Transformers gets Western MMOG

Last year, Chinese online game publisher NetDragon revealed plans to create a Transformers massively multiplayer online game for release in Asia, Russia, the Middle East, and North Africa. While NetDragon's game may never venture beyond those regions, UK-based Jagex today announced plans to create its own Transformers MMOG for audiences elsewhere in the world.

Jagex's game is expected to launch in 2012 in North America, Latin America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Jagex is best known as the publisher of the free-to-play browser-based game Runescape. No details were announced about the game, save for the fact that it will--like all things Transformers--pit the heroic Autobots against the deceitful Decepticons.

The massively multiplayer online market is one of the few remaining media options the Transformers have yet to conquer. The brand started as a popular toy line in the 1980s and spawned an animated television series and movie. Transformers lore saw shape-shifting robots that could transform into cars, guns, robotic dinosaurs, and even metal insects. In recent years, the brand has undergone a resurgence, thanks to the Michael Bay-directed summer blockbuster film series.

Currently, the rights to make non-MMOG Transformers games are held by Activision, which recently announced tie-in games for the upcoming third Transformers movie, Dark of the Moon.