Runescape posts

Transformers fans will be able to play an all new online game based on the "cars into robots" property. Today Hasbro announced that the Transformers franchise would be adapted into a new online game created by Jagex, the makers of the hugely popular fantasy browser-based MMO Runescape.

Details are scarce but the game is slated to launch sometime in 2012 for North America, Latin America, Europe, New Zealand and Australia. In the press release Jagex' CEO Mark Gerhard states that the developer "will utilize every bit of our development and publishing expertise to deliver a dynamic and action-packed game." Last August it was announced that NetDragon would create a Transformers-based MMO for Asian markets.

The development team behind the hugely successful browser based MMO Runescape have announced plans for its second major MMO game project. UK-based Jagex has officially announced Stellar Dawn, a sci-fi themed game that will launch sometime in 2011.

The game's official web site has launched with some concept artwork from the game (one of which you can see above). Little info on Stellar Dawn has been revealed other than, like Runescape, it will be a browser-based MMO playable on most PC amd Macs. Much of the game will also be free to play. The web site is currently taking applications for a closed beta test of the game but there's no word on when the test will begin.

Most of the time, developers of massively multiplayer games keep their subscription numbers a closely guarded secret. However the trade organization the NPD Group this week released a new look at the number of US MMO players and what games they are playing.

The survey, which was based on responses from 19,000 gamers in January 2010, still shows Blizzard's World of Warcraft as the king of the MMO space with 30 percent of the respondents saying they are playing the game. Jagex's free-to-play MMO Runescape is at the number two spot with 10 percent. However the number three spot went to Turbine's Dungeons and Dragons Online with 8 percent. It's a huge jump compared to past surveys and is most likely due to Turbine's decision to switch the game from a subscription only business model to free-to-play. Our sister site Massively has even more info on the NPD Group MMO survey.

Blizzard has BlizzCon, id Software has QuakeCon, Sony Online has Fan Faire, NCsoft has HeroCon and CCP has EVE Fanfest. All of these "official" fan events for various games are about to be joined be a new one. Developer Jagex has just announced they will hold the first annual RuneFest in 2010, celebrating their hugely popular browser-based fantasy MMO RuneScape.

Details on the first RuneFest are still scarce but it will be held somewhere in London. UK on August 28. Tickets have yet to go on sale but you can go to the official RuneFest web site and registered to be informed when they will be available. Jagex promises that the event will have " a range of events and activities" including events where the developers can meet with the game's fans.

[Via Blue's News]

After a semi-stealth introduction several months ago, Electronic Arts has officially launched their browser-based free-to-play MMO Lord of Ultima. The game, set in the universe of the many Ultima RPGs, is the first all new game that has used the setting since the launch of the long running subscription MMO Ultima Online over 10 years ago.

Developed by EA's Phenomic studio who previous made 2009's online RTS game Battleforge, this new game is clearly an attempt by EA to try to get some of the audience that has made a number of other browser-based MMO successful, most notably Jagex's Runescape. The game itself lets player grow their fantasy kingdom, either through peaceful diplomatic means or by military force.

The browser-based fantasy MMO Runescape continues to get millions of people playing it so it stands to reason that there might be some underhanded folks out there who might want to take control of other people's accounts for that game. Over the holiday weekend, the game's developer/publisher Jagex announced that a person who allegedly tried to do just that was arrested in the UK.

In its press release, Jagex said that an unnamed 23 year old was arrested on November 24 in the UK city of Avon & Somerset by the local Police Central e-crime Unit. Jagex worked with the police to find evidence that the person allegedly had hacked into "a number of RuneScape gaming accounts". Jagex said that more investigations of this type are underway in the US with the assistance of the FBI.

UK-based Jagex, creators of the popular broswer-based fantasy MMO RuneScape, has decided to cancel their plans for MechScape, their next major browser-based MMO. According to Gamesindustry.biz the decision came in a late stage of the game's development with the company's CEO Mark Gerhard saying it will cost Jagex " . . . tens of millions of pounds. Maybe more." He admitted that the continued success of RuneScape helped make their move to cancel MechScape easier.

However the final product was not turning out as Jagex had hoped with Gerhard stating, "The previous game wasn't a game that we want to play." They are now working on a new secret game project that will use the game engine that was being developed for MechScape. It's current release date is sometime in 2010.

It's currently one of the most popular online PC MMO games but it doesn't get as much media attention as World of Warcraft. It's RuneScape, the browser based title from developer/publisher Jagex that has five million active players. In 2008 a graphically improved version of the game, RuneScape HD, was launched and Jagex states in a new press release today that the majority of RuneScape players have moved onto the updated version.

Today during GDC, Jagex has announced plans to launch an all new MMO title for release sometime later this year. The code name of the game is MechScape but other than that no other details of the game have been announced. Jagex claims the new title "will appeal to both existing RuneScape players and an entirely new audience of online gamers."

2009 is now firmly underway but some companies are still looking back to the past 12 months. One of those companies is Nielsen who is best known for their TV ratings system. Today the company announced their 2008 top 10 lists covering entertainment and ads in a variety of catagories. One of them was for the top 10 PC games that were most played in the US (the ratings were actually for activity for January-October 2008).

It's not a shock to learn that Blizzard's hit MMO World of Warcraft was the number one PC game that was most played according to Nielsen. The study claims that the game is played an average of 671 minutes a week, or just over 11 hours, per gamer. Nielsen also claims that every minute about .723 percent of all PC gamers are playing World of Warcraft, a massive number that blows away every other game on the top 10 list. A number of older games are on the list including the PC version of Halo and web browser based MMO RuneScape:

1. World of Warcraft
2. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
3. Halo: Combat Evolved
4. The Sims
5. The Sims 2
6. RuneScape
7. Diablo II
8. Team Fortress 2
9. Counter-Strike
10. Counter-Strike: Source