Today's our big launch day for Starhawk here in North America, and you might think that would be enough excitement for us in one day.  But once you get hyped up on the adrenaline of releasing a game, you just want to keep the fun times going! 

So with that, we're very pleased to announce that all map packs for Starhawk are going to be made available free of charge. 

Back in the Warhawk days, we saw a lot of division amongst our players whenever we'd release a new set of maps.  Some people would have them, some wouldn't, and it ended up fracturing our community.  But during the Starhawk development cycle, the teams at Sony and LightBox sat down with the intention of addressing this problem in the most simple and elegant way possible. And that led to our decision that any future map pack releases would be offered for free, to keep players together and keep our community happy. 

We will have some DLC in the future that's paid content, but we're still working on the details on what that's going to be.  But for the immediate future, we're already working on our first map pack release to supplement the ten maps already packed on the disc.  Our first new locale is Cypress, a lush, swampy world that’s home to an abandoned research facility that many years ago was responsible for researching the mysteries of Rift Energy.  You can preview it below!

We're really excited to finally share our game with the world and can't wait to hear what you think about it.  As we've said for a while, Starhawk is a marathon and not a sprint.  Even though we release our disc today, we're still planning regular updates, content packs, and more.  We'll also be coming to you for your feedback in the weeks ahead to see what you'd be interested in for Starhawk's future.  We have big plans for the game, and hope that you'll join us in the New Frontier to see where we're going.

Just a reminder to our Starhawk fans, we're running the multiplayer Livestream tonight! We'll kick off at 6pm Pacific (0100 GMT) and run for three hours, showing off various bits of our multiplayer and maybe throw in a surprise or two. 

You can find the Livestream at this link:  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/lightboxinteractive

Throughout the show, we'll have LightBox employees offering commentary on the session and game mics will be on, so you'll get to hear our cross-play chatter as we're playing through the game.  You might even get to see some of our new maps and extra gameplay modes that weren't in the beta!

Tune in tonight for lots of fun and excitement.  Rock on!

There are just a few more days left until Starhawk hits retail shelves, and while we're racing to bring you a bunch of new content (and before you ask, YES, we're still working on that one video you've been waiting on ), we're especially proud to be able to offer you not just one, but TWO separate livestream events between now and our launch on May 8th.  The staffers at Sony and Lightbox have been gracious enough to offer to participate in these two awesome previews of Starhawk's multiplayer, where you'll get to see what the final multiplayer, single player, and co-op modes look like, have a chance to win prizes, listen to our smack talk, and more!

Here are the details for our two events:

Both events are hosted at LBI's Ustream channel, which you can find at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/lightboxinteractive

Saturday, May 5th

Our live gameplay session on Saturday takes place between 6pm - 9pm Pacific Time (0100 - 0400 GMT).  We'll have commentary provided by LightBox Interactive staffers, and our game mics will be on so that you can listen in on our chatter.  The focus on Saturday is on multiplayer, and you may end up seeing one of our modes/maps that wasn't in the beta... and maybe get a surprise or two as well! You'll also be able to watch the livestream through PlayStation Home on Saturday! 

Monday, May 7th

Our live gameplay session on Monday takes place between 5pm - 8pm Pacific Time (0000 - 0300 GMT).  We'll have commentary provided by our head honcho himself, Dylan Jobe, who will be co-hosting and providing you with guided previews of our Single Player, Co-Op, and Multiplayer modes in the game.  We're also going to be offering a Twitter giveaway to those who re-tweet during the event (details during the show) and we're hoping to provide this event through PlayStation Home as well.  And be sure and tune in for a very special announcement that our competitive gamers won't want to miss. 

With just five days left until we hit store shelves in North America (and a few extra days for our friends in Europe and Japan), we're extremely excited to share Starhawk with you and let you see what we've been working on over the past few years.  But until then, we hope these livestream events give you a chance to take part in the fun and help quench your thirst until your own copy is sitting in your house.

Rock on!

The Man Cake... the Chicken Shot... Starhawk has lots of ways to inflict pain and death upon your enemies.  And to highlight that, we've got a new trailer showing off just a few of the creative ways you can take down the opposing team in Starhawk's multiplayer.

What's your favorite way to kill someone in Starhawk?

Good news, Starhawk fans!  We're pleased to announce that Starhawk has gone gold and is being pressed and shipped to retailers now!  The game hits retail shelves next week in North America, Europe, and Japan, and we're so excited to share the final release of the game with you.

In addition, we're proud to offer some bonus perks to all the wonderful community members that have supported us since our announcement last May. Can you believe it's almost been a year since we unveiled the game? 

If you played in the Starhawk beta at any point, you'll automatically be receiving "The Hand of the Founder", a limited edition character accessory that will attach to the right hand of your player character and let you show off your status as one of the founding members of Starhawk.

If you've played the beta and you were also one of our Warhawk players, you'll also be gifted with the Warhawk Paint Set.  This gives you two exclusive vehicle paint schemes that can be applied to any of the vehicles in Starhawk, turning them into the olive Eucadian style visual or the black Chernovan gunmetal appearance.

These items are intended specifically to thank our beta players and the fans that have supported us since Warhawk.  We have no plans to re-release or sell these.

Starhawk is just one week away, but there's still time to pre-order if you haven't already!  Just head over to GameStop and reserve the Limited Edition of the game.  We're really excited to give you the full, rich experience of Starhawk next week!  And welcome... to the new frontier.

Over the past week, we've been sharing previews of the Single Player campaign with a number of media outlets.  People like GameTrailers, IGN, and others have had a chance to check out the first two missions of the game, and we're excited for you to see what they have to say after their time with Starhawk.

But while you wait, we have a brand new preview of the single player mode on the PlayStation Blog!

In addition to getting some information on what's in store for you as part of Starhawk's narrative, the article also includes a Q&A session with Dylan Jobe as he talks about what went into making the campaign, how the Western-inspired aesthetic rolls into other aspects of gameplay, and why Rift energy isn't just a midichlorian MacGuffin.  Take a look!

If you're looking for a fresh dose of Starhawk content, we've got just the thing for you.

X-Play will be running a double feature on the game next week, starting on Monday night with a special piece on Starhawk's co-op mode.  Then, on Tuesday, we're going to give the G4 folks a new look at the game's single player campaign and talk about the story mode and what you can expect when we hit retail.

Both programs air at 6:30pm Eastern, but check your local listings for your exact showtime. 

We're in the middle of our maintenance window right now, which means there are probably a few of you who just got booted from matches wondering what the heck happened.  Well kids, it's that time... the 1.3 patch is launching TODAY!  A short time from now, when we return from server maintenance, you'll be prompted to download the 1.3 update.

Today's patch is a big one!  You'll find the Sidewinder Jetbike and Ox Heavy Tank available for you right away, and you'll find "Dust", our new 32 player map included in the update.  There's a bunch of other features in there as well including clan support, colorblind options, and a few little surprises that we want to let you explore on your own.

In fact, today's patch is so big that we had a special trailer commemorated just for the occasion!  Our beta cycle has been a long and fruitful one and you've really helped us shape the game, so we want to take this opportunity to thank you one more time before the end of our beta.

Be sure and leave all your 1.3 comments in the beta forum!  We'd love to hear what you think of the new build.