Check Out Natural Selection 2's Free Gorgeous Update in this Trailer and Screenshots Plus 50% Off Sale

[Shawn Zipay]

Slated to go live at 3PM (PST), the free Gorgeous update for Natural Selection 2 has an all new, awesome trailer that shows off some of the new features and the new map coming in this big update.

There are improved graphics, Gorge tunnels, the Descent map, railguns for Exosuits, little minion aliens called Babblers, a new tutorial system, weapon balance, new cloaking mechanics, and a bunch of bug and stability fixes.

Again, this update is free. Also, there will be a 50% off sale for Natural Selection 2 that starts the moment this update goes live.

[K-16]

Wait what? Babblers?! Those were an overpowered placeholder feature in the original Natural-Selection! How the heck did this come back? I would never imagine explosive skulks with no AI would suddenly turn into armor or explosive uh... Oversized termites? I could've sworn Flayra hated babblers. I also like the Gorge Tunnels and how different it is from the Frontiersmen's phase gates. Actually I don't see the advantage the Kharaa side gets with this, given how tunnels are still exposed to battle (so it's not only a delay to get to your destination, but it's also an extended battleground), and the area needs to be infested before you can install one on each end (even further delay). Compare this to build anywhere and teleport instantly for the phase gates, and one can see how different this is to be on the Kharaa side. Certainly not a disguised mirrored feature like some multiplayer games.

Anyways, it looks like the industry's come out with two major ways of making money post-release: Either give up selling the retail game and rely on DLC sales/season passes, or offer free DLC/time-limited trials and rely on heavily discounted retail game sales. If VALVe's statistics are to be believed, then I would say the latter is a much more beneficial option, because the longetivity of the title is significantly extended and the community benefits from sustained player counts. Furthermore, costs of free DLC can still be compensated and profited from because the price of the retail game is reduced to what you would ironically pay for DLC. This is, of course, assuming VALVe's successes of +200% sales applies to other developers such as Unknown Worlds Entertainment. I do wonder how long UWE will last using the "VALVe method" in comparison to developers who use the "EA/Activision/Ubisoft method."

On a different note, I wish to suggest an addition to the time-tested tradition of Skulk and Gorge Racing. Unknown Worlds Entertainment, I wish for you to consider approving and sponsoring of a newly created biathlon tradition of racing and curling with bellysliding Gorges as the stone.