SOE's Wilson Talks Connected PC, PS3 Game Worlds [Gamasutra]

FreeRealms joins DC Universe Online and The Agency as the first massively multiplayer online role playing games coming out of a new arrangement between SCEE and SOE.

Under the new agreement, SCEE will publish and distribute three MMOs developed by SOE for PS3 throughout the PAL territories. In addition, SCEE will also publish DC Universe and The Agency on behalf of SOE in the PAL territories.

“This is an opportunity for SCEE and SOE to bring the best online experiences from PC gaming to the PLAYSTATION 3 universe, the result of which will certainly benefit PlayStation fans,” said David Reeves, President, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Massive Multiplayer Online Gaming arrives on PLAYSTATION®3 with DC Universe Online™, The Agency™ and FreeRealms™

Leipzig Games Convention, August 2008: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) announced today that SCEE has joined forces with Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) – developer of groundbreaking online Massive Multiplayer Online (MMOs) games including the wildly popular EverQuest® — in an arrangement that will bring a whole new dimension to PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) gaming.

Under the new agreement, SCEE will publish and distribute three MMOs developed by SOE for PS3 throughout the PAL territories. In addition, SCEE will also publish DC Universe and The Agency on behalf of SOE in the PAL territories. The new arrangement allows SCEE to benefit from SOE’s experience in a different area of video gaming publishing, one which opens up a whole host of possibilities for PS3.

The games included in the agreement are The Agency (PS3), a fast-paced, action shooter set in an present day online persistent world of bullets, bomb blasts, and betrayal; DC Universe Online (PS3 and PC), an action-focused super-hero game in a fully realized DC Universe Online; and Free Realms (PS3), a vibrant new world for younger players with an exciting mix of reality and fantasy.

“This is an opportunity for SCEE and SOE to bring the best online experiences from PC gaming to the PLAYSTATION 3 universe, the result of which will certainly benefit PlayStation fans,” said David Reeves, President, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Here’s a look at the three forthcoming titles.

DC Universe™ Online (PS3 and PC):

Explore one of the greatest fictional universes in history: the world of DC comics. Create your own hero or villain and run loose across famous DC locations such as Gotham City or Metropolis, alongside legendary characters of good and evil including Superman, Batman, Huntress, Joker, Wonder Woman and Green Arrow in scenarios written by DC writers and in an art style overseen by renowned DC artist Jim Lee.

The Agency™ (PS3):

Get your target in your sights with this dark, gritty, online action PS3 shooter, a persistent world of spies, mercenaries and double dealing for aspiring agents everywhere. As you rise thorugh the ranks as a spy through the various missions and in-depth story mode, you can build your own spy faction, recruiting new members to your cause.

FreeRealms™ (PS3 and PC):
An all new social networking service and massively multiplayer online role-playing game in one, FreeRealms gives players freedom across a world where exploration and spell casting is as much a part of life as decorating your house or growing a vegetable garden. You chose how you live your life in FreeRealms from day to day – be a wizard one day, play with your virtual pets the next.

DC Universe Online, The Agency and FreeRealms are the first massively multiplayer online role playing games to result from the arrangement between SCEE and SOE – a partnership that will bring gamers together across the world.

Notes to Editors:

We got a chance to chat with the 20 year-old Brasil (who's never won a contest in her life) about her winning concept, what she thinks of a "G.I.R.L" contest, and what she'll be working on with SOE — full interview after the jump.

Brasil first learned of the contest during a late-night event at GDC, where she worked as a volunteer staffer. The event featured lots of women with jobs in the game industry, who recommended she enter. Getting a $10,000 scholarship and a guaranteed in with a publisher like SOE might be any gamer's dream. So how did Brasil feel when she found out she won? "At first, I passed through shock, and then I was in denial. And then, I was really happy, and now I'm just okay with it, I guess!"

When asked to guess why her EQ2 level won out, she guessed it was because she made it "a little bit crazy." The judges, she said, told her they found her work funny and original.

"It involved finding a particular sheep among a lot of other sheep," she said. "It was a little bit adventure game and a little bit of the usual MMO grinding and things."

Female development professionals are under-represented in game industry demographics, so it's fair to consider that a girl-focused contest might be necessary to promote more interest from women in the game industry. But at the same time, there are plenty of male students who'd love to be internship contenders as well — we asked Brasil how she felt about this.

"The thing about the contest is, it's called G.I.R.L, but there was nothing saying guys couldn't apply," Brasil said. "It was geared toward any group that is a minority in game development. I guess the girl thing led people astray to think that, because you are a guy, you couldn't possibly win."

So what are her career dreams? "I want to work in the game industry, like anyone in my class," she said, referring to the game art and development program she attends, where she learns a some art and design, and some coding, too. "But what I want to do specifically once I get in the industry, I'm still not sure about! I still like drawing, and doing concept art and being an artist, but I also like doing level design and scripting."

Brasil hopes her time with SOE will help her experiment with a variety of different industry facets to see what she takes to. Specifically, she'll be interning with the team that's developing The Agency — "I'm looking forward to that," she said.

"I want to make this very clear," said lead designer Hal Milton. "This is not a microtransaction system within The Agency to allow players to buy weapons, outfits, or operatives to be effective within the game world. That's something that we're absolutely not planning on doing."

Instead, Live Gamer will be implemented as it is in EQII, allowing players to sell their own goods to other players. Milton did add that allowing players to recruit more operatives through a one-time out of game payment was still a possibility.

No microtransactions in The Agency [Eurogamer]

At the event, apparently, everyone got to gawk at this giant gun made out of ice. Said Wilson, "A warning I gave during my introduction threatened to become our new tagline: 'Don't lick the gun.' (I personally think this is good advice in general, regardless of what the gun is actually made out of.)"

Wilson also recapped how the SOE Seattle studio got started, and how The Agency project came to be.

In 2005, a few of the core Mythica development team broke away from the Microsoft games group to form a startup company called "FireAnt Games." Our primary goal when we founded the company was to bring the MMO space to more of the mainstream gamer audience. Specifically, we wanted to target the shooter audience and the console gamer. Well, it happened that SOE was thinking the same thing, and they asked us to start up their Seattle studio. More than 3 years and 80 people later, we are well into building The Agency. Our goal is to deliver an online world where players can "live the life of an elite agent," full of the over-the-top action, exotic locales, and extravagant lifestyles the spy genre is known for.

Some footage from SOE Seattle's ice gun-festooned open house is set to air on G4's X-Play show tonight at 8:00pm EST, too.

Meet SOE, The Agency [US PlayStation Blog]

Earlier in the year, SOE and LiveGamer built a new platform for microtransactions, incorporating and ultimately replacing EverQuest II's Station Exchange. The result of that collaboration is the Live Gamer Exchange in-game economic platform, and LiveGamer will be providing the RMT service and technology for both new titles as well.

As SOE says character customization will play a significant role in espionage action-shooter The Agency, players will be able to purchase new clothes, weapons, vehicles and other identifying items that "tailor their gameplay."

As for free-to-play, family-friendly adventure title Free Realms, in addition to a range of avatar customization items for purchase, players can make and trade their own on the transaction service as well.

Full release follows the jump.

Sony Online Entertainment and Live Gamer Expand Transaction-based Game Play to Additional Titles

Live Gamer Exchange to Power RMT in The Agency and Free Realms

SEATTLE, WA - May 14, 2008 - Live Gamer, the premier operator of a publisher-supported marketplace for real money trading of virtual items, has announced it has entered into an agreement with Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) to offer real money trading (RMT) in the upcoming titles published by SOE — The Agency™ and Free Realms™. The two companies are leading the evolution of the gaming industry into transaction-based business models that open emergent game play styles for gamers and opportunities for publishers.

Live Gamer's service, called Live Gamer Exchange™, will provide the SOE gaming community within these new games with a trusted way to conduct real-money transactions. Earlier this year, Live Gamer incorporated SOE's proven Station Exchange technology, the first publisher-developed and sanctioned RMT marketplace, into its own e-commerce platform. The Live Gamer Exchange is currently operating within EverQuest® II, SOE's popular MMORPG (www.livegamer.com)

The next genre of SOE MMOGs to incorporate the Live Gamer Exchange will include:

* The Agency, a fast-paced online action shooter, will let players experience the life of an elite espionage agent with a "you are what you wear" level of customization. As they travel to exotic locales, infiltrate enemy organizations, and seek global domination for their own agency, gamers will be able to customize their characters through attire, weaponry, gadgets, vehicles, gear and aliases that tailor their game play.
* Free Realms, a whimsical fantasy adventure game targeted toward families, will be free to play and offer a catalog of items made by and for players to customize their avatars as much as they wish. The Live Gamer Exchange will provide a new and efficient mechanism for trading these items within the game.

Said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment, "We are actively exploring free-to-play and other revenue models, and always looking for new ways to engage and entertain gamers. Live Gamer is a proven partner that protects and supports our gamers who participate in RMT. We trust them to handle this area of the business for us so that we can focus on creating and growing our games."

"SOE pioneered the MMO genre and continues to evolve it by offering new game play experiences, revenue models and expanded demographic appeal. Live Gamer is proud to be a key part of the movement toward transaction-based game play," said Live Gamer co-founder and president, Andrew Schneider. "We're now building on the launch of the Live Gamer Exchange with EverQuest II, and expanding our relationship with SOE to power additional games including these two titles for which the idea of RMT has been built in from the very early stages of design."

I hate to admit that I'm really looking forward to an MMO, mostly because I've been burned and burned out so many times on the over-used, under thought-out genre, but I really am getting psyched for The Agency. It looks like they've gone to great lengths to get rid of the stuff I hated in MMOs. Part two is on the jump.

One thing's for sure, The Agency isn't even remotely attempting to attract lapsed Everquest or EVE Online gamers or anyone who feels that chopping virtual lumber is a fun way to spend a Friday night. No, The Agency is all tits, ass and guns, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. There are no bearded dwarf women or obese two-headed trolls to play, just foxy chicks in skin-tight outfits with overtly sexual walk animations and super cool, badass dudes that come in two flavors: sleek and burly.

That may sound like there's a limited character customization option, but it's actually quite broad, from what we've seen. It's just that everyone seems to be painfully attractive, as the game is striving to be the MMO equivalent of a Bond flick. Character design seems to have a bit of Team Fortress 2 aesthetic to it, with an emphasis on more caricaturist silhouettes. The two agency factions, UNITE and Paragon, will add more variety, as the former is more upscale with the latter more a gritty merc type.

One of the design decisions that will probably be welcomed by non-MMO types is that character creation doesn't lock you into a class, as the game is essentially classless. Your class is what you wear, so if you want to play as spec ops or a field medic, you'll have to deck yourself out in the appropriate gear.

The game is running on the Unreal Engine 3 and even in it's alpha stage, looks like a graphically competent shooter and a rather pretty MMO.

Being heavy on action as a shooter and a time-investment as an online multiplayer game, there has to be something to do between the bits of target tracking and large scale firefights. You won't be craft grinding, however, as NPC agency operatives will pick up the slack for you there—think 24's Chloe to your Jack Bauer or Q to your Bond. They'll not only help with tech, you can call on them from the field to support your stealth efforts. There won't be much in the way of blacksmithing or pelt gathering. Instead, the team has added things like casino games and intel gathering by taking photos, along with vehicle challenges, to spice up the gameplay. You'll also be able to play a game of Q*bert, should the mood strike you, as it's one of the included mini-games.

One of the more interesting aspects is The Agency's reach outside of the console or PC. The team is planning to feature SMS support in the final product, so, if you opt-in for it, you can receive text messages from your agency operatives with updates and story driving situations. Talk of PSP and Home support was mentioned, but given the vagueness of those plans, we'll wait for a future update before getting too excited about such talk.

It sounds like the gang at Sony Online Entertainment are trying to do something original with their latest MMO effort and the game seems to have a solid set of original ideas. Whether those disparate parts can come together to be an ultimately satisfying shooter and an online RPG remains to be seen, as the game is still early. We're looking forward to playing at least one of the betas, a time frame for which wasn't provided.

I've personally responded to jointheagency@soe.sony.com, but have not received a confirmation e-mail, nor a nicely written beta invite. We're waiting to hear back from SOE PR to find out if reader suspicions are true. Michael McWhertor

The Agency [SOE, thanks Sean and Riyu!]

The Agency, an upcoming massively multiplayer online PC and Playstation 3 game set in the world of espionage, will be a pick-up-and-play experience that leans heavily on the first-person and third-person shooter genres, Sony Online Entertainment announced today.

The game will start with players choose which agency to join either the stealthy UNITE spy or blazing guns ParaGON mercenaries. The online persistent shooter has what sounds to be a number of original facets to it:

• Become An Elite Agent: The Agency offers hundreds of unique missions with varied end-goals requiring combat, stealth, and style. With gameplay ranging from sneaky assassinations to all out assaults, from vehicle challenges to casinos loaded with mini-games, there's something for every aspiring agent.

• Build Your Own Agency: As players advance through the ranks of their faction, they'll also begin building their own Agencies. Players will increase their power even further by creating Joint Agencies with others.

• Mercenary or spy, the choice is yours: In the Agency, collect the right weaponry, gadgets, vehicles, gear, attire and aliases to gain access to various locales and influence over the people within them.

• Put Operatives to work: Operatives are collectible non-player characters who provide the goods player's desire, the services to keep them alive, and allow them to concentrate on the mission at hand. Operatives work 24/7, regardless of whether players are logged in, and they can even keep them up-to-date through email and instant messages.

• Fun Now, No Waiting: The Agency is not about waiting for the fun to start. At any point, players can take a break from their high-flying career to engage in a number of other activities. Veterans and new players alike can take on other players at the card tables, the shooting range, or in head-to-head combat.

While I'm intrigued by the concept of operatives, the thing that has me most interested is the fact that this game might play more like a shooter.

"SOE is looking to take the online gaming industry to new places with The Agency, not only in terms of its theme, but also in its design. It's accessible to all types of players, blending genres and changing up established conventions. It's different from anything SOE has released before," said Matt Wilson, Director of Development, SOE Seattle. "Our goal is to break from traditional online games and provide players with a 'fun now, no waiting' gameplay experience in a dynamic, ever-evolving online world."

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to make it out to the event where the game was unveiled, so I'm not sure if the game's central mechanic will be RPG, with behind-the scenes dice rolls determining everything, or shooter, where aim and finger dexterity determines everything. My personal choice would be a nice blending of the two. Either way, this is one of the first MMO's that has attracted my attention in quite awhile. Brian Crecente