After being put on "indefinite hold" by defunct developer Perpetual in October 2007, mythological MMO Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising has now been resurrected.

Heatwave Interactive today announced that it has acquired the intellectual property rights to Gods & Heroes along with all game assets, including the two game engines Perpetual had created for Gods & Heroes and Star Trek Online. Shortly after halting work on Gods & Heroes, Perpetual shut down and the Star Trek Online rights went to Cryptic. Read more »

San Francisco-based MMO developer Perpetual Entertainment has announced on the official Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising site that the ancient Rome-themed massively multiplayer game has been put on "indefinite hold"--likely a euphemism for cancellation--in order to dedicate the company's resources more fully to its simultaneously developed game Star Trek Online. Planned to have been published by Sony Online Entertainment, Gods & Heroes had already entered a closed beta testing phase, and was said to be set for completion in early 2008. "Recently, we took a step back to evaluate the competitive landscape, the game's current state, and the overall goals for our organization," reads the announcement. "And while we are truly proud of and pleased with what we have created in Gods & Heroes, we also realize that achieving the level of quality and polish that we are committed to will take a significant investment." According to word from Shacknews' sources close to Perpetual, the game had long played second fiddle internally to the currently self-published Star Trek Online, expected to launch late next year. Some considered Gods & Heroes something of a testing ground for the relatively young company to establish a footing in the competitive MMO field. "The Perpetual team is faced with a unique challenge of simultaneously developing both Gods & Heroes and Star Trek Online in addition to growing our Online Game Platform business," the statement continues. "After assessing all of Perpetual's opportunities, we have made the decision to put the development of Gods & Heroes on indefinite hold." Perpetual was founded in 2002 by a number of industry veterans, many of whom had been involved with Ultima Online early in its development. The company's structure is explicitly MMO-oriented.

Ten Ton Hammer has posted a new Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising Q&A. Lead system designer Travis George is asked about a variety of gameplay features.

Also on IGN is this new Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising preview. The article offers impressions of one of the later game quests.

GameSpot has a new Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising preview. The article offers impressions of some of the more high-level content.

Three Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising character profile videos can now be found at FileShack, taking a look at Gladiator, Soldier and Scout classes.

WarCry is hosting a Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising video development diary. In it, designer director Stieg Hedlund talks about the role of gods in the game.

IGN and GamersInfo.net have new Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising previews, going hands-on with this upcoming MMORPG.

Also on GameSpot is this Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising preview. The article offers impressions of high-level content.

MMORPG.com has a new Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising development diary. Perpetual Entertainment's Mike Hines writes about the game's Environment Art style.

There's a Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising preview on Game Informer, going hands-on with a preview build of this MMORPG.

The latest Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising Q&A can be found at Ten Ton Hammer. Systems designer Travis George talks about the game's animation system, the Nomad class and myth minions.

People interested in beta testing the Roman mythology-based MMORPG Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising can now sign up at the official website. There is no age requirement, and in addition to accepting English language testers, Perpetual Entertainment is also looking for people interested in testing French, German and Italian language versions of the game. The Sony Online Entertainment published Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising is scheduled for release later this year.

A new Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising Q&A can be found at GameSpot this This one focuses on the minions in the game.

WarCry has yet another Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising Q&A, asking design director Stieg Hedlund about instancing, raids, the Feat Tree system and XP distribution. There are also new screenshots here.