New online zombie co-op mobile game being developed, Tencent publishing

Tencent publishing a new zombie online mobile game.

Tencent released a new trailer showing off some scenes for their upcoming mobile zombie-themed game. Publishing giant Tencent uploaded a new trailer with some scenes from this unknown game. From the trailer, we can see that the game takes some definite influence from games like Days Gone, Left for Dead, and Metal Gear Survive. Other … Read more

J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions partners with Tencent and Warner Bros. to make games

J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions partners with Tencent and Warner Bros. to make games 1

Bad Robot Productions, J.J. Abrams’ company, is known for creating many popular TV and films such as Alias, Lost, Fringe, Westworld, Person of Interest, Star Trek, and a lot more. The company announced that it would create “both large and indie-scale projects for mobile, PC, and console” and also partnered with Tencent- the popular Chinese gaming company who will provide some funding for their projects.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment division will also act as a small investor in the partnership. Tencent will hold all commercial rights to copies sold overseas.

Abrams has talked about film adaptations for games like Portal and Half-Life, which is probably a good hint at the future of games Bad Robot will create. They’ve only announced two developers- Dave Baronoff and Tim Keenan. Baronoff has credits as a producer for two Star Trek games while Keenan is an indie developer that has completed a few titles like A Virus Named TOM and Duskers.

Abrams says:

“I’m a massive games fan, and increasingly envious of the amazing tools developers get to work with, and the worlds they get to play in. Now we are doubling down on our commitment to the space with a unique co-development approach to game making that allows us to focus on what we do best, and hopefully be a meaningful multiplier to our developer partners.”

 

Tencent and Wizards working on Magic: The Gathering Arena

Tencent and Wizards partner up.

Wizard of the Coast, the developer of the original Magic: The Gathering Online back in 2002, they went ahead and set forth for the next game in the series.

They’ve built games with Stainless Games over the years, such as Magic: The Gathering – Duels of Planeswalkers and Magic Duels: Origins. They did okay, but game reception was poor. Now they’ve decided to set up an in-house development studio called Magic Digital Studio for their next game.

Magic: The Gathering Online won’t be retired. But it will be designed to focus on an engaging and dynamic experience that’s true to playing the actual card game. It allows players and viewer to both watchers exciting and less confusing matchups. It also focuses on new sets with no backward compability for older card sets from previous games.

The game is said to integrate both:

“integrate modern online services that will create a dynamic overall experience and also someday integrate with other aspects of your Magic life.”

They’ve partnered up with Tencent to help bring Magic to more gamers “throughout the world.” Chris Cocks, the West Coast President states that he wants to bring the game to western players as it is in Asia, where the dominant playerbase resides.

Steven Ma, Senior VP of Tencent’s Interactive Entertainment Group states that it’s a “legendary game and has had a huge influence on culture and industry” and that they’re “thrilled to bring this amazing experience to players in Asia and look forward to helping expand its global community.

They also have plans to bring the game to PC, mobile, and console platforms.

Wizards of the Coast announced that their latest card expansion set Dominaria will be on Arena during a large update schedule. It’ll be available today with the economy updates as well. There will also be in-game events and many more. You can check out the forums for more details.

Every single card from the new expansion will be playable in digital format and include news skins and visual improvements. There will also be an experimental event going on in New Zealand where pre-release cards will include in-game codes that they can redeem for virtual items as well.