Interplay, the original owner of the Fallout IP, has worked out a deal with big Bulgarian game dev' Masthead Studios to work on Project V13, a under-wraps Fallout MMO.
The deal was worked out just in time, as Interplay was required by a legal agreement to secure $30 million and began development of the game in earnest, by April 4th 2009, or the license to create a Fallout MMO would be forfeit, will full access to the Fallout IP reverting to Bethesda. While it has not been announced that the $30 funding is guaranteed,it seems likely this requirement will be met by the two companies doing some fancy bookkeeping, otherwise there would have been no point in announcing the partnership one day before the deadline.
Masthead Studios is currently at work on a highly-anticipated, action based science fiction MMORPG called Earthrise, launching in the second half of this year.
Earthrise is one example of a new generation of upcoming MMORPGs with twitch-skills combat. While Interplay has been working on the design of the Fallout MMO for at least a year now, it is assumed that they have not begun much of the nuts-and-bolt work on the game. Which in turns bodes well for the two companies building the Fallout MMO in the game mechanics-mold of Earthrise.
Building a MMORPG from scratch is an incredible feat of programming -- so now with Masthead Studio's help, use of proprietary software and funding, the possibility of the Fallout MMO actually being completed is greatly enhanced with today's announcement.
"We are looking forward to turning the vision of our game designers into a compelling online gaming experience. The planning and design completed for Project: V13 thus far, combined with Masthead’s resources, tools, and growing team of dedicated MMOG developers, will bring this unique game to reality," said Interplay's CEO, Herve Caen.
Below is a new trailer for Eathrise that came out of GDC 2009. Check it out:
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