Hi-Rez is celebrating Halloween in style in Global Agenda. The team just announced that players who purchase the game this week through the Global Agenda website or Steam will get 30% off and a Grim Reaper mask.

Also, don't forget that the Global Agenda Halloween event kicks off tomorrow, Oct. 27, and runs through Oct. 31. Players who are level 30 or higher will be able to enter the queue for a Halloween-themed Defense Raid and collect even more masks.

Hi-Rez Studios CEO Erez Goren just announced on the Global Agenda forums that the company is the proud new owner of the Tribes franchise, which consists of a series of sci-fi first-person shooter games that were released between 1998 and 2004. Hi-Rez is currently working on Tribes Universe, an MMOFPS that should enter alpha testing in about three months.

This new endeavor will allow Hi-Rez to focus on large-scale combat, which the team admittedly can't do with Global Agenda. Tribes Universe will feature fights that consist of more than 100 players, as well as full vehicle support and jetpacks. The game will be comprised of a persistent world without any instances.

Hi-Rez now has two groups in the studio to work on both Global Agenda and Tribes Universe, and will soon be moving into a larger office space to accomodate the company's growth. Global Agenda players with level 50 characters will have priority in entering alpha and beta testing, so start leveling now if you're interested in Tribes Universe.

For more details, check out Goren's announcement after the jump.

Hi-Rez Studios just sent us a couple new screenshots that show off the upcoming Halloween-themed Defense Raid in Global Agenda. As you can see in the above image, players will be able to wear masks while they blow stuff up. You can view both of the images in our screenshots gallery.

The Halloween Defense Raid will be available from Oct. 27-31, but you need to be level 30 to join the queue. You may want to use this weekend to level up if you plan on participating in the event. Hi-Rez even sells double exp boosters if you really want to shorten your journey to level 30.

For more details on the game, be sure to check out our fresh look at Global Agenda.

When I was first assigned to check out Hi-Rez Studios' Global Agenda (GA) about a year ago, I was an extremely picky gamer when it came to the MMOFPS industry (first-person shooter, although, technically speaking, Global Agenda could be called a "TPS," for third-person shooter). As a formerly competitive gamer in the FPS genre, I went to the ends of the earth to play all of the MMOFPS games I could find, hoping to one day discover that perfect marriage between the deep MMO experience and the visceral combat of a solid first-person shooter. Back then, while I did enjoy my experiences with Global Agenda, I noted that the game needed more ambition and more content across the board to really flourish. Of course, at the time, I was expecting some serious competition to come down the line in the form of Realtime Worlds' All Points Bulletin (APB) and Webzen's Huxley.

Halloween is coming to Global Agenda from Oct. 27-31 in the form of a themed Defense mission in the Raid queue. Defense Raids, as the name suggests, require a group of 10 players to defend a facility from waves of NPC attackers. In celebration of the holiday, these bots will drop a set of 13 Halloween masks that can be worn through the end of November. Teams that can defeat the final boss will earn an additional guaranteed mask.

Players can join the Raid queue at level 30, so you have about two weeks to level up if you want if you want to participate in the Halloween event. This might be a good time to take advantage of the new "Friends with Benefits" campaign and get your friends a 30% discount on Global Agenda while you earn in-game items.

If your friends missed Global Agenda's recent 30% off sale following the demise of All Points Bulletin, they already have another chance to get the discount. Executive Producer Todd Harris just unveiled the new "Friends with Benefits" campaign, which gives your friends a 30% discount and lets you earn in-game items.

If you've purchased Global Agenda, you have a set of coupons you can give to friends that provides a 30% discount at the Global Agenda store. For every coupon that is used, you progress your in-game Referral Achievement score, which could lead to an exclusive mini-Warlord pet.

Harris notes that Referral Achievements and new prestige items will be introduced and visible before the end of October in the 1.38 update. However, there's no need to wait for the patch to start recruiting your friends. You'll start to earn credit now if your friends pick up the game.

About a week and a half ago, when All Points Bulletin met its untimely demise, the team over at Global Agenda wasted no time in attempting to console the bereaved gamers by offering a whopping 30% discount on Global Agenda for any player who bought the game using the promotion code LongLiveShooterMMOs. Well, according to Todd Harris, Executive Producer of Global Agenda, they've gotten "thousands" of new players joining their game, so they've decided to extend the duration of this 30% deal until October 4.

So for those of you who have been still considering as to whether or not you want to buy this shooter MMO, 30% is a pretty good deal! Of course, you can always check out the free trial of Global Agenda, but keep October 4 in mind for the discount deadline.

Those guys and gals over at Global Agenda (GA) are sure working hard to make sure that all the homeless gamers from All Points Bulletin's premature end have a place to go, as the GA team has followed up on their 30% off sale with a brand new content patch!

Within this new patch, v1.37, there have been a number of improvements and additions that will be sure to make any Global Agenda fan quite pleased. The first real addition to Global Agenda, this time around, is the announcement that a full Achievement system has made its way into Global Agenda, with some achievements even going so far as to award special helmets or other flair as they are achieved. Other fixes include a major rehaul on the Auction House to make it more accessible, some new Vanity Items, Mission Queueing Updates, some balancing changes and the addition of some new craftable PvE consumables.

So how many of you APB fans have made the transition over to Global Agenda this week?

The shocking demise of All Points Bulletin has left a sudden void in the action MMO genre, but Global Agenda's Executive Producer Todd Harris would like to take this opportunity to welcome new players into his game's community. To that end, players can receive 30% off the purchase of Global Agenda this week by using the promotion code "LongLiveShooterMMOs" in the game's official store! The sale ends Sept. 24, so act soon if you'd like to take advantage of the opportunity.

Remember, you can also try out the Global Agenda free trial if the 30% sale isn't enough to entice you to buy the game. Will you be giving this shooter MMO a shot now that APB is gone?

These two shots showed up on Global Agenda's Facebook page today, with the announcement that Global Agenda is now available for pre-order in the UK from outlets such as Amazon.co.uk and play.com. The Sci-Fi shooter/MMORPG releases September 10 all over England and Ireland and the expansion Sandstorm is included.