Sony Online Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast today announced that they are developing Magic: The Gathering – Tactics, an online 3D turn-based strategy game for the PC, with a PS3 version coming later.

"The growing Magic: The Gathering community has an insatiable desire for great strategic game experiences. Sony Online Entertainment is the perfect partner to transform the best of Magic's story, strategy and competitive play into a fantastic ‘Tactics’ game experience for current and new Magic fans," said Greg Leeds, president, Wizards of the Coast.

Orson Scott Card has said how there aren't enough turn-based strategy games out, and he doesn't want to get locked into "endless battles." He would rather create than just war.

Card nods to Sid Meier as "the only guy" who does turn-based "reliably." More should learn lessons from the "way he does it." Others "emphasize the tedium", but not Civilization.

From the creators of Warcraft III mod Defence of The Ancients, League of Legends is a free-to-play RTS/RPG hybrid strategy game that's just fired up its open beta phase to fans.

It's billed as a highly competitive multiplayer romp, which is no surprise given the enormous success of the DoTA mod for Blizzard's classic Warcraft III. Open beta runs for a week only.

Developer Relic Entertainment have unleashed their latest free content update for Dawn of War II, and this one adds arena style action as squads must survive enemy waves.

The new mode adds leaderboards and new wargear to help you try and make it through. This update also adds an ocean of balance tweaks to multiplayer and bug fixes. Get it!

Director man Sam Raimi has revealed the 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'The Patriot' screenwriter, Robert Rodat, is going to be crafting "an original story" for Warcraft.

Raimi says they'll be "really faithful" to the game lore, he wants it "accurate and true" to Azeroth's inhabitants. So gold farmers confirmed? It will feel like a "'World of WarCraft' adventure."

The Stronghold franchise will be re-releasing this month on the 27th as publisher 2K retails the Stronghold Collection, which includes all five titles. It's the castle siege wet dream.

The real-time strategy games are all about protecting your masoned walls from dirty invaders, but what's more it'll be a DRM-free collection. It's only for the US for now, pity.

Following the success of Archon for iPhone, React Games will be bringing the cult classic back to the PC. This much improved version will support multiplayer modes and HD.

It will also have online leader boards and achievements. The developers have been careful in "maintaining the classic feel" of the 1980's game. Another iPhone game is out soon.

Paradox Interactive and Nitro Games today announced a "Designer's Cut" update for East India Company. Based on ideas from the game's developers, as well as feedback from the community, the development team will be releasing a free add-on.

The free add-on introduces a vast amount of enhancements for improved gameplay, including new port views, tactical battles can now be fought on an island environment providing completely new tactical elements, the introduction of multiplayer modes "Beehive" and "Breakthrough", history graphs to help track long term progress, and many more new features to make East India Company a deeper experience than ever before.

AMD have a new fancy graphics chipset and so they're pleased to announce that developer Phenomic is "demonstrating its commitment" to Battleforge fans by enabling DX11.

Which of course "when matched" with AMD's new "cutting-edge" DirectX 11 hardware it helps deliver an "improved game experience" in performance and visuals. HDAO is here.

Sega and Creative Assembly's Empire: Total War can now have its Warpath expansion downloaded exclusively from Steam, with the 1.5 update now available to gamers.

Warpath adds an expanded Native American campaign to North America, and 5 brand new factions. The 1.5 update brings "major improvements" to the game AI, plus 5 new maps.

Developer Creative Assembly will say "thank you" to the community by including five new multiplayer maps free when the 1.5 patch goes live, which is when Warpath retails.

Warpath is the mini-expansion to Empire: Total War. The patch is said to include significant tweaks to the game AI and the new maps support "all team sizes". Warpath here "soon."

A huge swathe of changes have arrived for Ironclad Games' space strategy Sins of a Solar Empire, with all units getting a tweak and some even an outright overhaul.

Logging into Stardock's Impulse will get you the mega patch. It's really surprised the developers how strategies "have evolved" over the one and half years the game has been out.

Paradox Interactive has announced the Elven Legacy Trilogy, three expansion packs for the Fantasy Strategy title Elven Legacy from Paradox Interactive, releasing in October, November and December 2009.

Continuing the intense tale of a world that pits elf against human, the first of the trilogy, Ranger, is set to release on October 20th and will feature 16 new campaign missions, two new main heroes, along with new artifacts and spells.

Stardock has gone live with v1.19 for Demigod, the real-time strategy game involving a Demigod avatar and legions of mythical beasts. The update tweaks a few things.

It removes the option for skirmish in multiplayer, leaving it to singleplayer. They hope to include new maps in the future but it's unclear. Two new Demigods still coming.

The latest update for Empire: Total War has now been released. The update will be applied to the game automatically when your Steam client is launched.

Ubisoft today announced the development of the Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom, the next game in the strategy series for the PC. Scheduled for release in spring 2010, The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom gives gamers the opportunity to choose the best way to lead their kingdom to victory, in a rich environment set in middle-Europe during the early Renaissance.

"The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom brings The Settlers franchise to the next level of the strategy-sim genre, employing the core mechanisms that made the series a success while continuing to innovate in new areas that will give gamers the ability to craft their own unique, thrilling experience," said Adam Novickas, director of marketing for Ubisoft.

SEGA has officially announced the Warpath Campaign Expansion for Empire: Total War, which will only be available to purchase from Steam. The expansion contains a new campaign and 5 new American Indian factions. These factions can be played in single player and multiplayer games.

A new detailed North American Campaign Map expands the Empire: Total War experience, with 5 brand new American Indian factions, new units and technologies. Experience battles in the new Warpath Campaign and lead one of the 5 new factions in an epic war to defend your lands and drive out the invaders. Or take these units and their unique strengths into multiplayer battles.

Dawn of War II has already changed the original's formula and delivered a more tense strategy game, and now THQ and developer Relic plan to build on that some more.

Chaos Rising adds a "tremendous amount" of new content, as it continues the Blood Raven campaign as they face "the powerful" Chaos Space Marines. New maps, units and more.

EALA's Sean Decker has revealed that over a third of us enjoyed some multiplayer action from the latest Command & Conquer outing. However the "majority" stick with solo play.

The studio boss acknowledges that while the next instalment requires the Internet, it won't achieve getting everyone online to play. They're trying to appeal to different motivations.

Soon the 'Age of Empires III: Complete Collection' will be gracing retailers worldwide say Microsoft, and includes the original Age of Empires III and its two expansions.

The Asian Dynasties and War Chiefs are bundled in, with the corporate giant slapping an RRP of USD 49.95, or EUR 54.99. Big Huge Games and Ensemble Studios developed the titles.