14 DAY TRIAL // Firefly Studios has announced that it plans to deliver a MMO based on its popular Stronghold series. It will be called Stronghold Kingdoms and will allow players to develop their own castle and surrounding area while making efforts to take out those of their rivals.
The MMO is set to offer a mix of PC gaming and web-based interactions. The full building options that were delivered in previous Stronghold videogames are still there, allowing players to create complex castles, with a variety of defenses, while also developing a strong economy that produces the goods required to create a powerful army, which can then be used to take out the castles of the enemies.
Firefly is promising to add a variety of social features, ranging from chat options to complex interactions, with factions thrown in the mix and elections taking place in each of them. A system of lords and vassals will be implemented and a lot of titles and achievements will be offered to players, with names like “Besieger of the month” and “Apple farmer of the day.”
Eric Ouellette, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Firefly Studios, stated that “What is exciting about Stronghold Kingdoms is not only are we taking Stronghold online and massively multiplayer, but we are funding this ourselves as an independent developer.”
As seen in the attached screenshot, the MMO will not be able to compete with other offerings, like BattleForge for example, on the strength of graphics alone. If it plans to draw in players, Firefly really needs to target the niche of gamers who are deeply interested in the finer points of castle building and castle sieges. More features will be unveiled for Stronghold Kingdoms in the coming months. Firefly has not established a release date or the pricing of the game yet.