Orbit: Satellite Defense Hits Early Access

Bluish Green Productions, the team behind Robos World will be releasing their next game Orbit: Satellite Defense in Early Access tomorrow on Steam. The RTS game has you protecting the planet from alien invaders and is "roughly 80% complete" right now with a scheduled full release date in April 2018. You can check out the Steam page right here.

Get Orbit: Satellite Defense on itch.io: https://bluishgreenpro.itch.io/orbit-satellite-defense Website: http://www.bluishgreenproductions.com/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/BluishGreenPro FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bluish-Green-Productions/131158930266314

If you're interested in seeing what is avaliable in the Early Access, the below vidoe should help. 

What is, and isn't yet in Orbit: Satellite Defense v0.4 and an extended look at the gameplay. Get Orbit: Satellite Defense on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/486320/Orbit_Satellite_Defense/ Website: http://www.bluishgreenproductions.com/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/BluishGreenPro FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bluish-Green-Productions/131158930266314

Guest Post - How our first game project accidentally reached 3 million players

The following guest post is copied from Medium with the author's permission. Danny Forest is the creator of Soul Reaper from Power Level Studios and wrote about his experience with his game reaching 3 million players in an unconventional way. Make sure to follow his studio on Twitter.

How our first game project accidentally reached 3 million players

During a recent interview with Gaming Reinvented (https://gamingreinvented.com/), I opened up on the “success” of our “first” title: Rogue Sharks Arcade, which has been played by over 3 millions players around the world.

I thought this may be an interesting story for other developers, so I’m sharing it here.

Here’s the question and the answer as a preview:

Rogue Sharks Arcade seemed to be your first game, and it was pretty damn successful. Did you imagine it’d have 3 million+ players?

Rogue Sharks Trailer

Haha, this one’s a good story I think. Rogue Sharks Arcade was some kind of “accident”, both the game itself and its “success”.

I started working on Soul Reaper back in September 2013 and came to the realization that the game was way too ambitious for a first game. I would need money to hire artists and more, but didn’t have the money. So I thought making a simple mobile game, similar to the classic gravity-based helicopter web game, would be my way out. For some reason, Sharks was the first theme that came to mind. I thought Rogue Sharks would take one month to build. I had limited Unity experience back then, but that’s not why it took much longer. It took about a year to build. The game just wasn’t fun enough by my standards, so I re-did it a few times with different mechanics. I released Rogue Sharks Arcade two months in, since the game had enough content to be a full-game loop.

Classic gravity-based helicopter game.

I released it on the web on Kongregate and was hoping to get feedback so I could improve it for mobile after. Money was not the target here. About 200 people played it on Kongregate and had a score of 3/5, confirming my assumptions: it’s not a very good game.

But here’s the interesting part: how did I get from 200 players to 3M+? The short answer: it was stolen and put on MANY other websites around the world. You see, I was too dumb to protect it, and I didn’t even put my company logo or the game title in the game, so people just rebranded it and claimed it as their own. It got featured on lots of Chinese, Turkish and Russian websites. There was no English text in the whole game. Everything was icon-based, so it was accessible in any language

BUT, because of that incident, I got exactly what I wanted: feedback. With 200 players, I got close to no feedback, with 3M+, there were plenty of players to give feedback. I had to track websites down and translate feedback back to English, but still, there was lots of feedback. But that’s not all, I was tracking everything in the game using Game Analytics. I knew exactly how people were playing, so I knew how to improve the game for mobile.

But then at that point I was travelling around the world with my wife for about a year, so I didn’t have much time to make the mobile version. But I did it anyway. I stopped Chiang Mai, Thailand, to work on it for one full month and finished it. So Rogue Sharks for mobile exists, and is a much better game than Rogue Sharks Arcade on the web. I never released it though, because it’s still bad in my opinion. We were in 2016 then and there’s millions of games in the App Stores. A lot of them are great and have a much bigger budget than we had at the time. Unless I found a good partner to release the game, I figured there was no point releasing a game no one would discover and play. Plus, we’re Power Level Studios, we want to make great RPGs, not game genres we know nothing about.

So yeah, the game was “successful” for what we tried to achieve, but definitely no commercial success. And yeah 3M+ was definitely not expected!

Conclusion

Getting your game stolen is not necessarily all bad. We got the feedback we needed to make a better version of the game for mobile, which would not have been possible otherwise.

Is it a valid marketing strategy? Well maybe. If you’re a little smarter than I was and add ways to track actual players’ contact info, it may be one of the best ways to get discovered.

For Honor Season 5 Coming February 15th

Coming close to the anniversary of the games release, For Honor will have its 5th season - titled Age of Wolves - on February 15th on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. You can check out the trailer below:

Season 5 begins on February 15th. Introducing the new season of For Honor: Age of the Wolves, bringing a major change with the implementation of the dedicated servers. It will also feature new training modes, changes in hero balancing, player progression and other gameplay updates.

For Honor will also implement dedicated servers - which was a big deal to some gamers when the game released a year ago:

Age of Wolves will also herald the implementation of a dedicated server infrastructure. By changing the way you connect to For Honor matches, the development team is doing away with resyncing, session migrations, and NAT requirements in order to deliver stable connectivity on all platforms.

You can check out all the details on the Ubisoft Blog.

Throwback Thursday - The Castle Game

Building off of last week - we have round two of Throwback Thursday, and this time the first video/Let's Play which you can check out here (and below).

The Castle Game is a RTS-lite fantasy game from Neptune Interactive. Originally planned to also release on Wii U, and Steam, it only graced the PlayStation 4 but was one of my favourite games from 2015. I really enjoyed the colours, the sounds, and the kind of laid back approach it took to the genre. It's not hardcore, and the concepts are simple - which was perfect for someone who was never much of an RTS fan.

The first video for Throw Back Thursday is here! Every Thursday we're going to do a video on a game that may of fallen off gamers minds. If you have a suggestion, let me know on Twitter! Remember to like and subscribe! Website: http://www.torontogamedevs.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/torontogamedevs Patreon: https://patreon.com/torontogamedevs Store: https://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/TorontoGameDevs/?irgwc=1&clickid=wjMwxixy2xsWUA6Ryy2xySgQUkmVIQ2twXp01A0&utm_campaign=301861&utm_medium=1190579&iradtype=ONLINE_TRACKING_LINK&utm_source=ImpactRadius

The Castle Game posted a respectable 68 on Metacritic, and was helped by our good friends at Clapfoot Studios, the makers of Fortified, and Foxhole. You can get it on PlayStation 4 right here (and btw it's a fairly easy platinum). Until next time!

One More Story Announces Voice Actress For Shakespeare's Landlord

One More Story Games announced the voice of Lily Bard in their upcoming game Shakespeare's Landlord will be Julia Gibson, who does the voice for the Shakespeare series audio books.

Shakespeare's Landlord is the latest story game, based on the Charlaine Harris series of the same name, and came in third in our Most Anticipated category as voted by the fans - so make sure to keep an eye on their Twitter to see all the updates!

Super excited to announce that the voice of Lily Bard from @RealCharlaine's Shakespeare series audio books will be the voice of Lily Bard in @1MoreStoryGames' upcoming game adaptation! Welcome! pic.twitter.com/xv7ICQp6DE

— One More Story Games (@1MoreStoryGames) January 22, 2018

Fossil Hunters PC Release Date Announced

Reptoid Games have announced the release date for Fossil Hunters, at least for the Steam version. On February 13th you'll be able to download the adventure game that won Ubisoft's Indie Series on Windows and Mac.

Super excited to announce #FossilHunters will be releasing February 13th on PC and Mac! Wishlist us on Steam: https://t.co/zfJATFUgVc pic.twitter.com/Ts7AO0WvFh

— Reptoid Games (@ReptoidGames) January 23, 2018

We'll have to wait a bit longer for the console version of the game, so make sure to add it to your wishlist in the meantime!

OK K.O! Let's Play Heroes Out Now On PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC

OK K.O! Let's Play Heroes, the Capybara developed brawler in partnership with the Cartoon Network Show is out now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam. You can check out the trailer for the game below:

Killer punches. Jump attacks. And epic robo-butt-kicking moves. Don't just cheer for the heroes, BECOME a hero ✊🎮💥 OK K.O.! Let's Play Heroes arrives January 23rd on Xbox One, PS4 and Steam. SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/109Y6wq WATCH MORE: http://bit.ly/1RBYuNi About Cartoon Network: Welcome to the Cartoon Network YouTube Channel, the destination for all of your favorite cartoons and videos.

Next up...Below?

FutureGrind Gets A New Teaser Trailer

It's a been a while since we've seen FutureGrind, but one of the games developers Owen Goss recently tweeted the new teaser trailer which you can check out below. FutureGrind is a futuristic stunt racer that is set to release on PlayStation 4 and PC this year.

Grab your bike and hit the rails in FutureGrind, a stylish stunt-racer all about tricks, skill, and speed. Use your futuristic motorcycle to do crazy combos on tracks made of floating rails, but be careful: If you touch the wrong rail you'll explode! FutureGrind is coming to Steam and PS4.

Consider Supporting TorontoGameDevs.com On Patreon

If you aren't aware, TorontoGameDevs is on Patreon. It's a great platform to help support creators - there are a lot of independent businesses on there and I recommend checking it out. Every bit helps - if you can't spare the coin, it's always appreciated if you share it with your friends.

Far Cry 5 x Mondo Edition Up For Preorder

Far Cry 5 x Mondo Edition is now up for preorder, and is limited to only 4000 units worldwide - you can preorder the game right here on Ubisoft and check down below for details on what's included. Far Cry 5 will be out on PlayStation 4, and Xbox One March 27th.

The Mondo Edition include:

• The Far Cry® 5 Standard Game
• A unique, exclusive and limited Steelbook® designed by Jay Shaw, Creative Director of Mondo
• A stunning vinyl inspired by Jay’s work
• A code to download the digital version of the vinyl tracks : twelve songs that reflect perfectly the atmosphere of the game
• Unique packaging

FAR CRY® 5 x MONDO LIMITED EDITION NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER ON THE UBISOFT STORE

MONTREAL – January 16, 2018 – Today, Ubisoft announced the Far Cry 5 x Mondo Edition, featuring a set of artwork inspired by the Project at Eden’s Gate, is now available for pre-order exclusively on the Ubisoft Store for PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices, and Windows PC.

Ubisoft has teamed up with Mondo, a collective of artists famous for their unique graphic take on movie poster art, to create an exclusive collection, which includes the following itemsart piece that highlights the deviously captivating power that Joseph Seed and the Project at Eden’s Gate hold. The Far Cry 5 x Mondo Edition also includes:

• Far Cry® 5 Standard Game inserted in the game’s SteelBook®
• A unique, exclusive and limited SteelBook® X Mondo designed by Jay Shaw, Creative Director of Mondo
• A vinyl record, featuring Far Cry 5 original soundtrack
• A code to download the digital version of the vinyl tracks
• A unique box featuring Mondo drawing of FC5 villain

For Mondo, this capsule collection with Ubisoft was an exciting challenge. “Over the years, we have done pretty much everything related with film collectibles and this collaboration represents the next step: with gaming you’re lot more open, to interpret. It’s a bigger story,” said Jay Shaw, Creative Director of Mondo. “We are very happy to collaborate with an extraordinarily creative company like Ubisoft!”

The Far Cry 5 Mondo edition is limited to 4000 units worldwide and is already available for pre-order on all platforms for $129.99 exclusively on the Ubisoft Storehttps://store.ubi.com/ca/far-cry-5-x-mondo-edition/5a4bab4dca1a644b199566f1.html

Players, who will pre-order the Far Cry 5 by Mondo capsule edition, will receive the unique Doomsday Prepper Pack and the Chaos Pack, which include a set of cosmetic and consumable items to be used as players lead the resistance against The Project at Eden’s Gate..

Far Cry 5 will be available March 27, 2018 on PlayStation® 4 Pro, PlayStation®4, the Xbox One, Xbox One X, Xbox One S, and Windows PC. Set in America, a first for the franchise, Far Cry 5 offers players total freedom to navigate a serene-looking yet deeply twisted world as the new junior deputy of fictional Hope County, Montana. Players will find that their arrival accelerates a years-long silent coup by a fanatical doomsday cult, the Project at Eden's Gate, igniting a violent takeover of the county. Under siege and cut off from the rest of the world, players will join forces with residents of Hope County and form the Resistance.

For more information about Far Cry 5, please visit farcry.com and follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/farcry and on Twitter at twitter.com/farcrygame or hashtag #FarCry5.

For the latest on Far Cry 5 and other Ubisoft games, please visit news.ubisoft.com.

About Mondo

Mondo is an expanding enterprise with a passionate love of film, art, music and pop culture, best known for creating limited-edition posters, vinyl soundtracks, premium collectibles and games. Based in Austin, Texas, USA, the team collaborates with an international network of talented artists and creators to produce the highest quality products inspired by licensed properties and original IPs. Over the last decade, Mondo has partnered with leading entertainment brands including DC Comics, HBO, Marvel, Paramount Pictures, Sony, Universal Studios, Walt Disney Studios and Warner Brothers, along with dozens of independent studios and filmmakers from around the world. Find out more at mondotees.com.

About Scanavo

Scanavo is a world leader in premium packaging solutions and proud owner of the SteelBook® brand.

Since 1991, Scanavo’s worldwide group has created and manufactured customized packaging and marketing solutions for the global home entertainment industry, including games, video and music. Find out more at scanavo.com & steelbook.com.

About Ubisoft

Ubisoft is a leading creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and services, with a rich portfolio of world-renowned brands, including Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance, Tom Clancy’s video game series, Rayman, Far Cry and Watch Dogs. The teams throughout Ubisoft’s worldwide network of studios and business offices are committed to delivering original and memorable gaming experiences across all popular platforms, including consoles, mobile phones, tablets and PCs. For the 2016–17 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of €1,460 million. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoft.com.

© 2018 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Far Cry, Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are registered or unregistered trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the US and/or other countries. Based on Crytek’s original Far Cry directed by Cevat Yerli.

Game Slice 2018

Last years Game Slice is back - offering developers to show off their unfinished games, and gamers to play and give feedback. It's in London Ontario on May 25th - but check out the FaceBook group for all the details. If you're interested in showcasing your game, you can apply right here.

WORLD'S ONLY INDUSTRY NIGHT FOR PLAYTESTING UNRELEASED GAMES RETURNS FOR THIRD YEAR
Fanshawe College hosts Mikutech's Game Slice downtown on May 25th, 2018

LONDON, ON - January 16th, 2018 --- Mikutech, a London-based software development company specializing in game development, confirmed the return of its third annual Game Slice, an event that will take place at Fanshawe College’s Centre for Digital And Performance Arts (CDPA) in downtown London, Ontario on Friday, May 25th, 2018.

Game Slice is a first of its kind event, that gathers local game industry professionals to provide a sneak preview and gather feedback for unreleased games made in Southwestern Ontario. It's an event made exclusively for game developers, by game developers. it aims to provide constructive feedback for game makers on vertical slices, alphas, betas and release candidates, in a collaborative, exciting and fun atmosphere.

Last year, over 120 professionals from more than 30 game development companies showcased 25 unreleased games. The event was made possible by the support of Big Blue Bubble, Fanshawe College, Robertson Hall, and the Montreal International Gaming Summit, among others.

Mark Mikulec, Mikutech’s founder and chief technical consultant, said “I'm excited to bring Game Slice to a beautiful facility like Fanshawe's CDPA. Game Slice was created two years ago after hearing people’s surprised comments that London actually had a game development community. As we grow into this new, larger space, I look forward to continuing to raise awareness of our industry alongside one of the province’s best game development schools."

The 2018 edition of Game Slice will feature an improved itinerary, more time for playtesting and feedback on the games and the Industry Choice Award now being judged by a elite group of veteran game developers. More information about the event can be found at http://gameslice.mikutech.com as details are released.

Event Details
Who: Mikutech and Fanshawe College
What: Announced the return of Game Slice for its third year.
Where: Fanshawe College’s Centre for Digital and Performance Arts, 137 Dundas St, London ON
When: Friday May 25th, 2018

Contact for Mikutech: Mark Mikulec, Chief Technical Consultant, 519-636-7019, mark@mikutech.com

Contact for Fanshawe College: Michelle Giroux, Supervisor of the Centre for Digital and Performance Arts, 519-452-4430 x6401, mgiroux@fanshawec.ca
 

About Mikutech: Founded in 2012, Mikutech is a London-based collection of versatile technical consultants and programmers who provide work-for-hire services in software. With an emphasis on games and game-related technologies, Mikutech's strengths in high design and rich media have also been put to work in the specialized fields of education, engineering, e-commerce, and medicine. In recent years, Mikutech has gained a reputation as a harbor of advanced knowledge and proven skill in the burgeoning field of augmented and virtual reality.

About Fanshawe: Fanshawe is a comprehensive college serving the greater London region by providing flexible learning arrangements and experiential education opportunities developed in response to labour market needs.One of Ontario's largest colleges – with four campuses in London, Simcoe, St. Thomas and Woodstock - Fanshawe serves close to half a
million people with a promise to educate, engage, empower and excite.

For more information about Mikutech, please visit our website. Mikutech is also on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Throwback Thursday - Monumental Failure

Something I often hear from game developers is their troubles with marketing. How to get your game out there to as many players as possible? A usual follow up topic to that is, when the game gets released it has all sorts of hype/press surrounding it, but unless it really takes off, the hype dies down - how do you combat that?

Enter: Throwback Thursday - a weekly article on a game that came out from the local Toronto scene back in the day. Maybe you forgot about it, or maybe you never knew of its existence. That's what I want to do with these articles. Check out the first one below, and let me know on Twitter what you think!

First up! Monumental Failure from Scary Wizard Games. A game that just hit its 1 year anniversary recently, and is on a 35% sale on Steam.

Monumental Failure was released a year ago today. To celebrate, you can grab it for 35% off all week! https://t.co/NrAuZ1JdIi pic.twitter.com/iMpYf3SQrc

— Scary Wizard Games (@ScaryWizard) January 17, 2018

"Monumental Failure is a historically (in)accurate physics-based monument construction simulator. The game empowers you to recreate some of the world's most impressive architectural feats using incredible, and hard-to-believe, construction techniques."

Monumental Failure is available now on Steam, Itch and the Humble store! Monumental Failure is a comedic and historically (in)accurate physics-based monument construction simulator! The game empowers you to recreate some of the world's most impressive architectural feats using incredible, and hard-to-believe, construction techniques.

Although I haven't played it (I'll be fixing this soon) - the game has received mostly positive reviews on Steam:

"This game is extremely goofy and wonderful. I love being able to build no matter how shoddy the final result is. The coop is hilarious. A great party game. May or may not cure cancer."

"8/10 - Would drop my workers out of a plane, strapped to a 40-ton slab of stone with bungie cords, without a parachute, as a delivery system for Stonehenge again."

"I don't review games usually, but this game is just so much fun/frustration to play with someone couch co-op. I genuinely recommend this game. 
The game mechanics are different from level to level so you need to learn on the fly, it's really challenging but is really satisfying when you get it right!"

So head over to Steam, pick the game up in a sale, and follow the guys on Twitter. If you have a game that would make a good Throwback Thursday - let me know on Twitter!

Cellar Door Games Releases Full Metal Furies Today

As previously announced, Full Metal Furies is out now on Xbox and PC.

From the creators of Rogue Legacy comes a "true-cooperative" action RPG. FULL METAL FURIES puts an emphasis on team play with a unique combat system where everyone is important. Work together to defeat special enemies, string organics combos to deal massive damage, and save a war-torn world that is battling itself to extinction. Play on the couch or online with friends, and make it a party for up to four players! Or go solo in single-player, and show off your skills through a Pick 2 quick-switch system that retains all the nuances of multi-play.

Full Metal Furies is coming January 17, 2018! Wishlist on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/416600/Full_Metal_Furies/ Check out the game at: http://www.fullmetalfuries.com Visit us at: http://www.cellardoorgames.com http://www.facebook.com/CellarDoorGames http://www.twitter.com/CellarDoorGames

Comics X Games Arcade Submission Due January 31st

Little community news here, but friend of the site Sagan Yee let me know that submissions for the annual Comics X Games Arcade is due January 31st (a littler earlier than normal). Non-Toronto artists, and works-in-progress are accepted.

Comics x Games fosters collaboration between the independent game and comic communities through a variety of projects, partnerships and events. Every year with our partners during the Toronto Comics Arts Festival (TCAF), we present unique, game-focused content — from original games and gallery shows, to panels and talks.

You can check out the FAQ right here, and the submission form right here. If you got an interesting thing going on, might as well show it off! Comics X Games will be Saturday/Sunday May 12th-13th.

News Byte! January 16th - Astalon, N++, and Blossom Tales

Remember to Subscribe!

Astalon: http://www.torontogamedevs.com/blog/new-studio-labs-created-announces-astalon-tears-of-the-earth-for-this-year N++: ...