If you have been eagerly awaiting news on the top-secret Copernicus over at 38 Studios, you'll be pleased to hear that 38 Studios broke the silence today. "Project Mercury," a single-player title set in the Copernicus universe, will be coming to the PC, XBox 360 and PS3. 38 Studios signed a publishing deal with EA to bring the game to market.
"Project Mercury" is described as "an epic single-player role-playing game," and is being developed by 38 Studios-owned Big Huge Games under the guiding hand of Ken Rolston (Morrowind and Oblivion). This will be the first Copernicus project launched by Curt Schilling's team after years of anticipation and heavy speculation. As NASA's Project Mercury set out to test the boundaries of space by putting a man into orbit, "Project Mercury" looks to be testing the waters of single-player RPGs before diving into the realm of MMOs, similar to the approach of fan-favorite Torchlight.
Stay tuned to Massively, as we meet with Copernicus' R. A. Salvatore later this week at GDC to pick his brain.
Reader Comments (12)
Posted: Mar 9th 2010 1:34PM (Unverified) said
You are on a pitcher's mound.
Your sock is bleeding. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Your sock is bleeding. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Posted: Mar 9th 2010 1:38PM Gaugamela said
Great decision. Launch a single player RPG, create a fan base for the IP and then launch an MMO in it.
Posted: Mar 9th 2010 1:59PM JayFiveAlive said
My thoughts exactly! Can't wait to see some Project Mercury details!
Reply
Posted: Mar 9th 2010 2:12PM (Unverified) said
This I suspect is more due to the company needing some income and an MMO from them is still too far away. 38 Studios was trying hard to get more funding, but wasn't having much luck.
But it's a good way to do things. Release something, hopefully really good, get some fans, get some excitement, and then bring out the bigger project, the MMO.
But it's a good way to do things. Release something, hopefully really good, get some fans, get some excitement, and then bring out the bigger project, the MMO.
Posted: Mar 9th 2010 2:14PM Bhima said
I think this is absolutely the best road map for independent dev. gaming houses. Torchlight was VERY successful as a single-player game and will definitely be successful once multi-player is introduced. I hope this works out for them because it only means good things for the gamers!
Posted: Mar 9th 2010 2:19PM Teki said
Man, EA is bad new for MMOs.
Posted: Mar 9th 2010 3:02PM GRT said
Am I reading Singlely now? Why is Massively reporting on single player games?
Posted: Mar 9th 2010 3:27PM (Unverified) said
I'm actually kind of excited about this. There seems to be more MMORPGs than single-player RPGs these days.
Posted: Mar 9th 2010 4:46PM Valentina said
nice. its about time.
Posted: Mar 10th 2010 6:24AM Dblade said
Anyone else get an an Advent Rising or Too Human vibe from this? Both were lead single player games set in an expansive universe with projected sequels: one even had a noted SF/Fantasy Author work on it as well (Orson Scott Card for Advent Rising) Both bombed. Only difference is that the sequel to this is an MMO.
I'm not sure that it's the best way of doing things. If the single player game is successful, why make an MMO? The only examples I can think of this working are games with a series of successful single player games running before them (Final Fantasy and FFXI, .hack and .hack//fragment.)
Interesting to see how this plays out. EA is no guarantee: after all they published Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath.
I'm not sure that it's the best way of doing things. If the single player game is successful, why make an MMO? The only examples I can think of this working are games with a series of successful single player games running before them (Final Fantasy and FFXI, .hack and .hack//fragment.)
Interesting to see how this plays out. EA is no guarantee: after all they published Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath.









