Sega signs Petroglyph for new RTS

Sega's been taking a greater interest in Western development of late, enlisting Silicon Knights, The Creative Assembly, and now Petroglyph Studios to work on its latest projects.

Already at work on Star Wars: Empire at War, Petroglyph is concurrently developing a modern military/sci-fi-themed real-time strategy franchise that Sega will market and distribute worldwide. No product details or release windows were announced for the game. The development of a franchise instead of just a single game hints at high hopes for the product of this agreement, a notion backed by the comments of Sega of America president and COO Simon Jeffery.

"Sega is moving aggressively toward a leadership position in the RTS category, and the team at Petroglyph is behind some of the finest games in the genre," said Simon Jeffery, president and COO for Sega of America. "We continue to rebuild Sega as a leading publisher by collaborating with only the very best developers in North America and Europe."

While Petroglyph hasn't yet shipped a game to market, it comprises mainly veterans of the now-defunct Westwood Studios, the team behind seminal real-time strategy games like Dune II and Command & Conquer.