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Gatheryn to be powered by HeroEngine.

The game that might be a game or a social network, Gatheryn, has licensed the Simutronics HeroEngine. According to MindFuse (developers of Gatheryn), this agreement will allow the creators of Gatheryn to focus on the "experience instead of recreating the already-proven type of server side MMOG technology..." From the press release:

The collaborative, time-saving features of the HeroEngine allow MindFuse to develop the unique feature set of the advanced-casual MMOG, and the studio plans on launching the game as soon as the first half of 2009.

"By licensing the HeroEngine, we can focus our technology development and engineering team on the various unique social, personalization and online community features that the Gatheryn player will experience," said Joseph Walters, Lead Designer and Chief Executive Officer of MindFuse Games.

I applaud them for taking advantage of options in the market that allow them to focus on where they excel and not recreate the wheel, but is it really that fast? If they can license the engine now and launch a game in the next seven months, then one of a few things are happening; the game really is a social network that doesn't need much in the way of gameplay mechanics or design, they've been using the engine for some time and just now solidified the agreement, the engine really is plug and play, or they are smoking something. Hopefully this will continue to prove that licensing solid engines from others can speed up the development cycle. Go to the following locations to find out more about Gatheryn at Mindfuse Games and for more about athe HeroEngine.