Piranha Games breathed life into eager fans who've been waiting years for the next, true MechWarrior video game two weeks ago when they tweeted out parts of a picture, which when put together formed an artistic rendering of an Atlas. It was confirmation that the MechWarrior reboot was still on its way, hinting that more news was to come.

Earlier today, PC Gamer confirmed this to be the case when they revealed that the new MechWarrior is no longer coming to Xbox 360 as reported for the last two years since the game's announcement and it instead is a PC exclusive, a free-to-play MMO.

Revealing the full lowdown at 1pm today, PC Gamer explains that MechWarrior Online (MWO) is a team-based Mech sim and fans should not worry - it's based on the gameplay and is designed just like the mech combat we all know and love from MechWarrior 2, 3 & 4 and nothing like the simple arcade MechAssault games on the original Xbox. We're talking complete customization and control over mechs, overheating, multiple environment and climate types, and much, much more detailed urban locales.

Outside of fully customizable, first-person mechs, the coolest part of MWO is that it's a real-time war. It begins in the year 3050, in the Inner Sphere (the core area of surrounding systems around Earth) just before the invasion of the clans. By real-time, we actually mean real time. Each day of the MMO, is a day in the fictional future of the Battletech universe.

Creative Director Bryan Ekman explains how the team mechanics will play out:

"Players will be able to band together in the format of a lance, which is four, and they’ll be able to band together as a mercenary corporation for hire. That’s not unlike a guild. We have a whole editor and mercenary HQ for players to explore that allows them to customize the look and feel of their corporation, their membership, the structure of how they enter battle, the lances, their names, ranks, and all kinds of things."

As an MMO, and with the obvious desire to pilot bigger, bad-ass mechs, Piranha President Russ Bullock explains that MechWarrior Online explains that players can level up their mechs, as well as their pilot, in a system akin to a hybrid between MechWarrior, Diablo and Call of Duty.

"Players will be able to band together in the format of a lance, which is four, and they’ll be able to band together as a mercenary corporation for hire. That’s not unlike a guild. We have a whole editor and mercenary HQ for players to explore that allows them to customize the look and feel of their corporation, their membership, the structure of how they enter battle, the lances, their names, ranks, and all kinds of things."

As a "Free-to-Play" MMO, the obvious concern is how real money microtransactions will impact the game. Piranha Games reassures that no tactical advantage can be gained from purchasing in-game items and that it all must be earned by actually playing.

It's also emphasized that MWO won't just be a shooter - it's about tactical and information warfare. Combat can be played out out with multiple lances of four mechs each. Head to http://mwomercs.com/ to register your pilot name early!

We've been interested ever since the MechWarrior trailer two years ago, and we're even more excited now to see it finally come together. MechWarrior Online launches summer 2012.

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Source: PC Gamer