SEGA/Petroglyph working on original RTS series

SEGA has just announced a partnership with Las Vegas-based Petroglyph to create an original PC real-time strategy title with a modern military/science-fiction theme – details of which will be announced at a later date.

Petroglyph will be a name familiar to followers of the genre (the team is currently working on Star Wars: Empire At War) but even if not then the titles on the team's collective resume ought to be – thanks to credits on Blade Runner, Eye of the Beholder, Dune 2 and Command & Conquer. Indeed, "most " team members are veterans of Westwood Studios.

Good news for gamers, then, and good news for SEGA too as it attempts to build up its PC credentials even further. Its partnership with Monolith on The Matrix Online may not have worked out wonderfully, but along with its acquisition of The Creative Assembly (Rome: Total War) and its publishing collaboration with Sports Interactive (Football Manager), the Petroglyph deal represents a big push – particularly in the strategy genre, as SEGA of America COO Simon Jeffery notes.

"SEGA is moving aggressively toward a leadership position in the RTS category and the team at Petroglyph is behind some of the finest games in the genre," he said in a statement. "We continue to rebuild SEGA as a leading publisher by collaborating with only the very best developers in North America and Europe."

SEGA hasn't given up on consoles either – and will be one of the biggest exhibitors at this week's Tokyo Game Show, having announced a next-generation Sonic the Hedgehog and a slew of handheld and current-generation titles in recent weeks. It's also working with Silicon Lights, Secret Level, Monolith and Pseudo Interactive on next-generation games.