CDV, Digital Reality Whiz-ing onto next-gen

In January, Electronic Arts revealed it is porting its PC real-time strategy game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II to the Xbox 360. In the wake of the announcement, many wondered how well the a strategy title would work on the console, given Microsoft's hesitancy about a fully functional keyboard peripheral for the console.

However, now other gamemakers are also seeing strategy and next-gen consoles as a good match. This week, German developer-publisher CDV Software Entertainment and Hungarian studio Digital Reality announced they are joining forces to form a new company, Whiz Software Kft, whose mission will be "creating top-tier strategy titles for next-generation consoles and handhelds." In a joint statement, the two companies said they expected the first Whiz release to ship in the fourth quarter of 2007.

"Whiz Software Kft will develop titles that will take advantage of the advanced features of next-generation consoles and handhelds," said CDV CEO Christoph Syring. He said the aim was to "raise the bar for strategy titles, an often overlooked genre on both platforms."

Arguably Germany's top PC developer, CDV is most famous in the US for its Codename: Panzers and Blitzkrieg RTSs. Digital Reality, maker of War Front: Turning Point, is largely unknown in North America.