope is that other developers will see this and be willing to explore, maintain and defend their freedom of expression without as much worry."

On the strategic side of the coin, he said that exposing this kind of behavior to the public can be a "powerful force" in its own right. "The gaming community is not simply content with buying the next cool widget regardless of who made it or how it was made," he continued. "Negative public response increases the cost of legal action to more than just legal fees - there is a public relations bill to pay on top. When we received confirmation last week that Rebellion Developments was taking this global we decided to direct attention to the facts and publicly available documents. We’ll let the public decide how to interpret them."

Despite the decisive win in U.S. courts, differences in trademark law, precedents and various other factors means that a victory in Canada, the U.K. or anywhere else is far from a sure thing. Nonetheless, he has no interest in changing the name of Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion in order to suit Rebellion's demands.

"I don’t know why Star Wars: Rebellion was renamed to Star Wars: Supremacy in the U.K. but I’ll quit my job before I ever let there be a Sins of a Solar Empire: Supremacy or any other bastardization," he said. "Everything in Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, including the gameplay, the lore, the cinematic, the logo, the factions, the research subjects, the capital ships, the Titans, and every single asset was designed to fit into the overarching theme of 'rebellion.' No other word in the English language comes even close."

But while he's not willing to give up the title, he is hopeful that something can be worked out. "The disappointing part is that if one of the Kingsley brothers had called us up on the phone from the start and discussed the matter in a polite and reasonable manner I think this would have turned out a lot different. As a means of introduction, having a third party send a letter containing threats, demands, and accusations can set things off on the wrong foot. I can see all the business hawks rolling their eyes at what they see as an overreaction to what I assume is par for the course, [thinking] 'Lawyers will be lawyers and companies have to act aggressively to defend their trademarks or else risk losing them.' Well, that isn't how we do business," he said. "Surely, there is a better way to defend a trademark. Perhaps it’s not too late to get back on the right foot."

http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/06/30/si...n-legal-action
http://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/455527/page/1/
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCOURT...cv-12805-0.pdf

**BaneTheBrawler** · 2014-07-06 23:43

HOW DARE THEY GO AFTER IRONCLAD AND STARDOCK

OVER SINS NO LESS

**Kaisha** · 2014-07-06 23:57

Because developers regularly use their studio name in the name of the game itself.

**Qalbert** · 2014-07-06 23:57

i don't think there's anything to worry about, they've got an ironclad defense

**6souls** · 2014-07-07 20:59

Originally Posted by Kaisha

Because developers regularly use their studio name in the name of the game itself.

Except Rebellion has no games in their portfolio containing Rebellion in their title;

Spoiler: show

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebellion_Developments

This just appears to be them patent trolling as a money grab.

**6souls** · 2014-07-07 21:08

Ubisoft - "DLC is now accepted"

Speaking to Gamesindustry International Ubisoft’s VP of digital publishing Chris Early said, “I think there are some models that are accepted now, DLC is pretty much accepted. Season pass is pretty much accepted.

“There was no resistance, maybe there were 12 guys somewhere who said something, but whatever. As a whole, there wasn’t a problem.

“Now it’s interesting when you start to think of Season Pass as a Service Pass. For our Season Pass holders, I know we hold events for them specifically, so it’s little bit more than just DLC content. So there’s an evolution going on there.”

Early added that game design that doesn’t make you feel like you’re getting locked out of content is the way forward, and it’s part of the reason reason why the DLC adoption is on the rise.

“Where it hurts is when you feel like you’re forced, or you’re at a disadvantage or can’t do it unless you [pay money], that’s kind of a remorseful feeling, and nobody likes that.

“Good design, that’s what it comes down to.”

http://www.vg247.com/2014/07/07/peop...ng-to-ubisoft/
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...easing-ubisoft

**SephYuyX** · 2014-07-07 21:41

No, fuck you, übershit.

**Kirin** · 2014-07-07 22:21

It is sad that a game developer essentially defines good design as purposefully releasing an unfinished title in a way that masks it just long enough to get season passes/Day One DLC off the ground to get everyone to pay 80 bucks for a game that was $60 not even a year ago, for a game that was $50 just one generation ago.

I can't even imagine a game like .hack being released nowadays. God the amount of DLC they could have pulled out of an episodic RPG like that. It's like a creators vast vision is being punished and limited in relation to what add-ons they can come up with.

**Quicklet** · 2014-07-08 02:14

Ubisoft’s VP of digital publishing

Typical corporate bullshit. DLC only seems "more accepted" now because

(1) AAA publishers more or less own the popular gaming press under threat of revoking review copies of games
(2) realization that games can be released as complete buggy messes and most people will still buy the next game (I genuinely don't understand this)
(3) in-app purchases and even more insidious pricing models make DLC seem tame by comparison

If anything, all DLC does for me is make me wait until a game is at an even steeper discount, otherwise it just dissuades me from buying the game altogether.

**SephYuyX** · 2014-07-11 21:20

Originally Posted by 6souls

Fairy Fencer F coming to NA & EU sometime in 2014
(PS3)
[/center]

http://gematsu.com/2014/02/fairy-fen...ming-west-2014

Battle Princess of Arcadias coming to NA & EU, also sometime in 2014
(PS3)

NIS America is bringing Battle Princess of Arcadias, Nippon Ichi Software’s side-scrolling beat-em-up action RPG, is coming to North America and Europe via PlayStation Network, the company announced.

The game follows Battle Princess Plume, out to restore her once peaceful and beautiful kingdom of Schwert, since overrun by monsters. Players will battle enemy skirmishes and bosses, and upgrade their characters with new weapons, materials, and skills.

The game will feature Japanese audio with English subtitles.

Find a summary and list of features below.

The kingdom of Schwert was once peaceful and beautiful. But now it’s been overrun by monsters, and as the Battle Princess Plume, it’s up to you to set things right in this colorful, highspeed action RPG! Recruit a group of warriors and engage in skirmishes against the enemy before taking on huge and powerful bosses in epic siege battles! You’ll also get to delight in an extensive upgrade system. As you stomp the enemy into the ground throughout each level, you’ll collect weapons and materials that you can use to enhance your gear.

You’ll be able to unlock new skills based on your weapon and its level, and with enough time and effort, you can even transform your gear into new, more powerful weapons! Fight your way through each area, gaining new characters and abilities, gathering heaps of treasure, and upgrading your weapons and gear, all on your way to victory!

Key Features

Hand-to-Hand Combat: Take on wave after wave of enemies as you switch between a variety of characters in real time!
Super Boss Battles: Face off against massive enemies, each with their own violently dynamic skills and attacks!
Tons of Weapons, Tons of Skills: Each character has their own weapon specialty, complete with a bevy of unique skills and combo attacks. Swords, spears, axes, guns—you name it, we got it!

http://gematsu.com/2014/02/battle-pr...ming-west-2014

http://store.nisamerica.com/Games/Fa...andard-Edition
http://store.nisamerica.com/Preorder...on-with-Beanie

**Qalbert** · 2014-07-17 06:35

not the highest profile, but a reasonably high one has failed on kickstarter
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...r-game-instead

Backers of the Kickstarter-funded sandbox game Yogventures have reacted in dismay at the project's cancellation and Yogscast's subsequent offer of a Steam key for open-world survival game TUG instead.

Yogventures raised nearly $570,000 for indie studio Winterkewl Games during the title's Kickstarter campaign back in 2012, more than double its original goal of $250k.

But the project has since petered out, and has now been disowned by celebrity YouTube partners Yogscast.

"As you may have heard, Winterkewl Games have stopped work on Yogventures - but this is actually a good thing," Yogscast co-founder Lewis Brindley wrote in an email to the game's 13,647 backers. "The project was proving too ambitious and difficult for them to complete with their six-man team.

"While this was Winterkewl's project, we put a lot of time, energy and effort into trying to help them realise their dream. Since we heard the news, we've been working hard behind the scenes to make sure that you still get awesome stuff and cool experiences.

"Although we're under no obligation to do anything, instead we're going to do our best to make this right, and make you really glad you backed the project!"

The likelihood of any refund from developer Winterkewl Games looks remote, however. The studio will "probably" now go out of business, lead developer Kris Vale explained.

"Working on Yogventures was an amazing experience and everyone at Winterkewl Games really wanted to achieve the very lofty goals the game set out to do, but lack of experience in planning and managing a project of this scope proved too much for our little team," he said.

"I can't speak for the Yogscast and I make no claims that I do, for their own reasons they decided the game wasn't up to the quality they needed it to be to make videos supporting our pre-order business model. That was and is their prerogative and we had no way of influencing that decision other than making the game as best we could with what we had to work with."

Vale ended up sinking more than $25,000 of his own personal money into the project before Yogscast decided it wanted to pull the plug.

"We missed milestone after milestone and continued to come up short of the quality expectations and thus the Yogscast didn't want to advertise the pre-orders until it did meet those expectations," Vale continued, adding that his personal life also suffered considerably.

"I wish more than anything I would have had this fore-knowledge before we ever began this project," he concluded. "If we would have limited the scope and made a solid plan for working more closely with the Yogscast I have every faith this project would have been a real stand-out achievement in the indie game world."

**Quicklet** · 2014-07-17 14:04

"As you may have heard, Winterkewl Games have stopped work on Yogventures - but this is actually a good thing," Yogscast co-founder Lewis Brindley wrote in an email to the game's 13,647 backers. "The project was proving too ambitious and difficult for them to complete with their six-man team.

This reeks of inexperience and mismanagement to blow that much money with no results. For comparison, Shovel Knight raised about $311k from its Kickstarter.

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