Star Wars Battlefront beta will be open to everyone

Electronic Arts has let slip a little more information about the upcoming Star War Battlefront beta test. There's still no date, but there is good news: While the nature of the beta wasn't made clear when it was announced last month, Community Manager Mathew Everett confirmed in the latest Battlefront blog update that it will not be restricted to invitees—applicants, humans, members of the Secret Order of the Emperor, or whatever—but will instead be open to everyone.

Everett said that the beta will feature both offline and online modes, including split-screen co-op play, with the Walker Assault mode on Hoth and the new Drop Zone mode, as at least one of you hoped, on Sullust. There will also be a Survival Mission mode set on Tattoine that can be played solo, or with a local or online partner.

Everett answered a handful of "community questions" in the update as well. The Fighter Squadron mode will make use of bots (ten per side) in addition to humans, players will be equipped with a primary sidearm as well as a hand of customizable Star Cards, and the boxed version of the Deluxe Edition, which has the Ion Grenade, Ion Torpedo, DL-44, and Shock and Victory emotes all unlocked right from the start, will not be available for the PC. This will only be of concern to box collectors, though, since the Deluxe Edition on PC will be available digitally through Origin.

Star Wars Battlefront will be out on November 17.

Fallout 4 Mod Tools Coming ‘Early 2016’

The ability to mod video games lets folks to tinker with practically all of a title’s components from the ground up until the base model has been remolded to either fit a player’s liking, or simply to make wild, imaginative creations. Fortunately, Bethesda will allow fans to do just that withFallout 4 mod tools after it releases. Prior to the developer’s forthcoming entry, the modding community has put the post-apocalyptic series on the receiving end of mod-treatments many times over, as seen in videos like theFallout: The Frontier mod trailer – a complete nuclear winter re-imagining of New Vegas.

As most of the gaming world would attest, Fallout 4 is arguably one of the most highly anticipated titles of the year, and fans are doubly excited about being able to make the game unique in their own ways, as mods were being developed almost immediately after the sequel was announced. Bethesda is all for players getting their hands dirty when it comes to altering the Wasteland, which is why the studio is putting out the game’s Creation Kit out as soon as humanly possible.

During a recently released Bethesda.net interview recorded during E3 2015, Fallout 4‘s director, Todd Howard, touched on the game’s new feature that gives players the chance to craft and customize weapons, armor, and settlements, likening the process to Minecraft. Even though the gameplay component is completely optional, Howard believes that purely giving fans the opportunity to do so automatically builds a rapport with the community, as it introduces even more freedom in the game. But for those who enjoy the capacity to create stuff outside of the title, the director says that Fallout 4‘s Creation Kit will be available some time in “early 2016”.

When it comes to Bethesda‘s views on open world design, Howard trusts that giving fans more options and more choices ultimately pays off in the long run. Regarding the matter, he says:

“The world ultimately becomes the main character of our games. A lot of stuff we do, we want to show you that world, and you immediately think, ‘What would I do in that circumstance? Who would I want to be?’ and that makes it much more personal to you, and much more of a different experience than other games, other types of entertainment. The more you can say yes to the player, the better we are.”

For the most part, Todd Howard is right. Not only does offering fans the materials to produce original content for games give the titles a more individualized feeling, but it also teaches significant lessons regarding game design. Once mod tools are officially in the hands of fans, there’s no telling what kind of interesting creations will be thrown into the mix. Certainly, the ingenuity of Fallout 4 fans will live up to Howard’s ideas of what it takes to make better loot.

Fallout 4 is set to release on November 10, 2015 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

EA’s Peter Moore Wants More Female Game Developers

It’s no secret that the video game industry has long been dominated by male developers. In fact, according to a study released last year by International Game Developers Association (IGDA), women still only make up about a quarter of developers in the industry. Fortunately, that’s double the number of female developers in 2009.

Despite this improvement, it seems the folks at Electronic Arts would like to see more women enter the industry and take on more important roles at development companies. At least that’s the thinking of EA’s COO, Peter Moore.

In a recent interview with Fortune, Moore revealed that the gaming giant is working to lead the charge, by increasing not only the number of women in their office, but also encouraging women to helm major projects at Electronic Arts. According to Moore:

“We’ve gone from the personification of what we believe women should look like in a video game, to actually involving women in making video games, to today where at Electronic Arts we have some of our most powerful franchises overseen by women who manage hundreds of men.”

EA currently has numerous women in leadership positions for upcoming triple-A titles. Sara Jansson currently works as executive producer on the studio’s upcoming game, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst; Sigurlina Ingvarsdottir is senior producer with Star Wars Battlefront at DICE; Rachel Franklin is executive producer of The Sims 4; Samantha Ryan is a senior vice president and general manager in charge of EA’s mobile initiatives; Amy Hennig is creative director at Visceral Games working on a new Star Wars game; and Jade Raymond is leading EA-owned Motive in Montreal.

While it’s nice to see some positive changes happening in the industry, women haven’t always been celebrated like they are today. In fact, it can be argued that it wasn’t until last year’s Gamergate controversy that people became truly aware of the issue. In his interview, Moore mentioned Gamergate and the influence it has had on EA over the last year:

“You can look at the last twelve months with everything that has gone on with Gamergate, that it’s made us all pay attention to this issue. When we talk about what I call D&I, Diversity & Inclusion, at EA, it’s never far from our minds when we make hiring decisions.”

It’s apparent in the gaming industry that women are getting more say and opportunity, but it’s likely the true affects of this shift won’t be felt for another few years. As girls in middle and high school start to see more opportunities open up for women in the industry, it’s likely colleges will see more female enrollees seeking the training and degrees they’ll need to enter the industry. It’ll be interesting to watch this shift over the next few years.

What do you think about Moore’s comments on women in the industry? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Source: Fortune

Fallout 4 retro remake makes you long for the original

As a way to promote his own game, Stasis, and celebrate Bethesda’s upcoming open-world time-suck, Fallout 4, game designer Christopher Bischoff remade the upcoming trip back into the Wasteland as the old-school isometric RPG that kicked off the series. While no one is complaining that Fallout 3, New Vegas, and the upcoming Fallout 4 are set in sprawling 3D worlds, after seeing Bischoff’s work, people might start complaining a little bit that there isn’t an isometric version.

Previously, Bischoff gave the now-dead Irrational Games’ BioShockthe overhead RPG treatment. Not only did it look absolutely amazing, but he managed to keep the creepy, incredible atmosphere and sense of dread from the original game. Unlike BioShock, though, Fallout started life as an overhead RPG, so this is more of a return to the series’ roots.

Bischoff’s retro remake work has always looked great so far, and if you’re craving new games with the overhead look, the game he made these Fallout 4 renders to help promote should satisfy those urges. Stasis is an isometric sci-fi horror game inspired by sci-fi staples like Alien, and isometric horror classics like Sanitarium. Bischoff also said that the original isometric Fallout games were huge influences on Stasis — Mark Morgan, composer of the Fallout 1 and 2’s soundtrack, even did the soundtrack for Stasis.

Stasis just released on August 31, and it so far looks really good, receiving very positive scores from both Metacritic and Steam. Check out the launch trailer for Stasis below, and give it a purchase on Steam or on GOG if it piques your interest. At worst, it’ll at least be extremely pretty to look at.