More Syndicate Rumor Mongering

I love a good rumor as much as the next guy, so this juicy rumor about Starbreeze developing a new Syndicate game is certainly super delicious. According to a source close to the company, confiding in GameIndustry.biz - who is apparently great at keeping secrets (remind me not to tell them about that drunken bender I had in Tijuana in ‘89) - says that the rumor is true. The project which Starbreeze has called “Project Redlime” is apparently a new Syndicate game being developed for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. The original Syndicate series was created by Peter Molyneux’s Bullfrog Studios, which was eventually acquired by EA.

GameIndustry.biz surmises that work on this game will have to wait until after Starbreeze finishes the work it is doing for EA on the next Robert Ludlum Bourne game, which EA acquired the rights to when Activision dumped the rights earlier this year. Naturally all of this is supposition and rumor, and EA is not commenting on any of it. If it is true, EA could do worse: Starbreeze is responsible for such hits as The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay and The Darkness..

we’ve put a request out to EA for comment in the meantime.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena Gold

Development is officially complete on the latest installment in the Riddick game franchise, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena. Developed by Starbreeze Studios in conjunction with Vin Diesel’s Tigon Studios and Universal Pictures, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena is a brand new 11 hour action romp set in the popular movie universe. Playing as titular character Riddick (voiced by Vin Diesel) as he fights the crew of the Dark Athena, a predatory Merc-ship, and for his own survival.

The game features six multiplayer modes, including the original Pitch Black mode and Butcher Bay Riot. In addition to the Assault on Dark Athena campaign, the disc includes an HD version of The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. The game is scheduled for launch on the Xbox 360, PS3 and Windows PC ($49.99) on April 7 in North America and April 24 worldwide.

Gamers Get ‘Bourne’ Again With EA and Starbreeze

Last year, after the merger between Activision and Blizzard was finalized, a lot of franchises disappeared from the gaming radar. While Ghostbusters found a new home at Atari and THQ saw fit to pick up the new 50 Cent game, one property still in limbo was the fate of Jason Bourne. The Bourse license reverted back to Ludlum Entertainment after the merger, and gamers were left asking if they’d ever get a chance to once again fill the shoes of Robert Ludlum’s amnesiac superspy. Today, they got their answer.

Early this morning, Electronic Arts announced that Ludlum Entertainment has granted it the exclusive worldwide license to create video games based on the works of Robert Ludlum. The first game to be released as part of the new multi-year agreement will be a new Jason Bourne game, currently in development at Starbreeze Studios.

Read the rest of this entry »

Syndicate’s Return Rumored

Computer and Video Games, citing a second “reliable” undisclosed source, says that Starbreeze Studios is working on a new syndicate game for electronic Arts. This latest report follows a report last week citing another reliable undisclosed source that said Syndicate was the super secret project Starbreeze had signed on to do for EA.

EA is not commenting on what exactly Starbreeze is working on at this time, so it is hard to tell whether or not we could see a return pof of syndicate to the PC and current generation platforms like the PS3 and Xbox 360.

The original game, released in 1993 by EA and developed by Bullfrog proved to be very popular among fans. In this real-time tactical strategy game players took control of a militant global corporation’s cyborg soldiers. Players control four of these cyborgs agents, invading cyberpunk-themed cities, assassinating executives of a rival corporations, rescuing captured allies, convincing civilians to join, demolishing buildings, and killing enemy agents. Fu, fun.

Well I certainly hope this story is true, for now it’s just a rumor. We will keep you posted as we learn more.

Source: C&VG