Vogster - CrimeCraft
"BLEEDOUT" expansion to arrive as 10 weekly episodes.
New York – Oct. XX, 2010 – The CrimeCraft team at Vogster Entertainment continues their commitment to post-release innovation with BLEEDOUT, their first major expansion coming in late 2010. BLEEDOUT blends the gripping, episodic storytelling of comic books with the deep interactive character development of MMOs and the frantic action of online shooters.
BLEEDOUT will be released as 10 consecutive weekly episodes that take the MMO shooter CrimeCraft in a major new direction. Each episode is comprised of several missions that tell the story of the devastating BLEEDOUT event through illustrations by some of the comic industry’s brightest lights, including Tim Bradstreet, Howard Chaykin, and Ben Templesmith. The chapters guide players through a world thrown into chaos by a global economic disaster. With mission difficulty that scales with the player’s character level, new and existing players can experience the action in a custom-balanced environment. Fans can expect about 20-30 hours of gripping story-based content.
Throughout the campaign, players will earn criminal reputations, build their own gang, and kill the competition as they explore the mysteries and conspiracies behind the BLEEDOUTevent. The expansion combines the best of MMORPG gaming (thousands of players, loot, guilds/gangs, crafting, trading, missions, customizable skills, PvE and PvP Combat) with the action and fast skill-based gameplay of a shooter.
In preparation for BLEEDOUT, Vogster rolled out multiple major updates and improvements since CrimeCraft’s debut more than a year ago. Changes have included new abilities, weapons, gameplay modes, player controlled nightclubs, tournaments and conversion to a free-to-play itemized business model. BLEEDOUT stands as proof of the company’s dedication to continuous post-release product innovation and improvement.
"The key to most MMOs these days, particularly free-to-play titles, is committing to a regular schedule of post-release content. People want exciting new stuff, and will stick around if they know more cool stuff is just around the corner," says Mike Kennedy, Senior Producer at Vogster Entertainment. "The MMO model offers the unique ability to continuously expand the brand while refreshing the audience with great new material. With an extended campaign of weekly episodes, we get to try something that hasn't been done before: create a weekly community 'water-cooler' event around fast-paced shooter action."
In addition to the new episodic content, the expansion introduces visually enhanced environments that reflect the disastrous events of the BLEEDOUT incident, twice daily tournaments for worldwide player convenience, and a brand new reputation system that tracks the player’s performance and allocates rewards that allow players to make a name for themselves.
During New York Comic Con Vogster announced that it had partnered with top comic book artists and Archaia Black Label to publish BLEEDOUT: The Graphic Novel in 2011. The BLEEDOUT expansion will feature art from Tim Bradstreet, Ben Templesmith, Nathan Fox, Zach Howard, Sanford Greene, David Williams, Gary Erskine, Howard Chaykin, Glenn Fabry, Vince Proce and Trevor Hairsine.
BLEEDOUT episodes are available for free for all Deluxe and Premium CrimeCraft subscribers. Episodes are available for individual purchase by Free-to-Play members of the community for $2.00 each.