Two Worlds - Multiplayer Goes Massive

We received the following press release from Southpeak that says Reality Pump's Two Worlds is (or was) ahead of schedule and with some added development time the multiplayer component has been expanded to "massively multiplayer":

TWO WORLDS ONLINE TO BE MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER

Thousands Can Explore and Adventure Together Online In SouthPeak Game’s Upcoming Open-Ended Role-Playing Title

GRAPEVINE, TX – February 2, 2007 – SouthPeak. Games, a leading independent videogame publisher, is thrilled to announce that Two Worlds, its massive, open-ended role-playing game to be released this spring for the PC and Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, is having its online component greatly expanded. Whereas formerly Two Worlds was to allow up to eight players to adventure together online, the game will now support thousands of players online at one time.

“Reality Pump was in the fortunate position of being both ahead of schedule and given some extra development time, so they could truly bring out the full potential of Two Worlds,” said Katie Morgan, Executive Vice President of SouthPeak Games. “In our opinion, the best things in life are those that are shared with friends, and the more friends the better!”

Online players of Two Worlds will now be able to join parties that are competing against others to solve quests, battle other players in the arena to gain glory, form armies to storm enemy cities, arrange and compete in horse races, or simply socialize in a medieval pub. Like the single-player experience, the massively multiplayer online component of Two Worlds will offer an opportunity for the players to affect and change the lands they live in.

Meanwhile, Blue's has a slightly different announcement from Zuzzex that provides a little more insight:

Karlsruhe, 2nd February 2007 – the good things in life are best shared with friends! The “Two Worlds” developers have also taken this to heart - and added a fantastically varied MMORPG mode to their new game! Players can now oppose one another or join forces in Antaloor as Arena or RPG characters!

Let off steam in the Arena with exciting head-to-head battles - and remember it's only your skill that counts here - Arena characters all have the same status!

For all you hard-bitten RPG fans out there, the multiplayer game is the real thing! Want to establish your own individual character? "Two Worlds" has it all! The main jump-off point for role-playing gamers are the towns – they serve as both meeting places and platforms for starting various quests. In typical MMORPG style, this is where players meet for the first time, hold get-togethers in their favorite bars or simply look around for new challenges. You can also join Clans or found new ones. When a clan has got together, an adventure then begins that is tailored to the strengths of the group, which can be up to eight players in number. The game character develops in a completely free manner (no level limits) and can collect equipment and experience points too. You have traditional, classic adventures available - and also novel challenges, like horse racing! You can of course save your game character and equipment on the server - and you can continue his development whenever you’re ready... or you can earn yourself some money, by selling off special artifacts and weapons in the towns.

Character creation is based on various races and classes which will be introduced soon. These figures all have their own basic characteristics - and of course you can fully develop these during the course of the game! You can mold all the optical characteristics of your character as well, creating your own private heroes via a special interface! Color of eyes, breadth of chest, length of arms and legs...almost anything you can think of!

Souhtpeak later sent clarification that this is for the PC version only and "No details on the MMO gameplay for the Xbox 360 version are available".