Jon Van Caneghem’s MMORPG Announced

Jon Van Caneghem’s current development studio, Trion World Network, has announced plans to develop a fantasy MMORPG that will apparently also wind up being tied to a television series on the Sci Fi channel. First, the press release:

Trion World Network Announces First Game in Development

Fantasy MMORPG Helmed by Legendary Designer Jon Van Caneghem

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Trion World Network, Inc. (Trion), the publisher and developer of connected games and entertainment, has announced their first title, a fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Jon Van Caneghem, Computer Gaming Hall of Fame member best known for creating the long running RPG and strategy franchises Might and Magic and Heroes, is the creative force behind the project currently being developed internally at Trion’s Redwood City studio. The game represents the initial first-party title on the Trion Platform, and will be published by Trion in both North America and Europe.

Gamers will enter a seamless, persistent fantasy world, where they will significantly affect the gameplay experience through dynamic events. Battles of enormous scale will create epic moments that an unprecedented number of players can participate in. All of this will be powered by Trion’s revolutionary server-based architecture, which is uniquely designed to enable massive scalability, dynamic content evolution, and cross platform development.

(This game is designed on the philosophy of putting players at the center of the game world,) said Jon Van Caneghem, co-founder, President and Chief Creative Officer, Trion. (By building an extensive event system and a server architecture that allows for dynamic change, we are creating completely new opportunities for creative game design. The game will live and change along with the players, evolving in response to their actions and the creativity of our design team.)

Trion’s first title, led by Jon Van Caneghem, is another step that underscores Trion’s momentum in building a premium publisher and developer of server-based games. Today Trion also announced a publishing agreement with Sony as well as a major co-development deal with Sci-Fi Channel. With a world class team lead by industry veterans, publishing agreements across platforms, new IP titles being developed in the Trion studios, backing from financial and media giants, proprietary groundbreaking technology and operations in key locations, Trion World Network aims to define the future of interactive entertainment.

About Trion World Network

Trion World Network, Inc. is the publisher and developer of connected games and entertainment. With its unique dynamic, multi-device platform and a premier global development and publishing organization, Trion combines the best of video games, online social media, and traditional mass-market entertainment across multiple connected platforms of choice. Trion is headquartered in Redwood City, California, and operates development studios, as well as platform and publishing teams in San Diego and Redwood City, Calif., and Austin, Texas. Privately held, Trion investors include Time Warner, NBC-Universal, GE, Bertelsmann, Rustic Canyon, DCM and Trinity Ventures.

And then a bit from this article on The Los Angeles Times:

Can two alien cultures coexist in one writers room? Sci Fi is entering a brave new world by teaming television writers with video-game designers to create a franchise that is both a television series and a massive multiplayer game on the Internet — more than that, the fans who play the game will actually help shape the show’s story arc with their virtual exploits.

“This is the Holy Grail for us, without a doubt,” said Dave Howe, president of the Sci Fi Channel, which has teamed with Trion World Network, an on-the-rise gaming company based in Redwood City, Calif. “This is groundbreaking, and I don’t say that lightly.”

Sci Fi Channel executives are mum about the title of the show and game and their premise, but they do hint that it will be set 80 to 100 years in the future on an Earth that looks very different from today. The team has summer 2010 as the targeted launch; more details are expected to be announced in July at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Massive multiplayer online role-playing games (a mouthful term shortened to the only slightly better MMORPG) have become a sensation, especially World of Warcraft, which has 10 million subscribers who pay about $15 a month to explore, battle and interact with one another and magical beasties in a land called Azeroth. The game pulled in $1 billion last year, and Legendary Pictures has plans to make a $100-million tie-in film that will hit theaters next year.

Howe said bundling a World of Warcraft player community with a series and an on-line social community is something the Sci Fi Channel has tried to puzzle out for several years.

Very interesting. Thanks, Blue’s News.