SOE-Denver Creating PC Version Of WizKids' Pirates

Sony Online Entertainment has announced that it has entered into a joint venture with Bellevue, WA-based WizKids to develop an online PC version of the Pirates constructible strategy game (CSG), to be developer by SOE's newly formed Denver studio. The Pirates CSG Online is expected to launch this fall, and will include both sea monsters and the supernatural with Pirates of Davy Jones Curse, as well as an online version of WizKids' upcoming Pirates board game, The Quest for Davy Jones Gold. The online game will also feature tools to manage offline and online Pirates CSG collections, as well as match-making tools for a variety of two-player and multiplayer game formats and scenarios, a robust fleet-building utility, secure ship trading, league and tournament play, and promotional tie-ins between the offline and online versions of the game. WizKids introduced the CSG genre with the launch of Pirates in 2004. Packaged like a collectible card game, players use die-cut parts from each card to construct galleons, schooners and pirate ships. Initial production runs, planned for a two-year lifespan, sold out one month before the product released. Following a successful launch into the hobby games market, Pirates expanded into the mass market in March 2005, and was supported by a national television advertising campaign. Since the original game’s release in 2004, there have been four sequels plus a booster pack that incorporates new features into the base game. "As the newest member of the SOE family, the SOE-Denver team is very excited about working with WizKids to bring the world of Pirates online," said Scott Martins, director of development SOE-Denver. "Our Collect! Trade! Play! Platform is a proven means of translating the CSG experience to a digital medium, and gamers of all types will have a blast playing Pirates on their PCs."