Obsidian Entertainment is working on Dungeon Siege 3, a new addition to the old action-RPG franchise that will be published by Square Enix.
The original Dungeon Siege, created by Chris Taylor’s Gas Powered Games, came out all the way back in 2002 and while I never cared for it myself, it was popular enough to warrant a stand-alone expansion in 2003 and a full sequel in 2005, not to mention a spectacularly super-awesome feature film directed by none other than Uwe Boll himself. Now a third game is on the way from Obsidian and Square Enix that will bring the series to consoles for the very first time.
Being developed “under the supervision of Taylor,” Dungeon Siege 3 is part of Square Enix’s plan to partner with Western studios and increase its presence in the North American market. The game will offer a new cooperative gameplay mode for up to four players, numerous customization options and a world in which every decision will have consequences.
Obsidian is best known as the studio that couldn’t quite finish Knights of the Old Republic 2, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Alpha Protocol, so it’s a bit of a surprise to see it taking on yet another new project when it’s already got so much on its plate. Alpha Protocol just wrapped up and was released to less-than-stellar reviews, while the studio continues to work on Fallout: New Vegas and also signed a deal earlier this year to develop new games based on the Wheel of Time novels. Perhaps Square Enix will be able to crack the whip where Sega and LucasArts couldn’t; or perhaps once again we’ll just end up with two-thirds of a really good game and some disappointed talk about what might have been.
Dungeon Siege 3 is currently in development for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. No release date has been announced.
