Just stopping by today with a quick reminder that Zeus and Isaac Clarke are live today for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, along with our new stage “Graveyard”!

Graveyard mashes up MediEvil’s zombies, mausoleums, and gargoyles with elements from The Unfinished Swan, revealed via ink splats after a mid-game whiteout. It looks great and keeps the fighting honest, with a medium-width playfield and zombies that will earn you AP when destroyed.

Zeus plays as a legendary heavyweight, making each strike feel epic. He’s got limited range, but with the ability to power up every attack merely by holding down the button, he can crush a cowardly opponent’s guard and build AP faster than anyone. Many of his triangle lightning attacks are also excellent at catching multiple opponents for an even faster ride towards his truly Olympian level 3 super.

Isaac Clarke is at his best harassing opponents from mid-range, with a wide variety of projectiles powered up by his unique Stasis and Kinesis powers. He’s no slouch at close range either, with some mighty melee attacks and the short-range force gun, but he shines brightest harassing more distant opponents with the grenade launcher, bouncing bola, and his Plasma Cutter.

Both characters come with full single-player story modes, including intros, outros, and rival scenes, as well as exclusive unlockable minions, a second unlockable costume, and all the unique customizable taunts, themes, etc. you’ve come to expect.

In addition to today’s launch of Zeus and Isaac, we’ve also done a new balance patch, which modifies every existing character in some way (and fixes some pesky glitches), as well as adding some new bells and whistles to familiar items. The hardcore players can check out the details here in the official PlayStation All-Stars forums.

Isaac and Zeus both come free for anyone that purchased a retail copy of God of War: Ascension (it’ll be in your box as a pack-in code). For anyone else, you can pick them up on PSN for $4.99 each. The Graveyard stage is available for free in online ranked matches and is $1.99 to own it. Both of these new All-Stars add some very unique angles to the game. I’ll see you online.

Hey everyone,

We’re happy to follow up PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale‘s win for “Best Fighting Game” at the DICE Awards (the awards where all of the voting is done by other games industry pros), with a gift to all the players that have supported the project from the start.

I hear from a lot of you guys, and I know you’ve been waiting patiently… but that wait ends today! We’ve got two new PlayStation All-Stars joining the Battle Royale: Kat from Gravity Rush, and Emmett Graves from Starhawk. Any fighting fan will tell you how much it means to have new characters joining a game, but it’s even better because — as promised — these DLC characters are totally free for two weeks!

Wait, “free for two weeks” sounds funny… Does that mean if I download them, after two weeks is up I have to pay? Nope. You have a two week window to download the DLC. If you do, the characters are yours free, forever and ever. You can play them online, offline, upside down, or however you want.

After the two week window ends, the characters will still be available on PSN, but as paid DLC. Latecomers can still get Kat and Emmett for $4.99 each, but if you download them in the next two weeks, they are yours free forever. The only way you would have to pay is if you missed this free offer, but you’re reading this now, so you won’t have to be that person.

Okay, so free is cool, but what are these characters are all about anyway?

Just like he did on out on the frontier on Dust, Emmett Graves depends on his tools to survive. Easily one of the most unique additions to the cast, Emmett brings Starhawk’s “Build & Battle” style to the fight, dropping down weapons and structures to help him out. He can drop shotguns, rocket launchers, new grenades, an AP-building Rift Extractor, or even an automated turret that tracks and blasts at opponents. If he powers up for a level 3 super, Emmett pilots a deadly Hawk mech, blasting opponents with machine guns, planting aerial mines, or crushing opponents under the Hawk’s feet, all leading up to a super-ending flying strafe run that lays waste to the entire stage and sends everyone running desperately for cover.

Kat is great for combos and prefers close combat, with more inspired ways to zip around the arenas than anyone in the cast. In addition to the kicks you’ll remember from Gravity Rush, she also has some crazy gravity attacks, like creating a small black hole to draw in opponents, or a burst to push everyone away, and of course one of the deadliest level 3s in the game. Kat teams up with her mysterious feline companion Dusty, uniting their powers to attack with frenzied claw slashes, a deadly lunge you can aim in different directions, and a massive black hole that kills anyone unlucky enough to touch its center.

Both characters come with everything that was included with the original launch characters, including a full arcade mode with intro, ending, and rival scenes, a second unlockable costume, an unlockable minion, custom backings and icons, taunts, intro/outros, theme music, and more.

In addition to the characters, there is also a new stage called “Fearless.” The fight begins atop a giant rock spire you’ll remember from Heavenly Sword, before crashing down into the second part of our mashup, where it literally collides with an electrified track from Wipeout. Keep your eyes peeled for cameo character appearances in Heavenly Sword’s scaffolding, as well as for the Wipeout racers that will send you flying on impact. You can play this stage for free in ranked online matches, but to play it offline or in player matches, it’s $1.99.

Coinciding with these new characters, we’re also proud to announce the PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale $6,000 tournament powered by Major League Gaming. For more information on how to enter the tournament, please visit the tournament site.

So, to sum up:

Characters? Free, and yours forever! But only if you hurry and get them before the two-week window (that starts today) expires.

Yo! I’m excited to finally announce that our first wave of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale DLC will be available February 12th. Here’s what to expect.

Kat graces PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale with her presence, as an up-close melee fighter who utilizes her ability to manipulate gravity to turn the tide in battle. Players who enjoyed Gravity Rush on PS Vita know that Kat loves to bend gravity to allow her to dash, slide, and fly from one place to another, and her All-Stars incarnation is no exception. Those who enjoy AP burst combos and varied mobility will definitely gravitate towards Kat.

Emmett Graves from Starhawk joins the fray! He brings his signature “Build & Battle” style from Starhawk, calling down different structures to aid him in battle, including Rift Extractors for AP and Flak Turrets that fire at will. Aside from his default rifle and pistol, Emmett can also call for additional weaponry in the form of shotgun and rocket launcher loadouts, allowing him to adapt to any situation. These loadouts will also change his level 1 super, giving him a total of five supers to choose from!

Rest assured that these DLC characters will be getting the same treatment the rest of our cast was given, including updated official website pages with moves and bios, alternate costumes, Arcade Mode cutscenes, Trial Modes, and more.

Our newest level, Fearless — a mash-up between Heavenly Sword and Wipeout — will also be available to purchase in February. Please note that purchasing Fearless will allow you to select the stage offline and in non-ranked lobbies, while those who choose not to purchase it can still enjoy it in ranked games online.

Kat and Emmett will be available to download February 12th, and will be free for the first two weeks, so mark your calendar and get them as soon as possible! We’re not stopping there though. We still have some more All-Stars on the way, so keep your eyes peeled in March for more info!

Hello everyone! I can’t believe the end of the year is here already. Needless to say, this was quite a momentous year for us at SuperBot with shipping our first title, Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, and announcing our game’s first DLC pack with incredible new characters Kat and Emmett, and a super awesome Heavenly Sword/Wipeout level.

We have been thrilled with all of the positive response the game has been getting, especially from the fans, as this love letter we call PlayStation All-Stars was ultimately crafted just for them. We are so proud that we are able to work on, and deliver, such a cool and long awaited title for you all.

As a special thank you to all of our supporters and fans of PlayStation, we wanted to send out our holiday card to wish you all a most wonderful Happy Holidays!

We look forward to bringing you more great content in the years to come, and continue the celebration of all of the incredible characters and worlds that are a part of the magical world of PlayStation.

With much holiday cheer,

Chan Park

Gravity Rush landed on PlayStation Vita earlier this year, introducing us to Kat. Her tremendous gravity powers, combined with a really charming personality made her an instant fan favorite, and thus an obvious candidate for PlayStation All-Stars. When looking at Kat’s play style in Gravity Rush two things immediately stood out to us: her reliance on aerial mobility and her arsenal of powerful kick-based attacks. We felt it was important to use these two elements as the cornerstone of Kat’s play style, and as such, her move set in PlayStation All-Stars makes liberal use of both.

For example, Kat doesn’t have a double jump! Instead, she relies on her Gravity Dash, an eight-direction mini-flight mode to move through the air. This cancellable move affords Kat an unprecedented degree of air mobility and attack potential.

Another example sees Kat using her powers of gravity manipulation directly against her rivals. Kat creates gravity wells, which draw in nearby players via her Gravity Attraction attack. Kat’s playstyle is such that she’s most effective when close to her opponents, and while her air mobility and varying kicks allow her to get in close pretty well, Gravity Attraction lets her pull her opponents directly to her. Success with Kat will require players to use all of Kat’s abilities in harmony, and Gravity Attraction plays a key role in accomplishing that.

I also want to give you guys a look at one of Kat’s Supers. Kat’s Level 1 Super, Gravity Squeeze, is based on her finishing attack so often used to dispatch the bosses in Gravity Rush. Kat leaps at her foe, stealing a giant orb of energy. As she destroys the orb, her victim explodes. If anyone is caught within the resulting blast of energy, they explode too! This is a very powerful Super, but one that will require Kat players to be clever in order to score maximum points.

This year also saw the release of Starhawk, a game set in the wild galactic frontier where the quest for Rift Energy comes with a terrible human cost. Starhawk’s main protagonist, Emmett Graves, is a man all too familiar with that cost, his body forever transformed by exposure to the toxic Rift Energy. Emmett makes wide use of varying weapons based on advanced technology, most notably through Starhawk’s Build & Battle system. It’s this particular mechanic that made Emmett such a compelling character to the PlayStation All-Stars Team.

The first of Emmett’s two most important Build & Battle moves is his Aerial M.A.W Rocket Launcher and Tetranite Grenade Bunker move. This allows Emmett to call down a bunker that when used, completely changes his weapon loadout. The Rocket Launcher gives Emmett access to a long range, powerful, aimable projectile. The grenade launcher provides an equally devastating attack, both in terms of AP generation and versatility, and is used primarily to stop the advancement of opponents in front of Emmett. Both weapons are somewhat slow moving, but more than make up for it in terms of sheer firepower.

The second, but equally important Build & Battle move that I want to tell you about is the Union Shotgun and R-Secs Proximity Mine Bunker move. Like the previous Build & Battle move, a separate bunker is brought in from low orbit, this time with ample shotgun and mine ammunition. Choosing this loadout supplies Emmett with devastatingly quick-hitting, short-range firepower via the shotgun as well as excellent space control through persistent mines. Neither weapon offers the range of the rocket launcher or grenade, so good Emmett players will need to be able to master alternating between both loadouts depending on the situation.

What better piece of anti-personnel weaponry is there in the Starhawk universe than the amazingly versatile Hawk? As the ultimate Level 3 Super, Emmett takes control of a Hawk in mech configuration, and is able to chase down his opponents with terrifying machine gun fire and tricky floating mines. And when all else fails, Emmett can transform the Hawk into flight mode and rain down a final hail of bullets that’s tough to survive. It’s an impressive Super, befitting of a universe filled with amazing technology.

Before I go, I want to give you all a look at what we have planned for our newest level, which during development has earned the codename Fearless. Fearless is a mash-up level that sees the fantasy world of Heavenly Sword meet the futuristic race tracks of Wipeout. In the short time we’ve been working on it, Fearless has become one of the team’s favorite levels, and we think you’ll see why.

The action in Fearless starts out atop a high column supported by gigantic ropes, creating a scene pulled straight from the world of Heavenly Sword. Our players will battle it out on this high column under the watchful eye of the forces of Bohan. It’s a medium-sized space, free of any platforms, and offers some of the most uninterrupted calm you can find in PlayStation All-Stars.

In the distance though, the hum of anti-gravity racing can be heard, and over the course of the match, a familiar floating race materializes. Soon, the battle is interrupted as stray fire from the famous racing ships of Wipeout hits the fighting column, and our fighters come crashing down into a new, more vertical part of the level, the race track cutting straight through the fight space! Any fighter unlucky enough to get knocked into the track or in the way of one of these terrific ships will pay the cost – literally – by receiving a hefty AP penalty. Knowing how to best leverage your character’s moves while avoiding the dangers of the race track are key tools to mastering your fear, and mastering Fearless.

We’ve still got a long way to go to complete Kat, Emmett, and our new level Fearless, but I hope you enjoyed this early look into where things are going. We think these new characters and level fit well into the gameplay already established in PlayStation All-Stars, while at the same time expanding the notions of what’s possible within our fight system. We can’t wait for you guys to get your hands on this stuff early next year, but there’s still quite a bit of work left to do before we can call anything finished. With that said, I’ll get back to work.

Throughout its almost 20-year history, PlayStation has allowed us as players to explore new worlds, triumph over adversaries, and realize our dreams of rapping superstardom. Three years ago, SuperBot Entertainment, BluePoint Games, and Sony Santa Monica Studio set out to create a game that pays tribute to the amazing memories we as PlayStation fans have all experienced together. Today is the day that we’re able to share that game with you. PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale has arrived!

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is a celebration of the PlayStation history: its characters, its universes, and most importantly, its fans. And what better way to celebrate that with some good old-fashioned butt-kicking! In PlayStation All-Stars, up to four players can simultaneously control any of the 20 great PlayStation characters featured on our roster, including Kratos from God of War, Nathan Drake from UNCHARTED, Sackboy from LittleBigPlanet, Big Daddy from BioShock, and Dante from DmC Devil May Cry, and fight it out brawler-style on one of our 14 levels, each one created by mashing up two PlayStation worlds — like the topsy-turvy world of LocoRoco mixed with the war-torn battlefields of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

While our Versus Mode, which pits player against player (against player, against player) will undoubtedly provide endless memorable experiences, venture into Arcade Mode to find out what brings all of these great characters together into one crazy world. And if you’re strong enough, discover what it’s like to face the oldest and most powerful PlayStation All-Star, Polygon Man. Or, head over into the Combat Trials Mode to learn the ins and outs of the Battle Royale combat system. Insight into the various fight mechanics and individual character instructions come together in the form of a fun yet educational mode. And when you’re ready, jump online to challenge the world in either our Tournament or Quick Match Modes, which offer what we feel is an online multiplayer experience virtually indistinguishable from offline play.

Available on both PS3 and PS Vita (digital and retail), PlayStation All-Stars takes full advantage of the interconnectivity between the two platforms via Cross Play, allowing players to battle it out against one another on either device. Owners of both a PS3 and PS Vita can even transfer their saves from one machine to the other, allowing PlayStation All-Stars to be played wherever the fans want to play it. And best of all, if you purchase the PS3 version of the game, you get the PS Vita version at no extra cost! There’s no reason not to take advantage of such a great deal. As a friendly reminder, in order to redeem your digital PS Vita copy form the PS3 on-disc benefit, you’ll need to ensure your PS3 system is updated to the latest firmware, version 4.31.

Today marks the start of a great adventure for us – one in which we as developers get to celebrate with you as the fans. We couldn’t have made this game without you, and I hope you all enjoy playing the game as much as we enjoyed making it. See you online!

What? Me again? Wasn’t I just here to let you know that PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale had gone gold?

Have you ever wondered what dev teams do after a game goes gold? If all is going well, often times they get down to business with DLC. And in fact that’s exactly what we have begun. I’m here today to announce the first DLC characters that will be joining the All-Stars roster: Kat from Gravity Rush, and Starhawk‘s Emmett Graves!

In addition to the signature weapons you’ll remember from his duels with the Outcasts on Dust, Emmett’s playstyle will also utilize Starhawk’s unique “Build and Battle” system, calling down help from the sky.

Kat’s approach turns gravity on its head with some mind-bending new ways to move as she positions herself for her unique brand of aerial assault. Together, they make up one of the most original duos in All-Stars.

These DLC All-Stars still have a long way to go before they’re ready to be shown off, but we wanted to let you know what the team will be working on now that we’ve gone gold with the main game, and that you can look forward to playing them… for free!

Yes, you heard that right. We’re very happy to announce these first two DLC characters will be free to everyone for the first two weeks once they are available for download early next year.

That may sound a little tricky, so let me be clear: once Kat and Emmett are finished, we’ll put them up for download. They’ll be totally free for two weeks. The only limit is that you have a two-week window to claim the characters. Once you have Kat and Emmett, they are yours forever. That may sound like a lot to remember, so don’t worry, we’ll be back closer to their release to remind you of all these details.

Everyone at SuperBot, Bluepoint, and Santa Monica Studio has tried hard not only to make a great game, but also to keep the fans very firmly in mind, offering the most we can wherever we get the chance. So far we’ve offered exclusive free pre-order costumes, an amazing digital version for PS Vita at no cost when you buy the PS3 version, frame-accurate cross-play, and now Kat and Emmett coming soon for free!

We’ll have more information about these characters and more DLC news coming soon, so stay tuned here for more announcements, and thanks again to everyone that has supported us as we prepare to cross the finish line. Come join the party on November 20th as PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale launches, and I’ll see you online!

People have been decoding Easter eggs in the comments, and our friends over at IGN recently filmed a Rewind Theater of “The All-Star” the same day it came out. IGN did a great job finding a handful of our Easter eggs — but they didn’t find all of them! So we’re turning to our fans to help uncover more, as well as relive some key moments in PlayStation history, with a Trivia tweet up.

Here are the deets: Starting today and progressing through the next few days, we’ll be tweeting trivia questions from @PlayStation to find out who can answer tough questions about the game, the film, the characters, and general PlayStation history. Along the way, we’ll be flagging random US participants to score one of 500 digital copies of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale on both PS3 and PS Vita. Just be sure to mark your response tweets with #PlayStationAllStars!

We’ll pick 20 50 random winners in the US region for each trivia question, two per day. When the contest is complete, we’ll Direct Message out the codes to the winners on or before November 20th — launch day!

Time to put your PlayStation cred to the test. Are you in?

Stretching back from my roots as a tournament player to my current gig as lead game designer for Sony’s Santa Monica Studio, I’ve spent over two decades in fighting games, and have been thrilled to revisit so many great memories from my own PlayStation history with the characters and stages of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.

I’m here today on behalf of SuperBot Entertainment, Bluepoint Games, and Santa Monica Studio to announce that PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale has gone gold on PS3 and PS Vita! All of us are extremely grateful for the help from our beta players in testing our networking, and thrilled to see the amazing response from all of you that played the beta, which is just a small slice of the full game.

In celebration of this milestone, we wanted to share something special as a small “thank you!” to all the amazing PlayStation fans who have helped us come so far. Today we’re officially unveiling the opening cinematic sequence to the game. We’ve been pretty tight-lipped about our final boss, but if you hang in until the end you’ll get a glimpse of the villainous mastermind that’s returned from the depths of PlayStation history to pull the strings in All-Stars.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and if your interest is piqued, remember to pre-order All-Stars today! Pre-ordering scores you an exclusive costume for every character in the game, and with Cross-Buy, every PS3 copy comes with a download code for the PS Vita version at the low, low cost of zero!

Thanks again to PlayStation fans around the world for your incredible support, and come November 20th, I’ll see you online — just look for the unbeatable Drake player at the top of the leaderboards. :P

Last year, we released “Michael,” a campaign which paid homage to you, the gamer. We like to think of PlayStation All-Stars as a continuation of that as it was made as a tribute to gamers, tapping into PlayStation’s legendary history and featuring some of the your most beloved franchises in our first ever cross-over fighting game.

We’ve created this short live-action film called “The All-Star” to celebrate PlayStation All-Stars’ upcoming launch. The film will debut tonight on YouTube at Midnight EST (9:00PM PST), but we wanted to give the PlayStation Nation an advanced screening. Check it out below:

“The All-Star” contains an epic battle with four of the most iconic PlayStation characters, but the real star of the film is you, the gamer. We’ve hidden references from each of the storied franchises featured in the game — and a few extras to keep you on your toes. Take to the comments to share your favorites!

Be sure to pre-order your copy of PlayStation All-Stars, which launches for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita on November 20th. If you can’t wait until then, put your skills to the test in the PlayStation All-Stars public beta, which is available now for PS Plus members and opens to all PSN users tomorrow.