Rumor: EA has Starbreeze working on new Syndicate

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 19th 2008 at 6:00PM }

CVG claims that EA has Starbreeze Studios working on a new entry in the Syndicate franchise. Starbreeze is best known for creating the Chronicles of Riddick and The Darkness. The original Syndicate was created by Peter Molyneux's old studio, Bullfrog.

Starbreeze doesn't note that a new Syndicate game is currently in production on its website and this information isn't official. A return to the Syndicate universe does sound like a nice idea, so hopefully CVG's source isn't the same one that told it about the Starcraft MMO last year.

[Via Big Download]

Tags: bullfrog, cvg, ea, syndicate, syndicate-wars

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Sir_Hood @ Oct 19th 2008 6:08PM

I have waited over 10 years for this! =D

Averna @ Oct 19th 2008 8:36PM

Yeah same. I also didnt realise that Bullfrog was Peter Molyneux's team... he really is/was a visionary.

Rew @ Oct 19th 2008 6:14PM

I've been wondering how log it would take, I think I cried when I found I had lost my Syndicate Wars disc. I remember thinking how amazing the first game was and how it was def worth the 8+ floppy didcs it was on!!

Burns11 @ Oct 19th 2008 6:22PM

Although it's hardly confirmation, Starbreeze is supposed to be working on a project redlime that is apparently a return to an old EA franchise.

Mechanical @ Oct 19th 2008 6:23PM

I sincerely hope this is true.

Halwende @ Oct 19th 2008 6:57PM

Didn't Bullfrog do Dungeon Keeper as well? That would be another great remake...

Titanium_Orchid @ Oct 19th 2008 7:14PM

Yes, Bullfrog made the dungeon keeper series in addition to Theme Park, Magic Carpet and Populous. They were a great studio.

Also (I have said this before), the game Overlord really reminds me of dungeon keeper for some reason, maybe what the third installment would be like if it were actually made.

Markez @ Oct 19th 2008 7:22PM

Wow, I have some really fond memories of playing the original back in the day when I used to still do plenty of PC gaming, it rocked. I didn't care much for the original, but man that original ruled.

Almost had the fun feeling you get in GTA when you just want to randomly blow stuff up, cause havoc, or set people on fire with the flamethrower.

I still remember how absolutely loony that last level was when enemies kept pouring out of everywhere. Cool beans.

treqie @ Oct 19th 2008 7:39PM

Sweet. Marks Team and gauss guns was the shit.

skyrous @ Oct 19th 2008 7:48PM

Ok so what's changed at EA? This is a definite departure from their usual strategy.

step 1: buy small time studio
step 2: drive all talented people out of said studio who go off and found a new studio
step 3: piss on the classic franchises that made said studio great... then go down a few beers and piss on them again.
step 4: wonder why gamers despise the so much.

Only thing i can figure is they're running low on money to buy and kill new studio's (madden not bringing in the cash it use to?) so they may have actually make a quality games to bring the cash flow. Either that or from now on they intend to make good games strangled with their garbage DRM just to annoy their customers further.

Anyone who grew up gaming has very good reasons to hate EA.

Titanium_Orchid @ Oct 19th 2008 8:01PM

EA actually had a pretty good track record before 2000, then they got a lot bigger and started to go out of control. It just seems like now they have figured out how to properly operate on the scale that they do.

Now all they have to do if figure out what to do about the DRM.

Bluebrake @ Oct 19th 2008 8:42PM

See this post: http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/08/dice-08-riccitiello-warns-against-consolidation-says-ea-blew/print/

I don't know whether it's all talk or not, but it sounds like there may have been some fundamental changes at EA recently. They used to absorb a studio, digest it, and shit out the remains, and Bullfrog is the classic example. Maybe they can actually turn that around now.

I'd sure like to see some other Bullfrog franchises return, even if my only firsthand experience was with Populous: The Beginning (which I loved, even though it seems to be hated by fans).

Jack Tretton @ Oct 19th 2008 7:49PM

This would make my 2009.

Twist @ Oct 19th 2008 7:58PM

If this is true then I would say that this IP is a good fit for this studio. I loved Chronicles of Riddick (and am eagerly awaiting the revamped now gen version) and The Darkness was also pretty good (still don't think FPS was the way to go with that franchise though).

Drew @ Oct 19th 2008 8:22PM

Better Idea: Darkness Sequel

Markez @ Oct 19th 2008 8:45PM

I'm with you there, I really loved the first one. Personally, I'd take it over Halo 3 ten times out of ten.

ryan @ Oct 19th 2008 9:32PM

Starbreeze? weren't they doing a Riddick sequel?

wiredknight @ Oct 19th 2008 10:16PM

EA, you got my attention. Well, even more so, after the release of Dead Space.

How about an updated UltraBots?

Brian @ Oct 19th 2008 11:51PM

That was a Novalogic game, but nonetheless, it too deserves a sequel.

wiredknight @ Oct 20th 2008 8:46PM

Ye I know. But it was published by EA back when they went solely by Electronic Arts. Digging up a game like Syndicate reminds me of those days.

Also, thanks for the reply, I thought I was the only one who ever played it XD.

SuckItTrebek @ Oct 20th 2008 12:31AM

What? A Fallout sequel, Earthbound 3 English patched, and another Syndicate game? The gods of my gaming twilight reach out to me to return me home!

t_m @ Oct 20th 2008 1:06AM

I hope it turns out better than Syndicate Wars did.

If there was ever a case of 3D for 3D's sake, that was it. But i still can't quite work out how they managed to lose ALL the charm...

why not the LS2LS7? @ Oct 20th 2008 2:32AM

Agreed. They promised to add so many things (like being able to rotate the world to see those corners you couldn't see) and instead they ended up taking away all the fun.

retro_ @ Oct 20th 2008 7:34AM

Really? I loved the sequel! Syndicate wars was fantastic, the pseudo 3D and the whole Manga inspired cyberPunk theme was fantastic. Still have the game somewhere in the Attic.

Sadly, unless you use dosbox or something similar and can slow your pc right down, it runs far to fast on modern machines.

why not the LS2LS7? @ Oct 20th 2008 11:19AM

So use DOSBOX. That's how I run Syndicate (non-Wars).

t_m @ Oct 20th 2008 11:45AM

i still have them both somewhere.

But whereas i completed every mission in Syndicate, plus the insanely hard expansion... i never managed to finish Syndicate wars.

It lost all the charm, all the detail. They dumbed down the game mechanics. The side were generic. The art style was bland and totally different to the original (and not in a good way.).

A you might guess, i was very unimpressed... expecially after being really excited about it.

http://greenglasses.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/what-is-project-redlime/

What the hell. I cannot believe what's going on. Well, btw has anybody noticed this starbreeze blog on the web that talks unofficial and looks very exclusice? I do find this demonstatively unconspicious. Strange?