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Exhibit B, Q or X: 'Legends' concept art from canceled Pandemic project
Following Pandemic's closure last November, several "secret projects" previously handled by the EA-owned studio slipped further into obscurity. While Mercs Inc. is apparently still in the works at EALA with the help of former Pandemic staff, "Project B" and "Project Q" (code names once used by Pandemic) were reportedly canceled -- and the status of a third mystery game, "Project X," is unknown. The not-to-be Wii racer, The Next Big Thing, was supposedly Project B or Q, and the recently unarchived project, Legends, is likely the other of the two. Former Pandemic artist Dorian Compo has posted alleged concept art of the so-called Legends project on his self-promotional blog. "This is a project I worked on for a while, but then it was canceled -- not sure why, because it would've been awesome," Compo writes alongside the series of art stills, which depicts a fantasy-type sky world complete with various aircraft designs. More recently, Compo posted a set of "tarots" bearing a Mercs Inc. logo and said the game was also "canceled." While providing a seemingly erroneous update, perhaps Compo was merely suggesting that the particular version of Mercs Inc. he had once worked on is no more. [Via superannuation]
Concept art from Pandemic's Mercs Inc. sneaks onto the net
When art or information is leaked on a developer's personal web page, most (especially the bosses) would likely see it as a gaffe. But we eternal optimists like to take these moments as an opportunity to celebrate the artists that far too often are hidden in the shadows of their IPs and big-name studio chiefs. Today, we spotlight Mr. Tony Ianiro, a concept artist who displayed some of his work on Pandemic's upcoming Mercs Inc. on his personal page. At least, he says it's from Mercs Inc., and while we have no apparent reason to doubt Mr. Ianiro's word, you know how concept artists are. [Via VG247]
'Mercs Inc' officially announced, developed by Pandemic at EALA
This morning's leaked footage, purported to belong to a new multiplayer-capable Mercenaries game called "Mercs Inc," just barely beat EA's official announcement of the (working) title to our front page. In development at EA Los Angeles, the latest toy in the destructive sandbox is paraded underneath the Pandemic banner, held aloft by the "core creative team" that survived the physical studio's recent closure. No target platforms have been announced. According to EA senior VP and group GM, Nick Earl, the swift announcement "demonstrates our continued commitment to Pandemic's rich catalog of intellectual properties." As the press release innocently points out, "Mercs Inc will also be the first Pandemic game" to be released after this December's The Saboteur, the last Pandemic game. Oh, the previous one, we mean.
