New Sandbox Game On The Horizon

So I like to keep up with folks I have met over my years that work in the gaming industry but have been lacking a bit so last night I decided to look and see what a fellow I have known since the mid 90's (Jesus it's been a while) is up to these days. That fellow is Raph Koster. Back when i met Raph he went by the handle Designer Dragon, and was working on a brand new game. It was a little game called Ultima Online upon which i served in a ingame support role as a Counselor. Raph went on to later work on other games such as SWG, EQII, and others.

Given he was one of the founders/developers of LegendMUD way back in the early 90s we pretty much owe at least a nod to him if you have ever played a MMO. That said I discovered that he has created a development company called Playable Worlds and is working on a new sandbox game. Raph is responsible for coming up with most of the major features that make MMO's and sandbox type games such a hit. Things like player run economies, ingame towns you like in, player housing, etc are all this dudes brainchild.

Right now there isn't a whole lot of info on the game out there just that they are working on it but I've reached out to Raph to see if he can give me any hints to let you guys know.

Also on the staff as of June is one Gordon Walton who has worked on various projects from Konami, Origin, Maxis, Sony Online and BioWare. He is pretty much a legend in his own right when it comes to game development.

If you want to read up on some of Raph's musings on game development and how it should be done, you can look over some of the articles he's posted on the Playable Worlds news page at:

Playable Worlds Website