For anyone with a little interest in role-playing games of all varieties – and specifically Dungeons & Dragons universe – Neverwinter should be a familiar place. In a few months you wil be able to pay the city a visit once again.

Atari Europe and Cryptic Studios have announced that an RPG with the simple title Neverwinter is in development for PC with an intention to launch in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The game will be a classic D & D adventure and developer Cryptic is working closely with Wizards of the Coast in the work of the game. Cryptic have previously been behind the titles City of Heroes City of Villains, Champions Online and Star Trek Online. Bioware is however not involved this tome around.

Neverwinter is a team-based RPG where you can choose from five D&D classes and form cooperative groups of five, either with friends or with CPU allies. Players can also create their own stories and quests using a system known as the Forge.

Something that bodes well for the game is that the best-selling author R.A. Salvatore has been involved in creating the backstory. Salvatore’s first book in a new Neverwinter trilogy, Gauntlgrym, is already available if you want to get in the right mood right away.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will be released on December 7, says Blizzard in a recent statement. The third expansion for the – to say the least – most popular online role-playing game will be more than just an expansion, according to the developer:

“Cataclysm includes the best content we’ve ever created for World of Warcraft. It’s not just an expansion, but a recreation of much of the original Azeroth, complete with epic new high-level adventures for current players and a redesigned leveling experience for those just starting out. ”

Now, with the help of a few beta testers, Blizzard intends to polish a Cataclysm before its release date, which happens to coincide with the holiday shopping season. Call me a cynic.

Square Enix has announced that it plans to release its MMO epic Final Fantasy XIV for Windows on September 3, meaning that PlayStation 3 owners will have to wait – at least until March 2011. A special edition of the game will be released as early as September 22nd, which will include a map, a journal and a DVD where you can watch the development of the game, plus some other goodies.

BioWare now offers yet another piece of downloadable content for Dragon Age: Origins. The latest episode has been named Leliana’s Song.In Leliana’s Song, you take on the role of a young Leliana, when she follows her old mentor Marjolaine on a mission that turns out to be deadlier than expected. Leliana quickly finds that she can not rely on her charm, looks or skills, but has to kill or be killed to get out of the political intrigues she finds herself entagled in.

In other words it’s a Leliana-centred prequel: you get to follow the circumstances that led up to her joining the monastic world in Ferelden  in this brand new adventure.

JoWood has let out some interesting footage featuring gameplay from the upcoming Gothic 4 Arcania. Looks interesting – let’s hope that unlike Gothic 3 this one is reasonably bug-free.

The Polish developer CD Projekt anticipates releasing The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings during next year’s first quarter, according to a representative of the publisher of the game’s official forum.

This is only for the PC though – console versions are also planned, but there are no more details on that (or in a secret patch somewhere). Among the new innovations for The Witcher 2 is a more hack ‘n slash-type combat system, dialogue with multiple characters simultaneously, and some gratuitous nudity. A new website for the game is to be launched April 7, then we’ll know more.

Deus Ex 3 will be the first tangible collaboration between Square Enix and Eidos after Square Enix bought the company. The third part of Deus Ex 3 is in development at Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix will be contributing with pre-rendered movies to the game.Knowing how the Final  Fantasy in-game cut-scenes have looked in the past this is no doubt a good thing.  How much they are contributing is unclear, but it should a the very least involve the game’s introduction.

A trademark that has been registered in Europe and North America implies that the game will be titled Deus Ex: Human Revolution. It seems that Eidos Montreal is getting ready to reveal more about the game in the near future, which could mean that the game will appear in some form during the Games Developer Conference starting next week.

We have been waiting for about 10 years for another installment of Diablo III, and what does Blizzard have to say on the matter? The game won’t be out for another year! Seriously? Judging from the pics they’ve at least had the courtesy to release, it looks pretty much finished to me, but I guess Blizzard really wants everyone to keep the hype going. By next year it will probably look hopelessly dated… anyway, here are some pictures to wet your appetite.

Incredibly, giving the game away for free has been great for Turbine, which now earns its revenue from micro-transactions, according to Gamesindustry.biz. An impressive one million new players have now entered the Dungeons & Dragons Online Universe after the game went free – a doubling of the player base since September and a quintupling of revenue. The response from players to DDO Unlimited has been nothing short of phenomenal, says Turbine CEO Jim Crowley. We’ve known all along how great this game is and by implementing an innovative new model that put the players in charge of how they pay and play DDO Unlimited.

The income is derived from micro-transactions in Turbines digital store, where players can buy some extra odds and ends for their characters. So, apparently giving away great commercial games for free is the latest business mode? This bodes well for the future of online gaming.

If you’ve already played through DA: Origins about five times as all the different races and classes you might be up for something more challenging. Thankfully, the long-awaited Awakenings expansion is now nearing release and it’s safe to say that this is an old-school expansion and not some cheap DLC crap. BioWare probably has a lot in store for Dragon Age – you just have to look at the included map to see that you’ve only explored a fraction of the game world after completing Origins. Not surprisingly, Awakenings picks up right after the end of Origins, and among other things it should bring some more insight into the true nature of the Darkspawn.

In addition there will of course be more dungeons, monsters and locations. Plus all of the existing classes will receive new specializations. It looks as though BioWare will take the Mass Effect 2 route, meaning the story will continue while maintaining all the choices and paths you took in the fist part of the saga. Not a small feat for developers, but if anyone can pull it off BioWare can.

The expansion is available for pre-order on Amazon.com, and if you haven’t played the original (which is highly recommended) Direct2Drive are offering a DA: Origins + Awakenings Bundle. The official release date is March 16.