Ubisoft has confirmed Valiant Hearts: The Great War is coming in June. The puzzle-adventure, set in World War I, was previously confirmed for PS3 and 360. It is now coming to PS4 and XB1 as well. The comic book art style from UbiArt Framework looks magnificent and the story of “crossed destinies and a broken love in a world torn apart” should be interesting. Look for this on your platform of choice June 25th ($14.99).
Microsoft’s parity clause (requiring publishers to release games on their consoles at the same time or ahead of other consoles) means they won’t be getting at least three games from Curve Digital. The Swapper, MouseCraft, and Titan Attacks were already in development before Microsoft launched the ID@Xbox program. Being that they are already scheduled for PlayStation platforms, Microsoft’s parity clause basically says never is better than later. According to Curve’s Design Director, Jonathan Biddle, “it’s unnecessary handcuffs.” He went on to explain that they “are platform agnostic. We’ll support everyone. What works for us is having many as healthy competitors as possible. They’ll all try and promote the games they’ve got, and that’s what we want. We want a healthy ecosystem, so we want everyone to do well.” Ultimately, three indie games probably won’t change Microsoft’s mind about the clause, but fan reaction might. They’ve already shown, famously, that they’re willing to change plans on the XB1 if fans don’t like it.
Despite delays, DriveClub will still have some component that is free for PlayStation Plus subscribers when it releases October 7th. But, what exactly will that be? Is it a glorified demo, an offline only mode, etc.? According to SCEE Product Manager Chris Brown, “DriveClub PlayStation Plus Edition is designed to be a quick and easy way for gamers all over the world to join the DriveClub community. You can take part in all the game modes, set, send and compete in challenges, and race online against others in the DriveClub community.” So what’s it missing that the full game has? You’ll only get a single location, India. That sounds small, and it is in comparison to the full game, but it’s actually pretty expansive. The India location includes 11 tracks, 10 cars, and all of the game’s modes. The full game, to which you can upgrade for only $49.99 with an active subscription, contains 55 tracks and 50 cars. Sony has had to clarify their position on this upgrade. Your $50 upgrade is only available TO BUY while you are subscribed. If you’ve downloaded the free version then let your Plus expire, it will require a full price purchase. If you’ve already paid for the upgrade, then your subscription lapses, it will still be available.
Rumored early last week, and confirmed late, Bethesda and ZeniMax Online have confirmed that the PS4 and Xbox One versions of The Elder Scrolls Online are being delayed approximately six months. The official statement is actually a little clearer than we typically see with these delays:
“We continue to work on the console versions of ESO, and game development has been progressing steadily, but we are still working to solve a series of unique problems specific to those platforms. Integrating our systems with each console manufacturer’s networks—which are both different from the PC/Mac system as well as different from each other—has been a challenging process.
“It has become clear that our planned June release of the console versions isn’t going to be possible. Though we have made great progress, we have concluded that we’ll need about six months to ensure we deliver the experience our fans expect and deserve. We know that the news of an ESO console delay is as disappointing to many of you as it is to us.”
The delay has led to an interesting arrangement, however. Anyone who buys the game on PC or Mac will be able to transfer their character to a console version whenever that releases. An additional offer, for which I’m a little fuzzy on the details at the moment, seems to give PC or Mac owners a console version for only $20 – with another 30 days of game subscription.
SCEE Senior Designer Jed Ashforth recently dropped an unexpected explanation of the DualShock 4’s light bar on TechRadar. According to Ashforth, the reason the light bar exists and can’t be turned off is related to their future plans for VR with Project Morpheus. No further details were explained. This does give us a little more information about why the feature, which isn’t popular with all console owners (complaints include battery life, reflecting off the TV, etc.), has been so adamantly regarded by Sony. Hopefully we’ll have more details at E3 next month. Sony’s conference is scheduled for June 9th at 6pm PDT.
Telltale has confirmed the release of The Walking Dead Season Two Episode Three: In Harm’s Way is out this week. In fact, reading the title probably took long enough that it’s already out. If not, keep frantically refreshing your online store. It will be there soon.