Massively reports that Global Agenda developer Hi-Rez Studios has acquired the rights to the TRIBES franchise, which is still beloved for its innovative first-person jetpack-powered teamplay. They point to an announcement about this on the Global Agenda Forums revealing development of a project called Tribes Universe, though registration is required just to view the post. Here's word:

While working through the design we kept coming back to one old and loved game that represented many of the concepts we where incorporating into the new game (Jetpacks, vehicles, large open space, three armor types, futuristic weapons, etc). Many of you will know this game as Tribes, the original on-line multiplayer shooter. As of now, HiRez Studios is the proud new owner of the Tribes franchise.

We now have two groups in the studio, one working on continuing to build Global Agenda and a new group working on the Tribes Universe project. We are also moving to a new larger office space in another month that will help us accommodate our growth.

I’m sure many of you have questions, so here are a few quick highlights for Tribes Universe:

* Three Tribes (factions)
* Full clan (agency) support
* First person view (third person for some vehicles)
* Full vehicle support (ground and air)
* Full persistent world with territory control (no instances)
* PvP focused
* Huge outdoor maps (about 10x the area of sonoran desert)
* Large scale fights (100+ players)
* Jetpacks, skiing, lots of weapons, etc

Alpha testing will begin at the start of the year (about 3 months from now) and Global Agenda players with level 50 characters will have priority in entering Alpha and Beta testing

Thanks for your support

Erez.

P.S. More information on Tribes Universe will be coming in the near future along with an Alpha/Beta registration web site."