The Energon Pub

News Credits: 3597 · by **Seibertron** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 12:54 pm

HASBRO AND JAGEX ENTER STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT

TO CREATE NEW TRANSFORMERS ONLINE GAME

Iconic AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS Set to Battle Online in 2012

PAWTUCKET, R.I. – March 14, 2011 – Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) announced today that it has signed a strategic development agreement with Jagex Limited to jointly create a new online game based on the globally iconic TRANSFORMERS brand. Under the agreement, the two companies are slated to launch the TRANSFORMERS online game in 2012 in North America, Latin America, Europe, New Zealand and Australia.

Jagex, based in the United Kingdom, is one of the largest independent game developers and publishers in the world with a dedicated global user base of millions playing its more than 40 online games. The company's flagship game, RuneScape, is the world's most popular free-to-play MMOG.

“Hasbro’s decision to align with Jagex speaks to the quality of their award-winning development and publishing team that boasts an outstanding track record of delivering innovative and fun online games capable of reaching millions of gamers across the globe,” said Mark Blecher, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Digital Gaming and Media at Hasbro. “We are extremely excited to create a dream team that combines TRANSFORMERS brand stewards with Jagex development experts to deliver an epic TRANSFORMERS gaming experience to fans in 2012.”

“TRANSFORMERS is one of the most iconic brands in the world and we are delighted to team up with Hasbro in order to bring our shared vision to reality,” said Mark Gerhard, CEO at Jagex Games Studio. “There is a huge appetite for an online TRANSFORMERS game and we will utilize every bit of our development and publishing expertise to deliver a dynamic and action-packed game that TRANSFORMERS fans will find irresistible.”

About TRANSFORMERS

The TRANSFORMERS brand has delivered “MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE” action to legions of fans around the world for more than 25 years. As one of the hottest global entertainment properties, TRANSFORMERS captures excitement through action figure play, movies, television, digital gaming, comics, and more.

About Hasbro

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) is a branded play company providing children and families around the world with a wide-range of immersive entertainment offerings based on the Company’s world class brand portfolio. From toys and games, to television programming, motion pictures, video games and a comprehensive licensing program, Hasbro strives to delight its customers through the strategic leveraging of well-known and beloved brands such as TRANSFORMERS, LITTLEST PET SHOP, NERF, PLAYSKOOL, MY LITTLE PONY, G.I. JOE, MAGIC: THE GATHERING and MONOPOLY. The Hub, Hasbro’s multi-platform joint venture with Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) launched on October 10, 2010. The online home of The Hub is www.hubworld.com. The Hub logo and name are trademarks of Hub Television Networks, LLC. All rights reserved.

Come see how we inspire play through our brands at http://www.hasbro.com. © 2010 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

About Jagex Games Studio

Jagex Games Studio is a multi-award winning games developer based in Cambridge, England. Jagex specialises in the development of high quality browser-based games and is the largest independent games developer and publisher in the UK.

Jagex has a long-standing reputation for creating the world's best online games and for developing hugely popular, high quality, accessible, free-to-play games and for providing an unbeatable community experience for millions of players around the world. Jagex has developed and self-published over 40 online titles, including the world's most popular free multiplayer online game, RuneScape.com

In addition to RuneScape, Jagex self-publishes games on its games portal Jagex.com, and has released a series of successful iPhone games including BounceDown, StarCannon, and Miner Disturbance. Jagex also acts as a third-party publisher for likeminded developers, publishing titles such as the real-time strategy game War of Legends and the iPhone title Undercroft.

News Credits: 7 · by **TulioDude** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:07 pm

I wonder what kind game style it will be?

by **Malicron** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:22 pm

Please let it be an MMO. :PRAY:

News Credits: 62 · by **#Sideways#** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:28 pm

I have been dying for a TF Online MMO! Please let it be true! :PRAY:

News Credits: 8 · by **Megatron Wolf** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:47 pm

i hope theres no monthly fees if there is im not going to bother. Ill buy the game but i refuse to pay every month to play. Just because its being made by the guys who did runecape doesnt mean itll be free to play. Also hope its not like runecape cause that games not that great.

News Credits: 1 · by **Jesterhead** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 1:51 pm

Megatron Wolf wrote:i hope theres no monthly fees if there is im not going to bother. Ill buy the game but i refuse to pay every month to play. Just because its being made by the guys who did runecape doesnt mean itll be free to play. Also hope its not like runecape cause that games not that great.

I agree about Runescape, but I hope this is a paid subscription game. Month by month MMOs are usually a lot better than free ones.

News Credits: 34 · by **Supreme Convoy** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 2:58 pm

Oh man, I would love to play a Transformers MMO.

I love the War for Cybertron multiplayer.

News Credits: 2 · by **First-Aid** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 3:03 pm

WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN!!!

AWESOMESAUCE! PLEASE BE AN MMO!!! PLEASE BE AN MMO!!! The odds are definitely in favor of that judging by the wording of the announcement.

News Credits: 187 · by **GetRightRobot** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 3:05 pm

Oh My Freakin Banana Boat!!!!! This would be SOOOOO AWESOME! Imagine, instead of race you choose what era: G1, Armada, movieverse, Beast Wars. Then be able to customize your own chassis and colors and abilities!!!! Oops. I just had a nerdgasm....

by **OptiMagnus** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:19 pm

Sounds cool.

News Credits: 2 · by **First-Aid** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 4:29 pm

GetRightRobot wrote:Oh My Freakin Banana Boat!!!!! This would be SOOOOO AWESOME! Imagine, instead of race you choose what era: G1, Armada, movieverse, Beast Wars. Then be able to customize your own chassis and colors and abilities!!!! Oops. I just had a nerdgasm....

I doubt it would be along those lines for character creation, and I also suspect it would be more along the lines of either War for Cybertron, TF Prime, or the Movieverse. Half the fun of this thread is going to be the speculating...

Website · by **Fires_Of_Inferno** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 5:28 pm

I can't wait to get my hands on this. I hope it's more than just gathering teams and shooting at each other. I SO want the freedom to pick my vehicle form. I hope the different forms aren't "unlockable" and you can start off being a jet/car/train/tank or whatever. So what do you guys think they'll give us for settings? Just Cybertron, or will we have Earth too?

by **Vicalliose** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 5:28 pm

I hope they design the style out to be like WFC was. Least that'll do a better job of satisfying both ends. But I wouldn't be surprised if they just decided to make it look like the slagging movies. :roll:

by **ninjascythe79** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 6:48 pm

2012 huh? mmo's always get deeellaayed. it's just a rule

News Credits: 2 · by **Shadowman** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 8:27 pm

See, the problem with free-to-play MMOs is that they're free. There's no money coming in, so there's no money to invest in further development, or bug fixes, or server maintenance.

Take Exteel. I am NOT crying! They adopted a "Free to play, but if you'd like, you can pay with real money and get stuff faster," as well as turning billboards on maps into ACTUAL billboards. And it still wasn't financially successful enough for NCsoft to keep it going, even after a big content update. I just have something in my eye, shut up!

That said, I don't imagine this being a big major hit. I would dare to assume most of the people here haven't even heard of Exteel before, and that was from a major MMO developer. This is from the people who made Runescrap for Christ's sake. I've heard actual MMO fans use it as an insult. I can't imagine this would make a big splash, I'd be surprised if it made a small ripple.

News Credits: 2 · by **First-Aid** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 8:51 pm

The interesting thing about this is that Hasbro will be overseeing the game. Everything has to go through them. With Runescape, there was no one to report to. I think the quality is going to be better than RS, but I do agree that this is probably going to be a minor hit. Another interesting thing: the target audiences are going to be virtually identical between MMO gamers and Transfans. Geeks rule the world.

News Credits: 2 · by **Shadowman** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:00 pm

First-Aid wrote:Another interesting thing: the target audiences are going to be virtually identical between MMO gamers and Transfans. Geeks rule the world.

MMos are usually targeted at the "18-to-35-year-old males" crowd. And as it's been said time and again, adult collectors are NOT the target audience for Transformers, it's always been for young boys. (Maybe not the movies so much)

News Credits: 9 · by **Editor** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:03 pm

Or, of course, people could play the existing online transformer based game hosted on this very site.

If you post on Seibertron and don't play Heavy Metal War you are missing out.

News Credits: 2 · by **Shadowman** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:46 pm

Editor wrote:Or, of course, people could play the existing online transformer based game hosted on this very site.

If you post on Seibertron and don't play Heavy Metal War you are missing out.

HMW is a text-based team-management game. No offense to HMW, but it doesn't compare to a game where you can not only do things yourself, but you can see yourself do it.

News Credits: 187 · by **GetRightRobot** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:46 pm

Editor wrote:Or, of course, people could play the existing online transformer based game hosted on this very site.

If you post on Seibertron and don't play Heavy Metal War you are missing out.

You know, I have really been wanting to get in on that. But I don't even know what it is. How does Heavy Metal War work?

News Credits: 9 · by **Editor** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 10:13 pm

Shadowman wrote:
Editor wrote:Or, of course, people could play the existing online transformer based game hosted on this very site.

If you post on Seibertron and don't play Heavy Metal War you are missing out.

HMW is a text-based team-management game. No offense to HMW, but it doesn't compare to a game where you can not only do things yourself, but you can see yourself do it.

Very true. But it is still a good game and it deserves to receive more promotion and coverage than it does.

GetRightRobot wrote:You know, I have really been wanting to get in on that. But I don't even know what it is. How does Heavy Metal War work?

Command a team of up to 12 bots or cons, send them into missions with other faction members or on their own into the arena. Earn energon and experience to power your members developing their tech specs and tactics.

News Credits: 3 · by **NatsumeRyu** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 10:28 pm

I guess I'll have to wait to weigh in on this.

ninjascythe79 wrote:2012 huh? mmo's always get deeellaayed. it's just a rule

QFT.
Star Wars: The Old Republic as an example...I think it was originally supposed to come out last summer. Last I heard, it was coming out this summer now. I don't know if it is though. Haven't checked up on it since the start of the year.

That's all I've got....Anyone keeping tabs on that other Transformers MMO we heard about last year? I saw a video on Youtube of various character types (flyer, tanks, car, etc) transforming in place, and wondered if that was from that.

News Credits: 2 · by **Shadowman** » Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:22 pm

Editor wrote:
GetRightRobot wrote:You know, I have really been wanting to get in on that. But I don't even know what it is. How does Heavy Metal War work?

Command a team of up to 12 bots or cons, send them into missions with other faction members or on their own into the arena. Earn energon and experience to power your members developing their tech specs and tactics.

To clarify "Command" means you select a mission for them to take part in, put them in it, wait for a timer to run out, then see what happened in the battle. You don't have direct influence over anything.

That, and after some big reset, all of my good bot names ended up being taken.

News Credits: 1 · by **Hoistimus** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 12:20 am

Well, I was wondering if this day would ever come.. it is a great idea but I've reserve judgement for the final product, as it'll probably be geared for the general public and try to compete with WOW and the other common MMOs.. I only play Eve Online as I like the sandbox play and economic part of it, and only one universe for all players to partake in. I doubt a TF game would be anything like that but more like WfC, I just hope for a larger universe than it has to play in.

News Credits: 2 · by **Shadowman** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 12:55 am

NatsumeRyu wrote:Star Wars: The Old Republic as an example...I think it was originally supposed to come out last summer. Last I heard, it was coming out this summer now. I don't know if it is though. Haven't checked up on it since the start of the year.

Nope, the closest they've ever given to a release date was Spring of this year. And from the sound of things, they're going to meet that. They've been handing out gameplay footage and all manner of details at a fairly consistent rate, they've got pre-release features all set up, and closed beta has been going on since July last year. It will also have HK-47.