Not to be outdone by World of Warcraft mobile application, Fallen Earth has released their own companion app for the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry (for those who want to traverse the wasteland on company time.) The features will keep you in contact with a Fallen Earth server and give you access to a variety of in-game functions:

View Crafting: View available recipes and check progress of those currently active.
Visit the Auction House: Browse items up for bid and keep tabs on your own auctions.
Check Your In-Game Mailbox: View incoming and received messages.
Access Achievements: View all acquired achievements, those in progress and your current score.
View Online Friends: View clan mates or friends lists to see who is online and socialize with other players.
Chat with Other Online Players: Chat in several different channels, such as Help, Clan and Faction.
Examine Characters and Stats: Switch between characters and view your currently equipped gear, stats, pack, and weapons.
Access the World Map: Open a full overview map of each of the three Sectors and newly opened area of Deadfall.

The main difference between Fallen Earth's mobile app and WoW's is that Fallen Earth's costs 1.99 on iPhone and Android and 2.99 on the Blackberry. WoW's is free but it doesn't let you communicate with online players, unless you subscribe to the World of Warcraft Remote Service and pay 2.99 a month. If you choose to subscribe, you can buy and sell on the WoW auction house from anywhere.

Who wants to travel the Wasteland alone?! Now you don't have to. Fallen Earth posted the first downloadable in-game items to the Fallen Earth Store today, and we're happy to report, one is a dog. For 10 bucks, the Kaibab Cur keeps you company as you walk your lonesome, blood-spackled road, but he also functions as a pack-mule, giving you more places to store your stuff. We would definitely hang our bandoliers of ammo on our dog if we lived during the apocalypse. It certainly beats those doggy sweaters.

And what compliments an ammo carrying dog like a pair of 5 dollar Brass Goggles? Being bug-eyed has never been so becoming in the world of Wasteland fashion. Not only do they look good but they function as a "seventh level item, providing some protection against piercing, fire, cold and ballistic damage" according to the store. A pair of shades and a dog, no summer's complete with out them. Even in the Wasteland.

Even in the face of huge staff cuts, the Fallen Earth Team has announced a new distribution partnership with Interactive Gaming Software to distribute Fallen Earth in North America. The team hopes that this will expand the availability of Fallen Earth throughout North America and that it will allow the game to grow in accessibility.

So if you've ever been interested in Fallen Earth, then now may be your chance to snag one of these games off of shelves as IGS plans to re-distribute this post-apocalytpic MMO sometime in late Q2.

It was a sad day last week for Fallen Earth Fans, as the company announced that a large-scale "company restructuring" was in the works, and was necessary in order to continue to support production and development of Fallen Earth. In a recent interview with Massively, Fallen Earth Marketing Manager Jessica "Circatrix" Orr noted that about 70 employees of Icarus Studios' 110 employees were cut, and this doesn't include GMs or Customer Support Staff.

Now, under normal circumstances, players may take this to mean that Fallen Earth will be dead within the year, but it should be noted that in the MMORPG industry, most of the focus is placed upon getting an initial product out the door, and once the MMO is already out there, that development team can (and often times will) be scaled back because they can simply develop onto their MMO, as opposed to creating a full MMO from the ground up. As well, other companies, like Funcom and Age of Conan, have also announced similar staff cuts in order to continue moving forward and while Age of Conan doesn't boast numbers like Blizzard's World of Warcraft, AoC is still going strong, with a massive expansion already on the way.

So what do you think, readers? Does this spell doom for Icarus Studios and Fallen Earth, or do you think Icarus has the chutzpah to survive through adversity and keep their game running? Perhaps only time will tell!

Now's your chance to get the scoop on all the new content coming to the post-apocalyptic MMORPG, Fallen Earth. Director of Content Development, Wes Platt, and Senior Game Designer, Marie Croall, will be hosting the chat on Twitter at 3pm EDT today. Topics include the soon to be released arena PvP, Blood Games, and all the new content coming in update 1.4. You can also ask about the new mutant mounts, like the Blight Wolf mount, and the new achievement system soon to be implemented.

To hit the devs with your toughest question, just log into Twitter and follow @fallenearth. Also, be sure to use the hashtag #FEchat when you ask your question. It's only from 3-4 pm today and it's the first time they've ever done this, so be sure to log in and shoot them some good questions.

In a press release yesterday, Icarus Studios announced the long-awaited Mac game client for its post-apocalyptic MMO, Fallen Earth, is now available in a "beta version." According to the release, the new client is compatible with all Intel Macs and "will allow players to connect to the same live server as PC users with game features optimized for their resident operating system." The developer is utilizing the open-source, multi-platform Windows emulator, Wine, to allow Mac users to play Fallen Earth without the need for players to set up emulation software themselves.

The system requirements for Mac users are listed as "OS X 10.5 Leopard or later, using an Intel-based system with dedicated graphics hardware." The new Mac client was released as a beta version; new players can register for a free 10-day trial of Fallen Earth and download the Mac game client on the official Web site. For more details, check out the Fallen Earth Mac Beta FAQ (age check may be required to access). To learn more about the unique, post-apocalyptic/horror MMO, visit ZAM's Fallen Earth portal site.

One of the biggest draws of MMOs is that groups of players can use in-game worlds as their playgrounds. Why wait for developers to create events when players can do it themselves? The Rapid Fire clan in Fallen Earth has decided to do just that by celebrating Mardi Gras in the wasteland from Feb. 15-21.

The clan will be hosting events in Sectors One and Two every night of the week that range from hide and seek to a trivia game. If you're wondering why the clan is celebrating Mardi Gras in Fallen Earth's desolate world, it turns out that a member hacked into the Global Tech computer database and found information pertaining to pre-apocalyptic holidays.

The full schedule of Mardi Gras events can be found after the jump. Be sure to visit Rapid Fire's site and radio station for more information on the festivities.

Patch 1.3 is now live in Fallen Earth and it brings a number of changes to the post-apocalyptic MMO. The update raises the level cap from 45 to 46, introduces a new Sector Three base camp, and kicks off the first phase of a starter town revamp. Here's some details on what the new high-level camp brings to Fallen Earth:

"The new camp, Deadfall Point, will provide over 50 new missions, a dozen new encounter areas, nine new craftable items, including a slew of weapons and consumables, several irradiated creatures and a new storyline. New instances have also been incorporated, making way for new 'veteran' creatures, which operate similar to bosses and 'hazard' creatures which players will want to avoid."

The Fallen Earth team outlined the next three patches in last month's State of the Game address, and players can expect the level cap to hit 50 when version 1.4 goes live.

The Fallen Earth team posted a State of the Game address today that provides a ton of information on the next three patches. Version 1.3 will introduce an area called Deadfall Point that raises the level cap by one, while Version 1.4 will then increase the cap by four to bring it to 50. Both patches will also extend crafting, gear and abilities for players to discover.

Version 1.5 will introduce PvP arenas called Blood Sports, as well as add an Achievement system to the game. The team will also use this opportunity to improve animations, reactions and AI during combat. You can read all the details in the full letter after the jump.

The Fallen Earth team launched a major graphics enhancement patch last week, and the second part of that update just went live. The new patch enhances lighting and shadow effects throughout the game in an attempt to bring more realism to the wasteland.

On a more serious note, the Fallen Earth team is asking players to support the American Red Cross' relief efforts in Haiti following Tuesday's 7.0 magnitude earthquake. "Join members of our team in supporting the effort — you can send a $10 donation by texting 'Haiti' to 90999 (charges will apply directly to your phone bill), by calling 1-800-REDCROSS or online via the American Red Cross Web site."