Margaret Weis (who?), a book and game publishing company based in SE Wisconsin named after owner / author Margaret Weis has announced they will be publishing the Battlestar Galactica table-top role-playing game come 2007. Known for their Dragonlance setting for Dungeons and Dragons as well as their Serenity RPG, Margaret Weis also publishes the young adult pick-a-path novel series, Paths of Doom (I used to love pick-a-path novels!). The game-book will be set in space, following the storyline of the re-imagined series as what’s left of humanity races to find Earth before the ever so lovely Cylons do. The game-system is being designed by Jamie Chambers, who also designed the Serenity RPG and aided by Sean Everette, writer for Knightly Orders of Ansalon and an ex-United States Navy and Air Force soldier, which will aid in keeping the writing similar to the military style Battlestar Galactica is known for.

Read more: Margeret Weis to launch BSG RPG | Margeret Weis Productions

What better city than New York is there to hold a fun and healthy ARG event? None! This time around, we have Payphone Warriors, an alternate reality game which pits teams of players on the streets of New York who must control the area around Washington Park by controlling the long-forgotten payphones around the area. A team controls their area by simply making a call from a payphone to the game system and entering your team number, before dashing off to the next payphone on your map. For each minute your team controls that phone, you score 1 point, so the more phones you grab and the longer you own the phone, the more points you get.

Read more: Payphone Warriors | ARG entry @ Wikipedia

CCP, the makers of the sci-fi MMO EVE Online have announced that they will be merging with White Wolf Publishing, one of the leading creators of traditional RPG franchises in the world. The companies will operate autonomously, but with White Wolf owning some impressively rich worlds such as World of Darkness, it looks as if CCP is positioning themselves to release some interesting new MMOs in the coming future.

Read the full press release after the jump..

Reykjavik, Iceland and Atlanta, GA, USA – November 11, 2006 – CCP hf. and White Wolf Publishing, Inc. today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement to merge. The creators of the single largest persistent online role-playing world and the world’s second-largest developer of offline role-playing, strategy and collectable card games will create the industry’s largest independent Virtual World developer. CCP is the publisher and developer of EVE Online, the world’s largest virtual gaming universe. White Wolf is the creator of some of the world’s most recognized role-playing titles including: World of Darkness (Vampire, Werewolf, Mage) and Exalted. The combined company will introduce new online and offline gaming products across the science-fiction, horror, and fantasy genres.

The merged company will enable CCP to integrate White Wolf’s leading expertise in offline gaming development to enhance and create physical products for its MMOG, EVE Online. Products to be introduced in 2007 will include strategy guides, enhanced collectable card games, role-playing systems, and novels all based on EVE Online. White Wolf will leverage CCP’s industry-leading technologies to bring its offline role-playing titles online. Conceptualization and early development has begun to bring White Wolf’s World of Darkness, one of the world’s strongest gaming properties, into the online world.

“White Wolf possesses the RPG industry’s leading offline gaming talent and some of the most recognizable roleplaying properties in the world,” said Hilmar Petursson, CCP’s Chief Executive Officer. ” Virtual worlds are a new form of entertainment, separate from traditional computer games. By combining forces, we will create a company unsurpassed in quality, innovation, and scope which will keep us at the forefront of this emerging trend.”

The combined company will continue to operate under their respective names. White Wolf will be operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of CCP. Hilmar Petursson, Chief Executive Officer of CCP, will be CEO of the combined company. Mike Tinney, President of White Wolf, will continue as President of the independent subsidiary. Further, White Wolf will continue development and enhancement of their entire portfolio of gaming products.

“CCP brings industry-leading technical expertise and online game development experience to us,” said Mike Tinney, White Wolf’s President. “Together, we will create the industry’s most innovative games leveraging both online and offline systems.”

Read more: CCP Games | White Wolf | EVE Online

Yesterday, Gothic 3 developer Piranha Bytes announced via their website that their much-anticipated sequel in the Gothic series, Gothic 3, has gone gold. After 3 and a half years of development, Gothic 3 has a release date of October 13th, 2006 throughout various markets in Europe via JoWooD, with announcements for the US forthcoming from Aspyr Media no doubt.

Official announcement after the jump..

At 02:20 this morning Gothic 3 has been shipped to Sony Austria for replication. This means that after more than three and a half years of time development has been finished. Gothic 3 is scheduled for release on October 13th in various European countries.

Read more: Gothic 3 goes gold | Gothic 3