Joystiq

The concept might be a tad ambitious, but Acclaim's Top Secret -- a large-scale competition to build the world's first community-created MMO -- is probably doing more good than evil, with lucrative job positions for the top developers, as well as innumerable job opportunities for all of those involved in the project.

The project, which was first announced back in February, challenges coders, designers, writers, and artists to collaboratively develop an MMO racing game. Members of the development project -- which number over 30,000 -- communicate on forums, wikis, and Acclaim's website to create milestones and deliver assets on a regular basis. As incentive, Acclaim is offering lucrative prizes to top competitors: jobs. One development team from the competition will be hired based on their performance to develop the title for Acclaim, and the grand prize will give one individual the title of director on a future Acclaim MMO. And yes, those positions do include royalties.

In addition to the official prizes, the forum community for Top Secret is also under close observation by Acclaim, with several of its skilled contributors going to work full-time for the publisher and other companies based on their contributions to the project. Acclaim states that this is an intended effect of the competition, hoping to see a large number of contributors break into the industry via Top Secret.

The most recent version of the design document describes Top Secret as a massively multiplayer racing game, where avatars ride beasts of a variety of species, while also engaging in trading, betting, and breeding (of the beasts, not the riders). At first glance, the project seems a bit top-heavy, with a features list that reads more like a "best of" from the industry's greatest franchises. However, game designer Dave Perry, who's overseeing the project as its director, promises to keep a close eye on things, and keep the project on track. Whether the final game will be good or not, the Top Secret project definitely has its heart in the right place. Those interested in future careers in the game industry should definitely check it out.

[Via IGN]