While development of the Wing Commander space combat simulation series began in 1990. The last game released on October 3rd, 2006, was the original Wing Commander and The Secret Missions (SNES versions) on the PSP’s EA Replay Volume One 14-in-1 retro collection.
The ESRB Ratings website is a great sneak peek into what games we can expect to be released in the near-future. After a search a new Electronic Arts game was discovered. Wing Commander Arena will be an Xbox 360 “Fantasy Violence” game set in the universe of Chris Roberts’ Wing Commander franchise.
Siliconera suspects Electronic Arts is working on an Xbox Live Arcade version of Wing Commander. Since in 1998 the franchise vanished from the face of the Earth after Electronic arts closed down Origin Studios. Time for a revival then.
February 22 update: Electronic Arts today announced the return of its beloved Wing Commander franchise with Wing Commander Arena in development for the Xbox LIVE Arcade. With up to 16 players, Wing Commander Arena offers the largest multi-player melee experience to date on Xbox LIVE Arcade. The game is scheduled to go live worldwide on the Arcade service in Summer 2007.
Wing Commander Arena is a fast-paced space combat game where players can team up to attack other teams of ships. The game introduces the classic franchise to an arcade-style experience that allows up to 16 players online in battle at once. Players can propel their customized ship through space, fire torpedoes and unleash deadly gravity bombs as they try to climb the leader board. Online players will compete for Frag count, high score and dueling stats.
“We’re really excited to deliver unparalleled multi-player arcade action,†said Chip Lange, EA Vice President. “The design for Wing Commander will appeal to both long-time fans of the franchise and immediately engage anyone who wants the melee style action of an arcade shooter.â€
Wing Commander Arena will feature four styles of play: single player, multi-team, multi-player free for all and multi-player duel. Within the game there are eight game maps that include team maps, free for all maps and dueling maps, so Wing Commander Arena offers a gameplay experience for every Arcade gamer, whether they want a quick ten minutes of action or a longer more immersive game.
Wing Commander Arena is produced and published by Electronic Arts and cooperatively developed with Gaia Industries. This is the second EA title for Xbox LIVE Arcade with EA’s first title Boom Boom Rocket set to launch this Spring.