Take-Two Interactive label Gathering and Destineer, parent company of MacSoft, have announced plans to publish two new installments of the popular Close Combat series. This marks the return of the Close Combat franchise to the Macintosh as well as the first original game developed by Destineer. Both games are being simultaneously developed for Mac and Windows.
Close Combat: First to Fight will be the first game out of the gate when it bows late in 2004. It’s a team-based first person shooter created under the direction of the U.S. Marines. Another game is also in development: Close Combat: Red Phoenix. It’s a real-time strategy game that is loosely based on Larry Bond’s novel Red Phoenix, and it’s expected to be released in early 2005.
Atomic Games’ Close Combat series began in the mid-90s. They were originally strategy games set in the World War II era that were available for both Macs and PCs. The original game spawned a sequel, Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far, but successive installments of the franchise were not available for the Mac.
Destineer is the game development and publishing company founded by ex-Bungie executive Peter Tamte in 2001. Destineer first published Macintosh game conversions under its Bold label, and last year acquired MacSoft — the company Tamte founded prior to working at Bungie — from Atari. Destineer’s plans for original title development have been public knowledge since the company was founded, but the group’s specific plans for development have remained a mystery until now.
Destineer is heading up the development of First to Fight, based on original 3D engine technology they’ve developed in-house. Their game engine technology is also being used by Atomic, which is developing Red Phoenix. MacSoft has the Mac publishing rights to both games, and the company promises that the Mac and PC versions will ship on the same day.