News
3 CommentsThe War Z publisher's preliminary investigation finds hack confined to forum database
By Dave Tach on Apr 15, 2013 04.15.13
A recent hack on The War Z forums, after which the developer took the massively multiplayer online zombie survival game offline, was confined to information available in the game's forum database, according to a recent post from publisher OP Productions. A representative from OP wrote that the company began an investigation with the help of "outside experts" when it learned hackers had obtained access to the forums earlier this month. Based on the preliminary investigation, OP "did not find definitive evidence that our game account database was accessed." Hackers had access to information contained in the forum database, including email addresses used to log into the forums, forum passwords and forum users' IP addresses. Because the hackers had access to forum administrators'...
News
12 CommentsHammerpoint considering The War Z 'jail' servers for banned players
By Jenna Pitcher on Apr 15, 2013 04.15.13
The War Z developer, Hammerpoint Interactive, is considering cheat-approved "jail" servers for banned players who cheat, according to a post by executive producer of Sergey Titov on the game's official forums asking the community to vote on the idea. "First of all when we've isolated cheaters on a special server, we can research them better, find out tricks that chat engines are using, try new detection techniques without fearing to ban innocent people. i.e — we can use those guys as guinea pigs for anti-cheat experiments," Titov wrote. He went on to say that "this is no more than just an idea" and it should be The War Z players who decide on the matter. "Yet — guys we're not blind and crazy, and yes it make our stomach sick too thinking that those f&%^*ks who been [sic] ruining...
News
12 CommentsThe War Z taken offline after player information compromised
By Alexa Ray Corriea on Apr 02, 2013 04.02.13
Zombie-survival MMO The War Z has been taken offline after a database hack that compromised players' information, according to a message from publisher OP Productions. The message, posted in place of the War Z forums which have also been taken down, states it is investigating the security breach and has emailed players who were affected. The company notes the game's shutdown is temporary, and they have already taken steps to improve security around The War Z accounts. According to OP, compromised data includes player email addresses used for forum login, forum passwords, email address used for game login, game passwords, in-game character names, player IP addresses and any other personal information players posted on the War Z forums. No payment information has been compromised,...
News
6 CommentsThe War Z makes a comeback on Steam
By Jenna Pitcher on Feb 27, 2013 02.27.13
Hammerpoint Interactive's controversial zombie shooter MMO, The War Z, is back on Steam. The title was pulled from Steam last December, with Valve's vice president issuing a statement to Polygon apologizing to customers for "prematurely issuing a copy of War Z for sale via Steam." The product came under fire from consumers who bought the game, complaining that the product's description and marketing were misleading. Some of the controversial features advertised included misrepresented server capacities and huge disparities in map size. Hammerpoint also changed several features and requirements post-release, such as increasing the respawn time from one to four hours, with the ability to respawn instantly in exchange for money. The zombie MMO's current feature description on Steam...
News
10 CommentsDayZ creator says game should arrive before April, expresses anger at The War Z
By Dave Tach on Jan 17, 2013 01.17.13
Dean Hall, creator of the open-world zombie shooter DayZ originally built as a mod for Bohemia Interactive's PC shooter Arma 2, confirmed that his game is on track for a release before April, according to an AMA on Reddit. "Yes I think so, but anything could happen and usually does," Hall wrote in response to a question about the April release window. "We'll know more when the results of the tech test are out. Any dates before then would be pure speculation, and my last speculation didn't work out so good." In late November, Hall announced that the original 2012 release could be delayed because "under the hood so much is being completely rewritten" in the Arma 2 game engine. He revealed in late December that public reaction to the delay had depressed him and made him think about "not...
News
5 CommentsThe War Z servers back online after suffering various shutdown attempts
By Alexa Ray Corriea on Jan 03, 2013 01.03.13
Servers for Hammerpoint Interactive's The War Z are back online after suffering numerous shutdown attempts over the past few days, according to a post on the game's forums from a community manager under the username Kewk. "Over the last few days we have been under attack by various forms of malicious attempts to shut down our servers," wrote Kewk earlier today. Kewk wrote that several days ago The War Z servers were hit with an attack that attempted to reset the domain name system (DNS) IP address and would prevent players from being able to connect. The issue was resolved and a fix for the attack was pushed worldwide. According to Kewk, Hammerpoint suffered a DDOS attack on the game's login server. Hammerpoint has implemented additional DDOS protection and the studio's IT team was...
News
18 CommentsThe War Z creator apologizes for 'arrogant' response to the game's rocky launch
By Alexa Ray Corriea on Dec 27, 2012 12.27.12
In an open letter to the game's community, The War Z executive producer Sergey Titov admitted that developer Hammerpoint Interactive "failed to effectively communicate" its plans for the game and blamed himself for the "haters" flooding the game's Steam page and forums with negative feedback. "I became arrogant and blinded by the early success and quick growth of The War Z, our increasing number of players, numbers we were getting from surveys, etc., and I chose not to notice the concerns and questions raised by these members of the game community as well as others," wrote Titov. "I chose instead to concentrate on the bigger picture — my dream of turning The War Z from being a game developed by a small indie team into a large online venture, instead of addressing small things first...
News
15 CommentsThe War Z's trademark has been suspended since November for being too similar to World War Z
By Tracey Lien on Dec 23, 2012 12.23.12
The War Z has had its trademark suspended since Nov. 15, 2012 because its name is too similar to World War Z, a novel and soon-to-be film distributed by Paramount Pictures, according to a letter published on the United States Patent and Trademark Office's website. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War was published in 2006 and a film of the same name (sans subheading) is planned for release by Paramount in June 2013. According to the trademark filing, Paramount also intends on creating a video game based on the IP. The trademark suspension means that it is likely that The War Z will have to change its name and, if the trademark attorney believes the two names are too similar, Paramount may be able to take steps to forbid the use of the name The War Z altogether. The...
News
27 CommentsValve pulls The War Z down from Steam store
By Griffin McElroy on Dec 19, 2012 12.19.12
The War Z, Hammerpoint Interactive's zombie survival shooter which has had a tumultuous community response following its recent launch, has been pulled from Steam. "From time to time a mistake can be made and one was made by prematurely issuing a copy of War Z for sale via Steam," Valve vice president of marketing Doug Lombardi wrote in a statement to Polygon. "We apologize for this and have temporary removed the sale offering of the title until we have time to work with the developer and have confidence in a new build. Those who purchase the game and wish to continue playing it via Steam may do so. Those who purchased the title via Steam and are unhappy with what they received may seek a refund by creating a ticket at our support site here." The game has been under fire from a number...
News
25 CommentsThe War Z now live on Steam, creator defends against negative feedback (update: game pulled from Steam)
By Alexa Ray Corriea on Dec 19, 2012 12.19.12
Hammerpoint Interactive's zombie survival MMO The War Z is now live on Steam in its alpha build, and executive producer Sergey Titov has gone up against the game's negative criticism, claiming there is "no such thing as a 'release'" for online games and acknowledging that the title has gone live unfinished. The discussion board is full of claims that Hammerpoint is advertising certain key features that are not in the game. One user posted screenshots of what the The War Z's store page looked like this morning and this afternoon, noting several difference. The size of the in-game area was changed from being listed as "between 100 to 400 square kilometers" to "over 100 sq. km in size." Information on dedicated public and private servers and the ability to play the full game without...
