Syberia III



Syberia III is a planned computer adventure game sequel in the Syberia series. The story of the first two games was conceived by Benoît Sokal, and developed by French games company Microïds. It is expected to be released in 2010 or 2011 for PC, and possibly PlayStation 3. It follows the protagonist Kate Walker as she starts out on the mammoths' trail, where strange white birds indicate the presence of extinct mammals.

The first Syberia game was acclaimed by critics for its graphic design and intelligent script, and the first sequel, Syberia II, was released in 2004, picking up where the first game left off. Sokal's earlier game Amerzone is located in the same fictional universe, and Syberia contains some references to it. After the release of the second Syberia game Sokal founded his own video game company, White Birds Productions. Another of Sokal's adventure games Paradise has no connections to Syberia but does use the same style artwork and a similar interface.

Development
On 1 April 2009 Microïds announced that Syberia III would be released on PC and PlayStation 3 in June 2010 as a real-time 3D game. A further press release on 2 April noted that Syberia would be one of the series of games to be released in the "Ultimate Adventures" tri-packs.

The first press release also mentions that Kate Walker will meet an investigator named Victoria McPherson. FBI agent McPherson is the female lead character of another of Microïds' series of games, Still Life and Still Life 2.

The company has stated that the game will miss its original June 2010 release date due to the fact that negotiations with Benoît Sokal are underway and the takeover by Anuman, and is likely that it will be released after 2010.

Gameplay
One of the main innovative points of the game is allegedly its use of collaborate online gaming between players on both PC and PS3, using simultaneous data exchange and sharing on the two platforms. The first press release hints that players will only be able to accompany Walker to the end of the adventure, if they have collaborated with players from the other platform, utilising each player's abilities. Microïds also stated that this style of collaborative gaming would feature in other future releases from the company. This is uncertain, however, as this dates from an April 1 press release.

PS3 Version
On 17 April another press release was issued, explaining that the PC version will be released, but the PS3 version may not, due to problems with Sony. Benoît Sokal mentioned in the press a number of times that he would only participate in a Syberia sequel if there was sufficient financial means to design and develop it properly. In 2009 Microïds decided to invest in the Syberia franchise. Microïds have also asked that fans of Syberia send them emails of support for the game. The President of Microïds, Emmanuel Olivier, also thanked fans on the company homepage for their support.