"Imperator" is an Alternate Earth game, one set in a future world where Ancient Rome never fell. Small changes at crucial moments in Roman history create an entirely new timeline for Earth, leading to a star-spanning Roman Republica and thousands of years of interstellar Pax Romana. The Republic is home to many planets, each containing wildly different flora, fauna, creatures, culture, and climate. As the game begins, new threats to the Republic have sprung up from beyond its borders, making the galaxy more dangerous and the Republic itself less stable an exhilarating setting for an online gamer. Over the last few decades, many themes of classical Roman history have found their way into modern science fiction and fantasy -- in "Imperator" the architecture, beauty, nobility, and even the savagery of Rome are the heart of the game."This was the most difficult decision that we have ever had to make," said Mark Jacobs, CEO and president of Mythic Entertainment. "However, our tremendous success with 'Dark Age of Camelot' set the standard for Mythic of releasing nothing less than triple-A games, and 'Imperator' was simply not meeting that standard."
There are no personnel layoffs planned as a result of this decision. Staff will be reassigned to the ongoing development of "Dark Age of Camelot" including the next expansion, "Darkness Rising," scheduled for Q4 '05. In addition some personnel have already been assigned to the new "Warhammer" MMORPG which Mythic announced at E3 in May 2005.
"Our team made a tremendous effort with the game and the praise it drew at E3 and in previews reflected their skill and dedication," Jacobs continued. "But in the final analysis it just wasn't great enough to be a Mythic game at this time."
Mythic will perform an internal reassessment of the game's features and make a decision on how to proceed with its development in the future.
The decision to postpone "Imperator" also means that the company's plans to establish a European publishing office have been postponed. It is expected that those plans will resume as the company prepares for its 2007 worldwide publication of the "Warhammer" MMORPG.
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