Opus Magnum is Now Available on Steam and is 10% off!*

Opus Magnum is the latest open-ended puzzle game from Zachtronics, the creators of SpaceChem, Infinifactory, and SHENZHEN I/O. Design and build machines that assemble potions, poisons, and more using the alchemical engineer’s most advanced tool: the transmutation engine!

*Offer ends December 14 at 10AM Pacific Time

The monthly crowdfunding service Patreon has announced that it is altering the way it collects service fees, a decision that has drawn some level of concern from game developers, artists, and other creators that rely on the platform for support. 

On paper, the change will mean that creators take home a bigger chunk of each Patreon pledge and that overall fees will decrease. Previously creators covered the fees which, according to Patreon, could fall anywhere between 2 to 10 percent of a pledge.

The upcoming change instead lowers those fees to a flat 2.9 percent plus $0.35 fee that is instead paid by the user making the pledge. While creators previously took home only 85-93 percent of any given pledge, the new system locks that income in at 95 percent by tacking the service fees on as an additional charge, not included in the pledge amount.

But since the new system places the fee on each individual supporter’s pledge, those contributing small $1-$5 pledges to creators see their monthly costs rise and many Patreon users are worried that some lower-tier pledges will vanish as a result. 

While creators will still lose 5 percent each pledge to Patreon, the upcoming change charges the ‘patrons’ contributing to a campaign a 2.9 percent plus $0.35 service fee for each individual pledge they make. So a user pledging a single dollar is now paying $1.38 per pledge while a user pledging $10 would instead pay $10.64. 

The biggest hit, however, comes to those supporters that currently pledge small dollar amounts to multiple creators monthly as someone pledging $1 to 10 different creators is now paying $13.79 a month versus the previous $10.

As Engadget points out, many Patreon creators say that those smaller and more affected pledges often account for a sizable chunk of their monthly earnings. As such, many are worried that their monthly income will dip significantly if those patrons aren’t able or willing to stomach the additional fees.

In the blog post detailing the change, Patreon expressed that the decision was ultimately made to help creators take home a more predictable paycheck each and every month.

“We want you to know that we approach every change with a creator-first mindset, aiming to help creators grow their businesses. In preparation for this change, we ran experiments and months and months of research to understand patrons’ potential reactions and we found that many patrons were happy knowing that this change will send more money to creators,” said the post. “While some patrons may leave in the short-term, we know this will help creators earn more money in the long term.”

Update: Patreon has updated their blog with a deeper explanation of its most recent change in service. “[We] spent nearly a year reviewing the numbers and running experiments to make sure the end result was creators either make more money, or keep their current earnings,” reads the updated post.

“We actually experimented with three different service fee structures, all of which were higher than the 2.9% + $0.35 we selected. As it turns out, patrons weren’t nearly as sensitive to the amount of the fee as we predicted, but we ultimately chose the lowest service fee that would offset the third party costs in all likely scenarios,” the post explains. 

“This was never (and still isn’t) about making more money for Patreon as a company. This is a strategic move to make our platform even better for creators and patrons in the future.”  

Many of gaming’s most compelling stories come from those who’ve helped to create our favorite Xbox One games. In our Inside Xbox One X Enhanced series, these creators will share the behind-the-scenes accounts of the work involved in enhancing these epic games for Xbox One X, how they’ve helped chart the course of the world’s most powerful console, and what that means for the future of gaming. Today, we’ll be chatting with Arkane Studios’ Dinga Bakaba, Lead Designer on the series-ending action game Dishonored: Death of the Outsider.

What specifically is your development team doing to enhance Dishonored: Death of the Outsider for Xbox One X?

We used the unique GPU power of the Xbox One X to leverage Dynamic Resolution with cutting edge graphics fidelity. Shadows quality, textures definition and level of details are at their best. The extra CPU power also helped us to make the framerate steadier even under heavy Dishonored-style combat situation.

How do these enhancements impact the gaming experience?

The immersion is magnified and the experience is true to the original intentions. Looks better, feel better.

Why did your development team choose to focus on these enhancement areas?

Given the powerful GPU and the 12GB GDDR5 of graphic memory we wanted to use it to reveal the deep and detailed world of Dishonored.

How do you expect fans of Dishonored: Death of the Outsider will respond to seeing/playing it on Xbox One X with these enhancements?

During development, many of us just stopped suddenly to watch, attracted by the gorgeous visuals. Some people were getting very close to the screen just to see how many details their eyes could catch in the distance. We can’t wait to see the reactions of the players. We expect them to be astonished by the visuals and thrilled by the whole enhanced experience.

How has the process been to get the game up and running on Xbox One X?

It was pretty short and straightforward. Leaving us some space to push the limitations back again and again.

What enhancement were you most excited about to explore leveraging for Dishonored: Death of the Outsider on Xbox One X?

4K UHD, definitely.

What does 4K and HDR mean for your game, games in the future and development at your studio?

4K is a game changer and soon it will become the new standard. Death of the Outsider shows some very detailed geometry which is magnified in 4K, revealing details, no aliasing and a crisp picture.

HDR provides a vivid and life-like color panels, which is something we are excited to leverage in the future.

Thanks to Dinga for taking the time to chat with us about Xbox One X Enhanced. We’ll be bringing you more interviews with more developers in the future, so stay tuned to Xbox Wire!

Ever since cereal maker Kellogg’s announced it was once again teaming up with Nintendo to release a Super Mario-themed breakfast line we’ve all been banging our empty bowls with anticipation. It’s due to exclusively hit US stores on 11th December (you lucky people), but the Big K has dropped a delicious tease for a potential UK release.

When quizzed on Twitter as to whether the product – which includes amiibo functionality for extra coins in Super Mario Odyssey – the official Kellogg’s UK & IRE account responded with, “Patience is a virtue .” Could we really be seeing the much-hyped, Lucky Charms-style product on British shores or Kellogg’s just trying to get us all hyped up over nothing?

We’ve tasted a bowl for ourselves and we were left impressed, but is it enough to get you excited for the release of a cereal? Let us know in the comments section below.

Cobalt WASD is Now Available on Steam!

Cobalt WASD is a multiplayer bomb-defusal action platformer with grenades that stop time. Blast your way to the bomb site or repel the assault! Use teleporter guns, grappling hooks, sticky sentry turrets and quick tactical thinking to lead your team to victory! Play online or against AI!

Debut Event of Season Brings in Record Number of Teams to a CWL Event;
CWL Season Prize Pool Tops $4.2 Million

First Live Open Tournament of new CWL Season Features Over 200 Teams from North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific Region to Compete for $200,000 Prize Pool

SANTA MONICA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– The first open tournament of what could be the most exciting season yet of the Call of Duty® World League (CWL) gets underway today through Sunday (December 8 -10) at the CWL Dallas Open. Call of Duty Esports teams from around the world, including North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region (APAC) will descend on the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas to go head-to-head for the first bragging rights of the new CWL season featuring Call of Duty®: WWII and the initial steps toward the biggest yearly prize pool in CWL history topping $4.2 million.

This weekend’s event will feature more than 200 teams, the most at an open event in CWL history. The top four teams from the open winners’ bracket will join pool play tomorrow for the next round of competition. Those winning teams will then compete on Sunday in the championship bracket, for a $200,000 event prize pool and the title of the CWL Dallas Open Champion.

“The CWL Dallas field is set. This is going to be an amazing competition and a great start to the CWL tournament season,” said executive vice president and general manager of Call of Duty, Rob Kostich. “The team at Sledgehammer Games has delivered an incredible experience with Call of Duty: WWII. Our team passes for the event sold out in minutes. We cannot wait to see who emerges from the pack starting in Dallas this weekend.”

“Call of Duty World League player participation saw tremendous growth last season, with teams vying for a piece of the largest prize pool in Call of Duty Esports history,” said Call of Duty Esports Director, Kevin Flynn. “This season, the prize pool has increased to $4.2 million and a record number of players at a Call of Duty World League open event will compete in Dallas.”

2017 CWL Dallas Open Champion OpTic Gaming will have to defend their title against fierce competition at this year’s event.

CWL Dallas Open tickets are available in multiple varieties. General admission passes for the event are available for $59.99 (plus applicable fees and taxes). A Premium Pass for the event is also available for $89.99 (plus applicable fees and taxes) and includes an event t-shirt and one month of MLG GameBattles Premium. A $299.99 (plus applicable fees and taxes) VIP ticket is also available and includes an event t-shirt, event jacket, one-hour early entrance to the venue, access to the VIP Lounge and more. For tickets, visit MLG.com/CWLDallas.

Visit CallofDuty.com/esports and follow the Call of Duty World League on Twitter and Instagram for the latest CWL updates. For live broadcasts and Video on Demand, visit MLG.com/CallofDuty.

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, Inc. (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 dates and features of the CWL Dallas Open and the features of the Call of Duty World League, 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.

© 2017 Major League Gaming Corp. ACTIVISION, CALL OF DUTY and CALL OF DUTY WWII are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. MAJOR LEAGUE GAMING is a trademark of Major League Gaming Corp. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171208005494/en/

Call of Duty World League
Xav de Matos
Public Relations
xav.dematos@activision.com

Source: Activision Publishing, Inc.

News Provided by Acquire Media

This week at Bungie, we explored Mercury – in two timelines.

Curse of Osiris will send you to a new destination, where you’ll learn its fate in the past, present, and future. At the heart of the journey is a forest of endless realities.

If you missed it, here’s the recap.

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Next week, we’re back with a parade of the gear you’ll earn, including some details on new ways to earn it.

Sustaining Operations

This is our report.

Buffalo, Part 2

Last week, Hotfix 1.0.7.1 was released to address Buffalo errors on PC. We have discovered that some players are receiving erroneous Buffalo errors within the game client that are caused by alternate factors. These issues sometimes relate to network stability, or having multiple PCs connected to Destiny on a local network. Please follow steps within the Network Troubleshooting Guide to ensure you’ve applied the correct settings for Destiny 2 gameplay. Additionally, follow steps for configuring UPnP if you have multiple PC’s on the same network.

Continued Investigations

• Faction Rally Tokens: We have identified an issue where Faction Rally tokens are removed when players create new characters within Destiny 2. We are seeking to resolve this issue prior to the first Faction Rallies event of Season 2.
• “Leviathan” Raid: Calus may sometimes become immune to damage during the final phase of the encounter
• Black Screen when Loading into the Tower: Players may sometimes encounter a black screen when loading into the Tower. This may resolve itself after one minute, or players may workaround this issue by visiting an alternate destination and loading into the Tower once more
• Bright Engram Ornaments: Sweet Business and Sturm ornaments within the Bright Engram may display “Already added to Collection” before a player acquires these items. This issue does not prevent players from earning these items.
• Hunter Survivalist Perk: The Survivalist perk on legendary Hunter leg armor does not grant the intended Recovery stats.

Back to the Box Office

Take your seats, turn off your cell phones, and enjoy the show!

Movie of the Week: Arcstrider PC Montage

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Honorable Mention: Fragment 2

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Honorable Mention: Shaxx likes puns

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Winners should get their reward within one week of being featured. If you haven’t found the emblem within your Vault Collection, let us know in the #Help forum.

This week, we’re publishing this article a day early, as Bungie will be dark on Thursday and Friday. We’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving here in the United States, sharing time with friends and family. Some will be engaging in food prep, while others will be jumping into the Iron Banner for some friendly competition.

Cheers,

-dmg04