Interplay Talks Sequels, Fallout MMO

Interplay Entertainment went through some lean times in recent history. Back in 2004, they were actually shut down for a short period of time by the state of California for failing to pay its employees. But now they're talking comeback and promise huge things are on the way.

In an annual earnings report issued Tuesday, Interplay noted that they've climbed out of the toilet financially, with revenues increasing 520% since last year. They earned most of their $6 million in income from the sale of the Fallout license to Bethesda Softworks in April 2007. So what's next?

Well, Interplay sold off Fallout but they retained the rights to create a massive multiplayer game based on the series. That's a very promising idea but they'd need a lot of cash before they jumped into something so big, which leads to the second part of their growth strategy: sequels. The company's been around since 1983 so they're sitting on their fair share of intellectual properties. The earnings report states that "the company will leverage its portfolio of gaming properties by creating sequels to some of its most successful games, including Earthworm Jim, Dark Alliance, Descent, and MDK." In other words, an orgy of mid-90's nostalgia.

I do remember Earthworm Jim being fun, if only because of how completely bat-shit it was - the basic premise of the game was that you were an earthworm in a giant suit of armor that fought lawyers, an evil goldfish, and a blind dinosaur, among other things. I'd like to see Interplay do something more with the Baldur's Gate license than just making another Diablo clone Dark Alliance game though. However it doesn't seem like they'll be calling up BioWare or Obsidian Entertainment for a D&D project anytime soon; the earnings report mentioned that Interplay is currently hiring developers to revive its in-house development studio.

The company website is now just a big "coming soon" graphic featuring the characters from their aforementioned 90's franchises. Here's to hoping there's something actually does come soon.