Trion To Publish Petroglyph MMORTS

Online game publisher Trion World Network is collaborating with Universe at War developer Petroglyph on an upcoming unnamed MMORTS, the companies announced today. The deal marks the first time that Trion will be working with a third-party on its Trion Platform. Trion, which did not reveal a release date for the game, will publish the MMORTS on a global basis. Trion CEO Lars Buttler claimed that Petroglyph's upcoming game will be the "world's first truly high-end MMORTS." Trion has yet to launch a game, but the privately-held firm has raised $100 million in funding and recently struck a deal with the Sci-Fi Channel. The firm has also been hiring top-level execs in recent months. Trion's specialty is creating server-based, live programming-driven games. The Trion deal is Petroglyph's latest move into new areas in online gaming. In December, Las Vegas-based studio revealed Mytheon, an online action strategy game due in the fall that will implement a free-to-play, microtransactions-based business model. Trion's Petroglyph partnership emerges just days after Trion president and co-founder Jon Van Caneghem "transitioned out" of the company.