World War II Sandbox Title Thrives in Presales Even As Its Development Studio Prepares to Shut Down
The Saboteur, Pandemic Studios’ World War II-based sandbox game, has gone gold, according to an announcement made on The Saboteur’s official forums by Matthew Everett, Pandemic’s Community Manager:
“I am very proud to communicate today that The Saboteur has officially gone “GOLD” on all 3 planned platforms (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 & PC). This has been a very difficult week for Pandemic Studios, but does not change the fact that a team of amazing people worked very hard to make The Saboteur a great game that fans will be able to enjoy this holiday season. As planned, The Saboteur will be available across Europe starting December 4 and throughout North America on December 8. Vive La Resistance!”
The announcement is bittersweet for Pandemic Studios after receiving news earlier this week that EA would be shutting down the LA-based development studio, leaving roughly 200 people without jobs. The development studio’s closing was a result of a larger downturn within the EA community, which has reported losses in the first two quarters of 2009, resulting in the need to trim about 11% of its workforce.
Nonetheless, the Saboteur is gearing up to be a major holiday title. The number of presale numbers bodes well for the game as it approaches its December 8 release date. The Saboteur offers a unique twist on the World War II genre, creating an open-world Paris to explore as Irish native Sean Devlin. The Nazis have conquered France and as his friends begin dying around him, he decides to resist the Nazi takeover. The game promises exciting action and a unique design-element in which Paris will be in black and white until Devlin has cleared an area of Nazis, in which color will begin to come back into the world. Graphically it looks beautiful and the gameplay looks like a whole lot of fun.
Terminal Gamer will have a review of the game in early December and more news revolving around Pandemic’s closing as it becomes available.
