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Warhammer: Wrath of Heroes, TERA and The Secret World all feature – take a peak inside.

This month we have a veritable smörgåsbord of online experiences to satisfy your oh so sensitive palate including the definitive verdict on Korean combat-centric MMORPG TERA, another in-depth look at the delightfully puzzling The Secret World and a preview of a game that almost has no place in the hallowed pages of this magazine; Auto Club Revolution.

Online gaming and cars going around a track repeatedly until somebody is determined the victor have been natural bed fellows since modems became a thing, but Eutechnyx’s first free-to-play offering gives wannabe racers an all new arena to interact with each other and more importantly get the most out of cars.

Continuing our trend of pursuing all things new we also have an interview with former ‘Gamespotter’ Carrie Gouskos. She reveals to us why Relic decided to take their infatuation with all things Warhammer in a distinctly MOBA-inspired direction with Wrath of Heroes.

An issue that has something for everyone then? We certainly hope so…

38 Studios, the company which owns the developer behind Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Big Huge Games, is in substantial financial trouble.

38 Studios first game, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, sold over a million copies on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but it seems that wasn't enough.

Word first emerged of the outfit’s precarious situation last week when the company, which is owned by baseball legend Curt Schilling, failed to meet a loan repayment of $1 million to the state of Rhode Island, but that appears to be only the tip of the cash-stricken iceberg.

According to Joystiq, staff from the company were not paid during their last pay window and their healthcare will no longer be covered from today. As a result many senior heads are now jumping ship, including CEO Jennifer McLean.

If that wasn’t bad enough news, Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee has cast doubt on whether Project Copernicus, an MMORPG set in the Amalur universe, will ever make it to market and wouldn’t even commit to 38 Studios lasting into next week, according to VG247,  although he has said he’ll do all can to ensure the company is still around to repay their debt to his state’s tax payers.

Having been fortunate enough to visit Big Huge Games’ offices in Baltimore, Maryland we’d like to wish the developers there all the best in getting through this difficult time.

What makes this news even more frustrating is that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning actually performed well both critically and commercially, with Curt Schilling recently boasting that the multi-format game sold 1.2 million copies worldwide in its first ninety days on sale. Unfortunately it isn’t known how much development of the open-world RPG cost, but one would assume that level of success should be enough to keep a studio afloat, at least in the short-term.

No doubt word on what’s really going on at 38 Studios will emerge soon.

Ubisoft and Nadeo have released the first trailer for ShootMania Storm and it looks absolutely wondrous.

The next game from the makers of TrackMania certainly has a Quake 3: Arena vibe to it with fast-paced FPS combat with the option to mod, create and film matches in an absurd amount of detail.

The footage is also the first time gamers will have seen ShootMania’s new ‘ghosting’ effect which happens whenever a player expires under laser fire.

Check out the video below!

TrackMania Storm is expected to be released exclusively on PC later this year, and wannabe players can sign-up for the beta now by visiting the game’s official website.

Just in time for the real-world Indy 500 this Sunday, Eutechnyx has added the infamous Indianapolis Motor Speedway to its growing stable of real-world tracks in Auto Club Revolution.

“We’re hugely proud to be adding the most iconic US race track of all to Auto Club Revolution, for all users, for free.” stated Ed Martin of Eutechnyx.

“Indianapolis offers two fantastic courses for our players to race on and it’s great to be launching the main oval in time for the real-world Indy 500 race. We’re hoping the oval becomes the place to set the Auto Club Revolution top speed record.”

Unfortunately only the oval itself is part of this track update, but there are plans to add the in-field layout later in the year. Multiple shots of the new track are shown below.

Auto Club Revolution will be covered extensively in MMOZine’s June issue out tommorow, but if you can’t wait that long feel free to give the free-to-play racer a play yourself by following this link.

Infinity Ward has announced a new Double XP event for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on all platforms.

The event began yesterday and will run until Tuesday, 29th May with all matches played in any playlist eligible for the experience bonus.

The event is to celebrate the second map pack launching for the ridiculously successful blockbuster shooter on Xbox Live this week. The content which is priced at 1200 MS points includes three new multiplayer/survival maps, two new Spec Ops missions and two new Face-Off maps.

We haven’t played the latest Call of Duty on any platform since December last year, but this Double XP event represents as good an opportunity as any to jump back in.

In what is somewhat surprising news depending on your point of view, BioWare Austin has announced that they’re in the process of “restructuring” the Star Wars: The Old Republic team.

In game development terms it isn’t unusual to let go of some staffers after a big project has launched, but seeing as TOR is an MMORPG it was expected that BioWare Austin would remain at full capacity until a few more updates were implemented to the subscription-only game. It seems that isn’t the case:

“Hey folks, since you’re reading this you may likely have heard that we’ve done some restructuring here on the SWTOR team. Sadly, we are bidding farewell to some talented, passionate and exceptionally hard-working people who helped make SWTOR a reality. Impacting people’s lives this way is always very hard, but we’re ensuring the affected people are treated with dignity, fairness and respect,” reads a typically emotive joint-statement from Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka.

“Looking back at launch, we all came together and did something historic. We executed one of the largest, most successful and stable launches of any MMO yet in industry history. That is not an easy feat for any development team or company and we are humbled and honored by our fan community’s strong support both at launch and beyond.”

“Looking forward, the studio remains vibrant and passionate about our many upcoming initiatives for Star Wars: The Old Republic. We still have a very substantial development team working on supporting and growing the game, and we feel we are in a strong position, with your continued involvement and feedback, to continue to build Star Wars: The Old Republic as one of the most compelling and successful online experiences in the world today. There are many strong initiatives planned for cool new content and new features that we’re excited to tell you about in the upcoming weeks and months.”

“Rest assured that we remain dedicated to delivering a high quality service in SWTOR to you, our fans, and we will continue to support and grow Star Wars: The Old Republic over the weeks, months and years to come.”

Unfortunately it’s unknown how many developers have been given their marching orders, but for the founders of BioWare to make a public statement GamerZines understands the numbers are significant.

Incidentally a new trailer was released yesterday to preview the forthcoming 1.3 update and you can see it below.

It’s always a shame to hear about passionate individuals being let go and we wish all those affected the best of luck in finding new work.

2K Games has today confirmed that XCOM: Enemy Unknown will be released for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on Friday, 12th October in Europe.

The sci-fi strategy game was set for a autumn release earlier this year, but this is the first time we’ve heard of a definitive date.

Incidentally the Fireaxis-developed reboot will also be getting a PC-exclusive special edition which includes an art book, poster, arm-patch, soundtrack, desktop wallpapers and other digital goodies which you shouldn’t really have to pay extra for. Unfortunately there hasn’t been word whether this special edition will make it over to European shores, but we’re sure the good folks at 2K wouldn’t leave us high and dry.

Firaxis Games are known for the Civilization series, but we’re pleased the studio is being allowed to flex their military muscle in a completely different kind of turn-based experience.

Recently a whole slew of releases have slipped unceremoniously into 2013, we’re sure glad this isn’t one of them.

The LA Times has published a contract between Bungie and Activision, as part of the ongoing legal battle between Vince West and Jason Zampella and the games publisher. This in itself is interesting enough, but what really got our gamer sense tingling is that the much rumoured MMOFPS Destiny has been detailed in full inside the legal document.

Bungie will release Destiny exclusively for Xbox 360 in 2013 with a future version planned for Microsoft’s successor to the aforementioned platform, what the contract itself dubs the ‘Xbox 720′. Is this a codename for the next console or its final label? That revelation is only the tip of this multi-million iceberg.

According to the document Destiny will be sold in stores, but will be supported by DLC, subscriptions and in-game micro-transactions. We surmise it’ll be a similar system to many modern free-to-play MMORPGs, only you’ll have to pay a one-time fee to gain access to the game. On top of that revenue model, Bungie will also produce four downloadable expansion packs to be released between autumn 2014 to 2020, in order to maintain interest. Nothing like planning way into the future! Will gaming even be a ‘thing’ in the year 2020? We’re guessing we’ll be too busy wrestling with the perils of faster than light travel and extraterrestrial attacks to consider playing a game using just our hands.

Speaking of time, this deal was signed way back in April, 2010 so it’s worth noting that Destiny has at least been in development for at least two years.

Additionally under the publishing deal Bungie will receive royalties of 20-35% of “operating income” when Destiny is released with Activision deducting development, production and marketing expenses. Bungie will also receive $2.5 million ever year until 2013 if they regularly meet development milestones.

Gamers rarely see contracts drawn up between developers and publishers, so this document represents an ideal opportunity to get an impression of how the most AAA of deals are actually constructed and the incredible amounts of money which gets thrown around.

Since all this information first appeared on the online Bungie released the following statement:

“Well, that just happened,” states a post on Bungie’s official website.

“So, yeah. While we’re not ready to show you what we’ve been working on, we can reconfirm that we are hard at work on our new universe. We can’t wait for you to see it.”

“See you starside in 2013.”

Perhaps we’ll see Destiny before then, at this year’s E3 perhaps? We’ll keep you posted.

The Japanese publisher has been showing quite a bit of love to the PC crowd as of late, with ports of Resident Evil 5, Dead Rising 2 and Street Fighter x Tekken all arriving over the past year. It’s a shame Dragon’s Dogma isn’t getting the same treatment but we’re glad Devil May Cry is on its way.

Interestingly it’ll be the first game from formerly console-only developer Ninja Theory to head to PC.

Here’s the latest trailer to whet your appetite:

SEGA has confirmed that Aliens: Colonial Marines will miss its original autumn 2012 release window, with the co-op shooter now expected to arrive 12^th February 2013 for Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3.

That’s the “definitive” release date though folks, it won’t move any more according to the latest pinky swear by Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford.

“I am thrilled to announce the definitive launch date for Aliens: Colonial Marines,” he stated.

“Aliens: Colonial Marines is the culmination of a life-time of inspiration from the films and relentless passion and drive from the exceptionally talented development team behind the scenes.”

SEGA were equally excited to finally nail down a date with senior vice president of marketing Gary Knight confirming that the game, which is has been in development since late 2006, has entered the “final stretch” of production. Thank the maker, as we’ve been keeping track of this shooter for absolutely ages.

Just to be sure that gamers aren’t in any confusion that this is indeed the final date, SEGA and Gearbox have also put together a new two minute trailer which shows off what seems to be a very early section of the game. Looking good Gearbox, looking very good…