Halo Wars 3 revealed (cancelled pitch/pre-production art style):
Microsoft official approved this "disclosure", perhaps they are “testing the waters”?.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-10-16-halo-wars-3-concept-art-reveals-failed-pitch
"Surprisingly I got the all clear from Microsoft to show this cancelled pitch material," Wright wrote in the description. "We did some proposals for Halo Wars 3, I had to introduce space battles into the game style, as well as having your capital ship as your home base, to prep your ground forces."
The description has since been removed and replaced with "Halo Wars 2 additional work done for Creative Assembly for Halo Wars 2. Property of Microsoft." Wright has given no explanation as to why the change was made.
A new collection of concept art reveals details of a Halo Wars 3 pitch that featured space battles and XCOM-esque base management.
Halo Wars 2 managed to capture the feeling of Bungie’s famous franchise but wasn’t that intense of a strategy game. A handful of art, shared by Creative Assembly concept artist Brad Wright, offers a glimpse into a pitch for Halo Wars 3 that would have expanded the scope of combat and added additional strategy elements.
The pitched artwork helps break down a base management system where players could customize and outfit their main spaceship with various rooms. Players would be able to hover over them to reveal their stats boost, as well as zoom in to explore in more detail. These rooms could be upgraded to affect ship performance in space battles. It highly resembles the way players expands their base in XCOM, with new rooms offering benefits to soldiers and defenses.
While this particular pitch was canceled, it offers an intriguing look at some of the options Creative Assembly were considering for the next game. Maybe some of it will carry over to a third Halo Wars, if that ever happens. I’d love to manage my own giant, Spartan-filled space base.
fralex_RE 19. sep
@Bartas: three skin sets (a set covering all the vehicles in a given faction). So dozens of skins per set, and even more so per bundles since both of them offer three sets.
@Kell: we haven't forgotten about the other kind of content We still strive to work on quarterly updates with fixes, balance patches, new community maps etc.
Kell 19. sep
@FrAlex_RE:
Businesslike answer, ok, but fact is: here we wait for content news or patch news. Charity at its best is public relation? Sure we all want to help nature and donating isn't the worse on earth, but it would be much more successful when you motivate people with content not just with skins again...
Here is a much stronger player base than at DOW3 for example and after months of waiting we get a skinpack offered... some are frustrated like the whales!
As usual, Relic fails to communicate. Bad timing and IMO not much about this charity content update make much sense. Not even from a PR perspective.
Relic and Japanese love whales? Really? That's big news.
FACTs; 1) Relic/SEGA is owned by a Japanese company called Sega Sammy Holdings. The majority shareholder (Hajime Satomi) is among one of the richest Japanese leaders. The CEO of SEGA (Haruki Satomi) is the grandchild of Hajime Satomi. So SEGA is most definitely run by Japanese "overlords".
So why is this Japanese leadership important when it comes to whale/dolphin charity?
Just by using google search and there is like a mountain of evidence showing Japanese killing thousands of whales/dolphins in the name of "science" (poor excuse).
Japanese leaders, in general, have very little respect for whale/dolphins, let alone charity to protect them. This is like trying to tell an oil salesman to please stop selling oil because it's bad for the environment.
Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.
I don't feel the game is gonna be a game breaking success for a simple reason. W10 + W store exclusivity. GLHF Bill.
Sorry to correct you but only W10 exclusivity has been confirmed. AoE4 windows store exclusive is just a fan assumption that is not supported by any reliable source. Contrary to popular belief the opposite seems to be happening with MS testing Windows store/steam crossplay.
More "news" related to this important ms/sega partnership is coming but here are a bit more to "connect the dots"; Confirmed; Win10 + Steam crossplay are coming
Check below links MS are testing Cross-network Play; Win10 store (xbox live using Universal Windows Platform) + Steam using steamworks/win32
Rise of Nations: Extended Edition Comes to Windows Store with Cross-network Play on Sept. 14 (posted August 18, 2017)
*SNIP*
At Xbox, we support creating moments that connect gamers with their friends in new and innovative ways. In support of this, today, I am proud to announce that the historic RTS hit Rise of Nations: Extended Edition is coming to Windows Store on September 14th, with the unique cross-network play feature that enables fans to challenge up to eight players online with Windows 10, across Xbox Live and Steam. We want gamers to enjoy this classic Game of the Year-winning RTS through sharing multiplayer experiences with their friends, and it’s now a reality for Windows 10 gamers to join over two million Rise of Nations fans on Steam in mastering 6,000 years of history, from the Ancient Age to the Information Age.
For those that do not understand what this means. Phil Spencer is now considered to be the top gaming executive in MS and all the other executives will listen to him including the CEO (not the other way around). The CEO is just a business executive that is taking advice from each division leaders.
That the MS CEO want Phil Spencer as his personal gaming adviser is a huge vote of confidence is Spencer's leadership abilities and vision for MS gaming. Phil Spencer's Xbox promotion! What does it mean?
Our gaming roadmap over the next 18 months is anchored by two significant console releases – Xbox One S and Project Scorpio – and investments in growth areas such as virtual reality, video, and eSports.
Quantum computing, theorized for decades by some of the world’s greatest minds as a way to harness the very building blocks of matter and energy for unimaginable computing capabilities and intelligence, is emerging today as a feasible technology. Its realization will bring new power to cure disease and address global challenges like climate change. Our people and partners right now are solving the hard problems of experimental and theoretical physics, mathematics, and computer science that will accelerate quantum computing’s becoming a reality.
On a personal note;
I'm not posting here to win a popularity contest but to foster open-minded and informed discussions.
I do hate/dislike echo chambers a lot more than I hate flame wars. For those community leaders that is not paying attention. Echo chambers and safe space/social justice warriors are rapidly destroying free speech on the internet that lead to polarisation of society. Unless anyone got plans to fight civil uprising/collapse of society, you better start taking free speech/open-minded discussion a lot more seriously. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Complacency won't keep anyone safe, that's for sure.
The west right now got a lot of problems (socially, cultural, economics etc.) and if we don't defend free speech we are pretty much screwed. Especially psychological warfare and financial warfare are very evil and if both women and men do not come together to fight this evil, have fun watching your country die. Society needs BOTH strong women and men. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I'm not joking when I say, please inform yourself because many more men will get into trouble in the years to come. Staying safe, include staying informed.
The great overlords of automated censorship include social media. This guy from TED predicted this years ago how social media would destroy free speech. Beware online "filter bubbles" | Eli Pariser
Of course, company chief Satya Nadella later stipulated that games were key to Microsoft's "broader vision for Windows", and the company has since taken steps (from a Windows 10 'Game Mode' to the cross-platform Play Anywhere initiative) to improve the experience of people playing games across its platforms.
Xbox head Phil Spencer has received plenty of praise over the past few years for the way that the Xbox One has changed under his leadership. It's not just external parties who have taken notice. Microsoft just rewarded Spencer in a big way.
Spencer was just added to Microsoft's Senior Leadership Team, a 16-person group that's made up of executives and board of directors members. Apart from his increased influence over decisions, it's said that Spencer will now report directly to CEO Satya Nadella. Before, Spencer reported to Terry Myerson, who is the executive vice president of the Windows and Devices Group. The promotion also comes with a title bump from "head of Xbox" to "executive vice president of gaming."
While Xbox is still under the Windows and Devices Group banner, this change emphasizes Microsoft's video game-related efforts by giving a seat at the table to the head of gaming. It also underscores how the Xbox brand encompasses both console and Windows 10 now.
This new promotion seems to suggest that Microsoft is planning to invest more money and resources into cross-platform gaming/Xbox (cross-platform Play Anywhere initiative). Looks like my MS cross-platform prediction is spot on. For further confirmation look at studio Studio Wildcard (Ark Survival Evolved) that have strong connections with Microsoft.
Studio Wildcard is the development company behind the game ARK: Survival Evolved. Studio Wildcard is a Seattle-based company that was founded in 2014 by Jesse Rapczak, who previously was a Technical Art Director at Microsoft Game Studios, and Jeremy Stieglitz, who was previously the creator of Dungeon Defenders.
While Microsoft is ready to embrace it but, Sony considers Cross-Platform Play a security risk for its console and PSN and Microsoft is quite critical of Sony’s logic behind not allowing it. According to Xbox head, Phil Spencer, the argument Sony is presenting is not healthy for the game industry. He added that user security is among Microsoft’s the top priorities.
More "news" related to this important ms/sega partnership is coming but here are a bit more to "connect the dots"; Confirmed; Win10 + Steam crossplay are coming
Check below links MS are testing Cross-network Play; Win10 store (xbox live using Universal Windows Platform) + Steam using steamworks/win32
Rise of Nations: Extended Edition Comes to Windows Store with Cross-network Play on Sept. 14 (posted August 18, 2017)
*SNIP*
At Xbox, we support creating moments that connect gamers with their friends in new and innovative ways. In support of this, today, I am proud to announce that the historic RTS hit Rise of Nations: Extended Edition is coming to Windows Store on September 14th, with the unique cross-network play feature that enables fans to challenge up to eight players online with Windows 10, across Xbox Live and Steam. We want gamers to enjoy this classic Game of the Year-winning RTS through sharing multiplayer experiences with their friends, and it’s now a reality for Windows 10 gamers to join over two million Rise of Nations fans on Steam in mastering 6,000 years of history, from the Ancient Age to the Information Age.
For Sega owned studios this means that both Halo Wars 2 and AoE4 could be planning steam release dates using new win10/steam cross-play.
Also don't forget MS own Age of Mythology (AoE spin-off),
On September 18, 2015, a new expansion was announced, Tale of the Dragon. It was co-developed by SkyBox Labs and Forgotten Empires, the latter having worked on new expansions for Age of Empires II. The expansion added a new culture, the Chinese, with the major gods Fuxi, Nüwa, and Shennong. The expansion also features a new campaign and multiplayer maps, as well as other features.[37] It was released on January 28, 2016.
IMO, there is a good chance that ms/sega/wargaming combo partnership is connected to Sega's 2020 plan but that's just me speculating. But MS got big plans to improve on their "live operations/gaming as a service/Cloud Gaming" which include big FTP publisher Wargaming and their new portal that Sega are involved with; http://wargamingalliance.com/
But it gets weirder. At least one Relic Co-founder could be involved in this combo partnership/gaming as a service but I'll cover that later.
I wonder just what restrictions Relic will be working under? If Microsoft is supervising the project, then that might mean they've either got the concepts worked out and the devs merely make it happen....or they get Duffy to do that.
Also, only in Windows Store? That's like developing Candy Crush 5 for android but only available in EA Origin.
https://mixer.com/ageofempires?vod=7343216
MS interview with new Relic AoE4 Community Manager (Eliot Hong) begins at around 18m.
In this recent AoE stream, the team would neither confirm nor deny AoE4 steam support. The only thing they have confirmed is windows 10 exclusive.
Compared to DoW3 failing and disastrous leadership (some of which are now fired or replaced), I believe AoE4 leadership are in a pretty good shape. I got some more news/rumour mill coming for that soon.
The average Relic Entertainment salary ranges from approximately $89,101 per year for Data Analyst to $136,400 per year for Senior Designer.
Salary information comes from 78 data points collected directly from employees, users, and past and present job advertisements on Indeed in the past 12 months.
Please note that all salary figures are approximations based upon third party submissions to Indeed. These figures are given to the Indeed users for the purpose of generalized comparison only. Minimum wage may differ by jurisdiction and you should consult the employer for actual salary figures.
Just do some simple math. Relic currently is around 200 devs. Let's assume they had DoW3 in full production for at least a year with 100-120 devs.
Salaries alone for DoW3 would be well above $10 million dollars.
Azario Lopez: What significance would you say the multiplayer feature plays in the Dawn of War series?
Phillip Boule: It’s hard to overstate the importance, Dawn of War sort of stands on two legs: one is a propelling campaign, they other is compelling multiplayer. This could be the reason that people still play Dawn of War twelve years after its release and Dawn of War II six years later. With any luck, five years from now we’ll be talking about how people are still playing the Dawn of War III multiplayer.
DoW3 Memorial Day 2018-April 27: We will forget
With some quality feedback (that don't go to waste), even our own community members such as Generals gentlemen could easily have prevented many of the mistakes that were made with DoW3 to preserve its longevity. Relic only has themselves to blame for this lost in the woods project. The blind leading the blind?. DoW3 leadership on a collision course with SEGA?
In his final interview as Sega Europe COO, Post talks about the publisher's transformation
"The games is where the love of the community starts, then secondly for the studio, and thirdly there is the publisher. So at some point, the success of the studios will start to reflect on Sega."
Now I know some of the business analysts in SEGA Europe (that report to top SEGA leadership) are a fan of Steve Jobs (co-founder of Apple Inc). So I'll post these quotes from Steve Jobs as a reminder to everyone why Phillip was fired (most likely):
Now as long Relic fail with transparency that keeps fans in the dark, the rumor mill (mostly toxic towards relic) will just keep on going.
I heard from last MS AoE stream that the new Relic community manager did not even know what game he would be working on before joining. Why all the secrecy? It's not like Blizzard even care to compete with Relic RTS, rather the opposite.
Logic; Ok cool, I put blind trust in Relic and jumping into the void. I'll quit my current job and move to Vancouver (very expensive) based on a vague job description. I might get a chance working on something cool or perhaps not. I will roll the dice