massive-entertainment posts

We were very happy to learn that Ubisoft wasn't going to abandoned World in Conflict: Soviet Assault when they bought the game's developer Massive Entertainment late last year. The PC expansion pack to the terrific RTS-action game is due out this March (along with a new collection of the original game and the expansion).

Ubisoft sent over some new screenshots from the expansion showing off some of the new content that players can expect to explode play with. As we have reported before, Soviet Assault will contain an all new single player campaign from the Soviet's point of view along with some cool new multiplayer maps and features..

After buying Massive Entertainment late last year,publisher Ubisoft was quiet about if the developer's long awaited RTS expansion pack World in Conflict: Soviet Assault would in fact be released. Today the publisher sent over word that the expansion is indeed still being released in March.

Adding an new Soviet single player campaign along with more multiplayer maps, Soviet Assault will be released as a paid download for previous owners of the game. Ubisoft also plans to release a new retail version (World in Conflict: Complete Edition), containing both the original game, Soviet Assault and other unnamed new features. Ubisot also sent over some new screenshots from the expansion.

[via email press release]

It's been several days since Valve has updated their hit zombie co-op shooter Left 4 Dead but the developer has now issued a new update for the title via their Steam service this evening. What are the more significant changes? Well, Versus mode is now locked on Normal difficulty and also finding a dedicated server is "faster and more reliable" when you start a game from a lobby.

Valve has also added a new game on Steam; World in Conflict, the acclaimed 2007 RTS title from Massive Entertainment. The addition comes courtesy of Massive's new owners, publisher Ubisoft. It's still unknown if Ubisoft will be publishing the long awaited expansion pack for the game, Soviet Assault.

Ubisoft is one of the most solid game publishers there is but they haven't had the best of luck in the MMO space. Their first attempt with the fantasy title Shadowbane didn't work out well (the game turned into a free-to-play MMO) and Ubisoft decided to pass on publishing The Matrix Online.

However it looks like Ubisoft is getting ready to re-enter the genre. That's part of the reason why the publisher bought Massive Entertainment earlier this week. Gamasutra reports that Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stated that the World in Conflict developer "...are going to help us to also get closer to the MMO space." Speaking at the BMO Capital Markets Interactive Entertainment Conference, Guillemot stated that Ubisoft will move into the "light-MMO" genre with things like free-to-play MMO titles. Ubisoft is also working on a MMO game based on Avatar, the upcoming and highly anticipated sci-fi film directed by James Cameron.

One of the developers and game franchises left twisting in the wind after the Activision Blizzard merger has finally found a new home. Ubisoft has announced that it has purchased the Sweden based Massive Entertainment and the full rights to their World in Conflict RTS series. Financial terms for the deal were not disclosed.

The original World in Conflict was one of the best RTS games of 2007 but when its publisher Vivendi Games merged with Activision the new management team didn't want to take on the franchise or the developer, despite the fact that Massive was already working on a follow-up, World in Conflict: Soviet Assault. Today's press release made no mention of World in Conflict: Soviet Assault's status. We will email Ubisoft to find out if the publisher still intends to release that game.

Two official maps for World in Conflict just released. Arizona is a "well-balanced Tug-of-War map" and Valley is a "visually stunning DX10 map."

Download the World in Conflict "Arizona" and "Valley" maps (135 MB)

This patch updates World in Conflict's map editor (WicEd) to version 1.2, which will bring a number of improvements including a resolution editor and the ability to import ground textures.

Download the World in Conflict Map Editor v1.2 Patch (41 MB)

Yesterday the word came down that World in Conflict: Soviet Assault, the next game in the RTS game series, would not be one that would be picked up by the new Activision Blizzard merger. Furthermore the game's developer, Massive Entertainment, might be sold off. Today on the Massgate.com web site, the developer's community manager posted up a small update on the site's message boards.

While admitting that "things are a bit up in the air" at the moment at Massive, the message added that " . . . that doesn't worry us too much. Most of us have been around for a long time in this business, and we've been through this sort of thing before. Usually, we come out stronger and in a better position, and that's exactly what we intend to do again. We are confident that we will soon be able to come back with some good, solid news about WIC and the "other stuff" we're working on." World in Conflict: Soviet Assault was previously scheduled for a fall 2008 release.

The objective of Gamasutra's regular Design Lesson 101 column, written by game designer Manveer Heir, is simple: play a game from beginning to end, and learn something about game design from the experience. This time around, the game in the spotlight is Massive Entertainment's World of Conflict.

Heir observed that most RTS games implement the same tried-and-true formula: "collect resources, build a base, pump out units, research upgrades, demolish enemy, win." Units are built, units are killed, new units are built, new units are killed, and so on ad nauseum. With WiC, however, Heir pointed out that resources are returned to the player after a unit dies -- but not immediately. "Instead, the resources trickle back in over time," Heir wrote. "Your resources aren't constrained by how well or poor you are doing in the game."

Such an initially peculiar design decision actually helps to avoid players easily achieve victory after gaining the upper hand in battle. "The death of one unit can be replaced, but not immediately," wrote Heir. "You may have to wait a couple minutes in order to be able to afford replacing that unit."

Of course, a consequence must exist for the player losing a unit. If they could simply be replaced, there would be no penalty for a platoon of units being slaughtered. The consequence, noted Heir, "is the time it takes to get a replacement. Having less units affects the player's ability to hold control points. Holding control points affects the drop-position of new units. If the player is forced to drop units further back from the front line of battle, it's more difficult to reinforce, take new control points, and make positive progress in the game."