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Perfect World Entertainment Adds Console Division

PerfectWorldEntertainmentLogo 19 Dec

Perfect World Entertainment has announced today that it has added a new division with a focus on making console games.

The new division will work on bringing its existing and upcoming titles to the last generation and new generation consoles. “Perfect World Entertainment has long been the leader in free-to-play PC titles,” Perfect World Entertainment CEO Alan Chen said, in part. “Bringing our titles to consoles is a natural progression for us, and we can’t wait to set a new standard for console MMORPGs and other genres.”

“The opportunity to work on new types of projects with developers from all over the world is really exciting for us as a company,” GM of publishing Andrew Brown added. “We are confident in our outlook entering into this new business, and you can expect Perfect World to be a major player in the console marketplace.”

(via Polygon)

‘Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning’ Shut Down

WarhammerOnlineAgeOfReckoning 19 Dec

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning was officially taken offline last night, due to the license agreement between Mythic Entertainment and Games Workshop ended.

“I’m not going to waste time picking at old wounds or attempting to offer a post-mortem commentary on ‘what happened,'” former producer Josh Drescher wrote on his personal blog, in part. “We were proud of and confident in the game we launched. We knew it had enormous potential. We knew it had been well-built and crafted with care and affection by hundreds of developers. We knew that those developers spent YEARS of their lives, giving it their all to make sure that WAR would be everywhere and enjoyed across the globe.”

Mythic Entertainment announced in September that Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning would be shut down in December. Account creation and subscription fees were also suspended until the game was shut down.

“I don’t want to gloss over the real human cost of the project’s failure to become a blockbuster, because that’s a very real part of the story as well,” Drescher added. “I hope that everyone who worked on WAR is aware that – for all of the bumps and bruises we endured after it launched – the work they did is held in high regard across our industry.”

(via GI International)

EA Being Sued Over ‘Battlefield 4’ Bugs

Bf4Wall 19 Dec

San Diego-based law firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP is pursuing a class-action lawsuit against Electronic Arts for allegedly making several misleading statements to investors during Battlefield 4‘s development.

The suit is filed on behalf of all who purchased EA common stock between July 24th and December 4th. The firm claims that during that period EA officers and directors issued “materially false and misleading statements” about Battlefield 4. This resulted in EA’s share value reaching a high for that period, allowing EA senior executives to sell their shares at the higher price. EA announced on December 4th that DICE had put all its future projects and Battlefield 4 expansions on hold until the game was fixed. That statement resulted in EA’s shares dropping.

An EA representative told GamesIndustry International: “We believe these claims are meritless. We intend to aggressively defend ourselves, and we’re confident the court will dismiss the complaint in due course.”

Georgia-based law firm Holzer Holzer & Fistel LLC began a similar case last week, alleging misleading statements were issued to investors and analysts.

(via CVG)

‘DayZ’ Sells 172K Copies In First 24 Hours

DayZAlpha 19 Dec

Bohemia Interactive CEO Maruk Spanel announced yesterday on Twitter that DayZ had sold 88,000 copies in its first 12 hours of going on sale. He later confirmed on his personal blog that the game had sold 172,500 copies during its first 24 hours on sale.

Bohemia is selling the open-world survival game through its own store, as well as an early access game through Steam. At the price of €21.81 through Bohemia and $29.99 on Steam, the game has generated over $5.17 million on its launch day.

Bohemia also warns users that DayZ is currently in an early alpha build, and it is a work in progress. “It is a work in progress and therefore contains a variety of bugs,” Bohemia states on the Early Access page, in part. “We strongly advise you not to buy and play the game at this stage unless you clearly understand what Early Access means and are interested in participating in the ongoing development cycle.”

(via Polygon)