A while back publisher Strategy First bought the rights to Jagged Alliance, the classic turn based tactical strategy series from the now defunct Sirtech. While Strategy First has hinted in the past about all new games in the series, their first original Jagged Alliance title, Jagged Alliance II: Wildfire, is in fact a "re-imagining" of the original Jagged Alliance II as developed by I-Deal Games Studios. HomeLAN got a chance to chat with I-Deal's Serge “Wildfire” Popov and Strategy First's marketing director Steve Milburn to find out more about Jagged Alliance II: Wildfire.
HomeLAN - First, Strategy First has had the rights to publish new Jagged Alliance games for a while. Why has it taken so long to get a new game in the series under development?
Steve Milburn - When we first purchased the rights to the Jagged Alliance franchise, our in-house development teams were busy putting the finishing touches on ORB, going into Beta version with Nexagon and working on new scenarios and campaigns for our Disciples II franchise. It was, as you can guess, an extremely busy time for us to add a new development project.
Also, there is always a bit of adjustment period to obtaining a new IP. We had to analyze the game, the market, and the potential for a third game in the series. We did not just buy the IP and then shelve it. We have been developing new designs documents, creating new storylines and looking into the best technology to use with the game. We want to make sure that we do the franchise justice as we are, of course, under a microscope with the many loyal and dedicated fans.
It is through this development process where we first met and spoke with Serge “Wildfire” Popov, the designer of JA2 Wildfire. We were impressed with the work he had accomplished on JA2
and thought that his game would make a good bridge between JA2 and what's coming next:-) We also felt that the JA2 fans had waited long enough to get some new content on a game that they feel so passionately about.