Argonaut signs new publishing deals for Malice and Powerdrome

UK development house Argonaut has signed publishing deals with XIM Inc's new publishing arm Evolved Games which will see finished titles Malice and Powerdrome being released by the company in the second quarter.

The developer has also entered into an agreement with Bethseda Softworks which will see the two titles being released in America by ZeniMax Media (Bethseda's parent company) label Mud Duck, also in Q2.

The deal should hopefully bring to a close the troubled saga of Malice's development, which has cast a shadow over what has generally been a successful period for Argonaut. The title was one of the showcase games for Microsoft's Xbox prior to the launch of the console, but was eventually dropped by publisher Vivendi last summer due to clashing with another similar title in its line-up.

Argonaut enjoyed significant success late last year with the release of SWAT: GST, and qirky platformer I-Ninja has also had a warm reception in North America, with a European launch (on PS2 only, due to an exclusivity deal with Sony) due on February 13th.