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Over the past two years E3 has come and gone with some big announcements, still it never shook gaming to its core. In 2018 everyone had predicted an E3 of battle royale clones. No one thought we would see story driven games again, but we got it wrong. Companies are betting on games fueled with narrative titles like: The Last of Us 2, Ghost of Tsushima, and Cyberpunk 2077. The best news of all, the major announcement from E3, is an MMO set in Fallout.

In game design it is always a race to the finish. Usually when it comes to game genres or types of ideas there are several titles trying to hit the market all at once. Boss Key Production had Lawbreakers which was its premiere title. The game was set to go into the arena shooter line up against: Overwatch, Paragon, Battleborn, and several others. This was no easy task.

With Fortnite on everyone’s mind, it harkens back to a simpler time when PvP was just being born. MMOs were the primordial soup in which many online game design ideas were born and we are seeing the decedents of that era dominate the market. Some are already saying that the Battle Royale genre has been tapped out. I offer a different opinion.

At PAX East this weekend we got the chance to chat with the team at Ship of Heroes. The team continues to build out the game and is working on a challenging and fun game which heralds back to the City of Heroes days.

During PAX East 2018, Hearthstone's Ben Brode was on hand to talk about the upcoming expansion, The Witchwood. Garrett Fuller caught up to Ben to check out what's new in The Witchwood and much more.

Battle Royale has become a game style that captured millions, put them on an island and allowed them to fight it out. Some may call it dangerous, others a problem, but for fans of these games it is just flat out fun. Here are some of the mechanics we love about Battle Royale Games. Whether it is PUBG, H1Z1, or Fortnite, we know what makes for fantastic PvP.

This week at GDC we saw some of the technology that will be driving our virtual worlds in the future. The techniques on cutting edge graphics and high end hardware are so distinct, we’ll be stepping into the most realistic settings we have ever faced. EPIC Games and Nvidia both gave presentation that turned some heads in where gaming will be no more than a decade from now.

This past week Vermintide 2 made its way to the market, a game that captures the essence of first person horde survival combat. I hope I got that right? Here is why Vermintide is such a win.

Vermintide takes place in the Warhammer universe. For those unfamiliar, it is a dark place full of death and disease. Plague rats and their larger cousins the Skaven rule the sewers of the human cities killing anything that goes down there. Vermintide 2 takes you out of the sewers and sometimes into the wildlands around the city. You have choices of up to fifteen heroes in this co-op fighter.

Been in games long? Well then you have seen every possible payment model known to mankind. Now the ESRB is finally getting involved and talking about setting up warning labels for loot crates. Here is a hint, warning labels on anything never stopped people from getting what they wanted. If anything it could make the problem worse. However, we have to start somewhere.

There have been rumors flying about Disney possibly pulling their contract with EA lately after much of the controversy with Star Wars Battlefront 2. The loot crate debacle continues to plague the game world and EA could be seeing a huge hit from one of their top franchises. So, let’s say for example, that Disney pulls their license from EA within the next year, what does that mean for Star Wars games?

As MMO players we have likely seen it all. Starting in the early days where MMOs were also open battlegrounds. Games like Ultima Online were just open, with few safe zones. In order to really play though you had to venture outside. However, this trend in competitive gaming has really grown strong in recent titles. Here are a few examples of how we are living in the PvP era.

We are living in an interesting time as MMOs become more mainstream. Many here will say that the traditional MMO is not, but it is there, living within games like Destiny and eventually Anthem. Games are set up specifically to draw in large audiences on Twitch. Add in esports to the mix and you have a full viewing spectrum to enjoy.

This week we had the chance to talk with John Devers from Funcom about the Age of Conan Saga server. Here is what he had to say!

If you have been asleep this past year, like me, then you are starting to understand the true power that is Player Unknown Battlegrounds. If you have been awake, and playing the game or any one of its friendly neighbors out there, then you understand this trend in gaming which has swept over pretty much all game styles in the last few months. Here are some thoughts as to why it is so popular.