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[Operations]

Swingin' Ape Studios, of Metal Arms: Glitch in the System fame, has been appointed by Blizzard to henceforth develop StarCraft: Ghost, the oft delayed third-person action / adventure adaptation of Blizzard's acclaimed RTS franchise.

"Not only will Swingin' Ape first finish development on StarCraft: Ghost, the agreement states that Swingin' Ape will in the future collaboratively develop multi-platform titles with Blizzard based off Blizzard licenses. This could mean more Diablo, Warcraft, and StarCraft for all platforms."

http://cube.ign.com/articles/528/528920p1.html



Could this also mean Diablo will come soon to consoles?

 

[StrikerObi]

Fuck.

 

[Mashing]

Wow, I didn't see that coming. Excellent pick Blizzard.

 

[Rhage]

How's that bad? Metal Arms was good stuff and underappreciated (real poor sales until the big drop, at least). Nice to see them get their comeuppance!

 

[The Faceless Master]

from good dev to better dev?

holy shit, someone somewhere made a GOOD decision for once?

 

[Meier]

Great to hear. The game was shit at E3.. here's to hoping they can improve it in a timely manner.

 

[Wario64]

Isn't this good news? Swingin Apes was like a no-name developer before Metal Arms...now they're working on a Blizzard game? That's major stuff

Woo for Swingin Apes! Metal Arms rox

 

[ToyMachine228]

+1 for StarCraft: Ghost

 

[CrimsonSkies]

Good Stuff. Maybe we'll see something on Diablo 3 soon.

 

[Mrbob]

Sweet! Does this mean the game is getting totally retooled now?!?

 

[Slo]

Awesome.

 

[Mr_Furious]

Kudos to Swinging Ape. Make us proud, guys.

 

[Gorgie]

If anyone can make Starcraft Ghost good, it's Swinging Ape.

 

[Docpan]

Doomed.

 

[buck naked]

Wow! Nice to see Swingin' Ape get picked up like that!

 

[Jonnyboy117]

+1 Quality
-1 Sales

 

[StrikerObi]

Well doesn't this mean that Swingin' Ape did the most recent E3 version? It was shit.

 

[Wario64]

No, that was Nihilistic's doing, who are off the project as announced weeks ago. Blizzard started doing some evalutions for a new developer and they picked Swinging Ape

 

[Mrbob]

-1 Sales

Now with Blizzard behind the title. Can't wait to play this in 2006.

 

[stonedwal]

+1

The videos that came out around E3 time were pretty underwhelming. This should at least ensure the game is of above average quality.

 

[SD-Ness]

Nice to hear.

BUT,

I want StarCraft 2.

 

[chespace]

This is really good news if you ask me. Just look at how UNJANKY Metal Arms is compared to just about anything out there. And it's great to see Swingin' Ape get some good work after getting shafted with Arms...

Makes me wonder what Nihilistic is up to these days. I still remembering visiting them not too long ago in Fennec's mini-van of love.

----

http://chespace.1up.com

 

[AeroGod]

This is awesome.

 

[fennec fox]

Does this mean that Starcraft will now have hydroplane racing?

 

[sc0la]

Does this mean that Starcraft will now have hydroplane racing?

If by "hydroplane racing" you mean "delays" then, Yes!

 

[Sho Nuff]

I wonder how much they'll have to redo from scratch. It's not like entire codebases can be easily swapped across totally separate teams.

 

[BuddyC]

I wonder how much they'll have to redo from scratch. It's not like entire codebases can be easily swapped across totally separate teams.

Kinda my thoughts. It'll be interesting to see how much is retained.

 

[IgeL]

Heh, I thought "a new StarCraft RTS?! Woah!"

This is good too.

 

[carbonbased]

Say no to Diablo on consoles!

Glad to hear they're moving to a more competent developer, though, even if it means we won't see the game until 2007.

 

[Deleted member 284]

Bigger Question is does Swinging Ape own Metal Arms? Hope so cause then we'll probably see MA2 if Blizzard is happy with the coding of Ghost.

 

[Dagless M.D.]

This news is better than a big bag of jam

 

[Ghost]

****fits of girlish laughter****

 

[Suerte]

Blizzard Entertainment has announced that development studio Swingin' Ape is to take over the completion of StarCraft: Ghost, following the end of original developer Nihilistic's involvement with the project last month.

Swingin' Ape was formed by a number of Midway employees who left the firm after completing work on Hydro Thunder, and recently delivered original title Metal Arms: A Glitch In The System for Vivendi Universal Games.

The company's deal with Blizzard is believed to extend beyond the StarCraft: Ghost work, with the official announcement this morning alluding to collaboration on future multi-platform projects, although no details have been announced as yet.

Last month, Blizzard admitted that StarCraft: Ghost, which was originally unveiled at the Tokyo Games Show in September 2002, would be pushed back to a 2005 release date in order to ensure that the game met the company's quality standards.

At the same time, developer Nihilistic announced that it was no longer involved with the project, and was preparing to move on to work on a new title - leaving StarCraft: Ghost delayed and apparently without a developer, a situation now resolved by the appointment of Swingin' Ape.

"The team at Swingin' Ape Studios is a very talented group of developers with a proven ability to deliver extraordinary games," according to Blizzard president and co-founder Mike Morhaime. "We're confident that this partnership will result in titles that achieve the level of quality that players have come to expect from Blizzard products."

gi.biz

 

[krypt0nian]

Metal Arms was in my Top 3 from last year!

Now I'm certain that not only will Starcraft:Ghost turn out great, but the Apes will get some well deserved praise and acclaim for fixing the drek that was at E3.

Go Apes!

Congrats Steve and Keith!!!