From all the news trickling out of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) last week, one of the biggest had to be from Hasbro Interactive and Firaxis Games. Sid Meier and the original Civilization II team were assembled at a press conference where the duo announced that Firaxis Games, founded by Meier, would be working with Hasbro on the next leap in the Civilization series, Sid Meier's Civilization III.

　　The original Civ II team at the press conference included Firaxis' president and CEO Jeff Briggs, vice president of software development Brian Reynolds, and vice president of Hasbro Interactive research and development and former MicroProse colleague Tony Parks. "To be partnered with Firaxis Games and legendary designer Sid Meier on this exciting project is truly a crowning moment for Hasbro Interactive," said Hasbro Interactive president, Tom Dusenberry. "We have had our eyes on the Civilization franchise for some time and we are thrilled that we can bring together all the critical people behind this great game to make some more industry magic."

　　Does the team have the same spark that it had while producing the first two Civ games? Considering Activision's leap onto the PC Data top-selling software charts with Civilization: A Call to Power, the upcoming release of MicroProse's Civilization: Test of Time, and the success of Firaxis' Alpha Centauri - the buzz is out there for the team to set new levels of gameplay in Civ III. And considering the talents of the individuals, this is the team that can deliver a greatly needed dose of innovation to strategy games.

　　"We look forward to working with such a talented publisher as Hasbro Interactive," said Jeff Briggs, Firaxis Games president and CEO. "The Civilization franchise has played such an important role in all of our lives and careers. It is very fitting that we join together to work on the next generation of this great game."

　　Firaxis will begin developing Civ III in the next few months, and a release date has yet to be announced. Where does this leave Electronic Arts, the publisher of Alpha Centauri? Apparently, the deal with EA hasn't ended with this announcement, and rumors say there may be another Firaxis title in EA's future.