by Stone Marshall | Sep 5, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Even if you can’t quite place the name, there’s a very good chance that you’ve played games Certain Affinity has worked on. Across the last 12 years, the Austin-based developer has been involved with everything from the Call of Duty series to, most recently, World of Tanks’ World Cup soccer mode. Certain Affinity has made a name for itself as a co-developer, but two years into its second decade, the studio is undergoing some significant changes.
“Historically we’ve been super below the radar because we always end up supporting other people, almost always with their big internal development studios, who really, just to be frank, prefer to be the ones in the limelight,” says president and founder Max Hoberman. “A lot of that’s changing because we’re in the process of transitioning to lead development, with original IP development also being a much larger portion of what we do as a company.”
Before setting up Certain Affinity, Hoberman had worked at Bungie for a decade, from right out of college. That was 1997. By the time Halo 2 came around, Hoberman had moved from the publishing side to launching and running Bungie.net, and then again to working on Halo full time, specifically the multiplayer.
“It’s funny, all the ways people interact with games on their consoles today, all the staple foundational ones, I had a hand in,” says Hoberman. “It was a long time ago. But I remember there was a time where I was actually a developer full time, for five or six years. In another life?”
Spreading out
Though he got to wear a lot of hats, the future at Bungie was Halo and Destiny-shaped, and Hoberman wanted more variety. This isn’t the only reason Certain Affinity leaned towards partnering with other developers on projects like Doom’s multiplayer, however. At Bungie, Hoberman had seen the difficulty of moving from developing a single game, Myth, to working on multiple projects.
“I made a decision from the get-go that if we are going to be a multi-project studio, we should be that from day one,” Hoberman explains. “That really was what guided me. I’d say the variety was a fringe benefit in that respect. But the real driving force was this: when I started Certain Affinity, the long term ambition was to absolutely create a powerhouse, triple-A, world class, independent developer who was able to work on multiple franchises at once. Sort of modeled after Blizzard in a lot of ways.”
That sort of lofty goal isn’t something you reach quickly. For the first decade, Certain Affinity immersed itself in other developers’ worlds and designed ancillary content, jumping between them while occasionally working on original projects.
“What differentiates us is we’re really, at the core, a co-developer who will jump in—we’ll take on a chunk of people’s games and we’ll actually co-develop as an extension of their internal team,” Hoberman says. “We’ll take an entire chunk of the game and do lead development on it, soup to nuts. There are companies that really specialize. There’s an engineering shop where specialized engineers in networking will bring your game online. There are UI and UX specialists. There are people who specialize in ports and platform transitions and these sorts of things. But we’re actually similar to the core teams that are developing these games.
“Take Doom, for instance. We took on all the multiplayer development for Doom. We actually came on board at a time when their internal team and single-player, core game mechanics, everything, were in utter chaos. They were going through a lot of transitions of their own. We stepped in and we took on the multiplayer. We ended up working hand-in-hand with the team over at id as they got their stuff sorted out and ultimately made a really amazing game. We were there lockstep with them, really in many ways, an extension of their team.”
For the next decade, however, Certain Affinity wants to invert that. Original development will make up the bulk of the studio’s work, and partnering up with other developers will supplement that.
At the moment, the studio is in the midst of that transition. It’s not completely made the shift, but it’s already changed significantly over the last two years. Around 60-70 percent of the team are working on a pair of games where Certain Affinity is the lead developer. Since neither game has been released yet, Hoberman’s not quite ready to call the transition complete. He wants to repeat the process and show that this is the direction the studio is dedicated to.
This change in priorities has given the studio a chance to work on its own FPS, after years of working on the likes of Call of Duty and Halo. When co-development made up the bulk of its work, Hoberman was hesitant about any original project being an FPS because the designers were already involved in FPS co-development work.
“I was afraid that would create some real strain on our co-development, which was paying the bills,” Hoberman recalls. “So I always tried to do things that were a little bit different, not FPS explicitly. And I think in hindsight that was actually a big mistake. At that 10-year mark, when we did some reflection and looked back and thought about moving forward, it became apparent that we were really hamstringing ourselves by not working on FPS. We have so much FPS experience at the studio, and so much action shooter experience in general, the bulk of it being first-person. It seemed like we were shooting ourselves in the foot, not trying to go big with something that played to our strengths. We made a huge shift and really decided we’re going to do something original in FPS.”
A new expedition
With Last Expedition, Certain Affinity gets to do that. It’s a co-op FPS with a survival layer. Four unfortunate souls land on an alien world that is far from pleased to have human visitors; it’s determined to kill them. So the survivors have to band together, building and fending off the excitable local wildlife. Hoberman’s not revealing more than the broad strokes, but clearly has very high hopes for it.
“It’s highly, highly novel and original. The production quality is really high because that’s what we do. It’s going really well. We actually playtest several times a week. You go in there and everyone’s yelling and screaming and having a good time, which is the best measure of success–when you enjoy your own work and want to be in there playtesting it.”
Alongside that, the studio is also developing an original Transformers title. It’s the largest project at Certain Affinity right now, and the studio’s biggest to date. It’s still very much under wraps, however, locked up in a vault protected by burly Autobots.
When it was working primarily as a co-developer, Certain Affinity didn’t have to concern itself with a game’s business model, but the transition has now made that a priority. Like a lot of studio bosses, Hoberman believes that games as a service is the right way to go.
“Most of the huge success stories these days are games that operate as a service,” he says. “They’re not one and done, or one and wait a few years for the sequel. They really are these living, breathing, continuously enhanced and developed experiences. We’re wholly embracing that shift. As we shift into lead development, we also have to shift into a model where we’re primarily developing games as a service.”
“It’s interesting because that’s not the bulk of what we’ve worked on,” he continues. “The Halos and Dooms and Call of Dutys. There’s multiple transitions that we’re going through as a company as we prepare for this. In that sense, both the Transformers game and Last Expedition have been designed from the ground up to be games as a service, to be games that become people’s hobbies that they play day in and day out, for months and years, and that we’re continuously improving and enhancing.”
It’s been a challenge to get to this point, says Hoberman, which isn’t even the end, but rather another beginning. But it’s worked out for the studio, which has turned a profit every year and has done so without laying anyone off. That, in particular, is something he’s extremely proud of; that, and the culture that has been built up over the last 12 years.
“For the game industry, we’ve built an incredibly unusual place to work,” he says. “We have an incredibly diverse workforce, way more diverse than the game industry at large. A much higher percentage of women developers, that’s one example. We have an incredibly inclusive culture. We have an incredibly mature, no-bullshit, no-ego culture. We have a staff that’s unbelievably talented. Everyone says that, but it’s a fact around here. It’s required to do the type of work we do. Really high end, jumping in and putting out fires and taking things over at the last minute, knocking them out of the park on time and on budget.”
Now Certain Affinity gets to do the same for its own games.
by Stone Marshall | Sep 5, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
The Minecraft Marketplace is about to get the followup on a serious 1-2 punch that could boost creator’s revenues and downloads through the end of July. The Minecraft Team at Microsoft launched the first Minecraft Summer Sale today. As part of this event, most of the content on the Marketplace is getting a steep discount.
While the Summer Sale may get fans downloading more content this month, last month it was the Nintendo Switch that helped fuel sales. The Minecraft Marketplace had 396,511 downloads in June, which is up from 285,816 in April. With the Marketplace hitting Switch for the first time beginning June 26, it’s likely that Nintendo’s platform contributed significantly to that total. You can see past results by tracking the Minecraft Marketplace sales charts here.
But now that Switch is integrated into the Minecraft platform, developers can focus on making their content and the Summer Sale. Some, like Gamemode One founder Sean Davidson, thinks discounts are exactly what some players are waiting for before they spend their money on Minecraft microtransactions.
“We hope and expect that the Minecraft Summer Sale will increase player accessibility to content and potentially drive increased traffic over the remainder of the year,” said Davidson. “Access to products at a discounted rate is a great way to give players and buyers on the fence a chance to see what the Marketplace has to offer.”
Developer Imagiverse has even spent the last few weeks preparing its Lapis Lagoon waterpark map for the sale (it’s already out). This update will roll out to everyone who owns it, and Imagiverse wants positive word-of-mouth to help it perform well in the sale.
“We focused on making sure Lapis Lagoon was going to give the player the best possible waterpark experience they could have in-game,” a spokesperson for Imagiverse explained in a note to GamesBeat. “Old and new players alike will appreciate the work we put into the map getting it ready for the sale.”
Let’s do the charts. Here are the 10 most downloaded pieces of content from the Minecraft Marketplace for June 2018:
Click to view slideshow.
Here it is in list form:
City Life
Mineville Highschool
Dinosaur Park
Planes
Dinosaur Island
Monsters of the Deep
Wildlife: Savanna
Mutant Battle Arena
Prison Escape
Lucky Block Escape
And here are the 10 highest-grossing pieces of content for June 2018:
Click to view slideshow.
List:
City Life
Dinosaur Park
Planes
Dinosaur Island
Monsters of the Deep
Wildlife: Savanna
Mutant Battle Arena
Mineville Highschool
Super Racers
Lucky Block Escape
Next month, we’ll get to see how the Summer Sale affects the charts. This is a big chance for Marketplace partners, and it could turn into one of the biggest months for the Minecraft store so far.
Correction, 12:14 p.m.: Sean Davidson’s name was misspelled as Sean David in the original article. We have corrected the error, and we apologize.
by Stone Marshall | Sep 4, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
The Minecraft Team at Microsoft has landed a major combination with its first Summer Sale and the launch of the Minecraft Marketplace on the Nintendo Switch. Those big moves have led to a growth spurt for the block-building game’s content store, which served up a massive 669,795 downloads in July. That’s up from 396,511 downloads in June, which was already impressive on its own. The Minecraft Team doesn’t share how much money the Marketplace generates each month, but most creations sell for around $1-to-$5. At a hypothetical average of $2 per download, the store could have generated more than $1 million in sales last month.
Minecraft’s Marketplace Summer Sale began July 19 and through the end of the month. The game’s development team worked with its partners, many of whom are small third-party content creators, to discount their Marketplace products by as much as 50 percent. That fueled intense interest from fans who wanted to get the most bang for their buck.
This reveals that many fans are aware of the Minecraft Marketplace and think about using it regularly, but they want to hold off for better prices. That’s something that Mojang, the studio responsible for Minecraft, and Marketplace creators can take advantage of.
But enough of all that, let’s get to the charts.
Top 10 most downloaded
4. City Life 4. City Life
Here it is in list form:
Kingdom Survival
Millionaire Mansions
Mineville High School
City Life
Castles & Dragons
Dinosaur Park
Isles of Aloha
Spring Mini-Games Festival
Dinosaur Island
Prison Escape
Top 10 highest grossing
8. Chroma Hills 8. Chroma Hills
Here it is in list form:
Millionaire Mansions
City Life
Castles & Dragons
Dinosaur Park
Mineville High School
Dinosaur Island
Wildlife: Savanna
Chroma Hills
Planes
Dwarven Mining Company
We’ll be back with more news from the Minecraft Marketplace next month.
by Stone Marshall | Sep 4, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Anthem's previously-announced demo will launch on February 1, developer BioWare has revealed during today's Anthem PAX West 2018 panel.
Arriving on February 1 will put the demo exactly three weeks ahead of the game's full release, and thus, the demo will be a complete demo of the final product, not simply a beta test shrouded as a demo.
Details on the nature of the demo – such as its length – haven't been revealed, but it will presumably be of the game's opening hours. Or maybe not. Who knows. Concrete details should arrive closer to February though.
In the build-up to said demo, BioWare plans on holding beta tests, though this won't be as open as the demo. Details on said tests will be provided as they draw closer.
The demo will release on each of the game's platforms – PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One – however, in order to gain access you will need to either pre-order a copy of the game or be subscribed to EA Access/Origin Access Premier. In other words, if you aren't subscribed to EA's games service or don't want to pre-order, you won't be seeing Anthem three weeks before launch.
To accompany the release date announcement of the demo, BioWare also revealed a brand-new trailer focused on the game's story, its innovative storytelling techniques, and its shared, dynamic world.
Anthem is poised to release on February 22 via the PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One.
For all the recent news and media on the game, check out our previous coverage of the title by clicking here. Or if it's simply more information about Anthem and its premise you're after, then here's a brief overview:
“In Anthem, up to four friends can unravel the world’s mysteries and take on its most fearsome challenges together. Shared danger means shared glory, and successful Freelancers will all be richly rewarded for successful exploits. Throughout their adventure, players can outfit their Freelancers with powerful Javelin exosuits, each of which are equipped with unique weapons and abilities. Players can also customize their Javelin with gear they earn and craft throughout the adventure, and leave a lasting mark on the world.”
by Stone Marshall | Sep 3, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
An unofficial Pokemon guidebook is being crowdfunded on Kickstarter that takes a look at the original 151 Pokemon designs and the inspirations behind them.
Author Noah Shepherd combined backgrounds in biology and graphic design to create On the Origin: Kanto Edition, the Kickstarter project that’s seen here. An analysis of the original Generation I, all 151 Pokemon get double-page spreads that break down the creatures’ designs with explanations for the real-world organisms and effects that influenced them. An example of these pages, seen below, takes a look at Drowzee while the accompanying page further down gives the backstory on the Pokemon.
Drowzee Pokemon On the Origin
(Photo: Noah Shepherd)
Speaking to ComicBook.com, Shepherd said that his inspirations for the project were rooted in Pokemon Go and an encounter with a Wailmer.
“The idea came about when I was playing Pokémon Go whilst walking home from work along the river Thames,” he said. “A Wailmer encounter reminded me of the time that a real whale swum up the river, and in typical biologist fashion I started thinking about the type of whale that Wailmer is based on.”
That led to the creation of an Instagram page where Pokemon Go players shared images of Pokemon which Shepherd would then analyze from a biological perspective. From there, Shepherd took the idea and decided to put it into a physical form by starting the Kickstarter project for On the Origin: Kanto Edition.
Tracking towards the fully-funded goal of $19,441, the book project has currently raised $13,337 with one week to go at the time this is being published. Shepherd has a variety of pledge packages ranging from “Take a Chansey” to “Doduo Hardcovers,” the latter being one that grants backers two copies of the hardcover edition of the book. Several different pledge options are available through the Kickstarter page that offer PDF, softcover, and hardcover versions of the book among other incentives.
Drowzee Pokemon Backstory On the Origin
(Photo: Noah Shepherd)
Within the next week, Shepherd also added that he plans on adding stretch goals to the project to supplement the physical books with more features.
“One example stretch goal is a cover sleeve for the hardcover book,” he told us. The sleeve will display a map with an illustration of every Kanto Pokemon's backstory located where it originates!”
When asked if the Kanto Edition could lead to other Pokemon guides that featured later generations, Shepherd told us that he’s focused on the Kanto Edition right now but added that analyzing other Generations with more guides is a dream of his.
The Kickstarter project for On the Origin: Kanto Edition currently has 266 backers and is scheduled to end on September 9.
by Stone Marshall | Sep 3, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Today, retailer Best Buy announced that new demo events for upcoming Nintendo Switch exclusive, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, will be coming to select stores starting next week.
Details on the actual content of the demo are unknown, but we do know the special event will last all the way until October 7 and hit multiple stores across the country, offering up a chance to virtually every hardcore Super Smash Bros. fan to get their hands on the game prior to its launch later this year.
Best Buy has also teased that special prizes will be handed out at the event, though unsurprisingly it didn't provide any details on said prizes.
Anyway, here's a rundown of every location the demo event will hit:
New York
Best Buy Upper West Side
1880 Broadway
New York, NY 10023
Saturday, September 8: 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Sunday, September 9: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
San Francisco Bay Area
Best Buy San Jose
181 Curtner Ave.
San Jose, CA 95125
Saturday, September 8: 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Sunday, September 9: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Chicago
Best Buy Bucktown
2100 N. Elston Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
Saturday, September 15: 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Sunday, September 16: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Los Angeles
Best Buy Torrance
3675 Pacific Coast Highway
Torrance, CA 90505
Saturday, September 15: 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Sunday, September 16: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Minneapolis
Best Buy Richfield
1000 West 78th St
Richfield, MN 55423
Saturday, September 22: 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Sunday, September 23: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Dallas
Best Buy Park Lane
9378 N. Central Expressway
Dallas, TX 75231
Saturday, September 22: 10 a.m.–7 p.m
Sunday, September 23: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Atlanta
Best Buy Buckhead
2537 Piedmont Rd NE
Atlanta, GA 30324
Saturday, September 29: 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Sunday, September 30: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Denver
Best Buy Colorado Blvd.
4100 E Mexico Ave.
Suite A
Denver, CO 80222
Saturday, September 29: 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Sunday, September 30: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Miami
Best Buy Hialeah
4001 W 20th Ave.
Hialeah, FL 33012
Saturday, October 6: 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Sunday, October 7: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Seattle
Best Buy Bellevue
457 120th Ave. NE
Bellevue, WA 98005
Saturday, October 6: 10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Sunday, October 7: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
You can find more information about the demo events here.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is scheduled to release on December 4 via the Nintendo Switch. For more news, media, and information on the game, be sure to check out our previous coverage of the title by clicking here.
Source: Nintendo Everything
