Star Wars: Battlefront, Mercenaries devs reveal Facebook game
Change tack with CelebrityMe.
Some of the key developers behind the first two Star Wars: Battlefront games and the Mercenaries series have announced their new project, a Facebook title called CelebrityMe.
Eric 'Giz' Gewirtz, who directed Star Wars: Battlefront, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and Lord of the Rings: Conquest at Pandemic Studios, co-founded the LA-Based Seismic Games alongside former F.E.A.R. and Mercenaries developers in January 2012.
His partner is CEO Greg Borrud, who was co-founder and head of production for Pandemic Studios. He worked on the Battlefront series, Mercenaries, Destroy All Humans, Full Spectrum Warrior and The Saboteur.
In 2005 Pandemic, perhaps best known for its action-packed open world games, merged with BioWare after being bought by private equity firm Elevation Partners. This joint venture was eventually picked up by EA for an eye-watering $860 million in 2007.
For EA Pandemic made Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (2008) and The Lord of the Rings: Conquest (2009). EA announced the closure of the studio in November 2009 - a month before the release of what would prove to be its final game: The Saboteur. Cancelled projects included Mercenaries 3.
Now, over two years later, some of the key staff at the studio have re-emerged with CelebrityMe, Seismic's debut title.
It's designed to let players live out the fantasy of celebrity lifestyle with friends on Facebook. You begin at the top of your celebrity career, arriving at the premiere of your first Hollywood blockbuster. You're then transported back in time to the streets of Venice Beach, where it all started. You then have to climb the celebrity ladder. There's a focus on character customisation, in-game movie creation and sharing and interactive activities. You build your entourage with each animated performance, called a Gig. Your Facebook friends are cast to fill character roles, including love interests and villains.
