Online Games Happenings

　　News items and developments for the week of Tuesday, January 26, 2010:

　　Star Wars Galaxies has announced that the new Galactic Civil War: Forces Under Siege update is live and ready to go. The update includes Imperial vs. Rebel gameplay in different cities, plus the ability for neutral players to sign on as mercs. The update also includes faction planet control, profession-specific quests, and new reward items. More information is available at the Star Wars Galaxies site.

　　City of Heroes continues to push its "mission architect" feature, which lets you craft your own quests (missions) for other players to play. Most recently, the company recruited the services of various game designers and authors--including game designer Austin Grossman, Heralds of Valdemar author Mercedes Lackey, and comic author Troy Hickman--to create new adventures. More information is available at the City of Heroes mission architect site.

　　Free to play news: F2P game publisher Perfect World is bringing not one, but two games into closed beta soon: Battle of the Immortals, which will incorporate images, characters, and traditional mythology from Western cultures, such as the gods of Mount Olympus and the mystery of the sunken city of Atlantis; and the second phase of closed beta for Kung Foo!, the studio's "hilarious, slapstick MMORPG" crafted with the assistance of DC Comics author Devin K. Grayson. Details on each game are available at their respective Web sites (linked above).