Chair Entertainment bought by Epic Games

Chair Entertainment, known for their previous XBLA project Undertow and the upcoming game Empire: Alpha Complex, has now been bought by Epic Games!

Chair has been using Epic's Unreal Engine for both games - and now this new partnership will allow Epic to find new ways of using their engine on smaller properties.

From the Kotaku story:

"Our team has long admired Epic for its ability to shape the game industry with its innovative technology and first-rate video game offerings," said Chair's Holmes. "We share Epic's passion for creating ground-breaking game play experiences and are excited for the opportunity to partner with a truly visionary company."

In the recent past Epic has had two teams - the Unreal Tournament Team and the Gears of War Team. The smaller development team of Chair may help to expand themselves in the "F YEAH" demographic.

Empire: Alpha Complex looks fantastic from what we've seen... maybe Epic can use these extra resources and... I dunno... do a port or make a new Jazz Jackrabbit game? Please? I'd be up for a remake of Jill of the Jungle or Xargon while your at it!

Source: Kotaku: Epic Snags Undertow Developer Chair Entertainment Group

EGM - First shots of Empire: Alpha Complex!

X-Power has got their hands on a scan of Chair Entertainments upcoming XBLA game. The Empire property - which is owned by Chair themselves - in recent years had a book written for it by famed author Orson Scott Card, as well as other projects based around the franchise.


Empire: Alpha Complex will be Chair's next game, and will be available for "all" downloadable platforms. Still using the Unreal engine, E:AC will be a 2D side scrolling game in the style of classic Metroid and Castlevania titles. From the looks of it, maybe a little Bionic Commando Rearmed too.

The entire scan can be viewed below. Personally, I was disappointed with Undertow - Chair's previous game, however this one certainly has a lot of promise just from the screenshots. Keep it up!

Source: X-Power - "Empire: Alpha Complex is Chair's derde XBLA-game!"

Undertow expansion pack coming out tomorrow!

Chair entertainment have announced that an expansion pack for Undertow will be released tomorrow alongside Rocketmen: Axis of evil!

The Undertow: Path of the Elect expansion pack extends the full game by featuring a full, five level single player and co-op campaign and introduces an entirely new playable race known as the “Elect.” Armed with superior technology and fire power, this fanatical alien race is determined to rule the earth and destroy those who seek to stop them. Multiplayer fans can now choose to play as the Elect or as one of three other races as they explore four new multiplayer maps and earn points for upgrades by killing enemies, completing objectives, and taking checkpoints.

Team Xbox have the scoop, along with several images of the expansion and the new race.

Source: Team Xbox: Undertow to get expansion pack this wednesday!