AGEOD fusionne avec le Groupe Slitherine

Voici une surprise de taille et très probablement une bien bonne nouvelle, pour AGEOD comme pour les amateurs de wargames. En effet, cet été, après trois ans sous l’égide de Paradox Interactive AGEOD avait quitté le fameux éditeur suédois. Cela entre autre afin de pouvoir continuer à travailler sur son propre moteur de jeu en tour par tour (le AGE engine) au lieu de devoir s’orienter inéluctablement vers l’utilisation du moteur en temps réel de Paradox (le Clausewitz engine). Le studio grenoblois se retrouvait donc avec la liberté de ses débuts, et moins de moyens pour créer plus de nouveaux jeux. Qu’à cela ne tienne, AGEOD est parvenu à sortir cet automne Alea Jacta Est, nouvelle déclinaison d’un moteur ayant fait ses preuves donnant ici une superbe simulation des guerres que mena Rome en son temps (voir notre test). Et d’autres projets sont en cours, mais comme chacun l’imagine, pour un wargame PC l’argent est aussi le nerf de la guerre.

Depuis sa fusion avec Matrix Games en 2010 Slitherine ne cesse de se développer et de rallier différents studios de développement à ce qu’il convient désormais de nommer le Groupe Slitherine. Avant AGEOD le précédent studio indépendant à avoir rejoint Slitherine était NorbSoftDev (Scourge of War). Ces différents et réguliers accords auront ainsi permis à Slitherine de sortir en 2012 pas moins de 30 titres, tout thèmes et plate-formes confondus. Jeux dont bon nombre s’avèrent globalement de très bon wargames PC, l’éditeur mettant un point d’honneur à privilégier la création de purs wargames par des équipes connaissant leur sujet, jeux aussi pointus dans leurs thèmes et leurs mécanismes qu’ils représentent une petite mais ô combien négligée niche dans l’immensité croissante du monde vidéoludique.

Faut-il s’inquiéter de cette continuelle expansion de Slitherine, les développeurs vont-ils y perdre leur âme et leur liberté créative, ou au contraire, l’union faisant la force, y trouver un moyen de prospérer ? Difficile de savoir ce que l’avenir nous réserve. Mais comme nous l’a personnellement confirmé Slitherine lors d’un récen entretien, AGEOD a la garantie de pouvoir continuer à développer son moteur de jeu et de nouveaux wargames historiques (désormais aussi avec une version en boîte, et non uniquement en téléchargement). Avec en tête Birth of Rome, la première extension d’Alea Jacta Est, dont la sortie est d’ailleurs maintenant décalée à janvier prochain.

Devant un avenir toujours fluctuant, point de sacrifice ici d’un taureau pour en lire ses entrailles, mais un simple regard quant aux faits qui jusqu’à présent indiquent qu’un tel regroupement est de bon augure. Laissons alors la parole aux premiers concernés, par l’entremise de Philippe Malacher (Pocus) qui résume très bien la nouvelle et en profite au passage pour annoncer le prochain jeu du studio : Ageod American Civil War 2.

Dear players,
Christmas is always a season full of gifts and surprises, plus there is this story about a newborn child, right? As such, we are pleased to announce two big news to you!

AGEOD has been reborn! The new AGEOD consists of the existing team (Philippe Thibaut aka PhilThib, Philippe Malacher aka Pocus, Fernando Turi aka Generalisimo and Gilles Pfeiffer aka the Dark Pepper), and is merging with Slitherine and Matrix!

Yes, you heard it, we have managed to form this triangle of wargaming expertise. Each entity will maintain its own identity, with the specific touch of each studio staying as the directing line for their new games. Basically it means that the AGEOD team will work on the AGE Engine, as before (one more turn syndrome? yes please!).

What does it changes for you? Only for the best. The AGEOD Forum stays the same, you can still buy our games at our webshop. You are still encouraged to mod our games, or even contact us if you think a project of yours would be a great game project. But there is more, with Matrix now a partner, we will be able to supply a full boxed copy of all our games. With the additional resources that the merger provides we have over 250 years of experience developing strategy games. This will allow us to share knowledge and technology to go on creating great games. In future the plan is to incorporate the Matrix system to allow unlimited downloads and installs as often as you like

Oh, I almost forgot something that might be of interest to you… Our next game, due in 2013 is Ageod American Civil War 2. I’m sure you’ll want to know more about it, so don’t hesitate to fire your questions…
Smoothbore or rifled, as you prefer

Communiqué de Slitherine

The Slitherine Group and Ageod Join Forces

The dawn of a new era for turn-based strategy games

Epsom, UK, December 5, 2012 – The Slitherine Group, world leaders in development and publishing of strategy games, and Ageod, Developer and Publisher of many strategy blockbusters are joining forces. This means that Slitherine, Matrix and Ageod, the three major players in the digital strategy and wargaming market, are now merged. The Group’s aim is to continue to expand this increasingly vibrant niche sector, not only through the variety and number of releases, but also by taking its titles to the new platforms on offer.

Throughout 2012 the Slitherine Group released 30 titles on a range of platforms including PC, MAC, PS3, X360 and the new tablet platforms. The Group has achieved double digit growth in turnover and has hit the strategy games headlines with a number of very important launches, such as Battle Academy on iPad, Commander- The Great War and Close Combat: Panthers in the Fog for PC. This move is the next milestone for the group, which since its merger with Matrix Games in 2010 has undoubtedly become the world leaders in the strategy games market. The merger with Ageod will further consolidate this position.

« We always keep an eye on opportunities to improve and increase our reach to real gamers », said JD McNeil, Chairman of the Slitherine Group. « Ageod’s core values have always been close to our own and this merger just seemed such a natural step for us all. Together the three companies in the Group are much stronger, we are now able to share resources, ideas and plans for the new generation of titles that our audience is crying out for.  I am sure our fans will be just as excited by this news as we are ».

The new Ageod will have the primary task of developing the AGE engine and expanding its capabilities to embrace new opportunities, not only in terms of the number and quality of releases, but also in respect of the platforms we will be working on.

« Ageod has a large community of loyal fans and we have continued to expand this over the years by making our players a part of the development process », said Philippe Thibaut, co-founder of Ageod. « With the Slitherine Group we now have access to secure funding and an even bigger community of strategy gamers, so we will be able to create bigger and better games, on a variety of platforms ».

AEGOD will continue to operate its current forums and sell its catalogue of games from its existing website. In future it will also utilize the Group’s standard copy protection methods and e-commerce systems operated by Plimus. This will also enable customers to purchase a full boxed version of their favorite titles direct from the site.

 

THE SLITHERINE GROUP

The Slitherine Group is the world’s leading producer and publisher of digital wargames and strategy games. Under the Slitherine (www.slitherine.com) and Matrix Games (www.matrixgames.com) Brands it has published literally hundreds of games, with many award-winning titles in its portfolio and spanning all digital platforms, from home consoles to modern Smartphone’s and Tablets. Slitherine is also involved with book publishing, board gaming and works with a wide array of key licensing partners, such as HISTORY®, MILITARY HISTORY®, Horrible Histories™, Showtime, BBC, Osprey, Scholastic, and many others to deliver the best blend of historical accuracy in an exciting and entertaining way. Together the Group companies form the world’s largest organization specializing in this important and vibrant niche. The Slitherine Group’s mission over the coming years is to lead the way in innovation and growth in an ever expanding segment of the entertainment industry.