Destineer, publisher of the recently released cross-platform game Close Combat: First to Fight, on Friday announced the acquisition of Atomic Games, developer of the Close Combat series. Atomic published its first game, V for Victory, in 1992 and launched the highly-acclaimed Close Combat series in 1996 with a strategy title that has sold over 1.2 million copies since.
First to Fight is a first-person shooter that puts the player in charge of a four-man U.S. Marine fire team sent to Lebanon to quell internal strife. It was released in April for Mac, Windows and Xbox. A more realistic version is in use by the Marine Corps as a training tool.
The two companies are currently working on Close Combat: Red Phoenix, a real-time strategy game loosely based on the novel by Larry Bond. This time, the Marines head to South Korea in the year 2007 to help the country repel an invasion by North Korea. Destineer expects to publish it in early 2006.
Mac gamers may recall that ex-Apple and ex-Bungie Software executive Peter Tamte founded Destineer in 2001. The company later purchased MacSoft from Infogrames and published the Mac version of First to Fight through that subsidiary, along with Rise of Nations, Neverwinter Nights and other titles.