Stray Bullet Games Developing Wii MMO?

Apr. 25 4:58 AM by Lynxara

When I think of Nintendo, I think of ganking n00bs.

A job listing that recently went up on the Stray Bullet Games website has lead to a lot of speculation about the game in question being a Wii MMO. Probably because of that first sentence right there.

Stray Bullet Games, an independent developer of Massively Multiplayer Online games, seeks an Experienced Sr. Programmer for our new Wii project.

I mean it's possible they've suddenly decided to try their hands at Sudoku mini-game compilations, but it doesn't seem likely.

This story takes a left-turn into the realm of the bizarre when you pause to consider what kind of MMO fare Stray Bullet's built their track record on...

Stray Bullet Games formed from Wolfpack, the team that originally developed and supported the niche MMO Shadowbane, which in time was bought by Ubisoft. Over time, Shadowbane became a free-to-play ad-supported venture that's surprisingly popular given the game's sheer age. A recent relaunch intended to support two servers had to add a third due to unexpected player load. When Ubisoft closed down Wolfpack, members left to form Stray Bullet and begin development of a new MMO that little is known about.

Shadowbane has stayed popular with its fans because its content is as close to unique as fantasy MMOs get. It was one of the pioneering PvP-focused MMOs, encouraging guilds to build, defend, and destroy entire cities. Any player can gank anyone else at any time, if you think you can get away with it, and you can feel free to loot gear from fallen players. Shockingly, most people prefer to play World of Warcraft, where none of that bad stuff can happen to you.

When Masahiro Sakurai has online gameplay nightmares, it's probably about what people do to each other in Shadowbane on a daily basis. It's a game where you can lose months of effort to a single concerted effort from a small handful of players. What on earth could Stray Bullet be brewing that would go over well with the Wii's cuddly, party-game loving demographic? At this point any such project is mere vaporware, but it's something to keep an eye on in coming months.