Here we go again, folks! It's a new edition of Beyond Co-Op, the weekly column that rounds up some of the interesting industry news that doesn't strictly pertain to co-op. This week we have a selection that pertains to new games and upcoming shows/conventions! Here's what we have on tap:
-Bethesda Announces Elder Scrolls Online
- Valve to Not Have Anything New for E3
- PAX Prime Completely Sold Out
Bethesda Announces Elder Scrolls Online
We don’t post regular news for MMOs, which is why this story gets a Beyond Co-Op entry: Elder Scrolls is moving into the MMO genre in 2013 with Elder Scrolls Online. This might be welcome or unwelcome news to Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim fans, depending on their feelings about MMOs. Upcoming June Issue of Game Informer will have more details about the game, but here’s what we know: the environment will span across all of Tamriel and solo, cooperative, and competitive play will all be supported. The game will take place about 1000 years before the events of Skyrim. What you should be aware of is that Bethesda is not developing the game, only publishing it. ZeniMax Online Studios will instead be undergoing the task of bringing the world of the Elder Scrolls online, and they’ve been working on it for several years. Though you may or may not have not heard of ZeniMax before, they have some members with impressive MMO development histories, and their website encourages us to think of them as “the multiplayer-focused Bethesda Softworks.” The game will reportedly be out in 2013 on PC and Mac.
Source: Game Informer
Valve to Not Have Anything New for E3
As we’re all well aware, one of the reasons E3 is such a big deal is because tons of games/consoles/hardware are announced at the show or in the week or so leading up to it. Let me put on my best Professor Farnsworth voice: Bad news, everyone. There won’t be any Valve announcements at this year’s E3. In an email correspondence between Valvetime.net forum user tabernumse and Gabe Newell, Gabe wrote the following:
We are not announcing anything at E3. Really. We are not announcing Half-Life 3 or Portal 3 or Left 4 Dead 3. We are going to be showing stuff everyone already knows about (CS:Go, Dota 2, 10' UI, ...)
So Valve will be at E3, but unless Gabe’s lying to us, there won’t be any new information coming out of them.
Source: Valvetime.net Forums
PAX Prime Completely Sold Out
First the 3-day passes sold out. Then the Friday and Saturday ones. It wasn’t long after that the Sunday passes went, too. Within just a few days, all passes for upcoming PAX Prime in Seattle were gone. No one anticipated that the show would fill up this fast, as it usually takes a few weeks or so for PAX to sell out of 3-day passes. Heck, this year at PAX East I think that Sunday passes were still available throughout the weekend of the convention (though it’s true that Sunday was Easter). For those of you who were able to score passes to the show, congratulations! For everyone else who thought they had a little longer to decide, our condolences. Co-Optimus will be there Labor Day weekend to bring the show to you in the comfort of your own home.
Source: Official PAX Prime site