Activision signs Stainless Steel

Activision has announced that it has signed a multiple-year, multiple-title publishing deal with Stainless Steel Studios, the Massachusetts-based developer behind Empire Earth. Stainless Steel is currently working on the first project covered by the deal, a new real-time strategy game that's being designed by the studio's founder, Rick Goodman, who also helped found Ensemble Studios and create Age of Empires.

"Stainless Steel is one of the few organizations with the talent and track record to create a franchise that can compete with the very best real-time strategy games in the market today," said Larry Goldberg, executive vice president of Activision Worldwide Studios. "We are very excited about our new alliance and together we will be able to deliver another great franchise in the real-time strategy genre."

This news doesn't necessarily mean the end of the Empire Earth series, which has sold more than a million copies worldwide. While Sierra is no longer working with Stainless Steel, the publisher does retain the rights for Empire Earth and could continue the series with a new developer. The recent Empire Earth expansion, Empire Earth , was developed by Mad Doc Software.