Stargate Worlds

Development

Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer announced in February 2006 that work had begun on the MMORPG. Later that year, CME released concept art and announced the use of Unreal Engine 3, marking the first public release of computer-generated art for the game. In November 2006, CME stated that Stargate Worlds had moved from pre-production into the production phase. Co-creator Brad Wright served as a games creative consultant.

Developer Chris Klug noted that creating a game from the Stargate Universe was straightforward due to the breadth of content. Progress slowed significantly because of the Great Recession of 2007. FireSky partnered with Convergys Corporation to provide customer support.

In 2009, Wright expressed doubts about the game's release, while FireSky's marketing manager insisted development continued and that financial arrangements were being made. Registrations for a closed beta were accepted from those aged 18 and over. On February 12, 2010, CME filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, placing development on hold. The project was subsequently cancelled.

Setting

Stargate Worlds was set in the earlier seasons of Stargate SG-1, before the Atlantis expedition and the Ori story arc. The game would have explored the Furling, a race mentioned but not depicted in the show; senior content designer Steve Garvin described the Furling as a single entity stretching across time, able to see past and future. At release, the game would have revolved around the Milky Way Galaxy during the conflict between the Tau'ri and the Goa'uld. Playable races included Tau'ri, Goa'uld, Jaffa, and Asgard.

Combat incorporated elements familiar to first-person shooter players, emphasizing tactics against both AI and human opponents. The AI was designed to provide a significant challenge. There was no specific healer class; all archetypes could act as medics, though some were better at healing and reviving. Specialization within archetypes offered flexibility, and a robust tech tree allowed customization.

Each archetype had three specialization trees, and players could mix skills from them. No end-game instance required a particular class. The scientist and archaeologist archetypes specialized in non-combat gameplay involving puzzles. Each archetype had its own starting area that provided a backstory drawn from the first six seasons of Stargate SG-1.

Did You Know?

• Footage from Stargate Worlds was used in the opening sequence of the 2008 film WarGames: The Dead Code.
• Game footage appears in the pilot episode of Stargate Universe when Eli enters the Ancient code in the online game Prometheus.