The latest word today from Futuremark Games Studio is that Shattered Horizon is now available for pre-order and will launch on Wednesday, November 4th . You can pre-order the game now through the Shattered Horizon website. Suggested retail price is $19.95 / €19.95 / £14.95 and pre-orders get a 10% discount off that.
Those of you who have bought Futuremark's benchmarks (3DMark 06, 3DMark Vantage or PCMark Vantage), there is a special deal available exclusively through the Futuremark web store - a whopping 25% pre-order discount. On a related note, Shattered Horizon uses Steamworks so all copies - even those purchased from Futuremark's own web store - will install through Steam and work the same.
But that is not all... the related press release also includes some additional interesting bits. Read on for the details.
Pre-order Offer
Gamers who pre-order Shattered Horizon not only get a 10 percent discount but will also be able to play and test new level pac2375ks before they become available to everyone else.
Antti Summala, lead designer at Futuremark Games Studio expanded, “During our beta many game features, and even one whole level, were added as a direct result of beta tester feedback. The process worked so well that we have decided to continue it after launch. Gamers who pre-order Shattered Horizon will join an elite group who will get early access to help test and refine new levels to be released in future content updates.”
Post launch support
Futuremark Games Studio has confirmed that Shattered Horizon will be supported after launch with new levels and features being added to the game through downloadable content packs. These expansions will be free to all players.
So if the discount wasn't enough, there will be additional free content coming up and those who pre-order get the chance to beta test the new shiny before it is made available to everyone.
The press release also included a not-so-subtle jab at Infinity Ward and their hare-brained peer-to-peer system included in the upcoming Modern Warfare 2. For Shattered Horizon, it is dedicated servers all the way, with FGS-hosted ones available for everyone at launch.
Dedicated Servers
Shattered Horizon allows PC gamers to choose who and how they want to play through dedicated servers run by the community. Futuremark Games Studios will host dedicated servers for North America, Europe and Australia and New Zealand at launch with the server code being made available to everyone shortly afterwards.
FGS is also offering early access to the dedicated server code for server hosting companies, clan, e-sport, tournament and LAN-party use. I queried on the reason for not rolling out the server code to everyone immediately and the main reason given to me is that the FGS guys want to polish the server administration side a bit before pushing it out to everyone - rough edges, arcane command line options and things like that need some work. In any case, there will be plenty of FGS-hosted servers at launch and if you really need it yourself, you can ask if you could get early access.
Update: Oh, and there is one more special deal - if you were in the beta test and pre-order through Steam, you get 25% off instead of 10% off. Classy way to say "thanks" to those who helped with the beta. And no, this offer can't be "stacked" with the 25% off for those who have purchased FM benchmarks in the past - if you qualify for both, you get to pick one.
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