Hi-Rez will resurrect Tribes IP

Global Agenda developer Hi-Rez Studios is the new owner of the Tribes licence. The studio will use the IP to make new game Tribes Universe.

"We can't transform Global Agenda to a large scale battle format but since we liked this concept a lot, we decided to create a new game based on large scale fighting. In order to develop the new game many significant steps had to be taken, including: A significant rewrite to the unreal engine servers to allow for 100+ players to be fighting in the same map, a new UI system that is more efficient, a different implementation of character visuals, a new terrain system, etc. In addition the combat gameplay required many significant changes as well," Hi-Rez founder and CEO Erez Goren wrote on the GA forum (via RockPaperShotgun).

"While working through the design we kept coming back to one old and loved game that represented many of the concepts we where incorporating into the new game (jetpacks, vehicles, large open space, three armour types, futuristic weapons, etc). Many of you will know this game as Tribes, the original on-line multiplayer shooter.

"As of now," he added, "Hi-Rez Studios is the proud new owner of the Tribes franchise."

Goren surmised Tribes Universe's main features as these: three factions (tribes); full clan (agency) support; first-person view (third-person for some vehicles); full land and air vehicle support; full persistent world with territory control; PVP focus; "huge" outdoor maps; fights with more than 100 people; fancy equipment such as jetpacks and skis; and loads of weapons.

Hi-Rez will be broken into two teams: one to maintain and develop Global Agenda, the other to deliver Tribes Universe.

The latter will Alpha-test at the start of 2011, and anybody with a level 50 Global Agenda character will get first dibs on entrance.

Publisher Sierra (Vivendi) and developer Dynamix invented Tribes. The first game released was Starsiege: Tribes in 1998. Eurogamer wasn't around then, so our earliest archived appraisal of the Tribes universe was in 2001 and about Tribes 2.

"In short, then, you should buy this game," wrote a fresh-faced Tom Bramwell. "And if you play anything online this year, make it Tribes 2."

There was a caveat, though: "The system requirements for Tribes 2 are simply over the top. Our general test machine was a 1.33GHz Athlon with 256Mb of RAM and a GeForce 3.

That's a very high spec," he added.

Wistful sigh.

Global Agenda, an MMO, was released this year. Quintin Smith delivered Eurogamer's verdict.