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Citizen Zero canceled, Micro Fort working on spy MMO
Citizen Zero has been canceled. After nearly seven crippled years in development, Micro Forté has dragged the gimpy MMO out back and put a bullet in the poor thing -- for the better. We haven't heard a peep outta Citizen Zero since 2004, when Micro Forté revised the storyline from the initial framework proposed in 2000. Citizen Zero was to be a showcase for the company's middleware BigWorld Technology, which is now being used in upcoming MMO Stargate Worlds.Micro Forté has apparently shifted focused to a spy MMO. It's unclear if this is the same project that was revealed by Sony executive Yair Landau during his D.I.C.E. keynote. According to Landau, SOE's Seattle studio is the primary developer, but perhaps SOE has licensed BigWorld for the game. We'll keep you posted.
Activision buys DemonWare, claims Irish paper
Dublin's Sunday Independent reports that Activision has dropped €15 million (about $19.75m) for DemonWare, maker of the popular network middleware technology. DemonWare's two primary products are its State Engine and Matchmaking+, used to power the multiplayer component of Activision's Call of Duty 3 -- as well as THQ's Saint's Row and Ubisoft's Rainbow Six Vegas. Since its creation in 2003, DemonWare, which is headquartered in Dublin, has emerged as a leading outsource option for publishers' networking needs. As online multiplayer grows into an industry standard, DemonWare technology could prove to be a valuable asset to Activision .DemonWare has yet to comment on the alleged acquisition.Source (registration required)
Crytek pitching CryENGINE 2 at GDC
Crytek is putting the finishing touches on its grand sales pitch, preparing the first public demonstration of its CryENGINE 2 middleware. To be held at Booth 848 on the GDC show floor, the demonstration will provide hands-on time for the curious passer-by and, more importantly, for developers interesting in licensing the custom technology. The full set of tricks will be on display, including "what you see is what you play" Sandbox2 editing (trust us, it's like 'night and day'), interactive vegetation pumped in real-time from the asset creation pipeline -- and (just maybe) a rabbit outta the hat. We'll be sure to bring a smoke detector and check for mirrors behind those monitors...
Square Enix licenses Unreal Engine 3
With more money and time being spent on creating detailed art assets for modern games, it's no longer surprising to see even Japanese developers licensing engines and toolsets from the likes of Epic Games. Square Enix have announced that they have entered into an agreement with the Unreal Engine 3 and Gears of War developer, gaining a complete middleware platform for use in their upcoming games. General manager of R&D at Square Enix, Taku Murata, explains that the deal will speed up the creation process and allow developers to spend less time working on the nitty-gritty of technology. "The complexity of next-generation game systems featuring HD graphics and multi-core parallel processing poses a number of technological challenges to our game development. However, we can expedite our game development process significantly while allowing extra time and resources to be spent on game design and mechanics by establishing an effective technology platform."Hopefully, Square Enix's Unreal 3 projects will fare better than Namco's aborted Xbox 360 attempt, Frame City Killer.
