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Indie game developers are having a tough time right now, with the postponement of GDC and other big events that, in a normal year, can provide a big boost to a game’s marketing. It’s even more challenging when you find out that your intended release date is close to that of big-name AAA games in the same genre, as Rockfish Games has.

An update on Everspace 2‘s Kickstarter has outlined the game’s bad luck around timing, and given a little insight into how uncertainty around coronavirus has impacted their small studio. “It sounds like right out of a sci-fi horror movie: An aggressive virus is spreading around the globe, causing great uncertainties, severe supply chain issues and cancellations of big international events pretty much everywhere,” the studio said in the Kickstarter update.

“Unsurprisingly, all our GDC meetings with major platform holders and potential console co-publishing partners have been canceled, too. We are now setting up conference calls or meetings at upcoming events. Right now, we are prepared for everything and are hoping for the best. In short: We have to deal with a lot of uncertainties regarding business development, external game production as well as marketing and PR.“

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Former PlayStation executive Adam Boyes sounds as if he is happy for the “console wars” period of his life to be over. Boyes, who was vice president for third-party relations at PlayStation from 2012-2016, told USgamer that he loved what he did, who he worked with, and what he achieved during his run at Sony. But there was also a lot of stress.

“Sometimes I feel like I have an opinion, but it doesn’t matter because I did that,” Boyes said about the forthcoming launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X later this year, and all the pressure that comes with being an executive at a company launching a new system. “I put in my all. I loved it. Built an incredible team, had an incredible experience. […] So you think that I would have a FOMO that I’m not part of it, but it really isn’t. There was so much stress and I think the whole console battle concept, it takes you over. It’s like, that’s all you think about.”

Boyes was an executive at PlayStation for the launch of the PlayStation 4 in 2013. The “console battle concept,” as he calls it, is surely in reference to how PlayStation and Xbox are historically known to push very hard against each other as they try to position their own console as the one to buy. Boyes has a history in that kind of upfront strategy.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Activision and Infinity Ward are reportedly launching a free-to-play, standalone Call of Duty: Modern Warfare battle royale game called Warzone.

The report comes from YouTuber Chaos, who recently posted a gameplay impressions video that has now been removed. The video explains in detail that Warzone is free-to-play and does not require players to own Modern Warfare. It’s multiplatform and cross-play, too.

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Warzone is reportedly a 150 player battle royale with support for solo, duo, and three-person teams. There are two modes: one which seems a fairly traditional fight-to-the-last-player-standing, and another called ‘Plunder’, which the video does not detail beyond it being a respawn-based mode focusing on collecting cash.

Cash is apparently part of the traditional mode, too; it can be looted across the map and is used at buy stations to purchase killstreaks, as well as revive tokens to get killed team members back in the fight. It looks like building a good stockpile of cash may be important for long-term survival.

Purchasing revives is not the only way to bring back dead squaddies; when you die you reportedly are taken to the gulag, where you must compete in a 1v1 match that is essentially Modern Warfare’s Gunfight mode (the map used in the video is even Gunfight’s Gulag map). Winning this 1v1 will throw you back into the match. Apparently this feature won’t be available in the later minutes of a match.

Warzone’s map is apparently large and completely custom made – meaning no reused building assets – and, like Black Ops 4’s battle royale mode Blackout, will feature classic maps. This time they will be from Infinity Ward’s back catalogue, such as Broadcast, Overgrown, Scrapyard, and Terminal.

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Currently there is no official word from Activision or Infinity Ward regarding Warzone, but Chaos notes in his video that he attended a pre-release preview event in order to capture his gameplay footage. It’s currently unclear if Warzone is due for imminent launch or is still some months away.

For more Call of Duty, check out the leaked Warzone map, which looks identical to that seen in Chaos’ video. There was also a report that Warzone will feature a ping system and vehicles, two features this latest leak also supports.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter.