Turbine Confirms Console MMO Development

Officials from massively multiplayer online (MMO) games developer Turbine have confirmed that the company is currently developing one or more console titles. Speaking initially to website MMORPG.com, Turbine president and CEO Jim Crowley confirmed that the company is currently “investigating” the creation of cross-platform games, despite the company remaining dedicated to the PC platform. A subsequent clarification of the company’s position came in a short statement to consumer weblog Kotaku, to whom Turbine communications director Adam Mersky confirmed that the company is “actively developing a title for console”. "We've hired over 60 people since the beginning of the year," said Mersky. "The people that invested in us, Time Warner... one of the media giants, getting into the MMO fold, and that's obviously a big deal. They also have a huge distribution network... that may bear fruit for us." As recently reported, venture capital firm GGV Capital and media giant Time Warner invested $40 million in the company, with the latter making reference to “opportunities that exist with our own broad portfolio of IP." The lack of prominent MMOs on consoles has been increasingly commented on by analysts and industry experts in recent months, including an analysis of the problems involved by Pirates of the Burning Sea developer Joe Ludwig for Gamasutra.