Xbox 360 and Threewave land Source games
Valve empire grows
Developer Threewave have revealed today that they are to take on Valve's Source engine technology as a middleware solution. Middleware helps developers make games more quickly and efficiently, providing the foundations from which developers can craft their own titles. The new agreement between Threewave and Valve covers more than one title for the PC, with the first game said to be a first-person shooter.
The unannounced new title will apparently provide sponsors with the opportunity to 'reach' players of the game - so we're assuming in-game advertising will play an integral role in the new game. The physics engine which is a part of the Source engine will also be extended as part of the new project, we're told.
"While planning our next project, we evaluated all the leading game engines, and Valve's Source was the ideal fit for Threewave's direction," beamed Dan Irish, CEO of Threewave. "As we move into our sponsored content initiatives - particularly episodic content - we know that Source provides some of the best new features available. Valve's industry-leading support and Threewave's technical expertise, are a winning combination for creating the very best experiences for gamers worldwide."
Threewave is a Canadian developer who have previously worked on Castle Wolfenstein, Doom and Unreal projects. It is more than plausible, given the developer's chatter of episodic content, that Valve's Steam service will be used to deliver the new game(s) too.
In related news today, Valve Software have revealed that the Source engine will also be licensed for development on the Xbox 360.The new version of the middleware software will be going head to head with the Unreal Engine 3, already one of the most popular pieces of technology on the new console. We're told that the engine will be capable of squeezing the most out of the next-gen hardware, as well as fully supporting Xbox Live.
More over, the Source engine will even support RTS, RPG and other game genres, beyond Valve's traditional FPS staple. Various Half-Life 2 based projects are already in development for the Xbox 360 at Valve, and we'll keep you posted on all this as we learn more.
