A PAX Prime announcement has confirmed that Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 3 is indeed under development by Zeboyd Games. Originally cancelled by Hothead Games last year, this refreshed title will apparently be built for ‘as many systems’ as possible. Zeboyd Games can be recognized as the developer of the Xbox Live and PC titles, Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death 7.
According to a report by RPGamer, the graphical style of the third episode will be based on that of 16-bit style titles like Final Fantasy VI. Besides, Gabe and Tycho, from the earlier games in the series would also be featured in the third episode. Furthermore, the soundtrack for Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 3 will be scored by Alex Mauer.
Hothead Games which was originally supposed to develop the title, had pulled out last year saying, ‘it just doesn’t make sense for us as a company to complete the next installment.’ It later went on to develop the comic action RPG, DeathSpank. The first episode of the game was released on Linux, Mac, PC, and Xbox Live and PSN in 2008 and later on Steam.
These games are known for mixing 3D gameplay with 2D interstitials and cinematics. They consist mostly of seek-and-find puzzles, evocative of adventure games, where players must collect items and return them to a character in order to advance the plot. Moreover, they can collect spare robot parts to upgrade their weapons.
Zeboyd Games will shortly be creating a development blog for the game on their website. Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 3 is slated to release in 2012 on unspecified platforms.