The unofficial Sovereign FAQ has received an update! New information learned from Clint and the E3 visits has been added to the FAQ; updated topics include resources, alliances, and of course the latest target date for beta testing. If you're new to Sovereign or just need to catch up be sure to give it a read. Thanks to LAR for the updates!

As a follow-up to our last news post: Verant did not want to comment on the graphic-engine overhaul rumor, but I was assured that work on the game continues with an ever-growing design team. Sovereign seems to have been pushed into a news-blackout phase, but we can expect a revamped official site with a load of new images and info when the time is right.

Sovereign Universe points out this article from EverLore which details the events of an EverQuest gathering in Vegas. Brad McQuaid and other Verant reps were in attendance, but Sovereign was not:

Unfortunately, they were unable to demonstrate their upcoming game, Sovereign. We found out that they are redesigning their graphics engine among other things. The expected beta of the game will be the first or second quarter of 2001.

We'll try to more details on this. Thanks to Ewan for the heads-up.

Persistent online worlds are the new frontier for computer gaming, and interest in this category continues to soar. Arguably the most unique among the titles in development is World Fusion’s Atriarch, which blends RPG and strategy elements with an alien organic world where everything is alive at some level. Featuring an enormous gameworld with environments that vary from deserts to ice plains and swamp, five original sentient species and a variety of technologies that are not always fully understood, the game is attracting growing interest among fans of the genre and media alike.

In order to offer the best possible community-oriented coverage of this intriguing online title, IGN Vault Network is very pleased to announce the launch of our latest site, Atriarch Vault. Highlighting today’s opening is cool new creature animation movie offering a visual representation of one of the game’s many interesting elements and ideas.

Other site content will include additional features, game information, news, concept art, screenshots, and much more. As with all our other dedicated sites, Atriarch Vault will focus on the player community with thorough community news coverage, message boards, reader participation features and much more. We invite all members of the community who are interested in the future of online gaming to stop in regularly to check out the coming excitement.

We have been informed that our IGN.com hub site is looking for qualified engineers, editors and designers to join the team. Positions currently available include the following:

Java Software Engineers (CS degree or equivalent)
Oracle & SQL7 DBAs (formal coursework)
Software Engineering & Operations Top Management
IGN Codes Editor
Production Designer

Most if not all positions are located in San Francisco. For additional information on the positions, qualifications required and how to apply, simply click here.

I noticed IronFist's Sovereign Empire has put up dossiers on some of the Sovereign crew. Check it out, lots of good background on Clint and others at Verant. There are even a few mugshots taken at E3!

Are you interested in joining one of the largest and fastest-growing entertainment sites on the Internet, working on the cutting edge of new technology, and developing next-generation community applications? Snowball.com, parent company of IGN.com, is looking for talented developers to join our team. Experience in Oracle or Informix and JSP development environments strongly preferred. Please submit your resumes (in text or Word format) to Eric Neuman.

Lum the Mad posted a short two question Q&A with John Smedley. The questions, of course, center around the recent Sony acquisition of Verant Interactive. Here's a clip:

Lum: Any comment on the rumors of Verant's being overstretched personnel wise and is this a response to that?

Smedley: Honest to God, that's total B. S. We're hiring like mad and we have plenty of people for the tasks at hand. I have no idea how that kind of rumor got started. People seem to think that because we're doing Star Wars all of a sudden we're pulling resources of of EQ Live, or future EQ titles and other stuff we have in development. It just isn't true. All of the teams are seperate and well staffed.

For the rest check out the link above.

It was announced and reported today that Sony acquired Verant Interactive. While we've heard a little about what will be happening to Verant, we know now a little more about recent events at the Los Angeles Sony Online offices. Here clip from the exclusive article found on The Standard:

EXCLUSIVE Soon-to-be-appointed Sony Online Entertainment chief Kelly Flock is cleaning house, shuttering the last remaining office at the electronics giant's online-gaming unit in Los Angeles, according to Sony sources.

More than 50 employees – one hired as recently as Tuesday – were given their pink slips at 2 p.m. PDT today, following a terse 10-minute speech given by Flock to a roomful of crestfallen employees.

Here is another very interesting excerpt from the article:

The bloodletting in the Sony Online Entertainment saga provides clues as to what Flock's new strategy for the fledgling company might entail. The core focus of operations will center on the games-developer studio Verant in San Diego, which is charged with creating more hardcore online games, a genre with which Sony has done well. Most notably, the subscription-based medieval adventure game EverQuest serves more than 500,000 subscribers who pay $9.89 a month for the game, plus up to $50 for the off-the-shelf software.

Other games coming down the pike include the sequel EverQuest 2, a new game called Sovereign, a Star Wars-related game and a proposed project connected to the upcoming PlayStation 2.

Flock previously ran the Sony PlayStation gaming studio 989 Studios but left earlier this year after Sony Computer Entertainment America rolled the unit back into the parent company. He has since been in discussions with Stringer and was lured back to the firm in April to lead Sony Online Entertainment.

Insiders say Flock didn't think much of the online entertainment unit's free offerings, which were advertising-supported, and chose instead to focus his energy on more-lucrative subscription games.

It should also be noted that the layoffs will probably have little to no effect on EverQuest and Verant.

Also, for those underage the article contains a few four letter words from the ex-employee comments. Be forewarned.

It is now official, Sony Pictures Entertainment has bought out Verant Interactive, Inc. Important questions pertaining to Verant's future is answered in the following press release sent to me by SOE Executive Vice President John Smedley:

SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT ACQUIRES
ONLINE GAMING COMPANY VERANT INTERACTIVE &
APPOINTS KELLY FLOCK AS PRESIDENT & CEO OF
SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT (SOE)

Verant Becomes Part Of SOE As Sony Pictures Entertainment
Takes Steps To Strengthen Its Interactive Gaming Leadership Position

CULVER CITY, CA, May 31, 2000-Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) announced
today it has acquired the online games company Verant Interactive, Inc. and
named prominent digital gaming executive Kelly Flock as president and CEO of
Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) to bolster SOE's position as the dominant
cyber-destination for interactive game enthusiasts.

Verant, a San Diego-based development studio that creates and markets
cutting-edge online games, will be merged into SOE as part of SOE's effort
to concentrate on becoming the premier attraction for interactive gaming
enthusiasts from its new San Diego headquarters. With a staff of more than
150 software developers, Verant has been responsible for operating the
popular online games EverQuest®, TanarusT and SovereignT. Verant President
John Smedley will remain with SOE as executive vice president and chief
operating officer.

Mr. Flock will supervise the development of engaging new interactive games
by SOE and Verant, and will oversee SOE's award-winning Web site, the
Station@sony.com, which features EverQuest, the top-selling online PC game
title, and such popular attractions for non-paying, casual users as Wheel of
Fortune, JEOPARDY! and Trivial Pursuit Online.

Yair Landau, president of SPE's recently created Sony Pictures Digital
Entertainment (SPDE) unit, which includes SOE, said the acquisition of
privately-held Verant and Mr. Flock's appointment reinforces SPE's
determination to fortify its online businesses and enable SOE to deliver the
most exciting, cutting-edge, network gaming to interactive consumers.

In Mr. Flock's previous role as president of the interactive game company
989 Studios, he oversaw the rapid growth of EverQuest into an interactive
gaming powerhouse. Under his supervision, EverQuest broke all
subscription-based online gaming sales records, reaching more than 250,000
paid subscribers and 350,000 units sold. During peak periods online, more
than 60,000 people can play EverQuest simultaneously, acting as adventurers
and dragon slayers in cyberspace. Average playing time per player is about
20 hours a week.

"As the pre-eminent executive in the interactive gaming community, Kelly
Flock is perfectly suited to build on Sony Online Entertainment's leadership
position and lift it to new levels of excellence," said Howard Stringer,
chairman and CEO of Sony Corporation of America (SCA). "With all of his
wonderful skills, talent and creativity, we're delighted that Kelly will
continue to work his digital magic in the extended Sony family."

"We're delighted to welcome Verant and Kelly into the fold at a time when
interactive gaming is an increasingly important part of our business
portfolio," said Mel Harris, co-president and chief operating officer for
Sony Pictures Entertainment. "Considering that consumers worldwide spent
nearly $7 billion on computer games last year, we look to Kelly and his team
at SOE to broaden our base and make us a pre-eminent force in this
fast-growing business."

"The acquisition of Verant is a very natural fit for us, considering the way
our companies have worked together on games like Everquest. And, we've been
very interested in having Kelly join us for some time," Mr. Landau said.
"Kelly is a world-class executive who commands enormous respect in the
interactive gaming universe. As we focus more and more on SOE becoming a
pure gaming company, we're pleased to bring aboard both a high-profile
industry leader like Kelly and to acquire an innovative gaming leader in
Verant to oversee both our 'casual' gaming, led by such tent-pole properties
as Wheel of Fortune and JEOPARDY!, and our pay programming led by the
hot-selling EverQuest."

"I continue to believe that online gaming is the fastest-growing, most excit
ing area of interactive entertainment," Mr. Flock said. "It is a great
honor to be able to rejoin the pioneers at SOE and the EverQuest development
teams, under John Smedly's direction at Verant, in furthering our goal of
facilitating the next evolution in games. Sony Online Entertainment has the
edge in technology and content, and I am excited by the opportunity to
create and lead the next mass-market category of gaming."

The appointment of Mr. Flock, a longtime Sony executive, as president of SOE
coincides with a shift in emphasis and location for the interactive gaming
concern. The company has sharpened its focus on SOE as a creator and
distributor of all kinds of networked gaming, and has moved its headquarters
from New York to San Diego, where Mr. Flock will be based.

Mr. Flock was appointed president of Sony Imagesoft in March 1995.
Imagesoft evolved into Sony Computer Entertainment America's (SCEA's) sole
North American development studio before launching as 989 StudiosT, an SCEA
wholly-owned independent PlayStation publisher, in April 1998. In that
position, he was responsible for day-to-day operations of the
cross-platform, multimedia entertainment software company and reported
directly to Ken Kutaragi, the chairman and chief executive officer of Sony
Computer Entertainment America, Inc., who was recently named to the Board of
Directors of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation.

Before joining Sony, Mr. Flock held various senior executive positions at
LucasArts Entertainment Company and other interactive entertainment
companies, including Electronic Arts and Activision. During his tenure with
LucasArts Entertainment Company, the company emerged as one of the leading
CD-ROM publishers in the industry. He obtained his B.A. in English
literature from San Francisco State University.


About Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment

Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment (SPDE), an operating unit of Sony
Pictures
Entertainment (SPE), oversees the activities of SPE's digital production and
online
assets which include Sony Pictures Imageworks, Sony Online Entertainment and
Columbia Tri-Star Interactive. SPDE focuses on three areas: 1) producing
and developing
visual effects and computer-generated imaging (CGI), digital character
animation, and
original content for motion picture, television, online and PlayStation
audiences; 2) tapping
SPE's film and television libraries and its talent relationships to develop
new forms of online
content, games and interactive programming; and 3) leading SPE's efforts to
provide
video-on-demand, interactive television and the distribution of other forms
of digital content
and services over the emerging broadband networks.

About Sony Pictures Entertainment

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a division of Sony Corporation of
America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global
operations encompass motion picture production and distribution, television
programming and syndication, worldwide channel investments, home video
acquisition and distribution, operation of studio facilities, development of
new entertainment products, services and technologies and distribution of
filmed entertainment in 67 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be
found on the World Wide Web .

About Verant

Verant Interactive, Inc. is a development studio that develops cutting-edge
online games. Based in San Diego, California, Verant Interactive has a
staff of more than 150 employees who consist of the creative teams
responsible for the online games EverQuest®, Star Wars OnlineT, TanarusT and
SovereignT.

For more information, contact:

Don Levy
Sony Pictures Entertainment
310.244.3553

Jerry Giaquinta
Sony Pictures Entertainment
310.244.3400

Very interesting news indeed. Thanks Smed!

Sovereign Vault is happy to provide you with IronFist's E3 videos. This is the public's first glimpse of Sovereign in a live environment. These videos were taken by IronFist on a handheld analog video cam. So while the quality isn't excellent, you'll get a good idea of what Sovereign looks like in motion and how much detail is present in the game.

• city.mpg [6MB]
  
• destroyer.mpg [4.8MB]
  
• soldier.mpg [5MB]
  

Clint responds to concerns (raised from an old quote) that EverQuest players will have first crack at getting into the beta:

We are not "officially" commenting on EQ players having first call on the Beta slots but I can assure you that we understand the dedication and respect your choices. I can assure you all that we will commend the people that are currently playing EQ with beta slots. However we will be conducting the beta in stages due to testing the load capabilities of the server.

-Clint Worley
Producer/ Designer Sovereign
Verant Interactive Studios

So beta testing will be held in stages, and won't be restricted just to the Verant family. Go to the post at the Station.

There have been a few updates to the Official Sovereign website since E3, including this Victory message from Clint:

I want to thank all of our fans for visiting the booth at E3 this year. We have the game up and running displaying the new interface as well as battle between some of our ground units. The booth was shoulder to shoulder and the game was well received. We were also showing the game at the UbiSoft booth which made the demoing quite fun because the two booths were connected together. Now we move onto finishing up battle and implementing the technology tree and skills. I am looking forward to the future with Sovereign and the moments that we will all share while playing the first Massively Multiplayer 3D RTS game.

-Clint Worley
Producer/ Designer Sovereign
Verant Interactive Studios

The site also mentions that Sovereign was runner up in GameSpy's Best of E3 2000 in the Online Category. Well done! Additionally, there is a batch of high-quality photos of the Verant floor space where Sovereign was shown.

Vampire Vault launches with a great new video, multiplayer character screenshot gallery and our E3 Report

Following an extremely successful debut at E3 1999, Nihilistic Software's Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption has gone on to become one of the most highly anticipated RPGs and indeed one of the most highly anticipated games of the moment. Offering an array of features including an epic tale set in the World of Darkness popularized in White Wolf's pen and paper games, single- and multiplayer capability including the innovative Storyteller mode, and the ability for gamers to create and run their own adventures, it is a title we've been watching closely all along.

With reports from publisher Activision indicatin that release is imminent, the IGN Vault Network is pleased to announce the opening of our latest dedicated site, Vampire Vault, which can be found at http://vampirevault.ign.com. Highlighting today's launch are an .avi video entitled The Embrace that shows the main character, Christof Romuald, being "embraced" to become a vampire, a Screenshot Gallery showing 19 characters available in the multi-player game, and our E3 Vampire Report.

As with all our other dedicated sites, Vampire Vault will focus on the player community with lots of information, thorough community news coverage, message boards, reader and community participation features and much more. More new content and features will be appearing on the site very shortly. Enjoy!

IronFist has put up some video clips he recorded at E3. They're not the best quality (analog, shaky, etc.) but you can see the game in action, and that's all that matters. We're hoping to get some high-quality recordings from Verant in the future, but head over to Sovereign Empire if you want to see what we did at the show.

I just got back from the Verant booth where quality assurance manager Rob Hill spent a few minutes showing me Sovereign in action. The interface is highly dynamic. Rob had a chat screen opened on the right side of the display. As he grew the chat display to the left, the main window dynamically shrunk in real time. It's impressive to see the display resized very quickly and repeatedly. Many windows such as the email box can float, and be moved and resized at will. Rob initiated a private chat request and yelled (E3 is noisy :) for the Verant guy next to us to accept it, which he did. A small chat request indicator text appeared at the top left of the screen, and a new chat box appeared.

More on cities. Engineers are the units that can build new cities on resources (like Settlers in Civ). You can build several types of buildings including airport, research, and repair facility. I hope to get a few screenshots of some the things I am describing here, there is a lot of on-screen information to deal with.

I got a look at the soldiers. You can zoom in far enough to see details on their faces. They were in full battle gear, armored and helmed. They stood and shoulder-fired their machine guns at a group of tanks, which in turned aimed and fired, shells visibly flying past the group of soldiers. Rob created several ships out in the water, an aircraft carrier, submarine, a few warships and cargo ships. They undulated slowly in the rolling waves of the ocean.

Well this needs to be brief because the show is over! I was very impressed with what I saw. Thanks to Clint and the Verant guys for giving me the tour!

Here are a few new screenshots from E3:


Enjoy!

Hey everyone, it's luxor reporting live from the IGN booth at E3. I just spent some time chatting with Clint Worley, lead designer and producer of Sovereign. He gave a demonstration of the game and it looks fantastic. All the screenshots we have seen so far don't really capture the movement and feel of the game. Once you have seen a zoom from the ground up through the clouds and into space, you'll know what I mean.

Clint began by explaining a few facts about Sovereign, such as the 6 character classes and the forms of government. There will be several government types you can pick at the start of a game, from communist to democracy, that will have varying effects on your population, such as willingness to protest acts of war.

Your starting city, the capitol of your empire, will be randomly selected. They have decided to use random maps to prevent people from having initial advantages like a defensive mountain range. Subsequent cities will be built on top of resources (gold for example) placed throughout the map. The city will then begin to produce that resource at varying levels of productivity, depending on morale. Cities have two types of buildings: industrial, which produce quantities of the resource, and residential, which contribute money and morale. You can manage these buildings by constructing, demolishing, raising, and lowering each individually.

Resources. As Clint said earlier, there will be a global marketplace for resource trading which will operate on a supply and demand basis. Players may also trade directly, and ship via air, sea, or ground. The amount being shipped will be represented graphically so for example, a ship may only have one level of cargo boxes instead of three. This way, enemy marauders may pick and choose the heavily laden transports to pirate.

The game will ship with 60-75 combat units, Clint estimates. Jose Araiza, Sovereign Lead Tester, was running the demo most of the time. He had several artillery tank battles going on simultaneously. As the tanks entered range of their targets, the rear launchers would raise from the back of the tank and send off a volley of shells. Collision detection was not present in this demo, but it looked very cool nonetheless. I heard one of the units say "For the Empire!" as they engaged. Reliance on fuel will be emphasized. Depots and other fuel lines will be necessary to maintain units.

The grpahics, as I said, look much better in motion. Clint was a little reluctant to share all his secrets about graphics and terrain, but I did get a close up view of a swamp. Each tree is individually modeled. Only smaller units may enter terrain of this type, which can be used as a tactical advantage. The day/night cycle happened rather suddenly every now and then, I believe as the sun moved behind the globe. The light went away and the stars came out. The interface is very impressive and highly dynamic. There are many status and chat panels which can be rearanged, opened, and moved on the fly.

Clint was also excited about out-of-game interaction with Sovereign. An instant-messaging type client will be available, in which you can exchange email and trade while not logged into the game. Another probable feature is a webpage which keeps track of your empire. Pager and PDA support are still maybes.

The big news is that Sovereign will launch with servers in North America, Japan, and Europe. Additionally, the game will have real time text translation between Japanese, English, and other languages. Wow! Sovereign will ship for the Windows platform, but X-Box and PS2 ports are a possibility. Peripherals and internet support will factor into the decision on supporting consoles, Clint said.

I did ask when the beta will commence. "We'll let you know on the official site" is the answer. Not surprising, but I had to ask because it's a common question. :) At the end of our meeting, we talked a bit about the future of Sovereign. Adding new units and resources will be possible. Clint also let on about something big involving a Storyline, which will factor into the evolution of the game. We expect to know more about this in coming months. Sovereign looks fantastic in it's unpolished alpha state. I have to say I was impressed with all I saw. Clint and his team have done a great job. Once everything is in place, I can imagine Sovereign will be as fun and addicting as Civilization was.

More to come!

Hey everyone, I'm here at E3! I took a stroll past the Verant booth, they're still in the process of getting things up and running, putting computers together and whatnot, but I caught a quick glimpse of Sovereign running on a big flat screen display. Someone (or a demo, Clint wasn't there) was moving a crosshair over the terrain, scrolling it forward. It looked like there were a few new status bars on the interface. Obviously I'll get a better look at it tomorrow, when E3 opens, and give a more detailed report.

Clint paid a visit to our forum late last night (actually this morning) and gave us the skinny on the E3 demo:

We just finished up the E3 version that we will be showing at E3. The team is extremely proud of the game and will be ready to show the entire world the first 3D RTS game set in a persistent world. We welcome any and all fans to stop by the booth.

-Clint Worley
Producer/ Designer Sovereign
Verant Interactive Studios

Great! If anyone is visiting E3 starting tomorrow, I'll be the one wearing the carpet thin between the IGN and Sovereign booths.