Dark Sector finds publisher, date

Here's one piece of trivia to stick in your hat: What was the first next-generation console game to be officially announced? Answer: Dark Sector from developer Digital Extremes, best known for cocreating the Unreal Engine. Here's another piece of trivia: What next-gen game has gone the longest without finding a publisher? Answer: Once again, Dark Sector. However, that ended today when D3Publisher of America announced that it will publish the game in Q3 2007.

"Our focus at D3Publisher of America continues to be acquiring good, mass-market appeal licensed properties, and the acquisition of IP from selected developers designed for next generation machines," stated Yoji Takenaka, executive vice president and COO for D3PA. "The opportunity to work with the world renowned design team that James Schmalz (DE's founder) has assembled at Digital Extremes is just too good to pass up."

Dark Sector was announced in April of 2004 for unspecified platforms, which remains the case today. Given the game's late 2007 release, however, all three of the next-gen systems are possible playgrounds.

The third-person shooter is based in a science-fiction setting in a near-future Soviet-bloc country. As Hayden Tenno, gamers will be able to "morph into dramatically different combat forms." The future painted by the game depicts a troubled scenario where biological weapons have wreaked havoc on the populace. Dark Sector will be powered by Digital Extremes' proprietary Sector Engine.