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Civilization Revolution 2, new Pirates canceled?

Firaxis said to have canned original installments in Sid Meier's classic franchises, but fresh IP powered by Unreal Engine 3 on PC, consoles may be en route.

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Source: The Twitter feed of Internet sleuth Superannuation.

What we heard: Firaxis' Civilization franchise is one of the most enduring and lucrative in the industry. Still, it appears as if not every installment makes it to the finish line.

Yesterday, Superannuation claimed to have unearthed the online resume of a character artist who currently works at Firaxis and who indicated that Civilization Revolution 2 was in development for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC until 2008. As of press time, the resume has been removed from the artist's website.

It appears as if the world stopped turning on Civilization Revolution 2.
It appears as if the world stopped turning on Civilization Revolution 2.

If true, the game would have been a sequel to Firaxis' first attempt at bringing the Civilization franchise to consoles in nearly 10 years. That game launched to a strong critical reception in 2008, and Take-Two subsequently indicated that it was a commercial success as part of the game's most relevant quarterly earnings report.

Unfortunately, the developer offered no indication as to the fate of Civilization Revolution 2.

That's not the only mystery brewing at Firaxis, as it turns out. Superannuation also uncovered the studio's plans to create "an unannounced AAA strategy title for PC, XBox 360, and PS3 using Unreal Engine 3." The news comes by way of the online resume of a former Firaxis employee, a Google cache version of which is still viewable.

As for the nature of that big-budget strategy title, Superannuation took an uncharacteristic step by wading into the rumor-mill pool without supporting evidence. In a subsequent Twitter update, Superannuation said, "Rumor time: Apparently this Firaxis game is a new IP--not Pirates 2--slated for release next year," later suggesting that a new Pirates game had been canceled.

The official story: "2K does not comment on rumors or speculation."--A 2K Games representative.

Bogus or not bogus: Not bogus that Firaxis is working on a new AAA strategy game for PC and consoles. Given Superannuation's track record of reliable finds, it also seems likely that development on Civ Revolution 2 has been halted. However, it's unclear where Superannuation's information regarding a new property from Firaxis and a canceled Pirates game came from, and the information should be regarded with a suitable amount of skepticism.

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