Supreme Commander 2 announced, by Square Enix

Posted at: 4:29pm 12th November 2008 by Ben Hardwidge

Japanese RPG specialist reveals that it's collaborating with Gas Powered Games on the sequel to Supreme Commander

Gas Powered Games’ founder, Chris Taylor, has been hinting at a sequel to the acclaimed epic RTS Supreme Commander for a while now, but the game has now been officially announced, with a surprise publishing partner on board.

The original game and its expansion pack, Forged Alliance, were published by THQ, who is no stranger to the RTS genre, but Supreme Commander 2 is going to be published by Square Enix, which is likely to raise a few eyebrows among those who are familiar with the publisher’s previous works.

Any PlayStation or Nintendo DS owners will probably know all about Square Enix, which produces the incredibly popular Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest RPGs from Japan. However, the company is now looking to branch out into other markets, and Supreme Commander 2 will be published by Square Enix Co. Ltd, which is a US-based sister company of Square Enix in Tokyo.

Explaining the move, Square Enix, says in a statement that it ‘has previously worked exclusively with Japanese development companies, so the decision to form strategic partnerships with developers located outside of Japan serves as a new cornerstone of its strategy to create games targeted primarily at consumers in Europe and North America. Additionally, Square Enix Group’s foray into the real-time strategy genre is a significant expansion of its product lineup, largely known for its leadership role in the genre of role-playing games.’

The partnership has also greatly pleased Chris Taylor, who said that ‘it is truly a great honour to join forces with as renowned a developer and publisher as Square Enix,’ adding that ‘everyone at Gas Powered Games is thrilled about this collaboration, and the results will surely delight video game fans around the world.’

Little has been revealed about the game itself yet, although we’re promised more details about the gameplay, features, supported platforms and the release date in due course. Chris Taylor is often seen as a developer of the people when it comes to DRM, particularly after he showed his support for Stardock’s Bill of Rights for gamers.