Interplay announces that Earthrise developer Masthead Studios has been signed to accelerate the development of their troubled Fallout MMO. The deal includes the use of Masthead's internally developed tools, and their staff, though overall oversight will remain with Interplay's team of Fallout veterans:

Interplay Entertainment Corp. announced today that the Company has signed definitive agreements with Masthead Studios concerning the development of Interplay’s post-apocalyptic Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG), code named “Project: V13.”

Project: V13 has been under development at Interplay since November 2007 by some of the original Fallout creators. Masthead joined the project in early 2009 and development continues under Interplay’s direction and control. Project: V13 will utilize the proprietary tools and MMOG technology Masthead developed for its “Earthrise” project.

Commenting on the announcement, Interplay Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Herve Caen said, “Masthead’s technology is impressive and perfect for our Project: V13. Its team is passionate to bring our vision and game play to the market. This MMOG will have many unique features that we will disclose before launch of the public Beta in 2012.”

Masthead Studios President Atanas Atanasov said, “Project: V13 incorporates many creative and technological innovations. We believe it will be a unique experience. Our technology will continue to evolve in order to realize all the extraordinary content and features Interplay has designed.”

In related news, Duck & Cover has acquired the information that Bethesda sought to have redacted from their ongoing trial with Interplay over the rights to the aforementioned Fallout MMO. Frankly, there's nothing of particular note -Bethesda states that Zenimax Online has been developing an MMO for a few years (old news), the development has cost a lot of money (no shit), and that it isn't a Fallout MMO (they allowed Interplay to retain the MMO rights, resulting in this debacle).