Today's round-up includes news of a planned expansion for Blizzard's
World Of WarCraft, a full schedule for the Video Games Live concert series, and a classic 3D Realms title given a freeware release by its creators, as well as the latest product and job news.
- The administrators of
World of WarCraft, Blizzard's hugely popular PC MMO, have announced details of the changes to come in the next content patch, following the
recent two million subscriber milestone for the title. Through
a posting on the WoW forums, producer Shane Dabiri promised a new 40-player raid dungeon called Blackwing Lair, home to the dragon Nefarian. A smaller 20-person dungeon called Zul'Gurub will also be available, as well as the land of Ahn'Qiraj, and a carnival event in Mulgore and Elwynn Forest. According to Dabiri, the first full-fledged expansion is also in the works, and will be announced shortly.
- Video Games Live, the Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall-headed touring production of live music from various popular video games, announced its full North American schedule. The tour will debut on July 6th in Los Angeles, then go into full swing beginning in August and run through early September. Cities currently scheduled to receive a Video Games Live date are Atlanta, GA; Holmdel, NJ; Camden, NJ; Toronto, Ontario; Bristow, VA; Boston, MA; Cleveland, OH; Columbus, OH; Cincinnati, OH; Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Denver, CO; Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; Phoenix, AZ; San Diego, CA; and Mountain View, CA.
- 3D Realms, developers of
Prey and the long-delayed
Duke Nukem Forever, have released the 1996-era
Stargunner as freeware.
Stargunner was the company's last release as Apogee, one of the best-known shareware game developers of its day. Though released as freeware, 3D Realms still maintains the copyright, and the game should not be seen as public domain. Links to download
Stargunner, as well as a few comments on the release from 3D Realms staffers, can be found at
3D Realms' site.
- Also updated today: product news including information on
an update to the PathEngine game pathing SDK, as well as
Airborne signing to the Tira Jump Product Suite for mobile porting, plus the
latest industry jobs from companies including Aspyr Media, Datascope Recruitment, LucasArts, Rainbow Studios, and Sony Pictures Imageworks.
