Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark

The "Transformers" video game series is changing its focus with a new developer and a resolution to stick more closely to Michael Bay's blockbuster films. As such, "Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark" is announced as a follow-up to both "Transformers: Age of Extinction," due in cinemas this June, and the "Cybertron" sub-series of games. The new title will be developed by Edge of Reality, a studio located in Austin, Texas, and whose PC game "Loadout" a fast-moving, gorily caricatured, reaction-based arena shooter was released on Steam at the end of January as a free-to-play title. Before that, the outfit's last shipped original was 2008's "The Incredible Hulk," having spent the time between then and now assisting on "Dragon Age: Origins," "The Sims 3" and "Mass Effect." And while San Diego's High Moon Studios had become well regarded for their own "Transformers: War for Cybertron" and "Transformers: Fall of Cybertron," official movie tie-in "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" was not so well-received, likely to have affected Activision's transferral of dev duties from one to the other. As for "Rise of the Dark Spark," it retains the third-person perspective of previous "Cybertron" titles and is headed for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PS3, Wii U, PC and 3DS (though the 3DS game is a strategy title handled by WayForward). No release date has yet been given, but players will be able to switch between playing as Autobots and Decepticons throughout the single-player story mode, with wave-based multiplayer survival mode, Escalation, still part of franchise plans.