Interesting news out of 38 Studios today, giving a lot to speculate on.
To get caught up, check Ryan “Blackguard” Shwayder’s blog entry over on Nerfbat, EA Signs Publishing Deal with 38 for Project Mercury. He has a link to the official press release. The news is starting to hit game sites like Gamasutra, NOW Gamer, and Shack News.
With the powerhouse publisher on board, it looks like the stars are aligning for 38 Studio’s master plan to build a whole new universe from scratch. So it is time to stop thinking of the company as an MMO game developer, and start thinking of it on a level of Marvel, Disney, DC Comics, Star Wars, etc. They’ve said that from the beginning, but nobody seems to have listened. Until now. Sort of. Maybe.
The MMO is going to be just one of many ways to delve into this universe. With creative and artistic direction from R.A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane, you know there are going to be books, comics, graphic novels, toys…maybe some animated works…and…of course…video games like “Project Mercury”.
People have been worried and have speculated about 38 Studio’s financial situation. Hopefully, a well-polished and well-distributed video game will be the kind of infusion the company needs to put those worries at ease. More importantly, the video game will give us a way to start connecting to the “universe” they have (not) been talking about for so long.
There is, of course, some skepticism in me. After all, building an entire universe isn’t easy. I mean, some of these people haven’t even solved the age-old questions of pie versus cake, or ninja’s versus pirates. How do they tackle whether the world of “Copernicus” is flat or round? We’ll just have to wait and see.
There are still hurdles to clear. 38 Studio’s owner Curt Shilling along with R.A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane have millions of people who know them and love them. I count myself as one. But they also have millions of people who know them and don’t like them. I think some of that audience needs to be won back.
Another thing that I would love to know is if everything is still on track time wise. Is Copernicus still moving along like they want? Has development slowed to give more resources to Project Mercury? It was three or four years ago the company said they wanted to try and launch the MMO in five years.
For now…it looks like my anticipation will be toward the the RPG game, Project Mercury. And I’ll be keeping my sites set on any news that may come from the Game Developers Conference going on right now in San Fransisco.