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Emergent to sell Gamebryo and the rest of its assets
If you've played Fallout 3 or Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, you're actually familiar with Gamebryo, even if you don't know it. It's a studio owned by Emergent Game Technologies, crafting middleware tech for tons of companies like Bethesda and Square Enix, whose biggest claim to fame is its Gamebryo Lightspeed engine, used in "over 350 games so far." And today the studio, along with the rest of Emergent's properties, including its IP (whole or in part), were put up for sale. The sales of asset notice comes from Gerbsman Partners via a post on the Blog of Intellectual Capital and details the current state of Emergent, a company which managed to lose revenue in the ballpark of $30 million since being founded in 2005 on through 2009. This year, the company actually showed a bit of profit, albeit a relatively small amount, nothing that could get Emergent back into the black. What's unclear as of right now is the future of Emergent: it hasn't filed for bankruptcy, but one could assume that selling all of your stuff means you're getting out of the business for good. We've contacted Emergent for some additional info and will update accordingly.
Ragnarok Online II scrapped, new Ragnarok Online II takes its place
It's always a difficult decision to take a game that you've put a ton of work into already and scrap it. Sometimes, no matter what developers dream up, it just turns out to be nowhere nearly as fun as originally intended. While we don't know the specifics on what precisely made Gravity Interactive change directions on Ragnarok Online II, news has come down the wire that they have nonetheless decided to heavily alter the direction they were headed in and instead deliver a true sequel to Ragnarok Online. The new version of Ragnarok Online II, now subtitled "Legend of the Second" will offer players familiar systems from the first game, only this time in an updated, immersive 3D world. Gone are the chibi graphics of the initial design in favor of more mature-looking characters. Gone too is the character-based weapon leveling system, the new leveling system, and unfamiliar races. Back in the mix are all the things that players enjoyed about the original Ragnarok Online: pets, cards, familiar classes, and more. This new version will launch into closed beta in Asia on August 31, 2010, with no specific date for the Western crossover at this time. Still, it warms our hearts when a gaming company is willing to make the hard choice and change direction -- making a game enjoyable, rather than sticking to the original plan and sacrificing fun. [Via iRo Wiki forums] [Thanks Coldbrand!]
Gorilla Banana studios and Emergent announce partnership for Red Blood
What do you get when you combine Emergent's Gamebryo engine, a developer with the arguably awesome name of Gorilla Banana, and a bunch of genetically-altered super-humans who each want to rule the world? Red Blood. Emergent Game Technologies and Korean developer Gorilla Banana have put their collective heads together to further create this futuristic MMO. Players of Red Blood will choose one of four countries to join -- Victoria, Kulitie à Khuril-Tai, Normu à Nomos, and Peiladulia à Phratria. Each country has different character traits and attributes to its advantage, but the citizens are all after the same goal: world domination. You'll join your "new and improved" countrymen in a bid to make your country the ruling power. Gorilla Banana's site states that Red Blood has been in alpha since July of 2007, so hopefully the announcement of the partnership with Emergent means that we'll be hearing more from Red Blood soon.
Rumor: Fallout 3 bound for 360?
Is the anticipated third installment of the Fallout series going to see the light of day on the Xbox 360? It's too early to tell right now, but there are a few things that will give gamers a glimmer of hope. After a brief interlude with Fallout Tactics, the popular RPG franchise is getting a true sequel from Bethesda. Executive Producer Todd Howard informed UK OXM that when work started on Fallout 3 in 2004, the team was only 10 or so strong. After Oblivion finished up, however, most of the staff moved over to work on development for the title. He also hints that while their preproduction process is relatively long, they should soon be able to show it off. Running on the same Gamebryo engine as Oblivion, the chances of there being a port to Xbox 360, with open ended gameplay intact, are high. On top of that, Todd was Executive Producer for Morrowind and Oblivion, which definitely makes the glass look half full. Do you want to see Fallout 3 make it to the Xbox 360?[Via GameSpot]
