Posts Tagged ‘Franchise’
Swedish retailers reaffirm the existence of Far Cry 3
According to Swedish retailer Webhallen and the country’s local GAME web store (via), Ubisoft’s – once Crytek’s – Far Cry franchise will be hitting shelves for the third time this year. Both retailers have listed Far Cry 3 for a 2010 release, and according to GAME, it’ll be set in Africa once again, but with an even bigger world and enhanced with a completely upgraded Dunia engine.
Far Cry 3‘s existence has been “confirmed,” not once, but twice and with a more recent rumor added to the fire claiming the game is in “full swing.” But this being a rumor, hence the lack of any kind of an official announcement by Ubisoft, we still feel we’re a far cry from the truth – excellent pun intended.
The waiting game continues…
Take-Two fails to acquire BioShock.com from current owner
It would appear that publisher giant Take-Two has had a bit of a setback as far as the BioShock franchise goes. The publisher has made an attempt to try and secure the BioShock.com domain from current owner Name Administration Inc., a professional domain name purchaser, for its highly acclaimed franchise. This without success unfortunately.
Name Administration bought the domain in 2004, just a few months after rumors of the first BioShock game surfaced. However, failure on T2′s part to explain why Name Administration is using the domain in bad faith became the reason WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) denied T2 the domain transfer; it was purchased before the BioShock name was actually a registered trademark or even associated with T2 at all, which did not happen until 2005.
It was a hard lesson learned, but the fact that developer Irrational Games is in sole possession of BioShockInfinite.com now proves that advances in the domain registration process have been made within the companies involved, so unless you really want to get a view of the cyber-squatting going on at the “fake” bioshock sites, you should stick to the Infinite one.
Spec Ops: The Line drops a gamescom trailer
A new trailer has been released for 2K Games’ Yager-developed Spec Ops: The Line, the gritty, brooding reboot of the classic Spec Ops franchise. Not much can be told from the trailer that wasn’t already known: something bad is going down in Dubai, and you, as the game’s protagonist, will very likely be smack-dab in the middle of it; and it’s probably safe to assume that the explosions, muzzle flashes and dead dudes in the clip are a direct result of all that.
Look for the game when it hits early next year, and a beta sooner, but only on the 360.
Ubisoft & Jade Raymond: 2 reasons to care about Canada
Ubisoft is taking a new, grandiose approach to game development. With their new studio in Toronto Canada, headed by gaming luminary and all-around superheroine Jade Raymond, the company intends to create a development powerhouse. Even though the Toronto branch has just opened, Raymond says, “We want to grow to 800 staff in ten years, we’re on two major projects now, and eventually we’ll be working on five.”
When Raymond says “major projects,” she’s not kidding – one of the two games Ubisoft Toronto is currently toiling away on is the next entry in the Splinter Cell franchise. Though in order to make top games, you need top talent. Raymond is bullish on the studio’s prospects of garnering cream-of-the-crop developers: “If developers have ambition to make triple-A projects, and want to have their place in what is a thriving start-up, the Ubisoft Toronto is the place for them.”
They’ve got the ambition and the talent – how about the coin? Ubisoft is currently planing to invest over 0 million (Canadian) into the Toronto satellite, with the Canadian government signed on as well – the Canucks will invest another 0 million over the next decade, in the hopes that Ubisoft will act as a flagship to spur jobs growth and economic development in the Toronto community at large.
New Fable novel coming out this fall
You know a videogame is popular when real-life books are written about their digital worlds. Newsflash: the Fable franchise is popular.
On October 5, The Balverine Order (via) will hit bookshelves. The tome is penned by Peter David, an old scribe of comic books and videogame adaptations, Halo: Helljumper being one of his recent works. I know what you’re thinking – who has time to read when there are games to be played? Well, those who buy the book will also get a code for a special weapon for their Fable III hero. It’s like your librarian always told you – reading is important!
