2008’s release of developer/publisher Ubisoft’s open world first person shooter Far Cry 2 was met with praise from critics and solid sales. Even before the game was released there was talk of making Far Cry 3. Now a new rumor from the pages of PC Gamer’s latest print magazine suggests that Far Cry 3 is in full production mode.

The magazine, in its rumor-filled Spy column, states that the game is "in full swing now" at Ubisoft’s Montreal studios. According to the article the game’s development is being lead by Josh Mosqueira, who previously worked over at Relic Entertainment as the lead designer for Company of Heroes. There’s no word on what the game might be about although previous suggestions about Far Cry 3 stated the game would stick to Far Cry 2’s African setting.

The surprising news that Warner Bros. has acquired Turbine just might have a price tag now, if rumors are correct. While financial details of the deal were not disclosed when the news broke earlier this week, Boston.com notes that "a source close to the negotiations" values the deal at up to $160 million. Reportedly, that amount also includes "sums to be paid to Turbine shareholders in future years if the company meets certain financial targets."

It’s unknown what those targets are, but it’s worth noting that Dungeons & Dragons Online received a sizable shot in the arm when it went free-to-play last year. In fact, Turbine’s Jim Crowley noted that the game now hosts over 1 million players, though he didn’t elaborate on how many are paying customers.

The article also notes that the acquisition gives Warner Bros. the complete rights to the Lord of the Rings universe, as Turbine owns the rights for online games, while WB already had the offline rights. However, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president Martin Tremblay expects more than Lord of the Rings games from Turbine in the future. According to Tremblay, WBIE hopes to open its online games platform to "much more new product" in the future.

Update: from Massively: Turbine responds to fan questions about Warner Brothers purchase

From CyberPresse:

Le ministre du Développement économique du Québec, Clément Gignac annoncera demain la venue à Montréal d’un «leader mondial en développement et édition de jeux vidéo». Tout porte à croire qu’il s’agit de THQ, un développeur californien qui, comme La Presse Affaires l’annonçait ce matin, était en pourparlers avec Investissement Québec au sujet de la possibilité de s’installer dans la métropole.

Des représentants de THQ étaient d’ailleurs présents au Sommet international du jeu de Montréal à la mi-novembre, à la grande surprise des organisateurs. C’était la première fois que l’entreprise participait au sommet, malgré plusieurs invitations dans les dernières années.

Le directeur du développement des affaires de THQ, Andrew Walker, avait toutefois nié que THQ venait s’installer à Montréal. «Je ne crois pas que nous ayons des plans pour venir nous établir sur la côte Est, mais nous gardons notre esprit ouvert, avait-il dit à la publication spécialisée Le Lien multimédia. Il y a beaucoup de talent dans la région: Montréal possède de gros studios et l’Ontario cherche à construire sa scène. Pour le moment, je crois que si on grandit au Canada, ce sera par l’entremise de Relic, notre studio de Colombie-Britannique.»

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Update: Also mentionned in The Gazette: THQ expected to open studio here

What we heard: When Eidos Montreal announced that it was working on Deus Ex 3 in November 2007, many fans of the thought-dead sci-fi series rejoiced. Five months later, the same studio sparked rumors that it was working on a new version of Thief, another classic franchise created by now-defunct Looking Glass Studios and continued by the later-closed Ion Storm.

Now, one year after Eidos Montreal declared that its "AAA project" would begin with the letter "T," the soon-to-be-Japanese-owned British publisher’s French-Canadian shop has posted a new teaser banner for the game. On the lower-left of its official site, the studio posted a small black-and-white notice that promises "Eidos Montreal’s second project to be revealed soon."

A trip to the high street may have resulted in an unexpected focus test for one of our tipsters, who says that he was shown very early footage of the next Assassin’s Creed. It apparently looked similar to the first game, though set around the 15th century — a few hundred years later. After the footage played, there was a Q&A session where it was revealed the story would incorporate a family feud and disguises would play a part in the game.

The focus testers were asked to decide on their favorite of three character designs. Each image had different colored costumes and varying numbers of pouches or bags for the main character, though the overall design was the same: Similar to Altair’s, but more colorful and fitting for the time period. Under each image was the word "ezio," an Italian name derived from the word for "eagle." Fitting, for the series.

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New details about Deus Ex 3 have been revealed in a preview article written on the Czech website Hratelne.cz. According to translations found on the Eidos forums, the game will feature protagonist Adam Jensen and is set in a world where cybernetics companies hold more sway than world governments. Those who can afford them purchase cybernetic implants to gain an edge in society, which breeds unrest among the poorer, non-augmented populace.

One new feature mentioned is squad AI for groups of enemies. Such squads will have an identifiable leader guiding them and will adjust to player actions, such as changing weapons. Take out the leader and a squad’s tactical abilities are reduced. Boss battles will evidently also be affected by players’ previous actions, though no specifics are given as to how that works. The article also notes that the dialogue system depends on a player’s ability to read facial expressions and body language, the proper judgment of which will help to reveal the best response.

Source

Just a rumor so far, so take this with a grain of salt.

A former mid-level manager (of whom we do not previously know) has got in touch with us to potentially expose what is a very disturbing alleged occurrence in the games industry. On the condition of anonymity, he has revealed attempts of Montreal gaming studios to fix salaries of employees and rampant spying by Ubisoft Montreal on all emails to and from its competitors. The source (he was responsible for setting up the e-mail spying) forwarded us along an email between former director of HR at Eidos Montreal (Tremblay) to the Vice President of HR at Ubisoft Montreal (Baillet). In the email, Eidos note there is no benefit of raising salaries and hope the two companies do not so for competitive reasons and EA must be convinced to do the same.

What is your opinion on this? Have you been affected by this?

Update: In-Depth: Montreal Game Biz Sees Salary-Fixing Collusion?

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