14 DAY TRIAL // In July, Eidos got swallowed by the Final Fantasy mania-spreader, in hopes that the Japanese developer and publisher would be closer to the European market in this way. But the British company wasn't really devoured as much as it was assimilated, in less of a Bork-like manner and more of a natural symbiosis type of relationship. As such, Eidos's studios are still hard at work on their own projects, with their specific designer traits, unaffected by the Japanese culture. Games under development, like additional installments to the Thief, Hitman or Tomb Raider, won't feature a saiyan-haired super hero and will stay true to their concept.
But the two companies will work together since that is the exact reason for which they teamed up. A shared project has been uncovered by UK gaming magazine Develop that will indeed make use of the common resources of the two developers. Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada is the one that made the announcement and said that the new game would bear influences from both Square Enix and Eidos and it would be developed by Eidos Montreal.
This new game "would be the first collaboration between Square Enix and Montreal," Wada stated during the Montreal Games Summit yesterday. "We would like to be able to create a new title that is made by the group as one." The CEO had no other details regarding the game, saying that it was still in the very earliest stages of its conception and that it was very far from acquiring any specific contour at this time. The other thing that Wada didn't clarify was whether the new game was an original property or if it was the evolution of an already existing concept.
Eidos Montreal was founded in February 2007, and it's already divulged its involvement with some seriously high-profile projects. Deus Ex 3 was officially announced as part of its portfolio in November 2007, and even if it's a highly anticipated game, it is regarded with some skepticism. The original Deus Ex was an innovative first-person shooter with complex role-playing elements, set in a unique and slightly cyber-punk universe. But Deus Ex 2 was like a parody of the original title, and turned from a hardcore, strategic RPG shooter into a run-on-the-mill shoot 'em up. The other big game the company is working on is Thief 4, a franchise that also has a powerful and worthy history.