Gaming
2D Top-Down Massively Multiplayer RPG Wyvern Wins Fan Favorite Vote 27 at GDWC 2021!
Wyvern by USA-based one-person indie game development team Ghost Track Inc has won the 27th Fan Favorite voting round at the Game Development World Championship 2021. Wyvern is available in Early Access in Steam or via the developer website.
“Wyvern is a real-time, top-down 2D, graphical, massively multiplayer RPG. The game has thousands of maps and playable areas, hundreds of skills, spells and monsters, and all the features you would expect from a big fun RPG: Guilds, crafting, level editing, community features and more!”
2nd Place: Hexia by Black Mastiff Studio from Italy. “Hexia is a management game, where your task, as the King of the Realm you have been assigned, is to create and expand the territory, build new infrastructures and command and lead your people.”
3rd Place: ENDO by Dez Boyle from USA. “ENDO is a whimsical adventure with a focus on physical interaction. Embark on a surreal adventure set in an abstract psychedelic landscape, accompanied by original art, music and sound.”
GDWC team sends congratulations to the winner and thanks to all Nominees.
Every week throughout the championship season GDWC will feature nine new games in an open vote with the winner moving on to finals in the Fan Favorite category. This week’s vote is already open. Check out the nominees below.
GDWC 2021 Fan Favorite Vote 28 Nominees are:
– EDDA Cafe by Mushroomallow Studio (Indonesia)
– I See Red by Whiteboard Games (Argentina)
– IRON WORLD by Iron games (Russia)
– Lucy Dreaming by Tall Story Games (United Kingdom)
– Mirlo: Above the Sun by DigiPen Bilbao – Kaiju in the Bayou (Spain)
– Northern Journey by Slid Studio (Norway)
– Power Of Slide by ABG (Russia)
– The Mole Men by Molton Studio (Switzerland)
– Woodland Empire by Obvlong (USA)
Gaming
Midjiwan Supports Reforestation Efforts With New Elyrion Tribe Skin In The Battle Of Polytopia
Midjiwan, the award-winning independent studio behind The Battle of Polytopia, is celebrating Elyrion (∑∫ỹriȱŋ) Tribe Week with a brand-new Midnight (₼idŋighţ) skin and donations to support reforestation.
Tapping into the Elyrion Tribe’s nature magic abilities, every purchase of an Elyrion item in the game will plant one real-world tree from April 22-28 2024. Midjiwan has teamed up with The Canopy Project, an organisation that works with global partners to reforest areas in urgent need of rehabilitation, combining The Battle Of Polytopia’s themes with a desire to make real change in the world. Previous years of Elyrion Tribe Week have resulted in the planting of over 12,000 trees.
The Elyrion Tribe is a mysterious group of elves, dedicated to defending their woodland home with their unique magic and connection with nature. Players using the Elyrion tribe have the ability to enchant animals into Polytaurs and summon powerful Fire Dragons.
Christian Lövstedt, General Manager at Midjiwan, commented:
“This is a hugely exciting partnership, allowing players to support the planet and contribute to reforestation whilst also accessing brilliant new content to use in The Battle Of Polytopia.”
Alongside donating to The Canopy Project, The Battle Of Polytopia also boasts a brand-new skin for the Elyrion Tribe! The Midnight skin allows players to create graves, build crypts, and summon demons in dark forests, all in service of the mysterious Shard of D’Naeh.
The Midnight skin re-skins the entire Elyrion Tribe as the Midnight Cult. Everything the Elyrion Tribe is all about – nature, enchantment, and sanctuary – is turned on its head, corrupted into a dark, twisted dystopia of itself.
Midjiwan has already invested €250,000 in solar power projects in rural areas around Africa, and other charitable projects. The studio continues to seek opportunities to combine its in-game creativity with real-world benefits. The Battle of Polytopia is available on Nintendo Switch, the App Store, Google Play, PC, and Tesla cars.
Gaming
Digital Asset Horse Racing Game Stables Appoints Lebnan Nader CEO And Unveils International Expansion Plan
Stables, the Paris-based Web3 Equestrian Fantasy Game, has appointed venture capital veteran Lebnan Nader as Chief Executive Officer.
Lebnan Nader, who had founded and run several gaming and technology businesses, will oversee an international expansion as Stables seeks to add horses and attract owners from outside its French home market.
Launched in January 2023, Stables was born from an ambitious project funded by PMU, the European leader and number 3 worldwide in horse betting, alongside the startup studio 321. The game is designed to bring the excitement of horse racing into the digital realm by combining real data from actual racehorses with an online Web3 gaming experience where horses are represented as tradable non-fungible tokens.
“Stables brings together two of my favorite domains, video gaming and horse racing. Two sectors I’ve been involved in for the past 12 years. The game’s ambitions are high, and that’s what convinced me,” said Lebnan Nader, CEO of Stables. “The teams have done a tremendous job, and we will continue to develop the game, but my priority will be our community, as they are our greatest strength.”
A graduate of HEC Paris with nearly 20 years experience in strategy, product development, and market positioning in the digital sector, Lebnan co-founded an internationally acclaimed video and VR gaming studio, and also co-founded a software company for lottery and betting operators.
PMU’s initial gamble to reach a new audience has paid off as Stables now boasts a community of several thousand engaged players, aged 25 to 40 on average. The community is currently composed of 70% French players and 30% from the rest of the world.
The Stables teams are now expanding the gaming experience by adding new features that will allow any player, even without owning NFTs, to be able to explore Stables for free. A seasonal horse racing system with an in-game leaderboard will be introduced, as well as “The Paddock Gazette,” a feature allowing the analysis of all NFT data and comparing their performances.
The ability to interact with other players and access numerous new horses are among the features currently in development.
“In 2023, Stables succeeded in realizing PMU’s bold vision of diversifying the world of horse racing into Web3 and becoming today’s reference in equestrian fantasy gaming. Contributing alongside its historic partners to the financial support for an accelerated development of Stables represents for the Tezos Foundation a natural progression to the adoption of Tezos. Among other things, the Tezos Foundation always listens to the needs of management teams and economically engages in projects that have adopted its blockchain to be an active participant in their growth stages,” says Jean-Frédéric Mognetti, Executive Director of the Tezos Foundation.
“Convinced of the relevance of the project, it seemed important to involve new investors. We enthusiastically welcome the financial support of the Tezos Foundation, which strengthens a proven technical collaboration that the project has benefited from since its inception,” comments Emmanuelle Malecaze-Doublet, CEO of PMU.
Gaming
Speechless Announces Hybrid License, Giving Actors Greater Control Over Their AI-Generated Voices
New platform will enable voice actors to gain commission on their AI-generated counterparts while also streamlining the development process for studios
Today, Speechless, the voice actor database and asset tool for the games industry, has announced its new Hybrid AI License, combining real voice talent and generative artificial intelligence (AI). This new license will enable game developers to utilize all aspects of modern voice-over production while providing more equitable opportunities for the actors themselves. With the current games landscape increasingly experimenting with the potential of AI, Speechless is offering a solution that takes a greater ethical approach to this technology.
The first complete management system for the games industry, Speechless’ Hybrid AI License easily allows developers to use the full range of voice-over options in one place; from text-to-speech, speech-to-speech and conventional voice recording. Unlike other text-to-speech providers, Speechless’ integrated approach allows developers to access the voice actors behind the AI-generated, text-to-speech options. This license not only enables developers to gain greater creative control over voice production but also gives actors control over their AI-generated voice.
Voice actors will benefit from this license by having their AI-generated voice earn a commission when it is licensed by developers. In addition, developers can utilize text-to-speech options to refine their scripts before bringing on the voice actor for the full recording. Developers can then adjust the voice actor’s recording with its AI counterpart at the later stages of development, removing the need for reshoots and allowing voice actors to move on to new projects.
The potential of Speechless’ License also enables a greater depth of content for side characters and NPCs and streamlines localization in new markets while keeping voice talent involved. With the rise of generative AI in game development, Speechless is establishing the best practice for utilizing the advantages of this technology without excluding the creative talent of voice actors.
This new license is available immediately and follows Speechless’ recent collaboration with audio middleware leader Audiokinetic Wwise.
“We can’t ignore the potential AI has for the games industry but we need to approach this technology ethically; that’s what we aim to achieve when it comes to voice-acting,” the Chief Executive Officer for Speechless, Peo Drangert (pictured), said. “By offering a hybrid license, developers can streamline their processes and experiment with different voice actors at a lower cost. At the same time, voice actors are compensated for their work and the work of their AI-generated voice, have greater opportunities to collaborate with studios and can work more flexibly. AI will continue to grow in the games sector, so we must use it responsibly to ensure a fairer industry.”
-
Central Europe6 days ago
Wazdan amplifies Swiss presence with Swiss4Win launch
-
Latest News6 days ago
Evoplay strikes distribution agreement with Light & Wonder
-
eSports6 days ago
Everything you need to know ahead of ESL Pro League Season 19
-
Central Europe6 days ago
Aleatrust Signs Up as Supporting Member of the Austrian Sports Betting Association
-
Latest News6 days ago
Week 16/2024 slot games releases
-
Latest News6 days ago
Casino Guru’s Complaint Resolution Center Leads Industry in 2023
-
Latest News6 days ago
Good 1st quarter of 2024 for FDJ, in line with Group projections
-
Latest News6 days ago
New Market Alert! Hacksaw Gaming Touch Down in Portugal with Solverde.pt