According to information now available on the official Junction Point Studios website, Deus Ex creator Warren Spector's new firm is "currently working with Valve on a new game using the Source Engine to be delivered via Steam".
Junction Point was founded in early 2005 by Spector, whose work in the past includes Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Thief, and Deus Ex, and who had been without an announced project since the Austin-based Ion Storm's closure at the beginning of the year.
Following the apparent success of Half-Life 2's distribution over the Steam 'content delivery platform' and the resulting large user-base, Valve continues to sign PC titles for distribution directly through its medium, both game using its Source Engine, as used in Half-Life 2 itself, and games running their own technology. This latest high-profile deal with Spector is a continuation of its wish to expand Steam into an effective method of digital distribution for PC games from multiple developers.
The most recent sign-ups for Steam were Unreal mod extension Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45 and cult title Darwinia, but other titles either being sold or to be sold via the network include Rag Doll Kung Fu, Narbacular Drop, They Hunger: Lost Souls, Pirates Of The Burning Sea, and SiN Episodes, showing an intriguing blend of indie PC titles, expansions to popular mods, and episodic efforts from larger developers.
As well as the Steam Engine title, which is likely the game in the "action combat, large creature, FRPG genre" mentioned in early job openings, there is also an opening on the site for a concept artist to work on a "Super SecretTM Warren Spector Game Project" which apparently needs "artists who can conceive, sketch (and maybe even model and animate) cartoon mice, cats and wabbits. We need help creating and fleshing out surreal Wagnerian opera sets and places like Balloonyland or Wackyland."
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