Global Agenda's first big patch will be arriving tomorrow, and the team notes that the most important part of this update is the fact that it will be introducing several commonly requested new features from the community, as well as a plethora of bug fixes and some other little additions. Social players will be happy to see that a friends list has been added, and for those who aren't quite so social, there is also an ignore list in Patch 1.1 as well. Players will also have the ability to choose what map type they can queue for in the PvP map selection (between Control, Breach, Demolition, Payload and Scramble), and Upgrades can now be repaired using repair kits that can be crafted from blueprints purchased in the Prototyping Center in Dom City.

Finally, this new update also brings two new Conquest zones into play: Tradewind, which has times convenient for Oceanic Players, and Anvil, which has a start time convenient to many European players. While some may see this patch as being more of a "fixer upper" rather than a giant bundle of tasty content, the Hi-Rez Studios team notes that they are "working busily on additional improvements to the game, including lots of new content," and the GA patch notes say that "a larger Patch 1.2 is being worked on for later release that will introduce significant additional content to the game."

So keep your eyes peeled for lots of new things to come for Global Agenda, and you can check out the patch notes below!

Global Agenda Patch 1.1 is currently available on the public test server to give Hi-Rez Studios the chance to search for bugs before the update goes live early next week. This patch includes a friends list, two new Conquest Zones, the ability to repair upgrades, additional player choice when queuing, and more.

Hi-Rez is hosting a structured play test today, Feb. 24, from 6-9 p.m. EST, so be sure to log onto the PTS at that time if you'd like to PvP with members of the Global Agenda development team. You can read the patch notes after the jump.

Global Agenda Executive Producer Todd Harris has written a post-launch thank you letter to the community for supporting the action MMO, and he reveals that the free-play period for the Conquest features has been extended to the end of March. This will give more players the chance to try out the subscription-based campaign, which pits Alliances against each other for persistent territory control.

Harris also outlines some enhancements and improvements that will be implemented in-game in the near future. By the end of February, Hi-Rez will add a friends list, player choice in PvP queues, repair kits, and additional AvA zones. You can read the list of upcoming changes after the jump.

Our very own Fony just tried out Global Agenda, so check episode 17 of the BFF Report to hear his impressions of the game. The second part of his review will be posted next week.

Departing the Normandy and Enterprise, Fony heads back to little ol’ Earth and dives into a recently released MMOFPS, Global Agenda, for Episode 17 of The BFF Report. In the video, Fony takes a look at character creation, PvE gameplay, and gives some tips on basic agency selection.

But did Fony conquer all his enemies? Or did he get his head shot off? Watch this episode of The BFF Report to find out!

Today marks the official launch of Global Agenda! The game is scheduled to unlock in approximately six hours on Steam, but you can kill some time by watching Hi-Rez Studios' newest video dev blog entry after the jump. Game Designer Scott Zier provides details on the game's subscription-based Conquest campaign, which pits Alliances against each other for persistent territory control. All players who purchase Global Agenda will get free access to Conquest until March 3.

If you'd like to know our thoughts on Global Agenda, check out our preview of the MMOFPS. We've also summarized the game's important details in our recent "What We Know So Far" article. Casual players can purchase Global Agenda for a one-time fee, or more invested players can choose to pay a monthly subscription to access its MMO-related features.

Of all the MMO genre blends out there that still have a lot of untapped potential, the MMORPG / FPS twist would definitely rank as one of the toughest gaming genres to do. Perhaps the most influential and, arguably, most popular MMOFPS has been SOE's epic game, Planetside. Now, almost seven years after the release of Planetside (and around five years since SOE has done any legitimate development on the game), there are hundreds of thousands of players eager to find something new, and running at the forefront of these next-gen MMOFPS games is Hi-Rez Studios' Global Agenda.

Well, with the closed beta of Global Agenda wrapping up today and the official launch coming in less than a week, the ZAM staff got to check out the game to see just what kind of MMOFPS Global Agenda wants to be.

The Global Agenda beta ends today, Jan. 26, and Hi-Rez Studios will be celebrating the milestone by randomly entering match-made PvP missions and spawning bots that are normally reserved for Conquest gameplay and/or PvE missions. The team has also revealed the schedule of the upcoming launch activities, which we've summarized in this handy list:

• Jan. 28: Client should be available for download on Steam by the end of the day. Reserve your name.
• Jan. 29: Early head start begins at 3 p.m. EST. Limited content will be available until Jan. 31 at 5 p.m.
• Feb. 1: Global Agenda launches!
• Feb. 2: Hi-Rez will unlock five Conquest zones for Alliance vs. Alliance gameplay.
• March 3 and beyond: Global Agenda: Conquest will require a subscription to play.

Complete details can be found in the full schedule after the jump. For more information on Global Agenda, check out our recent "What We Know So Far" article.

Global Agenda, ZAM's "Best in Show" pick in last year's PAX Awards, is almost here! In anticipation of its February 1^st release (as well as ZAM's upcoming preview, which you can expect any day now), we're devoting this installment of "What We Know So Far" to Hi-Rez Studios' ambitious third-person shooter. More than a year ago, the indie developers at Hi-Rez promised a unique MMORPG/FPS hybrid; a sci-fi themed action shooter with a "secret agent" back-story, dubbing its unique genre as "spy-fi".

At the time, the mixture of MMO and first-person-shooter genres was just beginning to gain momentum among the mainstream—generally referred to as "MMOFPS" games. The genre was actually established much earlier, as evidenced by Planetside in 2003, among a few others. But it wasn’t until the last couple of years that the idea of an MMO/shooter amalgam really began to catch on. Global Agenda soon became a forerunner in the "next generation" of MMOFPS hybrids, proving to be one of the most-anticipated games of its kind in 2010. As promised, here is what we know so far…

Global Agenda is scheduled to launch right around the corner on Feb. 1, and GameTrailers has posted the official launch trailer. You can watch the video after the jump.

So what do you think? Will you be picking up Global Agenda on launch day? As far as pricing details are concerned, do you prefer the single-purchase option or the subscription model?

Hi-Rez Studios just announced on its Twitter page that "Global Agenda is now available for pre-purchase and will officially launch on February 1, 2010." You can currently pre-order the game through the official Global Agenda site.

Of course, players who pre-order Global Agenda will receive all sorts of benefits, including access to the beta events in January. They'll also get in-game head flair and be able to reserve their player and agency names, as well as have the ability to download the game early to get in immediately on launch day.