Ubi Soft finally brings the Settlers series to consoles. The official word inside...
Ubi Soft Starts Development of a New Game
from the Cult Series The Settlers® With International Ambitions
18 June 2002 – Ubi Soft® Entertainment, one of the world’s leading videogame publishers, today announced the development of a new game from The Settlers® series, by Ubi Soft’s German studio Blue Byte. This fifth new episode is set for a worldwide release on PC-CD Rom, as well as bringing The Settlers to consoles for the first time.
Recognized for its detailed graphics, hand painted textures, bright and happy colors, The Settlers’ universe presents a mixture of history and imagination, all spiced up with cartoon-like elements.
After having sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide, The Settlers franchise is broadly recognized for its creative genre of built-up strategic simulation games. Soon enough, the new product standing as an independent title in the world of The Settlers will be supplied with an all new technology and innovative gaming principle, which will broaden the game’s brand internationally.
"This new game from the cult series will undoubtedly widen The Settlers’ audience” says Odile Limpach, Managing Director of Ubi Soft Entertainment GmbH and the Ubi Soft studio Blue Byte. “Our production team is currently focusing on innovative 3D-technology and absolutely new game features”.
Benedikt Grindel, the project manager, is already working with a team of 25 people, which is set to grow as the game progresses towards production. Most of the project’s artists bring their experience from working on the Settlers IV games.
Additionally, the development team will mainly concentrate on new strategic elements of the game, using Rubens and Vulcain engines for the animation and display systems. That means the main goal of the Ubi team is to create a truly evolved game, in order to establish the Settlers brand globally by developing a world class strategy game. To illustrate, conflict between the tribes are carried out in a totally original way. This 3D-technology is merely used as another tool to bring radical changes, which will create a truly innovative leap inside the Settlers’ gameplay.
About Ubi Soft studio Blue Byte:
Blue Byte is one of the pioneers of the German gaming industry. The studio was founded by Thomas Hertzler in 1988 and concentrates on the development of entertainment software. Blue Byte is responsible for two of the most famous series in the history of PC-games in Germany: The Settlers®-Series and the Battle Isle™-Saga. The Settlers – highly acclaimed strategic simulation game - sold more than 3 million copies worldwide. The latest part of the series, The Settlers IV, came out on February 15, 2001. On the first day of sales, only the German speaking countries saw 300.000 games hit the shelves. Blue Byte is also behind Game, Net & Match!, the first tennis simulation playable via the Internet. Blue Byte's Internet community - the Blue Byte Game Channel – offers chat events and multiplayer games for more than 100.000 registered users. Further information at www.ubisoft.de and www.bluebyte.net.
About Ubi Soft:
Ubi Soft Entertainment is an international producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products. A leading company in the multimedia industry, Ubi Soft's strong and diversified lineup has grown considerably, as has Ubi Soft itself. As well as steadfastly continuing to partner with several high-profile companies, Ubi Soft has also confirmed its presence on the global market by developing its own exceptional properties. Founded in 1986 in France, Ubi Soft is now present on every continent, both through offices in 22 different countries including the United States, Brazil, Morocco, Germany and China and through sales of products in over 50 countries. The group is dedicated to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers around the world. To learn more, visit www.ubi.com.
© 2002 Blue Byte Software. All rights reserved. Settlers® is a registered trademarks of Blue Byte Software. Blue Byte Software Inc. is a company of Ubi Soft Entertainment SA
