The Daily Verse: Bungie Moves On, SOCOM Dev Closes, Obsidian Working On Wasteland 2

Slow news week, but we make do. Nothing but walls of text for you, but there are some interesting tidbits in there. We’ve got you Daily Verse below.

Bungie Completely Moves On From Halo
That’s right, Bungie.net will no long be doing stat tracking or any more Halo related services as of today. Bungie has officially moved on. The ball is completely in the hands of 343 Industries now. That said, you may want to check out their goodbye post. It comes complete with a really cool infographic of what we’ve all accomplished in Halo throughout the years. We’ve got the graphic below for your viewing pleasure.

Sony Closes SOCOM Dev Zipper Interactive
Just as one shooter franchise developer moves on, another one dies. Sony has confirmed to GI today that they are closing Zipper Interactive, the developer behind the SOCOM series and more recently, MAG. This means 80 people will be out of work. Sony’s statement to GI is below.

Sony Computer Entertainment can confirm the closure of Zipper Interactive, a Seattle-based internal game development studio that has been part of the global development operation of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS).

The closure is a result of a normal cycle of resource re-alignment within SCE WWS. Zipper has completed all work associated with its most recent project, Unit 13 for PlayStation Vita. Zipper titles MAG, SOCOM 4 and Unit 13 will continue to be supported, including the new Daily Challenges in Unit 13.

Obsidian On Board For Wasteland 2
Before there was Fallout, there was Wasteland. It’s a long story, but Fallout began as a spiritual successor to Wasteland. Well, now the original developers of Wasteland and of the Fallout series may be on track to bring Wasteland back. However, they need your help. Obsidian developed Fallout: New Vegas, and much of their team worked on Fallout 1 and 2. They have fallen into rough times, so when inXile began development of Wasteland two, they decided they wanted to help Obsidian out, and get them on board. However, they need more donations to get it done. Head on over to their Kickstarter page and donate, or read their press release below, then donate.

Newport Beach, CA – March 30, 2012 – inXile entertainment confirmed today that they have reached an agreement with award-winning RPG developer Obsidian Entertainment to collaborate on the game design and writing for their Wasteland 2 project if the funding level reaches $2,100,000. Obsidian’s Chief Creative Officer Chris Avellone will be working directly with the design team at inXile to help bring the world of Wasteland together. Avellone stated, “Wasteland is one of my favorite RPGs of all time, and when Brian asked if I wanted to work on the sequel, I jumped at the chance. While I’ve worked on Fallout 2 and Fallout: New Vegas, getting the chance to work on the spiritual predecessor to the Fallout franchise is a honor.” Brian Fargo added, “I have a history with the guys at Obsidian that dates back to the days of Interplay’s Black Isle studios. Together we created some of the greatest RPG’s of all time, from Fallout 1 & 2 to titles like Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment. It is great that we now have a chance to reunite on a project like Wasteland 2.”

In addition to Chris Avellone’s help, Obsidian will be lending the experience they have in the development of RPG games and tools to inXile. Fargo believes this collaboration will allow him to focus more energy on the game, “Obsidian has an incredible library of story, dialog and design tools that they have used to create hits like Neverwinter Nights 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II, and of course, Fallout: New Vegas. Regardless of the tech we use to develop the game, experience with these tools will help us efficiently design the game without wasting time and resources on the tools needed for development.”

Wasteland still has 17 days remaining until the Kickstarter funding ends. At this time the project has around 33,000 backers and has raised more than $1,650,000. In addition to the PC version, inXile has officially announced Mac OS X and Linux versions of Wasteland 2.

InXile is also announcing a solution for everyone who wants to back the project, but who live in a country where backing it on Kickstarter is just not possible. Fargo reports, “We want to let everyone know that we are now accepting PayPal pledges directly though the Wasteland web portal. Some of our biggest fans come from Germany and Eastern Europe, yet they have been unable to support us through the Kickstarter/Amazon pay system. We now have an alternative PayPal site set up for such gamers at http://wasteland.inxile-entertainment.com.”

That’s all for today on The Daily Verse! Stop by every day for your gaming fix. Also, follow us on Twitter, and make sure to drop us a line down in the comments! We’re always keeping our eyes peeled to bring you all the best news in the ‘verse!

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