Following March's news that
Ubisoft-owned Wolfpack Studio was closing its doors, it's been revealed that key employees from the Austin, Texas-based studio are setting up a new independent company, Stray Bullet Games, to continue PC MMO
Shadowbane's service, and to work on new projects.
According to
comments on the weblog of new Stray Bullet employee Sean 'Ashen Temper' Dahlberg, the new developer "picked up most of the key personnel from Wolfpack Studios", including Frank Lucero, the General Manager and founder of Stray Bullet Games, and "Ubisoft has contracted Stray Bullet Games to keep
Shadowbane alive and well."
As well as the
Shadowbane contract, Dahlberg suggests: "Stray Bullet Games definitely does not plan on being a one-trick pony. And, of course, we have the goal of designing and crafting our very own next-generation MMO." However, it's clear that the company is relatively early into considering its next-generation plans.
In addition, though
Shadowbane is currently free to play, it seems likely that some kind of new features and subscription scheme may be built around the product, if Ubisoft continues to contract to maintain it - no information on this has yet been announced, however.