Paradox’s Medieval Grand Strategy Game to Release This Fall

The herald rides forth to make the announcement all have awaited. Court and commoners hold their breath in anticipation. Jealous rivals, thwarted in their plots, sulk in the shadows, for the glorious day is coming. Crusader Kings III, the heir to the crown of grand strategy gaming, will take its throne on September 1, 2020.

Now available for pre-order, Crusader Kings III is a medieval grand strategy role-playing game from Paradox Development Studio. Guide a royal dynasty through the centuries. Claim new lands through diplomacy and marriage, or use your armies to conquer your neighbors or unite a divided realm. When swords and seduction fail, however, spies and poison may still be effective.

Crusader Kings III is the sequel to one of the world’s most beloved strategy games. Rich with new historical content and character options, it has never been easier to wrap yourself in the ermine cloaks of power, writing your own story of castles, knights, crusades, and murder.

Watch the Crusader Kings III – Story Trailer – Real Strategy Requires Cunning trailer HERE.

Features of Crusader Kings III include:

• Character Focused Gameplay: Every character you play or interact with has their own unique personality. Events and options in the game are largely determined by the type of person you are.
• Infinite Possibilities: Play as any noble house from Iceland to India, Finland to Central Africa over five centuries. Interact with wandering guests, stubborn children, devious spymasters and saintly holy men in an elaborate tapestry of medieval life.
• Waging War: Rally your vassals and raise your men-at-arms to besiege enemy castles or put down rebellions. Personal prowess on the battlefield can win you great honor, but strategic planning is the path to victory.
• Royal Marriages: Spread your dynastic DNA throughout the world, stamping your royal seal on the crests of kingdoms and duchies far and wide. Marry for power and raise children to press claims on new lands.
• Saints and Sinners: Keep faith with your religious leaders or perform great crimes in the interest of the state. When the going gets tough, you can always embrace a heresy or craft a new religion more in line with your character’s priorities.
• Schemes and Skulduggery: Learn the secrets of your courtiers and vassals so you can blackmail them for their support. Seduce your way into a superior’s good books, or plot the untimely demise of an unfortunate relative.
• Events Inspired By History: Experience great holy wars, peasant revolts, cadet branches of dynasties, heretics, superstition, castles, knights and wars over inheritance.
• 3D Character Portraits: Characters age and change appearance as their traits take a toll on their body. The higher the rank, the fancier the clothing.
• And much more: Holy Orders, mercenaries, pagan and Viking raiders, easily customized rule sets and a beautiful new map to play on.

Crusader Kings III is available for pre-order at major online retailers and the Paradox store for a suggested retail price of $49.99/ £41.99/ €49.99 and will be available to desktop monarchs on September 1, 2020.

Wield New Instruments of Imperial Power Next Month

Who can restrain the ambition of rulers who feel called to greatness? Rulers chosen by their peers. Chosen by their people. Chosen by God. Test the limits of earthly power on 09 June 2020 in Europa Universalis IV: Emperor.

Emperor is the newest expansion to Paradox Development Studio’s epic grand strategy game about the rise and fall of empires from the fall of Constantinople to the rise of Napoleon. This expansion opens up three central game systems, offering new gameplay opportunities for the Papacy, the Holy Roman Empire and Revolutionary movements, as well as a host of other changes.

See the latest trailer HERE.

Features in Europa Universalis IV: Emperor include:

• A Powerful Pope: Appoint cardinals, publish Papal Bulls and gather tithes. The Vatican and Papal Controller now have new abilities to sway the souls of Christendom.
• New Holy Roman Empire Systems: Imperial Incidents provide new challenges to the Emperor’s power and authority. Will your empire follow a course to a centralized monarchy or decentralized federation?
• Revolutions Revamped: The spirit of Revolution is a contagion that must be either embraced or vigorously opposed. Use the zeal of revolutionary guard units to fight reactionaries at home and abroad.
• The Hussite Faith: Bohemia has an early game chance to embrace heresy and stand alone against the Pope until The Reformation.
• Hegemonies: Seize the mantle of global leadership if you accumulate great wealth and armies, but be prepared to face great opposition from those who question your right to rule.
• New Missions: Over 20 new unique mission trees for a variety of European nations
• Defender of Faith: With great responsibility comes great power. Defending a major religion should be different from defending an insignificant one. Now it is!
• The Council of Trent and Counter-Reformation: Join other Catholic rulers to slow down the spread of the Reformation by making concessions to the unruly mob or harshly imposing the will of God.
• Provoke Rebellions: Risk a larger rebellion now while you think you can manage it instead of waiting for discontent to take its course

Europa Universalis IV: Emperor will be available on June 09, 2020 at the Paradox store and major online retail outlets for the suggested retail price of $19.99/ £15.49/ €19.99.

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.

• EK Expands on Quantum Kinetic TBE Series Products With DDC-Powered Variants
• EVE Distribution Announces the Spectrum Crowd-Sourced Monitor Lineup – Up to 4K 120 Hz IPS and FreeSync Premium
• AOC Adds Five 240Hz Displays with 0.5ms and 1ms Response Times
• Thermalright Intros TY-121BP FDB Low Impedance Fans
• Thermaltake NeonMaker Software Now Supports TOUGHRAM RGB Memory Series
• MSI Announces MPG GUNGNIR 110 and MAG Vampiric 100 Series Cases
• Asetek Rad Card – Industry’s First Slot-In PCIe Radiator Card
• MSI Announces MAG CoreLiquid Series AIO Liquid CPU Coolers
• MSI Outs Optix G series G241 and G271 Monitors
• ASUS Reveals ROG Strix Helios White Edition Case
• Logitech Zone Wired Headset Now Available For Purchase
• ADATA Announces the Falcon M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen 3 SSDs
• Abkoncore Rolls Out Cronos 450M Micro-ATX Case
• Gigabyte Releases UD Pro Series SATA3 SSDs
• Gigabyte Releases AORUS RGB Memory Rated 3600MHz
• ADATA Has Announced the XPG Core Reactor PSU Series
• Introducing EVGA Frostbite 2 – The Next Generation In Thermal Interface Material
• VIPER GAMING Launches VIPER 4 BLACKOUT 64GB Kits
• SilentiumPC Launches Grandis 3 EVO ARGB CPU Cooler
• BIOSTAR Announces Racing Z490GTA and Z490GTN Motherboards
• COUGAR Introduces MX331 Series Cases
• ASUS Intros RT-AX86U Dual-band Wi-Fi 6 Router that’s GeForce Now-Recommended
• Antec Launches its New Neptune AIO ARGB CPU Cooler
• Thermaltake Launches New TH120/TH240 ARGB AIO Coolers
• MSI Announces MEG Z490 Unify and MEG Z490I Unify Motherboards
• Cooler Master Announces the New SickleFlow 120 Series Fans

BattleGoat Studios has some big anniversaries to celebrate, and so we are excited to announce a major update to our Supreme Ruler Ultimate title as well as some limited time specials on all of our games!

Co-Founder of BattleGoat Studios, David Thompson, points out “This month marks 15 years since the release of our groundbreaking Geo-Political Real Time Strategy game, Supreme Ruler 2010. It’s also 12 years since the release of our follow up game, Supreme Ruler 2020, and of course it is the year that we set out to simulate with our ‘future crisis’ storyline!”

Although it is clear that the world of 2020 is turning out much crazier than anything we had originally predicted, as discussed in our “Heading into Quarantine” studio video on YouTube.

As part of our Anniversary celebrations, we’re launching a special limited promotion for our titles – Supreme Ruler 2010, Supreme Ruler 2020, and the WW2-based Supreme Ruler 1936 are all on sale for only $0.99 cents each! Supreme Ruler Ultimate and the Century Bundle (with gameplay from 1914 to modern day) are also on sale for 60% off.

George Geczy, Co-Founder and Lead Programmer, adds “The major new Update just released for Supreme Ruler Ultimate also adds a lot of new features and content. We are particularly pleased with the addition of full Steam Workshop support, allowing our community to continue to expand and mod the game well into the future.” This free update is available to the public as of May 8th 2020.

The Supreme Ruler franchise continues to be the longest-running game franchise currently still in development, having started with the original text-based strategy game on the TRS-80 in 1982, and now continuing with the work on Supreme Ruler Next Generation (working title) to bring significant new updates and features to the series.

Progress also continues on our new space-based strategy title, Galactic Ruler, working towards an early access release in the next few months. We look forward to sharing a lot more information soon with our community on these exciting projects!

Find out more about Supreme Ruler at the BattleGoat Studios website, and to purchase visit the Supreme Ruler Steam Page.

War Thunder developers reenacted the real Berlin Victory Parade to honor those who fought against evil 75 years ago

75 years ago, the world celebrated the end of World War II in Europe and one of the most important events of that days was the Berlin Victory Parade. In honor of the Victory anniversary, Gaijin Entertainment has created a virtual reenactment of the Berlin Victory Parade of 1945 inside War Thunder – an online game featuring hundreds of historically accurate military vehicles from that era and beyond. The video will be available on War Thunder’s YouTube channel today at 22:01 (UTC), precisely 75 years after the World War II in Europe ended.

The historical Berlin Victory Parade saw thousands of soldiers and officers from USSR, United States, United Kingdom and France marching together in the presence of Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov, General George S. Patton, General Brian Robertson and General Marie-Pierre Kœnig. It was one of the few moments in history when almost all of humanity stood united.

“75 years ago the whole world came together to celebrate defeating the ultimate evil. It’s important to remember this moment because nowadays the world needs to come together again to defeat a new common enemy that is attacking us all,” said Anton Yudintsev, founder of Gaijin Entertainment.

War Thunder’s version of the parade was made as close to the original as possible, with all military vehicles looking exactly as they were at that moment. The only major change is the air component of the parade that was absent at the real parade 75 years ago and was added to the virtual one in order to honor the pilots of Mustangs, Spitfires and Yak-9s who served in World War II.

At all stations, Maximum Alert!

We are receiving multiple reports coming from the Aegean Sea about an increase of hostility between the Greek and Turkish Armed Forces. Intel says that Ankara is quickly mobilizing Air and Naval units over Cyprus and other contested territories in what they consider their EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone).

Greek authorities are still evaluating the situation, but an escalation seems unavoidable if they want to re-assess their presence in the area.

Command LIVE – Aegean in Flames is the newest LIVE scenario for Command: Modern Operations, depicting a fictional scenario where new tensions between Greece and Turkey escalate to a point of no-return amidst the COVID-19 crisis.

KEY FEATURES

• Playable as Greece (main side) and Turkey (opponent force)
• Vast Theater of Operations covering the whole Eastern Mediterranean from Crete to the shores of Lebanon
• Spec Ops Ground Units for Reckon/Sabotage and Laser Designation (PGM Guidance) missions
• SAR script for downed pilots
• Dense IADS network on both sides including Patriot PAC-3 (MIM-104), S-300 PMU-1 (SA-20), Crotale NG, HAWK (MIM-23), Buk M1(SA-17), OSA AKM (SA-8), Tor M1 (SA-15) on the Greek side and recently delivered S-400 (SA-21b), upgraded Rapier B1X, Altigan and HAWK (MIM-23) on the Turkish side

Get more information from its official Product Page.

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.

• EK Water Blocks Introduces L-Shaped Brackets for FLT Series Reservoirs and Combo Units
• JONSBO Expands Angeleyes TW2 Pro Line of AIO CPU Coolers
• Cooler Master Intros Hyper 212 ARGB Turbo Cooler
• EK Releases the Long-Awaited Reflection Distro Plate for Lian LI O11D XL
• SilentiumPC Confirms Four Spartan 4 CPU Cooler Designs
• GELID Announces Black Diamond Gaming Case
• Bitspower Water Block for 3rd Generation Ryzen Threadripper and OLED
• MSI Rolls Out MEG Infinite X 10th and MAG Infinite S Gaming Desktops
• HyperX and DuckyChannel Announces HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini Keyboard
• ADATA Announces its New Ultimate SU720 SSD
• BIOSTAR Announces the Racing Z490GTA EVO Motherboard
• XIGMATEK Launches the OMG! PC Case
• EK Is Fully Compatible With LGA 1200 Socket Motherboards

Winning creations will be assembled in a new charity DLC supporting the International Committee of the Red Cross

Bohemia Interactive today announce the Arma 3 Art of War contest , which will ultimately form the basis for a charity DLC of the same name in aid of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). A short promo video, has also been released to further publicize the event.

Arma 3′s creative community of artists and modders are all invited to submit original 2D artworks and cosmetic 3D assets across four contest categories. The winning entries – along with two new singleplayer scenarios, specially designed by Bohemia Interactive to showcase them – will be made available as a small downloadable content package (DLC) later this year.

100% of Bohemia Interactive’s proceeds from the Arma 3 Art of War DLC after taxes will be donated to the ICRC to support their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their continued humanitarian efforts in providing protection and assistance for victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence. The expected price of the charity DLC is 2.99 USD / EUR / GBP, with two optional higher price tiers of 9.99 USD / EUR / GBP and 19.99 USD / EUR / GBP for those who wish to donate extra. After approximately 10 months of being on sale, the Art of War DLC will become permanently free for all Arma 3 players to enjoy, and Bohemia Interactive will announce the total donation raised.

The Arma 3 Art of War contest is divided into four categories: props, character accessories, character clothing, and a special 2D artwork category in any medium on the theme of International Humanitarian Law in future conflict. Entries in the latter will be displayed in a virtual in-game gallery, where players can learn about the challenges that various new technologies might present to organisations such as the ICRC. In addition, a second short scenario will be developed by Bohemia Interactive in response to the winning assets from the 3D categories.

Besides supporting a charitable cause, contest participants will also be able to win some art-inspired prizes. Bohemia Interactive will offer 1st place winners their choice of a Wacom Intuos S drawing tablet or a collection of professional art supplies, plus a limited edition T-shirt, silver medal, and a copy of the sumptuously illustrated book, War and Art. Similarly, 2nd and 3rd place winners will each receive a range of prizes, on top of the prestige of having their names in the developer credits.

Submissions are open as of today and will close on July 15, 2020. For more information on how to participate and the official contest rules, please visit the official Art of War page on the Arma 3 website.

Wargaming set to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe with first-ever online live-streamed navy parade of Allied Forces

Wargaming will join a host of nations this May in commemorating the end of World War II in Europe – with a virtual navy parade. This unique live event organized by World of Warships’ development team in close partnership with the community will take place on May 6, 2020 at twitch.tv/directory/game/World%20of%20Warships.

Instead of battling each other on the open sea, community members and volunteers will now have a different, more peaceful role of navigating the victorious ships in a graceful choreography.

The World of Warships parade will be live-streamed on Twitch to a worldwide audience and will feature some of the most iconic Allied warships with commentary from The New York Times bestselling author and naval historian, James D. Hornfischer. Alongside Hornfischer, popular influencers The Mighty Jingles, Drachinifel and Wargaming’s very own Chieftain will present more details about selected ships while providing historical context and highlighting the ships’ accomplishments during World War II.

The unique parade came to fruition after many nations truncated or cancelled their official World War II commemorations – which traditionally take place in early May – due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Being widely recognized for its efforts to popularize history through immersive gaming experience, Wargaming took on the role of commemorating the 75th anniversary of Victory Day virtually, by preparing a special treat for all those home-bound history buffs.

During the parade, random prize drops for any World of Warship player watching will also occur, gifting VE permanent camouflages and ships.

Visit the official World of Warships website now for more game info and to sign up for World of Warships for free!

​​​​​​​Road to Berlin will see fierce battles against AI on ad-hoc maps with plenty of rewards to reap

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the armistice that marked the end of the Second World War in Europe, World of Tanks is introducing a brand-new PvE mode: Road to Berlin — running from May 4th to 18th.

Tankers will have the option to join one of 5 different Units (Soviet, American and British). Each unit consists of three middle-tier vehicles of the same type and has a set of Combat Boosts, such as Airstrike, Artillery Strike, Special Shells, etc., to fight with enemies more efficiently. Once a player has made their choice, they will team up with four other commanders to take on AI-controlled adversaries.

Each battle has 5 sequential objectives, or Battle Missions, where players will need to harness a variety of battle tactics, from capturing to defending special zones to toppling the opponents and finally defeating enemy commanders.

Battles will take place on four maps that have been crafted specifically for Road to Berlin, including the brand-new Berlin map. Three of them will be available from the start; however, the Berlin map will only become available from late into the evening of May 8th, the time when the ceasefire became official 75 years ago.

“The end of the Second World War in Europe is a key part of global history,” states Max Chuvalov, Publishing Director, World of Tanks. “By creating this mode, we intended to remind people all around the world of this anniversary.”

As players progress in the mode, there are a variety of rewards to unlock, including Decals, Bounty Equipment and a special Medal. Those who can prove themselves in the mode, will be rewarded with the grand prize: the IS-2 with spaced armor.

Watch the Road to Berlin: Our New PVE Mode! teaser video HERE.

Watch the Road to Berlin: Event Details video HERE.

For more information on World of Tanks, visit the games official website.