14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer Bungie has announced that the first game linked to its much-talked-about Aerospace initiative will be called Crimson: Steam Pirates, will tackle the real-time strategy genre and will be launched exclusively on the iPad from Apple.
The developer of Crimson: Steam Pirates is Harebrained Schemes, a small studio, and the leader of the creative effort is Jordan Weisman, who has previously founded FASA Corporation and has been instrumental in the development of franchises like BattleTech, Shadowrun and Crimson Skies.
Bungie says that the game will offer multiplayer modes and that it will rely on Bungie.net to show player stats, deliver leaderboards and synchronize with Facebook.
The developers at Harebrained Schemes are saying that they already have a deep lore for the universe the game is set in and that they are planning to launch more titles based on it.
Weisman stated, “I felt that the game I was developing could be warmly received from Bungie's audience. There are 350,000 apps in the App Store, sometimes it's pretty hard to get noticed. It's a combination of helping make a better game and have an audience to present it to as a launching point.”
The game will be launched for free on September 1 and, if it is successful, it's possible to see it ported to Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Network and maybe even the PC.
Bungie has announced that the Aerospace initiative is designed to allow smaller developers to create and launch creative titles with support from the creator of the Halo franchise.
At the moment, Bungie's main focus is on developing a new game universe in collaboration with publisher Activision Blizzard.
The two companies have a ten-year agreement and the speculation is that Bungie is creating a science fiction Massive multiplayer online game which incorporates a number of first-person shooter elements.