Work on "Sovereign," a massively multiplayer real time strategy game, has been terminated after more than four-and-a-half years of development. Ambitious in nature, the game had hoped to replicate a continuous global war that supported up to 500 players. Diplomacy would have played as significant a role as the player's tactical abilities.

"We came to a decision that it was not going to be what we wanted it to be," said McDaniel. "It never really had the magic."

Two other high profile persistent world games for the PC are about to hit stores, though. "Star Wars: Galaxies," which lets players explore and be a part of the "Star Wars" universe, is scheduled for release April 15 (I'll give a more hands on report on that title in a future column). Meanwhile, "PlanetSide" is nearing completion, with a public beta test scheduled for the end of this month.