Action/Strategy

Tank combat will soon be available on three major platforms

Wargaming today announced their hugely popular mobile title World of Tanks Blitz will be coming to Windows 10, now running on more than 110 million devices. Designed to take advantage of cross-device gameplay functionality, this new version of the smash hit mobile game will bring 7-vs-7 tank combat to Windows 10 mobile devices, tablets and PCs.

World of Tanks Blitz has already amassed over 35 million downloads on iOS and Android, and has reached the milestone of over 100,000 players battling simultaneously across the world. The game will be optimized for a variety of Windows 10 devices, enabling players to fight together on the same servers regardless of the platform — iOS, Android or Windows 10. Windows 10 PC players will have a separate matchmaking queue from mobile gamers, ensuring they have an equal chance of victory.

A variety of in-game interfaces and elements will also be reworked in World of Tanks Blitz on Windows 10 to ensure a true cross-play experience. Along with intuitive touch-screen controls for tablets and phones, World of Tanks Blitz is set to feature keyboard and mouse support for PC.

“World of Tanks Blitz has gathered a vibrant community worldwide, and we are excited to take advantage of the technology and gaming platform provided by Microsoft to broaden its reach even further,” said Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi. “With the addition of Windows 10 support, we’ll turn World of Tanks Blitz into a true cross-platform experience, expanding in-game opportunities for our player community and opening up the Wargaming.net universe to a new and vast audience.”

World of Tanks Blitz offers an impressive roster of over 190 iconic vehicles from Germany, Great Britain, the United States, and the USSR that are divided into 4 different classes: light tanks, medium tanks, heavy tanks, and tank destroyers. Each class has its own set of strengths and weaknesses, giving a unique playing style to every model. Combined with a variety of battle arenas featuring rapid, action-packed, PvP combat, World of Tanks Blitz allows aspiring tankers to master their tactical skills, learn to take fast and calculated decisions on the battlefield, and team up in platoons with friends all across the world.

To learn more about the upcoming release of World of Tanks Blitz on Windows 10, visit the official portal.

Wargaming and Carlton Books are pleased to announce World of Tanks Commander’s Guide. World of Tanks, the hugely popular multiplayer online game dedicated to armored vehicle battles, has over 100m registered users and is available on PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, (PS4 coming soon) and mobile devices. Now players and fans can get expert playing (and winning) advice from the makers of the game with this first fully authorized book.

Inside the book is everything you need to know about World of Tanks, from simple battle tips and upgrading advice to advanced tactics and combat styles that will give you an added edge. It includes useful information and tips for all players: a step-by-step guide for those new to the game; how to refine your playing style in the mid-tiers; platoon fighting; and tips for increasing your damage-dealing and credit-earning as a more experienced player.

The book is also an excellent source of reference for military enthusiasts, as it takes a historical look at many of the real tanks behind those featured in the game, with photographs and information from The Tank Museum in Bovington, whose experts have helped shape the game.

David Willey, Curator of The Tank Museum says: “I have met soldiers who play regularly, staff who didn’t think they’d like it but are now hooked, and children whose knowledge about the vehicles gained from the game is now astounding.”

Carlton Books and Wargaming.net have teamed up with GAME Retail Ltd to offer the first 1,000 customers who purchase the book (in one of their stores throughout the UK and NI or online at www.game.co.uk) an exclusive Tank Commander DLC Pack for the PC. The pack contains an American RAM 11 Premium Tank, 30 consumables (10 x large repair kits, 10 x automatic fire extinguishers and 10 x large first aid kits), as well as 3 days of Premium account.

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

Battlestate Games, a Russian game development studio, has revealed the first gameplay video of Escape from Tarkov, the hardcore online shooter with RPG features.

Two private military companies, USEC and BEAR, clashed in conflict on the streets of a Russian city, forcing the local civilian population to flee. However, anarchy and lawlessness stroke a chord with some people, who are now called Savages around these parts. They flock into packs and fight for territories and resources on par with professional soldiers.

Shots and screams are incessant sounds hanging in the air, and tossed grenades are referred to as a “present”. Harsh reality is abound in the game – one hit, and your character may be killed right away or bleed to death.

Follow the news and sign up for beta at the official Escape from Tarkov website.

Developer Diary 10 explores the game’s soundscape

Hundreds of carefully crafted sounds constitute the vast and varied audio of World of Warships. The latest installment of Developer Diaries invites players behind the scenes to discover how the soundtrack for World of Warships was created in the St. Petersburg studio.

This massive undertaking began when the game was still in development. From every shell fired, ship damaged, and wave broken, the team has worked diligently to create a cinema-grade soundscape that narrates a player’s battlefield journey.

Explore the most difficult and exciting aspects of sound design for World of Warships: getting the deafening salvos and angry reports of gunfire just right, forming a ship’s “sound passport”—consisting of dozens of unique clips—and recreating a tangible atmosphere of naval combat. Learn how the audio design adjusts and adapts depending on where the player is in relation to their surroundings and changes when going from first-person to third-person to create a real sense of warfare.

Follow the Audio Team in their quest to build the musical score that engages the player and ratchets up the tension during key moments of battle.

For the latest game information, visit the official World of Warships website.

Source: Blue’s News

Steam News announces the release of the Windows edition of Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, offering the chance to make a killing during the industrial revolution. Here’s word:

London, 1868. In the heart of the Industrial Revolution, lead your underworld organization and grow your influence to fight those who exploit the less privileged in the name of progress.

As Jacob Frye, a young and reckless Assassin, use your skills to help those trampled by the march of progress. From freeing exploited children used as slave labour in factories, to stealing precious assets from enemy boats, you will stop at nothing to bring justice back to London’s streets.

Find out more about Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate at the games official website.

Source: Blue’s News

Battlestate Games announces Escape from Tarkov, a “hardcore online game set in a Russian setting” coming to Windows and OS X next year. The game’s official website is online, offering signups for closed beta testing, and this lengthy cinematic trailer showing lots of gunplay in a war-ravaged urban environment. The announcement also refers to this as an “MMO,” and describes a conflict in a cut off region called Norvinsk:

With every new day the situation in Norvinsk oblast becomes stranger and more complicated. Panic reigns as the city is plunged into armed conflict: citizens flee while those who stay begin to scavenge whatever they can. Taking the new realities as a matter of course and huddling up into well-armed gangs, scavs start their own battle for territories. Today, Tarkov is divided by unseen borders set by bandit groups. Up-for-anything, they won’t stop short at killing innocents or waging a war against two private military companies.

Players will enter the battlefield as surviving ex-mercenaries. After choosing one’s side, USEC or BEAR, the protagonist starts off in the middle of the city. Tarkov is blocked by UN forces and Russian military, supply lines are cut, communications are lost – in these realities everyone decides by himself or herself, how to survive and get out of city.

World of Tanks Update 9.12 has gone live today in North America and Europe, with Asia, Korea and China to follow on November 19. The update features a new game mode, adds an exclusive map, reworked, high definition vehicles and the first ever PvE tutorial on PC.

This all-new game mode challenges even the most proficient tank commander by adding fresh mechanics such as respawns, Garage Battles, tank repair stations and a Capture the Flag variant. It also brings new “Artillery” and “Airstrike” abilities, capable of inflicting major damage on the battlefield. Now players must evolve their strategy and tweak their tactics to claim victory. The new map—“Berlin”—is also available for this mode, as well as a special season of Personal Battle Missions. Doing well in these missions will earn commanders the impressive Tier 10 T-22 sr. tank and offers achievement hunters the chance to obtain unique medals for proving their prowess in battle.

Update 9.12 continues to enhance World of Tanks by rolling out twenty-eight high definition vehicles and an improved tank customization interface, allowing players to buy and set camouflage, inscriptions and emblems. The British tank line updates its ranks by replacing the Tier 10 FV4202 medium tank with the mighty Centurion Action X. Finally, a PvE tutorial arrives giving new tankers the chance to hone their skills before taking to the online battlefield.

For more information on update 9.12, visit the official World of Tanks website.

Destructibility Improvements, New Maps and First British Tanks

Gaijin Entertainment today announced that its award-winning MMO WWII online game, War Thunder, will be introducing a host of new and upgraded features in a forthcoming update for War Thunder’s 10 million players to enjoy.

War Thunder is starting to implement an improved version of its engine, known as Dagor Engine 4.0, and part of this is physically based rendering. War Thunder has always prided itself on its unrivaled attention to detail, even going as far as to correctly interpret the way light interacts with objects within its environment, including the diffusion and reflection of light on shiny and opaque surfaces and materials, such as wood, steel, rubber and glass. In short, it means that War Thunder will look even more realistic than ever before.

Another part of the improved engine is the integration of NVIDIA GameWorks technologies. NVIDIA PhysX Destruction aids War Thunder’s quest for increased realism by enabling the introduction of larger destructible objects to the game: wall fragments, ruins and entire buildings will all react to in-game ballistic physics. Players now have the ability to destroy enemy’s cover or create new firing positions, changing dynamics of tank battles.

The inclusion of NVIDIA WaveWorks technology generates incredibly realistic waves and foam for oceans, seas, rivers and lakes, which will also factor wind direction and strength. All of the maps in the game will benefit from this addition, aerial and ground combat ones alike.

The name “Firestorm” for update 1.53 comes from the introduction of a deadly set of new multiple rocket launcher systems: namely, the American M26 Pershing tank with mounted T99 system, the German Panzerwerfer 42 and Russian BM-24-8. These vehicles provide a formidable barrage of high-explosive rockets and continue to expand the armored vehicle design variation in the game.

Fans anticipating British tanks will rejoice, as an initial set of four exclusive vehicles become available: the A13 Mk II, the Sherman Firefly, the M10 Achilles and the A43 Black Prince Infantry tank. The main British Ground Force line-up will appear in War Thunder in the next updates.

In total, there are over 20 new vehicles in update 1.53, including the amphibious Soviet tank PT-76, Cold War-era Jagdpanzer 4-5 and, eagerly awaited by fans, the top-range British jet fighter the Hawker Hunter.

Finally, two new ground combat locations were added, a winter map of the Stalingrad tractor plant district, which has been painstakingly reproduced based on real photographs taken during the bloody battles for the city and “Advance to Rhine,” based on late-war Cologne with its towering cathedral and maze-like streets that will provide the optimum challenge for urban warfare.

Steam Achievements are now available for the PC version of the game. There are many more improvements and features in this update, of course. To see a detailed list, click here. Or visit the War Thunder developer’s blog.

Discover new maps, tackle a new game mode, and reap greater rewards in Ranked Battles

Wargaming is excited to announce update 0.5.1 for World of Warships will go live on November 5 in North America and on November 6 in Asia, the CIS and EU. This update brings a boatload of great content including three new maps—with the very first night map—a brand new game mode “Zone”, and further improvements.

Three new maps for World of Warships are set to test players’ skills by plunging them into new and exciting waters. For the very first time, commanders will find “Northern Lights”, a reimagining of a once-familiar locale, doused in darkness and the spectacle of the Aurora Borealis. New maps include “Land of Fire”, inspired by South America and “The Trap”, which is modelled on the fierce battles between U.S. and Japanese fleets, complete with an active volcano.

The new game mode “Zone” pits opposing teams in contention of one giant base in the middle of a map. However, this base only becomes available for capture two minutes into the battle. With “Zone”, players will have to reevaluate their old tactics and techniques, trading off the vulnerability of open waters for glory. Also in update 0.5.1 are various additions and enhancements such as “Events”, “Challenges”, “Missions, and “Daily Missions”.

Ranked Battles now feature even more rewards in the form of flags to deck out a vessel and make it the envy of others on the high seas. Also for those still finding their sea legs, Introductory Missions have been added with a tutorial to help commanders develop their tactical skills and strengthen their grasp of the game.

For the latest game information, visit the official World of Warships website.

Obsidian Entertainment and Paradox Interactive today announced that Pillars of Eternity, the critically acclaimed computer role-playing game (CRPG) made possible by a record-setting crowdfunding campaign, has crossed a new milestone, and has now sold over 500,000 copies worldwide. Including fans who backed Pillars of Eternity on Kickstarter, over half a million players have purchased the game worldwide, making it one of the best-selling games on Steam this year. Pillars of Eternity has gone on to be one of the best reviewed PC games of 2015, and in addition to its two-part expansion The White March, Obsidian has plans to continue to expand upon its rich universe across several forthcoming releases.

“Every one of these milestones, from the completion of our crowdfunding campaign to the game’s release and beyond, is a surreal moment when you consider where this journey began,” said Feargus Urquhart, CEO of Obsidian Entertainment. “Pillars of Eternity has been a life-changing experience for me, and for everyone involved in its creation. Knowing that over half a million people have gotten to share in that is both flattering and humbling. I want to deeply thank all of our fans and supporters. We can’t wait to share what we’ve got next for the world of Eora.”

For more information on Pillars of Eternity, visit eternity.obsidian.net.