ESL developers are preparing to integrate Wargaming.net’s latest technological development, Battle API (Application Programming Interface), into their online ESL Play platform. As the world’s largest esports company, this is set to significantly improve the esports experience for World of Tanks players from all around the globe. Since ESL and Wargaming.net partnered in 2011, ESL World of Tanks players have secured themselves well over one million dollars in prize money. Battle API integration represents just the latest step the two companies have taken towards paving the way to a higher standard of esports events and user experience worldwide.

ESL will be the first external company to integrate Battle API into their leagues and competitions. Once integrated players will also be able to earn themselves in-game credits and battle experience when taking part in both online and offline competition. This is due to the integrated Battle API negating the need for ‘Training Room’ use.

The Battle API will be built into the World of Tanks game itself and will communicate with the ESL Play platform to automise actions such as in game invites, score postings and bracket updates. This form of game integration also allows for a more meaningful post-match analysis with statistics such as the number of shells shot, shot accuracy and amount of damage dealt available for use just moments after a game is over.

For more information please visit www.eslgaming.com.

Discover the New World and then Make Your Own in Latest Expansion

After a long voyage through rough seas (game development is hard), the newest expansion for Paradox Development Studio’s hit empire-building game Europa Universalis IV has arrived! El Dorado lands with a nearly infinite array of new possibilities and alternate histories, and explorers can begin their voyage into uncharted territories today on PC, Mac and Linux for $14.99.

Take a look at the fabled El Dorado in the launch trailer here.

With its focus on the empires of South and Central America, El Dorado includes three new major Native American faiths for the Aztec, the Maya and the Inca. Sacrifice vassal kings to stave off doomsday as the Aztecs or endure centuries of cyclical rise and fall as the Maya.

If your game choices tend more to exploration and plunder, you can send your fleets on specific missions across the seas or task your conquistadors with a quest to find the lost Seven Cities of Gold!

But, if you tire of “history,” you can now create your own kingdom with the brand-new Nation Designer included with El Dorado. Choose your starting provinces, your national ideas, your starting ruler and everything else you need to prove that you know the value of real estate and strong leadership. Then, for a new thrill, randomize the map and fight a France reborn in Manchuria.

El Dorado features include:

• Nation Designer
• Nahuatl religion for Aztecs
• Mayan religion for Yucatan natives
• Inti religion for Inca
• New exploration system
• Seven Cities of Gold quest for conquistadors
• Treasure fleets, and pirate missions to intercept them
• New limitations on and effects of vassal/subject nation loyalty
• Dozens of new events

For more information, please visit www.europauniversalis4.com.

Nival, an independent game developer renowned for their strategy games, have today announced changes to the business model for Blitzkrieg 3, the long awaited next installment to one of their most beloved franchises, as well as details of the launch of the Closed Alpha Test for the game.

Rejecting the current market trend for so called ‘free-to-play’ with in-game micro transactions, Blitzkrieg 3 will instead require players to only make a one-time payment for the game. Commenting on the business model, Sergey Orlovsky, CEO and founder of Nival said, “The pendulum is swinging once again when it comes to how consumers want to pay for their games. The market is shifting back towards a cleaner, simpler and more transparent model of one-time payments. This trend inspired us to return to the classic distribution model of the series, thus honoring the series’ traditions.”

The digital pre-sale of the full version of Blitzkrieg 3, which includes three single player campaigns, has now launched. Anyone that pre-orders the game will be eligible to join the Closed Alpha Test that begins today. Blitzkrieg 3 will be free from micro-transactions, in-game currency and any other form of in-game payments. In future, players will, however, be able to buy optional additional campaigns as DLC. The premium account system previously announced has also been removed from the game.

The brand new Alpha trailer can be viewed HERE.

The second walkthrough video looking at the defensive side of the asynchronous multiplayer mode can be viewed HERE.

For more information on Blitzkrieg 3 CAT and to pre-order the game head to the games official website.

Allied Commando Raid on Singapore Harbour 26-27 September 1943

By John Dudek @ The Wargamer

Three two-man canoe-kayaks manned by British and Australian commandos paddled silently along and unobserved into the blacked out roadstead of Japanese occupied Singapore Harbor on the night of 26/27 September 1943. Their targets were the dozens of dark and shadowy Japanese merchant ships and tankers anchored throughout the harbor. With some 45 ships to choose from anchored nearby, theirs was a truly target rich environment. One by one, the Allied canoe boats fanned out to choose their individual ship targets. Each boat silently glided alongside their chosen ships to quietly plant magnetic “limpet mines” with attached timers below the waterline before casting off in search of other prey. Any inquisitive Japanese crewman who might have looked over the side of their ships could easily spy the attacker’s menacing canoes lurking below. Yet somehow the merchant ship and tanker crews remained completely oblivious to the sabotage operation taking place around them and the earth shattering explosive climax that was soon to follow. Perhaps their being anchored in an extremely well defended harbor in a rear area backwater of the war played a major role in their complacency, but many of them would never see another sunrise.

Read on…

It is 1965 and the US ground war in Vietnam is in full swing. As a US Army commander, wage a counter-insurgency (COIN) war to secure the La Drang valley, on the border with Cambodia. 

Good News for all ‘Nam fans! Vietnam ’65 will also be available through Steam and the product page is now live.

While you are waiting and preparing your ammo and equipment, check out the page and the cool trailer.

Vietnam ’65 by Every Single Soldier, will be released on March 5th.

This is a game that captures the true essence of the Vietnam War, where airmobile operations are paramount, fire support bases play a critical role and air strikes can save the day.

Rise through the ranks and watch your personalized uniform transform from a junior Lieutenant to General as you relive the Vietnam War.

“Once the mass of the defending infantry become possessed of low morale, the battle is as good as lost.” (Douglas Haig – Commander of British Expeditionary Force)

Early 1915 – After a massive initial push from the Central Powers on the Western Front, the war is bogged down. Commanders from both sides protect their positions with strong defensive structures and fail to find breaches in the enemy lines. Artillery and barbed wire make the assaults deadly and wasteful. But in Breaking the Deadlock, the first expansion of Ageod’s World War 1 wargame To End All Wars, players can develop new tactics to outsmart their opponent and break the stalemate once and for all!

Breaking the Deadlock focuses on key moments of the Great War. It provides a series of short, intense and very detailed scenarios in which every single turn has decisive consequences on the final outcome of the battle!

And It’s not over! We are also releasing patch 1.02 (direct link) for the base game, bringing a host of improvements, including bug fixes, scenario changes and much more!

The game features five historical scenarios:

• Serbia (1915) covers the decisive Central Powers offensive in Serbia dedicated to secure the area and build a safe and effective supply chain between Germany and the Ottoman Empire.
•  Rumania (1916) narrates the entry of Rumania into the war on the Allied side after having been neutral for 2 years, and the Central Powers rapid counterattack in the Balkan theatre.
• Caporetto (1917) begins with the Germans sending support to the Austrian army on the Italian Front, resulting with some unconventional warfare tactics based on gas attacks and use of assault troops.
• Palestine(1917-1918) the British and Ottoman Empires confront each other in the Middle Eastern theatre. Players will have to deal with logistic challenges and unusual terrain types to be victorious on this exotic battlefield.
• 1916 Campaign (1916-1918) is a fresh new starting point of the Grand Campaign. Victory has not picked her side yet!

Get more information on To End All Wars: Breaking the Deadlock from its official product page.

Development on all five platform versions is now complete.

Source: IGN

Battlefield Hardline is officially gold on all platforms and regions ahead of its release next month, publisher Electronic Arts announced on Twitter today.

Visceral Games and EA Digital Illusions CE upcoming cops versus criminals shooter is slated to launch March 17 in North America and March 19 in Europe on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Windows PC.

Battlefield fans got to go hands on with the title during its beta earlier this month. More than 7 million people participated in the beta earlier this month, with Hotwire being the most popular mode.

We spent hours shooting and driving in the multiplayer beta, and you can find out why we think Battlefield Hardline is mostly the same beast you’ve come to know and appreciate over the years.

Gaijin Entertainment today announced that Update 1.47, titled “Big Guns”, for the award-winning MMO WWII online game War Thunder is now live. Now War Thunder’s eight million players worldwide have access to a slew of new and improved features, including map improvements, graphical enhancements and additional armored vehicles and aircraft. To see the full list of new improvements and features, check out the official patchnotes.

The name Big Guns signifies the arrival of the biggest vehicles from WWII to War Thunder: the formidable bomber B29 Superfortress, with a wingspan larger than some modern airliners, and the super-heavy tank, Pz.Kpfw.VIII Maus, which weighed an incredible 188 tons. Additionally, the USSR gets the early version of the legendary Il-2 Sturmovik, which has the most detailed armor modelling (30 individual components) on any plane in a flight sim to date and sets the new standard for future aircraft in War Thunder.

Overall, 14 new planes and tanks join the War Thunder arsenal. Plus, with Beta-testing for the American tank line-up now complete, all players can use more than 30 US WWII tanks in high intensity battles.

War Thunder ground battles become even more realistic with the addition of different terrains. Now tanks move faster over roads, but drift more and slow down when they hit mud or soil. Adding even more realism, the tanks actually slow down and start to chew up the earth, carving deep grooves in the tank’s path, and of course this off-road driving affects the vehicles’ appearance, leaving them covered in dirt and dust. Tank warfare becomes even more tactical now, as the straightest route isn’t necessarily the fastest one!

Update 1.47 also sees the implementation of in-game items, which players can obtain in a number of ways, including daily login bonuses, special gifts, winning battles and through the in-game store. Players can use them immediately or store them for future use. Examples include boosters for research points for individual players or for the whole team, discounts for particular vehicles, chances to get premium planes or tanks and much more. Wagers are special items that allow players to set some conditions (e.g. several victories in the row) and get a huge reward if they succeed.

Of course this is not the complete list of new features that Update 1.47 “Big Guns” yields, as there are binocular views and driver cameras for more realistic tank game modes, operable canopies for aircraft, night lights and contrails for planes and improved performance and graphics quality for low-end PCs. For more details and to see the complete list of new and improved features, please check the developers blog and patchnotes.

Check out the latest trailer here.

Treasures, too, in upcoming Europa Universalis IV expansion

With the release of Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado only days away, lead designer Martin Anward has moved to the front of the camera to describe the many changes coming in the latest expansion to Paradox Development Studio’s hit historical empire-building game.

In this seven minute video, Anward describes the new mechanics for Central and South American native states, including three new religions that promise to challenge even the most experienced desktop monarchs. Anward also goes into great detail on the Nation Designer and alternate starting maps that will be available for the first time in El Dorado.

Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado is scheduled for release on February 26, 2015 and will be available on many popular digital storefronts, as well as the Paradox Store.

For more information, please visit www.europauniversalis4.com.

By Ian Cutress @ AnandTech

As the motherboard reviewer at AnandTech, I speak to my contacts at the motherboard manufacturers on a regular basis. All the recent talk has had a heavy sprinkling about thoughts, opinions and implementations of USB 3.1. To add to our recent testing, ASUS is today announcing the launch of their USB 3.1 PCIe card along with a variety of motherboard bundles either featuring onboard USB 3.1 or a bundled USB 3.1 card. We stuck the card in the Rampage V Extreme to run the numbers with an ASUS dual mSATA USB 3.1 enclosure.

Read The Review Here