1C Goes Multiplatform With Captain Blood, Birds of Prey

Eastern and Central European publisher 1C Company has announced two titles for 2008 - 2009, including its first internally developed console game, Captain Blood, for PC and Xbox 360. The second game, IL-2: Sturmovik: Birds of Prey, brings the previously PC-only combat flight simulation series to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PSP, and Nintendo DS. Initially developed for the original Xbox, Captain Blood is an action/adventure game inspired by Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood novels. Players will be able to engage in ship boardings, fort assaults, treasure hunts, and more in this recreation of the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean. The title will be the first release of the studio it recently acquired from Akella, known then as the “Sea Dog” team following its work on various pirate themed games such as Sea Dogs, Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales and Pirates of the Caribbean. IL-2: Sturmovik: Birds of Prey brings 1C’s best-selling PC title to console audiences with new graphics, missions, physics, and planes. The game will also feature a new damage effects engine. Gaijin Entertainment is handling development for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, as DiP Interactive heads up the DS release and Beatshapers manages the PSP version. IL-2: Sturmovik: Birds of Prey will feature large-scale aerial combat and ground-based military operations from World War II. Players will have five areas of war to fly through -- The Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, Berlin, Sicily and Korsun. Difficulty levels will range from arcade to simulation. Said 1C Company international sales director Nikolay Baryshnikov: "1C is using cutting-edge technology, including the amazing power of modern consoles, to bring superior games to every market. Our aim is to bring our games to even more players and expand our vision with cross platform development. We are embracing any new gaming technology that will improve our products including digital downloads, consoles, handheld gaming, Epic's Unreal 3 Engine, NVIDIA PhysX and DirectX 10."