Massively^™

Drop bears. Death kangaroos. Surly emus. Australian gamers have a unique sense of humor, something they share (obviously) with the sensibilities of Warhammer Online. EA Mythic has taken their threatening marsupials very seriously, and announced in an interview with Gamespot that they'll be offering local servers to Aussie players when the game launches later this year. In fact, they're working right now to add an AU server to the Beta.

The ever-informative Josh Drescher told the game news site that their support of the gamers down under is entirely about personality and recognition. In Drescher's eyes the Australian Warhammer fans have been incredibly supportive, whether in the form of Beta signups, forum postings, or angry stuffed animals mailed via parcel post. The associate producer credits their relationship with EA here - this is another element to the game they may not have been able to offer if they hadn't partnered with the software giant.

At the end of the day, Drescher says it's about recognizing an under-supported marketplace: "It's clear to us that it's a completely viable new market that hasn't got the attention it deserves ... I don't know the exact location, but we'll be hosting the server somewhere in East Asia, so it will be in the correct time zone. At the moment we are targeting it squarely at Australia and New Zealand." The full transcript of Gamespot's interview is also available, where Drescher offers up some familiar (but always entertaining) insights into the world of Warhammer.