News Archive
Holiday greetings from Massive Entertainment
2008-12-18
Another great year is coming to an end and the holiday season is soon upon us. 2008 has been a very exciting year for Massive with World in Conflict being released on Steam and the company being acquired by Ubisoft Entertainment.
We look forward to what 2009 will bring and we would like to extend our best wishes to fans, partners and newfound Ubisoft colleagues!
World in Conflict on Steam
2008-12-05
We are happy to announce that Massive’s latest game World in Conflict is available for purchase over Steam for North American users! The game can now be purchased online for just $26.99, right on time for the holidays!
In World in Conflict, you find yourself in the middle of World War III. A Soviet-led army has launched a surprise attack on the U.S.A and Europe is on the verge of being overrun. Command your troops into fast-paced battles fought on a fully destructible battle-field. Strategy meets intense action in this epic clash of Super Powers!
Key features include:
- Chillingly plausible single-player campaign with frontlines based on real-life towns, suburbs and cities in America, Europe and USSR.
- Attain full command of four different roles: Air, Armor, Infantry & Support – in the ultimate online team-based multiplayer.
- Level entire battlefields with powerful artillery, scorching napalm, nukes and other tactical aid weapons.
Head on over to Steam and buy the game now!
Massive at Dreamhack Winter
2008-11-26
Dreamhack Winter opens its doors on Thursday, the 27th of November. It is the worlds biggest LAN event and takes place in Jönköping, Sweden. Massive Entertainment will of course be present to meet and greet attending fans. Every day, two developers will be waiting at the Intel booth to talk to the Dreamhack visitors and attendees. Why not take the opportunity to learn a thing or two about game development and what it’s like to work at Massive Entertainment!
Thursday – Andreas Viklands, Community Manager and Gabriel Odgren, Art Director.
Friday – Christofer Emgård, Story Designer and Johan Pfannenstill, Lead Programmer.
Saturday – Magnus Jansén, Lead Game Designer and John Björling, Copywriter.
So come on over to the Intel booth at Dreamhack where the developers are waiting for you and be among the world’s first gamers to chat to Massive since the acquisition by Ubisoft!
Ubisoft® acquires the Assets of Massive Entertainment®
2008-11-12
Paris, France – November 10, 2008 – Today Ubisoft announced that it has acquired from Activision Blizzard the assets and all of the personnel of esteemed Malmö, Sweden- based studio Massive Entertainment®, as well as the real time strategy brand World In Conflict®.
Created in 1997, Massive employs over 120 developers and was ranked as one of the top 50 best game studios in the world by Game Developers Research in 2008. The studio is world-renowned for its expertise in the RTS genre and for the quality of its innovative proprietary technologies. World in Conflict® was acclaimed by critics, receiving the Best Strategy Game of E3 2007 award, as well as being named Best Online Multiplayer Game of 2007 by IGN, and Most Innovative Game of 2007 by Gamespot, among many other awards.
"We are delighted to welcome the talented team of creators at Massive into the Ubisoft family," said Christine Burgess-Quemard, executive director of worldwide production studios at Ubisoft. "Ubisoft is growing at an intense pace and our strategy is to ensure the strength of our global creative teams. Massive has put together a group of some of the most confirmed and recognized creators in the industry and I know that their talent and innovation will allow them to seamlessly integrate into our worldwide network of production studios."
“Massive’s development team places great importance on its freedom to innovate and create games of the highest quality,” stated Martin Walfisz, president and founder of Massive Entertainment®. “We are fortunate to have found in Ubisoft a publisher who shares the same values and understands our mindset. I have no doubt that our future together will offer significant mutual benefit and synergy.”
About Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified line-up of products and partnerships. Ubisoft has teams in 28 countries and distributes games in more than 55 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. For the 2007-08 fiscal year, Ubisoft generated sales of 928 million euros. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com.
Massive helps educate developers of tomorrow
2008-10-21
Massive Entertainment has a long history of being involved with schools and educations. Key staff has held lectures at universities and events, students are allowed to visit the office on field-trips and at times do their internship, master thesis or other projects at Massive. Last week Tobias Strömvall, Cinematic Director at the Studio, held a lecture at Malmö University about film making, Joseph Fricano from the development team made an appearance at Game Academy and talked about writing for games and Anders Holmquist from the programming team talked about what it's like to work in the industry.
Massive’s involvement in the educational process reached new heights a few months ago with the foundation of Game Academy, a KY (Kvalifierad Yrkesutbildning) program for aspiring game developers run by Liber Hermods. Game Academy is located in Malmö, not far from the office, and Massive has been an integral part in the creation of the program. Lead developers and studio management have helped created the curriculum, routinely hold lectures and work closely with the staff at Game Academy.
For more information on the Game Academy, visit their website at www.hermodsacademy.se
World in Conflict on iTunes
2008-10-03
Those of you who fell in love with the music from World in Conflict might be interested in knowing that the entire soundtrack, created by our in-house composer Ola Strandh, is available for purchase on American iTunes.
Hop on over to iTunes and check it out yourself!
Massive employees talk film
2008-09-25
Those who attended the Fantastic Film Festival in Lund last weekend had a chance to listen to what two Massive employees had to say about moviemaking. The 9 day festival, which ends this Saturday, featured a wide variety of speakers from Hollywood actors like Corey Feldman to artists like Peter Greenaway.
Massive Entertainments own Christofer Emgård and Tobias Nyman were both there to hold lectures. Christofer, the storywriter for World in Conflict, talked about writing stories for games and the potential of the medium. Tobias Nyman, director and moviemaker at the company, addressed the question about how you make trailers for war-games when you aren’t even remotely interested in war.
For more information on the festival itself, visit http://www.fff.se/
Merger News Update
2008-08-27
Videogaming 247 has posted an interview with CEO Martin Walfisz and VP David Polfeldt regarding the merger.
Speaking exclusively to VG247, Massive Entertainment’s senior execs have revealed that they’re already in talks for a potential sale of the World in Conflict developer, following now-confirmed news that Activision is to sell the outfit as a result of its merger with Blizzard.
“It seems like we have plenty of options,” said company president and founder Martin Walfisz, talking at Develop last week. “We’ve had some good meetings here.”
Read the entire interview at videogaming247.com
News about the merger
2008-07-29
Source: http://www.euroinvestor.es/News/ShowNewsStory.aspx?StoryID=9914671
Activision Publishing Broadens Product Portfolio With Crash Bandicoot(R), Ice Age(R), Spyro(R) and Two New Intellectual Properties 29/07/2008 - 0:00
SANTA MONICA, California, July 28 /PRNewswire/ --
- Company to Streamline Vivendi Games' Studio Operations
Further strengthening its foundation for future growth, Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced that the company will broaden its product portfolio by adding Vivendi Games' multi-million unit selling properties Crash Bandicoot(R), Ice Age(R) and Spyro(R) to its roster of proven franchises. The company will also retain two new intellectual properties that are currently in development -- Prototype and a second game that has not yet been announced.
Additionally, Activision Publishing will continue to support the Vivendi Games' catalogue including The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor(TM), which was launched on July 22 in conjunction with the release of Universal Pictures' theatrical feature film.
Games based on Crash Bandicoot, Ice Age and Spyro have been top-selling titles in North America and Europe. The Crash Bandicoot franchise has sold more than 35 million units across multiple platforms in North America and Europe since its first release in 1996, and life-to-date units of Spyro have exceeded 20 million worldwide. The Ice Age feature films have grossed in excess of US$1 billion in theatrical box office revenues worldwide, and Sierra Entertainment's Ice Age(R) 2: The Meltdown(TM) sold nearly two million units worldwide.
"Four of the five properties that we are keeping will be wholly owned properties that further bolster our strong brand portfolio," said Mike Griffith, CEO of Activision Publishing. "We are very excited to add such recognizable and successful brands as Crash Bandicoot, Ice Age and Spyro, which reinforce our leadership position in movie-based and family entertainment video games."
Griffith added, "We have conducted a thorough review of Vivendi Games' brand portfolio and are retaining those franchises and titles that are a strong fit with our long-term product strategy. We are reviewing our options regarding those titles that we will not be publishing."
Additionally, Activision Publishing announced that the company intends to adapt the Vivendi Games' studio operations to better align the studio structure against the new product slate. The company will realign staffing at Radical Entertainment and High Moon Studios and is exploring options regarding Massive Entertainment and Swordfish Studios, including the possibility of divestiture.
Griffith continued, "We are focused on improving efficiency across the combined organization and are concentrating on businesses where we have leadership positions that are aligned with Activision Publishing's long-term corporate objectives."
The company also is evaluating options regarding two non-strategic business units Vivendi Games Mobile and Sierra Online, which provides casual games for the PC and Xbox(R) Live(R) Marketplace, including the possibility of divesting these business units.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Publishing, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products.
Activision Publishing maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and South Korea. More information about Activision Publishing and its products can be found on the company's website, http://www.activision.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Publishing's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Activision Publishing generally uses words such as "outlook", "will," "could," "would," "might," "remains," "to be," "plans," "believes", "may", "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "estimate," future," "plan," "positioned," "potential," "project," "remain," "scheduled," "set to," "subject to," "upcoming" and similar expressions to help identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause Activision Publishing's actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales of Activision Publishing's titles, shifts in consumer spending trends, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision Publishing's ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms (including next-generation hardware), declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision Publishing's products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, litigation against Activision Publishing, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, vendors and third-party developers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign exchange rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, Activision Publishing's success in integrating the operations of Activision Publishing and Vivendi Games in a timely manner, or at all, and the combined company's ability to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction to the extent, or in the timeframe, anticipated. Other such factors include additional risk factors identified in Activision Blizzard's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Publishing and Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and neither Activision Publishing nor Activision Blizzard assumes any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Publishing or Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
Web site: http://www.activision.com
Activision Publishing, Inc.
World in Conflict nominated for best new IP
2008-06-09
We're very proud to announce that World in Conflict has been nominated for a Develop Industry Excellence Award for "Best New IP". The award ceremony, which kicks off for the sixth consecutive time this year, honors the creative achievements of the European game development community. The Develop Industry Excellence Awards are voted for by a panel of 100 industry experts.
The entire Massive staff is extremely happy and proud for the nomination and we expect there will be plenty of finger-crossing in the office when the ceremony takes place on July 30th. For a complete list of all our awards, please visit our Awards section.
World in Conflict is an action-packed strategy game that was released for PC in September 2007 and that will soon be released for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
Map Making Contest is Live
2008-05-06
That's right, map makers, it is your time to shine! The official World in Conflict Map Making Contest is now live, so all creative map designers best prepare to produce some map magic! Every map submitted will be reviewed and evaluated by the designers at Massive Entertainment. The winners have a shot at winning $1,000 cash as well as some NVIDIA 8800 graphics cards. The top maps will also be posted on worldinconflict.com and the winning maps will appear in a future release of an official World in Conflict product.
Read all about the contest on our official map making contest page and download the tools needed straight from our downloads page. To get further into the arts of making maps for World in Conflict, don’t hesitate to visit our official wiki or to visit our map forum.
Let the map making begin!
Massive Entertainment receives awards
2008-04-15
In the midst of all the global coverage of World in Conflict: Soviet Assault, Massive recently received some great awards from MI6 and the Great Place to Work Institute. MI6 honored us with Silver for "Standout Print Campaign" for our “America the Beautiful/Battlefield” campaign and Silver for the "Sharpest Ear Award" for our New York World in Conflict cinematic video. Meanwhile, the Great Place to Work Institute ranked us as Sweden’s 8th greatest work place and awarded Massive for its Integration and Multicultural Work.
MI6 is the world’s largest video game marketing conference and the Great Place to Work Institute is a research and management consultancy based in the U.S. with International Affiliate offices throughout the world.
All of us at Massive are very happy for the recognition. For a complete list of all our awards, please visit our Awards section.
World in Conflict going strong!
2008-03-13
Yesterday was a superb day for Massive Entertainment, as the Swedish award ceremony for videogames, Spelgalan, ended up in a triumph for the company. Amongst many other qualified nominees competing for 20 different awards, Massive’s acclaimed game World in Conflict was nominated for four awards – Best Tech, Best Graphics, Best Strategy Game and Best Swedish Game. As the ceremony drew to a close, Massive ended up winning all four of them. At a company already thrilled about having won Best Strategy Game at the Gullstika game awards in Norway the week before, we now continue the job of producing the award winning game for consoles. The console version, produced for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, is scheduled for release later this year.
The celebrated game, World in Conflict, is an action-packed PC strategy game set in the 1980’s cold war. Since its 2007 release, it has already received numerous awards from the esteemed worldwide press and media, including Aftonbladet (Sweden), Gamespot.com (USA), IGN.com (USA), Eurogamer (UK), PC Gamer (USA) and many others. The studio was recently ranked as the 42nd best game studio in the world by Game Developers Research, making Massive te only Nordic game studio on the list.
World in Conflict Trial Upgrade Sweepstakes
2008-03-13
The World in Conflict Draft Program is still up and running, and with the return of the World in Conflict Fileplanet Trial, we’re now hosting a Trial Upgrade Sweepstake competition for all trial players. In the competition, all trial players have the chance to win a full, permanent World in Conflict multiplayer account. For more details on how to win, please visit our official trial upgrade sweepstakes page.
CPL finals are over and modding is on fire!
2008-03-04
The World in Conflict community is absolutely thriving, and both creative and competitive gamers are making their marks on the world. This weekend, the World in Conflict CPL Finals were hosted at Gamerbase in London. Once the smoke settled, the notorious "Team Dignitas" emerged as the winner of the grand prize of $60,000! Runner-ups "Don’t Care" and "inFerno eSports" grabbed the second and third place respectively after a series of engaging battles. For more info on the finals, please see our dedicated thread with photos and replays from the event.
Also, the GameOn World in Conflict modding competition is really coming alive, with several cool mods in the making. The following mods are currently up for the final run:
Paradise Glossed
A satirical depiction of a conflict between two ideologies, Paradise Glossed is a strategy game with some very unconventional and innovative ideas.
Code Ares
Taking a leap back to World War II, Code Ares puts the player in the middle of the epic war in such beautiful locations as Africa, Crete and Italy.
Skulls of Treasure Island
Replacing tanks and helicopters with pirates and ships, Skulls of Treasure Island takes players to the Caribbean where brave pirates and pompous navy sailors are put head-to-head.
To get a more in-depth overview of the creativity that’s stemming from these brilliant minds, please visit our mod competition forum, or visit our mod forum to get started on your very own mod!
All of us in the World in Conflict team are very happy to see such dedicated and passionate people in the community. We are all curious to see the game evolve in your hands, for it is beyond doubt you who are pushing World in Conflict into the next dimension.
Massive.se gets a new look
2008-02-21
New website to go with the new offices
Massive Entertainment moved to a new office during the Christmas break and as the new workplace was finalized, another project picked up steam. The new custom-fit office building is now accompanied by a new custom-made website, which is launched today!
The new website also completes the transition to a new web server, which means that some outdated and old content is no longer available. The forums that were previously hosted on massive.se are no longer online. All community and forum activities is moved to www.massgate.net.
Please note that some bookmarked links to the old site may no longer work, and if you are missing anything critical, please contact us at info@massive.se.
The site is a living and constantly changing project, so expect the content to grow and evolove as time goes by. Massive.se is the corporate website and focuses on Massive Entertainment. Don't miss to check out our other websites, focusing on our games; www.massgate.net and www.worldinconflict.com
So welcome to the new site, we hope you will enjoy it!
World in Conflict 2008 Draft
2008-02-19
Recruit your friends!
In order to encourage new players to join the global war, the World in Conflict 2008 Draft program is now live! This means that all players with existing Massgate accounts can give their email address to friends and family and get medals when they sign up for accounts of their own. If ten or more people refer to you when they create their accounts, you’ll receive a shiny Gold Draft Medal in your account!
For more information on how to draft new recruits, please visit the WIC 2008 Draft site.
World in Conflict console news
2008-02-14
Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 this fall
SIERRA ENTERTAINMENT’S ACTION-STRATEGY OPUS WORLD IN CONFLICT COMING TO XBOX 360 AND PLAYSTATION®3 SYSTEM IN FALL 2008
The Genre-Bending “Best Strategy Game of 2007” Gets Even Better As It Heads to Consoles with Additional Single Player and Multiplayer Content
Los Angeles (February 14, 2008) – Sierra Entertainment, a division of Vivendi Games, announced today that World in Conflict™ – the groundbreaking action-strategy game that claimed the coveted E3 2007 Game Critics “Best Strategy Game” award and topped many “Best of 2007” lists – will appear on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system this fall.
World in Conflict, originally created by Sierra’s-own Massive Entertainment, is being redesigned for consoles and will also include a host of new content for both the single-player campaign and the game’s award-winning multiplayer mode. The new content will also be made available for personal computer as an add-on to the original World in Conflict game. More information on the PC release will be provided soon.
The World in Conflict game for Xbox 360 and the PLAYSTATION®3 system is being developed by Massive Entertainment in conjunction with Sierra’s-own Swordfish Studios.
“World in Conflict was one of the best games on any platform in 2007 and its innovative action-focused gameplay makes it a perfect fit for the transition to consoles,” said Martin Tremblay, president of worldwide studios, Sierra Entertainment. “World in Conflict is being reinvented for Xbox 360 and the PLAYSTATION®3 system, with innovative features and new single player and multiplayer content created for the console audience. World in Conflict on consoles will be an amazing extension of an already great gaming franchise.”
World in Conflict is a true genre-bender, effectively carving out an entirely new “Action-Strategy” category which appeals to all kinds of video game players, from action junkies to first-person-shooter enthusiasts to strategy purists.
The unique cross-genre design and universal appeal is what led global media to make World in Conflict the most critically lauded strategy game of 2007. The game collected a clean sweep of “Best Strategy Game” awards from E3 2007, countless “Editor’s Choice” awards from the world’s top reviewers, and was the clear choice for “Best Strategy Game of 2007” during the end-of-year awards season. In addition, the game received several additional “Best of 2007” awards and nominations in categories that included “Best PC Game,” “Best Graphics,” “Best Multiplayer,” “Most Innovative,” and more.
World in Conflict Update #6
2008-02-13
Available now!
The World in Conflict Team is proud to announce the release of Update 6.
This sixth update primarily fixes some balancing issues, but also introduces a number of new features, including enhanced server filters, improved “Play Now” functions and measures against clan smurfing. Aside of that, there are also several additions to the various communications tools in the game.
For more details about this update, please take a look at these update notes. As always, the update will be downloaded automatically and installed when you connect to Massgate.
Have fun!
World in Conflict Update #6
2008-02-04
Coming soon!
The World in Conflict Team is proud to announce the upcoming release of update 6.
This sixth update primarily fixes some balancing issues, but also introduces a number of new features, including enhanced server filters, improved “Play Now” functions and measures against clan smurfing. Aside from that, there are also several additions to the various communications tools in the game.
Look out for this and more updates in the near future!
