Month: October 2024

Fortnite fans still in the European Union can now play Epic Games’ battle royale on iPad.

The Epic Games Store – and through it both Fortnite and Fall Guys – are now available on Apple’s tablet, following their relaunch on iPhone in the EU and on Android phones worldwide last month.

In a briefing to press attended by Eurogamer last month, Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney said he had “no regrets” over Fortnite’s lengthy absence from mobile platforms as the company has waged legal battles to change app store policies.

Four years of courtroom wrangling and an estimated $1bn in lost revenue later, Epic Games has now been able to launch its own mobile app store on Apple and Google devices – including now on iPad in mainland Europe.

Downloading the Epic Game Store requires you to load up Epic Games’ website and download the storefront from there, navigating through a number of warnings by Apple – which would really rather you did not.

Epic Games previously said it would continue to push for iPhone and iPad launches of the Epic Game Store in more countries – including the UK and Japan – over the next year.

“We’ve probably lost a billion dollars not havi…

If you’re looking for something to sink your teeth into this weekend (apologies), you could do far worse than take a look at developer Stunlock Studios’ acclaimed vampire survival adventure V Rising – which is free to play on Steam for the next few days.

V Rising launched back in May after two years of Steam early access development, presenting players (and their equally elegant friends) with a rich, more-ish game of isometric survival, where the goal is to assert your vampiric superiority across a gloomy, gothic open-world.

It’s got a bunch of neats twists on the survival formula, all playing into the whole vampire thing – including a blood-sucking mechanic that gives you specific abilities depending on the creatures you drain, and progress that involves sticking to the shadows during daylight hours (lest you sizzle to ash). Its most exciting feature, though, is that you get to building your own looming gothic castle – and who hasn’t ever wished they had one of those?

V Rising – Launch Trailer

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Microsoft has laid off a further 650 Xbox staff, though no games have been cancelled or studios have been closed this time.
The news was shared by CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer in an internal memo obtained by IGN, with changes made to “organise our business for long term success”.
The layoffs follow the 1900 people who lost their jobs at the company in January this year. It means Microsoft has now laid off 2,550 staff in the last year.

Newscast: Why are there so many games industry layoffs?

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This week on the Eurogamer Newscast, we discuss the most dramatic few days for PlayStation in recent times.

Sony’s stunning decision to kill off live-service shooter flop Concord after less than two weeks sent shockwaves around the industry, setting a new precedent for how swiftly a troubled title from a major publisher could be given the axe. After eight years of work, the game has already disappeared from sale, and will soon vanish from people’s game libraries, with refunds automatically given. It’s a remarkable move – even if Concord does somehow get a second lease of life – and another nail in the coffin for Sony’s overly-ambitious live-service plans that have already seen other projects shelved and delayed.
And yet Sony has still ended this week on something of a high – riding a wave of love for Astro Bot, the company’s platforming platform mascot and star of an excellent new game, and subtly-teasing one of the worst-kept secrets in video games right now: the imminent announcement of its souped-up PlayStation 5 Pro. Joining me this week are Eurogamer’s Ed Nightingale, Victoria Kennedy and Vikki Blake, as we dissect the week, discuss what might be ne…

Concord is estimated to have sold just 25,000 copies.
According to IGN, analyst Simon Carless estimates that Concord’s sales equate to around 10,000 units on Steam and around 15,000 on PlayStation.
Whilst we can’t track the real-time player numbers on PlayStation, right now there are just 71 players online on Steam. Its highest concurrent player count in the last 24 hours is 151.

Concord – Gameplay Trailer | PS5 Games

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Beloved 1997 3D platformer Croc: Legend of the Gobbos is being remastered for PC and consoles, and it’s coming from a newly revived version of originaly developer Argonaut Games.

Argonaut was founded by Jez San in 1982 and would go on to release the likes of Starglider and Birds of Prey before teaming up with Nintendo to create 1993’s classic on-rails space shooter Star Fox. A second Nintendo partnership resulted in 1994’s Stunt Race FX, and the studio would go on to release games for another decade before it closed amid financial troubles in 2004 – with many of the team ending up at Batman Arkham developer Rocksteady Studios.

20 years later, Argonaut Games is being resurrected as a “boutique publisher” by new co-CEOs Gary Sheinwald and Mike Arkin. And while San doesn’t appear to be involved with the revival, he does pop up in the announcement press release to say, “Argonaut was always about pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in gaming, and I’m excited to see how the relaunched Argonaut Games builds on that legacy, starting with the Croc: Legend of the Gobbos remaster.”

Croc Legend of the Gobbos Teaser Trailer

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