Category: Uncategorized
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
Venturebeat – How to previously earn 100% on Shadow of War
Electronic Arts E3 Review/Highlights
Electronic Arts started their conference putting out the fires they started. For every game they announced, they also announced there weren’t any loot boxes. The rest of the conference was dedicated to some solid game presentations.
Anthem (Feb 22nd, 2019):
- EA’s big competitor against Destiny
- The game is a multiplayer, open-world game with an integrated storyline.
- You can play the game solo
- The game setting looks like a combination of Monster Hunter and Destiny. The robots look like Titans from Titanfall
https://gaming.youtube.com/watch?v=9TrdCtCkghg
Battlefield V:
- WW2 setting FPS. It’s like we are going back in time because nobody can do a good future FPS except for Respawn Entertainment
- Still heavily team and objective focused
- Battle Royale mode, Grand Operations (multiple gameplay modes throughout the game)
EA’s Cloud Service Gaming
- No release date but it’ll be for multiple devices
- If you’re interested in hearing more, read my Friday article
Star Wars Battlefront 2:
- They admitted they
ruinedfumbled the game - Solo DLC content which will definitely not bring people back
- New Starfighter, multiplayer modes might bring people back
- Clone Wars DLC characters –
- Grievous
- Obi-Wan
- Count Dooku
- Anakin Skywalker
Unravel 2
- Co-op platformer
- Out now
Sports Games:
- FIFA, NBA LIVE, Madden
- I don’t play sports games
Respawn:
- Working on a new Star Wars game: Jedi Fallen Order (Holiday 2019)
- Takes place between Episode 3 and 4
- Play as a Jedi which is great! Hopefully, it won’t be first person
- No trailer, images, or gameplay shown
- Respawn previously made the Titanfalls series but was acquired by EA earlier this year
Ubisoft defends itself from Vivendi and why its important
Despite creating amazing games and long-lasting franchises, you would be surprised to hear Ubisoft was trying to avoid a hostile takeover of their company for several years from Vivendi. Vivendi is a French multimedia company. They are active in music, television, film, and video games. They were the previous owners of the most shares for Blizzard Entertainment (World of Warcraft, OverWatch) before they became Activision Blizzard. Vivendi began to purchase shares of Gameloft and Ubisoft to own the companies. CEO of Ubisoft, Yves Guillemot and Michel Guillemot, viewed their acquirement as a hostile takeover and worked together to prevent Vivendi from purchasing more stocks.
What do Shareholders do?
Investors can purchase a majority of shares than others to have influence on the Board of Directors (BoD). The Board of Directors vote to determine which direction a company should move and they represent the shareholders. Depending on how much a person invests into shares determine the amount of power within their votes. Vivendi attempt to buy more shares was to own Ubisoft just like they bought most of the shares for Gameloft. Vivendi denied the accusations on December 2016. They had owned 27.5% prior to the current news. France laws states if a person owns more than 30%, they are obligated to offer to buy the company.
Yves worked with individuals to prevent Vivendi from purchasing more shares. Vivendi is now selling its 27% shares for 2 billion euros. Ubisoft and the Guillemot Brothers C.E. (Representative company of Ubisoft‘s founders Guillemot family) will acquire 15% of Vivendi‘s shares. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan — an independent organization that administers pensions for about 318,000 teachers in Canada’s most populous province- and Tencent (League of Legends, PUBG China), a Chinese conglomerate will purchase the 3.4% and 5% of the remaining stock but won’t have seat on the BoD. The rest will be sold through accelerated book building.
Why is this important?
The Board of Directors have huge influence on companies but they may not follow the same views as the CEO or how people want the company to act. Their biggest focus is on the companies to earn as much money as possible. With Ubisoft owning most of the shares and already setting plans for 2018 – 2020, they can choose their own business practice. Shareholders won’t have the influence to force Ubisoft to use “dirty” business strategies such as releasing more DLC, releasing unpolished games or creating more mobile games. We want gaming companies to choose their own business goals without compromising their principles because of the shareholders.
Sources:
The Gaming News Corner 