Despite the owner of the Total Annihilation brand confirming that TA2 was in at South Korea's Phantagram back in 2002, further details on a sequel to the classic Cavedog original have not been forthcoming; with any further updates from the publisher or indeed their chosen developer conspicuous by their absence. More confusingly still, a cursory glance at the Korean developers official site reveals that all mention of the Atari licensing deal that was to produce the TA sequel has been removed from their company history - the Atari (then Infogrames) press release confirming the alliance is also missing.

Enter the man who created the venerable real-time beauty way back in 1996, at GT Interactive's Cavedog studio - Chris Taylor - now head of Gas Powered Games, most famous for the impressive Dungeon Siege. Anyway, Taylor recently hinted that a sequel was in the works (in spirit if not name, possibly) - but at Gas Powered Games. Taylor was questioned on a number of at a recent Careers Day in Redmond, admitting that he could confirm something on the future of the series, conceding "an follow-up to Total Annihilation" as being in development at his own studio.

Taylor wouldn't be drawn on further specifics, but did confirm that a big publisher was backing the project (we're guessing licence-owner Atari), one that "doesn't also publish operating systems", ruling out Dungeon Siege publisher Microsoft.

Apparently, an official announcement will be made in the coming months - but we can take some satisfaction from the fact that this revelation came 'straight from the horse's mouth' as it were - and that as the original mastermind behind this seminal title, Taylor is the ideal choice for developer of the sequel - perhaps something Atari considered in switching developer. At least this is what we suspect, though as this IGN article notes, this may not be an 'official' sequel, owing to Taylor's ambiguous wording. More on this exciting development as we get it. Thanks to VE3D.com for this good spot.

By Luke Guttridge