Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley says that the company will release all of its future MMOs to consoles, instead of limiting some titles to PC.

"For us, the opportunity that we see on the PS3, and potentially the PSP, is something that we can’t pass up on," says Smedley in a new interview with game weblog MTV Multiplayer.

"I would say that we would be one of the early adopters on [bringing MMOs to consoles], and we plan on becoming one of the dominant players in the MMO space on consoles. We see that marketing coming; we think it’s there now, so we want to get a good market share there."

He claims that only two companies that has released a "true MMO" for consoles, SOE with EverQuest Online Adventures and Square Enix with Final Fantasy XI. The developer's future MMOs include The Agency, DC Universe, and Free Realms, all of which have been announced for both PC and PlayStation 3.

Smedley says that the studio has developed its codebase in such a way that its engine will run across both PC and console platforms, noting, "There was some up front investment, certainly, but we’ve invested in making sure that the technology runs on both. We’re adapting controls and some of the communication features but we’re trying to keep the same primary game."

[The preceding article by Eric Caoili originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

LucasArts' and BioWare's long-awaited, much-discussed joint development project -- widely speculated to be an MMO set in the Star Wars universe circa BioWare's own Knights of the Old Republic -- will be revealed to the press October 21, according to an invitation sent out to media outlets including Gamasutra.

It is likely that the official announcement will come shortly after the October 21 press reveal held at LucasArts' San Francisco offices; events of this nature are frequently subject to a media embargo.

The postcard, which proclaims "The wait is over" and promises "the official unveiling of the game that's been rumored about for years," makes no explicit reference to Star Wars. It is branded with the LucasArts and BioWare logos and depicts floating robots and hooded figures in futuristic interior locations reminiscent of the sci-fi franchise.

The alleged existence of a KOTOR-themed MMO is considered one of the industry's worst-kept secrets, with BioWare parent Electronic Arts' CEO John Riccitiello essentially confirming the title's existence.

Riccitiello called the BioWare/LucasArts effort "quite possibly the most anticipated game, full stop, for the industry," before acknowledging it as a KOTOR MMO.

Development of the joint project is being handled at BioWare's Austin studio, created specifically for MMO development.

[The preceding article by Chris Remo originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

Fallen Earth has announced that its self-titled MMO, Fallen Earth, is now "content complete" and is currently in alpha testing, but they have made no announcement concerning any upcoming beta test.

Fallen Earth is a post-apocalyptic MMO that is to mix first-person shooter and traditional role-playing game mechanics, and Fallen Earth have announced "thousands" of character customization options via "hundreds" of wearable objects on character slots, "including head, mouth, eye, and ear slots". Player weapons include everything from "a bladed hockey stick … a Taser on a hammer … and even a baker’s rolling pin".

The game is to feature approximately 70 towns, over 5,000 missions and fifteen towns are designed to be conquered by opposing factions of players.

“When we set our milestones and started the scrum method nine months ago, we knew we had some incredibly high goals for the team to achieve,” said Colin Dwan, Fallen Earth project manager. “Since then we have run like a well-oiled machine and actually surpassed those original goals. The team has worked tirelessly to not only deliver an immense volume of material, but new and innovative play experiences. Quality has not been sacrificed on our path to completion. I can't wait to get more people in the world to enjoy this awesome experience.”

North American MMO publisher Wicked Interactive has announced that the server for Yedang Online's MMORPG, Priston Tale, is now being hosted on its games platform, Suba Games.

The server move applies only to the English-language version of Prison Tale, with the announcement specifically stating that "Japanese players are unaffected by the move."

Priston Tale is a fantasy-themed MMORPG that was originally launched in Korea in 2001, and Wicked Interactive is taking over the international servers for the game and is to provide technical updates and customer support and community features for the Priston Tale community.

In celebration of the launch of the new Prison Tale server, Wicked Interactive is to host events to welcome players to the game.

"Since we will soon be bringing Priston Tale 2 to Suba Games, it was very logical for us to also host Priston Tale," said Stanley Yu, CEO of Wicked Interactive. "It is a great opportunity to bring the well-established Priston Tale gaming community together in one place to enjoy the Suba Games experience and to take advantage of our superb customer service."

Aeria Games has announced that it has partnered with Viz Media for an in-game item offer for its free-to-play casual fantasy MMORPG Pi Story.

Users who purchase the October issue of Viz Media's monthly shojo (girl's) manga magazine Shojo Beat will be able to use a code from within the issue to unlock virtual items – such as a "Moko panda hat and shirt" within the game. Players will first have to ensure their game is up to date to the most current version 25 update.

According to the release, Shojo Beat primarily appeals to the "older, female" consumer who "loves to play video games" and is the largest circulation shojo manga magazine published in the United States.

Developer of online virtual worlds MindFuse has announced that they have secured $1 million in funding from Keiretsu Forum angel investors for the development of massively multiplayer online games and virtual worlds.

Funds are to be used for working capital, expanding the team based in Berkeley, and the development of customer service and marketing.

The company has raised a total of 1.75 million since inception in 2006, and was founded by Joseph Walters, formerly of Shockwave and Skunk Studios, Matthew Le Merle and Ira Rothken.

Though the press release announcing the investment claims "the first game developed by MindFuse is to be announced, with a public beta in the spring of 2009," visitors to MindFuseGames.com are greeted by a detailed website for Gatheryn, "an interactive massive multi-player world of adventure, mystery and romance," where players "assume the role of a Victorian themed character as [they] explore, socialize and quest [their] way through the world."

“The richest massively multiplayer universes have been largely violent fantasy worlds,” said Joseph Walters, Chief Executive of MindFuse. “Casual, friendly games on the other hand feel more like a snack than a feast. MindFuse is going to bring the two types of gameplay and players together – simple, compelling games embedded in a deep three dimensional world.”

Ankama, developer of Flash MMORPG Dofus has announced that users have created over 10 million accounts, including 1.5 million paid subscriptions, since the game was launched in September 2004.

Ankama did not make clear in the release how many of these accounts are currently active.

Dofus was originally released for the French market and Ankama has revealed that 30% of the accounts were created by users who do not consider French their first language, with accounts created in 150 countries and available in 10 different languages -- the English-language version was launched in 2005, German and Spanish were released in 2007, and Italian, Dutch and Portuguese versions are now available.

This announcement follows the recent announcement of a "Heroic" server for the title.

Developer Carbine Studios, an NCSoft North America division, promoted former Fallout series producer and designer Tim Cain to the position of design director for an unannounced MMO.

Cain has worked with Carbine since its inception in 2005, serving as programming director. He is best known for his work as producer and designer on Interplay's PC RPGs Fallout and Fallout 2.

He parted ways with Interplay in 1998 and co-founded now-defunct Troika Games, where he helped design and program games like The Temple of Elemental Evil and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.

Based in Aliso Viejo, CA, Carbine Studios was formed by Cain, NCSoft executive producer Jeremy Gaffney, and ten former members of Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft core development team in 2005, but wasn't formally announced until October, 2007.

“It’s great to have Tim Cain heading up design at Carbine,” says Gaffney. “Tim is one of the most respected guys in the business and his track record of creating hit products is well documented. Having Tim at the helm as design director makes an already strong team that much better.”

[The preceding article by Eric Caoili originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

MMO publisher True Games Interactive has announced that it has appointed Peter Jarvis as Chief Technology Officer. Jarvis most recently held the post of Vice President and Chief Information Officer at NCSoft, and s CTO of True Games Interactive, Jarvis is to be responsible for "building the True Tech platform" and overseeing "all applications and web development while launching and integrating multiple AAA MMO titles," according to the announcement.

Across his seven years at NCSoft, the company grew from supporting a single MMORPG with less than $1 million a year revenue to supporting over six live games with over $70 million a year in revenue. Prior to NCSoft Jarvis held positions as head of information technology at ClearCommerce, and EA/Origin Systems.

True Games Interactive recently announced a project under development by Petroglyph (Star Wars: Empire At War), who are creating a global free-to-play, micro-transaction based game for PC, which is still to be announced in detail.

“Our mission is to deliver AAA social games to a free to play world. The foundation of our success will be building flawless, advanced technology to support our games,” said Bob Drobish, CEO of True Games Interactive. “The addition of a highly experienced head of technology to our executive team is critical and Peter’s background and in-depth knowledge make him a perfect fit for the role.”

Domain of Heroes is a browser-based MMORPG that its creators Tandem Games intend should be able to be played "anywhere and at anytime," that doesn't require Flash or any other plug-ins to run, and is surprisingly story-driven.

We talk to Jon Wofford, Creative Director, and Aaron Murray, Technical Director at Tandem Games about the title, and specifically their intentions to monetize it through microtransactions -- without item sales.

Introduce us to Domain of Heroes.

Jon Wofford: Domain of Heroes is our attempt to completely cripple the corporate infrastructure of modern society by drastically reducing employee productivity across the board. Mass hysteria! Also it's a fun text-based MMORPG you play in a browser.

How long has the game been in development?

Aaron Murray: We've been in full development mode since we got back from the San Francisco GDC. It's been 7 months now.

How big is the team?

AM: Jon does the creative stuff -- he handles the art and game world design, and writes the content. I am the game designer, programmer, and business guy. Of course, with just two people, we overlap quite a bit even in these areas. Our company, Tandem Games, has been around for about a year now. We demoed our first game last November at the IGC in Austin, then we made a demo in January that ended up winning the 2008 Intel Game Demo Contest for Best Graphics on Intel Integrated Hardware.

The call for submissions to present lectures and case studies at the Worlds in Motion Summit at the Game Developers Conference 2009 is now open, and interested parties are being asked to submit their proposal by Thursday, October 30th.

The Summit will take place at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, California on March 23-24, 2009.

The Worlds in Motion Summit at GDC is a definitive event tailored for the growing number of industry professionals and Fortune 500 companies developing interactive online spaces for both entertainment and commercial purposes. Discussion forums are to delve into online worlds, social gaming and media and player created activity, providing insight for developers of all backgrounds into how the game industry is collectively building socialization into games and integrating personalization and player-generated content into gameplay—while widely accessible web and networking tools are looking to the game industry for their way forward.

If you have an idea, vision, innovative concept, hard-earned wisdom or urgent industry issue you'd like to share with your colleagues, then the board of advisors would like to hear from you.

K2 Network has announced that its free-to-play online game publisher GamersFirst is to enter into a development partnership for an original game with Canadian independent game developer A2M.

GamersFirst and A2M are to work together on an unannounced social gaming title, to be available in late 2009.

GamersFirst currently publishes titles including Global MU Online, and A2M has worked on titles for publishers including Disney, Electronic Arts, Sony, Vivendi Universal, and Warner Bros., and is currently working on WET for Sierra Entertainment.

"This new partnership allows us to express our gameplay know-how in social online gaming," said Remi Racine, President and Executive Producer, A2M. "As an independent game developer, we have the freedom to create highly imaginary concepts and, working with our partners, put it in the hands of game fans. Our creativity, combined with our ability to answer the needs of expanding markets, will make the upcoming MMO projects key milestones."

We just mentioned North American MMO publisher Wicked Interactive a few days ago, concerning their acquisition of Priston Tale, but they've just announced today that their online gaming portal, Suba Games, has reached 1.5 million registered users since its launch on August 14th.

As well as Priston Tale the service hosts Ace Online and is to host Priston Tale 2: the Second Enigma. The announcement made no reference to how many of the registered users were active accounts.

"We were of course confident in our games and our portal, but the astonishing growth of our community has surprised even us," said Stanley Yu, President and CEO of Wicked Interactive. "The gamers who have joined the Suba Games family are joining because of the great games, and they are staying because of the great customer service and sense of community."

In a Tokyo Game Show Forum keynote attended by Gamasutra, Turbine CEO Jim Crowley spoke to an overwhelmingly Japanese audience on the collision of social networking, virtual worlds, and online games, revealing a Facebook-style social network plans for its games such as Lord Of The Rings Online.

Crowley started by discussing the history of Turbine, which currently produces The Lord Of The Rings Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online, and Asheron's Call, noting that each game "is an evergreen property" and suggesting that their worlds could conceivably each be around for "more than a decade."

He then focused on the "born digital" generation, which he defined as those born from 1995 onwards, and explained that those people are living their lives publicly in the digital space.

As a result, the customer has become the company, and the community is the brand, says Crowley -- and so worlds "will have to turn themselves out," creating an open ecosystem.

750,000 players have registered for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning in North America, Europe and Australian territories, says developer Mythic Entertainment.

"Thanks to our players, the war between the Realms continues to escalate at an incredible pace," says Mythic co-founder and general manager Mark Jacobs.

The developer, an Electronic Arts studio,
said in late September that 500,000 registrations took place in the first week following the game's September 18 launch, simultaneous in the applicable territories.

Mythic has also said that in its first week the game became EA's most pre-ordered PC title, and claims WAR was also the fastest-selling new MMO of all time, with 1.5 million units sold to retailers in launch territories.

Says Jacobs, "The battlefields are alive with three quarters of a million players fighting for the forces of Order and Destruction in truly epic and unparalleled Realm vs. Realm battles!"

[The preceding article by Leigh Alexander originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

IBM has announced that it has launched The Forbidden City: Beyond Space & Time, its educational virtual world developed in collaboration with the Palace Museum -- launched to coincide with the real-world Forbidden City's 83rd anniversary as a museum.

The virtual Forbidden City allows users to see and interact with other users, and can take tours and participate in activities -- such as tours that correspond to historical topics such as "Dragons of the Forbidden City", "the Supreme Golden Halls of the Forbidden City", the" Imperial Garden", and "the Symbolic Animals in the Forbidden City", or activities such as archery, cricket fighting, and playing the ancient game of Weiqi.

The Forbidden City: Beyond Space & Time was built using SOA architecture and includes open source components (including Linux).

“The rich cultural heritage of China’s imperial past, embodied in the Forbidden City for over five centuries is now brought to life and accessible to all through a virtual world created by IBM and the Palace Museum,” said Henry Chow, Chairman, Greater China Group, IBM. “This initiative takes the online experience to a new level of innovation with rich content, educational storytelling, community and social networking features that represent the next generation of 3D Internet applications. What makes me proud is that IBM now has opened the door to a cultural treasure and rich heritage to everyone, everywhere which in the past was only available to relatively few.”