Games Watch: Plants vs. Zombies 2 Soft-Launches in AU & NZ, Dota 2 Now on Full Release & Scribblenauts Unmasked Release Dated
Most people have been set back to the summer season if they want to play Plants vs. Zombies: It's About Time, due to the previously unexplained delay.
This time, it seems that residents of Australia and New Zealand will have the chance to play it ahead of everyone else, as the PopCap announces a soft launch scheduled for the two areas, making the game available to them as early as this month.
Polygon reports that the developers feel that the game needs further testing, hence the soft launch, and hopefully everyone else will be able to experience the game no later than late summer, as per the latest schedule.
"With Plants vs. Zombies 2, we're taking advantage of a lot of newer technologies," said Allen Murray, senior producer of the game, to Polygon. "We need to make sure those systems, along with our ability to stream that content to players, works."
The report adds that the next few weeks will find the developers testing the server capacity, cloud saving system, and money structure of the game. Plants vs. Zombies 2 will have a bunch of online features even though the game as a whole does not require Internet connection.
So why launch in Australia and New Zealand? Murray said that the team had wanted to test the game in a smaller region compared to North America but with a pretty similar behavior in terms of economic styles.
"This allows us to have a more controlled testing player base and determine how to keep the game healthy, then map that to the expected growth when we launch worldwide," said Murray.
Watch out for this free-to-play service along with all its other new and fan-favorite features when it launches later this summer.
Dota 2 goes with "ordered" launch
Dota 2 is finally out of its beta stage and is barging its way into full release. However, not ignoring what has happened to previous games such as SimCity, which experienced a massive failure of a launch with its DRM component, Valve is taking a different approach for this game.
According to Game Informer, the developer is avoiding the complications of delays by putting a digital queue for those who want to join--in other words, you'll have to fall in virtual line.
"If you want to give Dota a try, or you have a friend you want to bring into the community, click the button above and you can get in the launch queue. You'll see your place in line, and when it is your turn, we'll send you an email letting you know you're in. we'll begin sending those emails next week."
That's according to the statement on Dota 2's official website. The information on the website also adds that their servers can accommodate 450,000 players concurrently, however, the growing number of the fanbase and gamers are ever stretching, which means that, to avoid inconveniencing all players, having others wait for their turn at the game seems like the lesser of two evils.
"We want to avoid a situation where a rush of players overloads our server structure. As we increase our capacity, we will let more people in from the launch queue," said Valve's official statement.
Check out the game or fall in line by visiting the official website at http://www.dota2.com/thebetaisover.
Scribblenauts Unmasked release date revealed
The Nintendo exclusive game finally gets a release date, and those who have been wanting to play with the cute DC characters the like of a chibi Joker, Riddler, Batman, Bane, and Superman, to name a few.
Taking off from Scribblenauts Unlimited, but focusing the adventure on the DC heroes and villains, Wii U Daily reports that the game will have a September 24 release, heading towards the Wii U and the 3DS.
Scribblenauts Unmasked has already been revealed at the E3 2013. Check out the game's trailer shown at E3.