Kalypso to Publish Disciples III in NA, Europe, and Asia

Kalypso Media just sent us over a press release announcing that they've struck a deal with Akella granting them the publishing rights for Disciples III: Renaissance in North America, Western Europe, and Asia.  Apparently the RPG/strategy sequel is finally going to hit store shelves this summer:
Kalypso Will Bring Disciples III to North America, Western Europe and Asia Pacific

Epic turn-based sword and sorcery title coming in summer 2010 for PC

Baltimore, Maryland, March 8, 2010 Kalypso Media, a global publisher of award-winning PC and console games, is pleased to announce an agreement with game developer and publisher Akella that grants Kalypso Media the rights to market and publish Disciples III: Renaissance in North America and select European territories. Disciples III: Renaissance is a standalone turn-based strategy RPG set in an expansive fantasy world, offering players action, adventure and glory. Stunning 3D environments, three playable races, and multiplayer functionality all combine to offer an outstanding gameplay experience. Kalypso Media will release Disciples III: Renaissance in summer 2010 on Windows PC.

(Disciples III: Renaissance is a perfect fit with Kalypso's portfolio of top-quality strategy games, and we are excited to partner with Akella to release this title to gamers around the world,) said Simon Hellwig, Managing Director, Kalypso Media. (Disciples III is poised to take this award-winning strategy franchise to the next level by appealing to existing fans and newcomers to the series.)

(Everyone at Akella has a deep respect and love for the Disciples brand,) said Dmitry Arkhipov, Vice-President of Development at Akella. (Our team is dedicated and passionate about ensuring that Disciples III: Renaissance takes the franchise further by providing fans more dynamic gameplay and deeper strategies in an incredibly atmospheric and rich 3D world. Kalypso is the perfect partner to work with to ensure that Disciples III: Renaissance will be delivered to gamers around the world.)

Disciples III: Renaissance is the next title in the award winning Disciples series and represents a leap forward in the evolution of the turn-based strategy RPG genre. Building on the successes of the first two games, Disciples III: Renaissance introduces a host of new features as well as the compelling gameplay that made the previous titles so popular.

Key features:
'¢ Three playable races - The Empire, the Legions of the Damned and the Elven Alliance. Each race has unique units and city designs.
'¢ Cities, locations, units and other game assets are now represented in full 3D
'¢ Advances in gameplay allow increased fluidity in multiplayer games and less downtime in single-player games
'¢ A new upgrade system allows the player to assign attributes to their leader units. This system employs inventories and new stats and abilities
'¢ Visual representation of characters' equipped armor, weapons and artifacts

About Kalypso Media
Founded in 2006 in Germany by industry veterans Simon Hellwig and Stefan Marcinek, Kalypso Media is a global, independent developer, marketer and publisher of interactive entertainment software.

Along with Headquarters in Worms Germany, the company has offices in the United Kingdom and the United States. Kalypso Media also enjoys very strong global digital distribution through its Kalypso Media Digital Ltd. subsidiary, and owns two development studios Realmforge Studios GmbH and Gaming Minds Studios GmbH , and works with multiple leading independent developers.

Kalypso Media recently released the critically acclaimed best-seller Tropico 3 for Xbox 360 and PC, and will release M.U.D. TV for the PC this spring and DarkStar One Broken Alliance for Xbox 360 in summer 2010.

About Akella:

Akella was founded in 1993, and since inception Akella has grown from a team of six people into a multiple-disciplined company engaged in developing, publishing, and distributing computer games and multimedia products. At present, Akella employs more than 200 qualified specialists under the direction of experienced and professional managers. Akella's own distribution network has grown fast and covers all the former USSR territories. Among Akella's shareholders are Quadriga Capital (EBRD fund) and Intel Capital.