Valve and Arkane, the developer of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, are working on a mysterious new project called The Crossing, which will fuse the worlds of single and multiplayer to create "crossplayer." Details are scarce but if you act now you can treat your eyes to the first footage, courtesy of YouTube.

Powered by Valve's Source engine - which provided the smart visuals and physics action of Half-Life 2 - The Crossing has yet to be officially announced, but that hasn't stopped forumites predicting the depths of the game's secrets. For our part, the most promising idea is an anti-cooperative mode, with you and a rival battling as two opposing characters in a fully fledged story.

We'll be slipping into Valve's inner sanctum to hunt out the first gameplay information as soon as possible, so watch this webspace.

January 9, 2007