Sony's Research Reckons The Online Shooter Space Is Stagnating. Starhawk Aims To Cut Through The Noise.

All unique franchises with quality components, but irritatingly similar in design. According to Sony's in-house market research, gamers are starting to long for something a little bit different in their multiplayer shooter experiences. That's where Starhawk comes in.

"Sony, of course they want to sell games and make a lot of money," Lightbox Interactive's Dylan Jobe told Eurogamer. "They felt there was a place in the shooter genre for something to stand out.

"They had done market research and got feedback from a lot of players that the shooter genre feels the same. At least their data showed that.

"They feel this could be a great way to cut through the noise of the shooter genre."

Jobe believes Starhawk's innovative implementation of real-time strategy will set the spiritual Warhawk successor apart from the masses.

"A lot of games that have RTS elements suffered from problems because they were RTS teams that were trying to do shooters," Jobe continued. "Sony, I remember in one meeting with the executives, they said, 'You know what's interesting about your approach at LightBox is you're a shooter team trying to bring over some RTS elements, and that allows the soul of your game to still be a fast-paced shooter and not be about management."

Warhawk in itself had a different tone to other online shooters. The emphasis on team-play and controlling multiple vehicles added a unique dynamic to the game that we're sure will transcend into Starhawk. The real-time strategy components might just be the icing on the cake of what's shaping up to be a pretty unique game. We suppose time will tell as to whether gamers really do want a different kind of shooter experience, mind.