All Articles: Homefront

Deep Silver acquires rights to Homefront: The Revolution from Crytek

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Crytek’s money problems just will not go away. Last month, rumors began to swirl that the high-profile developer wasn’t paying their employees and had canceled several major projects. Today, Deep Silver announced that they have acquired all rights to Homefront: The Revolution. The deal also includes 2011’s Homefront, which Crytek obtained at the THQ bankruptcy auction.

The story behind Homefront: The Revolution is one of the more complicated tales in the entire industry. THQ originally announced the shooter sequel a few months after the successful launch of the original Homefront. Crytek was on board as the developer from the beginning and they assigned the game to their Crytek UK team. Then came THQ’s bankruptcy woes and everyone stayed quiet on the Homefront until this year’s E3 Expo, when Homefront: The Revolution was officially unveiled.

Due to Crytek’s inexperience in the self-publishing arena, they recruited Deep Silver to distribute the game and stand in as something like a co-publisher. So this acquisition likely won’t disrupt development too much. However, the game is moving from Crytek UK to Deep Silver Dambuster Studios. Both studios are located in Nottingham, so I’m curious to know how many former Crytek UK employees have jumped ship to Deep Silver’s new endeavor.

Hopefully, Homefront: The Revolution is still on track for a 2015 release.

UPDATE: Crytek has confirmed that all members of the Homefront team will transfer to Deep Silver Dambuster.

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THQ Auction: Ubisoft, Sega, Take-Two, Crytek, Deep Silver all come away winners

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The THQ asset auction concluded yesterday and the fate of the company was sealed as the cumulative bids for the publisher’s studios surpassed the $60 million offered by Clearlake Capitol Group. Here’s the complete list of who bought what and for how much:

Relic Entertainment (including Company of Heroes franchise)
Sega – $26.6 million

THQ Montreal (including 1666 and Underdog)
Ubisoft – $2.5 million

Evolve (Turtle Rock-developed FPS)
Take-Two Interactive – $10.894 million

Volition (and Saints Row franchise)
Deep Silver (Koch Media) – $22,312,925

Homefront franchise
Crytek – $544,218

Metro franchise
Deep Silver (Koch Media) – $5,877,551

South Park: The Stick of Truth
Ubisoft – $3,265,306

How this auction will affect the release dates of South Park: The Stick of Truth, Metro: Last Light, and Company of Heroes 2 (all were scheduled to be released within the next three months) remains to be seen.

Vigil Studios (and the Darksiders franchise) and the rights to produce games based on the WWE went unsold. Presumably, they’ll continue to be included with THQ’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

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Sony adds nine more Ultimate Editions to PS Store

Sony is expanding their line of “Ultimate Editions” today with nine new game + downloadable content bundles. Each Ultimate Edition includes a downloadable version of the original game along with all DLC currently available. And for this week only (today until November 26), each Ultimate Edition has been discounted by up to 66% (up to 73% for PlayStation Plus subscribers).

So which games made the cut for the second wave of Ultimate Editions? Check ’em out…

Alice: Madness Returns
Total Value of the Game With All DLC: $31.97
PSN Price: $19.99 ($15.99 for PlayStation Plus members)

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
Total Value of the Game With All DLC: $39.99
PSN Price: $27.99 ($22.39 for PlayStation Plus members)

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
Total Value of the Game With All DLC: $53.99
PSN Price: $49.99 ($39.99 for PlayStation Plus members)

Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Total Value of the Game With All DLC: $50.46
PSN Price: $34.99 ($27.99 for PlayStation Plus members)

Homefront
Total Value of the Game With All DLC: $58.95
PSN Price: $19.99 ($15.99 for PlayStation Plus members)

Mass Effect 2
Total Value of the Game With All DLC: $49.96
PSN Price: $34.99 ($27.99 for PlayStation Plus members)

Red Faction: Armageddon
Total Value of the Game With All DLC: $43.95
PSN Price: $24.99 ($19.99 for PlayStation Plus members)

Saints Row 2
Total Value of the Game With All DLC: $36.97
PSN Price: $24.99 ($19.99 for PlayStation Plus members)

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
Total Value of the Game With All DLC: $79.97
PSN Price: $29.99 ($23.99 for PlayStation Plus members)

Sony has also announced another PSN rebate offer, so if you spend $60 on the PlayStation Store this week, they’ll send you a $10 PSN Voucher in December.

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THQ closes Homefront developer Kaos Studios

THQ had high hopes for Homefront and while the shooter received less-than-stellar reviews, it managed to sell over two million copies. I guess that wasn’t enough as the publisher announced the closure of Homefront developer Kaos Studios today. THQ Digital Warrington, the developer of downloadable titles Red Faction: Battlegrounds and Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team, was also shut down.

THQ also revealed that development on the Homefront franchise would move to the recently created THQ Montreal. The company’s Montreal studio assisted Kaos during the development of the game, so they have some knowledge of the Homefront universe. THQ’s Vice President of Core Games, Danny Bilson, previously confirmed that Homefront: London is already in the planning stages.

Many of THQ’s other internal studios are now hiring and the publisher has encouraged the former Kaos and Digital Warrington employees to interview for open positions at Relic Entertainment, Vigil Games and THQ Montreal. We wish them the best of luck.

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Pokemon Black/White dominate sales chart

The NPD Group has revealed the list of bestselling games for March and the latest Pokemon game, Pokemon Black/White, has caught the top of the chart.

Pokemon White Version came out on top with Pokemon Black Version just behind it in the number two slot. According to Nintendo, both games combined to sell nearly 2.5 million copies (over 1.3 million for White and another 1.1 million for Black).

New releases were well represented among last months bestsellers with Homefront (#3) and Dragon Age II (#4) both taking up residence in the top five. The bottom half of the top ten was also almost completely made up of new releases including Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (#6), Crysis 2 (#7), MLB 11: The Show (#9) and Fight Night Champion (#10).

Hit the jump for a complete look at the NPD Group’s top ten for March. (more…)

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THQ’s Homefront is a hit

THQ’s take on a Korean invasion of America in the 2027 has proven to be a hit with gamers across the globe. Described by company executives as one of the biggest games they’ve ever done, Homefront has now sold one million copies worldwide. THQ has also revealed that they’ve shipped 2.4 million copies of Homefront to stores since its release two weeks ago. So there’s plenty of copies out there if you want to become Homefront player #1,000,001.

“We are very pleased with strong worldwide shipments and sell-through for Homefront, and we continue to fulfill new retail orders for the game across the globe,” said Brian Farrell, THQ President and CEO. “Homefront is clearly resonating with gamers and we are certainly pleased with our initial sales results.”

Even before Homefront was released, THQ hinted that a sequel was in the planning stages. With the game crossing the million-seller mark already, expect to hear an announcement of Homefront: London any time now.

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Homefront sells some copies

Homefront has been pushing some units, enough that THQ would want to brag about it. Brian Farrell, THQ President and CEO stated, “we are delighted with first day sales for Homefront and are already fulfilling re-orders for the game from multiple retailers,” which he declared after the game sold more than 375,000 copies in its first day. The game released a few days ago on March 15 in North America and will be following up in Asia Pacific and Europe throughout the rest of the week.

THQ seems to attribute a lot of the success to dedicated servers, as Danny Bilson, EVP Core Games said, ”Homefront’s excellent multiplayer experience, combined with our commitment to dedicated servers, make this a must-have purchase for gamers.”

This Koreo-phobic military shooter is available now on the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.

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New Releases: Homefront, Okamiden, Yakuza 4, More

The Spring thaw is doing more than raising the mercury in your thermometer, it’s also bringing more big games to stores.

This week, THQ’s Red Dawn-inspired war game, Homefront, will be released on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. In fact, Red Dawn director John Milius was heavily involved in the creator of Homefront’s storyline.

Other big name releases this week fall into a few well known franchises:

  • Capcom will release Okamiden, pint-sized spinoff of Okami, for the DS
  • Sega brings Kazuma Kiryu back to America (but keeps the game’s Japanese sensibilities intact) in Yakuza 4 (PS3).
  • Andre Agassi serves up his first video game appearance in over 15 years in Top Spin 4 (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360).
  • And finally, Sega will release Total War: Shogun 2 on the PC.

The full list of the rest of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)

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