SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo and Confrontation developer Slant Six has instituted layoffs, according to statements given to GameSpot by managing director Brian Thalken. Thalken called the dismissals “temporary,” with the goal to bring back as many of the affected staff as possible at a later date. He did not specify just how many employees had been laid off, but said the company will continue to offer benefits to those affected.

“Our current project needs do not align with our current staffing levels,” Thalken told GameSpot. The studio’s last release was SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3 in February.

Remember Star Wars: Battlefront Online? The multiplayer-only title apparently in development at SOCOM: Confrontation devs Slant Six? It’s no more, apparently.

Sources have told Kotaku the project was canned after LucasArts realized that it had too many Star Wars games due for 2011, which Battlefront Online was aiming for. When it became clear it wouldn’t make 2010, the firm canceled development, with S6 laying off staff because of it.

The studio’s managing director Brian Thalken has confirmed to Gamespot recently that staff were laid off. but did say he was looking to bring back “as many of these staff members as possible”.

But we guess that’s all she wrote on that chapter, then.

Urgent Fury Black is upon us!!!

SOCOM: Confrontation developers Slant Six Games are working on a new Battlefront game with LucasArts, known thus far as Battlefront Online.

That’s according to a rumour from Kotaku.

Obviously, the name implies it is online only.

The rumour states it is currently in pre-production, with a 2011 release for the game on PS3 and 360.

It seems this has now become what Battlefront III used to be.

Free Radical, who were rumoured to be the original developer of the now possibly canned game altogether, went into administration before Christmas of 2008.

They were soon bought out by Crysis developer Crytek, first confirmation of which came from Haze writer, Rob Yescombe.

Nothing has been heard out of Battlefront since last year, when leaked footage of the shooter appeared online.

There was, before Christmas of last year, talk of it still existing, however.

Casting director Chris Marazzo confirmed it was still alive, but the Kotaku report cites it was actually for Battlefront Online, and not BFIII.

With an exciting 2009 closing with an epic ending, we look towards 2010 (2K X) to be another hot edition of Urgent Fury.

As announced we start 2010 out by welcoming BradyGames as our 2010 Prize sponsor for many of the events coming up. Each member of an Event Championship team will receive their choice of a strategy guide. This is an great honor to have BradyGames on board.

December closed out both UF Black and UF Chosin with a bang, first Clan Uprising takes home their 2nd TacMap Championship crown with the completion of UF Chosin on PS3′s Socom Confrontation. This is a back to back title as they also took home the Gold in UF Chain Reaciton.

In an epic closing to UF Black 2009 Lettin Punk Know took home the Black Championship after a gruling Four Hour and 20 Minute battle agains Clan Uprising. It has been a long time since we have seen a Socom Battle Take 42 rounds to decide the victor. It was exciting to watch by the staff and myself. Congrats to both Clan Uprising and Lettin Punks Know for your 2009 Victories.

Now on to 2010, in the coming days Commander Fury will announce the first of four qualifying events scheduled for 2010. This is a new approach here at UF and should make for an exciting year. Without going in to much details as of yet, there will be two qualifying events UF 141 for Modern Warfare 2 (both PS3 and XBox 360) and UF Black for Socom Confrontation (for PS3). 16 teams will battle it out in these events for a guaranteed entry into Urgent Fury’s 2010 Invitational TacMap Tournaments scheduled to start Late Summer ”10.

As we have heard from the community the qualifying events will not overlap but run back to back. This ensures that clans will not be stressed to the gills trying to compete in multiple events.

Now don’t worry there will be several smaller events scheduled throughout the year to keep everyone busy. Start getting your calendars ready, so that you can pick which Qualifying Event you want to get in. Remember only 16 teams will be granted entry into each event, and repeating entries will only be allowed if needed.

In this special podcast:

• Special interview with LPK’s Meauxpack and MikeJaxon from Uprising
• Holiday Greetings from all
• UF: 141 breaks ground
• Socom DLC
• Modern Warfare 2
• and more…

With the DLC finally released, Urgent Fury is looking for your reviews… Give it your star rating and feel free to add a review at the bottom.

Loaded with new features and content, this pack brings a brand new snowy Eastern European area of operations into play with two all new maps and three classic SOCOM maps for 16 to 32 players.  The classic maps are drawn from some of the most popular SOCOM maps of all time, each built from the ground up for the PS3!

Kit yourself out in snow gear and fight your way through blizzard conditions, joining a team of mercenaries or a squad from one of the world’s top Special Forces regiments  including the Russian Spetsnaz.

Try your hand at Arms Run, a new game mode that features dynamicaly placed missile launchers that must be activated or destroyed, depending on which side you’re fighting for.

Employ the new thermal vision scope weapon attachment to track your enemies’ heat signatures – vital in the dark and useful in daylight for picking out white camouflaged adversaries. In addition, we have new primary weapons to make use of and new attachments.

All told, this pack will have:

• New Russian / Eastern European Area of Operation
• Snow setting complete with snow effects, new snow gear and camo for both the Special Forces and Mercenaries, and thermal vision
• New ARMS RUN gameplay mode
• 5 New Maps
  o Uprising
  o Entrapment
  o Blizzard
  o Night Stalker
  o Vigilance
• All new mercenaries characters with new looks and new VO.
• New Special Forces squad, the Russian Spetsnaz
• Gun turret emplacements
• New music
• All new character specialization/progression system
  o Allows players to pick a primary and secondary specialization and unlock new equipment exclusive to those specializations
• New weapons, including:
  o 3 new weapons
  o 6 enhanced versions of weapons available as part of the new weapons specialization system
  o 2 new weapon attachments (including the thermal scope)
  o 5 enhanced versions of weapon attachments also available as part of the new weapons specialization system.
  o 2 new grenade launcher ammo types (flash and smoke)
• New Trophies

Exclusive Console Gaming Community Announces 2010 Schedule for Scenario-Based Tournaments

December 2, 2010 Simpsonville, SC: Urgent Fury has released their 2010 season schedule. The coming year’s events will include two qualifying tournaments followed by a thirteen week invitational TacMap tournament. New to the 2010 line-up is Infinity Ward’s latest release, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
To win a coveted spot in Urgent Fury’s signature TacMap Invitational, teams will have to compete in one of two qualifying tournaments throughout the year. Titles featured will be Modern Warfare 2 for both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 and Socom Confrontation for Playstation 3. The first qualifying event for Modern Warfare 2 is scheduled for February followed by Socom in April.

Urgent Fury is an online console-gaming community who has built its impeccable reputation by providing unique, intuitive, and exciting scenario-based TacMap style tournaments. Community members all echo the same sentiment, “Competing in Urgent Fury is not only a battle, its an intense, overwhelming experience.” UF co-owner Shane Bell credits Urgent Fury’s success to the “amazing members” that make up the community. “Our members are committed to playing in a cheat-free and respectful environment and do not tolerate any other way.”

Urgent Fury was founded in 2002 on the motto of “Win with Honor, Lose with Dignity.” With new teams being evaluated on gamesmanship, integrity, and fair game-play during Urgent Fury’s three week evaluation process known as Boot Camp, the community is able to maintain a highly successful tournament arena for like-minded console gamers. Urgent Fury can be found at www.urgentfury.com.

We are half way through week 2 and there is Chaos on the battlefields…

We have 2 clans out and one that has only one more chance to stay afloat this week.

But the real story is the Power House 3 way tie between Defending Champions Uprising, Threat Neutralizing Unit and Texas Clan Killaz. All three of these clans are now holding 6 territories and are not holding back.

We have several clans that are in critical condition with less than 3 territories. So stay tuned as next weeks matches will have a twist as some clans have earned an extra attack.

Check out the TacMap to see how your favorite team is doing… www.urgentfury.com/chosin

Also do not forget we have a special edition t shirt available for UF Chosin.

You can personalize this shirt with your name and even clan logo on the front of the shirt. You may also choose from several styles of Shirts and more (additional charges may apply).

What an exiting week here at Urgent Fury, we started our Latest TacMap tournament on Monday September 14th and what an exciting week it has been. We have clans that are continuing with their past history as well as one of our newest clan showing their colors as well.

In no ranking order here are the current standings:

• [<+>] Divine Knights have 3 territories
• [cDC] Clan Dead Cell have only 1 territory
• [LPK] Lettin’ Punks Know have 4 territories
• [ReD] ReD LiBeRtY have 2 ttertories
• [cBF] Clan BluntForce have 4 territories
• [TNU] Threat Neutralizing Unit have 5 territories
• [S+S] Sinners and Saints have 2 territories
• [101] 101st Screaming Eagles have 4 territories
• [-->] DontfuckWit have 2 territories
• [SCK] Clan Killas have 2 territories
• [ U ] The Uprising have 5 territories
• [>*T] Team Players have 4 territories
• [TX] TX Clankillaz have 5 territories
• [RHH] Recognize: Hollow Heroes have 1 territory
• [*N*] Natural Selection have 2 territories
• [503] 503 BluntSmokers have 2 territories

For more information on UF Chosin visit www.urgentfury.com/chosin

Be sure to stay tuned word is that Commander Fury will be hitting the airwaves on Urgent Frequency sometime tomorrow, Monday September 21st!

Cindy made this post yesterday for the Socom community. I will tell you that she has an extremely tough position. She want to give us more but the powers that be will not let her.

Hi, All-

I know you are waiting to hear more today about the upcoming patch and DLC. Unfortunately, I was unable to get any assets to share with you this week. But I am still working on it and hoping I get something to show you soon. I’m sorry I said that I would try to have that for you this week. I hate disappointing you.

I guess we also need to talk about the “end of summer” issue. I think it must be pretty obvious by now that the patch and DLC are not ready yet and will not be released before the end of summer. I’m very sorry to have to disappoint you.

As you are all aware, Patch 1.5 took much longer to publish than we had anticipated. In our original schedule, we thought targeting the end of summer for the DLC was reasonable. But it just didn’t work out that way and I’m really sorry about that.

Some of you get very frustrated when we don’t give you an estimated time of release for these things. I have seen numerous posts in the past asking us to just let you know our target time frame. Well, that’s what we did in this case. We let you in on the schedule we were hoping to implement. Now we have to come back and say we were wrong and have disappointed you. This is just one of those “rock and a hard place” situations. If we hadn’t given you a time frame, people would have been upset. This time, we did give you one and unfortunately couldn’t hit it and I think people are more disappointed than ever.

I know you are anxious to hear more about 1.6 and DLC. As we sort out the new time frame and are able to plan a little bit, I am very hopeful that you will be seeing more info rolling out. Believe me, the folks around here have heard how upset you are and are trying to get things moving. I know you have waited a long time for all of this already. But I have to be the one to tell you that you have to wait a little longer.

We will not be announcing another time frame for the patch or DLC again until we have solid dates that we are very sure of. Once we reach that point, you will see it announced on the blog.

Again, at this point, I can only apologize that there has been this delay. And believe me, I am just as anxious to get you new information as you are to get it. So the moment I am given the go ahead to share anything with you, I promise I will do that.

Read here

As promised the full tac map is up and ready for your viewing!! Make sure you bookmark it..

Click Here

The map itself will be updated twice a week once play starts. Good luck to all 16 clans, and remember, “Win with honor, and loose with dignity.”

AO : Name : Clan
1 : Fongnyur River : Divine Knights
2 : Toktong Pass : Clan Dead Cell
3 : Changjin Reservoir : Lettin Punks Know
4 : Hagaru-Ri : Red Liberty
5 : Yudam- Ni : BluntForce
6 : Oro-Ri : Threat Neutralizing Unit
7 : Changjin River : Sinners and Saints
8 : Hudong-Ni : 101st Screaming Eagles
9 : Kot’o-Ri : DotfukWit
10 : Hugnam : Clan Killas
11 : Chinhung-Ni : Uprising
12 : Sudong : Team Players
13 : Majon-Dong : TX Clan Killaz
14 : Hell Fire Valley : Recognize: Hollow Heroes
15 : Funchilin Pass : Natural Selection
16 : Treanway Bridge : 503 Blunt Smokers

The battle begins on Monday September 14th, 2009

http://www.urgentfury.com/podcast/ to listen

That is right we are at it again, the next Socom Tournament is out. Clans will battle over Asia as they are bombarded by Attacks from all directions. Each Clan has three territories to start and must attack other territories while defending their own.

Check out the forums for more information and to watch as we find out “Who will be the Chosin Few”

UF: Chosin Is a Go

All Clans must report to the Information Center Immediately, we have limted space in our two attack groups.

For the announcement go to Emergency Action Transmission

Go to The Chosin Information Center for more information…

We have been able to work through Commander Fury’s message and have created a Plan of Attack. We will be meeting with all Commanding Officers on Wednesday.

==========================================================

*** EAM ***          To Urgent Fury Command          *** Top Secret ***          ***EAM***

From: USPACFLT
Subj: Chosin Reservoir – Activity Warning

The Chosin Reservoir situation continues to escalate, we need all Commanding Officers to put your squads on stand by. We will announce our POA on Wednesday.

Initial details include:

• The need for two attack groups, we will use COMCARSTRKGRU THREE and COMCARSTRKGRU SEVEN. Each group should have 16 squads of up to 40 sailors.
• Campaign is estimated to last three or more months
• Each Squad will have an assigned territory to protect

Full details will be released after the command meeting on Wednesday

*** END MESSAGE ***

*** EAM ***          To Urgent Fury Command          *** Top Secret ***          ***EAM***

==========================================================

From http://www.socom.com/en-us/Blog/Post.aspx?id=247

We know you guys have been anxiously awaiting further information on Patch 1.50 and today we’re happy to announce that the 1.50 Patch will be deployed on Tuesday morning.

Patch 1.50 includes many new and diverse features including but not limited to: Clan Ladders, Tournaments, Calendar, Follow-A-Friend, and Private Games. 

 Along with these features there are many optimizations, enhancements and fixes. Included below are some of the highlights:

Crashes, Freezes and Hangs Fixed

Players being booted out of the game to the XMB while loading into gameplay.
Players freezing on the loading screen going into and returning from gameplay.
Loss of input issues that occurred when using the pause menu or scoreboard.
Low frequency freezes when creating a clan.
Players occasionally getting stuck on the Quick Match screen after selecting an invitation.
Rare cases where players would become stuck in Spectator mode.

General Gameplay Updates

Numerous improvements to lag and latency, as well as bandwidth optimizations.
To eliminate exploits where players were escaping to outside of the playable space, many of the previously found routes are now blocked off.  As a further measure, the playable areas are now surrounded by trigger volumes that will kill players attempting to find new exploits.
Players are no longer able to plant claymores through pillars, walls and other objects.
Target spotting will now default to OFF in all ranked games.
Fixed characters occasionally getting stuck when planting flares in Control mode.
Made the range players could plant the satchel more consistent between levels, in both Breach and Demolition modes.
Commando reticles now turn green when targeting a VIP in Escort mode.
Increased the priority of picking up the satchel so it can be picked up more easily when weapons and other objects are piled around it.
Louder and improved footstep audio for characters that are out of view.
Limited the angle that climb prompts appear at, character will no longer turn 90 degrees before climbing.
VIPs no longer appear on the HUD Radar after being killed.
Added the ability to plant Control flares and Demolition/Breach satchels while prone.
Improved grenade throws, they now more closely follow the throw arc, added better wall detection to keep players from throwing grenades through walls and other objects.
Fixed issues where different weapons would appear in characters hands to different players.
Players can no longer take control of VIPs/Hostages through walls or other objects.
Improved performance for the late joiner, host and all other players when joining a match in progress.
The satchel will no longer appear in the incorrect location for players that late join Demolition and Breach matches.
Fixed cases where the number of rounds won by each team could become out of sync.
The death camera will stop following the character that killed your player after 5 seconds.
In spectator mode, the button commands will fade our after 5 seconds.
When selecting a weapon in-game the player’s custom loadout will not be overwritten, that can only be done in the Front End Armoury.
Fixed cases where Detonators for Key Moments could become desynced, allowing them to be used twice.
Multiple fixes for situations where characters could become invisible.
Drastically cut down the Fade-In time at the start of the round.
Fixed the jittering reticle when planting C4 and Claymores.
Improved ability to plant the C4 on Breach walls.
Resolved issues across all maps where players could become stuck when crouching or going prone in tight spaces.
Closed an exploit where players could shoot through walls close to windows when using a scope.

User Interface

Improvements across multiple Front End screens to improve the look and feel for Standard Definition users.
Fixed cases where scrolling rapidly or backing out quickly from Front End screens could lead to multiple items overlapping.
Sort the Channels list in a more user friendly way.
Updated several places in the Records and Statistics where the same gun would appear more than once.
Increased functionality for customizing controls including adding Hold functions to the Analog sticks.
Added an option to disable D-pad Lean.
Created a new Nordisk channel.
Fixed an issue where the Clan Mottos would sometimes be cut off.
Added more information to the Game Details screen in the briefing room.

Weapons

Reduced the accuracy of the FAMAS.
Improved damage of the Desert Eagle.
Improved damage done by all Sniper Rifles.

Crossroads

Improved collision on railings to allow bullets to pass through them easier.
Removed a dynamic spawn from several modes that had a player respawn in a locked room in several modes.
Several fixes to curbs around the level so the player can traverse smoothly over them without reload interruptions.
Updated one of the breach walls on the Overlook so player cannot get past without destroying it.
Closed several exploit holes that allowed players to gain access to out of bounds areas including: numerous rooftops around the level and the area above the warehouse.

Quarantine

Players can no longer swim under the platform of the main floor of the dome.
Players no longer get stuck in the water of the main floor of the dome.
Improved AI pathfinding with extra focus on the transitions in and out of water, including lowering the water in the dome at the start of the round in Escort and Extraction modes.
Updated several locations inside the dome where the camera could pass through the ceiling and walls.
Tweaked the collision on several pipes and beams so players cannot pass through or get trapped.
Closed several exploit holes that allowed players to gain access to out of bounds areas including: the dome roof, areas past the outer fences and the submarine.

Fallen

Improved AI pathfinding with special attention given to transitions in and out of the water.
Aligned a dynamic spawn point with the world to prevent players from spawning halfway into the ground in Escort mode.
Added more detailed collision to several cliffs to prevent players from clipping through the terrain.
Closed several exploit holes that allowed players to gain access to out of bounds areas including: the cliffs above each spawn, the roof of the temple and behind fences.

Kasbah

Aligned Demolition markers to be more visible.
Resized one case where a Control flare could be thrown over the edge of a balcony.
Added collision to a fence above Commando spawn that would allow players access to the 32 player area in the 16 player map.
Closed several exploit holes that allowed players to gain access to out of bounds areas including: across destroyed bridges, outside the walls and on rooftops.

Urban Wasteland

Aligned markers in Demolition and Breach mode to be exactly at the centre of the target zones.
Resized two cases where Control flares could be planted behind walls.
Several fixes to curbs around the level so the player can traverse smoothly over them without reload interruptions.
Closed several exploits that would allow the player access to out of bounds areas including: hotel rooftops, the sky bridge roof and several buildings around the level.

FrostFire

Fixed camera issue where players below the Watch Deck could see enemies above when standing on the pipe.
Closed several exploits that would allow the player access to out of bounds areas including: rooftops, the helicopter and the water.

Desert Glory

Smoothed the collision on several pieces of rubble on the ground to allow easier traversal of the level.
Closed several exploits that would allow the player access to out of bounds areas including: the cliffs above and the winding road below.

We have a lot more coming for you all in the weeks ahead. So please stay tuned!