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!"