Babylon 5 MMO on the way?

By Ellie Gibson Published 16 November, 2005

Please, please let it be true.

Babylon 5 creator and all-round genius J. Michael Straczynski has hinted that a massively-multiplayer online game based on the incomparably superb sci-fi series could be in the pipeline.

Speaking to US website Gamecloud, Straczynski said: "Every year or so, Warner Bros. makes noises about a B5 game... And they're making them again this year.

"Whether or not this actually goes anywhere this time, we'll have to see. Certainly the B5 universe is almost tailor-made for a game, especially an immersive, online experience."

Too right it is - after all, an MMO would feature plenty of NPCs wandering round in the background, and the best bit about Babylon 5 was always the millions of extras wandering around performing ridiculously exaggerated movements whilst wearing stupid hats.

So what happened to the Babylon 5 game that Sierra was working on a few years ago, anyway?

"I was consulting on the game and writing parts of it, but they were shouldering most of that stuff," Straczynski said.

"And yeah, I was very disappointed, because we shot a lot of footage for the game with the cast, and it's the last B5 footage ever shot... And it's gone for all time." Why, why, WHY? We blame the Narn.

Straczynski said that although he's a gamer, he doesn't get much spare time these days - "I've been up to my ears on deadlines, so the only one I've played of late was the latest iteration of Doom, which needless to say I cheat-coded my way through for the most part. Who has that kind of time?" Not us, J., since we're too busy working our way through our complete DVD box set of your greatest contribution to the world. Again.

Babylon 5 fans may like to know that Straczynski is currently promoting a new series of script books - "A total of fifteen volumes containing all 92 Babylon 5 episodic scripts plus two B5 TV movies, each averaging more than 400 pages."

Each volume includes an extensive introduction and episode commentaries, and Straczynski says: "These books are the closest I will come to going to everyone's house, one at a time, and saying, "This is what happened, once upon a time..." Spose we might as well stop sending those invites.

The first volume in the series is available via the official website, priced at a very reasonable $39.99.

As you might have guessed, we're extremely excited about the prospect of an MMO starring crazy-haired fatso Molari, bum-headed lizard man G'kar and that baldy lady with the superglued-open eyes who's in Lost these days. Let's just hope it's out some time before the dawn of the third age of mankind.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (42) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Bitkari #1 7 years ago

    Fiver says this will never get made :/

  • thegamesthething #2 7 years ago

    if it does it will be the biggest collection of saddos ever known

    /glances at shelf full of b5 dvds

    including me

  • Sko #3 7 years ago

    At least the typical tatty looking locations and bad voice acting in a MMORPG won't be at odds with it's source material.

  • thegamesthething #4 7 years ago

    i dont think it will be possible to find someone as bad as claudia christian without actually using claudia christian though
    Edited by thegamesthething at 16/11/05 @ 18:01

  • Scimarad #5 7 years ago

    C'mon, you know it makes sense!

  • Kostabi #6 7 years ago

    /crosses fingers

  • jiveguy #7 7 years ago

    Poor mans star trek.

  • Pirotic #8 7 years ago

    Hmm, entering the MMO market isn't a great idea right now. They have a Star Trek one, a D&D one, AND a lord of the rings one all in production - how will the nerds ever decide?

  • MrAtheist #9 7 years ago

    B5 geeks make 'Trekkers' look like Steve McQueen!

    I want a Thundercats MMO.

  • Mr.Small #10 7 years ago

    Give me a Battle of the Planets MMO anyday.

  • Eraysor #11 7 years ago

    I know of not one person that gives a damn.

  • Markusdragon #12 7 years ago

    Didn't they used to make Babylon 5 on Amiga computers? :p

  • DocTep #13 7 years ago

    So there's a B5 fan working at EG?

    Cool.

    Pitty about the comments thread. Though i do have to agree that it'll likely never get beyond the early concept phase before the idea is dropped.

  • Freek #14 7 years ago

    Wasn't there a recent B5 game aswell? Sort of a space shoot em up?

  • Bates #15 7 years ago

    Babylon 5, the TV series that enabled people for the first time to say: Star Trek's acting isn't really that bad.

    I hear the cast didn't use make up artists on that show, they used carpenters instead.

  • Ryuken #16 7 years ago

    "Wasn't there a recent B5 game aswell? Sort of a space shoot em up?"

    It was a fanmade spacesim => http://ifh.firstones.com/

    Not everything B5-related is brilliant (that Crusader spinoff series f.e., I guess you saw that one Bates) but I got good memories of the main series. That musical score alone gives it an edge over Star Trek/SW/BG/... ; they backplayed it in the first CGI-trailer for the Sierra B5 game. Simply superb stuff back then. Really underrated as hell, just like Space: Above & Beyond.

  • captain-future #17 7 years ago

    hey Joe! how about a movie (Serenity leads the way) or a new tv show or at least a new book or something?

  • Xerx3s #18 7 years ago

    I remember a really ace looking film from another B5 game a long time ago, in the style of wingcommander. Did THAT ever get released?

    "Poor mans star trek"

    Meh, startrek is so lame these days. Farscape is just way better. Tobad they canned the show....

  • Sephiro #19 7 years ago

    I'm afraid the game you are thinking of is the one that got canned Xerx3s.

  • ali-uk #20 7 years ago

    I distinctly remembering this show sucking ass. But eh, not a massive sci-fi fan, and I hate MMORPGs.

  • Kostabi #21 7 years ago

    "Really underrated as hell, just like Space: Above & Beyond."

    Oh man, I thought I was the only one who loved this show when it aired. I've been watching it recently and it is still just as brilliant

  • Xerx3s #22 7 years ago

    Space: Above & beyond was ace. Really liked the end. Just brilliant. Why is it that all the good original SF shows get canned early on, while crappy unoriginal series & stuff like "big brother" run year after year? Are there that many ppl with cheap0 interests?

  • Macross #23 7 years ago

    Well I like B5 (well after the first series or two anyways when the acting and scripts got a bit better :p). I hope this gets made, although I have to agree its pretty unlikely.

    Oh yeah and there is a wing commandery style B5 game around, it got finished off by fans after it was canned and has pretty good production values too. My housemate completed although he said it was bastard hard cos they use proper spacey physics in it.

  • Rodafowa #24 7 years ago

    Seasons 2 through 4 were the greatest. Scifi series. Ever. This is not a matter of taste, this is not a matter of perception, I can prove this to you on an Etch-A-Sketch.

    I really, really, really hope that if this is ever realised, it has absolutely nothing to do with the abortion that was The Babylon Project pen-and-paper RPG. Complete waste of time and effort. Although it did claim that the Narn battleships that were shown all through the series were called Mak'a'roon class heavy dreadnoughts, which provided literally minutes of mirth.

  • Sko #25 7 years ago

    "Meh, startrek is so lame these days."

    It always was. B5 just made it look good by comparison.

  • 3william56 #26 7 years ago

    Oh c'mon. Any show that has a bloke with a 6 ft prehensile willy that he uses to cheat at cards has got to be tops!

  • Xerx3s #27 7 years ago

    "season 5 was tacked on really, as they never expected it to get made, but babylon 5 remains the strongest space opera series ever made, with a remarkable plot and design ethic. "

    Still think that Farscape is the best SF series ever made. The acting is just brilliant. And the insanity is spoton. The characters & story line are the strongest ive seen thusfar in SF.

  • AgentCooper #28 7 years ago

    Being a huge B5 fan I'd have to say that this alone might make me interested in the MMO scene.

    As for the show itself, lightyears ahead of Trek. Although DS9 (The blatant rip off though it was) was pretty special at times.

    Have to have it tied with Farscape, which again was quite simply brilliant. Thank god we got the PK Wars to round things off. Even if notable plot points are........fudged a little, a 5th series would have been much nicer.

    Space Above and Beyond. Great show. Loved that one, bloody brilliant ending. Never saw that coming.

  • Moonprince #29 7 years ago

    "Space: Above & beyond was ace. Really liked the end."

    What was the end? I remember it being unfinished? Did I miss something?

  • w00t #30 7 years ago

    YAY.

    That is all.

  • Moonprince #31 7 years ago

    Ahh that's the way I remember it. I think there was meant to be another series but it never happened. Shame.

  • AgentCooper #32 7 years ago

    All_Action_hero -Well worth it mate, I own them all (Including the Crusade, TVM and LOTR ones), there is an Uber boxset available with everything in it, just don't ask the price....

  • Rodafowa #33 7 years ago

    *adds box sets to xmas list*

    If I might recommend...

  • Darkedge #34 7 years ago

    $30 dollars for ONE of fifteen script books? Rick Berhman should hire JMS as he knows how to MILK a franchise.

  • thegamesthething #35 7 years ago

    "most of them died."

    Blakes 7 did that 20-odd years ago - they all died.

    On an effects budget of about 40p as well

  • AgentCooper #36 7 years ago

    AAH -Season 4, Ep 6 I think.

    /Is sad.

    /Doesn't care.

  • Psi #37 7 years ago

    hey bilbo! babalon 5 was shit!

  • firefly #38 7 years ago

    Actually All_Action_Hero season five was originally planned it was just forced to go through some rather major changes. Initially season four was never supposed to be the end of the civil war - rather the season finale was going to be The Face of the Enemy and then season five would pick up from there. However the network that originally showed Babylon 5 sort of ran out of money or something and they were told that they wouldn't have a home after the fourth season. JMS was forced to wrap up the stories earlier than he intended whilst leaving certain things out. When TNT picked up the fifth season a lot of changes had to be made at the last minute - not only to compensate for the wrapping of the story but also to make up for Claudia Christian's absence. I've seen the original plan for how season five was supposed to play out and trust me it's a better season (ironically this was published in SFX before they made a comment about how not all of B5 was perfect and an irate JMS took offense and refused to let them publish anything he says ever again) not only does it not take as long to get anywhere it also seems to work better with Ivanova's stories not being split between Lyta and new captain woman whose name escapes me.

    By the way I'd just like to point out that all 92 episodes cannot be correct as there were 110 episodes made.
    Edited by firefly at 17/11/05 @ 11:37

  • Psi #39 7 years ago

    oh, and farscape was the only one i ever watched, muppets in space :D

  • king_skins #40 7 years ago

    Wow, I wasn't only person who wtached Space: Above & Beyond :D

    Just thinking about it, didn't Halo rip-off Space: A&B??

  • AgentCooper #41 7 years ago

    "Actually All_Action_Hero season five was originally planned it was just forced to go through some rather major changes. Initially season four was never supposed to be the end of the civil war - rather the season finale was going to be The Face of the Enemy and then season five would pick up from there. However the network that originally showed Babylon 5 sort of ran out of money or something and they were told that they wouldn't have a home after the fourth season. JMS was forced to wrap up the stories earlier than he intended whilst leaving certain things out. When TNT picked up the fifth season a lot of changes had to be made at the last minute - not only to compensate for the wrapping of the story but also to make up for Claudia Christian's absence. I've seen the original plan for how season five was supposed to play out and trust me it's a better season (ironically this was published in SFX before they made a comment about how not all of B5 was perfect and an irate JMS took offense and refused to let them publish anything he says ever again) not only does it not take as long to get anywhere it also seems to work better with Ivanova's stories not being split between Lyta and new captain woman whose name escapes me."

    Well actually, if you go by the original series bible, the 5 seasons would have ended with Sinclair and War Without End or thereabouts (no Sheridan). The reason for producing Sleeping in Light and wrapping stories quicker than intended in season 4 was because the WB weren't sure whether they would give them another series, there was always issues regarding this due to B5's arc heavy nature (not great for hooking new viewers as they need to know the back story etc), when they got the go ahead the alternitive ending to season 4 was done. Season 5 was always planned to pan out the way it did, only characters where changed due to Claudia Christian dropping out over pay concerns, the original Teep storyline would have had Ivanova fall in love with Byron and accept her Teep abilities, Lyta would have also loved Byron but from afar (Ivanova -All love is unrequited Stephen....), things would have turned out in much the same manner, albiet without Captain Lochleys character.

    I personally loved season 5 for it's altogether different feel, the whole laying of foundations for the teep war, the Centauri conflict, the Drakh assualts, the teething political troubles etc.

    As for Crusade.........Well lets just say that TNT wanted one kind of show and JMS wanted to write another all together different kind, the show would have been turned on it's head if they had been allowed to finish the first season, track down the scripts if you can, the Season ender is awesome. The proper Crusade story would have dealt with Earth messing with Shadow Tech and the Excalibur and her crew being on the run from Earth Gov, Galen was sent to spy on Earths experiments, the cure for the Drakh plague wold have been found early doors. Loadsof potential.........bloody TNT.........

    Oh, if you haven't, read the books, the Technomage, Centauri and Psi Corp trilogies are all canon, and damned good as well.

  • Smugglarn #42 7 years ago

    The new Battlestar: Galactica kicks the proverbial ass of all Sci-Fi shows past and present. No family-friendly bullshit and no retarded aliens.