Source: Blue’s News

Paradox Interactive announces what they call the grand success of their recent grand strategy releases. They explain: “Hearts of Iron IV, Paradox’s recently released World War II-themed grand strategy game, has sold over 200,000 copies worldwide in less than two weeks after its release, making it the publisher’s fastest-selling historical strategy game to date. Stellaris, the developer’s first sci-fi grand strategy title, has now sold over 500,000 copies worldwide in just over a month since its release in early May. Finally, Europa Universalis IV, Paradox’s iconic world-conquest grand strategy game, has now sold over 1 million copies worldwide, not including sales of expansions and other downloadable content (DLC) for the core game.” They celebrate the news with the release of free musical DLC for Europa Universalis IV and plans for a livestream later today:

To celebrate these milestones, Paradox is offering a new musical add-on for Europa Universalis IV to all players for free for a limited time. Starting today and lasting through July 4, 2016, the new DLC “Fredman’s Epistles” can be downloaded from Steam at no charge, adding a collection of traditional Swedish songs from the 18th century to the game’s soundtrack. The songs, arranged from original works by famed Swedish poet and songwriter Carl Michael Bellman, provide an authentic piece of Swedish culture to Europa Universalis IV, perfect for taking on the world as a Scandinavian superpower. Following the limited free release, Fredman’s Epistles will remain available for 1.99$ from digital retailers.

To further celebrate the one million Europa Universalis IV players the developers will host a special stream on June 21st, 15.00-18.00 CEST, where they will play the oldest available version of the game and talk about its’ development.

Author: SKYMTL @ HardwareCanucks

Its now been a few weeks since NVIDIA officially launched their GTX 1080 during that time we have seen plenty of redesigns from board partners. Due to the staggered launch dates between the Founders Edition and these custom cards, many potential buyers have waited before taking a plunge into the $600+ GPU market. There’s good reason for that: the GTX 1080 Founders Edition may be a massively powerful card but it tended to throttle under load and overclocking headroom wasn’t all that great. Hence the expectation for these particular cards is quite high and EVGA’s GTX 1080 Superclocked ACX 3.0 is arguably one of the most eagerly anticipated.

Read The Review Here

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

• Sharkoon Announces the SharkZone GK15 Gaming Kit
• GIGABYTE Announces the GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming Water Cooled
• Scythe Announces Availability of the Kabuto 3 CPU Cooler
• GIGABYTE Releases GeForce GTX 1070 G1 GAMING Graphics Card
• ADATA Launches the Premier SP550M.2 2280 SSD
• ASUS Announces the GeForce GTX 1080 Turbo
• MSI Announces the GTX 1080 and GTX 1070 SeaHawk EK X Series Graphics Cards
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, GTX 980 and GTX 970 Receive a Price Cut
• MSI and ASUS Send VGA Review Samples with Higher Clocks than Retail Cards
• EVGA Cashes in on Tweaked Review Sample Anger
• Bykski Releases Custom Water Block for Colorful GTX 10-series XTOP GPUs
• ROCCAT Sova Couch PC Gaming Device Announced
• Be Quiet! Introduces Pure Power 9 PSUs With Fixed Cables
• ADATA Announces Rugged HD700, Slimmer HV602S External HDDs

Alongside a brand new trailer, which premiered during the PC Gaming Show at E3 2016, Bohemia Interactive has announced the release date for the much-anticipated Arma 3 Apex expansion. Launching worldwide on July 11th this year, Arma 3 Apex will bring players to the 100 km² South Pacific archipelago Tanoa, with a new arsenal of weapons and vehicles at their disposal, as well as additional armed forces, a co-op campaign, and more.

Calling all troops to the front lines, Bohemia Interactive also announced that, as of today (almost one month before release), everyone who pre-ordered Arma 3 Apex has Sneak Preview Access to all of the expansion’s content, except for the co-op campaign. To install the Apex Sneak Preview build, you simply need to right-click on Arma 3 in your Steam Library, go to ‘Properties’, visit the ‘BETAS’ tab, and use the drop-down menu to select and install the Apex Sneak Preview build. This build represents a work-in-progress version and is not yet fully representative of the final Arma 3 Apex release.

With its distinct geographical features and varied locations, Apex’s South Pacific island archipelago of Tanoa introduces fresh opportunities for all types of combat operations. Making use of 13 new weapons (providing a mix of classic and near-future firearms), and 10 new vehicles (including new vehicle classes such as VTOL aircraft and LSVs), players can engage in authentic combat on a massive scale, where movement, shooting, and teamwork truly matter. The new 1-4 player co-op campaign sees players take on the role of NATO CTRG special operators, who are sent to Tanoa in order to prevent a humanitarian disaster, but quickly find themselves facing a far bigger threat than they bargained for.

Representing the pinnacle of over 15 years of Arma development, Bohemia Interactive has published a brand new developer diary video about their major upcoming expansion for Arma 3: Arma 3 Apex. In the video, Project Lead Petr Kolář and Creative Director Jay Crowe unveil the expansion’s setting and content.

Arma 3 Apex is now available for pre-order with a 20% discount for 23.99 EUR / 19.99 GBP / 27.99 USD (regular price: 29.99 EUR / 24.99 GBP / 34.99 USD) on Steam and the Bohemia Store. Those who are new to Arma 3, but want to enlist for the complete experience at the best price, can choose to pick up the Arma 3 Apex Edition for 59.99 EUR / 44.99 GBP / 69.99 USD.

For more information about the Apex expansion, please visit the official web page where you find a complete overview of its content and features.

Black clouds are gathering over the horizon. For the second time in less than thirty years, Europe is on the brink of another terrible conflict. There is no more room for diplomacy, and mobilization orders have been sent in every nation.

Which side will you choose when the time comes?

Strategic Command WWII: War in Europe is a deeply immersive turn based strategy game covering the greatest conflict in modern history, with a heavy focus on realism and global cooperation.

The game is about to enter Beta and you can help in giving the final touches by applying here!

In the meantime, feast your eyes on this full set of screenshots, featuring Normandy before D-Day, Italian troops in the Mediterranean Sea, US fleet on patrol and more!

If you like large scale strategy this is the game for you!

Get more information about Strategic Command WWII: War in Europe from its official product page!

The expansion for the acclaimed real-time wargame Scourge of War: Waterloo is finally here!

Scourge of War: Quatre Bras will put you in command of the French forces of the Armée du Nord, or the British and their allies led by the Duke of Wellington, in the battle that more than others influenced the outcome of Waterloo!

It’s up to you now! Will you fight to change history?

Grab the game here!

Scourge of War: Quatre Bras is available also on Steam!

Source: UbiBlog

The labyrinthine subways and tunnels of New York are an ideal setting for The Division’s first paid expansion, which introduces Underground Operations – special missions that consist of randomized dungeons and objectives. I had a chance to check out one of these missions at E3 2016, specifically a quick 1 Phase Operation, and came away wanting to dig deeper into the depths of Manhattan’s underbelly. But before getting started, our squad leader gave us a quick tour of the new Tactical Operations Center – an extension to the Base of Operations.

Watch the new Underground DLC Gameplay trailer here.

Read on…

Today, during the E3 press conference, Ubisoft® revealed that Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, the latest in the best-selling Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon franchise, will be available March 7, 2017 on Xbox One, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Windows PC.

Developed by Ubisoft Paris, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands is a military shooter set in a massive and responsive open world, entirely playable in single-player or up to four-player co-op. Players will discover Bolivia a few years from now, a country turned into a narco-state by the vicious Santa Blanca drug cartel.

Sent behind enemy lines, Ghosts will have to cripple the Santa Blanca cartel’s operation, breaking alliances between the drug lords and the corrupted government, and saving the Bolivian population from the cruelty of El Sueño, Santa Blanca’s ruthless leader. To do so, players will have a total freedom of choice to accomplish their missions how they want and watch as the world reacts to their actions.

For more information about Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, please visit ghostrecon.com.

Independent UK developer Rebellion is delighted to announce the release date for Sniper Elite 4: its new entry in the award-winning, chart-topping World War 2 shooter franchise will open next year’s Q1 of big-hitting game releases, landing worldwide on February 14, 2017 for PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Jason and Chris Kingsley, co-founders of Rebellion, explained the decision to release the studio’s marquee title in February:

“When we revealed Sniper Elite 4 back in March our plan was to release it at the end of 2016,” they explained, “However, we now know Battlezone will release in October as a launch title alongside PlayStation VR. That gave us a tough decision to make. Ultimately, we’re a relatively small independent studio, and releasing two major titles in the same quarter didn’t seem like a sensible thing to do. A few of our shared internal teams will probably sleep a bit easier now!”

While this does mean players will have to wait just a little longer to get their hands on the title, there is another big benefit to a 2017 release:

“Launching Sniper Elite 4 in February gives us the opportunity to take a game that’s already received some of the best preview feedback we’ve ever had, and give it that extra bit of attention,” the Kingsley brothers affirmed, “We know a lot of you will be disappointed you won’t get to play Sniper Elite 4 this year, but we feel this decision will prove in the long run to be a win-win for both us and you, the fans.”

Check out some new screenshots here (Hosted by Blue’s News).

TaleWorlds Entertainment has lifted the lid on upcoming title, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord‘s greatly anticipated siege gameplay.

Players will have the chance to take part in authentic medieval sieges, utilising a variety of siege weaponry, including ballistae, catapults, siege towers, battering rams and more. A variety of castles, that not only look realistic, but function as defences, making use of flanking towers, choke points and murder holes, which work just like those in reality.

Destructibility and fire damage create dynamic environments, which players can manipulate to their advantage. But intelligent AI will do the same, adapting while attacking and reacting to threats in defence.

Beyond the chaotic struggle of the assault, sieges also test players’ strategic abilities, when maintaining a besieging party, constructing siege engines and bombarding enemy walls.

In addition, this is the first look at the Sturgia faction in Bannerlord. The Sturgians occupy the northern forests of Calradia, preferring to fight on foot, with swords and axes. Fearsome helmets cover their eyes, giving them a demonic appearance and they excel in close-quarter melee combat, fighting in cramped towers and atop ramparts.

Videos:

• E3 2016 Siege Gameplay Trailer
• E3 2016 Siege Gameplay Short

More game information is available via the Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord website.