Mythic may have launched the Guild Beta for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning recently, but with the news surrounding the final game losing four capital cities (Dark Elf, High Elf, Orc, and Dwarf) and four entire classes: Blackguard (Dark Elf), Choppa (Greenskin), Hammerer (Dwarf), and Knight of the Blazing Sun (Empire), things were sounded a bit grim for AoR a couple of days ago.

I am sure all content that was cut will be released in updates in the future. These were only cut from the initial gameplay disc for launch, I hope.  Then again, they could be cut for good. I have not heard anything else, and Jonathan and Shawn have yet to mention what they have heard at E3 – so if you were planning on picking this up, don’t freak out just yet.

Meanwhile, we received some new screens for it, and they look pretty damn good if you ask me. So just relax until we find out more about the what the future holds for Warhammer Online.

During a recent interview with MMORPG.com, Mark Jacobs, VP and General Manager of EA Mythic, dished about the highly anticipated Warhammer Online: AoR. In doing so, he announced that EA Mythic will be dropping the “EA” from its moniker and going back to just plain old Mythic Entertainment.

For those who do not know, or cannot remember, Mythic was originally the company’s name before being purchased by EA. While he emphasized that the change back to the original name had nothing to do with any changes within the company, he explained that it was due to EA’s recent attitude regarding its development studios. EA’s change of heart must have something to do with John Riccitiello because he seems to be much more open and approachable since coming back to EA in 2007 as CEO.

According to Jacobs:

“We’re still part of EA this is a name change and both Mythic Entertainment and EA are well represented in the game[s], on the box[s], etc. but the developer is going to be officially Mythic Entertainment. I’ve always been a believer of separate branding. I think that this is a wonderful example of how things at EA are changing. Both John [Riccitiello] and Frank [Gibeau] have spoken multiple times about city states, more freedom, that sort of thing, and I think this is an obvious example. ”

Great. Now I feel horrible for comparing EA to a bloodthirsty warlord.

For more on MMORPG’s interview with Jacobs, you can hit the link below. They are promising to post part two of the interview later where Jacobs announces three more interesting things concerning WH Online. If you are a fan of the franchise or are just looking forward to this new MMO from Mythic Entertainment, you won’t want to miss it.

Via: MMORPG.com

Thanks to a link provided by VG247, we now have a list of developers confirmed for E3 2008 along with what titles they will be showing off at the event. While the list is still updated regularly, as of this post, this is what you can expect should you be attending.

Akella
Postal III (PC, X360)

Bethesda Softworks
Fallout 3 (PC, PS3, X360)

Capcom
Bionic Commando (PC, PS3, X360)
Bionic Commando Rearmed (PC, PS3, X360)
Capcom Project #1 [untitled] (other)
Capcom Project #2 [untitled] (other)
Dark Void (PC, PS3, X360)
MotoGP 08 (other)
Neopets Puzzle Adventure (PC, Wii)
Plunder (PC, PS3, X360)
Resident Evil 5 (PS3, X360)
Spyborgs (Wii)
Street Fighter IV (PC, PS3, X360)
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (PS3, X360)

For the full list, hit the jump.

Read the full article

Turbine has announced that it’s raised $40 Million in equity financing. Time Warner Inc. and GGV Capital are the major investors shelling out big bucks to aid in Turbine’s aspirations to become an MMO Global Leader.

Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. is enthusiastic about putting this generous injection of funding to good use.

“Turbine has an extraordinary team, incredible technology and a growing portfolio of games based on some of the most popular brands ever created. With this funding we are uniquely positioned to change the future of online entertainment as we bring new titles to market, expand the platforms we support and introduce new technologies to sustain self-evolving game worlds.”

Turbine’s three big MMOs in the market are Asheron’s Call, Dungeons & Dragons Online and the most recent addition to the portfolio, Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. Both major investors are banking on Turbine’s further success to net them a nice return on their investment.

“The demand for massively multiplayer online worlds is exploding both geographically and in terms of platforms served,” said Hany Nada, managing partner, GGV Capital. “Turbine is a proven leader in massively interactive online entertainment and the incredible technology that supports it. We look forward to marrying our strengths both here and in Asia with Turbine’s unique capabilities.”

Turbine has a good track record for keeping its MMOs fresh with frequent updates and expansions. It will be interesting to see how its current offerings fair against the onslaught of the new mature rated MMOs Age of Conan and Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.

via Press Release

According to a recent GamesIndustry interview with Josh Drescher, EA Mythic’s senior designer, Warhammer Online has been built to contain five years of content.In the interview, which will be published in full next week, Dresher discussed the challenges the development team faced when creating Warhammer Online and also discussed the MMORPG’s longevity:

“All the under-the-hood numbers all actually scale through the next five years. What you don’t want is when you launch the game you’ve got 40 levels – and it takes however long it takes to get to level 40. You then launch an expansion and it now takes two weeks to get to level 40 because now we need everyone to spend six months to get from level 40 to 50. So you need to spec the game out in such a way that you actually have those progressions in mind for later – so you don’t wind up trampling all over the earlier experiences every time you expand the game. We have actually five years’ worth of numerology out in front of us in terms of all that.”

Sounds like loads of content can be expected when Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning launches sometime this Fall. No wonder it has taken so long.

Via: GamesIndustry.biz

A video featuring footage from the Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning closed beta was unleashed this morning. If you were interested in playing WAR before, you will be gagging for it after watching this – well, at least I felt that way.

Based upon Games Workshop’s tabletop fantasy war game, EA Mythic’s Warhammer Online: AoR will hit the PC sometime this Fall. For more information and tons of assets you can look back over our previous posts here.

EA Mythic has released a new series of assets from its upcoming MMORPG, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.

Included in the assets are screenshots of the noble High Elves and the Inevitable City, the dark and anarchic capital city for the forces of Chaos. A new zone overview, complete with new art, provides details about the Elven land of Caledor, home of the Dragon Princes. Newly revealed concept art shows off the wicked weapons of WAR, and introduces fans to the leaders of the forces of Destruction: the sinister Witch King Malekith of the Dark Elves, Grumlok and Gazbag of the Greenskins, and Tchar’zanek, dread Champion of Chaos.

For more information on Warhammer Online: AoR check out our previous posts.

MORE SCREENS

The first details on THQ’s Warhammer 40,000 MMO have come to light and according to the information made available, it is likely going to be more of an MMORPG instead of an MMOFPS with an “in-depth combat system orientated around cover, suppressive fire and flanking”.

Players will be able to form squads, and firefights will take place on an epic scale and all races important to WH40K lore will be represented. The ability to explore cities, alien temples, Chaos shrines, deserted battlefields, mysterious ruins, ancient structures, and ‘drifting hulks in space’ will be included in the content along with what creative director Joe Madureira calls: “Tons of stuff hanging off your character, weapons, and scrolls”.

This all sounds really cool, but what I am wondering is whether this will compete with Warhammer Online: AoR. Even though there will be a major difference between the two, I am wondering which of the two Warhammer MMOs will win out in the end. I guess we will have to wait and see, especially since this one is apparently years off.

Thanks: CVG

Mark Jacobs, the General Manager for EA Mythic recently stated in a blog post that the possibility of one million users for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning could be surpassed once the title is opened up to the Asia markets. The closed beta for the MMORPG has ongoing for over a year now, and the number of users has already surpassed 500,000.

Jacobs had this to say regarding the number of beta testers:

“Actually, I’d be surprised if we didn’t hit one million once we start taking beta apps for our Asian partners. Even without Asia, based on our current sign-up rate, we should blow through 750,000 and we have a decent shot at one million. Since we have already far surpassed my initial goal, I’m quite happy with what we have. And since I’m sure somebody will ask this, my goal, post EA, was to have 500K signed up in North America and Europe.”

Despite some delays, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is currently scheduled to be released in the Fall.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Jeff Hickman, the producer for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, has stated in a press conference that the MMO has has its release window changed from Q2 to Autumn. With repeated delays and EA staff members claiming that the game was not listed on their release schedule, EA also eventually confirmed this morning the Fall release window.

With the release schedule being changed, Warhammer Online may just end up being the beneficiary of great sales for the Holiday Season. Plus, it is always better to put your effort into releasing a quality game than a game that will make you look like a bunch of hacks. Personally, I do not care when it comes out as long as it eventually does and I get to play it. I have been working here for almost a year now, and this has been on my “must play” list from day one and I will definitely be pre-ordering it.

Thanks: Videogamin247