Funcom has finally announced the official release date for their "secretive" MMORPG, The Secret World, expected to launch June 19th!

Independent developer and publisher of online games, Funcom, today announced that the highly anticipated massively multiplayer online role-playing game ‘The Secret World’ will launch on June 19^th, 2012. Originally slated for an April launch, Funcom has decided to invest more development time into the title in order to apply even more polish before launch.

Feedback from hands-on press events and beta testing has proven very positive, and Funcom intends to spend the additional development time focusing on polish and tweaking to maximize the potential of the game. The beta feedback so far is showing very positive reactions to core game features such as the role-playing systems, combat, missions, dungeons, story and immersion. Among the beta testers surveyed, almost 9 out of 10 say they will play the game at launch.

More than 750,000 gamers are now registered as beta testers, which is significantly higher than Funcom’s previous MMO ‘Age of Conan’ had at the same point in development. Funcom expects the number of beta registrations to grow significantly in the coming months, as the company ramps up its major PR and marketing initiatives towards launch.

“Allowing for even more time to polish the game really shows just how much faith Funcom as a company has in ‘The Secret World’ and how committed we are to making it the best it can be,” says Creative Director and Senior Producer Ragnar Tørnquist. “The additional time will also allow us to carry out even more quality beta testing, and soon we will also be announcing several public beta events where hundreds of thousands of gamers will get to test the game prior to launch.”

Following the first hands-on press event last year, ‘The Secret World’ was heralded as “one of the most distinctive MMO’s of the last 10 years”  This month, Funcom is doing another extensive round of hands-on sessions with select press, showcasing all new content and mechanics. New press previews are expected to hit later this week following the hands-on events held throughout February where journalists from over 50 outlets worldwide attended. 

’The Secret World’ is published by Electronic Arts Inc.  Those looking to join the ongoing beta test can sign up via the official site at www.thesecretworld.com.

A new in-game "Trade Fair" event has begun in Xsyon to help players with their item, crafting, and material trading.

Notorious Games are proud to announce a Guide ran Trade Fair.

The Xsyon Trade Fair is a meeting place for the whole Xsyon world to Trade their hard earned good, and haggle for new items.

The Xsyon Guides have built a Market Trade area where participating Survivors will be teleported to. They will then be able to Trade their goods in peace and harmony free from Player Versus Player action, for whatever currency or items the players dictate.

Survivors will be teleported to the Trade Fair with Carts in hand, and then be teleport back to their tribe location when the Trade Fair closes for the day.
The Xsyon Guides will run the Xsyon Trade Fair two times per week on a Wednesday and Saturday.

Notorious Games are hoping this will bring players from across the Xsyon world together to what will hopefully be a fun and prosperous meeting for all.

Xsyon is an open ended fantasy sandbox MMORPG that evolves with its community. The Prelude is the current, limited first release of the Xsyon virtual world. Players create their own virtual realities as they form tribes, build towns, shape landscapes, share quests and form societies. 

Notorious Games is currently taking orders for Xsyon: Prelude.

Please visit www.xsyon.com for more information and to join us in creating a new world!

We have 10 new screenshots to share from the upcoming Update 13, "Web of Chaos".

Serving as the prequel to DDO’s upcoming expansion, Menace of the Underdark, Update 13: Web of Chaos brings:

3 New Free Quests

• The Lords of Dust: The Silver Flame must now contend with an uprising cult! Controlled by the Rakshasas, the cult of the Lords of Dust have one priority - free the ancient demons trapped in Khyber.
• Servants of the Overlord: Venture deep down into Khyber and fight resistance as you attempt to thwart the Rakshasas from freeing the imprisoned "Spinner of Shadows"!
• The Spinner of Shadows: Engage in an ambitious battle as you fight to hold off the release of the Spinner of Shadows! Though beware of thinking your task is over, for a menacing journey awaits.

Veteran Status (7)

• Now start your new character at level 7 and gain a head start! Earn through favor or purchase in the DDO Store.

New Items

• Use the Omnispell Dust and Omnispell Stone in place of the material component of any magic spell. Free up inventory space!

New to the DDO Store

• Cloak of Resistance - Aid yourself in the defense of magic attacks and traps
• Necklace of Protection - Increase your armor class by 1
• +1 Elemental Touch Weapons - A full suite of level 1 weapons are now available

Lolth Retexture Screenshots

Epic Screenshots

For more information on D& Online or to sign up for a FREE account, visit the official website HERE.

CCP has released a new video for EVE Online, titled "Awakening".

A new pilot, reborn as one of the universe's immortal elite, is presented with a glimpse of the dangerous and opportunity-filled future that awaits them in EVE Online.

For more information on EVE Online, or to sign up for a FREE trial, visit the official website HERE.

Joining the likes of the "World's Fattest Priest" and "Most Time Spent on the Toilet", Rift finds its spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for the "Most In-Game Marriages".

Trion Worlds, the leading publisher and developer of premium games for the connected era, announced today that players of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), Rift™, set the world record for the most in-game marriages in a 24-hour period. Officially recorded for the Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition®, 21,879 marriages were confirmed between 9am PST, Feb. 14 and 9am PST, Feb. 15.

Guinness World Records will log the marriages and the record will be considered for inclusion in the 2013 edition of the Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition. All participating players will receive the unique in-game title “The Avowed,” and hopefully snapped some wedding images to share with their children.

“Establishing this record was a monumental achievement for our development team and community of passionate players, and I couldn’t be more proud,” said Scott Hartsman, Executive Producer on Rift and Trion’s CCO. “Ascended Weddings were a great way to lift the veil on Rift’s new ‘Gatherings’ feature, social experiences that bring players together in new and interesting ways.  We look forward to expanding this great new gameplay element in the always-evolving world of Telara.”

Gaz Deaves, Gaming Editor for Guinness World Records, said “It’s great to see the seeds of love blooming in virtual worlds, and particularly impressive to see so many gamers getting together to say their vows for one event like this. The evidence submitted was of a very high standard and we even witnessed some of the ceremonies ourselves, so this achievement will definitely be considered for the next Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition.”

Rift introduced the in-game marriage feature with its latest content release, “Carnival of the Ascended,” the seventh major update introduced by Trion since Rift launched in March 2011. Rift has seen more than one million activations since launch, and Trion has revealed that the title broke 100 million dollars in revenue in under a year. Also launched with the Carnival of the Ascended update was Rift Lite, which enables anyone with a Trion account to access Rift with no time or cost restrictions up to level 20. Play for free at www.riftgame.com/RiftLite.

As announced last week, the open beta phase of Frogster’s new MMORPG ELIGIUM – The Chosen One will start today at 4 pm (CET). The open beta is planned to run for the next few weeks during which Frogster will count on player activity and bug reporting. Special rewards for the most active open beta testers will be announced soon.

Localization – the heart of the matter!
During the open beta phase and at the moment of its official release, ELIGIUM – The Chosen One will only be available in English. Thereafter, the game will also be released in German, Polish and French. The text awaiting translation is the equivalent of four times the entire trilogy of “Lord of the Rings” and double the amount translated for other popular Frogster games.

Are you ready for battle?
As promised, no created characters will be wiped following the open beta phase. Furthermore, ELIGIUM’s Community Managers have planned numerous events and competitions during the open beta phase.
To take part in the open beta test, register on ELIGIUM’s official websitewww.eligium.com.