BioWare Licenses Simutronics' HeroEngine
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BioWare Licenses Simutronics' HeroEngine for MMO Game Project
Simutronics announced today its first licensee for its new HeroEngine, a complete integrated platform for development of massively multiplayer online (MMO) roleplaying games (RPGs).
BioWare Austin will use HeroEngine for development of its new MMO project. This game will be the first project for the new Bioware Austin studio. BioWare is one of the leading developers of interactive games, with many hit titles including Jade Empire, Neverwinter Nights, and Star Wars® Knights of the Old Republic.
MMO games are the fastest growing segment of the video games market, with $2 billion in global revenues and growing at a projected $1 billion per year according to DFC Intelligence. Millions of people around the world come together in online games such as World of Warcraft, EverQuest, and Star Wars Galaxies to cooperate and compete with each other.
"At BioWare we selected HeroEngine because it had the most sophisticated and complete development tools available for building an amazing online experience," said Gordon Walton, Co-Studio Director of BioWare Austin. "Our team wanted a great rapid prototyping environment and to work with experienced MMO developers. The HeroEngine from Simutronics is a perfect fit for BioWare Austin's requirements."
Simutronics demonstrated HeroEngine in its booth at the recent Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) and will be showing it again at the Austin Game Conference (AGC) in Austin on September 6th-8th. Simutronics spent the past five years developing this new platform, and has recently begun making HeroEngine available to developers to create their own massively multiplayer online games.
"We are thrilled to have BioWare Austin using HeroEngine," said David Whatley, founder and CEO of Simutronics. "As game developers ourselves, we put careful thought into the features other MMO developers needed. To have an industry leader like BioWare as our first licensee is an honor and strong validation of our team's hard work and great design."
About Simutronics
Simutronics Corp. is a leading creator of advanced technology platform for developers in the billion dollar global market for massively multiplayer online (MMO) games. Its HeroEngine platform reduces time to market by 1-2 years with a full feature set in an integrated turnkey solution. The company also offers a proprietary catalog of MMO games. Founded in 1987 and known as "the original master of online games," the firm has innovated in the multiplayer online game world with popular titles like GemStone, DragonRealms, and CyberStrike, all of which are still played by avid fans on the play.net website. The company operates a variety of websites including www.play.net and www.heroengine.com. Corporate information is online at www.play.net/corporate. Simutronics has offices in St. Charles, MO and Gaithersburg, MD. HeroEngine and Hero's Journey are trademarks of Simutronics Corp., all rights reserved.
About BioWare
BioWare Corp. is an electronic entertainment company which develops computer and console video games focused on rich stories and memorable characters. BioWare's developers are hard at work on Mass Effect, a brand new BioWare-created intellectual property, and an Xbox™ 360 exclusive, to be published by Microsoft. Mass Effect is an epic science-fiction role-playing game set in a spectacular new vision of the future. BioWare's new studio in Austin, Texas, has begun work on a new massively multiplayer online game, marking BioWare's entry into the MMO space. Jade Empire, BioWare's first game based on a BioWare-created intellectual property, was released in April 2005 and has enjoyed critical and commercial success. BioWare is also hard at work on Dragon Age, a high fantasy RPG set in another brand-new world created and owned by BioWare. BioWare's Technology Architecture Group is also developing the cutting-edge next-generation BioWare Eclipse Engine technology for multiple platforms. BioWare has an online fan community at www.bioware.com consisting of over 3 million registered users who regularly connect to discuss the company's current and future games. In November 2004, the company launched the BioWare Online Store at store.bioware.com, where fans can purchase new content for their favorite BioWare titles and merchandise. Previously published projects include: the action-RPG of 2005 for Xbox, Jade Empire; the 2003 Game of the Year, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™ for PC and Xbox; the award-winning Neverwinter Nights™ series; the genre-defining Baldur's Gate™ role-playing game series for the PC; MDK™2 for Dreamcast and PC, MDK™2: Armageddon for PlayStation®2, and Shattered Steel™. Employment information at BioWare can be found online at jobs.bioware.com.
About BioWare|Pandemic Studios
BioWare/Pandemic Studios was formed through the fusion of two industry powerhouses and private equity firm, Elevation Partners. A leader in the action/adventure category, Pandemic joined forces in 2005 with BioWare, a company known for its role-playing games rich in story and character. Co-equal and complementary, the newly partnered video game studios are working both in tandem and separately to develop new, original titles as well as continuing to leverage the licensed franchises and owned-IP each is known for including: Mercenaries™, Destroy All Humans!™, Full Spectrum Warrior™, and Star Wars® Battlefront™ II from Pandemic and Mass Effect™, Dragon Age™, Baldur's Gate™, Neverwinter Nights™, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™ and Jade Empire™ from BioWare. Focused on next-generation platforms to create bold new concepts in entertainment, BioWare/Pandemic's studios are located in Los Angeles, California; Brisbane, Australia; Austin, Texas; and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. For more information, please visit www.bioware.pandemicstudios.com.
