Author: blitzen34

Hello, my name is Benjamin Le. I am an avid gamer whose passion resides in Marketing for the Video Game Industry. This site is for people to read about gaming news and how the industry works. Please feel free to reach out to me at lebenjaminj@gmail.com for any questions.

Guerrilla Games, developers of Horizon: Zero Dawn, grows

Horizon: Zero Dawn was one of the best selling games last year. It proved new intellectual properties and new games can be just as successful as a big sequel. The game sold almost 5 million units and was nominated for many Game of the Year awards. Thanks to its success, Guerrilla Games have grown! They are jumping for 250 employees to 400 and are taking more space in the office they currently reside in.

The goals of CEO Hermen Hulst are to release big games in a shorter time. Horizon took over six years to develop. Their idea is to “release games in two or three years, both new titles and games based on existing titles.” Although they have not announced their future games, they have also worked on the Killzone series. I look forward to more games from Guerrilla that will make people go ape.

Sources:

Eurogamer

Horizon Zero Dawn Sales

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War removes Loot Boxes

The new, free update to Middle-Earth: Shadow of War finally removed their loot boxes called War Chests. Released in September 27th, 2017, Monolith Productions defended the addition of loot boxes as they didn’t influence the game or ruin the narrative. The boxes provided stronger Orcs for the player in the game’s famous Nemesis system and it would help reduce the grind of improving the Orcs. These helped players earn stronger Orcs without relying on chance. However, the game’s true ending is difficult to obtain without extra grinding for strong Orc captains which angered many players. Players felt Monolith and Warner Brothers (Developers and Publisher) were encouraging players to spend money on loot boxes to obtain better Orcs. As of July 17th, the loot box system and store has been completely removed from Shadow of War.

What happens after the Loot Box removal?

To help players obtain better Orcs, the game now provides challenges and Spoils of Wars which give players Training Orders. You can also purchase Training Orders with in-game currency. Monolith also allowed players to earn gears much easier than before. Previous players who have already gone through the game receive masks which helps improve Orcs. The studio has also made reduced the number of stages and missions required for 100% completion of the game.

Some fans lost their Orc, loot boxes and war chests after the initial update but Monolith is working hard to return everything that players purchased. Shadow of War sold 1.75 million units worldwide but perhaps sales were deterred due to the loot box system. The previous title, Shadow of Mordor, sold 3.2 million.

Question

Do you think Monolith has earned good grace for removing the loot boxes or is it too late?

Sources:

Shadow of War Update – July 17th

Shadow of War – Loot Box fix

Venturebeat – How to previously earn 100% on Shadow of War

Polygon

 

Target’s Big Discount Code Disater

Late last night, Target release six coupon text codes which gave users 15% off products and 20% off if you spend over $50. While most discounts are good, there was a glitch that allowed coupons to stack.

Some people began buying video game consoles and televisions with the coupons. People began to rush to order online and “Pick up a Store” before the store could cancel their request. Even I did it this morning. I paid for two Nintendo Switch games for $43. Some people saved over $300! Unfortunately, all the codes have been disabled and texting will no longer provide you with the discount. But for a brief couple of hours, Target probably lost a huge profit. Thanks to CheapAssGamers for tweeting this deal. Check out their website and Twitter for more.

Fortnite Summer Tournament begins!

Starting this weekend, Epic will be hosting their Fortnite Summer Skirmishes. The series is 8-weeks long with the reward being $8 million! This is the first in-game tournament with prize money on the line for Epic. The prize is $250,000 for Duos (Two people on the same team in a Battle Royale). Epic chose specific players and Community Creators who are actually competitively good. Invitations have already been sent so if you’re expecting to receive one, sorry.

Each tournament will be a different format which will keep tournament interesting. There will also be different qualifying factors for each tournament so players will change accordingly.

Earlier this year, Epic announced that they will be starting their own competitive venue with the pot being $100 million. With Fortnite becoming the top viewed game on Twitch, their self-hosted tournaments will grab them a bigger audience. It will be more professional but it may lead to smaller tournaments disappearing as more players will compete for a higher prize and properly run.

Sources:

Fortnite Summer Skirmishes

Polygon