Epic Games joins IIDEA, the association that represents video games in Italy
Epic Games joins IIDEA
Epic Games, the famous development house that owns the widespread Unreal Engine and author of the famous Fortnite, has entered into a new partnership with Italian Interactive Digital & Entertainment Association (IIDEA), an association that represents video games in Italy. Here is the official press release."Epic Games is the developer of the Unreal Engine, the engine of many of the most important games in the world and used by thousands of development studios around the world to create award-winning games in all forms and size. Epic is also the developer of Fortnite, one of the largest video game franchises in the world with over 350 million accounts and 2.5 billion friends connections.
IIDEA President Marco Saletta said : "We are proud to welcome Epic Games as a new member of IIDEA through its Unreal Engine brand. Epic has many years of industry experience behind them and we look forward to working closely with them to share their knowledge and passion with our members. Our desire is that the collaboration with Epic will last a long time to support us in our goal of strengthening the growth of the Italian video game industry.
"With over 80 companies present within IIDEA, Italy has undoubtedly an active and vibrant community and a major player in the global industry. At Epic Games we work tirelessly to support developers through our many initiatives such as Epic Online Services, Epic MegaGrants, Unreal Fest and Unreal Presents. now to be an active member within the Association and to help it achieve development goals for companies and for the Italian industry in general ", added Rocco Scandizzo, Head of Games' Engine Business Development for EMEA at Epic Games ".
Epic therefore follows in the footsteps of Riot Games, the authors of League of Legends and Valorant who only a few days ago made official their collaboration with IIDEA.
Epic Games Store Receives Player Cards This Month; Party System Coming This Year
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Published on March 17, 2021 Tom Meyer
Epic Games announced today it will be bringing more social features to its digital storefront and game launcher this month and throughout the year.
One of the social features coming sometime in March is “Player Cards,” which are similar to other platforms, allowing players to manage friends. Although, the ability to join their party, invite to a new party, or customize the Player Card will come in a future update.
Also coming this month is a “Do Not Disturb” button to silence friend and game invites while playing alongside a more efficient search tool that features “mutual friend count, the ability to search across platforms, and better matching overall.” The Epic Games Store Social Panel can now be accessed in a minimized view to see notification without opening a completely separate window.
The company did detail other features in the announcement that are planned for this year including a full party system that can communicate through voice, text, and “more.” The party system will contain individual audio and video options for each player inside the “Active Party Window,” where players can also share game highlights. The window can also be accessed while playing a game with a simplified view.
The Epic Game Store launched in December 2018 and has steadily added store and social features that other platforms have already established. The store does have its own Trello board with a roadmap listing various features like a shopping cart, user reviews, and and Android store planned for the future.
