MindFuse Games has announced that its upcoming steampunk casual MMOG Gatheryn will be the first game developed using Simutronics HeroEngine, as the two companies reveal a global licensing agreement. The company credits its decision to HeroEngine's "collaborative, time-saving features," which allow the development team to develop Gatheryn's feature set. Launching in the first half of 2009, Gatheryn will be set in a Victorian-era steampunk fantasy world, informed by the works of Jules Verne and Arthur Conan Doyle. The company says players will be able to personalize the experience through elements like character creation and in-game apartments they can decorate, advancing the story and raising cash for accessories through classic casual games. "By licensing the HeroEngine, we can focus our technology development and engineering team on the various unique social, personalization and online community features that the Gatheryn player will experience," said Joseph Walters, MindFuse Games lead designer and CEO. "The engine enables our team to spend time creating the experience instead of recreating the already-proven type of server side MMOG technology that Simutronics has built so effectively."