Tim Schafer has detailed the future of his studio Double Fine Productions. According to Games Industry Biz they will be making multiple projects with low budgets. None of them will be a Brutal Legend sequel as the publisher declined to do one, but these new ones won’t require four years to hit the streets either. Some of them are downloadable while others will come with pretty packages, and each will cost less than $2 million to produce. He also reported that the titles will span multiple genres, but has yet to specify which ones.

Kalypso Media has unveiled a brand new website for the upcoming turn-based strategy title Disciples III: Renaissance. This site will host a variety of information including artwork, screenshot galleries, videos, wallpaper, and development highlights with regular updates occurring over the upcoming weeks.

Disciples III: Renaissance will be available for PC later this month throughout Europe, and in July in North America.

A demo of Team17′s top-down shooter revamp Alien Breed: Impact is now available on Steam, along with a 10% pre-order discount that brings it from $14.99 to $13.49.

The demo contains a single player “Prequel” mission from Impact, which is an updated PC and PlayStation 3 version of the Unreal Engine 3-powered Alien Breed: Evolution, which is, itself, a revamp of Team17′s classic Amiga game, Alien Breed.

The PC edition will be released exclusively for download via Steam on June 3. There’s no word yet on when the PlayStation Network release for PS3 will arrive or its price.

W! Games’ hex-based, eco-friendly, turn-based strategy title Greed Corp isn’t going to stay confined to the XBLA and PSN. The Games Company has revealed plans to release the game as a retail PC package. The title will hit store shelves this summer for $19.99, and will include “an all new tutorial, improved campaign, simplified mouse controls and better graphics,” as well as a few upgrades from the console versions of the game.

CD Projekt wants to assure console gamers that plans to port The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings are still very much on the table.

“There are some rumors about us leaving The Witcher-2-on-consoles idea,” said the company in a Facebook post. “That’s pretty weird, as we want and plan to release the game on consoles & nothing has changed in this matter. We’re still sure, that Geralt & company has something to offer both – PC & console players.”

One thought that all would-be console players of the game might wish to keep in mind, however, is that the company always planned to offer the first game for consoles. Hopefully the sequel doesn’t succumb to the same fate.

THQ has announced that it has set up a new business unit, THQ Partners, to open up its global retail and digital distribution network to other developers and publishers. The move, which seems to broadly follow EA Partners, aims to open up new revenue streams for the publisher by utilizing its existing infrastructure. The unit will be led by Tim Walsh, formerly executive VP of publisher relations at IGA Worldwide, who has been appointed as VP for the new business. While no specific partners have been announced, it is expected that talks will take place next month at E3.

Resistance developer Insomniac Games is working on a new intellectual property to be published for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 platform, which is the first time the studio has worked on a non-Sony platform in its sixteen year history. According to Games Industry Biz, the new franchise, to be published by EA Partners, will be for both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, and while project specifics are being kept strictly under wraps, it will take place in a brand new universe.

“This is an exciting day for all of us at EA Partners and for gamers everywhere,” offered David DeMartini, senior vice president of EA Partners. “Insomniac is renowned for their commitment to quality and their ability to create unique, exciting worlds for gamers to explore. We look forward to help them bring their next blockbuster franchise to the millions of diehard Insomniac fans on PlayStation and the soon to be millions of diehard Insomniac fans on Xbox 360.”

According to VG247, Sony is preparing to reveal a premium PSN service at E3. Sony’s previous position on such a subscription based service had been that they were “studying the possibility of introducing a subscription model, offering premium content and services, in addition to the current free services [of the PlayStation Network].” Sony VP Peter Dille later confirmed that the company was indeed looking at a premium service, but issued neither details nor timeline.

VG247′s source leaked that Sony might offer a free PSN title from a selection of “two to four” each month to paying subscribers, which would cost a little over $70 per year. Additionally, a music streaming service similar to Spotify is expected, and cross-game chat, a long-awaited feature for the PSN, will supposedly be available to all users.

Last year’s financial results are in for Square Enix Holdings, and Games Industry Biz reports they include revenue that jumped by 42 per cent and net income that rocketed by 50 per cent over the previous year. The publisher was boosted by strong sales of five million-selling games: Final Fantasy XIII, Dragon Quest IX, Sentinels of the Starry Skies, Dragon Quest VI, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days – with three of those games selling over 3 million apiece. The company also completed its merger with Eidos, prompting the creation of the Square Enix Europe business unit headed by former Eidos CEO Phil Rogers.

Perfect World has announced that it has acquired a majority stake of $8.4 million in Torchlight developer, Runic Games.

“As a part of our growth strategy, we continuously monitor the market for acquisition opportunities that will generate synergies with our core business,” said Perfect World chairman and CEO Michael Chi. “I am excited to announce some recent developments on this front. We recently made a strategic investment to acquire a majority stake in Runic Games, Inc. (Runic Games), a top-tier game development studio based in the US, to further strengthen our R&D capabilities.”

Eidos and Crystal Dynamics recently released a trailer for their upcoming downloadable take on the Tomb Raider universe, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. The video showcases the co-operative action and puzzle elements that you’ll be able to fully experience for $15 via XBLA, PSN or PC this summer.

With every new purchase of the standard or Limited Collector’s Edition of Alan Wake, fans score a token to download the title’s first DLC, The Signal. Hold on to the token card until July 27 to redeem the next chapter via Xbox LIVE.

Bringing a new style of storytelling to the Xbox 360, Alan Wake is a psychological action thriller from Remedy. The game aims to immerse players in an intense and expansive cinematic world with hyper-realistic and interactive environments. The title is episodic-based and attempts to emulate the likes of Stephen King, Lost and Twin Peaks, as it unveils new twists and character revelations at every turn.

For those that haven’t already heard, PixelJunk Shooter 2 is in full production, full steam ahead, anchors away and all that… commotion to that order. The nice folks over at PlayStation couldn’t reveal too much for now, but it will have some features that are new to the PixelJunk series and will be bigger than the first game. Though far from a certainty yet, they’re pretty sure they won’t make a Shooter 3 because “everything and the kitchen sink (probably quite literally) is going into Shooter 2.”

For those who haven’t yet tried PixelJunk Shooter, a free demo will be available beginning May 25, and includes explosive gas, magma, water, volcanic eruptions and you the ability to wreak all kinds of havoc with the fluid physics.

Following in the footsteps of such titles as Wii Sports, Wii Play and Wii Fit, Nintendo has now announced Wii Party, which the company hopes will be “a marquee party game.” The mini-game compilation is expected to release early next year.

According to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, “we are developing it with the intent that every Wii player will be able to find a game that can be enjoyed.”

Sony has announced that following up the fan favorite releases of FFVII and FFVIII, PS3 and PSP owners will soon have a new opportunity to immerse themselves, once again, into the world of Final Fantasy with FFIX. Considered by many to be a must-play title for any RPG fan, the title will be available for North American fans via the PlayStation Network. If you missed the game during the early PlayStation era, or are dreaming of reliving the FFIX adventure, the PlayStation Store will have what you need.