We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

Unexpected April PC Gaming News Blowout: Minecraft 2.0, Football Manager 1888 and more in shock morning of reveals

crysis_3_tropical_island_resort_header

Gosh, here’s me approaching a bank holiday Monday with the concerned frown befitting a Slow News Day, and it turns out to be nothing of the sort. In fact several major developers have, by calamitous coincidence, made sweeping announcements over the course of the morning that will likely change the landscape of PC gaming beyond recognition. Positively seismic, they are! We can barely keep up, so have taken the liberty of arranging the many announcements here for your delectation.

Football Manager 1888 is a thing

football_manager_1888

Sports Interactive are celebrating 125 years of the Football League with the announcement of Football Manager 1888, a sepia-tinted standalone release featuring the developers’ new 19th century match engine. Manage! One of the 12 whole clubs existent at the tail end of the Victorian age. Squint! At an authentic industrial-era UI. Cope! With having your entire back four drafted into army service.

Minecraft 2 announced, finally

Mojang have at long last revealed Minecraft 2.0, reassuring millions that they haven’t spent the last two years dossing about with digital cards and so forth. A provisional changelog for the huge update lists the reclassification of chickens as Monsters, a rainbow-based magic system, explosive pigs, and a ‘Super-Hostile’ mode – some of which you’ll see demonstrated above.

Crysis 3: Tropical Island Resort DLC due next week

crysis_3_tropical_island_resort

Join Prophet on the beach for a host of relaxing minigames, but beware UV rays capable of penetrating even the Nanosuit. Think tactically when purchasing sunscreen. The release will be followed on April 9 by Battlefield 3: Tropical Island Resort.

/r/leagueoflegends declare war on /r/DotA2

league_of_legends_subreddit_war

“In the past few weeks the Imperial Kingdom of /r/DotA2 (IKD2) has committed repeated acts of war against the Government and the people of our great Democratic People’s Republic of Teemo (DPRT),” reads a statement from the subreddit Regime.

“As is resolved by the Great Leaders of our great subreddit on the morning of the 1st of April, the state of war between the Democratic People’s Republic of Teemo and the Imperial Kingdom of /r/Dota2 which has thus been thrust upon us is hereby formally declared; and that the Great Leaders be, and is authorized and directed to employ the all forces and resources to carry on war against the IKD2; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination by end of day April 1st, 2013 all of the resources are hereby pledged by all comrades of the DPRT.”

The Warhound returns to Heart of the Swarm

starcraft_2_warhound

The StarCraft 2 dev team have made years of careful, granular tweaks and balancings redundant in one swoop with the uncharacteristically flippant reinstatement of the Warhound, a Terran mech and Heart of the Swarm beta favourite, for all three races.

In their defence, Blizzard explained that the Warhound had been re-added to the Terran tree because “robots are cool and the art is amazing”. Balancing issues then made it necessary for the mech to be granted to Zerg players, and also for Protoss, to “keep Protoss players from whining about them on the forums”.

“While we know these changes are drastic, we encourage everyone to log in and spend some time playing before rushing to judgment,” said Warhound Balance Designer David Kim. “We welcome you to share your thoughts, but this time around we’re not going to be listening to feedback.”

Check the thorough official Warhound Q&A for more.

Blizzard release World of Warcraft: Crabby

world_of_warcraft_crabby

The PC gaming megalith takes the next step in its tentative tango with small, experimental releases. Crabby the Ghost Crab is a helpful and apparently permanent guide to the official World of Warcraft website in the model of Microsoft Office’s Clippy. He certainly isn’t irritating in the slightest. No sir.

“I stay cool in the shade and warm in the sun, Crabbin’ ain’t easy but it sure is fun.” – Crabby.

Truth be told, we’ve been so busy there’s every chance we’ve missed something. What shock revelations have you spotted coming to light in the world of PC gaming this morning?