5th Cell, the developer best known for creating the Scribblenauts series, has simultaneously announced and released its next game: Castlehold, a tactics card game now in Early Access with a characteristically eclectic theme that pits pirates, ninjas, cowboys, and more against each other. It’s a smaller-scale take on a familiar (and frankly somewhat foreboding) genre, but one that brings along plenty of fresh ideas.

Castlehold is set in a world where a cataclysmic event has mixed different eras of history, bringing all of humanity onto floating islands in the Astral Sea. What that means practically is that basically anything goes when it comes to theme, with different eras essentially acting as synergistic card groups similar to Magic: The Gathering’s different colors. You can cram pirates alongside cowboys in the same deck, but some might gain benefits based on certain types of units you play – or even the type of terrain you pick as your home turf, like grass or snow.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/03/castlehold-launch-trailer"]

[Update: Frogwares has issued a new statement regarding its issuing of the DMCA.

"A DMCA notice proved to be our most effective tool to give us time to gain further potential evidence and to also start the required and lengthy additional legal processes to prevent this from happening again," the developer told Vice. "We are aware that a final ruling on whether Frogwares are obligated to deliver a Steam version has yet not been made and could take years. As it stands, we have an appeals court ruling saying, until further notice Frogwares do not need to deliver a Steam version to Nacon. In the meantime, Nacon decided to take justice into their own hands and release a pirated build."

"We are also aware that the DMCA claim on this Steam version may only be a temporary fix and that the game may make a comeback - in this form or another. Providing partners like Valve with finalised rulings and third-party verified evidence so they can make their final decision takes time and resources. If in the meantime they decide they have to continue selling the game, we can only respect that while continuing to speak to them and provide them with more information."

As it stands, The Sinking City - as published by Frogwares - remains for sale on PS5, Nintendo Switch, and non-Steam PC outlets. The PS4 and Xbox One edition of The Sinking City  - as published by Nacon - remain available on their respective PlayStation and Microsoft stores.]

Original article:

In the latest update on the ongoing debacle surrounding The Sinking City, Steam has once again pulled Frogwares' horror-mystery from its storefront, following the developer's issuing of a DMCA against publisher Nacon, with whom it is embroiled in an increasingly ugly legal dispute.

Launching today on Steam from Scribblenauts and Lock’s Quest creators 5TH Cell, Castlehold is a free-to-play deck-building strategy game that manages to cram a ton of strategy fun into battles that last under 10 minutes.

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5th Cell, the developer of handheld curio Scribblenauts, has announced its new game today, called Castlehold. It's a card-based tactics game - which is a bit of a surprise, given the sharp left turn from Scribblenauts. And it's also very good, from the brief bit of it that I've played - which, hands up, was maybe a bit of a surprise to me too.

It's out today in early access on Steam, it's free-to-play with optional microtransactions, and it does suffer from a bad case of fonts. And if we're being brutal, there is a touch of the less-fashionable mobile game to it all, too, thanks to a mish-mash of styles and familiarly broad-sweeping army types like 'medieval' and 'western'. But! It is good, and I am a snob, so we'll just skip past the aesthetics here and get to the meat of it.

Castlehold is played on a symmetrical island map, made of exactly 19 hexagonal tiles. Like a Hearthstone or a Magic the Gathering or any other card battler, you play one-on-one, against another human or the AI, bringing your custom-built or preset deck of characters that form your army and playing them onto the map turn-by-turn. The goal is tactical, or strategic maybe, in that you have to get a unit of yours from your castle, the tile nearest to you where they spawn, to your opponent's castle at the map's opposite end, while they of course are trying to do the same.

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5th Cell (Scribblenauts) is back with Castlehold, a free-to-play competitive strategy game that combines aspects of collectible card games and strategy board games. In 1v1 battles, players can create armies of different factions and attempt to take over each other's keeps. A vast number of different kinds of troops and factions are available, such as samurai, pirates, Wild West, future soldiers, vikings, medieval, and more. Take a look at the trailer below to see exactly how it all plays out!

You can choose to go right for the opponent or attempt to control various points on the board so that you can deploy better, more powerful units.  You may be able to win the game quickly by beelining to the opposing castle and using a tricks to infiltrate and win the game right away, but many strategies involve expanding out across the map to take over the outlying villages and gain board control. Smaller, agile units are perfect for moving across the board quickly to capture territory, but will lose in battle easily. 

The Sinking City has been removed from Steam amid an ongoing dispute between developer Frogwares and publisher Nacon. ...

The plaintiffs behind a class action lawsuit that alleged EA was secretly adjusting the difficulty of FIFA Ultimate Team to get players to spend more money on packs have withdrawn their case.

On November 2020, three Californians said EA was secretly manipulating them in a lawsuit that revolved around a patented AI technology known as dynamic difficulty adjustment.

Dynamic difficulty adjustment, known more commonly by FIFA players as scripting or momentum, is a technology that unfairly affects the results of matches in a bid to encourage more spending on packs.

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The Lenten season requires you to suspend your disbelief. Not sure about a skinny 33-something dude turning down a loaf of bread after fasting in the wilderness for 40 days? It’s Lent, baby! Get over it! Planning to give up sugar for six weeks? Sure, okay—Lent! A little shaky on hand-washing practices at your parish’s…

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The eight costumes in the DLC were formerly available as pre-order bonuses.

The post Yakuza: Like a Dragon Legends Costume Set Free Until April 2 appeared first on Siliconera.

I haven't revisited PlayStation VR since hooking up my PS5, but I haven't packed the headset up, either – it's crammed in a media-center drawer just in case there's something fresh to play this year.

Actually, there is! The headset is still hanging in there with software support. Sony highlighted six PlayStation VR games for 2021 in a series of PlayStation Blog posts today. Let's run through 'em.

After the Fall is a co-op shooter from the makers of Arizona Sunshine that's set in an "alternate 1980s" Los Angeles. Don't call them zombies – they're snowbreed. It's not every day we see a game with PlayStation VR Aim Controller support, and if you're going solo, you can team up with the AI.

Fracked immediately reminded me of that "Call of Duty in a kayak" game Phantom: Covert Ops, and I was on-point – it's made by the same team, nDreams. This time, you can ski and shoot! I think I'm down?

FarmVille publisher Zynga has acquired Torchlight 3 developer Echtra Games for an undisclosed sum.

Echtra Games will now join Zynga's portfolio of studios and work with CSR Racing developer NaturalMotion on "a new, yet to be announced RPG for cross-platform play".

In a statement on the purchase, reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Zynga boss Frank Gibeau said Echtra would help grow Zynga's many mobile franchises to PC and console audiences.

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The Art of The Last of Us Part II Deluxe Edition | $45 | Amazon

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Hironobu Sakaguchi sat down to talk about the various contributors to Fantasian, including an artist many will be familiar with.

The post Final Fantasy Series Creator Hironobu Sakaguchi Talks Uematsu’s Involvement in Fantasian appeared first on Siliconera.

Following the recent arrival of Legendary Hero Claude von Riegan, Nintendo has announced "Seeds of Fodlan," the newest summoning event for its free-to-play mobile battler Fire Emblem Heroes. The new update will add further classy characters from Switch release Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

The latest quartet of characters consists of four officers taken from the hallowed halls of the Garreg Mach Monastery. Representing the Blue Lions are young polearm wielder Ingrid and the house's noble retainer, Dedue. Flying the flag for the Black Eagles is the notoriously subdued (read: lazy) Lindhart, while the Golden Deer are represented by introverted young mage, Marianne.

Echtra Games, the San Francisco-based studio founded in 2016 by Diablo and Torchlight co-creator Max Schaefer, is now owned by Zynga, the company that gave us FarmVille.

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The Sims 4 already has a vast amount of DLC packs, ranging from bundles to large Expansion Packs, medium-sized Game Packs and smaller Stuff Packs, but now EA is introducing an even tinier type of DLC called Kits. And one of them will deliberately make your Sim's house dirtier.

Described as "mini collections of content", EA has launched three Kits - a Throwback Fit Kit full of retro gym clothing, a Country Kitchen Kit adding vintage kitchen furniture, and the weirdest one of all... the Bust The Dust Kit. This one adds dust to your Sim's home, and it's alive: if you don't sort out the dust piles, they'll spawn "friendly bunnies and dastardly filth fiends". Frankly, anything spreading mess in my house is no friend of mine.

Successfully cleaning up will get you some buffs and rewards, and the Kit also provides two new aspirations for your Sims: Filthy and Fabulous Sims will enjoy living in disgusting hovels, while Perfectly Pristine Sims will require regular cleaning. Thankfully you'll have a new collection of full-size and handheld hoovers to help with this task.

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Valorant’s Patch 2.04 is now live alongside the new Act, which marks the introduction of a brand new Agent and battle pass.

In addition to the new content, this week’s patch notes have revealed a number of tweaks to competitive play, Escalation mode, and some new quality of life features aimed at improving in-game communication.

Perhaps the most significant change to ranked for most players they’ll finally be able to queue with a wider range of ranks, allowing friends to play together when before they had to be within three ranks. The below image shows the new spread, with Iron 1 – Silver 3 now allowed to queue; Silver 1 – Gold 3; Gold 1 – Platinum 3, etc.

This should also help combat smurfing.

Zynga has acquired Torchlight III developer Echtra Games for an undisclosed fee to bolster its cross-platform development capabilities. ...

Social and mobile games company Zynga Inc. announced today it has acquired Torchlight III developer Echtra Games.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Zynga said the acquisition of the studio founded by Diablo and Torchlight co-creator Max Schaefer will add cross-platform play experience and “proprietary cross-platform development tools and technologies that have been built on top of the Unreal Engine.”

“Max and his team at Echtra Games are responsible for some of the most legendary game properties ever created, and they are experts in the action RPG genre and cross-platform development. I’m excited to welcome the Echtra Games team into the Zynga family,” said Frank Gibeau, Chief Executive Officer of Zynga. “This acquisition will be instrumental in growing our iconic licenses and brands from mobile to PCs and consoles, while helping to further expand Zynga’s total addressable market.”

The company also said Echtra Games will be working on a new, yet to be announced RPG for cross-platform play in partnership with Zynga’s NaturalMotion studio. The internal studio is developing the recently announced free-to-play arena combat game Star Wars: Hunters for the Nintendo Switch alongside LucasFilm Games.

“Echtra Games is delighted to be joining the Zynga family,” said Max Schaefer, Chief Executive Officer of Echtra Games. “We share Zynga’s vision that cross-platform play is an essential part of the future of RPGs and interactive entertainment and are eager to apply our vast experience and talents to this effort.”

Kuro no Kiseki will have a new battle system that lets you toggle between action and command-based battles at any time!

The post Kuro no Kiseki Will Let You Toggle Between Battle Systems appeared first on Siliconera.

In late February, following years of tumultuous development, publisher Paradox Interactive announced further delays to its Gothic RPG Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. Most notably, Paradox announced that it was dropping the title's long-term developer, Hardsuit Labs, who had been working on the dark adventure since as far back as 2015.

Unfortunately, it appears that the changes in development have had serious repercussions for the studio's workforce, with various Hardsuit employees being laid off since the Paradox announcement was made. Producer Austin Maestre, as well as narrative designers Anna C. Webster, Samantha Wallschlaeger, and Nicole Stanford were among those who took to Twitter to announce that they had lost their respective roles at the Seattle-based studio, with Stanford confirming that Hardsuit's "entire narrative team" had been affected by the decision.

In a statement to several news outlets, Hardsuit Labs expressed its regret at the layoffs.

"While we worked hard to source some great work opportunities for the studio to move forward with, we were unable to provide work for a small number of individuals and thus made the difficult decision to part ways." reads the statement. "This decision was not made lightly and was done so only after we felt we had exhausted the opportunities to avoid such a layoff."

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s ongoing hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today, it’s time to revisit an obscure PS1 classic from Square Soft’s JRPG heyday, which had some of the chillest city-builder tunes around. I’m talking about Legend of Mana, of course.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (Xbox) | $45 | Microsoft Store
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Cross-Gen Bundle (Xbox) | $56 | Microsoft Store

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These DLC weapon skins feature swords from Tales of Innocence and Tales of Destiny.

The post Maglam Lord to Include Tales of Series Weapon Skin DLC appeared first on Siliconera.

Monster Hunter Rise is poised to make a splash on Switch this month, but it also has a bright future ahead of it.

With a PC port slated for 2022, Rise will live on for a while, far beyond the initial excitement of the Nintendo console launch. And beyond that, it looks like the massive soundtrack is going to make a lasting impact on fans.

As revealed by Gamer.ne.jp, Capcom is producing a massive 117-song soundtrack that will be distributed across four discs. It'll contain all of the main Rise tracks heard so far, as well as any number of ancillary tunes from each level. It's slated to arrive on May 19, 2021 in Japan, and will retail at 4,500 yen, which is roughly $42 USD.

If you want a taste, the Capcom Sound Team has put out six of the 100+ song soundtrack out on Spotify, which includes core themes like Kamura's Song of Purification. If you played the demo you're probably aware that it sounds great so far!

The original soundtrack of "Monster Hunter Rise" [Gamer.ne.jp]

Get to learn more about Yuffie and Sonon's mission through these new character biographies.

The post Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade Yuffie and Sonon Character Biographies Released appeared first on Siliconera.

In just under a week's time, Electronic Arts will release its sci-fi infused battle royale title Apex Legends on Nintendo Switch. Developer Respawn Entertainment has released one last trailer, giving players one final look at the dynamic multiplayer title in action ahead of its official release.

The Nintendo Switch edition of Apex Legends admittedly has a little catching up to do, having arrived on PS4, PC, and Xbox One way back in February 2019. Not only that, but the new port was unfortunately further delayed from its initial 2020 release due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Regardless, the big day is almost here, and soon Switch owners will be able to battle it out with their Legend brethren thanks to the title's cross-play capabilities. Oh, and to help newbie Legends hit the ground running, Apex Legends will be offering all Switch players double XP until March 23. Lock 'n' load, folks. It's time to go a'lootin' and a'shootin' all over again.

EA has issued a lifetime ban to a FIFA player who racially abused Ian Wright after he lost a match while playing with the Arsenal legend's in-game version.

This week, Wright slammed a judge's lenient sentence for a teenager who hurled racial abuse at the Arsenal legend on social media last year.

18-year-old Patrick O'Brien lost a game of FIFA after playing with the Ian Wright icon card in the Ultimate Team mode.

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Pokémon Go developer Niantic has apologised for the issue in the game's recent paid Kanto Tour event which let some players in for free, and detailed its bonus event for those who did purchase a ticket.

"We apologise for this issue, and to help Trainers who purchased a ticket feel like they are receiving its value, paid ticket holders will be able to participate in a bonus event," Niantic wrote in a blog post.

A new timed questline will become available in the game this Friday, 5th March at 10am local time. Completing it will reward you with a variety of premium items, including a pair of Elite TMs which are usually sold at particularly high prices, alongside a smattering of other bits and pieces.

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The Starter Edition is geared towards newcomers, casuals, and novices who want to try out a Gundam Extreme Vs game.

The post Gundam Extreme Vs Maxi Boost ON Starter Edition Offers Easier Entry appeared first on Siliconera.

It's strange to think we have another micro-anniversary coming off such a big, sprawling Zelda anniversary, but here we are.

Zelda: Breath of the Wild turns four today on March 3, 2021. I can't believe it! That also essentially marks the birth of the Nintendo Switch! Both of them feel like they've been around for longer than that. I mean, just look at the E3 2016 full reveal below: crazy right?

Although it had been talked about in different incarnations for a while, it wasn't until the summer of 2016 that Nintendo decided to officially call it "Breath of the Wild." People were able to play it right on the show floor that same week, and the rest was history.

It's also crazy to think that it's also a Wii U game. Nintendo dumped that thing like a bad habit so quickly after that, but much like the GameCube to the Wii generational leap with Zelda: Twilight Princess, so too did the Wii U get a swan song.

Let's watch, together, how it and the means in which players approached the game, evolved.

When Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town was released last month in Japan, fans complained of long load times, bugs, and glitches. Producer Dai Takemura addressed these issues on the game’s official blog and offers his apology.

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