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Homeward Bound: Gearbox Bringing HD 'Homeworld' Remakes to Steam

During a panel during PAX Australia, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford revealed a handful of new details about his company's plans to re-release "Homeworld" and "Homeworld 2" on Steam.


For anybody not glued to the PC gaming scene in the early years of last decade, "Homeworld" is a classic space strategy series, developed by Relic Entertainment and originally published by Sierra On-Line. It was well-received at the time and has remained popular among strategy enthusiasts.

The late, great THQ bought Relic in 2004 and later acquired the rights to "Homeworld" from Sierra as well. Relic parted ways with its creation when THQ went under late last year, though: Relic was eventually sold to Sega (which sparked its own lawsuit), and Gearbox made off with "Homeworld" at auction, driven by Chief Creative Officer Brian Martel's personal attachment to the game.

According to Pitchford, Gearbox plans to release "Homeworld" and "Homeworld 2" on Steam after giving the graphics a spit-shine and a fresh coat of paint. It's not clear if this proposed remaster goes beyond graphical updates, though buyers will receive copies of the original games as well. Curiously, "Homeworld: Cataclysm," the spin-off game developed by a studio that would go on to become Rockstar Vancouver, wasn't mentioned at all.

No release dates or price details were provided, but Gearbox only paid $1.35 million for the rights to the "Homeworld" series. Given the series popularity at the time, Gearbox could surely make a tidy profit on a moderately-priced deal.

[Gamespot UK]