Karlsruhe / San Francisco, September 18, 2015 | flaregames, a leading international developer and publisher of F2P mobile games,  announced today that Dawn of Steel, a deeply tactical strategy game for iOS devices, launches worldwide on September 24, 2015. The developer is Superweapon, a new studio comprised of friends who worked on prestigious strategy game franchises like Command & Conquer, Empires & Allies, Company of Heroes, and The Lord of the Rings. Dawn of Steel will be free to play and be available localized in 17 languages.

Klaas Kersting, CEO of flaregames, says: “I simply cannot overstate my excitement. Superweapon and flaregames worked so hard on this game. We’re very pleased with how it came out and are dying to see how gamers worldwide will react to it!”

Amer Ajami, President of Superweapon, adds: “We used the months since the game was announced to expand and polish the meta gameplay, giving Dawn of Steel a new strategic dimension. We also added more content, fixed bugs and incorporated feedback from hundreds of players. A developer’s work is never done, but we’re sure to have created a game that millions of players will love!”

Dawn of Steel aims to capture the essence of the real-time strategy genre for mobile devices: Players assemble squads of giant mechanized walkers, called Rigs, and direct them on an assault of enemy fortifications. Success depends on tactical prowess, quick decision-making, and precise movement. This is assisted by the intuitive direct-touch control scheme that gives the player many options of how to harness the mechanized power he’s controlling. To defend against these mighty armored behemoths, dealing destruction with surgical precision, is no easy feat: Players have to use cunning, strategic foresight and, again, tactical thinking, as base-building in Dawn of Steel is more than just unlocking and placing buildings. Commanders get to utilize stationary weaponry, which must be arranged carefully to maximise damage with overlapping lines of sight, and can launch automated counter-attacks through the use of unit-spawning buildings. They must align buildings within the effects of auxiliary installations to maximize their defensive potential, and this makes for base-building that is unmatched in tactical depth.

On the lush surface of the planet Leviathan, corporate armies battle for control of Plasma, the most precious resource of all. And on this very battlefield, the fate of Earth will be determined.

About Superweapon

Headquartered in Southern California, Superweapon is a small team of game devs whose collective experience includes work on the Command & Conquer, Company of Heroes, The Lord of the Rings, Crysis, and Empires & Allies franchises. The studio has been working on Dawn of Steel since its founding in 2013.

About flaregames

flaregames is a fast-growing mobile game publisher and developer focused on creating fun, high-quality, free-to-play games for smartphones and tablets. The company has a pipeline of games in development internally, and is working with some of the world’s most talented mobile game developers to bring their games to mobile gamers.

The company was founded in 2011 by a group of industry veterans, including Klaas Kersting, the former CEO and founder of online games category leader Gameforge. flaregames is venture-backed, having raised $23 million from international VCs like Accel Partners and T-Ventures. Funds are used to employ industry-leading talent, build world-class games and ensure the company fulfills its destiny of becoming a major publisher reaching and entertaining the massive global audience of mobile gamers. flaregames is based in Karlsruhe, Germany.

More information: www.flaregames.com

Submitted by: E. Thomas

Most Downloaded Day-One Game in PlayStation History

More People Played Destiny on The Taken King Launch Day
Than at the Original Destiny Launch

London, UK. - 17^th September, 2015 - Bungie and Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) announced today that Destiny: The Taken King broke the record for the most downloaded day-one game in PlayStation history and set a new day-one franchise benchmark for both total players and peak online concurrency, surpassing the original Destiny launch day last September, which was itself the biggest new video game franchise launch in history. 

“Destiny: The Taken King is officially the most downloaded game on day-one in PlayStation history and set a new benchmark for both total Destiny players and peak online concurrency on day-one, so it’s safe to say the Destiny franchise continues to gain momentum,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “Along with our talented partners at Bungie, we cannot wait to watch the community continue to grow and tackle the King’s Fall Raid kicking off on Friday.”

For players who are new to Destiny, everything needed to jump in is available in the Legendary Edition which includes: Destiny, Expansion I: The Dark Below, Expansion II: House of Wolves, and features The Taken King, a tremendous value for the scope of the content offered.  Those who have already purchased Destiny and both expansions can purchase a digital copy of The Taken King by itself. Both Destiny: The Taken King and the Legendary Edition are available at thousands of retail stores around the world and also are available for digital download.

PlayStation® gamers receive access to a host of additional content for The Taken King, including a Strike, a Crucible map, three sets of armour and an exotic weapon, timed exclusive until at least autumn 2016.  Both The Taken King and the Legendary Edition include a character boost, called “Spark of Light,” a one-time increase to level 25 which is the minimum level required to play The Taken King content.

With a new storyline introducing Oryx, Crota’s vengeful father, an all-new destination, three new Guardian subclasses, a massive arsenal of new armour, weapons and exotics, new Strikes and Crucible maps, and the new ‘King’s Fall’ Raid that will put players to the ultimate test, there has never been a better time to jump in to “Become Legend,” particularly for new players beginning their journey as a Guardian. The Taken King major expansion takes players deep into the chambers of a new destination, the ‘Dreadnaught’ ship, to defeat Oryx, and his Taken Army.

The Taken King is rated PEGI 16, and is available for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system (PlayStation® Plus required for some features), PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system and Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft (Xbox Live Gold required for some features). 

The community can interact directly with the developers at www.Bungie.net , www.facebook.com/Bungie and @Bungie on Twitter. For game information, they can visit www.DestinyTheGame.com and follow the official Destiny social channels at www.facebook.com/DestinyTheGame and @DestinyTheGame on Twitter. 

About Bungie
Bungie was founded in 1991 with two goals: develop kick ass games that combine state-of-the-art technology with uncompromising art, captivating storytelling, and deep gameplay, and then to sell enough copies to fund our ongoing quest for World Domination. Over the past twenty years, Bungie created a bunch of fun games, including the Halo franchise, the Marathon Trilogy, and the first two Myth games. Our independent, employee-owned development studio is located in Bellevue, Washington, the base where we launched our most ambitious project to date: Destiny.

More information about Bungie can be found at  www.bungie.net .

About Activision Publishing, Inc.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc. is a leading global producer and publisher of interactive entertainment.) Activision maintains operations throughout the world and is a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), an S&P 500 company.  More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website,www.activision.com  or by following  @Activision.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing’s expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future, including statements about the expected release date of the King’s Fall Raid are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing’s actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include unanticipated product delays and other factors identified in the risk factors sections of Activision Blizzard’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

Submitted by: E. Thomas

Steal from the Living, Defend from the Dead

Leading independent mobile games publisher, Chillingo, today announced the worldwide launch of Sundown: Boogie Frights - a retro-themed, combat city building and tower defense mash-up that will have you loving it's superfly heroes and rollergirl zombies!

It’s the summer of 1978 and the zombie outbreak is in full swing.  Get ready to bomb  zombies to oblivion as you defend the town of Somewhere, New Mexico.  Send tough guy, Jimmy, out on rescue missions to find other survivors.  Raise your own army of specialized zombies to help loot nearby towns.

Keep your town safe as the Mayor races to find a cure for the outbreak! Obliterate zombies with cannonballs, basketballs, discoballs, fireballs, even cows! Activate elaborate decoys like a steamroller, ice-cream truck, firehall and the classic 70’s disco to thwart mobs.

Build your town into a maze of buildings that help slow down and confuse zombies. Conduct rescue missions to find more survivors and resources for rebuilding. Unlock and upgrade unique zombies ranging from Daredevils to Ham & Hippie. Steal valuable resources from others in this funky, post-apocalyptic player vs player game.

App Store: http://apple.co/1N6yLwx
Google Play Store: http://bit.ly/1Od075W
Launch Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qMfk16pXLY

About Chillingo
Chillingo, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts, is a leading mobile games publisher with numerous award-winning hits around the world including  Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Iron Force, Perfect Kick, Catapult King, Pixel People  and countless others. The company publishes games for iOS and Android platforms.For more information about the company and its games, please visit  www.chillingo.com.

© 2015 Electronic Arts Inc.

Submitted by: E. Thomas

Clear your schedule because on September 25th, Guns, Gore & Cannoli is coming to Xbox One and with it comes a shiny new trailer: https://youtu.be/AegMTKLk5Ys

After its successful release for PC & Mac, Crazy Monkey Studios has prepared their hilarious action shooter Guns, Gore & Cannoli for the console market.  It will be the first Belgian game ever to be released on Xbox One!

On top of the 2D, fast-paced, humorous campaign mode you will get 13 additional free skins you can use from, not only for the campaign mode but also for the extra new game mode we added:
That’s right! Guns, Gore & Cannoli will now be available with versus mode to turn friends into foes and foes into pulp!  With even faster action, new areas and AI.

Don't have anyone around? ... Neither did we! As we locked ourselves into our basements and  build a new battle AI ready to take over the world. And no better way to test it out then to put it in our new versus mode.

This AI can calculate all your moves and tricks 1 million times faster than you do and can predict the future.  It's prediction: You will die.
Do you think your reflexes and years of experience can outsmart 21kb of seemingly random gibberish code? Find out soon!

Please let us know if you are interested in trying the game. We can share you a review code for Xbox One or PC. (The version for PS4 is still in certification and will soon be announced)

If you want a piece of the action then check out some of the game’s assets right here.
http://gunsgorecannoli.com

Submitted by: E. Thomas

Activision Publishing, Inc. and FreeStyleGames have officially announced the three Avenged Sevenfold songs that will be playable in the GHTV Premium Shows in Guitar Hero Live. The songs are:

·“Shepherd of Fire”
·“Buried Alive”
·“Nightmare”

Please find attached two specific Avenged Sevenfold in-game screens, while additional assets can be downloaded from the above link.

Multi-platinum rock band Avenged Sevenfold are famous for their spectacular live shows, and these tracks will feature concert footage recorded at the band’s headline performance in front of 70,000 fans at the UK’s Download Festival this summer. Fans who pre-order Guitar Hero Live will be able to access this bonus Avenged Sevenfold content, which includes this premium show, a custom note highway and more.

Premium Shows are a big feature of GHTV in Guitar Hero Live, and a great way to give players unique gameplay experiences. Players will be able to access these premium shows, which can be anything from playable live concert footage, new GHTV music videos and beyond, by completing various in-game challenges. Players are then rewarded with cool incentives including guitar upgrades, player cards, note highways and more, some of which are exclusive to particular premium shows.

Guitar Hero Live will be available on Friday, 23^rd October, 2015 for the PlayStation®4 system, PlayStation®3 system, Xbox One™, Xbox 360™, Nintendo's Wii U™ system, Apple TV and iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The game is rated PEGI 12. For more information about the game, please visit http://www.guitarhero.com , www.youtube.com/guitarhero or follow @guitarhero on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. For more information on Avenged Sevenfold, follow the band on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Submitted by: E. Thomas