aliens-vs-predator posts

Yesterday, we posted up our report on a PAX East panel that debated the future of the PC as a gaming platform. There was a lot of gloom and doom in that room about declining interest in the PC gaming industry. However a new story at MCV quotes a Sega UK executive saying that things are not so bad, at least on their end, for PC gaming.

Sega's UK MD John Clark states that the publisher was actually the second biggest UK publisher of PC games in 2009 with 12 percent of the market, thanks in part to sales of games like Empire: Total War (pictured above) and that they continue to be the second biggest PC publisher in 2010 with the release of games like Aliens Vs Predator and Napoleon Total War. Part of the reason for Sega's success is their sales of PC games via digital download. Clark states, "The PC market overall is actually performing much better than is currently reported and remains a vital and strong sector to be involved in."

[Via VG247.com]

Rebellion's release of Aliens Vs Predator last month was certainly a lot better received by critics than their Rogue Warrior game last December. Now the developer has issued another large patch , via Steam, for their most recent first person shooter. While there's no new maps in this update it does have quite a few small features and bug fixes.

Some of the new features include no more need to have the Steam client software to run the game's dedicated server files. There's also a couple of DirectX 11 bugs that have been fixed along with a laundry list of other bug fixes. The full list can be read at the Steam web site.

As promised earlier this month, the Steam service now has the first downloadable content expansion for the recently first person shooter Aliens Vs Predator. The Swarm map pack for the Rebellion developed game can be purchased and downloaded via Steam for $7.99

The four maps in the Swarm map pack were included in the special edition console versions of the game but the PC port didn't get a special edition so these maps are entirely new for our platform. Two of the maps, Docks and Outpost, are for the Deathmatch, Predator Hunt, Infestation, Species Deathmatch, Mixed Species Deathmatch and Domination gameplay modes. The other two maps, Machine and Hive, are specifically for the game's four player co-op Survivor mode.

From all accounts, sales of the new Aliens Vs Predator game from developer Rebellion and publisher Sega have been quite solid. Now the first person shooter based on the movie monsters is getting its first downloadable map pack on March 18, according to Sega's European web site.

The four maps in the Swarm map pack were included in the special edition versions of the game. The PC port didn't get a special edition so these maps are entirely new for our platform. Two of the maps, Docks and Machine, are for the Deathmatch, Predator Hunt, Infestation, Species Deathmatch, Mixed Species Deathmatch and Domination gameplay modes. The other two maps, Outpost and Hive, are specifically for the game's four player co-op Survivor mode. The map pack isn't free; it should be priced around $6 when it's released.

It's been about two weeks since the release of Aliens Vs Predator for the PC and now a new update via Steam has finally put in support for the long promised dedicated servers. Developer Rebellion had promised that dedicated servers would be available for the PC version of the first person shooter but as it turned out the game was released without such support out of the box.

The dedicated servers can be downloaded on Steam via the "Tools" tab in the client. If you already own the game it will just add the exec file to the game's folder. However you can also download the 15 GB full version if you don't own the game.

With last month's successful launch (sales wise) of Aliens Vs Predator, will we be seeing more of that long delayed Aliens: Colonial Marines? It seems the answer to that question may be, "Yes." MCV chatted with Randy Pitchford of the game's developer Gearbox Software who said, "It's the thing I've been stealing from all my career. Now I'm really working on it, but we've been quiet about that so far."

It's hard to believe but Gearbox's involvement in an Aliens-based first person shooter was first revealed over three years ago. Publisher Sega seemed to want the game to come out last year but unexpectedly the company changed their minds and decided an Aliens Vs Predator game with developer Rebellion was worth doing instead. Since then Gearbox's FPS Borderlands has become a big hit so hopefully this means more dev time will be devoted to the new Aliens game.

Last week the battle between humans and two movie monsters took the top sales spot (based on revenue) on Steam's top 10 PC game best seller list. This week's list, however, shows that the about-to-be-released PC version of Battlefield Bad Company 2 has regained the top slot just before it ships on Tuesday

Last week's number one, Aliens Vs Predator, went all the back to the number five slot. Number two went to Supreme Commander 2, which is also being released Tuesday. The full list is below:

1. Battlefield Bad Company 2 - Digital Illusions/EA
2. Supreme Commander 2 - Gas Powered Games/ Square Enix
3. Modern Warfare 2 - Infinity Ward/Activision
4. Napoleon Total War Imperial Edition - The Creative Assembly/Sega
5. Aliens Vs Predator - Rebellion/Sega
6. Napoleon Total War - The Creative Assembly/Sega
7. Assassin's Creed 2 - Ubisoft
8. Spellforce 2 Gold Edition - JoWood
9. Warhammer 40,0000 Dawn of War II Chaos Rising - Relic/THQ
10. BioShock 2 - 2K Marin/2K Games

This patch for the ATI Catalyst drivers addresses an issue with Aliens vs Predator where the game would hang or freeze when switching to DirectX 11 graphics from within the game using the ATI Radon HD 4700 and 4800 series video cards. It also resolves an issue when mouse cursor becomes enlarged at random while using Windows 7.

Download ATI Catalyst 10.2 Hotfix Patch (112 MB)

It's looking like preliminary sales of Aliens Vs Predator have been pretty solid. As we reported earlier today the first person shooter from developer Rebellion was the best sellling PC title on Steam last week. The game also topped the sales lists in the UK last week. Reviews of the game have been a little mixed but most are favorable.

Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley told the Develop web site that the studio is happy with the sales success although he did admit, "We've had three totally s*** reviews by some Americans, which is a bit odd. Some of them were inexcusably bad. If you discount those poor reviews AvP is averaging high for us." And it looks like things are looking good for some kind of follow up with Kingsley saying, "We're also in discussions with (publisher) Sega about ongoing support for AvP, and also about a sequel to the game."

Of course, Sega already has one announced Aliens game in the works; Gearbox Software's long delayed shooter Aliens: Colonial Marines. Hopefully the high sales of Aliens Vs Predator will also get Gearbox's project back in high gear.

Rebellion's revival of the Aliens Vs Predator shooter franchise was popular enough on Steam this past week to push the game to the top of the past week's top 10 best selling PC games on Steam (via revenue). Last week's number one game, Battlefield Bad Company 2, found itself in the number 2 slot this week while Modern Warfare 2 keeps selling lots of copies at the number three position.

The entire top 10 list is as follows:

1. Aliens Vs Predator - Rebellion/Sega
2. Battlefield Bad Company 2 - Digital Illusions/EA
3. Modern Warfare 2 - Infinity Ward/Activision
4. THQ Complete Pack - THQ
5. BioShock 2 - 2K Marin/2K Games
6. Warhammer 40,0000 Dawn of War II Chaos Rising - Relic/THQ
7. Mass Effect 2 - BioWare/EA
8. Let 4 Dead 2 - Valve
9. Global Agenda - Hi-Rez Studios
10. Counter-Strike Source - Valve