Yesterday, Disney, the owner Petroglyph Games, who were the developers behind Star Wars: Empire at War, announced that multiplayer support has been re-enabled, with Steamworks Mod Support also being added. Disney also notes that several "... graphical and stability issues..." have been fixed, which is excellent to hear, considering the game is over eleven years old.
Although perhaps it shouldn't be too much of a surprise, as the press release notes that with nearly seven million copies sold, updating Empire at War suddenly becomes and enticing option for those wishing a low-cost way to engender good will and maintain interest in the Star Wars brand.
Both titles available in the 'Gold Pack' on Steam, Star Wars: Empire at War and its expansion Forces of Corruption will soon be updated to receive multiplayer and Steam Workshop support, with an in-game interface for mod support being included.
Here is the list of improvements made to the title:
· Steam multiplayer support in both FOC and EAW · Enabled selection/list of player mods on hard drive, including mods via Steamworks · Enabled windowed mode support · Additional bug fixes and optimizations
Clearly these are all good things, but one cannot help but wonder if more is to come for Petrogylph's title. Maybe another expansion akin to what Age of Empires II has been receiving? We'll keep you posted.
Quick Take:
This is something that should be supported. Although I haven't done anything but dabble in Empire at War, I am happy for those that do play this title and for what it means for PC Gaming as a whole, as for the first time in what seems like a long time, a company other than Blizzard Entertainment has updated a long-dormant game. Hopefully this will start a trend.What do you think of this news? Are you going to give Empire at War a try? Let us know in the comments!