Swingin' Ape taking over Starcraft: Ghost
Weeks after Blizzard and Nihilistic's co-development agreement on the RTS-inspired shooter ended, Blizzard hires the Metal Arms developer to finish the project.
On June 22, Blizzard Entertainment dropped a double bombshell. First, it announced that Starcraft: Ghost, the third-person tactical shooter set in the Starcraft universe, would not be released until 2005. Second, it confirmed that the game's developer, Nihilistic Software, was no longer working on the project.
Today Blizzard announced that it has hired Swingin' Ape Studios to finish the "collaborative development" of Starcraft: Ghost. "The team at Swingin' Ape Studios is a very talented group of developers with a proven ability to deliver extraordinary games," said Blizzard's president and cofounder Mike Morhaime. "We're confident that this partnership will result in titles that achieve the level of quality that players have come to expect from Blizzard products." Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Based in the Orange County suburb of Aliso Viejo, California, Swingin' Ape was founded in summer 2000 by three veteran Midway Games developers: Steve Ranck, Mike Starich, and Scott Goffman. Ironically, the company's only title to date is another third-person sci-fi shooter, the moderately successful Metal Arms: A Glitch in the System.
The Blizzard-Swingin' Ape announcement did not reveal any other details on Starcraft: Ghost, other than that the game will still be released on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube. GameSpot will have more details as they become available.
Hot Stories
Newsmakers
-
Dragon Age: Origins Interview with Ray Muzyka
We chat with Ray Muzyka about some of the features in Dragon Age: Origins. Full Story
- Posted Jul 8, 2009 4:06 pm PT
-
Left 4 Dead 2 Doug Lombardi Interview
We talk to Doug Lombardi about Left 4 Dead 2 at a recent preview event in London. Full Story
- Posted Jul 3, 2009 4:42 pm PT
Featured Stories
-
Sony dismisses Activision threats, PS3 price cut rumors
Sony Corp. CEO Sir Howard Stringer brands third-party publisher's comments as "noise," SCEA CEO Jack Tretton says other consoles don't deliver the same value. Full Story
- Posted Jul 8, 2009 1:15 pm PT
- 984 Comments
-
PS3 MGS4/Killzone 2 bundle now available
Best Buy begins offering rumored $400 retail configuration, which packs in 80GB console with nearly $90 of top-rated games. Full Story
- Posted Jul 7, 2009 11:19 am PT
- 486 Comments
-
Battlefield 1943 suffers server snafu
EA Dice's multiplayer-only downloadable shooter experiencing matchmaking technical difficulties after Xbox 360 launch this morning. Full Story
- Posted Jul 8, 2009 12:48 pm PT
- 149 Comments
-
Blizzard: Free-to-play WOW 'possible'
Lead designer Tom Chilton says the multiplatinum MMORPG champion could abolish monthly subscription plan by adopting microtransaction system. Full Story
- Posted Jul 7, 2009 12:43 pm PT
- 347 Comments
-
Square Enix retires Eidos publishing label
Japanese pub consolidates operations in Europe and NA, confirming some headcount reduction; British company's name will live on through dev studios. Full Story
- Posted Jul 7, 2009 11:15 am PT
- 143 Comments
Submit News
Related Game
Related Games
Recent News
-
Analyst expects 20% game sales slide in June
Pacific Crest Securities' Evan Wilson expects Fight Night Round 4 to break 1 million in disappointing month, says recession may be hitting games harder...
Site Blogs
-
Revisited: Age of Conan
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures was originally planned as a cross-platform massively multiplayer game both for the PC as a showcase...
0 Comments