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It was with a heavy heart that we brought you the news late last week that, after a three-season run on the network, Syfy had decided to formally cancel Defiance, bringing an end to a sci-fi, cross-media experiment that simply couldn’t maintain its viewership as the seasons wore on.

However, though Syfy has effectively sounded the death knell for the live-action series, developer Trion has assured fans that they remained fully committed to supporting the Mmo in the future, viewing the canned TV show and its source material as two separate entities. In the wake of Variety’s report announcing the cancellation, CEO of Trion Scott Hartsman reached out to Polygon with the following message.

“Defiance is Trion’s IP and the game will continue exactly as before. The show has always been a fantastic and interesting partner, but the two were always meant to be able to stand on their own,...

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Defiance has been axed by Syfy after three seasons, but the video game version will continue...

Syfy has been having something of a clean-out of late. Dominion and Continuum have been axed already this year, and now Defiance has got the chop as well. We’ve had three seasons, and there won’t be a fourth.

Syfy released this statement: "Defiance was a truly groundbreaking series, delivering an immersive, cross-platform experience that transcended the television screen in a way that viewers had never seen before."

"We are incredibly proud of the work of the extraordinary cast, writers, artists and designers – and especially showrunner Kevin Murphy – who together brought the rich world of Defiance to life over its three season arc," the statement continued.

Showrunner Kevin Murphy added this: "I got to collaborate with a group of stunning artists operating at the top of their game, and together we built a world.

Tonight the BAFTA Video Game Awards are being held in London and the list of nominees shows the breadth of talent being celebrated and you can watch along live with us.

BAFTA’s push to educate people about the importance of gaming and to celebrate the very best in this medium is commendable and they are best placed to do this with access to the top names in the industry.

The titles being celebrated tonight include the annual editions of the most popular franchises but there’s a lot of innovation on show; the latest version of Call of Duty, Portal 2, Super Mario 3D Land and the internet-conquerinig Skyrim are all up for awards tonight along with many more.

The IGN stream will go live from 20.15 and you can watch along below,

Here’s the feed, enjoy!

The 2012 BAFTA Game Award nominees are below,

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Assassin’s Creed Revelations - Martin Schelling,...

Last week it was all about the 2012 BAFTA Film Awards, and now sees our attention turn to gaming with the announcement of the nominees for the BAFTA Video Game Awards 2012. We were there last year and hope to be covering it again this year. But in the meantime here’s the full list of nominees, featuring the cream of the crop of video gaming.

Personally I hope Uncharted 3 sweeps the board in all the categories its nominated in, and – being a Mario fan – I hope Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 pick up awards… although Dead Space iOS could give them a run for the money in the handheld categories!

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Assassin’s Creed Revelations – Martin Schelling, Darby McDevitt, Raphael Lacoste / Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Batman: Arkham City – Jamie Walker, Sefton Hill, Adam Doherty / Rocksteady Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Development Team / Infinity Ward...

Last week was all about the movie awards but now BAFTA keep up the momentum by announcing the nominations for the 2012 Video Game Awards. Batman: Arkham City and L.A. Noire come in strong but we’ve got the full list for you below.

Let us know in the comments section below which you want to win and what’s missing from the list.

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Assassin’s Creed Revelations - Martin Schelling, Darby McDevitt, Raphael Lacoste / Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Batman: Arkham City – Jamie Walker, Sefton Hill, Adam Doherty / Rocksteady Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Development Team / Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games/Activision Blizzard Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Jean-Francois Dugas, Antoine Thisdale / Eidos Montreal/Ubisoft Portal 2 – Development Team / Valve/Valve Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception – Evan Wells, Christophe Balestra, Amy Henni g/Naughty Dog/Sony Computers Entertainment Europe

Artistic Achievement

Batman: Arkham City – Jamie Walker,...

Trion Worlds launched two new programs designed to give gamers a free taste of the immensely popular fantasy Mmorpg, Rift. The Rift 7-day Free Trial lets players experience the besieged world of Telara for a full week at no cost, and the Ascend-a-Friend program rewards current subscribers who find recruits for the Guardian and Defiant ranks. The new initiatives coincide with the debut of Rift 1.2, the latest and most extensive game update so far. Rift 1.2 adds several features, including Facebook integration, new 10-person raid content, and three new dynamic zone events.

“Since launching just over two months ago, Rift has dramatically disrupted the online gaming landscape, giving players the most massive, dynamic, and engaging Mmo experience currently available,” said Scott Hartsman, Executive Producer, Rift. “With the Free Trial and Ascend-a-Friend programs, we’re opening the floodgates, inviting all into this amazing world to experience what gamers around the globe already...

Developer Pop Quiz is a weekly interview series in which we ask developers from around the industry the same 10 questions and post their responses.

Having worked in the Mmo space for years, Trion Worlds' General Manager Scott Hartsman brings a unique perspective to this week's Developer Pop Quiz. After falling in love with the industry as a kid, he went to work on work on "EverQuest 2," before beginning his latest project "Rift: Planes of Telara."

Name: Scott Hartsman

Title: General Manager, Redwood Studio and Cco

Company: Trion Worlds

Job Description: Directs 5th Cell and its titles.

First title worked on: "Scepter of Goth"

Most recent title worked on: "Rift: Planes of Telara," "EverQuest II," "EverQuest Live"

What game has most influenced you, and why?

Hands down, the original "EverQuest." Growing up as a huge fan of both tabletop and computer RPGs, it was a life-long dream to be able to...