GAMETIME: Saskatoon developer hopes to pitch 'never-ending' ranching sim to publishers

GAMETIME: Saskatoon developer working on ranching sim WATCH: CTV Saskatoon’s Matt Young brings us the latest in video game news.

SASKATOON — Kenny Taer has high hopes for a game he developing with several other freelancers.

Taer, from Saskatoon, is the creative director for Ranchers of Kyvos.

It’s strategy game set in a unique civilization in which players breed different colors of a fictional cube-shaped animal in hopes of uncovering different colors.

“It’s somewhat similar to Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon in the sense that you could keep playing it as long as you would like,” Taer said.

“There’s plans to make it essentially a never-ending game in a sense, just as long as you keep making goals for yourself or the game keeps coming up with quests to finish. Then essentially you could play as long as you want.”

Taer says they’re also putting a big emphasis on storytelling.

The game started off as a 2D creation, but after realizing what could be done with the coding, Taer says he got the help of a 3D modeller, which led to further improvements.

“I realized how much more fun this would be if it was done properly.”

Nine other freelancers from around the world have contributed to the development of the game in various capacities.

Taer says a basic prototype has been produced and is now being polished over the next few months in hopes of pitching it to publishers with the aim of making it available on Steam.

He adds some publishers and private investors have already indicated interest in the game.

Sony backtracks on plan to close Playstion Store for PS3 and PS Vita

After getting backlash over a decision to shut down the Playstation Store for PS3 and PS Vita devices, it looks like Sony is reversing course.

“Upon further reflection, however, it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here. So today I’m happy to say that we will be keeping the PlayStation Store operational for PS3 and PS Vita devices,” says a message from President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Jim Ryan on the PlayStation blog.

It says the original decision to close the online stores was due to commerce support challenges and the focus of more resources on newer devices.

“We see now that many of you are incredibly passionate about being able to continue purchasing classic games on PS3 and PS Vita for the foreseeable future, so I’m glad we were able to find a solution to continue operations,” the post says.

However, PSP commerce functionality will be winding down as planned on July 2.

100 million players and counting for Call of Duty: Warzone

Call of Duty: Warzone has reached 100 million players.

“Thank you all for dropping in. It wouldn’t be #Warzone without you,” according to a Twitter post on Tuesday.

The announcement comes just days after Activision announced the return of the Call of Duty Mobile World Championship.

“The momentum worldwide for Call of Duty: Mobile is incredible as our players continue to have a great time playing,” said Matt Lewis, vice president of mobile at Activision, in a press release.

“Picking up from last year’s competition, we’ve increased the prize money up for grabs and number of teams that can qualify, so there are even more reasons fo fans to prove they’ve got what it takes to be the best.”

The tournament begins June 3.