JoWooD licenses Rendez-Vous middleware

PC and console games publisher, JoWooD, has announced a new licensing deal to use Quazal's Rendez-Vous middleware technology for its forthcoming titles.

The three games which form part of the deal are currently in development and due to be distributed worldwide in the first quarter of 2006. SpellForce 2: Shadow Wars and The Guild 2 are being produced for PC by Phenomic Game Development and 4Head Studios respectively. Wizarbox is developing Panzer Elite Action for PC, Xbox and PS2.

Jean Lachance, VP of Sales at Quazal said: "JoWooD's renewed commitment for three additional titles demonstrates their level of satisfaction on Quazal technologies. This decision comes after a thorough evaluation and positive feedback by Phenomic on Rendez-Vous."

"We are excited to work with them on these titles, and looking forward to many more in the future," he added.

The Rendez-Vous middleware technology allows developers to easily implement a number of multiplayer features using a flexible and adaptable lobby and matchmaking system. Olivier Martin of Wizarbox commented: "The Rendez-Vous service has been very easy to use, with a lot of power given to us, the developers. We could get started quickly, manage the development servers as we wished, and implement the features we need for our game."

Quazal recently announced the receipt of an undisclosed sum of funding from a collective group of investors, which it plans to utilise for the acceleration of its product development, to meet the growing demand for multiplayer middleware.

Significantly, the company also announced that its Rendez-Vous middleware platform would fully support development for Microsoft's next-generation console, the Xbox 360. No official licensing agreements for the new console have been announced so far.