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Atari founder's Battleswarm enters MMOG fray

Nolan Bushnell divulges first details about upcoming free-to-play hybrid of real-time strategy and first-person shooter.

During the 2008 Game Developers Conference, Atari founder Nolan Bushnell confirmed for GameSpot that he was getting into the massively multiplayer online game market, but offered little insight into how. In an interview with USA Today this week, Bushnell revealed the first details of his upcoming MMOG Battleswarm: Field of Honor.

Battleswarm: Field of Honor will be driven by a microtransaction-based business model.

Battleswarm: Field of Honor will be driven by a microtransaction-based business model.

Described as a combination of real-time strategy and first-person shooter, Battleswarm is Bushnell's attempt to merge the kinds of games he enjoys with those his five sons (aged 16 to 30) play. A relative rarity, the MMO FPS genre has only a few members, including 2003's PlanetSide and the forthcoming Huxley: The Dystopia.

"In first-person shooter mode, you're a human soldier out to destroy alien bugs, while the commander view in the RTS mode lets you control your bugs, such as swarming, moving them around on the terrain to take on the humans," Bushnell said.

Atari founder and serial entrepreneur Nolan Bushnell.

Atari founder and serial entrepreneur Nolan Bushnell.

Battleswarm will be a free-to-play game fueled by microtransactions, where players can spend a couple of dollars (or less) to upgrade their characters' abilities with premium items. Bushnell said microtransaction players and those who play for free might be partially separated in order to keep the game balanced, but he added that skilled players won't necessarily need to upgrade.

The game is currently being developed by Reality Gap, a Seattle-based outfit cofounded by Bushnell. When it launches, it will use MetaTIX, a virtual currency created by the Reality Gap founders that will work across games. Currently, it is only used by a single title, Reality Gap's free-to-play Monato Esprit, which launched earlier this month.

In the 1970s, Bushnell staked his claim to the title "father of the video game industry," founding Atari, producing the first arcade games Pong and Computer Space, and establishing gaming as a billion-dollar business. Since that time, he has been a serial entrepreneur, founding gaming-related restaurant chains, such as Chuck E. Cheese and uWink, and serving as chairman of the board for casual-gaming ad firm NeoEdge. Paramount Pictures is currently developing a feature film on the early days of Atari and has cast Leonardo DiCaprio to play the part of Bushnell.

14 Comments

  • jubby7806

    Posted Aug 23, 2009 2:58 am GMT

    I'm looking forward to this but i want single player for once . It does look fun!

  • mpeg3s

    Posted Aug 2, 2009 11:08 pm GMT

    I had this concept many years ago for millitary games. I think the MMO will be it's own un-doing. Build or buy weapson enter $$$s.

    Good Luck, he will need it!

  • RRouland

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 9:15 am GMT

    FPS when playing the humans, RTS when playing the bugs. Wow. Great idea! I hate RTS, but love FPS games. I may actually have to try this out.

  • jazilla

    Posted Aug 1, 2009 7:47 am GMT

    as long as it isn't part of the SOE family of MMO's, I will try it!

  • sergio_afonso

    Posted Jul 31, 2009 3:59 pm GMT

    Interesting Idea!

  • Inconnux

    Posted Jul 31, 2009 1:32 pm GMT

    Planetside was tons of fun... until Sony patched it so it was barely playable... when performance dropped down to 5fps when I was getting 30-40, I quit.

  • ottumatic

    Posted Jul 31, 2009 10:47 am GMT

    Hey its free-to-play, so no complaints.

  • sun_rider95

    Posted Jul 31, 2009 9:47 am GMT

    Gladestone1 you are totally right

  • Decrate

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 10:44 pm GMT

    this year alone i've seen over 10 mmos be announced. thats more than i've ever seen.

    competition is going to be tough between them. WoW and LotRo don't have to worry though since they have a strong base.

  • psx_warrior

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 7:37 pm GMT

    Agreed, Gladestone1.

  • Diernes

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 5:42 pm GMT

    Actually sounds really interesting I like the idea, but gawd, the business model just plain sux. Just make it a normal game.

  • PhilWil92

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 5:37 pm GMT

    Trying to jump on the FreeRealms, Toontown, and Fusion Fall train. Hey if it makes you money, why not?

  • Gladestone1

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 5:17 pm GMT

    Please just stop with all these mmos..Holy cow..Bring some single player games to the pc..Its not all about mmorpgs that make the pcs great..Look at sims3 also how about sacred 2...Warhammer 2k, spore, company of heroes..Plenty of other games to talk about..Way to many companies trying to get into the mmorpg market..The pc can be profitable if you make classic games..Just bring us quality an not junk..

  • NuKkU

    Posted Jul 30, 2009 4:10 pm GMT

    im predicting fail

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