At PAX, the Devs were excited and stoked about the season finale the previous night on SyFy, where there were drastic results in the show and in the game world. Defiance the game has been a successful massive cross-over with the Sy-Fy television series with the developers of the game and the writers of the show working closely together.
The Aftermath update is due the end of September and instead of DLC patches, there will be a number of free updates. The game went free-to-play in June for the PC and is on the calendar to go free on PS3 and Xbox as well. The world expansion is set in the Silicon Valley and apart from a familiar but devastated landscape, there are plenty of in jokes with the Devs having fun with features like a huge rift splitting the ground where the Trion offices stand, in an area called the Rift. Someone also went to town on the destruction of the San Francisco airport and parking garage.
The “between television season game” deals with the aftermath and ramifications of the season finale. Both show and game deal with the growing threat of cults. Alien “cultists” are trying to gain a foot hold and infecting the world. There are artifacts (Arkfalls), remnants of spaceships that still respond to, and can be called down with a beacon. Of course when on of these massive pieces of space junk sets down, it attracts all sorts of low-lifes, passers-by and aliens. Before you can reap the rewards, you have to defend your claim.
The “Defiant Few” a group of humans and Votons who laid down their arms and defied their governments to end the Pale Wars are still honored in the game. Players can tag buildings with the Defiant Few logo and gain rewards. The marketing relationship with Dodge automobiles continue and new vehicle models continue to be released in the game.
There will be a series of major updates providing players with new instances, new technology and new armament. In a nod to the “PAX Pox,” a new weapon was released commemorating PAX with a sword which caused biological damage.
When asked about the next season, we got the cagey response of “Umm… well, the next season actually has not been signed.” Although not widely acclaimed, both the game and the show has it’s own niche audience, so what do you think?
