new IP from EA, looking great!

[bleh bleh bleh]

Electronic Arts' EA Partners program made headlines last week for striking publishing deals with indie developers Hothead Games and Klei Entertainment. Today, the company made a larger announcement--a Big Huge one, in fact. Ex-baseballer Curt Schilling's developer 38 Studios has struck a deal with EA to publish an upcoming single-player role-playing game. The deal does not extend to 38 Studios' massively multiplayer project, code-named Copernicus.

EA just added another arrow to its RPG quiver.

Code-named "Project Mercury," the single-player RPG is being developed by Rise of Nations studio Big Huge Games for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. (After then-owner THQ threatened to close the studio in 2009, 38 Studios stepped in and bought the Maryland-based developer.) It will be an all-new intellectual property cocreated fantasy by comic-book artist Todd McFarlane (Spawn) and author R.A. Salvatore (The DemonWars Saga). Both men helped Schilling found 38 Studios--then called Green Monster Games--in 2006, and respectively serve as art director and "executive creator of worlds" at the Maynard, Massachusetts studio. The game will not be based on any of Salvatore's or MacFarlane's previous work.

Though 38 Studios is a relatively new operation, Project Mercury has some seasoned development talent behind it. Its project lead is Ken Rolston, who was lead designer on Bethesda Softworks' acclaimed high-fantasy RPGs The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Several other Bethesda alumni are working on the project, as well as a senior designer from Lucasarts' the Force Unleashed. Veterans of Civilization and Civilization II are also on board.

According to EA Partners general manager David DeMartini, Rolston and his team will also be able to tap the minds of EA's own RPG powerhouse. "The guys at BioWare were actually involved in the early discussions with the folks at Big Huge," he told GameSpot. "They've had an opportunity to have some preliminary discussions and preliminary talks. So, I certainly think that you could expect strong collaboration that would include the BioWare team."

Ken Rolston was lead designer on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Though he would not reveal Project Mercury's release date, DeMartini said that EA will play "air traffic control for RPG fans" to make sure the game's launch doesn't conflict with that of any BioWare titles. The Canadian developer recently released the multiplatinum hits Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins within three months of each other. The first full-fledged Dragon Age expansion, Awakening, is due out next week, with another major release in the series due out in the first quarter of 2011.

Finally, DeMartini said the 38 Studios/EA Partners deal came about due to the friendship between Schilling and EA Sports' gregarious president Peter Moore. After the two spoke casually about a potential collaboration, an EAP team went to 38 Studios and Big Huge Games to look at Project Mercury, which they (obviously) approved of.

38 Studios, EA in Big Huge RPG deal - News at GameSpot

bioware + elders scrolls? this looks very promising.

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bleh.

[Paratech]

That sounds very cool and they even have a PC version!

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Spoiler:

-Dreams of getting a new 360 XBOX in 201x.
-Current consoles:Wii, Slim PS2, also has 3DS / GBA SP and a PSP 3000

-PC: AMD Quad Core A8-3800 Accelerated Processor, 16GB DDR3 Ram, Radeon HD45xx 1 GB video card, 1 TB hard drive, 500 GB hard drive, Supermulti DVD Burner, Wireless Lan 802.11 b/g/n, Beats audio Studio Quality sound, Win 7 Home Premium

Yes, I like getting (primarily digital) games on sale @ bargain prices! don't like it? Just deal with it!

[redlofredlof]

I thought IP was internet protocol. You should have written Single player

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[Lasnap]

ip stands for intellectual property to be precise. as for the game ill take a look at the rpgs sence i love rpgs lol lets just see how this one goes

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Love Knows No Bounds!

[SCHUMI_4EVER]

Creator of Spawn huh? sounds good but somehow I don't think this will be my kind of RPG...

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Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83Ghz stock) | ASUS P5Q | 2x2GB Transcend JetRam DDR2-800 | ASUS ENGTX260\HDTP\896M | Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1

The Champ has retired but may his Legacy live on FOREVER !!!!

No$GBA DS FAQ 2.0

Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!!

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[ShadowPlayer]

nice, it really sounds good

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DBZ FOREVER

[ozzgx4]

This is pretty cool, I wonder how it will turn out

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http://ozzgx4.deviantart.com/

When you were born you were crying and everyone
around you was smiling, make it through life so that
when you die you will be smiling and everyone around you will be crying.

[bleh bleh bleh]

i really really hope these developers dont get in a fight with each other and ruin the game *crosses finger*

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bleh.