Futuremark Games Studio has announced that their first-person PC shooter Shattered Horizon, now has dedicated servers on Steam. Players can now enjoy multiplayer with who ever they want, when ever they want, with protection from hackers and cheaters. Futuremark Games Studio can now finally provide the PC gaming community the multiplayer they expect from their Shattered Horizon purchase.

Dedicated server features

- GUI for creating custom level rotations, game settings and player limits.

- Custom server name, graphic and information URL.

- Optional password protection for private matches.

- Remote admin console accessible within Shattered Horizon game client.

- Configurable auto-team balancing.

- Configurable auto-kick / ban for team-killers and high-ping connections.

- Built-in anti-cheat detection with configurable auto-kick / ban.

- Admin manual kick / ban.

- Support for VAC.

- Registered servers can submit player stats and achievements to the official leaderboards (registration is optional and free).

- LAN game support.

- Supported operating systems: Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008. Note, DirectX 10 is not required for running a Shattered Horizon server.

With the release of a dedicated server, Shattered Horizon will also be going through a minor face-lift with a minor game update. Here are the changes:

Shattered Horizon Update 1.0.3.6

- HUD: Ammo count is no longer shown in scoped mode when running silent.

- HUD: When a player tries to capture a control point that is blocked by an enemy player the word "Blocked" will appear on the HUD.

- HUD: Chat is now enabled during silent running or while EMPed.

- Network protocol updated to support new server features.

- Added console for remote server control.

- Added "rules" section to in-game server browser, so players can choose servers with or without friendly fire or team auto-balancing for example.

- Server disconnect messages now include more information about the reason for disconnection for example, kicked for cheating, team-killing or high ping.

- Bug fix: Improved error handling during start-up logo videos.