After the casual games developer MumboJumbo acquired FPS-oriented Ritual Entertainment, it roles were assigned,and priorities were set. But, despite this promising new team-up, some projects which are close to a lot of people's hearts will have to be set aside indefinitely.

Sadly, one such project is Ritual's classic FPS, SiN.

Taking on the role of a studio director, Relic's former CEO Ken Harward confirmed with GamesIndustry.biz that SiN and its spin-offs, SiN Episodes, will have to be put on hold as they shift their focus towards casual games. This was the reason why MumboJumbo acquired Relic in the first place, and as Harward explained, "We need to put all of our energy towards the new games."

First published in 1998, SiN is an FPS which made use of the Quake II engine. Then, in April of 2006, it once again saw the light of day via Valve's Steam Platform, and it was shortly followed by the first in a planned series of nine episodic spin-offs, SiN Episodes: Emergence. Unfortunately, the second installment in the series, which was scheduled for a Q4 release, was cancelled January 31, 2006.

However, Harward remains positive. He noted that it may not be the absolute end for SiN. He added that "if there was a business opportunity, appropriate consideration would be given."

On the other hand, he addressed comments which consider Ritual's involvement in the casual games market to be a tad out of character, as well as a surprising departure from the genre for which they are most known for. Harward clarified that it's all just part of the business:

The community just never sees it. Instead, they see the games that a publisher finally chooses to ship. And while we've worked hard on those games and are proud of the work, it doesn't mean that those were always Ritual's favourite choices, or that those games always represented what we really wanted to make ... Those were the titles that we had a contract to build at the time. It is as simple as that.

Just yesterday, we told you that Ritual Entertainment, the development house responsible for CounterStrike and Quake 4, was acquired by casual game developer, MumboJumbo.

In a related report, it seems that Ritual's CEO, Ken Harward will see this development as something shocking as he had been telling weeks ago that Ritual would remain independent in spite of the shake-up in the management.

Harward mentioned to GamesIndustry.biz that "the owners, Richard Gray and Rob Atkins, have always stressed the company's independence. So I expect it to continue to be independent. We're not going anywhere. We've got multiple teams running, as usual."

As mentioned in our report, this development is quite weird as it is unusual for a mainstream game developer to be a part of a casual game publisher. But MumboJumbo founder Ron Dimant believes that the acquisition is in line with their plans, he continued by saying that:

The combination of Ritual's high-end, multi-platform expertise and our own industry-leading publishing model will set the bar for quality and sophistication in casual games and create a major industry powerhouse.

Out of curiosity, we can't wait to see just what kind of games they would produce.

Ritual Entertainment, a development house famous for mainstream hits such as CounterStrike, Painkiller, Quake 4, and 25 To Life, has been acquired by casual game developer MumboJumbo. Robert Atkins of Ritual Entertainment had this to say about the merge:

The disciplined structure of high end game development requires an in depth understanding of sophisticated tools and design techniques, Ritual’s expertise in these areas complements MumboJumbo’s mass market approach to casual game development and gives us a true competitive advantage.

This acquisition is unique and significant to casual gaming because this is a rare situation wherein a mainstream game development house has migrated to a casual game publisher.

It's gonna be a very merry Christmas for Ken Harward as he has just been appointed by Ritual Entertainment to be the company's studio director.

Just a brief primer on Harward: he has been working for Ritual for a long time now, and was one of the guys who worked on Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and SiN Episodes: Emergence.

And now, as studio director, he'll oversee the company's business development and will be the primary contact for Ritual.

Here's what Harward had to say about this ginormous promotion:

I'm really looking forward to helping guide Ritual, 2007 looks to be a great year as we finish up our current projects and start some exciting new ones. I'm excited to have the opportunity to expand my leadership role within the company, and I'm flattered by the huge amount of support everyone in the tribe has shown. There's a ton of positive energy in the halls.

As for us, let's just hope that this positive energy translates into the games that Ritual Entertainment and Ken Harward have in store for us, eh?