Junction Point Studios/Disney Interactive title
Warren Spector is considered one of the best game designers around. The man behind the original System Shock, Deus Ex and Thief franchises made the first-person RPG his forte. In 2005, Spector decided to launch a new Austin, Texas based development company called Junction Point Studios. At first, it was announced that Spector was working on a game using Valve's Source engine but things seemed to change in 2007 when it was announced during E3 that Disney Interactive had purchased Junction Point.

Since that time Spector has been moot on what the company is making for Disney but Junction Point's web site has released some concept art images from the title that seems to suggest that it takes place in a fantasy world. With Disney now releasing more mature games like Turok and Pure, don't assume that Junction Point's game will have Mickey and Goofy among its cast of characters.

People Can Fly/Epic Games project

In 2005, Polish developer People Can Fly released their first game, a highly entertaining first person shooter called Painkiller. The title used tons of gameplay physics and had an art style that made other games of its genre look dull by comparison. The company released an expansion pack for the game in 2005. People Can Fly had signed a deal with THQ for a game back in 2006 but that project got canceled in early 2007.

Then work came down in 2007 that Epic Games, the creators of the Unreal Engine, Unreal Tournament and Gears of War, had purchased People Can Fly. The developer helped out on the PC port of Gears of War but they also have a major original game that's in the works that will, natch, use Epic's Unreal Engine. Electronic Arts announced that they would publish the Epic/People Can Fly title earlier this year. So far, there's no word on what the title will be like other that it will be in the action genre. Our big question: Will this next game exhibit the same over-the-top gameplay and unique artistic vision that Painkiller brought back in 2004?

Big Huge Games/THQ RPG
Formed in 2000 by former members of Sid Meier's Firaxis team, Maryland based Big Huge Games gained fame from their RTS title Rise of Nations and Rise of Legends. So it was a bit of a surprise when it was announced in 2006 that they would be developing a RPG project. The company got THQ to publish the game and then THQ acquired them in 2007. It's been revealed that the game is being designed by Ken Rolston, who previously worked at Bethesda Softworks as lead designer for Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

It's been over a year since THQ announced it was purchasing Big Huge Games and since then there's been no word on the progress of the RPG. The initial announcement of the title said it was expected for release in 2009 but since there's been no news at all on the game's progress we are guessing that date may be flexible. However with Big Huge's solid rep and Rolston's history with designing RPGs it's a game that we think will be worth the wait.

Bethesda Softworks/Splash Damage title

UK based Splash Damage got fame with their release of the free Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory title that brought a different kind of multiplayer shooter to fans of the genre. Splash Damage worked with id Software on that title and worked with id again on 2007's release of the commercial shooter Enemy Territory Quake Wars.

So it was a bit of a surprise when earlier this year Bethesda Softworks announced that it had signed Splash Damage to help make an upcoming and unnamed action game for the publisher. So far both Bethsoft and Splash Damage are staying silent on the game's details but considering Splash Damage's history we are going to guess there will be a complex multiplayer mode available. It should also be interesting to see what Splash Damage can do with their own game ideas instead of borrowing ideas and settings from id Software.