From PAX Prime, S2 Games announced that their new MOBA, Strife, has entered a global Open Beta.

Strife is a free to play MOBA that features deep, collaborative gameplay and of course includes purchasable cosmetic upgrades. S2 are focusing on building an engaging, enjoyable, team PvP game. One key design goal was to evolve the genre to create a more accessible MOBA with a high skill ceiling. Strife offers an experience that rewards everyone on the team for their role in victory. New features launching with Open Beta include single player content that allows players to interact with Strife’s lore, a companion app that allows players to check stats, craft items, and earn free resources from anywhere, and a partnership with Curse Voice to allow players to easily connect with friends.

“Our vision for Strife can be best explained by examining the globally beloved sport of Soccer,” said Marc DeForest, CEO and Co-Founder of S2 Games. “The way I’d play soccer with my kids is completely different from the way I’d play competitively in college or the way World Cup teams battle professionally. We designed Strife to be a game as accessible as soccer, to be enjoyed by players of all skill levels.”

To support the community and make it easier for people to find friends to form teams and queue, S2 Games also announced full Curse Voice integration for Strife. “Curse is extremely excited to be partnering with S2 for their upcoming MOBA title Strife. Having Curse Voice on day 1 of such a huge title is an incredible opportunity for us to bring the best communication platform for gamers into an exciting new take on the MOBA genre,” said Hubert Thieblot, Curse CEO.

The development team embraces the philosophy that action is king. Strife’s concise game map and out of combat regeneration keeps all members of the team close to the action. Less specifically designed rolls lead to increased versatility, freedom and enjoyment of gameplay. Less time building a foundation in lane leads to more matches. Deeply collaborative development through community feedback creates an open dialogue for players to communicate with the development team and affect future design decisions.

For more information on Strife, visit the official website.

Webzen have revealed their Archlord 2 ranking page for a brutal, blood-spattered more competitive experience.

The Archlord 2 team is gearing up for the game’s first major content update with the implementation of the ranking page for the upcoming Archlord system, now available on the official website here.

With the introduction of the new Archlord system, players can compete each day to get the best scores in battlegrounds in order to gather enough points to be able to access the finals, a last man standing confrontation taking place every Sunday. The sole survivor of this brutal melee will then be crowned the Archlord.

In my experience there’s nothing quite like a leader board and titles to get people fighting!

Players who manage to accomplish this extraordinary feat will unlock access to exclusive skills and items worthy of the supreme ruler of Chantra. The ranking page has already been made available, while the Archlord system itself will be activated with the coming update.

The first major content update for the game will offer an increased level cap for characters, going from level 41 to level 46. In conjunction with this increase, players will be able to explore new quests and world areas, a new contested area, multiple new instanced dungeons and a whole new tier of loot.

The expansion is currently slated for mid-September.

CCP Games have launched some big additions to agent missions and wormholes in the latest release for EVE Online, Hyperion.

In Hyperion, dangerous “Burner” pirates have started to arrive all over the universe. Trained by the five major pirate factions, these lone criminals hide behind space gates that only frigate-class ships can activate, making for a fresh alternative to the battleship warfare that dominates high-level agent missions. These optional but lucrative new missions mimic the type of battle more often found between players.

Hyperion also includes major changes to wormhole effects. Since wormholes were introduced into the game years ago, EVE players of all experience levels — always ready for a challenge — jumped headfirst into the unknown and carved out fragile refuges amidst a constantly shifting interstellar landscape. Among the changes:

•     New wormhole connections have opened up, and those with Black Holes inside have become the de facto fast-skirmish wormholes.
•     Class 4 wormhole systems have added another reliable exit wormhole, making them the perfect base from which to skirmish into other unknown systems while still providing a substantial income to those brave enough to stake their claim.
•     Changes in the mass calculations of ships entering wormholes should provide some exciting skirmishes, as bigger ships find themselves drifting further from the safety of the entrance.

“Hyperion brings the first of many upcoming changes to core parts of EVE Online that let players explore the New Eden universe and clash with its inhabitants.” said Andie Nordgren, Executive Producer for EVE Online. “Missions, wormhole exploration, and incursions are an integral part of EVE’s player-driven vicious cycle of harvesting, creation and destruction, with players of all levels sewing the fabric of our massive universe with their ambitions.”

Hyperion brings other changes to EVE, including more ship and module balancing, improved UI like sharable overviews and tooltips, new cybernetic arms and “retro” headwear, and the opening of planetary colonies in null security space to those outside the sovereign alliances that control them.

Hyperion follows Crius as the third update in a major shift for EVE development, from two expansions per year to around 10 releases annually, as CCP delivers more content, more frequently, to its ever growing player-base. Hyperion is available free to all EVE Online subscribers and trial users.

Further information about Hyperion can be found here, and the Hyperion in-development video.

The Loadout team have just released a teaser trailer for their upcoming 5.0 Alien PvE beta testing. The beta is only available for the PC version but it’s open for all to try.

More details are coming but they have an official FAQ here. So far the following has been confirmed:

•     Fight the mysterious invaders with up to three of your friends in the new Campaign mode through many missions that will test your teamwork, strategy and quick thinking.
•     Grab rare loot in-game to craft your favorite weapons of mass destruction.
•     Organize your stash of weapon parts and equipment in the new Inventory system.

We know you’ve been waiting patiently, and it’s finally time to share some of the details from Update 5.0! We’ve been quietly working on the largest amount of content the Loadout community has seen since launch. In fact, it’s so big we’re going to run a separate beta with the community to ensure it’s ready to rock-n-roll. The beta will be open to all Loadout players and will go live in the coming weeks. You will help shape the future of Loadout and provide pivotal data, feedback and experience. But we’re not quite ready yet.  In the meantime, we put together a small teaser to give you an idea of what’s coming in the near future:

Celebrating the premier of the spy thriller, “The November Man”, on August 27th. Skilled Halo pros and YouTube stars will battle in their own action-packed Halo Invitational, airing exclusively here on MLG.tv. On Tuesday, August 26th at 3 pm ET, four duo teams will compete playing Halo 3 for a chance at $5,000 and a copy of the soon to be released Halo Master Chief Collection.

Confirmed combatants:

•     JahovasWitniss & KYRSP33DY
•     LEGIQN & Gandhi
•     Flamesword and BigTymer
•     Ace & Snip3down

Viewers can watch via MLG.tv on the web and MLG.tv apps for iOS, Android, Xbox One and the Xbox 360. Throughout the stream, fans can tweet using #NovManMLG for a chance to win tickets to see The November Man, so don’t miss out if that’s your thing. Be sure to follow @MLG for additional details about giveaways and the tournament schedule.

Popular game streaming portal Twitch has been sold to Amazon for an outstanding $970m (£585m). In an letter to the community , Emmett Shear (CEO) thanked the members standing by and supporting the site in its current three years existence.

Sandbox Interactive have confirmed the official start date for the next test on their cross-platform Sandbox MMORPG Albion Online. Testers will be able to explore the medieval fantasy world during the closed alpha test from the 15th of September.

The summer alpha has at least 14 days planned where players can test all features implemented in the game as much as they like. Depending on player feedback and player numbers, Sandbox Interactive may extend the duration of the test.

Anyone who is interested in joining the test and hasn’t managed to get hold of a key can secure their alpha access with one of the founder packs, available now. More information on how to get alpha access can be found here.

http://youtu.be/wSTn8y_P6is

Official site.

AlternativaPlatform had a great time with their tank-action browser phenomenon ‘Tanki Online’, they had a fantastic five days last week at the biggest games show in the world, Gamescom. Fans packed out the Tanki booth on every available day of the show, competing for prizes and joining friends and family in a huge celebration of all things Tanki!

More than 2,500 gamers played Tanki Online at the show, each leaving with a badge and a lottery ticket, with four lucky winners going home with an iPad Air! Every two hours, tournaments were held to find out who was the top ‘tanker’ at the booth at that time. Tournaments were characterised by intense battles, every player desperate to prove themselves the best, and some battles going down to the last second! All tournament participants left the booth with T-shirts, while fifteen of the very best players were awarded special game packs that included branded keyboards, headsets and mice.

Players who didn’t manage to make it all the way to Gamescom were also given a chance to be in on the action. AlternativaPlatform introduced a brand new in-game map called “Cologne”, launched specifically for Gamescom. For the entire period of the show, gold box bonuses were doubled and billboards on all maps were temporarily redesigned to feature Gamescom branding. Over 95,000 gold boxes were collected during the event! Fans were also offered 25% off micro-upgrades and speed-ups for the duration of the show.

http://youtu.be/RXTDPcyCYEM

Official site.

With the first anniversary of Final Fantasy XIV fast approaching, SQUARE ENIX Ltd., today updated everyone on a host of special events underway to commemorate the milestone. Full details can be found on the official FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn Anniversary page.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, a free log-in campaign will run from today through to 1st September (11am GMT). During this time, players who have previously purchased and registered FINAL FANTASY XIV, and whose service account is set as inactive during the campaign period, will be able to re-join the adventure throughout the realm of Eorzea and play for free.

The one year anniversary takes place on 27th August, bringing with it exciting events for fans around the world. This includes a special in-game event; The Rising – in memory of those lost to the Calamity. From 28th August, through to the close of The Rising event on 8th September (14:49 GMT), players can purchase various commemorative gifts and items (in-game) and will also be rewarded with the “Huzzah” emote to mark the occasion.

With only five days to go until the official one year anniversary of A Realm Reborn, other celebrations are already underway including an exclusive illustration countdown. Until the 27th August, fans can view new, breath-taking illustrations created by members of the game’s art team – published daily on the Official Anniversary Website. As well as this, fans can further join in the global celebration by taking part in a range of additional special events, including;

Moonfire Faire

14th August 08:00 – 8th September 14:59 (GMT): The heavens are ablaze with fireworks as Eorzea celebrates the Moonfire Faire! A host of events are planned for this year’s faire including various surprises and rewards. The Moonfire Faire gives players the opportunity to better acquaint themselves with the guild, and see what it truly means to be an adventurer.

Messages from Developers

From the date of the official one year anniversary on 27th August, a series of messages from members of the development team will launch, with updates scheduled daily.

Tales from the Calamity

15th August – 12th September: Over the course of five short stories, key characters will revisit events surrounding that fateful day, offering insight into the Calamity’s effect on the lives of many and more. First tale “Where Victory and Glory Lead” is available now on the anniversary website.

14-Hour Anniversary Broadcast

23rd August from 03:00 to 17:00 (GMT): Livestream including 17th Letter from the Producer LIVE, talk sessions with special guests, tips and tricks from the battle team, atma challenge, and much more!