New Heavy Gear game in the works

Between MechWarrior Online, Hawken, MechWarrior Tactics, and the Transformers games, it's a fine time for fans of big stompy robots. Tentatively add another to your list of anticipated robo 'em ups, as the appropriately-named Stompy Bot Productions yesterday announced that it's licensed the Heavy Gear franchise for a new video game.

Stompy Bot is eyeing up PC, consoles and mobile doodads for its new Heavy Gear.

The franchise began life as a tabletop wargame, like the MechWarrior-spawning BattleTech. This lead to an RPG, a collectible card game, an animated TV series, and two PC games from Activision in the Nineties. Activision put these out after it lost the MechWarrior license, to tick its robo-sim box, but they were a bit more conventionally FPS-y than MW.

"Dream Pod 9 looks forward to working closely with Stompy Bot Productions in developing the next incarnation of Heavy Gear's 3D video game," the Heavy Gear creator's president Robert Dubois said in yesterday's announcement. "Stompy Bot has the drive and talent to bring the world of Heavy Gear to life for all of our fans and a whole new generation of gamers."