via GameZone

SEGA of America, Inc. and SEGA Europe, Ltd. today announced a new partnership with Gas Powered Games, an entertainment software development studio based in Redmond, WA. Under the terms of the worldwide agreement, SEGA and Gas Powered Games will collaboratively develop an original role-playing game for the PC.

“SEGA is continuing its march forward in building a strong western developed portfolio of games,” said Simon Jeffery, President and COO, SEGA of America, Inc. “Partnering with well established and visionary game creators such as Chris Taylor and his talented group of at Gas Powered Games aligns perfectly with our strategy.”

Gas Powered Games was founded in 1998 by acclaimed game designer and industry visionary Chris Taylor. Best known for the hugely popular Dungeon Siege series that has sold in excess of 1.7 million copies worldwide, Gas Powered Games has a proven pedigree of developing successful role-playing and RTS games. The company’s current release, Supreme Commander on the Games for Windows platform has also received critical acclaim upon launching in February 2007.

“We are excited to be part of SEGA’s western development strategy,” said Chris Taylor, Creative Director and CEO of Gas Powered Games. “Our focus at Gas Powered Games is to create exciting and visually stunning new worlds coupled with revolutionary game play experiences and we see SEGA as the perfect partner in achieving that goal for our next original RPG.”

The deal is the latest in a string of similar announcements from SEGA that underscore the company’s increased emphasis on Western content development.