Ubi Soft has announced a deal with Wolfpack Studios to publish the online role-playing game Shadowbane. This deal marks the publisher's first foray into the North American massively multiplayer gaming market, where the company will publish the boxed version of the game and host the online gameworld. Ubi Soft is confident that the game will be successful--the company expects to attract several hundred thousand players to the game, generating more than $40 million in the first two years of the game's release.

　　Shadowbane is set in a persistent online medieval fantasy universe. It combines role-playing and strategy game elements by focusing on combat between groups of players in addition to combat between players and computer-controlled opponents. In addition, the game features a dynamic world in which players can help the game evolve by building castles, gathering armies, and taking part in large-scale wars.

　　Shadowbane is in development at Texas-based Wolfpack Studios, and it is scheduled for release next spring. After the game's release, the developer will continue to create updates and episodic content in order to maintain the game's ongoing development. For more information, take a look at our previous coverage of the game.