Spotted this over at Broken Toys just now.  The source material can be found here. 

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced an agreement with Elevation Partners to acquire VG Holding Corp. — the owner of both BioWare Corp. and Pandemic Studios. This acquisition gives EA a strong competitive position in key genres in interactive entertainment: action, adventure and role-playing games. The two studios have been recognized for creating some of the highest-quality games in the industry.

BioWare Corp. and Pandemic Studios have ten franchises under development, including six wholly owned games. BioWare Corp. is currently developing the highly anticipated Mass Effect, which will be published by Microsoft in November, and is in the early development stages of a massively multiplayer online game. Pandemic Studios is redefining open-world games with its upcoming Mercenaries 2: World in Flames™ and Saboteur™, in addition to several unannounced projects.

Just….wow.  Didn’t see this coming at all.  I love Bioware, so I just hope that getting acquired by EA doesn’t muck up things.  I can only hope that this means better games and leveraging talent and assets to create top notch MMOs.  Time will tell.  Add this to the “2007 has been an interesting year for MMOs” list.

EDIT - an update from GameDaily

Following the announcement, execs from the respective companies held a conference call, and EA confirmed that of the ten franchises, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Mercenaries, Saboteur, and Neverwinter Nights were definitely included in the deal. And while Microsoft is publishing Mass Effect exclusively on Xbox 360 this holiday, the future of Mass Effect lies in EA’s hands; as such it wouldn’t be surprising to see the highly anticipated franchise end up on PS3 or other platforms as well. EA also noted that the highly touted dialog engine created for Mass Effect could be put to use in other titles. GameDaily BIZ contacted Microsoft for comment on Mass Effect but the company declined to comment.

Another interesting point from a business standpoint is that Riccitiello, the former head of Elevation Partners prior to rejoining EA, admitted that he had a residual interest in the company. Because of this conflict of interest EA deliberately had an independent board supervise the takeover of BioWare/Pandemic. EA also said that they expect to break even on the investment by 2009 and they expect to start making money on the deal by 2010.

The games from BioWare/Pandemic will likely be spread out over several years through 2011, EA said. In addition, both BioWare and Pandemic have a number of games planned for Nintendo’s Wii and DS.

And even more interesting stuff from Joystiq:

Says EA CEO John Riccitiello, “We bring a lot to the table … we simplify the process of courting publishers, basically taking it to zero.” He adds that EA, being the publishing giant that it is, can “reach places where [BioWare and Pandemic] don’t get to so we can build their properties bigger.” As for what EA itself gets out of the deal, the exec noted matter of factly that EA is “not in the open world action-adventure business. These guys are the leaders … this strengthens us where we need to be stronger.”

Added EA CFO Warren Jenson, “We are getting a very well cost managed developer into the organization.”

Of course, much of the worry over the purchase resides in the feeling that these two specialized devs would suffer by being absorbed into some kind of homogeneous blob; however, according to EA, the reality will be “quite the opposite.”

“Both of these are strong studios with rich cultures,” said Riccitiello. “Inside our label structure they will maintain their autonomy … and will reap the benefits of EA’s scale and structure.” He clarified that EA will also be able to “better monetize” titles from both studios, while allowing them to be “treated separately.”

Finally, in looking to the future, EA notes that it plans to release 10 titles from the studios “fairly evenly” over the next 4 years, with BioWare’s highly secretive MMO project getting a release “more towards the back end” of this schedule, most likely in 2011.

O.k.  So this last piece from Joystiq makes it sound a lot better, so I can only hope this holds true.  Seems that EA is looking to strengthen it’s line up with proven leaders, and companies that are already well run.  Sounds like they are hoping to leverage their size, scope and marketing to get titles out to a larger audience and monetize those products in a larger way.  Although for Bioware, they have enough name brand recognition in the gaming world that I’m not sure how much more EA can do there.  Anything Bioware produces is already fairly well known, marketed well and bought instantly by tons of gamers.

On the Bioware MMO - sure I can wait til 2011.  Heck, by 2011 who knows what the landscape will look like if 2007 is indicative of years to come.  I’m just glad to know that it’s still on the table and not being canceled at this point.  I hope it remains a priority for the studio.

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Put this squarely in the “rumor”  “seems likely” category for now even though there’s been no official confirmation as of yet.  I spotted this just now via Virgin Worlds, which linked to the “news” at The Escapist.   Here’s what is being said:

We’ve received word from an anonymous source that Perpetual Entertainment, developers of Gods and Heroes and Star Trek Online, will dissolve in the near future.

The remnants of the company have been acquired by a major independent game developer, which will purchase Star Trek Online and Perpetual’s game platform assets. It’s unknown whether Gods and Heroes will be purchased, but the leadership has already offered certain members of the team a position in the new company, working on the Star Trek Online team. The majority of the Gods and Heroes team will be laid off, so the game’s future doesn’t seem bright.

Phone calls to Perpetual were not immediately returned.

So, if this is true, it sounds like G&H might cease to exist, while STO might live on but be a long ways out.  If this is true, my thoughts are with all the devs who may be laid off. 

So Warhammer Online announces a 2 month beta shutdown (and quite possibly a delayed release as well), Tabula Rasa pushed back it’s release two weeks, AoC was already pushed back, Spellborn has been pushed back and now it seems that G&H might be extinct.  It’s been an interesting 2007 indeed - heck let’s throw in the VG debacle just for old times sake.

Will certainly update here to either confirm this is true and give more info, or to retract this if it turns out to be false.

EDIT:  More info from WarCry:

Perpetual Entertainment has indefinitely delayed (essentially canceled) Gods and Heroes. The company will continue work on their development platform and Star Trek Online, and continue its operations in the same San Francisco studio under the same management. Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising, though, is no more.

Our source tells us that the majority of the Gods and Heroes development team has been let go as part of the move, which comes only a few weeks after they had downsized and pushed back the release date. The Star Trek Online team, those who worked on the Perpetual Platform (which was recently licensed to BioWare) and a small number of people from the Gods and Heroes team will be remain with the company.

WarCry will bring you more details as the story unfolds.

Update 8:28 PM EST: We originally reported that Perpetual Entertainment had been acquired by another firm, but according to further sources at Perpetual this not in fact the case. It will continue on as described above with new investors.

More from TTH:

The industry types are buzzing like bees about this one.

Inside sources are reporting that Perpetual Entertainment, makers of the upcoming MMOGs Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising and Star Trek Online are being bought out by an undisclosed studio. WarCry is reporting that according to their sources it may not be a complete buy-out, but rumors are flying like crazy and nothing will be positive until an official announcement goes out.

Other sources indicate that the company involved in the acquisition/investment is likely to be Foundation 9 Entertainment (http://www.f9e.com/), although this is unconfirmed at this time.

Keep an eye on Ten Ton Hammer for further news as the situation develops!

Well that’s starting to sound a bit more “official”, but again, nothing has been directly released by Perpetual at this time that I’m aware of.  Again, my thoughts and prayers go out to all affected by the layoff.  I’ve had to lay off people before and it’s not a fun thing to do, at all.  Seems that G&H is definitely gone and who knows how this will impact the timeframe for STO, although really they weren’t getting into real “production” until 2008 anyhow.

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The Warcry network recently sat down with Smed, the President and CEO of SOE, for what I found to be a pretty candid interview.  The exclusive interview covered a lot of ground, touching on nearly all the titles SOE has in its (ever expanding) stable.  There were certainly nuggets from the interview that interested me, and I’ll highlight those here with thoughts:

1.  The MMO genre is stale and “grindy”.  Did anyone NOT know this?  But it’s kind of nice to hear the top exec of a (maybe the) major MMO company just come out and state this.  Smed states that MMOs today are all “me too” games, and if you look around, you pretty quickly conclude that it’s an accurate picture.  Even the most recent SUWT talked about how much influence WoW has had on the genre, with almost every competitor borrowing successful elements from that game.  Smed is hoping to take SOE in new directions in the future - enough with the grind he says!  He points towards The Agency, FreeRealms and Pirates of the Burning Sea as examples of this new direction.  Will SOE be the company that leads us into the light of new gameplay? 

2.  MMOs can work on consoles.  Smed talks about his belief that previous ventures like the PS2 “EQ:OA” MMO was ahead of its time.  The technology of the day on consoles simply wouldn’t let them realize the vision they had and support the game properly.  BUT, today is a new day of 80 gig harddrives and wireless connections.  He contends that MMOs can work well on the console, and both The Agency and the DC comics MMO will release both PC and console.  That all may be true, but I’ll probably never play an MMO on a console.  PC Gamer 4 Life!

3.  Another Everquest MMO coming??  Smed just comes out and says that making EQII a “sequel” to EQ was a mistake.  He goes on to say that “In hindsight, I wish we could have had a do-over and not called it Everquest II”.  He states that the two games were really very different - the games shared a common name and world, but EQII was set in the future.  Smed then states that they full intend to do another Everquest MMO, but that no, no one is actually working on such a project at this time.  I wonder what his definition of a true “sequel” to EQ is?  I for one wouldn’t mind seeing another Everquest MMO, and I think a lot of fans would to as they felt like EQ2 was never a true successor.

4.  Vanguard FTW?  Vanguard sold over 200k copies.  Lots of people gave it a look, and lots of people left because it was an utter disaster at first, punctuated by the disclosure of what McQuaid had done (or not done) behind the scenes.  When Sigil folded, that took yet another batch of people out of the game (I was actively playing at that time and saw the player base literally shrink in just a weeks time).  But, Smed sees in VG what I’ve always seen as well - tons of potential (gotta love the P word!).  He readily acknowledges that VG is what it is, a hardcore game, and that the high system specs are hurting the game at the moment.  But he seems genuinely committed to growing VG and staying focused on what it is - a more hardcore game with some unique features not seen elsewhere.  Will that be enough?  I think SOE will do enough good things that VG will survive and have a (niche) audience for the next 2-3 years at least.

Smed also goes on to talk about the NGE in SWG, but as I wasn’t ever a player of SWG that interested me less than the other pieces.  The one thing that did speak to me from that segment, and he mentioned it elsewhere, is the fact that SOE did not listen to their community when they made the NGE change.  Smed seems very committed to geting the community “into the mix” and hearing from them about future games and gameplay elements.  If SOE can truly do that, they might win back some of the goodwill that was lost by a lot of folks year ago, and gain a competitive edge.  After all, WE are the ones playing the games, and if they don’t listen to us, who the heck are they listening to? 

I think SOE has a bright future.  They will have the most diverse stable of games on the market, something to appeal to almost everyone, from sci-fi to high fantasy to pirates to spies to FreeRealms.  We know they are a marketing juggernaut, and they seem poised for growth in the years ahead.  If they can also innovate in gameplay and listen to their community, their future will be bright indeed.

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I wouldn’t call myself a hard-core Trekkie, but I’ve watched my fair share of Star Trek over the years.  I love ST:TNG and own all the seasons on DVD.  I also own all of Voyager (I was never into DS9 much).  As far as the original, I loved the movies they were in but was never a huge fan of the original tv series.  So there you go - I’ve laid out my Trek cred for what’s it worth on the table.

I do have enough Klingon blood running through my veins that I’m excited about what Star Trek Online could be someday.  I honestly haven’t heard a heck of a lot about this title except that it’s in development, but that’s mostly because 2008 will really be the year they ramp up into real production.  So there hasn’t been a lot to say about it yet, but a recent article by MPOGD.com gives us more insight into what developer Perpetual is up to.  They were fortunate enough to interview Daron Stinnett, Executive Producer of Star Trek Online.  Through this interview I learned several things about what they have planned for the game such as:

1.  Star Trek will have defined classes called “professions” - science, tactical, engineering, security, etc. as broad categories which can branch into more specific roles.

2.  Everyone will get a ship, starting out with a shuttle and working your way up.  You won’t, however, be flying the Enterprise.

3.  The largest ships and also space stations will be the equivalent of player run cities, having all the services you’d expect in a typical MMO city.

4.  Player models have a unique, stylized look to them that apparently is pretty appealing, differntiating different races quickly based on body type, etc.

5.  There will be seven playable races.

6.  Group size will likely be the typical 5-6 people, with larger groups for raids (called Armadas).  There will also be guilds (called Fleets).

7.  PvP?  Yep - consensual PvP in the Holodecks (where things like arena and specific matches can be fought) as well as world PvP.  There will also be special free-for-all PvP servers set up.

8.  The game will take place 25 years past Star Trek:  Nemesis.  So it’s the future of the Trek Universe, after Picard’s time.

9.  Holodecks (can and probably will) serve as portals to missions in any conceivable era of time, much like the show.  So in a way you almost have the Star-Gate-esque thing going on there.

So there are a few choice pieces of information for those of you, like me, who had not heard a lot of detail about this game yet.  How will this game ultimately turn out?  Time will tell, but it’s got definite brand recognition and a huge following.  I’ll be very interested to hear more detail on specific game mechanics as time goes on.  Live long and prosper.

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Well there was a tidbit today concerning the DC comics MMO that SOE will be developing.  Both this title and Cryptic’s Marvel Universe sound very interesting.  Will it be an inevitable battle of the titans?

What about a rivalry with their counterparts at Cryptic Studios who are hard at work on Marvel Universe Online for the PC and Xbox 360? One company is backed by Sony (Playstation 3) and DC Comics. The other is backed by Microsoft (Xbox 360) and Marvel Comics. Clearly, there are going to be some comparisons.

Marvel vs. DC.  Microsoft vs. Sony.  XBox vs. Playstation.  Can’t ask for better than that!  I grew up reading comics, mostly Marvel titles, so that’s where my allegiance mainly lies in the comic realm.  Although I have always enjoyed Superman and Batman in both films and comics as well.  I guess I just like more stuff in the Marvel Universe, and have spent more time reading those books, than the DC Universe. 

From the MMO perspective, I had a blast in City of Heroes when it first launched and think Cryptic did a great job of capturing the feel of the genre.  Their character creation was second to none, and the super powers were genuinely a blast (pun intended) to mess around with.  The downfall of that game for me was the repetitive grind through the same three warehouse/cave layouts, fighting essentially the same bad guys for tens of levels, just in bigger groups.  So I’m a little wary of Cryptic and Marvel, but I’m more excited I think.  SOE and DC?  Hrm…I do have faith that SOE can make an incredible game, and I’m sure they will with the DC universe and Jim Lee on board.

Given that we know next to nothing about these games at present, my excitement level either way is premature.  But I can’t help myself from imagining some of the possiblities.  I did find it interesting (not surprising, mind you) that half of the interview was devoted to talking about how DC may not be the first because they want to be the best, take their time, Sony is committed to releasing a finished game, etc. etc.  I know Darren made the call early this year with the whole “polish” thing, but man, it’s starting to get a bit old.  I think we all get it and always have - quality matters!!

I’m really hoping that one or both of these games can succeed in the market in a big way, as I think CoH was as step in the right direction but not nearly enough.  I’m ready for a little more meat on the bones of the superhero genre MMO. 

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By now everyone knows that Raph Koster and Areae finally announced their big project:  Metaplace.  Other blogs have covered the details that we know at this point, and you can also visit Cuppytalk to read her letter to the community.  So this isn’t a breaking news post, and I’m not going to pull out the crystal ball to say whether or not Metaplace will be a huge hit.  There’s certainly a large amount of excitement in the air at the moment, but an equal amount of hesitation.  Some folks have already dived headfirst into the pool, while others are simply dipping their toe in at the moment to see what the temperature is. 

For me, having read the information that’s available and watching the brief demo video today, I’m actually left with more questions than I am commentary.  So here are my questions:

1.  How robust, powerful and user-friendly is the Metaplace toolset going to be?  To me, tis is a very important question to answer.  Essentially it sounds like you will be able to create anything in Metaplace from an Amazon storefront, to a virtual chat room, to arcade type games, to teaching platforms, and full blown MMOs.  That’s a pretty wide variety of things with one toolset to do it all.  In terms of MMOs, if one wanted to make something akin to the level of complexity we have online right now, would the tools be robust enough to do that?  If they are too complex to learn and use, you turn people off and that would defeat the purpose.  If they are too simple, you have accessibility but you’ve sacrificed the complexity of the game you can create.  So ponder that while I throw in a couple of quotes by Cuppy on the toolset:

First of all, Metaplace is a platform that allows you to build any sort of world or game that you wish. Our tools will enable users of all skill levels to create games that can be played anywhere on the web that reads our open client standard…

Far better tools, faster development time, lower budgets, and openness to new talent. There really isn’t a limitation to what people can make with Metaplace – and there are a lot of creative people out there with limited access to expensive tools and large teams. We’re simplifying things so that even you can make something totally awesome, even without programming skills.

I love the fact that it will be accessible to people of all skill levels (even non-programmers like me!).  That’s the only way I’d have a chance to enjoy it.  But it makes you think, what about the folks who really know their stuff?  What’s the upper limit?

2.  Will the rating system be precise and accurate enough to reward the true gems?  One of the initial concerns I’ve seen is whether or not Metaplace will turn out to be a junkyard or a jewelry store.  In some respects, I think it depends on who gets wind of Metaplace and gives it a spin.  While some may not think the modding community is that great, I can recall lots of great user created content in everything from NWN mods to FPS mods and worlds to WoW UI mods.  There are a lot of creative folks out there that can actually pump out some pretty cool stuff.  But the fact is, they are probably outnumbered 20 to 1 (or more) by folks who won’t do much of anything worthwhile.  Here’s a quote from the MP site:

We hope there will be millions of worlds made with Metaplace. It could get hard to find stuff if we’re right, so the portal lets you easily search, rate, review, and tag worlds and games of all sorts.

O.k…millions of worlds?!  That may be overstating things at the moment, but you get the picture.  If there is a ton of user-created content out there, how are we ever going to find our friend’s world, much less know which worlds are the “best”?  That’s where the “search, rate, review and tag…” system comes into play.  I just hope the rating and reviewing system is pretty robust.  Will the true gems rise to the top or languish in obscurity?  I like the fact that things will be tagged as I can see wanting to try games in a certain genre that may not have made it to the top of the popular list.  When you think about how open and accessible Metaplace will be, who are the majority of raters and reviewers going to be?  Probably not folks like us, dyed-in-the-wool MMO vets.  I just hope no one finds a way to hack or exploit the rating/reviewing system - that could be bad.

3. What about trademark/copyright issues?  If someone wants to create a game, of whatever style, based upon or incorporating elements of other popular IPs (i.e. Star Wars/Trek, Matrix, LoTR, D&D, James Bond, comics, other computer/console games, fantasy author’s worlds, etc.), what are the legal requirements or ramifications of doing so?  Does it become a legal quagmire, or will anything based on an existing IP be off limits?  Must everything created be completely original?

4.   Will Metaplace become Profitplace?  Because of Metaplace’s web 2.0 compatability and ease of use, could there possibly be those who will find a way to use it for profit?  I’m assuming people will be able to profit if they design a game and choose to charge a fee to play.  And I think that’s great - if people put in the time and effort, make a great game and want to profit off that game, super.  I’m mainly thinking of the negatives that might occur.  Cameron at Random Battle brought up this very point in his post today - because the urls for each game are unique, will there be a “land rush” of sorts as people gobble up what they consider to be “prime” names and then charge exorbitant prices for them?  Are there other ways people might find to turn Metaplace into Profitplace (either in a good way or a “negative” way)?

5.  What is Raph’s “new worldly MMO” going to be?  For me, the announcement that Raph is going to be creating his own MMO using the Metaplace tools was exciting.  I’ll take a wild guess and say it’s not going to be traditional high-fantasy.  And this relates back to my first question - if Raph is using it to build his next MMO, the toolset must be fairly powerful and robust.  Let the speculation ensue.  I can’t wait to find out.

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Legos are for kids.  Well…kids of all ages it seems.  MMORPG.com has an interview up with NetDevil about their mmo in development, Lego Universe.  It’s not a long video, and doesn’t really have a lot of information, but they do confirm that the game is targetted towards kids.  So it sounds like the aim is very much toward a younger audience, but is something that adults may enjoy if you liked Legos as a kid and still play around with them today.

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If you are a fan of the Fallout series, chances are you’ve picked up on an MMO in development called Fallen Earth being developed by Icarus Studios.  There was an announcement just today that Fallen Earth will be incorporating the Vivox technology suite into it’s game for voice communication.  I’m excited to hear that (no pun intended), and it relates to what I said last week about how ubiquitous voice chat is becoming in MMOs.  Here we have an upcoming MMO building these features in from the ground up, using cutting edge technology.  I think we’re going to see more and more of this happening as time goes on, to the point where someday it will seem odd that voice chat was ever not part of the base set of MMO features.

FRAMINGHAM, MA - September 5, 2006 - Icarus Studios and Vivox, Inc. announced today that Icarus’ highly anticipated massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) Fallen Earth will include on-demand, in-game voice communication as the result of a technology integration agreement between the two companies. Vivox will provide Icarus with game-embedded voice communication services customized for and integrated into Fallen Earth. The MMOG is set in a near future post-apocalyptic world struggling to emerge from the collapse of civilization brought on by viruses and environmental disaster.

Fallen Earth players are able to speak at will with other players in-game, create discreet team audio conference channels and join, leave and rejoin voice channels during game play without impacting game performance. All voice communication is hosted and mixed on Vivox servers in order to ensure no lag in game play and minimal drain on CPU resources. On-screen indicators show players which channels are monitoring audio communications and which player within a channel is speaking. Players will also have moderator privileges to kick, mute, ban and un-ban other players, all synchronized with the team and raid privileges of the in-game group leader.

I think Fallen Earth is on the right track by taking this step and I look forward to seeing this integrated set of voice communcation tools within their game. 

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I think I missed the whole “SOE Evil Empire” bandwagon.  I mean, I played EQ and heard about SWG stuff, but it always seemed to me an extreme reaction by folks taking things just a bit too seriously (and yes, that’s an understatement).  Well, for the haters and former haters out there, it turns out SOE isn’t all evil empire after all.  They are doing some nice work for charity in the Austin area with a favorite organization of mine, Habitat for Humanity.  If you’ve never done volunteer work or specifically worked on a Habitat house, boy it’s a rewarding experience.  There’s no substitute for helping someone who genuinely needs help and helping them to achieve home ownership when otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible.  So kudos to SOE for doing this in a fun and unique way, tying in-game events in with the RL donations.  Full press release following:

DESTROYING VIRTUAL HOUSES, BUILDING REAL HOMES

Star Wars Galaxies® Video Game Event Raised Funds and Awareness for Habitat for Humanity to Fight Poverty Housing

AUSTIN, TX - September 5, 2007 - While in-game events are a fairly common occurrence in a MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game it’s not often that they result in the joint effort of a major video games publisher and a leading charitable organization promoting affordable housing. But it’s exactly that kind of event that has enabled Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) LLC’s Austin, TX studio to team up with Austin Habitat for Humanity (AHFH), contributing financially as well as through volunteer efforts to help people in the Austin community find homes.

In SOE’s Star Wars Galaxies (SWG) MMO, there was a surplus of player-created houses and buildings that had been abandoned or left unoccupied by players. SOE Austin VP of Development John Blakely wanted to remove the houses, but do so in a way that is uniquely Star Wars - the buildings were marked as “condemned” by the evil Galactic Empire, and scheduled for demolition - TIE fighters would swoop in and bomb the buildings to the ground.

The SWG community was also given the chance to join in the fun of this “urban renewal;” players were provided reward points for the number of buildings they destroyed, which could be redeemed for special in-game items like droids, paintings and furniture. “When we initially conceived this idea, we didn’t know how the community was going to react,” said Blakely. “Oddly enough, it was very well received; some players that hadn’t been in the game for months came back to reclaim their property, re-activate their accounts and start playing the game again.”

SOE Austin took things one step further and offered to match the number of houses demolished with a donation to charity, considering Austin Habitat for Humanity first. “Using the money we raised blowing-up virtual houses and buildings to help build real homes was a no-brainer for us,” said Blakely. “Austin Habitat for Humanity has done incredible work in the community, helping people find good homes, and our whole studio wanted to contribute to their efforts.”

On Thursday, September 6th, Blakely will present AHFH Executive Director Michael Willard with a donation at SOE’s industry reception at the Austin Game Developers Conference.

“Teaming up with Sony Online Entertainment is a wonderful opportunity for Austin Habitat and the families we serve. The creativity and diligence that these professionals exhibit in their work are traits which translate well to our efforts to eradicate poverty housing in our community,” said Willard. “Austin needs creative solutions in our quest to create more affordable housing and diligent leadership in as we work toward those goals.”

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Stargate Worlds (SGW), the MMO being developed by Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, aims to bring some fresh ideas to the MMO landscape.  Fans of the movie and tv series (*cough* Darren *cough*), there is a lot of anticipation for this game.  It’s a known IP, it’s sci-fi, it’s got tons of lore and backstory, and with the concept of the stargate the possibilities for gameplay are endless.

Gateworld recently sat down with the lead animator on SGW, Carl Coss, to talk about the animations in the game and how they go about deciding what and how to animate.  As you read (or watch) the interview, it’s really interesting to hear what considerations go into animating a walk, or a weapon animation.  One quote emphasized the point to me:

There’s tons of decisions like that that go into all this stuff, and the animation system has to be pretty laid out. Like I said, for one movement for a walk cycle there’s 30 or 40 animations that are based on that. So if you change something down the road you’re changing hundreds of animations, and possibly your animation system. 

I think SGW will probably shape up to be a really cool game.  I look forward to following it more in the future.  But while you wait, check out the Dev Profile of Josh Kurtz (Lead World Builder) on their main site for more good info. 

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