Swingin' Ape to complete StarCraft: Ghost

Blizzard Entertainment has announced that development studio Swingin' Ape is to take over the completion of StarCraft: Ghost, following the end of original developer Nihilistic's involvement with the project last month.

Swingin' Ape was formed by a number of Midway employees who left the firm after completing work on Hydro Thunder, and recently delivered original title Metal Arms: A Glitch In The System for Vivendi Universal Games.

The company's deal with Blizzard is believed to extend beyond the StarCraft: Ghost work, with the official announcement this morning alluding to collaboration on future multi-platform projects, although no details have been announced as yet.

Last month, Blizzard admitted that StarCraft: Ghost, which was originally unveiled at the Tokyo Games Show in September 2002, would be pushed back to a 2005 release date in order to ensure that the game met the company's quality standards.

At the same time, developer Nihilistic announced that it was no longer involved with the project, and was preparing to move on to work on a new title - leaving StarCraft: Ghost delayed and apparently without a developer, a situation now resolved by the appointment of Swingin' Ape.

"The team at Swingin' Ape Studios is a very talented group of developers with a proven ability to deliver extraordinary games," according to Blizzard president and co-founder Mike Morhaime. "We're confident that this partnership will result in titles that achieve the level of quality that players have come to expect from Blizzard products."