ACE Team's first-person melee combat game Zeno Clash is getting the retail box treatment courtesy of Tripwire Interactive, a publisher that truly understands the plight of the independent developer.
Tripwire Interactive started off as a modding team, taking its win in the Make Something Unreal contest for Red Orchestra and transforming themselves into a full-fledged developer and now a publisher. Tripwire has taken its own game, Killing Floor, to retail, and now they are doing the same thing with ACE Team's wildly popular Zeno Clash. Zeno Clash was released on Steam earlier this year, building up a rabid fan base relatively quickly. Now Atlus is bringing the game to Xbox Live Arcade, and Tripwire is bringing it to PC game resellers across North America.
Tripwire vice president Alan Wilson comments on the parallels between the two developers.
"Zeno Clash is one of those truly stand-out games that we are really proud to be associated with and to have as our first third-party title to publish. The game is genuinely memorable and has the best melee combat mechanics we've ever seen. What makes this deal even more memorable for us, is the fact that the ACE Team's history parallels our own – an ex-mod team that has funded themselves and succeeded in developing and releasing a great first title."
Zeno Clash should be hitting retail shelves "soon."