This came quietly. Ubisoft has acquired World in Conflict (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) developers from Activision Blizzard, taking along with it all assets and personnel. Read more about it in the full article.

 

Massive Entertainment recently announced that it would be putting up a World in Conflict Broadcast Tool this coming Monday, October 15. The broadcast tool, they announced, would allow Vista and DX10 users a whole new dimension in manipulating camera angles for spectators, and would also allow for the recording of matches.

According to Massive Entertainment, the Broadcast Tool is a free downloadable add-on meant for Vista users which would give them "easy-to-use television-style broadcast options - such as pre-set and custom cameras, follow-cameras, telestration and other capabilities - that will turn any LAN game or tournament into a fun-to-watch spectator event." Also, the broadcast tool will allow gamers to record a full match, which they can share with friends and fellow gamers alike.

Said Martin Walfisz, founder and president of Massive Entertainment,

We wanted to make it easy for World in Conflict fans to turn this awesome experience into the best spectator game ever. Some of the team members at Massive have a background in the TV industry, so anyone who has ever seen a TV production room will recognize the set up immediately. The World in Conflict Broadcast Tool will make watching - or broadcasting - gaming competitions exciting and fun.

  

Will the next gen consoles be able to effectively give players the same RTS experience as the PC? That's what was asked of Massive Entertainment president, Martin Walfisz, during an interview with CVG.

He seemed to think so - at least with titles like World in Conflict. The gameplay experience is, of course, greatly affected by the input devices on both platforms. The PC's keyboard and mouse allows for more control and detailed orders to a number of units while the number of controls on console controllers can be limited (Remember the playing Red Alert on a console? Hard times).

According to Walfisz, World in Conflict is perfect for the consoles since it is more "action-oriented than traditional RTS titles". It does that by eliminating the staple in traditional RTS video games: resource gathering. According to Walfisz, the title will be more portable to the consoles because of that.

During the interview, he also revealed that they have a lot of the ideas under their collective sleeve for "expansion or a sequel" for World in Conflict. Walfisz kept his lips sealed after the hint and said that further announcements would be made "when the time comes".

We'll see where this goes in the future. We wonder what changes will be made once they (or should we say "if they?") decide to port the game to the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3.