Paradox Interactive announces Elven Legacy, a fantasy-themed turn-based strategy game due early next year (apparently a standalone expansion for Fantasy Wars, thanks Gamer's Hell). Here's the revised announcement that clarifies the game's release date, which was confused in the first press release:

New York, USA (August 13, 2008) – Leading PC strategy publisher Paradox Interactive today announced a new release for 2009. The Fantasy Strategy game Elven Legacy is developed by experienced studio 1C:Ino-Co, and is scheduled for Q1, 2009.

Elven Legacy delivers a world filled with magic, and a thrilling nonlinear storyline, gauged to provide many hours of gameplay for strategy enthusiasts. Through an epic quest to restore the former glory of the Elven race, this fantasy strategy game offers both depth and scope, all in colorful and inspirational settings.

Play as an elf or a human, in the two primary campaigns – or why not the Orcs, in a wide variety of bonus missions? With the accompanying tools, players may also create their own missions and campaigns, and share them through multiplayer.

"This is one of the best-looking TBS games I've seen in a long time, and it follows in the same spirit of games like Heroes of Might and Magic, Master of Magic, and Warlords Battlecry", said Paradox Interactive Executive Vice President Fredrik Wester. "The developers have really taken care to provide extensive depth and content, which could make this game one of those that stays on gamers hard drives for a long time".

1C:Ino-Co CEO Alexei Kozyrev said, "In Elven Legacy, we've focused greatly on making the plot intriguing and nonlinear. Our games are already known for their rich tactical opportunities, which usually come highly rated by players. This, combined with our improvements in the AI and interface, allows for this game to appeal both to fans of turn-based strategies and to newcomers to the genre."

Elven Legacy is scheduled for release during Q1, 2009.