On Tuesday, Aspyr Media Inc. — best known for their development of Mac versions of popular PC and console games — announced plans to publish the first game from Wideload Games Inc. Wideload is the new game developer created by Bungie Studios founder Alexander Seropian, who left Bungie following its acquisition by Microsoft Corp.
Little is known about Wideload’s first game in progress, though details should be coming soon. Aspyr described it as “a character-driven action game” based on the same underpinning engine technology Bungie Studios used to develop its hit action game Halo. The title will be published for multiple platforms in 2005.
Aspyr Media started in the mid-90s exclusively as a publisher of Mac games. Aspyr’s bread and butter has been in licensing existing titles on other platforms and bringing them to the Mac, and the company has gradually expanded its repetoire to include Game Boy Advance and PC titles as well. In 2003, Aspyr Media diversified further by starting music and DVD video publication. Aspyr’s announcement with Wideload marks the first time the company has published an original game title, however.
“Topping our ‘why we want to work with Aspyr’ list is the company’s strong reputation of working with top name companies and staying true to the creator’s vision. This was very appealing to us,” said Seropian in a statement.
“We’ve spent the last year shoring up our process for doing [original game development],” said Aspyr President Michael Rogers during a recent interview with MacCentral. “And this is the perfect time to do this. Wideload is doing something so innovative, and Alex has such a great track record.”
Wideload was founded in 2003 and announced itself to the world earlier this year. While both Wideload and Aspyr are mum about the project in the works, a quick visit to the Web site makes it readily apparent that Wideload carries over some of Bungie’s old sensibilities as well. That old trademark bizarre sense of humor is evident, as Wideload describes its exposure “like a dirty old man in a tattered raincoat sitting at the back of the bus.” Aspyr said it’s ready to capitalize on that offbeat humor, threatening to “create a campaign that is just as twisted and off the wall as the game itself.”