EA Hands Classic Franchise to Starbreeze

The creator of The Darkness and Chronicles of Riddick is working on something special for the publishing giant. Any favourites?

With games such as last year's The Darkness and cult-hit Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay under their belt, the developers at Swedish game maker Starbreeze have created quite a reputation for themselves. EA has noticed and has tapped the team to revive one of its classic franchises.

Which one? EA isn't telling. For now the game, which is being developed for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, carries the working title of Project RedLime.

Already the fan community is buzzing, trying to figure out which franchise the developer could be working on, with guesses ranging from action-racer Road Rash to corporate-war classic Syndicate and RPG-slash-shooter System Shock.

"Starbreeze's pedigree is undisputed and we could not be happier to welcome them to the EA Partners family, EA's David DeMartini said in a press release. "The team is creating an incredibly innovative take on a classic property and EA Partners is poised to deliver a blockbuster launch on the global stage."

Johan Kristiansson of developer Starbreeze said the game is already "deep in development".

"We're excited to bring a new perspective and gameplay innovation to this beloved fiction," he said.

According to an investor briefing on Starbreeze's site, Project RedLime has been in the works since November 2007. No release date for the game has yet been announced.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo