Leaky Faucet - Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Out November 14th

Literally the best I could do. Destructoid has their pictures watermarked.

There was to be a massive announcement on Sunday morning about the next iteration in the Call of Duty series - this time developed my Sledgehammer Games. But some bloke said, "Screw that noise," and leaked a smattering of information on the upcoming game. This includes the supposed trailer that was meant to be shown during the grand reveal, featuring Kevin "Power" Spacey.

According to the leak given to Destructoid, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (not to be confused with this), is set in the future and follows a group of private military soldiers that turn on the United States. The story-based trailer shows Elysium-esque gear that can cloak and scale walls, among other future tech, such as exoskeletons. The mash of Spacey talking politics, and the sci-fi setting actually has me intrigued. Last time I said that about a CoD game was Black Ops II. 

Destructoid has a gallery and a breakdown of how the news came about, which includes Spacey's involvement being confirmed on the Call of Duty Instagram account. 

-- Destructoid, Call of Duty Instagram

Lead Artist Nate Wells Leaves Naughty Dog for Giant Sparrow

In another departure from Naughty Dog, lead artist Nate Wells announced on Twitter that he had left the developer for the team behind The Unfinished Swan, Giant Sparrow. The news comes after former lead writer Amy Henning and game director Justin Richmond left the The Last of Us dev for other avenues. It's been confirmed that Hennig acquired a gig at EA for Visceral Games' upcoming Star Wars game, while Richmond landed at League of Legends team Riot Games.

Wells joined up with Naughty Dog back in August 2012, after a 13-year stint at Irrational Games. Within those two years were ten months working on The Last of Us. It's a strong possibility that Wells will assist in Giant Sparrow's latest project, first announced as Edith Finch, but then re-announced as "Unfinished Giant Sparrow Project." To quote the developers, "it's not a sequel to the Unfinished Swan, but it's not a million miles away either."

Until we hear from Naughty Dog on the matter, all I can say is - What the hell's going on over there?

Sources -- Wells' Twitter, Joystiq

 

MountieGamesCast Episodes 3 - 4: Rifting Threats and Skeleton School

Above unrelated, I just like Log Horizon

We're back to fill your little earholes with random gaming crap once more, and joining us in whatever it is we're doing is Sabrina Hernandez, fellow gamer, Leaguer, and all around awesome character. You'll find Eps 1 and 2 on our Spreaker page soon, meantime, here's the latest:

Recorded April 1st, 2014

We welcome newcomer Sabrina Hernandez to the Cast this week, and find that she can more than handle mine and Julian's shenanigans.

This week - Sabrina gets excited about Mercenary Kings on the PS4, Julian gets his mitts on Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag, and I lose my sh*t for a bit over death-threat-sending morons over the Oculus Rift/Facebook deal. 

We also dive into gaming's April Fool's jokes, give love to the free-to-play games doing it right, and Julian and Sabrina talk DEEP about League of Legends while I nod aimlessly.




Recorded April 8th, 2014

Finally in our proper home in the newsroom, Sabrina joins us again on a day lackin with news coming from the past week.

We still find stuff to talk about though, as Sabrina dives into Mercenary Kings on the PS4, Julian talks about the new FTL: Advanced Edition and Lu Bu's insane swag (read: douchebaginess), and I talk/don't talk about South Park: The Stick of Truth's gnome section.

Elsewhere, Titanfall's 360 version finally gets media...from a stream on Twitch.tv, the Smash Bros Direct brings the release dates, and Julian and Sabrina get into their favorite League players.

Transistor Hits PS4 and PC Next Month

Since Bastion hit digital shelves a few years back, I've been a big fan of Supergiant Games' work. When the trailers and gameplay videos for their new title, Transistor, were released I was more than happy to delve in. Bastion had presented a great balance between gameplay and storytelling, and Transistor seemed to be doing the same with more than just a new environment. The wait, however, has been excruciating.

Thankfully, Supergiant has announced today that Transistor will arrive on the PlayStation 4 and PC on May 20, for $19.99. To recap, the game follows the same overhead style as Bastion, with the ability to stop time and plan moves that immediately execute in real time. Even sweeter is Logan Cunningham's return as the voice inside the titular sword - he voiced Rucks the narrator in Bastion.

Here's some gameplay footage from TotalBiscuit.




-- Supergiant Games

"Facebook creeps me out" - Notch Cancels Minecraft For Oculus Rift After Purchase

Following the news that Facebook picked up Oculus Rift VR for $2 billion bones, Notch (a.k.a. Markus Persson), creator of the ever-popular Minecraft, cancelled the version Mojang was working on for the virtual reality device. In a tweet, Persson said -

We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus. I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out.
— Markus Persson (@notch) March 25, 2014

There you have it, and a big name at that. Would love to hear what other developers have to say about the purchase.

-- Notch Twitter

I'm Not Kidding: Facebook Buys Oculus Rift for $2 Billion

Facebook has announced today that they've bought virtual reality company Oculus Rift for $2 billion.

Yeap.

The money has been spread around: $400 million in cash, 2.31 million in Facebook common stock, $300 million earn-out in cash and stock going elsewhere. The deal is going to be finalized in Q2 of 2014.

In a statement, Brendon Irbe, co-founder and CEO of Oculus VR, said that, "We are excited to work with Mark [Zuckerberg] and the Facebook team to deliver the very best virtual reality platform in the world...We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways. It is a transformative and disruptive technology, that enables the world to experience the impossible, and it's only just the beginning."

Here's Zuckerberg's full take:

I'm excited to announce that we've agreed to acquire Oculus VR, the leader in virtual reality technology.

Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. For the past few years, this has mostly meant building mobile apps that help you share with the people you care about. We have a lot more to do on mobile, but at this point we feel we're in a position where we can start focusing on what platforms will come next to enable even more useful, entertaining and personal experiences.

This is where Oculus comes in. They build virtual reality technology, like the Oculus Rift headset. When you put it on, you enter a completely immersive computer-generated environment, like a game or a movie scene or a place far away. The incredible thing about the technology is that you feel like you're actually present in another place with other people. People who try it say it's different from anything they've ever experienced in their lives.

Oculus's mission is to enable you to experience the impossible. Their technology opens up the possibility of completely new kinds of experiences.

Immersive gaming will be the first, and Oculus already has big plans here that won't be changing and we hope to accelerate. The Rift is highly anticipated by the gaming community, and there's a lot of interest from developers in building for this platform. We're going to focus on helping Oculus build out their product and develop partnerships to support more games. Oculus will continue operating independently within Facebook to achieve this.

But this is just the start. After games, we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face — just by putting on goggles in your home.

This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.

These are just some of the potential uses. By working with developers and partners across the industry, together we can build many more. One day, we believe this kind of immersive, augmented reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people.

Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming and we have a chance to build it together. I can't wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus to bring this future to the world, and to unlock new worlds for all of us.

I'm sincerely hoping that the purchase doesn't leave in the dust the developers that have been working on the Rift all this time, but this is going to make a lot of waves. It doesn't help that my co-editor jokingly mentions Farmville VR as a title for the technology (foreshadowing).

Jokes aside, the last two major purchases FB made didn't change squat, so strong chance that the same applies here, and that the money is being used to fast track the process in time for the release later this year. This is big, and considering that Sony is closing the gap with their own VR tech, it's going to be an interesting time for the both of them.

-- Facebook, Kotaku, Destructoid

InFamous: Second Son Gets 19 New Missions, Graphics and Performance Tweaks in Day-One Update

InFamous: Second Son is here, and though it's third in the series, it seems to eschew the "tortured protagonist" role that Cole played in the first two in favor of someone who enjoys running around with powers, Delsin. That's what the critics have been saying, at least. The Sucker Punch title has just been updated with some new content that's supposed to add five hours to the game's play time.

Chief among this are the 19 new story missions added to the Paper Trail game and Web storyline. In it, players look to find out the reason behind the D.U.P's occupation of Seattle through the game and investigations on the Web. The story was co-created with ARG company 42 Entertainment, and will trickle down via updates over a six week period. Pre-order folks will get the Cole's Legacy DLC in this update as well, rounding it out to 300 MB.

Here are the full update notes from VideoGamer.com:

Cole's Legacy Content Pack
FREE with pre-order
Explore the events immediately following inFAMOUS 2
Work with an investigative reporter to understand the source of conduit powers
4 story missions, approximately 1 hour of gameplay

inFAMOUS Paper Trail Storyline
FREE bonus missions and exclusive web content
Innovative online and in-game story arc co-developed by Sucker Punch and 42 Entertainment
Manga and murder, follow the trail of origami doves to discover the full story behind the D.U.P.'s occupation of Seattle.
19 story missions and corresponding web-based investigations, approximately 5 hours of unique gameplay.

Difficulty Balance
Normal difficulty has been slightly increased to challenge the player’s mastery of their powers
Expert difficulty has been fine-tuned to ensure it is the best experience for skilled gamers
Karma progression extended to support longer playtime

Boss Fights
The boss fights have been re-tuned for difficulty and fun
More dynamic boss behaviors and attacks

Pedestrians and DUPs
Engine performance tweaks to allow for more life and activity in the city
Increased pedestrian and traffic density and variety
Increased pedestrian-related karmic opportunities
Post-story enemy activity and D.U.P. raids

Technical Improvements
Graphics and performance improvements
Fixes for a small number of infrequent blocking bugs
PSN integration to support Paper Trail DLC

-- VideoGamer via VG247

Mighty No. 9 Alpha Footage is Superb

While I'm in the camp that feels that somehow, someway, MegaMan can make a comeback (if not him then MegaMan Zero or ZX [which is an even smaller chance]), I'm more than ready for Mighty No. 9. The Kickstarter darling has had impressive showings so far, and this latest alpha footage from GDC is no different. In it, Mighty shows off his abilities while we get some info about his numbered brethren. Take a look above.

Hoo Boy - Titanfall on Xbox 360 Delayed, Out in April

While Titans are dropping like giant, steel-laden raindrops (if raindrops carried gigantic guns [I know this joke is stupid]) on Xbox Ones and home computers, those that have been hanging on for the the  Xbox 360 version of Titanfall are gonna have to hang on for a bit longer.

EA has announced today that the 360 version, being ported by Bluepoint Games, is taking an extra two weeks for some polish. The game is now set for April 8th in North America, and the 11th in Europe. EA Studios executive vice president Patrick Soderlund brought the news to EA.com, saying that they, "want to get the last details right."

"Now, I want to update everyone on Titanfall for Xbox 360 in development with Bluepoint Games.  I’ve been playing the game a lot, and it is fantastic.  But we see a few things that can be made even better, so we’re giving Bluepoint a little more time to do just that and deliver an epic Titanfall experience for Xbox 360 players. Titanfall for Xbox 360 will now be releasing on April 8 in North America, and beginning on April 11 in Europe.  The game will feature the same 6v6 gameplay, maps, modes, weapons and Burn Cards as the Xbox One and PC versions of the game."

While we appreciate delays for the sake of polish in order to avoid something terrible hitting the market, we've nearly nothing about the 360. Maybe a few screenshots here and there, but no gameplay or any information outside of the fact that it's a thing that exists. No beta test either, which raises even more questions about how well this thing is going to perform when it's finally out. Let's hope that EA doesn't disappoint.

- Kotaku, EA.com

Side Note - Is it just me, or is it a little cheeky of Soderlund to talk about how his experience playing the game in a post about a delay for another version?

A Steeper Slope: Back Upon the Golden Crested Plains.

Well faithful listeners, I'm sorry it took me so long but I swore to not write again until I reached Gold League again. And so I have!

GOLD LEAGUE ACHIEVED

After some heart breaking losses and amazing win streak I eventually was able to earn my way back onto the Golden landscape of mid tier skill play for League of Legends. Talon's Outlaws is the name of my league and from what it seems, it's a freshly created league and everyone in it is moving upwards at an incredible pace! In fact the day after I got into Gold Five, I nearly promoted to Gold Four. But I did indeed fail the promotion series then I rages, and dropped all the way to zero points before realizing my mistake.

I felt entitled to Gold Four, in my mind I deserved it and I couldn't get passed the idea that I had been screwed by the system AGAIN!

And that's when I realized just how bad I had screwed up. In my fit of "entitlement" I had looked past how bad I had played, how bad the calls that I mad were, and just how bad I had treated my teammates. As someone who has a friend who does this exact thing all the time on a popular stream, I felt ashamed. At one point I even began chewing out my friend for a mistake we had both made as if it was just his fault.

After my revelation I readjusted my disposition and began to have fun with the game and only focus on my mistakes and what I could do to make it better. Now you may be thinking that I've learned this lesson already and I need to move on but see here's the thing. League is ever evolving and the players are constantly changing. and so the lessons I learn and have learned need to be learned again and again.

And so I must return to the fields of justice, until next time; There will always be slopes, but will you always climb them?

Miss Flappy Birds on the App Store? There are 300 Clones Just Like It

I don't even...

Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen pulled his game off of digital shelves because he felt that it was becoming an "addictive product", a statement that fired off quite a bit of debate on blogosphere comment sections.

If you're one of the many that need your "Flappy" fix though, fret not! With clones hitting flash game sites on the net, Pocket Gamer reports that as many as 60 Flappy Bird clones are hitting the App Store each day, with a grand total of 300 available right now. 

The report says that 69 hit the store on February 28, 48 on the 1st of March, 75 on the 2nd, and 49 the following day. This brings it to around one new clone made every 24 minutes. Egads, man. If you want an example of what's out there, PG has a got a gallery with their findings in the link above.

Look, we've heard and seen people attempt to capitalize on another's success. It's unfortunately nothing new, nor is trying to capitalize on what's popular. However, this is nothing more than flooding the market. What's the use of making a clone if it's going to get swept away in a sea of other clones? Original ideas are always welcome.

Pocket Gamer via VG247

Titanfall is...yep. Season Pass.

Three map packs for $25.99 instead of buying them separately for $29.99. PC owners can also grab the Digital Deluxe Edition for $79.99, which comes with the game and the season pass all in one. Xbox One owners won't have access to this bundle. You'll want to contact EA if you want to upgrade from the standard to the digital.

Oh, and the Pass is for whatever system you grab it for, so no free upgrade from 360 to One, you silly goose! The Pass will be available on the 11th for the One, and 25th for the 360. It's up now for the PC.

I'll say that what little I've played of Titanfall was pretty awesome. I'd love to get it sometime down the road if it goes on sale for my PC, just not now.

...Seriously EA, at the very least have 360 folks pony up five bones if they want to upgrade! They'll be buying the game again if they're that dedicated, make it easy on them. Yeesh.

Naughty Dog Writer Amy Hennig Leaves Studio

The scribe behind the Uncharted series and The Last of Us has left Naughty Dog, according to a statement released by parent company Sony.

Posted on IGN, the statement reads:

“We can confirm that Amy Hennig has left Naughty Dog. Amy has made significant contributions to the game industry and we appreciate all she has done for Naughty Dog. The development timeline of Uncharted will not be impacted.” Hennig had been with the studio for ten years.

There are rumors from sources close to Naughty Dog that say Hennig was "forced out" by The Last of Us creative leads Neil Druckmann and Bruce Staley, as they are said to be taking the reins of the Uncharted series. Hennig was the creative lead on those games, and was believed to have been heading up the new title for the PlayStation 4.

Considering how well-known Ms. Henning is in the industry, here's hoping she'll find work elsewhere. Never pleasant to lose a job, no matter how it happened.We'll keep you posted on any new developments.

Here's a tweet from Ms. Henning, thanking her fans:

Well, now I know how to get my follower count to shoot up! Thanks, everyone, for the kind words - it's very appreciated. More than you know.
— Amy Hennig (@amy_hennig) March 5, 2014

-- IGN, VG247

Irrational Games Shutting Down, Levine to Craft Smaller Studio

This is big.

In a message on the Irrational Games website, studio co-founder and Bioshock Creative Director Ken Levine said that he is "winding down" IG to focus on a, "...smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor..." The reins of the Bioshock series will be left to 2K Games as Levine's new team will stay with publisher Take-Two. However, the shutter will leave all but fifteen members of the Irrational squad unemployed.

In the post, Levine said that he needed to, "...refocus my energy on a smaller team with a flatter structure and a more direct relationship with gamers. In many ways, it will be a return to how we started: a small team making games for the core audience." Said games are going to be narrative-driven and highly replayable, according to Levine.

After hearing that the second chapter of Burial at Sea would be the last DLC for Infinite, I was wondering what was going to come next afterwards. I wasn't expecting this. Infinite was my GOTY last year, so I am interested in seeing what's next for Levine and Co., and what that small studio is going to bring. As for the folks that were let go, Levine did mention that Take-Two would talk to them about moving to other studios under their banner, and that Irrational would be holding a recruiting day featuring "third-party" studios and pubs. Good on them to not leave those guys out in the cold.

-- A Message from Ken Levine

Mountaineer Games' First Review Is - Bravely Default!

So folks, you know that brief and amazingly boring tagline at the top of the blog page that I've been meaning to change but conveniently keep forgetting? "News, Reviews, and the Latest in eSports?" We've got news ...relatively down, Julian has been handling eSports...but we don't have any damn reviews.

That changes today - well, this coming week. Bravely Default has been on my radar since it was announced that it was coming to the states, besides the weird name and slight, yet unnecessary pay-to-win model. That aside, BD will be the first review for the site, with more to follow! The demo that hit the eShop a few weeks ago locked down my choice, and I'm really excited to put hands to keyboard once I finish up the game.

This is probably the best place to tell you how I'll be handling reviews here on Mountaineer Games. First off - it's more than likely you'll see reviews hit after the game's been released, but I'll try to push them out as much as possible. We're nowhere near the stage where we can mail up a publisher and ask for a review copy (although I haven't tried it yet), so give us some time.  Whether it's a big title or something from the indie scene, we'll try to let you know what the next review will be ahead of time. I'd like to shoot for three reviews each month to start. May seem small, but MG is run by a crack team of two students. The classwork is always going to have to come first I'm afraid, but the commitment is there.

Secondly - Reviews won't have any numbers or stars or any ratings attached to the end. I'm a big believer in understanding how someone feels about a game through their writing. This isn't to knock on other sites using numbers - it's a preference for a lot of folks. But with all the battles and comments over numbers and scores, I'd rather have a conversation/argument over the review itself, rather than a mere argument over a score.

All that said - look out for our review of Bravely Default, coming soon.

Xbox One Leakage - White Console Coming Later this Year, Huge Update in March, and Other Rumors

An anonymous poster on NeoGAF dropped a ton of leaks on the forum a couple days ago, and plenty are juicy. The Verge was able to confirm a couple of them with Microsoft, one being that the sleek white model is coming this year. It was previously only available to employees before the release. Additionally, the first big update for the console is coming in March to deal with system fixes and issues with Xbox Live.

But who needs truth when we have RUMORS. Speculation ahoy!!

The poster, "ntkrnl," said that the white console would be releasing with a 1TB drive along with Sunset Overdrive in October, and that there would be a version off the console without a Blu-ray drive and with a Bluetooth adapter, running for $399. The Verge was again able to confirm that Microsoft was testing a disc-less One, but was unsure if it would see release to market.

The poster also mentioned a release time for a new Forza Horizon, around September, and said that Quantum Break would hit shelves during the Holiday season. The Halo 2 Anniversary Edition is said to come out November 11th, and have a beta key for Halo 5 with other goodies in the collector's edition. Also, Platinum Games is supposedly working on something called Project Nagano set for 2016, and news about Crackdown 3 is said to come to E3 later this year.

Do what you always do with rumors - grains of salt. Lots of them. Microsoft as confirmed only two of the rumors, and while this guy says he works for the company, I think it's best not to get a lot of hopes up. Still, if true, this is some exciting stuff to come from the company and could help them catch up to Sony. There's more on the forum including a Titanfall-designed console, so take a look.

-- NeoGAF, The Verge, CNN

A Steeper Slope: Looks like a Ravine down thereAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HULLO!!!!

After a good little vacation from everything, and by vacation I mean nonstop work for almost certainly illegal amounts of time, I found time to stumble back onto the fields of justice. But things had changed I feel like I may have missed something, what is that patch number there? Four point O'....OH SNAP

SEASON FOUR 
Yay!!!!! Well kinda.
At the beginning of every new season your ranking gets erased and everyone starts on the same level, with 10 soloque placement matches to determine a starting point for their ranked career that season.
You see the preseason was very iffy with the huge changes to the game and I wasn't in top fighting condition when the time came to play my placement matches.

Without going into to much detail, I made some pretty bad decisions about when to play the game and well I didn't do so great in my placements, in fact I went 4/6. I was certain the depths of bronze was where I would land but the Riot god of ranked decided I deserved forgiveness and placed me at silver 3. I can work with this.

So I made it to the top of my golden hilltop, and whilst looking at the greater mountain of platinum I fell back into the silver ravine. That's well faithful followers that's just fine, because I see the path onward and upwards lain with perils and tragedies.
But I have found someone interesting here though, he said he was an unforgiven swordsman, looking for redemption. And whilst the wind kicked up all around us we set forth together on this path to vindication, I Julian TheGrumpyKitten, and Yasuo the Unforgiven.

To follow my progress and stats use these links to find my lolking page and  op.gg page.
My Stream is http://www.twitch.tv/amissus, I'll be streaming league there when I play soloque, and to make sure you know when I stream follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JulianEMuhr I'll announce all manner of league things there.
Remember there will always be slopes, but will you always climb them ?

Candy Crush Saga Makers Almost Trademark "Candy" (seriously); Go After The Banner Saga for "Saga" (Seriously!!)

So King.com, the guys that made Candy Crush Saga (that Bejeweled clone infected with microtransactions) have nearly managed to trademark the word "candy" for use in the App Store. It was approved for publication on the 15th of this month by the United States, with only a few weeks to go before it's official. If made official, it would mean that any other application in the Store with the word "candy" in it either has to change the name or pony up the cash in court.

Total bull, right?

It get's better - now these...people, have decided to go after a game with whom they fear that the titling of such may confuse customers when they try to buy CCS.

Yep, that game is - Wait.

The Banner Saga? The indie Viking strategy/turn-based RPG with the beautiful-yet-nostalgia-inducing artwork? The one where you lead your desperate clan to safety from invaders that have taken the land from them? That one. The one where there's no candy involved, just a fight for survival in a cold world.

...right. Never mind the fact that "saga" literally means "viking epic."

Back on December 27th, King filed a "Notice of Opposition" with the US Patent and Trademark Office against Stoic, the folks who made The Banner Saga. In it, they argue that because they hold 13 (!) trademarks with the word "saga" Stoic is not allowed to use the word. For fear that again, a colorful, beautiful, hand drawn game about Vikings trying to survive against a foreign invasion, would be mistaken with some game about colliding candy until you lose lives then pony up some real cash to keep playing up until you've lost your paycheck for the week.

Read this - Applicant is Stoic, Opposer is King:

So, no money grabs here, King just wants the name of Stoic's title changed if CCS gets approved first.  To be fair, this sort of thing is common: where one company will file against another company with a similarly titled product just to protect its own from outside copycats. 

However, it wouldn't be so maddening if King weren't going up against a small indie studio, though. The little guy who just wants to make a great game versus the second coming of Angry Birds. A game that just so happened grow big enough to let their creators get heads parallel in size. 

Let's hope that Stoic gets out of this alright. They're going to fight it out with King, so good luck to them. 

------

- Here's King's take on the situation and why they're going through with this.

- Stoic on VG247, explaining why a sequel isn't possible right now due to the claim.

------

This is The Banner Saga



This is CCS



--- Kotaku, VG247

Deadpool, other Marvel Titles Pulled From Steam, XBL and PSN

In what could be described as "one" way to ring in the new year, it's been revealed that Marvel has pulled a bevy of their games from digital storefronts. Deadpool, X-Men: The Official Game, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men Destiny, and pretty much all of the recent Spider-Man games that aren't based on the films (read: Shattered Dimensions, Web of Shadows, Edge of Time, and Friend or Foe) have all been pulled . Activision confirmed the removals through Game Informer.

The Deadpool Steam disappearance was first found out by NeoGAF user "Deluisbeta," according to GI. Afterwards, a tweet from Activision's community manager Dan Amrich confirmed that the group of games were pulled in due to contract dates. Understandable for the other games, but Deadpool just came out in June, which makes it confusing as to why it had the short shelf life (besides being fun, yet basic). This does however fall in line with Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 being pulled from digital stores back in December.

The Game Informer article also said that physical copies of the games might not be restocked once grabbed from store shelves. This might be a problem if you lost your copy of the fantastic X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Like me.

...crap. Get 'em while you can, folks.

--- NeoGAF via Game Informer via Cinema Blend