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Bodycount's bodycount rises, game delayed to summer
Following the departure of creative director Stuart Black, the Bodycount team at Codemasters is losing more high-profile talent, this time Codemasters Guildford GM Adrian Bolton, according to Eurogamer. Also out: Bodycount's original spring 2011 release date, replaced by "early summer." CEO Rod Cousens said that the delay wasn't necessarily related to the outgoing developers, but instead is about quality concerns with the game. "He's left, but I don't think the company centres around one person. If I left I don't think the company falls over," Cousens said, noting that "someone will fill the void." The delay happened due to Codemasters' unwillingness to "compromise the game."
Indian company purchases fifty percent stake in Codemasters
While some gamers in the US may not be immediately familiar with Codemasters, we know our readers across the pond will immediately recognize them as the company with the rights to publish Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, and (the "who-knows-when-it-will-release") MMO Jumpgate Evolution overseas. With that said, last year we heard that the COO at Codemasters, Tony Williams, decided to step down from Chief Organizational Officer. Not too long after that, there were rumors that Warner Brothers was looking into buying the company. Today, it seems that a company from India called Reliance Big Entertainment has pounced, and now owns a 50% stake in Codemasters. Apparently, Reliance Big Entertainment is very well known in India. It's subsidiary company, Zapak Digital Entertainment, owns the largest online gaming portal in the country as well. This gaming-specific company will be the one in charge of overseeing the investment in UK-based Codemasters. As to what this could mean for MMO gamers in the EU, we'll have to wait and see. Perhaps Reliance/Zapak will see fit to close the gap in differences from the Turbine-controlled version of Lord of the Rings Online. Or perhaps this new company will finally roll the Codemasters version of Dungeons and Dragons Online over to the same free-to-play model that has been such a huge success for Turbine in the States. No matter what, this is going to be interesting to watch. [via Joystiq]
Bodycount confirmed for Xbox 360, PS3; early 2011 release
Bodycount says: One! One new gallery of screens from Codies' new IP digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/09/bodycount-confirmed-for-xbox-360-ps3-early-2011-release/'; Taking aim at the "whack-a-mole mechanics" of your typical cover-based shooter, Codemasters is finally ready to take the wraps off Bodycount, the new first-person shooter IP in production at Codemasters Studios Guildford under the direction of Black creator Stuart Black. "Our shredding tech enables us to create a different kind of gameplay, where players and AI can't hide behind indestructible cover," says Black. "Here the environment is constantly changing as the game world is shot to hell; it's going to be a huge amount of fun." That huge amount of fun will be built on the EGO Game Technology Platform, an evolution of Codemasters' EGO Engine, for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The story has something to do with killing 'Targets' – those are the bad guys – on behalf of the 'Network' – ostensibly the good guys. In addition to a full campaign, Bodycount will feature expected FPS enhancements like online multiplayer and co-op modes. Codies' "first internally produced new IP for many years" will be shredding environments in Q1 2011. We'll let executive producer – and former Sony London director – Tom Gillo have the last comically hyperbolic word on Bodycount: "From the jaw-dropping devastation caused by firing into enemies or shredding the world around you in a hail of bullets, Bodycount will crystalize that moment of pulling the trigger into an exhilarating sensory overload of action." %Gallery-87733%
Codemasters' new FPS, Bodycount, announced briefly
Codemasters' new FPS from Black creator Stuart Black has been revealed by OXM UK -- and then promptly unrevealed, when the article was taken down. Bodycount is not based on Ice-T's metal band Body Count, because the world couldn't possibly be that beautiful. However, the cover of OXM (accessed through a Google cache of the article) calls it "the ultimate shooter." Since there won't be any shooters after this one, we assume that means it's really cool. We'll find out more this week as the magazine arrives in UK homes, and presumably when an announcement is put online for good. Given the venue of announcement, we at least know it is an Xbox 360 game. [Via Destructoid]
