Split/Second: Velocity News

Microsoft has announced new games coming to Xbox Game Pass in October - and there are a few crackers in there.

Disney games are now on Steam.

Games such as Epic Mickey 2, Pure and Split/Second are included.

Epic Mickey 2 is a surprise inclusion. Shortly after the adventure game released, Disney closed its developer, Junction Point. The PC port had been thought lost, but now, nearly two years after the game first launched, it appears.

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In the summer of 2011, Black Rock Studios, developer of acclaimed racing games Pure and Split/Second, closed.

A new round of console hardware can help bring the spluttering racing genre back to life, so says former Bizarre Creation design manager Gareth Wilson.

Split/Second developer Black Rock officially closes its doors today.

Epic Games' European boss Mike Gamble has blamed the recent spate of high-profile triple-A game developer closures on "stupid acquisitions" made by publishers.

Analysts have suggested the closure of Pure and Split/Second developer Black Rock had more to do with owner Disney's desire to get out of console game development than any deficiencies at the Brighton-based studio.

Split/Second developer Black Rock was working on a free-to-play game provisionally titled Champions Alliance when Disney pulled the plug on the studio this week, according to a source close to the Brighton-based outfit.

Update: Disney has confirmed the Black Rock Studios closure.

A number of staffers laid off at Split/Second studio Black Rock earlier this year have resurfaced with their own new start-up.

Two key creatives who lost their jobs last month during a wave of redundancies at Disney-owned Split/Second studio Black Rock Entertainment have set up on their own.

Disney Interactive Studios attempted to sell off half of Split/Second developer Black Rock late last year but couldn't find a buyer, according to an inside source.

Update 2: Disney has confirmed to Eurogamer a "reduction in its workforce" at Brighton-based developer Black Rock Studios.

"Disney Interactive Studios confirms a reduction of its workforce from its Brighton-based internal game development studio, Black Rock Studios. The studio will continue its work on its current project," the publisher said.

Update 1: The anonymous Black Rock source has clarified to Eurogamer that it's not 40 jobs at risk, it's 40 jobs that are safe. "Around 100 jobs are at risk," we were told.

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Disney has confirmed a "restructuring process" at its Interactive Media Group – owner of Epic Mickey creator Junction Point and Split/Second maker Black Rock - that marks its transition from a boxed game publisher to a digital publisher.

Half of Disney Interactive Studios' 700 staff may have been cut, overnight reports suggest.

"As part of setting a strategic direction for future success in the digital media space, the Disney Interactive Media Group today began a restructuring process," Disney said in a statement issued to Variety.

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The theme you'll need to download to gain access to the Killzone 3 beta will go live in the PlayStation Store on Wednesday at 8pm UK time, Sony has announced.

According to the European PlayStation blog, the first 10,000 Plus subscribers to download it will win a place on the beta.

The PlayStation Plus update also reveals that all five Fallout 3 add-on packs will be available to Plus members for free, for one week only.

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Black Rock has released a mixture of premium and free downloadable content for Split/Second: Velocity introducing new cars and skins.

Brighton developer Black Rock Studios has called on gamers to give it feedback on racer Split/Second: Velocity.

Black Rock Studios will release four downloadable content packs, including a new environment, for its arcade racer Split/Second: Velocity.

The first three will be vehicle-orientated and are due "in the next couple of weeks", starting with new liveries for Elite vehicles.

After that we're told to expect a new "High Octane Supercar Pack". Check out the screenshot below for an example.

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Xbox 360 exclusive Crackdown 2 is number one in the UK all formats chart for the second week running.

Number crunching firm NPD has revealed that Alan Wake sold just 145,000 units during the month of May in the US.

The heavily marketed Xbox 360 exclusive finished eighth overall on the software chart. The game had been on sale for exactly two weeks when the numbers were collected.

Split/Second: Velocity was released on the same day but missed out on a top 10 finish. Black Rock and Disney's racer notched just 86,000 sales during the two-week period.

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Brighton-based Black Rock Studios is hiring for positions on an "unannounced game on Xbox 360 and PS3".

That's according to a job posting on mother-publisher Disney's website seeking an "experienced Technical Art Director".

The listing offers no further details on the game.

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Rockstar's celebrated Western, Red Dead: Redemption, has galloped to the top of the UK all-formats chart.

Black Rock Studios has unveiled the Air Strike and Air Revenge modes in Split/Second: Velocity, where you duel with a gunship.

Split/Second game director Nick Baynes has told Eurogamer that the Hyper Cars Pack DLC will offer competitive but not overpowered new vehicles to drive around in.

Update: Split/Second game director Nick Baynes has verified the DLC to Eurogamer and explained that the additional cars will offer no "unfair advantage".

Disney plans to release the Split/Second demo on PS3 here next Thursday, 5th May.

Disney and Black Rock Studio have put a demo of Split/Second on Xbox Live Marketplace.

Split/Second: Velocity game director Nick Baynes has challenged rival UK racing game developers to a charity go-kart competition.

Retailer Play has blown the whistle on Split/Second downloadable content, promising pre-order buyers the "first DLC pack" for free.

Disney's Split/Second will henceforth be known as Split/Second: Velocity, and will be released here on 21st May.

Disney's just given scenery-destroying racer Split/Second a date of May 2010.

Disney's Black Rock Studio has released a sexy new trailer for its upcoming multiformat racing game Split/Second, and we've got it exclusively for you to check out this morning. Just scroll down for the embed or check out the luxurious HD version over on Eurogamer TV.

Split/Second is an arcade racing game played out in a city designed to be torn apart by explosions - and the twist is that you get to activate the pyrotechnics. The gameplay trailer, narrated by affable game director Nick Baynes, explains and illustrates the "powerplay" concept that drives the explosions.

It's more than a walkthrough of the bulletpoints for the box, however. It's also an opportunity to admire just how those explosions unfold and the effect they have on your rivals in a pair of levels - the Airport lap and another section at the Docks, which you may have caught sight of during the Eurogamer Expo. Crushing the dry dock beneath an oil tanker so it splats your enemies is still wicked.

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Black Rock's technical director David Jefferies has revealed that the 720p requirement for Xbox 360 games has been "retired" by Microsoft.

Black Rock's new game Split/Second is a race through tracks wired with explosives to cripple your opponents and create shortcuts.

Black Rock - the Disney-owned, UK-based developer of last year's quality quad-bike trick-racer, Pure - is working on another "action racing" game called Split Second.