Third Wave Games announces War World

Newly formed development house Third Wave Games today announced that it plans to release its first game online. The online mech combat game, titled War World, will cost $19.99 to download when it is released this fall.

"Third Wave Games' mission is to create high-quality downloadable video games that provide players a console game-like experience on their PC, at an affordable price," said Phillip Tavel, creative director at Third Wave Games. "The founders of Third Wave Games have launched some of the greatest franchises in the video games business, and we look forward to making a new mark in the online PC games arena."

Third Wave Games was formed by games industry veterans Morten Broderson, Johnni Christensen, and Phillip Tavel. Broderson most recently worked at Australia-based Blue Tongue Software, but as a software engineer at Rare his most notable achievement was developing the 3D engine used to create such titles as Banjo Kazooie, Donkey Kong Country 2, and Perfect Dark. Christensen is also an ex-Rare employee, and during his seven years at the UK-based developer he served as lead artist on a number of its titles, including Starfox Adventures, Donkey Kong 64, and Diddy Kong Racing.

Tavel most recently held the position of creative director for Blue Tongue Software, and he brings years of experience in intellectual property law and development, game design, and sales and marketing. Tavel was also the cofounder of multimedia entertainment company Interactive Imagination, and he also served as a product manager at Nintendo of America for a time.

War World is described as a "fast-paced, third-person online shooter" in which players will be able to build and battle "the ultimate mech warriors." The title will purportedly feature several different single-player modes of play, but it is primarily being designed as a multiplayer game. It's not yet clear how many players War World will support simultaneously, but Third Wave's promises for the game right now include online scoreboards and the release of new expansion packs every couple of months after it launches--the first of which will include a customizable mech skin editor, new mechs, new arenas, and additional weaponry.

We'll bring you more information on War World as soon as it becomes available. In the meantime, you might like to bookmark the game's official Web site, which is sure to offer something other than screenshots in the not-too-distant future.