Eighteen Competition nominees and eight additional speakers announced for Ludicious - Zürich Game Festival in January

Zürich, Switzerland – 13 December 2017 – A short list of 18 games have today been announced for the Ludicious Awards 2018. The list highlights the very best creative talent from a diverse selection of international studios and student developer teams. The nominees all hope to win a share of the impressive 12’000 EUR offered in collective prize money.

“263 games from 47 countries were submitted to the competition this year,” said the festival’s Artistic and Conference Director Tobias Kopka. “What we asked for, and found, are the most exciting, creative and original new games on any platform. In particular this year, we encouraged developers to submit projects which contain a strong innovative aspect. This could be in any area; from the game mechanic through to the narrative, or even business model.”

The nominees and award categories are as follows:

The Innovation in Game Award (international studios or developers, 8’000 EUR prize)

• Around Mars (Iran)
• Blind Drive (Israel)
• Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Spain)
• Everything is going to be OK (USA)
• Figment (Denmark)
• Hitchhiker (Germany)
• Orwell (Germany
• Rock of Ages II: Bigger and Boulder (Chile)
• The Almost Gone (Belgium)
• The Sexy Brutale (UK)
• Vignettes (France)
• Witchball (USA)

The Emerging Talent Award (international students or university teams, 4’000 EUR prize)

• Isometric Epilepsy (Cologne Game Lab, Germany)
• Letters (Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland)
• Seek Etyliv (Queen Mary's University of London, UK)
• Shadow Seeker (AZAD University South Tehran Branch, Iran)
• SHIRO (School of Art and Design Kassel, Germany)
• Tell Me What You See (IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark)

Last year’s Ludicious winner was Reigns by François Alliot, aka Nerial. Published by Devolver Digital, Reigns has now sold in excess of 1.8 million copies.

The winners will be announced on January 19, 2018 at the Ludicious & SGDA Awards Night, where the SGDA (Swiss Game Developers Association) will also announce the winners of its Swiss Game Awards.

New speakers added to the conference line-up

Ludicious has also published the name of eight additional speakers joining the conference line-up of Switzerland’s most important gaming event: Lauren Cason(ustwogames, Monument Valley 2, best Mobile Game at the 2017 Game Awards), Chris Bourassa (Red Hook Studios), Jeff Tangsoc (Power Up Audio), Menno van Pelt-Deen (Lapp, Dutch Game Garden), Morten Brunbjerg (Writer), Vlad Micu (VG Visionary), Ste Curran (One Life Left) and Philomena Schwab (Stray Fawn Studios, Zürich).

So far twenty speakers have been announced. They include:

• Alden Kroll, who has been a designer at Valve for over 12 years, working on Steam as well as on games such as Team Fortress 2, Portal, and Left 4 Dead. Alden currently works as a designer on the Steam store, the Steam publishing tools, and various community features such as Steam Workshop.
• Callum Underwood is in charge of signing new games at the Swedish developer Raw Fury.
• Daniel Dociu who is currently overseeing visual development across all development teams under the Amazon Game Studios umbrella.
• Dhaunae de Vir who is Business Development Manager for White Wolf Entertainment (Vampire: The Masquerade), a brand evangelist, a videogames ambassador, and an eSports consultant.
• Julie Heyde & Horatiu Roman who are known in the gaming industry for their game jams and VR games as VRUnicorns.
• Kate Edwards who is CEO and principal consultant of Geogrify, and the former Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).
• Patryk Grzeszczuk who as a Marketing Director at 11 bit studios has been responsible for developing marketing/advertising strategies for This War of Mine,Beat Cop, and Frostpunk.

Further information can be found on the official Ludicious website at www.ludicious.ch/conference2018. The complete speaker list of Ludicious 2018 will be published before the end of this year. The Ludicious festival will take place from 18 - 21 January 2018 in Zurich, Switzerland, and offers its visitors a extended weekend packed with talks, games, networking opportunities and much more. Tickets are now available at http://www.ludicious.ch/tickets

Lineage 2: Revolution gets first major update with real-time, massive PvP battle gameplay modes TS

Seoul, Korea – 13th December, 2017… Netmarble Games Corp., the fastest-growing mobile game company worldwide, released its first major update for its hit mobile MMORPG Lineage 2: Revolution, since its North America and Europe launch last month. The update includes the much-anticipated Fortress Siege, Open Siege, as well as three new servers opening. The updates will offer fresh and new ways to strategize and level up within the game.

Check out the YouTube link for the trailer, below:


Fortress Siege, held every Friday from 19:30 – 20:00 GMT, will allow players to enter a real-time, massive PvP battle between two clans. Up to 100 players, 50 in each clan, will enter the siege in attempt to be the first to “imprint” onto their opponents’ Holy Artefact and be crowned the winner. Clans that wish to participate must first successfully bid on a desired fortress, and then enter the battle against the clan that’s defending the fortress. Bidding for the fortresses is held from 00:00 – 19:00 GMT every Thursday. All participants, regardless of outcome, will win Adena, EXP, and Proof of Blood, and the winning clan will win bonus rewards, including red diamonds and buffs for the in-game characters and freshly won fortress.

Open Siege, held every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 19:30 – 20:00 GMT, invites players above level 11 to participate in this smaller scale 30v.30 battle which gives newcomers a taste of the grander Fortress Siege. All participants will have equal combat power and level, but are given the choice of any class and race in the Open Siege. Players can enter on their own, or for a party up to five. Similar to Fortress Siege, the team that “imprints” on their opponent’s Holy Artefacts wins. Players receive rewards based on the results of the match or their personal contribution.

In celebration of the Open Siege update, the schedule for Open Siege will be adjusted for the first week of the update: A total of five Open Siege will be held – Wednesday (December 13) and Saturday (December 16) on the first week, and Tuesday (December 19), Thursday (December 21), and Saturday (December 23) on the second week. Schedule will resume to every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from the following week. (Schedule is subject to change with notice).

Along with the major content update, three new servers, including Kruma 05, Kenrauhel 07, and Deforge 06 will be opened in North America and Europe, in an effort to enhance server traffic in existing servers. New players to the game can now join the new server to enjoy the game seamlessly and challenge for the top ranks.

Additional updates include The Fortress Conquer Shop and more gameplay improvements.

“With the game now available in over 54 countries we are eager to see how new players experience the new features that have been available to players in Asia,” said Netmarble’s Chief Global Officer Seungwon Lee. “The Fortress Siege is an important gameplay feature of Lineage 2: Revolution, and we hope players are excited to test out the massive scale battles that were once unheard of for mobile devices.”

Lineage 2: Revolution is available worldwide on the App Store® and Google Play™.

For more information on Lineage 2: Revolution, please visit the website at http://l2.netmarble.com

Asmodee Digital, Fantasy Flight Interactive to Adapt The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game for PC

ROSEVILLE, Minnesota - Dec. 9, 2017 – Asmodee Digital and Fantasy Flight Interactive today announced they are partnering to bring The Lord of the Rings™: The Card Game to PC, as a digitally optimized adaption of the best-selling Living Card Game® from Fantasy Flight Games.

Fantasy Flight Games revolutionized tabletop card games with the highly successful The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game. As a Living Card Game, The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game relied on a fixed distribution of cards to remove randomness from the purchase model and brought players deeper into The Lord of the Rings universe with a focus on immersive, narrative-driven experiences. Now, Fantasy Flight Interactive brings that same philosophy to the digital card game market with The Lord of the Rings Living Card Game—a completely unique digital card game with a non-randomized approach to card purchasing and a focus on cooperative, story-based gameplay.

"The Lord of the Rings Living Card Game takes what fans love about the physical card game—adventure, lore, and a chance to play using powerful characters and artifacts—and adapts it for an entirely unique interactive experience on the PC," said Tim Gerritsen, Head of Fantasy Flight Interactive. "For those unfamiliar with the card game, the digital adaptation invites players to become a part of the fantastical world J.R.R. Tolkien created and embark on new adventures."

As a single-player experience, The Lord of the Rings Living Card Game tasks players with leading a team of three heroes through a series of narrative campaigns across Middle-earth as they face off against the dark forces of Sauron, controlled by the computer. Players will forge their own fellowships and build decks comprised of ally, event, and equipment cards to face challenges that test their willpower, knowledge, tactics and leadership. In the future, The Lord of the Rings Living Card Game will be expanded to support co-op play, allowing two players to bring their fellowships together and fight through quests side-by-side!

See the announcement trailer:

https://youtu.be/AxaMLfI444Q

The Lord of the Rings Living Card Game will launch first into Early Access via Steam, as a single-player-only game in the coming months. The game will be launched as a full free-to-play release in 2018

Dying Light: Bad Blood | Techland Announces a New PvP Expansion

December 7th, 2017 - Wroclaw, Poland / As a response to numerous fan requests for a Player-vs-Player approach to Dying Light, and the recent popularity of the battle royale genre among the survival horror fans, today Techland unveiled its new standalone expansion - Dying Light: Bad Blood. While retaining the core of what made people fall in love with Dying Light in the first place, Bad Blood will offer violent and dynamic online matches that blend PvP and PvE styles of gameplay.

“Our aim is both to satisfy players’ demands for competitive PvP gameplay and to explore new directions for Dying Light’s multiplayer experience,” said Tymon Smektala, Producer at Techland. “Since Bad Blood was inspired by fan requests, we want player feedback to be an integral part of our development. That's why we’re inviting Dying Light fans to take part in our Global Playtest. They can play the expansion early and share their thoughts, knowing their feedback will have a major influence on Bad Blood's development.”

Global Playtest is a closed online event that allows selected players to try out Dying Light: Bad Blood before its release. PC players can register for the playtest now.

To join the Global Playtest sign up and complete the survey at:
http://bit.ly/Dying_Light_Bad_Blood

Dying Light: Bad Blood will be launched as a standalone PvP expansion in 2018. All supported platforms for the full release will be announced at a later date.

A Beautiful New Version of Iconic Abstract Strategy Game, Abalone Available Now on iOS, Android and Steam

PARIS - December. 6, 2017 - Asmodee Digital today announced the launch of a major update to Abalone, an abstract, two-player marble game loosely inspired by sumo wrestling. In Abalone, players are challenged to push six of their opponent’s 14 marbles off the edge of the board. Only a longer line of marbles can push a shorter one, and with six sides flanking each game piece, players will have to toe the delicate line between defensive and offensive play to come out on top. The new version of Abalone is available now on iOS, Android and Steam for Windows PC.

Get a glimpse of the new version of Abalone in the launch trailer here:


Players seeking a challenge can face off against other Abalone masters in online multiplayer, and for those who prefer to maintain the more tactile, personal feel of face-to-face tabletop gaming, Abalone provides a local pass-and-play multiplayer mode.

Main features:

• Solo:
- Three levels of difficulty against the AI (Easy, Medium, Hard)
- Solo campaign with unique challenges
- Game mode lets you create your own game, your own rules, and place the first marbles

• Multiplayer:
- Pass & Play Mode
- Online Mode

• Available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Dutch

You can find the new Abalone today on the App Store ($2.99), Google Play ($2.99), and Steam ($4.99).