Vanguard: Saga of Heroes has been described as a "next generation, massively multiplayer online role-playing game," built on the Unreal Warfare engine," is set for release this winter - and there are a lot of players chomping at the bit for it.

Brad McQuaid, CEO of Sigil Games Online, is a large part of the talk surrounding the impending release of VSoH. His roots in the gaming industry go back seventeen years to a small company he co-founded with partner Steve Clover. War Wizard was their first offering - a primitive, single-player game that was received well enough to give McQuaid the motivation to pursue game-making full time.

In February 1996, John Smedley, director of development for Sony Interactive Studios, contacted McQuaid about making an online role playing game set in a true 3-D world. The result was EverQuest.

EQ was followed up by Planetside and what would later become Star Wars: Galaxies.

Sigil Games, McQuaid's latest and most successful venture, went on to make a development deal with Microsoft on its flagship release, Vanguard. That deal eventually went south as the Redmond, Washington-based company focused more on its Xbox 360. Eventually, an agreement was made that allowed Sigil to purchase the publishing to its games rights back from Microsoft.

Sony Online Entertainment then picked up the deal and is now co-publishes for "Vanguard." Sigil, now is able to work with a publisher that can provide sufficient support as it prepares to release its latest game.

Via San Diego Daily Transcript