It may or may not be Fallout when the public beta of an upcoming massively multiplayer online game launches two years from now.
Interplay is moving ahead on a post-apocalyptic massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, signing an agreement with the developer behind Earthrise to produce Project V13. While V13, a codename only, is widely believed to be a Fallout MMO (screenshots have already been released, though are of dubious authenticity), a nuclear stalemate is still ongoing between Bethesda and Interplay possibly preventing Interplay from using the brand.
Bethesda bought the Fallout IP in 2007 while it was developing Fallout 3. Before that, it was licensing the IP from Interplay. Apparently, Interplay is now a licensee of the IP as the company continues to ramp up production on its massively multiplayer game, first announced way back in 2004. Interplay announced last year it signed an agreement with Masthead Studios, the developers of Earthrise, to develop the game using proprietary tools and MMO technology. The studio was brought aboard in early 2009.
According to Videogamer, The MMO is currently scheduled to enter public beta in 2012.
So, two full years; Do you think that’s long enough for Interplay and Bethesda to sort out their legal dispute and give the fans a Fallout MMO game? Fallout or not, I’m a sucker for the post-apocalyptic setting and, while I don’t generally play MMORPGs (though I have dabbled in World of Warcraft), I might just give this a shot either way.
That is, if I remember by 2012.
Source: Videogamer
