A few months ago, Hi-Rez's Todd Harris announced that development on Tribes: Ascend was suspended, with the studio focusing its efforts their third-person DoTA-like Smite. With fans of that game growing concerned that its own continued development would eventually be in danger, the studio's CEO Erez Goren has posted a candid address to the Smite Reddit page, addressing Tribes' development, its financial troubles, and Smite's success in comparison. His comments also call into question their initial plan to release map-making tools for Tribes: Ascend.

As part of the post, Goren delves back into the history of Hi-Rez releases. "Global Agenda was our first game and it lost a lot of money," he writes. He goes on to explain how that loss was mitigated by the fact that its technology would support future games. "We continued to fund Global Agenda for more than a year after it was released and losing money, we continued to create content and new features but no matter how much work we did the user base kept declining."

That leads to Tribes: Ascend. "We created Tribes Ascend since we love Tribes," Goren writes, "we made it F2P so everyone can have easy access to it. We didn’t think Tribes Ascend would be a financial windfall but it was worth a risk to try." Unfortunately, the game was ultimately "break-even at best". "Tribes received exceptional reviews, we kept adding new features and content, but just like Global Agenda the user base kept declining no matter what we did." Goren's perspective is that "most games fail", with him comparing Tribes: Ascend's fate with "99% of the games".

In regards to the planned map-making and mod tools for the jet-powered FPS, they're looking unlikely. "Some people have asked for us to provide more tools for community content creation, but our infrastructure and development platform does not support that ability well and the cost and time to develop those features is extremely high. Contrary to the belief that we were ‘milking’ tribes to support the development of Smite, if we didn’t develop another game that could support the studios the company and the Tribe servers would have closed down."

And Smite? According to Goren, it's proving the exception. "Smite is one of those rare games that’s actually growing every month, and is also profitable. This is allowing us to grow the Smite team and deliver weekly updates and content (from 15 people initially to about 80 people now). In addition, many outside publishers were interested in Smite and we are fortunate enough to have made a deal with Tencent who is the most prestigious partner we can have for our type of game.

"Given everything we know Smite should have a long and successful future which is why we are very excited as a company and continue to work our butts off to make Smite the best Moba game in the world."

To read the full statement, including why Tribes: Ascend was apparently a bad fit for traditional publishers, head over to Goren's Reddit post.

Global Agenda has experimented with a number of different business models since it was released. It started as a typical retail game, then offered an unlimited trial period, and just recently it went completely free to play. We recently spoke with Hi-Res Studio COO Todd Harris about the move to the new pricing model. He told us that Global Agenda is enjoying five times the number of players since the shift to free to play, and revenues "are higher than they ever have been before."

"We recently shifted it in the past quarter to free to play and we've only seen great things out of that decision," said Harris. "We have many many more people creating accounts every day, many more people playing concurrently, our revenues are higher than they ever have been before which means we can develop content and put it into the game faster than ever before."

"Philosophically, I probably wouldn't have said this two years ago because I maybe had more a negative bias about free to play," he added. "The way we look at it it lets us succeed based on the strength of the gameplay more than marketing and that probably to me is the biggest advertisement for it."



Harris told us that even compared to the level capped trial, the free to play approach has enticed many more players. "We now have five times as many interested players every day going through that same experience knowing that it's free to play and it's not a demo," he said.

Give the success of free to play for Global Agenda, and other games like Lord of the Rings Online and Team Fortress 2, will there be more free to play games to come? "I think more and more will," says Harris, "you never say never. For some blockbuster, very well-known brands, there's still a $60 single price entry fee even if there's microtransactions after that, because they just can command it, because they do have that market awareness, but I do think it's clearly the direction of gaming."

Global Agenda recently received a patch adding new maps and a jetpack shop. Hi-Rez studios are currently working on future updates for Global Agenda, and are developing Tribes: Ascend.

A new Global Agenda update is set to arrive later today, adding new maps and a couple of new stores, one selling jetpacks, and another selling "cosmetic flair." The Global Agenda servers will be down for a few hours while the patch is applied, between 11:00 and 17:00 US Eastern time / 16:00 to 22:00 GMT.

The two new maps, Magmarock and Haulin' Acid have been promoted from beta status to be played in PvP mode. Magmarock is a control map that will be added to the Mercenaries PvP queue, while Haulin' Acid provides another payload arena.

The new jetpack store can be found in Dome City. Ironically, you have to use a Dome City jetpack to reach the jetpack store on the upper levels of the hub. The store will also sell custom jetpack trails. The new fashion store, Burning Fashions, will replace Carter's Seasonal Accessories, and provide more buy-able cyborg bling to pimp out your warrior. You'll find the full patch notes below.

Dome City Changes:

Carter’s Seasonal Accessories has closed up shop.
Burning Fashion has arrived in Dome City and will be selling cosmetic flair where Carter’s used to be.
The long awaited Skyward Jetpacks has finally landed at the upper deck of Dome City and is open for business. In addition to selling jetpacks available elsewhere in the game, Skyward also sells high-end jetpack trail effects. You must be a boosted customer with a jetpack in Dome City in order to reach the upper deck of Dome City where Skyward resides.
Adjusted the position of the guard at the South gate to the Sonoran Desert to be less confusing to players attempting to exit the dome.

 
Open Zone Changes:

Uncommon quality Repair Kits can now be purchased from Yuma Imports at New Yuma Station
Fixed some issues with materials that appeared to flicker when using Direct X 10 on some clients

 
Gameplay Changes:

Frenzy wave should now properly award buff points for hitting allies

 
Bugs Fixed in Version 1.44

Finalized netcode update (initially deployed on 6/23). Significant changes to net code that improve communication between the Atlanta data center and the games` other data centers. This should reduce occurrences of the "stuck on floor” issue for EU and NA West users, as well as provide some other benefits while entering and leaving matches.

 
Map Changes

New PvP Control map “Magmarock” has been promoted from Beta and added permanently to the Mercenary PvP Queue.
New PvP Payload map “Haulin’ Acid” has been added to the Beta Maps Queue.

 

It is frustrating that Valve insist on telling the world very important news just as everyone in the office turns off their PCs to go home. That leaves it to me to tell you that Valve have added microtransaction support for free-to-play games to Steam, with five available immediately: Champions Online: Free for All, Global Agenda: Free Agent, Spiral Knights, Forsaken Worlds, and Alliance of Valliant Arms.

Starting tomorrow, each of the five games will offer exclusive in-game content to those players who try out the "free-to-play game of the day." That likely means Champions Online will soon be inundated with new players wearing Pyro masks or wielding Gordon's crowbar, which can only be a good thing for all involved.

Read on for a few more thoughts.

You can find all five games in the new free-to-play section of the Steam store.

The news here is that Steamworks' micropayment functionality is being used across all the games. The tech was originally rolled out for Team Fortress 2's Mannconomy update, and it has been generating wads of money for Valve and prompting occasional ire from gamers ever since. Given that these games were already free-to-play with micropayments though, it seems like little cause for further consternation.

Instead, it seems like a good thing. Free-to-play games vary in quality wildly, and there's so many of them from so many developers that it's difficult to work out which are worth your time. Having a bunch of them in a central place like Steam, where you can see what your friends are playing, should make it easier to work out what's worth your time. It'll also stop these games being so marginalised and take away a little of the stigma of playing them. If that results in the good free-to-play games getting the attention they deserve, then that's great.

You know what? It's been a hell of a month for free games. Normally, when planning this column, I've to scour the internet high and low to locate some hidden gems. This month, they've been coming out of the walls, man! Special mentions should go to Picaroon, Space Engine and Pragmatica, all of which are worth a look, but read below the jump to find out which titles I've ended up loving the most.

Technobabylon - Part III: In Nuntius Veritas
Technocrat. Grab it from GameJolt.



I really need to go back to the start of Technobabylon at some point. Its first episode was an unassuming little room escape title with some interesting narrative touches to keep things fresh. Since then it's expanded into an enormous adventure series set in an unsettling future where your character is under constant oppression or threat.

Part III is the most stylish so far, and perhaps the most well-written, although all three episodes are marvelous from a storytelling perspective. For my money, the actual game itself isn't quite as strong, with a couple of stinkers in the puzzle and mini-game department. But now that the several interlocking strands of the story are coming together, there's never been a better time to give the series a go.
Soul Brother
. Play it on the website.



This is a neat idea. From the always-agreeably-barmy comes a new platformer, which is essentially a game about very carefully timed suicide. Yeah. Exactly.

The idea is this. Soul Brother features a string of different characters, each with its own special abilities. When one character dies, its spirit enters the next one, and you play on from there. The trick is to time your deaths so that the next character is in the most favourable position to plod along with the adventure.

The game itself is a pretty straightforward, unremarkable platformer, but the art style is nice, and the idea behind it is lovely. So is the name, come to think of it.
Ace of Spades
Ben Askoy. Download it from the official website.



Hey, look, it's Minecraft: World War I edition with a multiplayer twist! Ace of Spades so shamelessly nicks both the core mechanics and visual design of Mojang's pre-release classic that my initial response was to laugh at it, and ignore it. But it turns out there's a bit more going on here than you might expect.

Firstly, its rudimentary physics system opens up a whole boatload of new creative avenues. And secondly, the combat is a huge improvement on Minecraft's, with some absolutely fantastic range and satisfying insta-kill headshots.

The first beta build was as bug-ridden as you can imagine, but an updated version - which I've not touched yet - is now available. And, of course, this is entirely free, so a lot of that stuff can be quite reasonably forgiven when set against all the fun you're having.
Global Agenda: Free Agent
Hi-Rez Studios. Get it from the game's website.



I thought Global Agenda was pretty rubbish, if I'm honest. I played it for a while with PC Gamer contributor Phill Cameron, and the most fun either of us had was getting into an utterly ludicrous argument with one player about who was allowed to dance in which bits of the game's Dome City hub.

But it's a different matter when no coins are involved. Global Agenda: Free Agent is the free-to-play version of Hi-Rez's team-based shooter/MMO hybrid, and while it retains all the original's flaws, they're a lot more forgivable when your bank balance remains intact.

Combat still feels flimsy, there's still very little variety to the game, and the MMO side is still simultaneously undeveloped and unintuitive. But weighed up against other free-to-play shooters, Free Agent actually fairs rather well. Perhaps High-Rez would have done well to realise that from the start.
Don't Take It Personally, Babe, It Just Ain't Your Story
Christine Love. Download it from Christine's website.



Do you remember Digital: A Love Story? If you don't, it's presumably because you never played it, because such a fiercely creative little indie game would certainly have stuck with you in the 18 months since its release. The brilliantly named Don't Take It Personally, Babe, It Just Ain't Your Story is a spiritual successor of sorts - although this time, writer/developer Christine Love's efforts are marginally less striking.

It ostensibly takes the form of a visual novel, but the more you play, the more you realise there are more interactive elements than you might think. Set 15 years into the future, Don't Take It Personally lobs you into the shoes of a divorced high school teacher, and the plot unfolds as you decide the extent to which you feel comfortable becoming involved with (or intruding on?) your pupils' lives.

This is hardly a traditional game, and the visual style is a little jarring, not least because this futuristic school is apparently still using big boxy televisions and blackboards. But it also made me ask more questions of myself than a game has managed since the original Dragon Age. At around two hours long, it's best completed in one sitting - and while the ending is disappointingly unsubtle, I came away from it with a positive impression overall.

You know what? It's been a hell of a month for free games. Normally, when planning this column, I've to scour the internet high and low to locate some hidden gems. This month, they've been coming out of the walls, man! Special mentions should go to Picaroon, Space Engine and Pragmatica, all of which are worth a look, but read below the jump to find out which titles I've ended up loving the most.

Technobabylon - Part III: In Nuntius Veritas
Technocrat. Grab it from GameJolt.



I really need to go back to the start of Technobabylon at some point. Its first episode was an unassuming little room escape title with some interesting narrative touches to keep things fresh. Since then it's expanded into an enormous adventure series set in an unsettling future where your character is under constant oppression or threat.

Part III is the most stylish so far, and perhaps the most well-written, although all three episodes are marvelous from a storytelling perspective. For my money, the actual game itself isn't quite as strong, with a couple of stinkers in the puzzle and mini-game department. But now that the several interlocking strands of the story are coming together, there's never been a better time to give the series a go.
Soul Brother
. Play it on the website.



This is a neat idea. From the always-agreeably-barmy comes a new platformer, which is essentially a game about very carefully timed suicide. Yeah. Exactly.

The idea is this. Soul Brother features a string of different characters, each with its own special abilities. When one character dies, its spirit enters the next one, and you play on from there. The trick is to time your deaths so that the next character is in the most favourable position to plod along with the adventure.

The game itself is a pretty straightforward, unremarkable platformer, but the art style is nice, and the idea behind it is lovely. So is the name, come to think of it.
Ace of Spades
Ben Askoy. Download it from the official website.



Hey, look, it's Minecraft: World War I edition with a multiplayer twist! Ace of Spades so shamelessly nicks both the core mechanics and visual design of Mojang's pre-release classic that my initial response was to laugh at it, and ignore it. But it turns out there's a bit more going on here than you might expect.

Firstly, its rudimentary physics system opens up a whole boatload of new creative avenues. And secondly, the combat is a huge improvement on Minecraft's, with some absolutely fantastic range and satisfying insta-kill headshots.

The first beta build was as bug-ridden as you can imagine, but an updated version - which I've not touched yet - is now available. And, of course, this is entirely free, so a lot of that stuff can be quite reasonably forgiven when set against all the fun you're having.
Global Agenda: Free Agent
Hi-Rez Studios. Get it from the game's website.



I thought Global Agenda was pretty rubbish, if I'm honest. I played it for a while with PC Gamer contributor Phill Cameron, and the most fun either of us had was getting into an utterly ludicrous argument with one player about who was allowed to dance in which bits of the game's Dome City hub.

But it's a different matter when no coins are involved. Global Agenda: Free Agent is the free-to-play version of Hi-Rez's team-based shooter/MMO hybrid, and while it retains all the original's flaws, they're a lot more forgivable when your bank balance remains intact.

Combat still feels flimsy, there's still very little variety to the game, and the MMO side is still simultaneously undeveloped and unintuitive. But weighed up against other free-to-play shooters, Free Agent actually fairs rather well. Perhaps High-Rez would have done well to realise that from the start.
Don't Take It Personally, Babe, It Just Ain't Your Story
Christine Love. Download it from Christine's website.



Do you remember Digital: A Love Story? If you don't, it's presumably because you never played it, because such a fiercely creative little indie game would certainly have stuck with you in the 18 months since its release. The brilliantly named Don't Take It Personally, Babe, It Just Ain't Your Story is a spiritual successor of sorts - although this time, writer/developer Christine Love's efforts are marginally less striking.

It ostensibly takes the form of a visual novel, but the more you play, the more you realise there are more interactive elements than you might think. Set 15 years into the future, Don't Take It Personally lobs you into the shoes of a divorced high school teacher, and the plot unfolds as you decide the extent to which you feel comfortable becoming involved with (or intruding on?) your pupils' lives.

This is hardly a traditional game, and the visual style is a little jarring, not least because this futuristic school is apparently still using big boxy televisions and blackboards. But it also made me ask more questions of myself than a game has managed since the original Dragon Age. At around two hours long, it's best completed in one sitting - and while the ending is disappointingly unsubtle, I came away from it with a positive impression overall.

Either the MOBA bubble is nearing its bursting point, or a new era of competitive strategy is dawning—whatever the case, it's obvious that more and more developers want a piece of that sweet DotA-legacy pie. Hi-Rez Studios, the developers behind the now-free-to-play Global Agenda and upcoming Tribes game, are taking a crack at their own DotA-inspired game with their upcoming SMITE. But what could possibly set them apart from the rest of the well-established crowd? How about a third-person camera perspective and graphics powered by the Unreal 3 Engine.



Developers and gamers have long dreamed of cracking the conundrum of making third-person, action-oriented combat work in an RTS game. It's been done before, in games like Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War, or the StarCraft 2 mod Blizzard demoed starring Nova from SC: Ghost. But unless you're satisfied with Dynasty Warriors' endless hack-'n'-slash gameplay, there's never been a game to give you a truly fulfilling experience of leading your army on the ground as a powerful general leading the charge into tower defenses and cannon fodder troops. Hi-Rez aims to change that with SMITE—only, instead of controlling a general, you'll be controlling a god.

SMITE's theme and lore are rooted in global ancient mythology, as you can see from the Anubis and Zeus hero reveals. Personally, I think that mythology is another concept that needs more love in gaming (God of War non-withstanding); there's a multitude of awesome deities and cultures to harvest hero ideas from. Imagine: the Hindu elephant god Ganesha, battling toe-to-toe with the Norse god Thor, while the love goddess Aphrodite heals Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god of wind. HECK TO THE YEAH! The lore is already out there, just waiting to take form as a badass MOBA, and Hi-Rez looks like its ready to answer the call.



Hi-Rez are no strangers to the free-to-play model, and how best to appease players with store items that are appealing destroying game balance. We're eagerly awaiting in-game screens of what god-vs-god combat looks like in the gorgeous Unreal 3 engine, but until then, check the Global Agenda blog for updates on the game's progress.

Either the MOBA bubble is nearing its bursting point, or a new era of competitive strategy is dawning—whatever the case, it's obvious that more and more developers want a piece of that sweet DotA-legacy pie. Hi-Rez Studios, the developers behind the now-free-to-play Global Agenda and upcoming Tribes game, are taking a crack at their own DotA-inspired game with their upcoming SMITE. But what could possibly set them apart from the rest of the well-established crowd? How about a third-person camera perspective and graphics powered by the Unreal 3 Engine.



Developers and gamers have long dreamed of cracking the conundrum of making third-person, action-oriented combat work in an RTS game. It's been done before, in games like Rise & Fall: Civilizations at War, or the StarCraft 2 mod Blizzard demoed starring Nova from SC: Ghost. But unless you're satisfied with Dynasty Warriors' endless hack-'n'-slash gameplay, there's never been a game to give you a truly fulfilling experience of leading your army on the ground as a powerful general leading the charge into tower defenses and cannon fodder troops. Hi-Rez aims to change that with SMITE—only, instead of controlling a general, you'll be controlling a god.

SMITE's theme and lore are rooted in global ancient mythology, as you can see from the Anubis and Zeus hero reveals. Personally, I think that mythology is another concept that needs more love in gaming (God of War non-withstanding); there's a multitude of awesome deities and cultures to harvest hero ideas from. Imagine: the Hindu elephant god Ganesha, battling toe-to-toe with the Norse god Thor, while the love goddess Aphrodite heals Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god of wind. HECK TO THE YEAH! The lore is already out there, just waiting to take form as a badass MOBA, and Hi-Rez looks like its ready to answer the call.



Hi-Rez are no strangers to the free-to-play model, and how best to appease players with store items that are appealing destroying game balance. We're eagerly awaiting in-game screens of what god-vs-god combat looks like in the gorgeous Unreal 3 engine, but until then, check the Global Agenda blog for updates on the game's progress.

The mid April update to the massively online shooter Global Agenda will make the game free-to-play for all, according to a recent blog post from developers Hi Rez Studios. The update will let anyone download and play the game all the way up to the level 50 cap. You can pay a one off $19.99 / £13.99 / €15.99 fee to gain permanent Elite Agent status, which will increase your levelling speed and give you access to features like login priority, auction house and in-game mail. If you've already bought Global Agenda, you'll automatically gain Elite Agent status for no extra cost.

For more on the shooter's move to free-to-play, head over to the Global Agenda site.

On Monday, of Hi-Rez Studios, the creators of Global Agenda, announced that they're working on a new Tribes game. Now they're putting out a call for alpha testers. Read on for details on how to sign up.

Head to the Tribes Universe site for your chance to get in on the testing. To apply you'll need to answer several questions concerning your previous experience with Tribes and MMOs in general. Hi-Rez have said that they'll be giving priority to high level Global Agenda players, so if you have a top level Global Agenda character, it might be a good idea to mention it.

For more information about the game check out our post on the Tribes Universe announcement.