THQ making Big Huge RPG

By Emma Boyes, GameSpot UK
Posted May 3, 2007 6:51 am PT

New Ken Rolston-led project will sally forth on the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC in 2009.

More details are slowly emerging about the new Ken Rolston-led role-playing game--THQ has announced it has entered into a "development agreement" with studio Big Huge Games to bring the new RPG to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC platforms in 2009.

Rolston, who has 25 years' experience in RPG design, began his career working on pen-and-paper RPGs, including games and supplements for Paranoia, Warhammer, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, and Rune Quest. His most recent video game projects have been Bethesda Softworks' massive fantasy RPGs The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

In February 2007, Rolston put off retirement and instead joined the Maryland-based Big Huge Games to work on an "original and cunning" RPG. Big Huge Games was founded in 2000 by four veteran game designers, with the original focus to be on "top quality strategy games." It has previously worked on gamees including Rise of Legends, Rise of Nations, and Catan, but with the hiring of Rolston, the company announced it would be branching out into the RPG realm for the first time.

Big Huge Games' president and COO, Tim Train, commented, "We've wanted to do an RPG for years and I think we have a great direction that will knock everyone's socks off." Lead designer Rolston, added, "I'm privileged to embark on a bold pilgrimage to create a refreshingly original RPG experience."

GameSpot will bring you more details on the project as and when more information becomes available.

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n8berman
Posted May 7, 2007 7:01 pm PT

Ok, so a new RPG in 2 years. Kinda hard to peak my intrests when they don't give any real details beyond "original and cunning."
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Citan76
Posted May 7, 2007 1:55 pm PT

More good rpgs that aren't mmo's = a good thing
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ObiKKa
Posted May 7, 2007 12:18 pm PT

syafiqjabar
"Based on some comments here: Companies should make more watered-down games since they are awsome and award-winning like oblivion.

Someone theoraticaly butchering Shakira's face so that she would look like Salma Hayek is apparently a bad thing (I'm talking about the soon-to-be-nominated-for-loads-of-awards STALKER)."

Well, GSC, the team that created STALKER, could develop more from that ground up now that they'd already released that game. Plus, they can learn from the many mistakes that they'd made in regards in trying to create structural designs of the game during the development prior to its release. So they could be making STALKER 2, which could be more advanced than that of its current predecessor. Let's hope so.

ajadoniz
"Is Big Huge Games owned by Ze Microsoft?"

No, but Microsoft do develop great relationships with many of the developers with whom they'd published their games from.
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Painkiller-jack
Posted May 7, 2007 11:02 am PT

No thanks!!!
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wenbin09
Posted May 7, 2007 2:17 am PT

give us a big blockbuster!
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tig1979
Posted May 7, 2007 2:08 am PT

To be as huge as the title suggests, should it not have something in the text saying Black Isle revival, Baldurs Gate or something like that? 2 years who gives a crap about something so long awya with such sketchy details
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TRH4469
Posted May 7, 2007 1:59 am PT

a big huge rpg sounds nice but i hope its not another MMORPG they are getting a little old if you ask me.
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Humorguy_basic
Posted May 6, 2007 7:43 am PT

I am just pointing out that given how much has changed in the last 2 years (Who would have thought about the Wii and it's huge success based around, in effect, a new control system and the rise in retro gaming interest?) the cost of the PS3 being so high, retro gaming on PC growing so fast as gamers lose interest in modern gaming that ebay opens a specific retro gaming section, always a sign of trends changing, and last year having the fewest number of PC game releases and this year looking the same, all means that 2 years to me is a long time, and given this carries no details and means nothing, shows how the PC gaming media is struggling for news items. Doesn't take a genius......
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malmeid2
Posted May 5, 2007 11:40 pm PT

Humorguy_basic Shows how little is going on in gaming NOW to have this article about an RPG in 2009 with no details whatsoever, talk about future fluff to cover up present cobwebs! As the PC gaming market dies, and console gaming is in flux, we get a news story about a game that will be out in 2009 when we hardly know if the will be a PC market at all and what the console market will be like by then, PS3 dead in the water as Blue-Ray loses out to HDTV, or Microsoft finally pulls out of Gaming for Windows and the XBox 360 due to continuing losses as Linux and retro grow to 80% of the market! In other words, who know what 2+ years is going to do to the gaming market, let alone a single game!
----------------------------------------------------------
I'm going to assume you're autistic, which is the only rational explanation I can come up with. That, or LSD...
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malmeid2
Posted May 5, 2007 11:38 pm PT

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]
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smithmattj
Posted May 5, 2007 2:42 pm PT

NEWS FLASH: Man hired by company. Owners project new employee will do some work. Further details as they become available.
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mmogoon
Posted May 5, 2007 10:30 am PT

Yeah pretty useless article, but if its made by the oblivion guy then its pretty exciting
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lithus
Posted May 5, 2007 8:29 am PT

Wow, that article told us absolutely nothing.
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spy_hellscream
Posted May 4, 2007 8:39 pm PT

I dunno it sounds sketchy, its probably going to be one of them games where they make the graphics while writing the game which would make the graphics out of date when the game finally releases...lets hope their smart eh
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buttface1
Posted May 4, 2007 8:30 pm PT

Hope it won't be too much like Elder Scrolls... no offense, I just can't get into an RPG with out any character... don't like playing silent characters and going all solo, it's boring.
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Dryker
Posted May 4, 2007 6:54 pm PT

I expect great things.... Far off, but GREAT! Fresh, "Western" RPG's is what we need. Hell, Fantasy is Western.... Tell me, oh, please, why on Earth Eastern enterprises seem to put out the best stuff based on Western mythology. Nuthin' against it, love the stuff, but pardon if I say it's a bit off. Fable 2 can't come soon enough. "I think faeries have burrowed their way into my gums!?"
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Azail11
Posted May 4, 2007 5:40 pm PT

Humorguy_Basic--> Blue-Ray is a format for movies in HDTV. Microsoft spent a lot of money to develop Direct X 10. Linux has never held the majority of the PC market, let alone the console market. So seriously, your post better be a joke...or else you must have a very short memory. The PC market will continue to grow, maybe not in the field of single player games, but it will continue to grow--just look at WOW. Anyways, 2 years time is almost nothing in terms of an industry that has been around for the last 35 years.

Personally, I am glad to hear of a new game, especially an RPG, come from the same company that made the Rise of Nations series. Hopefully, they can make an RPG as well as they make strategy games.
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Humorguy_basic
Posted May 4, 2007 12:55 pm PT

Shows how little is going on in gaming NOW to have this article about an RPG in 2009 with no details whatsoever, talk about future fluff to cover up present cobwebs! As the PC gaming market dies, and console gaming is in flux, we get a news story about a game that will be out in 2009 when we hardly know if the will be a PC market at all and what the console market will be like by then, PS3 dead in the water as Blue-Ray loses out to HDTV, or Microsoft finally pulls out of Gaming for Windows and the XBox 360 due to continuing losses as Linux and retro grow to 80% of the market! In other words, who know what 2+ years is going to do to the gaming market, let alone a single game!
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gafferoo
Posted May 4, 2007 12:42 pm PT

I have to agree with Phalluman. All they just say is a game is being developed. For all we know, it could be a Nintendogs RPG.
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phalluman
Posted May 4, 2007 12:33 pm PT

i dont know how it can sound interesting or promising. i didnt read anything about the game or even see a screenshot
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MasterEmil
Posted May 4, 2007 12:03 pm PT

Hmm in a way im looking forward to this.... The man who were in the team of making Oblivion combined with the ones who made Rise Of Legends and that can only be good, so raelly looking forward to it heh
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HuxleyHobbes
Posted May 4, 2007 7:15 am PT

Sounds promising. I don't much care for being told about something promising at least two years before it manifests, however :p
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CaptainCrazy
Posted May 4, 2007 7:14 am PT

Well I've heard promises like this before and considering the game won't be out until 2009, jees, who knows where and what I'll be doing by then.
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Humorguy_basic
Posted May 4, 2007 5:53 am PT

2009 is sooooo long off, and with the video game business in flux, I am not going to lose any sleep!
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chrisdojo
Posted May 4, 2007 5:31 am PT

lol i hope they name it "big huge RPG" just to poke fun at "little big world"
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wusscore
Posted May 4, 2007 5:18 am PT

@noblekeltic:

NICE reference! Quest 64...really bad.
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Morrowindeler
Posted May 4, 2007 4:33 am PT

I can see it now. This will go back and forth *big huge*makes massive RPG Bethseda must get back wth V and then *BH* and then VI. Yeah lets hope>
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noblekeltic
Posted May 4, 2007 3:30 am PT

Quest 360!
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arc_salvo
Posted May 4, 2007 2:51 am PT

I wonder if this is going to be the Warhammer 40k RPG that THQ's been thinking about.
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jakeboudville
Posted May 4, 2007 1:20 am PT

i'll wait and see what's in that creative mind
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zsc4
Posted May 4, 2007 12:39 am PT

Well seems good...I'll wait and see...
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syafiqjabar
Posted May 4, 2007 12:06 am PT

Based on some comments here: Companies should make more watered-down games since they are awsome and award-winning like oblivion.

Someone theoraticaly butchering Shakira's face so that she would look like Salma Hayek is apparently a bad thing (I'm talking about the soon-to-be-nominated-for-loads-of-awards STALKER).
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Humorguy_basic
Posted May 3, 2007 11:40 pm PT

2009...??? Don't hold your breath for a PC version in that year!
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Alucard7321
Posted May 3, 2007 11:20 pm PT

Would be amazing if its called "Big Huge RPG" on release!
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fionndruinne
Posted May 3, 2007 11:04 pm PT

A lot of you guys sounds like you've never played Rise of Legends, when you say this is going to be boring and watered-down. I think a complex and original world is something we can kind of count on - look how far Big Huge went to create a fantasy world just for an RTS.

This would be a great game even if they just stuck with Aio, the RoL world. I'd like to see a good story involving those guys (rather than the sloppy, hastily-abbreviated campaign in the RTS game).
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RossRichard
Posted May 3, 2007 7:09 pm PT

If anyone can make a good RPG, is Ken Rolston with Big Huge Games. Cant wait.
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Nightmareplus
Posted May 3, 2007 6:56 pm PT

Sounds good to me
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stkeller
Posted May 3, 2007 5:48 pm PT

i hope they dont make a MMORPG. I can only wait to see if Big Huge Games can do with RPGs what they did with strategy games.
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GizmoVirus
Posted May 3, 2007 5:38 pm PT

RPG games have rocked forever, about time more were made
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Oni
Posted May 3, 2007 4:58 pm PT

Hmm interesting. PC needs some good RPG's. NWN2 and Oblivion were disappointing. That's only my opinion though
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axelone
Posted May 3, 2007 4:41 pm PT

Nice nice, they got a guy who knows his way around RPGs. 25 years of experience isn't anything to be scoffed at. I'll be looking at this Big Huge RPG :O
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cherrybomb257
Posted May 3, 2007 4:41 pm PT

I still have the excellent Daggerfall strategy guide he authored. Bravo.
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Jedi_Osborn
Posted May 3, 2007 4:40 pm PT

sounds cool. too bad the guy looks like a total jerk in his picture.
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AvIdGaMeR444
Posted May 3, 2007 4:29 pm PT

No Wii love of course...
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ajadoniz
Posted May 3, 2007 4:02 pm PT

Is Big Huge Games owned by Ze Microsoft?
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SaxxyGamer18
Posted May 3, 2007 3:54 pm PT

Ew...Aidyn Chronicles on the 360? No way, man. Quest 64 was even worse. Ugh. THQ makes some seriously awful RPG's.
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speedy2295
Posted May 3, 2007 3:32 pm PT

sweet i can't wait to find out about it.
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Sinister904
Posted May 3, 2007 3:32 pm PT

cool
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Ghost_Warrior
Posted May 3, 2007 3:30 pm PT

The more rpgs on the 360 the better! Too bad we've got to wait till 09 until it comes out.
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Slayervorge3000
Posted May 3, 2007 3:29 pm PT

This sounds great. I love RPGs! Just hope that it's a good RPG.
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