Press Release from the Admiralty, 3 December 2003: -

Larry Bond and Chris Carlson, the originators of the Harpoon4 wargame, and Don Gilman of Advanced Gaming Systems Inc., also a participant in the Harpoon4 project, are disappointed by Ubisoft’s decision to cancel Harpoon4, but respect Ubisoft’s judgment, their desire to sell quality games, and their need to make a profit while they do so.

The just-ended [Harpoon4] project has been underway since 1997, when we signed an agreement with Strategic Simulations International to create a computer adaptation of the Harpoon4 miniatures wargame. Unfortunately, the development effort became hampered by a series of corporate buyouts, each one causing delays and simultaneously reducing the size of the development budget. While each successive publisher has made their best effort, each buyout (and there were four) reduced the chance of a successful product reaching the store shelf.

Our intention is to start a new development effort that will produce a computerized version of Harpoon4 at the earliest opportunity. Ubisoft has graciously offered to transfer the partially-completed code to a third party for further development. We will examine the code to see if that is feasible, and if appropriate, will transfer of the code to a third party. Since the code contains copyrighted material, that third party would have to enter into a contract with the rights holders, just as SSI did six years ago.

And that is only one approach to producing a new Harpoon4 game. Others options include starting development fresh with a new publisher, or upgrading existing programs to H4 standard. None of these will produce a game quickly, and even choosing which option to follow will take several months. It is important to acknowledge not only the patience and support of the computer Harpoon community, but also the efforts of the many developers who have worked on the commercial product, and the beta testers who did their best to make it a quality game. They all made substantial contributions to Harpoon, and we will work hard to make sure that they have not labored in vain.

Don Gilman, P.E.
Advanced Gaming Systems
Publishers of the Harpoon Classic and Harpoon 3 Naval Wargames

HarpoonHQ note:

With the demise of Harpoon4 all focus of interest has shifted entirely to Harpoon3, the latest and most sophisticated of the Harpoon naval / aerial warfare simulators. Details on Harpoon3 (including how to purchase a copy) can be found on the Harpoon3 page.