Bulgarian developer Masthead Studios, after a long and difficult year, has decided to pull the plug on Earthrise, their sci-fi/fantasy MMO. In a statement, studio director Atanas Atanasov said that “Earthrise was released too early and did not meet the expectations of its fans.” Atanasov also issued a challenge to other developers who might seek to create an MMO such as the ill-fated Earthrise. “I hope that one day an independent studio will be able to release the long anticipated open-world sandbox MMO, which everyone is talking about, but no one is making.” A previously planned free-to-play version of the game is still in the works, but its release hinges on the interests of investors and publishers.

Many fans of Diablo III were angered recently when Blizzard community manager Bashiok (aka Micah Whipple) tweeted that the upcoming game wouldn’t have public chat channels. However, in a shock twist, Bashiok was actually wrong. Public chat channels will be in Diablo III. Not only that, but they will also be included in an “upcoming beta patch.” Bashiok has since taken to the game’s official forums, apologizing for his original misinformation and setting the record straight.

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The latest Skyrim update, version 1.4, is now live on Xbox 360, but PS3 owners will have to wait a bit. “Sony tells us the PlayStation 3 patch will be hitting later today [9 Feb.],” Bethesda said in a blog post, “so stay tuned for more updates.” The developer says the patch, which became available for the PC last week, provides a heap of bug and quest fixes, including “…long term play optimisations for memory and performance,” meaning it should eliminate the game-crippling lag on the PS3.

Kinect, Microsoft’s revolutionary motion-control gaming peripheral, is now available for Windows PCs, retailing for an exclusively priced $249.99. When first released for the Xbox 360 in 2010, it became the fastest selling consumer electronic device, pushing 10 million units in 60 days.

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The Microsoft Flight Simulator series returns for the first time in six years with Microsoft Flight. Instead of arriving in traditional retail form, MSF will be free to play, and will feature the futuristic ICON A5 amphibious mono-wing and the entire island of Hawaii to explore. If you wish, you can branch out beyond your beautiful basics and purchase additional regions and aircraft using the money earned in your daily labors. To keep you coming back, there’ll also be “daily aerocache challenges” and a variety of mission goals to complete.

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Starting today, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim PC players can download and install mods directly from Steam with the new Steam Workshop. Using the “upload to Steam” feature in the recently released Creation Kit, modders can upload their creations, and players can view, sort and rate mods, as well as see which ones their friends are using.

Bethesda’s open-world RPGs have always been fertile soil for player-created modifications, which allow each user to tailor the game to their preferences. Even before the official Creation Kit, ambitious modders were already fixing, rebalancing and adding to the province of Skyrim. The list of launch mods is fairly thin, but expect it to balloon quickly very soon. To get the ball rolling, Bethesda has released an official high-resolution texture pack to PC users, free of charge. Additionally, the entire Elder Scrolls series, including Skyrim, is 33 percent off on Steam during Valve’s Midweek Madness sale. If you haven’t already snapped up this Seal of Excellence winner, you now have 33 percent less excuses.

The popular FPS/tower-defense hybrid Sanctum will be receiving a sequel in 2013, according to Joystiq. After launching on Steam last April, Sanctum became an indie success story, quickly selling more than 300,000 units. The game took the typical tower-defense formula and injected it with more than a few ampules of adrenaline. In four-player co-op, players have to carefully construct and upgrade their defenses to stop waves of monsters, before leaping into the fray with their own upgradable weapons. No details are available on what new features await players in Sanctum 2, except that PSN and Xbox Live players will also get to experience the teamwork.

Developer THQ has announced its list of upcoming releases. Sneaking out first on February 17 is UFC Undisputed 3. Then comes the company’s fiscal 2013 slate, which includes Darksiders II in June, South Park: The Game and a new WWE title in Q3, and Metro: Last Light and The Devil’s Third in Q4. In 2014 and beyond, THQ plans to release an unnamed game from Turtle Rock, inSANE from Volition, Homefront 2 (Crytek), the new game from Patrice Désilets’ THQ Montreal, and Dark Millennium Online, which will be completed with the aid of a “partner,” company boss Brian Farrell has revealed. On top of these, THQ has four unannounced core games in development for release in fiscal 2014.

If you have set aside your February 7 to relax with your favorite Ubisoft games, you might want to rethink your plans. According to Eurogamer, most of the developer’s games will be unplayable or otherwise impacted when the company starts the process of moving its game servers. Some of the games that will go totally dark include HAWX II and The Settlers 7 (PC), and Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell: Conviction (Mac). Console games and certain PC titles (Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and Driver: San Francisco) will be unaffected by the move, but all games that require Uplay authentication will be unplayable. No word was offered on how long the work will take to complete.

Another MMO seems to be released or switches from subscription to free-to-play almost every month. Up until now, only the venerable EverQuest has stood strong and resisted the FTP tide. But after almost 13 years, the time has finally come for the last of the classic MMOs. Sony announced today that EQ will be moving to the FTP business model starting sometime in early March. Lead producer Thom Terrazas said in the EQ Player’s Blog that growing the player base was a prime reason for the decision. “With the gaming landscape changing every day, we want to ensure we continue to evolve the game to keep players engaged and bring in even more new players to further expand the community.” If you’re already a paying subscriber, you might be tempted to demand a refund, but don’t worry; your subscription fee gives you a number of advantages over the free players. A detailed comparison of free, silver and gold memberships can be found here.

Earlier this week, executive producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi characterized Resident Evil 6 as being the largest project undertaken by Capcom so far. “Between the 150 staff members in Japan and everyone around the world, we have more than 600 people involved. A lot of work has gone into this game,” Kobayashi said. “Resident Evil 6 is by far and away the most ambitious game in the series.” Also, producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi indicated that the game will be a blend of action and survival horror, which the team is calling “dramatic horror.” The latest instalment will feature a split plotline, with one thread focusing on Leon S. Kennedy in the US, and the other following Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance member Chris Redfield in China. The game is expected to arrive for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on November 20.

Gearbox has decided to make you wait even longer to see if anyone can hear you scream in space, announcing that Aliens: Colonial Marines has been delayed from a spring release to a tentative autumn 2012 one. According to an official statement from the developer, “Aliens: Colonial Marines is a process of creativity and invention, and those don’t necessarily follow the structure of an assembly line. While setting clear goals, deadlines and predictions is helpful, they are often subjective. We don’t want to sacrifice the creative process just for the sake of following a blueprint. We prefer to have the creative discovery shape that blueprint, because our goal is to make a great game.”

rComplex, a tense, ominous platformer from 2009, is getting an HD overhaul in its upcoming debut on iOS devices. In this frenetic action game, you play an unnamed figure being constantly chased through seven levels of varied environments by a shadowy squid-like creature, with no immediate idea of what the enemy is or why it’s pursuing you. The game is being developed by InterWave Studios (Nuclear Dawn). InterWave general manager Igor Raffaele points out that the simplicity of the game’s controls aids the player in figuring out what’s going on. “With no gimmicks to distract from the intuitive control system, rComplex is all about survival and unraveling the mystery.” rComplex will be available for the Apple mobile platform at the end of February, with versions for Android, PC and Mac coming later in the year.

Today THQ announced that it would be refocusing its business strategy towards more profitable sectors. To do so, the publisher will be trimming its branches. Currently, that means its sizable kids entertainment wing. THQ has developed and published many games based on popular entertainment properties for children, such as Spongebob Squarepants, Avatar: The Last Airbender and AC-130 Gunships.

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The best way to describe the hit indie game Minecraft to a stranger is that it’s like exploring and building in a world made of LEGOs. Naturally, this has caught the eye of The LEGO Group itself. Initially proposed last December, the project has garnered official approval. An official release states, “We’re happy to announce that the Minecraft project on LEGO CUUSOO has passed the LEGO review and we are now developing a concept that celebrates the best aspects of building with the LEGO system and in Minecraft.” CUUSOO is a site where LEGO fans can campaign for their favorite designs to become retail products.

It might be awhile before players can start indulging in real-world Minecraft fantasies, according to LEGO. “We can’t wait to show it to you—but we aren’t ready just yet. These things take time, so we appreciate your patience.“ Hopefully we’ll see an adorable LEGO creeper leaping through a steampunk Death Star before too long!

— Ian Davis

Source: LEGO Cuusoo