Starhawk Message Board

Starhawk fans, we’d like to thank you once again for your support in keeping the battle for Rift Energy thriving online. The team is committed to keeping the servers maintained, and ensuring the war rages on.

If you’ve been following or participating in our Starhawk MLG tournament, you may be aware of the grand final that is going down today at 5:00PM PST. It’ll feature the Top 16 players from the PlayStation Hall of Play leaderboard, going head to head in a fierce “Best of 7″ match for their share of the prize pool — a cool $12,000 — just in time for a Holiday gaming shopping spree, no doubt. Second place will walk away with $6,000 — yes, it pays to join these tournaments!

Our good friends at UrgentFury.com will be hosting the live stream on Twitch at 5:00PM PST here.

This is going to be a battle worth watching. If you’re a Starhawk fan, be sure to check out the stream. Anything can happen…

Starhawk development will continue, even though Sony will no longer be paying for it.

Starhawk developer LightBox Interactive hit a major roadbump this week, with the company’s relationship with Sony coming to a close. The studio was then forced to lay off 24 employees.

There were 32 employees at LightBox, but the layoffs will bring that number down to a “core team” of eight, according to LightBox president Dylan Jobe.

Jobe announced the studio would be focusing on iOS development going forward, but would not elaborate on the game itself.

“I could, but I think that'd be inappropriate,” said Jobe in an email. “Right now I'm focusing on making sure the team members I'm laying-off are as prepared as possible to find good jobs. There will be a time for PR on our iOS game--but now is not that time.”

The 24 impacted employees, whose last day is today, have all been offered severance packages.

As Starhawk is an active multiplayer-focused game, players of Starhawk might be hoping LightBox would be contracted to continue support for it, but that’s not the case. Jobe has a solution for the nearterm, though.

“There are some updates that I still want to deploy for our fans around the world so I'll just be ‘eating’ that cost,” he said.

Update: Lightbox Interactive President Dylan Jobe has told Joystiq his company will see "a sizable reduction in staff." Twenty-four staff members have been informed that Friday will be their final day at the Texas-based developer. Jobe adds that "all 24 of them are getting a severance package."

"Lay-offs always suck but they are an unfortunate reality of business sometimes. The best we can do is try and treat our people with respect during the shocking transition of a lay-off," he added,

Jobe says that after the cuts Lightbox will become a "much smaller studio" as they focus efforts on the development of the company's first game for iOS.

Original Story: There are rumblings that LightBox Interactive, the developer behind the PS3 exclusive Starhawk, will lay off most of its staff by Friday. 3D Realms founder (and previous layoff predictor) George Broussard tweets, "Good luck to my buddies at LightBox in Austin. Layoffs and rumors of near whole studio gone by Friday."

Yesterday LightBox Interactive president Dylan Jobe sent out an ominous tweet, reading, "And yeah, its time for another drink...." LightBox artist Jonathan Lindblom tweeted early this morning, "I feel like my brain has been taken out and passed around, I can't think straight, everything is muddled." Associate producer and community manager Pete MacKay tweeted his thoughts today as well: "And so another chapter closes on my life. Let's see where I go next! (taking suggestions)."

We've contacted LightBox Interactive for clarification.

Starhawk was the long rumored follow-up to Starhawk, and it didn't make much of a splash.

Rumblings of trouble at Austin-based Starhawk developer LightBox Interactive have been confirmed.

24 members of LightBox were told Friday would be their last day at the company, Lightbox president Dylan Jobe told me over email this evening. All 24 employees will receive a severance package.

“Layoffs suck,” he said, “but we're just shrinking our development team here at LightBox Interactive so we can be very nimble as we self-fund our next game and bring it to iOS devices.”

The first indications something was up at LightBox came via a traditional source for vague news statements: Twitter.

“And yeah, its time for another drink...” said Jobe.

Other members of Lightbox chimed in, suggesting a major change. These days, it’s easy to assume it’s layoffs.

Lightbox had signed a multi-year, multi-game publishing agreement with Sony, but that deal appears dead, perhaps related to the tepid response to Starhawk. Lightbox was forged from the ashes of Incognito Entertainment, which was responsible for Twisted Metal Black and War of the Monsters. Both of those were excellent, by the way.

There are rumblings that LightBox Interactive, the developer behind the PS3 exclusive Starhawk, will lay off most of its staff by Friday. 3D Realms founder (and previous layoff predictor) George Broussard tweets, "Good luck to my buddies at LightBox in Austin. Layoffs and rumors of near whole studio gone by Friday."

Yesterday LightBox Interactive president Dylan Jobe sent out an ominous tweet, reading, "And yeah, its time for another drink...." LightBox artist Jonathan Lindblom tweeted early this morning, "I feel like my brain has been taken out and passed around, I can't think straight, everything is muddled." Associate producer and community manager Pete MacKay tweeted his thoughts today as well: "And so another chapter closes on my life. Let's see where I go next! (taking suggestions)."

We've contacted LightBox Interactive for clarification.

Last week we released our massive Starhawk 1.04 multiplayer update, a ton of badass new free DLC, our multiplayer digital download edition, and our epic single-player campaign as a free download to PlayStation Plus subscribers including all of the multiplayer DLC free. If you haven’t signed up for PlayStation Plus yet, what are you waiting for? It’s a crazy good deal — not to mention it now includes a slice of Starhawk.

On top of all that, in a partnership with the MLG, we launched a major $20,000 Starhawk multiplayer tournament. The competition has gotten off to a fierce start as all Starhawk players are eligible, including you! To sign up, head over to the MLG GameBattles Starhawk website and mount up to compete for your share of the cash! After you sign up, all you have to do is get online in the ranked match frenzy and you’ll be entered. Easy!

Click here to compete in the $20,000 Starhawk MLG Tournament

Separate from the leaderboard tourney, MLG is also running four skill challenge weekends to ensure you always have a second chance at scoring some cash. And that’s where this gets interesting — these quick weekend challenges give everyone a shot at nabbing a $500 prize! Starting right now, the first of these quick challenges begins with a skill competition to see who can score the most knife kills. Score the most knife kills at the end of this weekend to top the leaderboard and you’ll win $500, even if you aren’t in the top ranks of the main leaderboard. Get online right now — the first quick challenge has been activated!

Click here to compete in the Starhawk Quick Challenge

To help you become a knife master, we’re continuing our Starhawk multiplayer strategy video series with an overview of the top on-foot weapons. Also be sure to watch our strategy videos focusing on Rift Energy and effective use of Zones.

We’ve produced a whole slew of new multiplayer tutorial videos covering every aspect of Starhawk. We’ll be continuing to release them weekly, so check ‘em out, then hop online and put your new skills to work!

Between the new updates, tournaments, community game nights and new video series, there’s never been a more exciting time to be playing Starhawk. So grab your Kinetic Rifle, dust off your hat, and we’ll see you in the New Frontier!

Today is a day to remember! The team here at Lightbox Interactive (the same team that brought you Warhawk) has been burning through the summer heat to bring to you an epic new Starhawk experience, one players around the world have been asking for – a digital download version packed (hell, overflowing!) with every single awesome update since our initial release, including our massive new DLC add-ons. This offer is a bonanza for PlayStation Plus members, but also…everyone else.

FREE Starhawk Single-Player Campaign for PlayStation Plus members

Experience the emotional story of two brothers torn apart by the conflict over Rift Energy, a sacred and dangerous resource of power being ravaged and battled over by Humans and “The Outcast” — evolved mutated humans from Rift Energy exposure. Hired gun Emmett Graves is faced against his brother Logan, now the cold-blooded leader of The Outcast, in an effort to protect his former home of White Sands, save humanity, and possibly, his brother. Become a PlayStation Plus Member today to experience the Starhawk Solo Campaign free!

Starhawk Digital Download Versions Now Available – Your Way

· Starhawk Multiplayer Edition – $19.99
· Complete Starhawk Digital Version – $39.99

Today also marks the release of our massive 1.04 DLC update, which is free for the Starhawk community and included in all digital editions listed above. The 1.04 DLC update brings new gameplay modes, weapons, mechs, a ridiculous number of community changes… I’m losing my breath, just watch the video below.

If you enjoy frenetic multiplayer gameplay ranging from ravaged battlefields to burning skies to an explosive space symphonies rivaled by no other, or looking for an emotionally intense single-player experience, then this is your time to jump into Starhawk. Let us know what you think!

As many of you know, the team here at Lightbox Interactive has been hard at work developing all of the free Starhawk Updates to help support the Starhawk Community. With today’s announcement, we’ll help grow that community even more with something that a ton of players from around the world have asked for — a digital-download version of Starhawk, and not just the original version, but one that is packed with all of the awesome updates we’ve made since our initial release!

Yeah, you saw that right. We now have three, three ways for you to download the exact type of Starhawk experience you’re looking for on September 25th!

First you can get the complete Starhawk experience by downloading the Full version for $39.99. Another option — and this is an insane deal — is the Starhawk: Multiplayer-Edition for $19.99. This includes one of the best PlayStation 3 multiplayer experiences and all of the updates we’ve released since the game originally launched.

Last, but certainly not least, is a another killer deal for all PlayStation Plus members. You guys get the Starhawk: Single-Player Campaign for free. Yeah, that’s right, free. Starhawk is another great addition to the Instant Game Collection that PS Plus members already know and love!

And because I’m a tease, I’ll leave you with this: We have something else very tasty in store for PS Plus Members, so keep your eyes on the blog for another announcement very soon.

But wait… there’s more. As you know just about a month ago we released the Starhawk 1.03 Update that had a ton of new features, including two completely new — and free — maps on the planet of Cypress. The team and I were so stoked to see how happy the Starhawk community received it, that we’re excited to release our Starhawk 1.04 Update on September 25th with more free awesome-sauce, including three new gameplay modes!

Okay, so those are the new hella-fun gameplay modes, but there is a ton of other stuff in the Starhawk 1.04 Update as well. We’ve been following all of the community feedback and we’ve made a large number of changes. In my last blog post I wrote this massive wall of text covering all the various new things we added. So this time, I’m going to try and be more efficient on what should matter to you most.

• 3 New Gameplay Modes: Assault, Deathmatch Arena, Gatekeeper.
• 5 New “Small” Maps: Cypress Glade, Space Relay, Scourge Junction, Space Flotilla, Scourge Breaker.
• Updated pre-placed pick-ups on all maps (just like we did in Cypress) as well as updated Rift Barrel placement.
• 3 New Build & Battle Load-outs: Trooper, Lightweight and Speeder.
• New Tool-Tips are displayed on various options and buttons in the Uplink. including a display of all the units in each Load-Out and recommended player counts when you create a new game.
• MAW Rocket Launcher now can lock-on to the Sidewinder Jet Bike.
• Added four New national clan banners for our players in the Middle East: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the UAE.
• Quit Penalty for players that quit during a game — you get a loss posted and SkillScore hit.
• New “Up Next” display at the intermission screen of what map, mode and load-out is coming up in the next round.
• More score-limit and time-limit options when creating a game.
• All three new game modes are added to QuickMatch for matchmaking.
• Co-Op Prospector is now supported in Quick-Match for matchmaking into public Co-Op games.
• New Co-Op Prospector options for creating Private or Public games, difficulty, and game name.
• Public Co-Op Prospector games now are supported in the server-list.
• Bug fix that ensures that only Clan Leaders/Officers can edit the clan tag field.
• Added a PlayStation Store button to the Uplink for accessing Starhawk DLC.
• Increased starting Rift-Energy in Homeworlds.
• Slightly increased the Galloway Pistol’s head-shot damage.
• Removed the “Bruiser” Skill.
• Added a “Grinder” Skill that allows you to start with a Grinder in your weapon inventory.
• Grinder wind-up time has been reduced.
• Max range for the Grinder has been increased.
• In the server-list, the easy “Cake” and medium “Fist” game icons have been removed. You will still see the hard “Skull” game icons.
• Refined difficulty tuning on all Co-Op Prospector Missions (slightly easier).
• Increased XP payouts for all Co-Op Prospector Missions.
• XP payouts for capturing Tier-2 and Tier-3 bases in the Zones gameplay mode.
• Integrated Starhawk-specific network scan to help players resolve port issues.
• Added in-game scoreboard HUD for Dogfight & Arena Deathmatch gameplay modes.

Blurg! Even with my super-effective condensing, the list of new stuff is still looooong — but that’s a good thing for the Starhawk community! If you want the extended version of this list with all the juicy details, head on over to our LightBox Interactive Dev-Blog or the official website at Starhawkthegame.com.

Oh man, still so much to talk about. Focus Dylan. FOCUS!

If you remember back in May when we released Starhawk, I wrote a blog post about our close partnership with Major League Gaming to put together a major Starhawk Tournament for the community with great cash-money prizes. Well our good friends at MLG have been hard at work and I am wicked-excited to say that it’s “GAME-ON” for the Starhawk MLG Tourney, with $20,000 in cash prizes. Head over to the Starhawk MLG site for all the rules and details! Whatever your competitive level, there is an entry spot for everyone, and a number of different opportunities to win.

The Starhawk MLG Tourney is a two-month long tournament with $20,000 in cash prizes at stake for not only the grand champions, so listen up. The primary tournament will revolve around an official Starhawk MLG ladder. The more you win across all online game modes, the higher you’ll rank on the MLG Starhawk ladder. At the end of this two-month phase, the top 16 ranked players will be chosen to form two “Super-Teams” who will battle it out in a live-streamed grand finale, with eight players crowned the victors of the Starhawk MLG Tournament!

As a secondary option for all players to win, the MLG has also been really cool about planning four mini-competitions along the way for smaller $500 prizes. These “quick challenges” will take place over various weekends and award players with the highest score for a particular stat such as “Most Headshots” or “Most Pod Kills.” This is a great way to increase a player’s odds of winning a piece of the big cash prize.

So, get ready for the Major League Gaming Starhawk Tournament, go hone your skills and keep your mind on your money and your money on your mind!

“But Dylan… what about Starhawk DLC?”

Don’t worry! While we have been focusing on making sure we get you guys all of the free content first, we certainly didn’t forget about the DLC — we have a truck load of it ready to go live for all of you on September 25th as well.

However, as I’ve already established in this blog post, I am sometimes a tease. So… I’m not going to list any of the DLC just yet. We’ll make another blog post about it very soon! Let me leave y’all with this one DLC hint. Here’s a piece of concept art showing a couple different design ideas for our new DLC Build & Battle structure. I’m not going to tell you what it does but I can say it’s awesome.

I wonder what it could be?

LightBox Interactive's PS3-exclusive shooter Starhawk has received, among other things, two new free maps as part of the game's recently applied 1.02 update. As seen in the video above, both maps take place on the planet Cypress, which is where the game's plot-vital "Rift Energy" was originally discovered long, long ago.

The two new maps maps, "Cypress: Collider" and "Cypress: Origin," both feature more locations for troops to use as cover, as well as pre-built structures with interiors -- two features fans have asking for, according to a post by LightBox Interactive president Dylan Jobe on the PlayStation Blog.

The 1.02 update also includes a multitude of other tweaks, fixes and adjustments, such as the addition of "Prestige" levels (Alpha through Omega, specifically) for players able to rank beyond Level 50. Other changes/additions include a new Homeworld called "Waypoint," as well a revamped voice chat system and the ability to eject from in-flight jet packs. Complete patch notes can be found at the source link below.

Some of you may have seen my last blog post about the release of War of the Monsters as a PS Classic for PlayStation 3 and at the end of that post I mentioned the release of our next update for Starhawk was right around the corner!

Well…we are now around that corner and I can tell you that we are “GO” for our global release of the Starhawk 1.03 Update today at 2pm Central Time! I am saying “GO” as if I were a super-cool NASA scientist in the Curiosity control room! While the release of our 1.03 Update pales in comparison to the massive achievement of landing an SUV-sized robot on Mars (thanks NASA!). The 1.03 release will nonetheless make many Earthlings very happy!

“OK Dylan, what’s the patch got?” – Says the snarky gamer from the back corner of the internet. Tons of new stuff! There are player-requested features, an increased level cap, bug-fixes, and of course two new FREE maps on the planet of Cypress! Here’s the breakdown of everything we developed for you guys in the 1.03 Update.

Two New Maps on Cypress: Let’s jump right into the big stuff in 1.03 and that’s the 2 new maps! We really wanted to craft a new world that was more lush, more green, with lots of plants and huge trees and shallow water that you could drive and run through. Yet at the same time, we listened to some of the player feedback regarding our levels when we first launched Starhawk. Players wanted to see more cover and places for troops to hide. They also wanted to see some pre-built structures that you could go inside. Cypress: Collider and Cypress: Origin have all those things!

Cypress is the first planet where Rift Energy was discovered in the New Frontier and its where mankind built the first Rift research facility — including the very first Extractor! Of course, it’s all abandoned and overgrown by lush vegetation now.

The trees really provide a great layout for troops to run around, take cover behind, stage attacks and there are even some really cool mushroom thingies far up on the trunks of the trees so that troops can get out of the fray.

We also added a few pre-built structures with interiors. There aren’t tons of them since Starhawk still requires players to use smart Build & Battle tactics, but the ones that are there make a huge difference. There’s an old, destroyed particle collider that wraps around the center of the map named — you guessed it — Collider. There’s a massive run-down old Rift Extractor in the center of the map we call Origin. There are even some key buildings on both maps that have elevated doorways and interiors where you can go in and attack from a protected position. Be careful though, there is an open access port on the roof of those buildings, so you’ll have to cover your back! OK… mostly protected.

“mostly…”

Here are the satellite views for both of the Cypress maps so you guys can see how they’re setup. They may look like islands from this satellite view but you can drive anywhere! The water is shallow enough to run through, drive through and even build in. I absolutely love mud-bogging with the Razorback when I’m doing flag runs.

Both of the Cypress maps are wicked fun and add a fresh new layout. We think you guys are going to like them a ton and can’t wait to hear your feedback.

But that’s *JUST* the maps! The 1.03 Update has a bunch of other features too:

Prestige Levels: In the initial version of Starhawk, we supported levels 1-50. To be quite honest, we thought that would have the player community covered for quite some time. However, we had underestimated the rate at which people were going to get through the levels so we had to accelerate the release of our prestige levels for those players who are above 50. The Prestige levels in Starhawk are not numbers; they’re a Greek symbol ranking of ALPHA through OMEGA. The Greek symbol will be displayed by your name in-game. These are very hard ranks to achieve and the jump from level 50 to ALPHA is steep because these are really intended for the hard-core community.

New Space Homeworld “Waypoint”: In Starhawk, Homeworld’s are like lobbies. They are 3D levels where you and your friends can go to party-up, talk tactics and then pick a game to join. This new Homeworld is a cool space station. We added this because we really wanted players to enter a deep-space “lobby” to mess around in.

Team-Balance Fixes: There were some bugs in the party/clan cohesion system where servers would keep parties and clans together in *ALL* cases and this resulted in some brutally mis-matched games. This has been fixed! There were some other issues that resulted in messed-up team balance and we have resolved those as well. Should be a ton better!

Revamped Voice Chat System: During the initial launch of Starhawk we received reports from the player community about voice-chat dropping after a few games or in some cases, the voice-chat would simply not work. As you can imagine in a deep, team-based game like Starhawk, voice-chat is critical. So we did a ton of digging to find-out what the issue was and it ended up requiring a change to our Client/Server voice system. This change makes the VOIP far more stable and resolves the voice connection issues that some players had been experiencing in the past.

Push-to-Talk Option: This was requested by so many players, and in concert with the revamped Voice Chat System, the PTT option really is a great addition. Now players have the option to have their microphone turn on when they press L3 rather than automatically when they talk. I guess, too many players were being yelled at by their Moms, had crying babies in the background, or hell, maybe both! You can find the PTT option in the Audio Settings menu in the Uplink.

Vulture Jet-Pack Eject: Players are now allowed to dismount while flying around in a Starhawk if they have a handy dandy Vulture Jet-Pack equipped.

Rift Barrels on Mini-Map: To help aid players and their use of the Build & Battle system, we decided to add small icons on the mini-map where we’ve placed the Rift Energy Caches — those are the barrels that you shoot that burst open with Rift Energy that you can spend to build your arsenal of destruction. The blips on the map are displayed when the barrels are active and are *NOT* displayed when the barrels are waiting to respawn.

Bug Fixes: These are not as super-sexy as free maps, but the fact that they are fixed will really help the community. We also addressed some host migration issues, a number of crashes and network instability issues, and even the laggy pick-up bug was fixed as well.

Ranked Option: Another feature that was requested by players was really two requests related to how games post stats. The first point brought up by players was regarding stat-padding going on in password protected games, and since those games were password protected, they should not count as real ranked games. Now, you can still have a very private game with a password but your stats will not post. Also, if you are having a Clan vs. Clan game you have the option to turn stats on or off — because it might be a practice or scrimmage. Furthermore, if you are doing a Clan Scrimmage (your clan in both Rifter & Outcast slots) the stats will *NOT* post to the server. This is to keep clans from stat-padding in locked-out games.

Skills Shortcut at the Respawn Screen: Players really wanted a quick way to change skills without having to leave the respawn screen. So…we added a little tab in the upper right corner of the respawn screen that allows you to press TRIANGLE and jump right to the skills menu! Oh, and we also now allow you to change your skill at other places in the Uplink instead of only in-game.

Build & Battle Icons While Respawning: Another thing we did to help players when using the Build & Battle system was to display a simple graphic icon of each of the structures on the battlefield as the player is drop-poding into combat. This simple change really helps players know what structures are already built and helps them make better use of the stuff their team has built. Not to mention it helps let you know immediately where you should run when you crack-open your drop-pod!

Display Nearby Build & Battle Structures: There are now some new visuals to help players recognize Build & Battle structures that are built nearby. For starters, any time you place a structure; Starhawk very clearly displays how many are nearby. It also now highlights those nearby structures on your map *AND* displays some markers on the edge of the screen to help inform you that not only is there a structure nearby, but which direction it is.

Cooldowns for Host Kick and Team Switch: There were a number of exploits that could occur in the original version of Starhawk where players would change teams rapidly or a host would quickly kick a ton of players. That can no longer occur because we track when you perform one of these actions and block you from doing it again for a set amount of time — and we can tune the time if we need to.

Interactive Music Update: After playing Starhawk for so many hours, we really felt that the music was not kicking-in as frequently as we wanted it to. There were many times when you’d be in the heat of combat and there’d be no music at all. We felt this hurt the pacing and in fact some players in our community noticed the same thing. So the 1.03 Update includes some new tweaks to the interactive music system and the more frequent music makes a big difference.

Capture the Flag Scoring Change: We’ve been playing CTF in Starhawk a ton here in the studio and we’ve always felt that there were too many games ending in draws or times when the match would get into awkward stalemates. So with the 1.03 Update, we have changed one of the key rules for CTF and one of the key contributors to the stalemates. Now, to score a point in CTF, you need to take the enemy flag back to your base — period. Your team’s flag does *NOT* need to be there for you to score. Now certainly, your team still needs to play defense because you don’t want the enemy team taking your flag and scoring, but this change makes the pacing so much better. Much faster and far fewer draws and stalemates.

Sorting Unlocked Customization: Now this is more of a simple convenience thing but we changed the way the various characters and vehicle customization options are presented so that the unlocked ones are always displayed at the top of the list. Not a super-big change at all but I thought I’d include it here.

Drop-Pod Upgrade: One of the things that we were experimenting with during our Starhawk playtests to help combat “base-ravaging” was to make the Drop-Pod more deadly. Our whole design goal with the drop-pod system was to make the act of respawning in your home base an incredibly powerful weapon. This was to help combat against “base-ravaging”. After a lot of review, and play testing and tweaking, we decided to upgrade the drop-pods to be more maneuverable *AND* have an increased impact radius. This along with some changes we made to the respawn timer really makes a huge positive impact on the reduction of “base-ravaging”.

Custom Music via XMB: In Warhawk we added support for your own music and we’re doing the same in Starhawk. The 1.03 Update now allows you to play your own music through the XMB. So if you want to experience Starhawk’s unique Build & Battle gameplay while blaring Pat Benatar you totally can!

Now that was an epic post! Sorry for the wall of text but there is a ton of cool stuff packed in this update. I wanted to make sure you had all the info, and then some.

So now that this blog post is done I’ve got to get back to work. We still have even more great stuff on the way for all of you in our next 1.04 Update! I’ve already exhausted my daily allotment of blog words but the 1.04 Update is another meaty one. Stuff like two entirely new gameplay modes, 5 new smaller layouts, even some new Build & Battle load-outs, and a bunch of other stuff too.

And of course we have been working on DLC as well, but we’ve been prioritizing all the free content for you guys first. Let me end this post with a little DLC tease that’s in development. Yes, I cleared this with the SONY corporate hive-mind and they are totally ok with me showing this behind-the-scenes pic.

That’s it for now, enjoy the 1.03 Update, we look forward to your continued feedback.

#speakuponkotaku In today's lost in space edition of Speak Up on Kotaku, commenter Golwar is concerned about the fate of Starhawk, the PlayStation 3 exclusive online shooter that showed so much promise up until it became a real product. More »

#starhawk More »

A leader without information is an ineffectual leader at best, and a liability to the fate of his/her entire team at worst. When everyone you've ever known or loved is dead, their horrified faces burned into your retinas for the rest of your traumatized existence, will you have enough strength left to curse your own name for being so poorly prepared for battle?

Hopefully you'll never have to find out, as a free Starhawk companion app has been released to help you stay on top of things. The app, compatible with iOS devices and Android devices running Gingerbread or newer, lets players access leaderboard information, view individual player and clan statistics, as well as access an encyclopedia of weapon and battle structure data.

I am very pleased to announce the official companion mobile application for our PS3 shooter Starhawk is now available on iOS and Android devices. With the Starhawk Uplink app you can easily check out detailed player and clan stats, while staying current on the all of the latest Starhawk announcements and community news/events, all on the go, anytime, anywhere. Here are links to download the app…

• Android devices
• iOS devices

Once you’ve downloaded the Starhawk Uplink to your mobile device, you’ll find a wealth of information available on all of the player weapons, Hawk weapons, and Build & Battle structures.

The Starhawk Uplink app is totally free, and it’s a way for diehard players to always stay in touch with Starhawk. And for those of you who haven’t picked up a copy of Starhawk yet, you can still pull down this app and learn more about the game and the exciting community of Starhawk followers. Here’s a look at our Starhawk Uplink trailer…

Features include:

• Access to clan information: You can view your clan invitations, clan leaderboards and statistics, and search for new clans to join or challenge.
• View player and weapon stats: You can view your player and weapon stats from all of your online action in Starhawk.
• Track other players: Want to see how your stats compare? Look at stats for your PSN friends, clanmates, and other players you meet online.
• View the Starhawk leaderboards: See how you rank against your friends, clanmates, and the rest of the Starhawk community.
• Access Starhawk community strongholds: You can link to various Starhawk social sites, as well as directly link to gameplay videos and other Starhawk community-driven sites.
• Browse The Armory: An encyclopedia of information on all troop and Hawk weapons and Build & Battle structures.
• Stay up to date: Our news ticker and game announcements section ensure that you are completely up to date on all the latest and greatest Starhawk news.
• The Starhawk Uplink runs on the following devices: iTouch, iPhone 3G/3GS/4/4S, as well as all versions of iPad and Android devices, including the Sony Tablet S and Sony Xperia Play mobile phone and all Gingerbread Android devices. Kindle Fire support is coming soon.

Go download the free Starhawk Uplink and an edge over your fellow Starhawk players! Lastly, we just deployed another great balance update on PSN for our Starhawk fans around the world! To see all of the great stuff included in this week’s release of update 1.02.002, check out our latest LightBox Interactive developer blog here.

#screengrab I just got copies of May PlayStation 3 exclusives Sorcery and Starhawk. Can we agree that maybe the PS3 boxart czar needs to mix up his/her concepts a little more? More »

Warheads! Last Tuesday, May 8th, LightBox Interactive and Santa Monica Studio released Starhawk into the wild. Getting here was a real &*#%^# at times, but it sure as hell has been a fun ride! If you’d like to peek behind the curtains look at the final days of Starhawk’s development, check out this video. We shot it a few weeks before release and it’ll give you a nice glimpse into the inner workings of a game developer in crunch mode.

We’ll also be able to tell you more about some great downloadable items soon, including our first free map…Cypress. Stay tuned for details!

#review Starhawk is a third-person shooter. Actually, scratch that, let me try again: Starhawk is a fighter-pilot game. Although... only sort of. Maybe Starhawk is a real-time strategy game. More »

Decked out with garish signs and weatherworn workers, the refueling platform looks more like a truck stop than a sophisticated piece of engineering. That is, until I walk to the edge of the platform and see an entire desert planet looming below. There's no time, however, to drink in the view. My comrades need help, so I call in a landing pad drop. A capsule screams in from the sky, smashing into the ground as the landing pad installs itself. I climb atop the pad and hop into a Hawk. The massive mech leaps into the air and, in a flash of whirring metal, transforms into a jet and rockets into the sky - at which point my beautiful flying machine is summarily obliterated by a more skilled pilot.

The setting changes - different planets, different platforms - but I've repeated the above exercise more often than I'd like to admit. I could do something else. I could call down a supply bunker or a tank. I could concentrate on building defenses, dropping down turrets and walls. Starhawk offers those options, but me, I've got to fly.

Jeff and Brad grab their spurs and six-guns and hop in their morphing robot jet to take back the Space West.

There's a good chance a lot of Starhawk players haven't experienced the game that started it all, let alone for free. Every new copy of Starhawk comes bundled with a free copy of Warhawk (PSOne) in Europe.

It's part of the online pass voucher, which is visible on the back of the instruction booklet for Starhawk. Once you input the code and unlock online functionality, the original Warhawk will be added to your download list. Here in The States, however, you need to grab one of the first-run "limited editions" available exclusively at GameStop.

All of Starhawk's future downloadable map packs will be free, Dylan Jobe, president of Lightbox Interactive, has announced. Writing on PlayStation Blog, Jobe noted that the paid downloadable content divided the Warhawk community with every expansion, and "after we released three expansions, our player community was pretty fractured."

Lightbox hopes to remedy that this time around by making all map packs free. Jobe added that there is still paid DLC in the works, though Lightbox is "still playing around with what that will be." The studio is already working on the first map pack, which will include the planet Cypress, pictured in the early concept art above.

It’s Emmett time. That’s Emmett Graves, the new hero of Starhawk who kicks off this edition of PULSE as we celebrate the release of this space western from LightBox Interactive and Santa Monica Studio. While many enjoyed the beta earlier this year, it’s now time to check out the full Starhawk universe with all the cool vehicles and the innovative Build and Battle gameplay.

With next week’s release of Max Payne 3, PULSE also previews the new multiplayer action along with the new bullet time and ‘shootdodge’ game play. For PlayStation Plus subscribers, Trine 2′s physics-based puzzles of fire, water, gravity and magic is free. Check out the new Trine 2 world that’s now enabled with online co-op. PULSE also takes a look at the latest Q-Games. PixelJunk 4 AM is very different than any other in the series. Utilizing the PlayStation Move, their new title is a virtual audio canvas allowing you to create music, mix tracks and create live performances in PixelJunk 4 AM.

And, the Top 10 features the most popular game downloads of April. Can you guess what made the top spot?

Watch right here on the PlayStation.Blog or download HD, SD, and PS Vita versions from the PlayStation Store after today’s update. .

We hope you enjoy this quick look at what’s happening on PlayStation.

#starhawk More »

May 8th is finally upon us and Starhawk is now available in stores all over North America! The team has put a lot of work into this game and we hope you all enjoy it! To celebrate the release of Starhawk, here’s a look at our launch trailer…

But, as I mentioned in my last post, the release of Starhawk is really just the beginning of our ongoing support for our international community. And to support our online multiplayer community we have some really great announcements for you all today. First, we’re honored that Major League Gaming has taken a strong interest in Starhawk with its blend of shooter and strategy gameplay, and they’re kicking things off right with a tournament worth $20,000 in prizes so get over to http://www.majorleaguegaming.com/starhawk and sign-up! And if you missed it last night, be sure to check-out the live stream that we did for the MLG Starhawk exhibition with pro gamers Tsquared, Hastr0, and GoldenBoyFTW! We cover single-player, co-op, and of course hot multiplayer action. Witty commentary supplied by me, of course ;-).

Secondly, and this is the announcement that you guys probably were *NOT* expecting…there was a lot of discussion here at LightBox Interactive and Sony Santa Monica on how best to support the community and keep our player base all together as one cohesive group. We really didn’t like how in Warhawk when we released a new map pack, it forced these divisions on our players. And after we released three expansions, our player community was pretty fractured. With Starhawk that ends! We are incredibly excited to announce that all map packs for Starhawk will be free. Yeah, you read that right…FREE. Whenever we release a map pack you won’t have to pay a friggin’ dime! And we’ve already started the early stages of our next map pack for you guys. Check out these very early sketches from the new planet of Cypress! A lush, swampy world that’s home to an abandoned research facility that many years ago was responsible for researching the mysteries of Rift Energy.

Now certainly we’ll have some paid DLC content in the future as well as our free map packs, but we’re still playing around with what that will be. We’re going to be looking to see what the player feedback is on Starhawk in the coming weeks to help steer the DLC that we develop for you all. This is our commitment to all of you, the players. I hope you all get a chance to enjoy Starhawk – not only with today’s retail release but for the months and years to come!

Tonight, MLG and PlayStation are bringing you an exclusive first look at tomorrow’s PS3 epic Starhawk with the Starhawk Arena Exhibition Powered by PlayStation. Starhawk is the spiritual successor to the PSone classic Warhawk. This third-person shooter allows online combatants to approach the fight in ways never before possible thanks to the all-new Build-and-Battle combat system. This new mechanic adds a layer of complexity to the battlefield that is constantly changing, and allows new tactics to develop as the match progresses.

In order to show off all the crazy action, MLG and PlayStation are bringing two pro gamers, Tsquared and Hastro, to the MLG Arena studios to get a first look at all the intense action. Tune in to the broadcast as these pros go through each element of the game, including single-player campaign, co-op, and the highly anticipated multiplayer modes. Acting as captains, Tsquared and Hastro will hop online to provide the first true showcase of competitive multiplayer action in all its glory.

The Starhawk Arena Exhibition Powered by PlayStation will be hosted by MLG personalities Chris Puckett and GoldenBoy, and will also feature President of Lightbox Interactive Dylan Jobe.

Of course, there’s more…throughout the show, PlayStation and MLG will be giving away tons of prizes and gaming gear to viewers. Be sure to follow @MLGAllAccess for your chance to win some awesome swag.

That’s it! Tune in to MLG.tv tonight starting at 5pm Pacific Time to catch all the action. (If you miss it – don’t worry, catch re-airs on Starhawk launch day, Tuesday May 8th at midnight and approximately 11pm.) Big thanks to MLG for making all this possible!

The greatest asset in Starhawk's arsenal is that it's capable of doing what no other shooter can. Starhawk creates a kind of chaos, unpredictability, and extraordinary spectacle that can't exist in any other shooter. This speaks to something more important. Starhawk dares to do what many others aren...

5 more days till Starhawk drops in-stores! As you can imagine we are pretty excited in the office that everyone will get to finally experience the GLORY that we call the POD KILL. “What’s a POD KILL?” you ask? Well let me demonstrate-

The POD KILL, is one of many inventive ways to take out your enemy in Starhawk. Even if you have been playing shooters for years, you’ll be surprised at how many new ways you can be take out your enemy (and get completed served as well). And the fun is when you find a new way to kill, you can name it!

Whether you call it THE HEADS UP, THE MANCAKE, or THE PROPERTY DAMAGE, you haven’t lived until you have dropped a building on someone’s head. (We also like to call that getting “Dorothy’d”) With that in mind, it’s time to plan your path to PLATINUM with the full, official PSN Trophies list, and some tips to get them.

Bronze Trophies (+15 hidden)

First Blood Get your first kill in multiplayer. The First of Many Win your first multiplayer game. CTF Starter Win your first Capture the Flag game. Zones Starter Win your first Zones game. TDM Starter Win your first Team Deathmatch game. Prospector Starter Win your first Prospector game. Ready Up Use Build & Battle for the first time in the campaign. Build & Battle Use Build & Battle for the first time in multiplayer. Curious Builder Build one of every available structure in a single multiplayer game. Mancake! Kill an enemy by dropping a building on them. Saboteur Destroy an enemy vehicle with the Welding Torch. ARMed and Dangerous Kill an enemy with the A.R.M. Deadeye With the LR-3 Railgun, kill an enemy from more than 2,500 feet away. Mech My Day Shoot the pilot out of a Hawk while it’s on the ground. Out of the Saddle Shoot the driver, passenger, or gunner out of a Razorback. Takedown Kill an enemy with a melee attack. Rear Gunner Shoot down a Hawk with the Razorback turret. Eagle Eye Shoot down a flying Hawk with the Ox tank. Hat Trick Destroy a fully-loaded Razorback with R-Sec proximity charges. Minor Miscalculation Kill an enemy with his own R-Sec poximity charge. Annoying Little Fly Kill a player flying a Vulture pack by ramming them with your Hawk. Long Bomb Kill an enemy with a Tetranite Grenade from at least 200 feet away.

Silver Trophies (+1 Hidden)

Outlaw Get 1,000 kills in multiplayer. Conqueror Win 100 multiplayer games. CTF Veteran Win 100 Capture the Flag games. Zones Veteran Win 100 Zones games. TDM Veteran Win 100 TDM Team Deathmatch game. Team Leader Play a perfect Team Deathmatch game (top player, no deaths). Lone Wolf Play a perfect Deathmatch game (top player, no deaths). Prospector Veteran Win 50 Prospector games. Perfect Harvest Win a Prospector game without losing any lives. Prolific Builder Build 100 Structures in multiplayer.

1 Hidden Gold Trophy

Platinum Trophy

Starhawk Veteran Earn every single trophy in Starhawk.

• If you’re feeling confident, all the Campaign-completion trophies can be acquired in one Mercenary-difficulty playthrough (Have you not seen the Campaign yet? Take a sneak peek here!)
• Skill-kill trophies such as “Hat Trick” or “Armed and Dangerous” are often easier to unlock in Single player or in Co-op mode.
• “Curious Builder” is easier to unlock on smaller Build & Battle multiplayer loadouts like “Lone Wolf” or “Air Superiority”
• There are a couple of tactics available to more easily unlock trophies like “Team Leader” or “Lone Wolf”; first, play in smaller player limit games with a lower score limit; second, a bunker is a good safe spot once you’ve already achieved the top score.
• For a good sniper, or anyone trying to unlock the “Deadeye” trophy, observation is crucial. Watch for vulnerable moments, like when a player is acquiring a Vulture Jetpack, to strike.
• Sometimes enemies will use their vehicle as a R-Sec Proximity charge delivery-device; this is an effective tactic, but it can be turned on them with a well-placed shot! This will also net the user the “Minor Miscalculation” trophy.
• If you want the CTF (Capture the Flag) and Zones veteran trophies, don’t forget those objectives! Kills only score in TDM (Team Death Match) or DM (Death Match).
• Apex Warriors are easily stopped by dropping B&B structures on them; which will also unlock the “Mancake” trophy.
• The “Saboteur” trophy is easiest to unlock by focusing on weakened or distracted enemy vehicles
• It’s a risky game to play, but “Eagle Eye” is easy to achieve when an enemy hawk is attacking your tank.
• For trophies that require taking out a passenger of a vehicle, like “Mech my Day” or “Out of the Saddle”, it can be easier to achieve with a Galloway Revolver at close range than with long range sniping.

See you ONLINE in 5 DAYS! (and if you haven’t pre-ordered yet- CHECK OUT THE GOODIES YOU GET!)

Starhawk Fans!

As you know Starhawk will be released far and wide starting Tuesday, May 8th. We announced a while back that you can get over $20 worth of BONUS DLC content FOR FREE if you pre-order the game from GameStop, but what you haven’t seen is what these FREE items actually look like in-game before today. So, I’ll let Dylan Jobe, the President of LightBox Interactive, explain it and show it all off in the game – FOR FREE!!!!

If that’s not enough, click on this FREE link to find out more.

It’s a deal that’s really too good to pass up…unless, you know…you don’t like great deals….but I would not FREELY admit that…

Here’s what you get in old-fashioned text typy stuff if you don’t have the FREEDOM to click the link.

FREE! Maw of Despair Outcast Pack

Includes the Maw of Despair Co-op Map and Shade Warrior Multiplayer Skin. This challenging Co-Op Mission takes place deep beneath the planetary surface at a Rift Mine known as the Maw of Despair, the most dangerous Rift Mine on the Planet Dust and home to the oldest Outcast Tribe – the Shade Warriors. With each Shade Warrior having a heart of pure Rift Energy along with enhanced toughness and combat skill, players will experience fire-fights in the Maw of Despair Co-Op Mission that will be the true test of their shooter skill.

FREE! Echo Scrapyard Rifter Pack
Includes the Scrapyard Homeworld and Huxley Ardin MP Skin. An exclusive player Homeworld, the Echo Scrapyard features Huxley’s mechanics shop and junkyard known throughout the Frontier as THE best place in the Frontier for Rifters to get spare parts for their Razorbacks and Sidewinders. And in the canyon basin below Huxley’s shop is a network of roads and trails for players to hone their own Razorback 4 and Sidewinder Jetbike driving skills. Homeworlds are great for partying up with friends or clan mates before a long night of online gaming. Think of them as really cool, social lobbies.

FREE! Starhawk Concept Art PS3 Theme
Decorate your PS3 with the amazing concept art that helped bring the Starhawk universe to life.

FREE! Copy of the Original Warhawk (PSone)
Download and play the title that started it all!

FREE! Official Starhawk Soundtrack
Listen to this amazing soundtrack composed by Christopher Lennertz.

FREE! One Month of PlayStation Plus
Your V.I.P access to the best that PlayStation Network has to offer for less than five bucks a month!

Do it. Do it…

The Hand of the Founder is a glowing glove you can affix to your right or left hand, provided you played in the Starhawk beta. If you played Warhawk and the beta, you'll also get some exclusive paint schemes for all of your rides.

After years of hard work on Starhawk I am wicked excited to finally announce that Starhawk has gone gold and will be on store shelves in North America on May 8th! GOOOOOAAAAALLLL….D!

Starhawk is not your normal off-the-shelf shooter. We’ve certainly taken some chances with this game, but it’s gonna be worth it: The Build & Battle system alters the traditional shooter recipe in such a way that when you play other shooters you may find yourself frustrated that you can’t build bunkers, walls, outposts, and all the other stuff that Starhawk lets you build. So if you’re a shooter fan looking for a change of pace, definitely pick up Starhawk!

Nothing ever comes easy though, and integrating Build & Battle certainly took a bunch of iteration and refinement both internally during production here at LightBox Interactive and also during our private and public betas. You guys were really great beta testers, so as a “thank you” for your participation we’re giving you two exclusive items.

The first is The Hand of the Founder. It’s an exclusive character accessory for anyone who played in the BETA. It’s a gold, glowing, atom-looking thing that is bonded to your right hand. It’s intended to be a way to show off to your friends and everyone else online that you were one of Starhawk’s founders. That you had a hand in its creation!

The second item is the Warhawk Paint Set. It includes two exclusive vehicle paint schemes that you can use to customize any of your vehicles in Starhawk. The Warhawk Paint Set is available to any Starhawk Beta tester who was *ALSO* a Warhawk player. You get the olive-drab military look of Warhawk’s Eucadians as well as the stealthy, black and gunmetal look of the Chernovans.

Both The Hand of the Founder and the Warhawk Paint Set are Starhawk Beta exclusives and are intended to be very special “thank you” items that will never be re-released or sold. And we’ll be making a follow-up post on the specifics of how we’ll be distributing these Beta gifts.

Like you heard me say in the video, the release of Starhawk on May 8th is just the beginning! We’re going to be continuing to release updates and refinements to Starhawk to make sure the community is getting the best Starhawk experience we can provide.