1.There are rumours abound that the original DevTeam responsible for SHIII have disbanded..this may be so. BUT I would like to tell you all here that support for the game will still continue from Ubi.
2.These forums will still tick over as normal.
3.There are also rumours abound that a new SH simulation is under construction..this may also be so...with a new Devteam perhaps.
Another Silent Hunter game in my honest opinion and based on common sense would be a remake of the original SHI if one was to be made. The franchise would then have turned full circle with 2 games dedicated to USN vs IJN and 2 games dedicated to Kriegsmarine-Unterseebootwaffen Vs Allies.
These two Naval services ie USN and German were originaly selected because of the variety they offered either in submarine technology or vast areas of patrol and their great significant in WWII.
This gave the gamer in campagn mode a lot of choice, entertainment and sense of "being there and doing somehting" that effected the war as it did in realality.
A Japanese submarine orientated game would not deliver the same aspects of playability due to the "historically accurate" fact that they were weak and ineffectual and never made any impression on the state of the war in the Pacific. The SH franchise has always been based on historical accuracy and realism because as a simulation thats what the gamer wants.
So to simulate Japanese subs in all their flawed ability to do anything in WWII does not fit in with the genre of what is expected with a sim.
The Silent Hunter game as is, is not realy a big seller when compared to other games as it is more specialised and only suits a certain area of the gaming market. SH sells about 30,000 - 50,000 units worlwide whereas other games sell about 300,000 to 500,000 worldwide.
Would you gamble on an even lesser premis as SH IV Japanese sub game...I think not.
This post remains open for your comments on the future of the SH and you are invited to post.

