SBWarcry, a fan site for the upcoming MMORPG Shadowbane, recently talked with Jason Rubinstein of Ubi Soft. It was announced not too long ago that this international company will be the publisher for the upcoming online RPG, and this is one of the first interviews we've seen with actual details on that deal and how it came about. If you are in need of a quick refresher course, Shadowbane is a fantasy RPG set to debut for the Mac and PC that will feature thousands of players on persistent online servers. It will include many clan and group features over and above current PC-only MMORPGs such as Everquest and Ultima Online.

The interview talks with Rubinstein about how Ubi Soft first got interested in Shadowbane, some specifics on who will be handling any forthcoming private beta sessions and how they plan on making sure the game's launch is smoother than other recent massively-multiplayer title launches. Here's a clip:

J.: What is it about the genre that interests Ubi Soft? Was there a decision made that "yes, let's get a MMOG published," or was there some other merit to Shadowbane that got you interested?

Jason: Ubi Soft had spent several years looking at the online space; several tests were done with games (Pod, for example) and even a spin-off company. Early this year Ubi Soft decided the time was right to enter the market in a big way, and subscription-based games were/are the logical business model right now. So we looked for a killer title to kick-off our MMO presence, and we were fortunate to find Wolfpack and Shadowbane at the right time.

Ubi Soft/Shadowbane Interview

Wolfpack Studios

Shadowbane

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