Black Prophecy

Black Prophecy is a 3D real-time combat space massively multiplayer online game, currently in development by Reakktor Media GmbH, the creators of Neocron.

Reakktor Media started the closed beta test phase of the game on April 2010, and they have teamed up with German distributor Gamigo Games to publish the game. It will be released as a Free-to-play game and while an exact release date has not yet been set, it was announced at E3 that they are "aiming for a launch in November" 2010. Players can apply for beta test on the official website.

Background
Black Prophecy's setting and story have been developed by Sci-Fi author Michael Marrak.

The game is set in the 26th century, where mankind has expanded across the galaxy, yet only few of its colonies are controlled by Humans. Two main factions dominate space: the cybernetically enhanced Tyi and the biogenetically perfected Genides. On their quest for territorial domination they enter the territory of an ancient alien race called the "Restorers", whom exhibit a destructive behaviour to other civilizations.

The player is asked to join one of these two dominant races to uncover the mystery of the Restorers and grant the survival of the three human species.

Factions
Two main factions dominate the game:

The Tyi
The Tyi (abbreviation for Tactical Yeomen Inhabitants, pronounced Tai) are a race of cybernetically enhanced superhumans, with great strength and endurance, both physically and mentally. They are resistant to radiation, have independent bloodstreams as well as backup organs, speak all languages and are true multitaskers. They also gather and process data at an increased rate.

The Genides
The Genides are a race of genetically perfected humans, designed to be able to better resist the unusual and partially hostile environments in space and on the colony planets. They require barely any sleep, heal wounds quickly and can communicate telepathically. In addition, most of them are resistant to disease and epidemics, think faster, detect ultra- and infra-sounds and have a long life expectancy.

Gameplay
The game will be more action-oriented than a traditional space simulation game and will feature player versus player (PvP) and player versus environment (PvE) combat and missions.

Another notable aspect of the game is the modular ship design, where players will be able to acquire different modules (cockpits, wings, engines) in different sizes in order to customize their ships in many ways.

The game will also feature an award and medal system, similar to an achievements system, where players can earn medals and awards for performing specific tasks.

Player clans will be allowed to build their own stations and expand them through a module system to add different functionalities. Clans will then fight each other to conquer resource stations.

Both first person (inside the cockpit) and third person views of the ship will be available.

Development
Development on Black Prophecy started in late 2006 with a team of 50 people. Originally planned to be released in 2009 by Reakktor's parent studio, 10tacle Studios, it was premiered during the 2007 Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany. The first website for the game was put online on August 21, 2007, just in time for the convention.

At the 2008 E3 a new trailer was debuted and the registration for the closed beta was opened.

After 10tacle's bankruptcy announcement on August, 2008, Reakktor released a statement confirming their commitment to the development of the game.

The new website for the game was launched on March 5, 2009, and on April 8, 2009 the official forums were opened to the public.

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