Worms: Armaggedon Publishers

Who's Gonna Publish Worms: Armaggedon in North America?

It has been confirmed that Microprose will be publishing Worms: Armaggedon in Europe but. as of now, no North American publisher has been confirmed. Team 17 has gone as far as to say that it has been "agreed" but nothing signed. To the majority of gamers that means nothing. Here are some of the possible publishers, with why they could/would or can't/won't.

...And the winner is.... HASBRO INTERACTIVE

Hasbro won the rights to publish Worms: Armageddon in North America. It would appear that after they bought Microprose they just took over negotiations where Microprose left off. Hasbro has huge retail push in North America and it can only come as good news because now people everywhere will be exposed to the end of Worm kind.

The other publishers that were in the race.

Publisher	Why They Might	Why They Won't	Odds are....
Electronic Arts	- Biggest Publisher in North America -Really likes big profits	- Too big for Team 17 -W:A isn't a guaranteed big seller in NA since it is relatively unknown - Team 17 doesn't want to be assimilated like so much of the industry	Not that good.
Activision	- Publish lots of titles - Like European developers	- Likes First Person Shooters too much - Doesn't like that many European developers - Narrow Product Lines	Better than EA but still I wouldn't bet the farm on it.
LucasArts	- If George Lucas likes it, it becomes LucasArts material	- Own the rights to everything related to their games - There aren't any Star Wars references in Worms - If George don't like it, it don't become part of LucasArts	How do we say? No way.
Edios	- Based in England - Gave Ion Storm a deal, so why not Team 17?	- Team 17 doesn't have a guy with Romero's hair - Lara Croft isn't in Worms - They're English	Pretty good.
SSI	- They like to try new ideas like Necrodome	- Tried Necrodome - Too Many resources tied into their war games	Pretty bad.
Monolith	- Have a broad product line	- Too small without enough capital - Too much money tied up in Blood 2 and Shogo (In the new LithTech engine)	Bad.
GT Interactive	- Pleased by the success of the also untested Cavedog and their Total Annihalation. - Lots of capital at the moment	- Just released Unreal, and they want to publish more games based on that engine - Like rehashing stuff, ever notice that WizardWorks is a subsiduary of theirs?	Good.
Microsoft	- Have a shit load a capital floating around	- They're Microsoft - Haven't released too many games - Will have to delay W:A to make it Zone compatible, replacing the Team17 protocol	Let's just hope not.
Microprose	- Had mild success with Worms 2 - They are the publishers in Europe	- Just took over by Hasbro Inc. who destroyed Avalon Hill - Team17 said that Microprose won't be publishing in North America - Thanks to Hasbro they are now devoted to creating family orientated games	Unknown
Cendant	- They like million selling games like Diablo and Starcraft - Are going to be rolling in the dough whenever they get around to releasing Half- Life	- Cendant is trying to sell off Blizzard and Sierra Studios - If W:A isn't assured to be a big seller then they don't want it	Bad.
Acclaim	- Had mild success with Forsaken - Like oddball titles	- Like oddball ARCADE titles - Too much invested in Turok 2 to devote much to a new game	Could be worse.
UbiSoft	- Published Pod	- Published Pod - Not much available capital	Not very good.
NovaLogic	- Publish a lot of titles - Starting to diversify their titles with the example of Delta Force	- Most titles they publish are Flight Simulations - Most capital is tied up in new Flight Sims	Bad.
Southpeak Interactive	- Have some money - Just published Rainbow Six	- Most games are Full Motion Video adventures like Temujin - Don't publish many games	Bad.
Accolade	- Publish some real oddball titles	- Don't publish many oddball titles, or that many titles in general	Bad.
Interplay	- Have had success with risky games before like Carmaggedon - Like games with -aggedon in them - Have the necessary base to make W:A a huge hit	- Lots of recent bombs - Lots of money tied up in Star Trek licenses	Better than most.
Red Storm Entertainment	- Success with Rainbow Six	- Publish mostly only Tom Clancy games - Haven't published many games	Bad.
Psygnosis	- Published alot of games lately	- Lots of the games they have published lately have been crap	Not bad.
Virgin Interactive	- Success with Westwood Studios	- Got eaten by EA	I wouldn't count on it.
Red Orb	- Published Myst and Riven - Lots of cash	- Published Myst and Riven, 'nuff said	Please God NO!
Interactive Magic	- Publish a fair amount of games - Some of their titles are relatively unknowns	- Don't have big success usually - They like games about war, whatever you are doing in that war	Maybe, Maybe Not.
SegaSoft	- Publish games	- Published SCUD and Vigilance - W:A would be delayed for Heat.net transformation - Very limitted capital	Bad.
Talonsoft	- Publish games	- Publish WAR games	Bad.
3DO Company	- Had success with Army Men	- Like consoles more than computers	Bad.
Gathering of Developers	- Will publish almost anything, anything that is good - 3DRealms is a member, so if the Dukester approves of it, must be something good about it	- Not that much available capital	Good.
Team17	- They did publish Worms by themselves	- Didn't exactly penetrate North American market with Worms	Hopefully not.

Who it will be is a total toss up right now. We will have to wait for word from Team17 to see. If I really had to place my money on one or two publishers I would bet on, either Interplay or GT Interactive. Mostly just for their success with relatively unknown titles in the past. Who knows it might even be a publisher that isn't listed up here (even though I dug through all those I could). Lets just hope that the publisher is a winner, just like Worms: Armaggedon.