Strategy Informer  

Publishing giant EA has now shipped over 3 million copies of BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins, the brand new fantasy RPG franchise.

Everyone at BioWare is "extremely pleased" with this news, and it's had a "great reception" with fans and critics. Expansion due next month.

2K Games today announced that Sid Meier’s Civilization V, the latest entry in the highly anticipated Strategy series, is in development at Firaxis Games for PC. Civilization V promises to reinvigorate the turn-based strategy genre with a new engine built from the ground-up for Civ V.

Players are introduced to an entirely new combat system, deeper diplomatic interactions and a cavalcade of expanded features that deliver a fully immersive experience providing hours of entertainment as players build and defend their empire on their quest to become the greatest ruler.

Developer 4A Games has dismissed rumours that Metro 2033 shares technology with S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s X-Ray engine, as they aren't similar.

GSC's engine for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. "just doesn't scale" to modern day demands says former GSC, Oles Shishkovtsov. 4A Engine "radically different".

Square Enix chief tech officer Julien Merceron says just because you have middleware doesn't mean you get away with "less programmers".

It's what caused The Last Remnant to suffer so on Xbox 360. This is one of the "traps with middleware", to underestimate fine tuning them.

The closed beta for Blizzard's latest StarCraft instalment is finally up and running, with gamers having "started to receive invitations".

This is the "first phase of the beta" with multiplayer up for testing, as well as peaks at the new Battle.net. They want "concentrated feedback".

There's been some activity on the Jumpgate Evolution front, namely a US community manager let go, but that means they're getting close.

At least that's what the departing dev revealed. Jumpgate was due out last year, but was delayed by user feedback, causing major changes.

Wargaming.net has just sent over a press release announcing that the company is developing World of Tanks, a free-to-play MMO game on the PC. The game will allow 30-player teams to battle in PvP matches, and should launch in fall 2010.

Bethesda's Pete Hines teases how Obsidian's Fallout: New Vegas is a city "up and running," unlike Fallout 3's urban graveyards.

Vegas "still exists and thrives" despite the global nuclear war. To explore everything on offer could take "hundreds of hours" reveals Hines.

Disney Interactive Studios has just announced that a video game is in development for Toy Story 3 across all major platforms. Toy Story 3: The Video Game will feature film adventures along with Disney's first open-world gameplay for kids. Inspired by the upcoming Disney Pixar animated film: Toy Story 3: The Video Game is due on retail shelves June 15, 2010.

As Mary Beech, general manager and vice president, discussed at Toy Fair, Disney Interactive Studios is revealing a new gameplay mode called Toy Box. A primary feature on Toy Story 3: The Video Game console offerings, Toy Box is a virtual box full of toys. With an open-world sandbox-style of play, Toy Story 3: The Video Game taps into the beloved franchise's humor and brings fans into the toys' world to create their own unique story. The game's developer, Avalanche Software, is working in close collaboration with filmmakers at Pixar to create an authentic Toy Story experience that inspires imagination and celebrates the joy of play.

BioWare's upcoming Dragon Age: Awakening will be available as a download title for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC for all when March 16th is here.

However PAL territory PS3 gamers can only get it through the PlayStation Store, whereas Xbox 360 and PC can buy the retail package.