Omerta Game Ltd. has been working on Omerta 3, the newest version of its text-based gangster MMO Omerta, for two years. The company has yet to announce the release date for version three, but stated in a recent press release the game is only weeks away from launch.

The free-to-play MMO focuses on crime-controlling families as players attempt to climb to the top of the gangster underworld. The company continues to release information on new features as Omerta 3 gets closer to launch, and the most recent press release announced the addition of city spots, which are businesses you can own by gaining control of them through the new raid feature. Of course, you'll have to defend these businesses once you gan control of them. Each family will also have a fixed-size headquarters, which affects how many city spot objects they can own. You can read more about these additions after the jump.

Other new features include the ability to hire bodyguards, the addition of new items and an overhaul to how players are killed in the game. You can pre-register to play Omerta 3 on the game's official Web site and check out a new screenshot in our gallery. Players who pre-register will receive bonus items they can use one the new version is launched.

Hull, UK, June 19, 2009 - Omerta Game Ltd, publisher of Omerta, the Mafia-themed MMORPG (massively multiplayer role playing game) has announced the latest batch of new features to be released in the hotly-awaited new version release Omerta 3 (O3)

Omerta Game Ltd is releasing information about the new features on a weekly basis, until now these have been a closely-guarded secret. The all-new version of the web's hottest Mafia-themed game has been in development for two years, but is now only weeks away from launch.

Omerta is free-to-play, can be played with any web-browser.

The game is about crime, power and Mafia family connections. Omerta players try to climb to the top of the gangster underworld by racketeering, racing stolen cars, smuggling contraband and banding together with other players to form powerful, crime-controlling families.

The Mafia families fight turf-wars with each other, the Feds and Police for control of cities based in The United States and Sicily of the 1930s.

Omerta 3 introduces several new features which are designed to make the Mafia-family part of the game more fun and more challenging. The first of these new features is called 'city spots'.

City spots

“City spots are mostly businesses like Bars, Restaurants, Car lots, etc. Players of the new version of Omerta will be able to own these. But keeping them will be a challenge as other gangsters can raid, driving by with armed friends or setting explosives off, to try to take the City spot object away. If one family keeps possession of the city spot object, intact and profitable after 23 hours, then all members of that Mafia family benefit from significant in-game rewards” explains Otto Adang, Product Manager and Lead Designer of Omerta 3.

"Spot objects and raids are closely linked," says Otto Adang. "First of all, you can never simply buy a spot. The only way to gain ownership is to raid it with a partner. Once you have become the owner, your task will be to keep it protected from rival families. They will all be trying to raid you because the spot will give benefits to all your fellow family members, every day, unless they rob enough of your profit to prevent that. A family that is based in the same city as yours could even steal your spot through raiding."

Raids

The biggest change announced is the all-new feature of raids. In Omerta 3 players will be able to get together in pairs and try to raid the city spot object of another family, to try to prevent that family from enjoying the advantages of having that city spot object. “Raids are an exciting new feature which will make sure that there are even more inter-family wars and chaos than before” said Adang.

Player power

Spot objects and raiding are only open to members of one of the many player-created families in Omerta. The aim is to provide players, with an interesting game feature that will create strong family bonds and intense inter-family rivalries. It will reward players who have many loyal friends in their family and have a talent for organization.

“We also moved back to an earlier family system, from before Omerta 2.1 (2004). Now each family will have a fixed-size headquarters. This effects how many city spot objects each family can own.” added Adang. “This is player power in action as many of our long-established players have been crying out for a return to the old system of family headquarters.”

Defence.

But life won't be all easy for gangsters on a raid; “City spot object owners will try their best to defend each object with increased protection. They can invest their money earned by each object in protection, or choose to keep it” commented Adang.

The actual launch date of Omerta 3 is still to be announced, but players have the opportunity to pre-register at http://www.omerta3.com

We will award all players that pre-register for Omerta 3 with bonus items when the new version is launched. These bonus items will give players a kick-start on their journey to become the #1 Mafioso.

Omerta can be played in 29 different languages.

About Omerta:
Omerta – www.barafranca.com – began in 2003 as an amateur project, in a bedroom in Groningen, the Netherlands.

Omerta Game Ltd was founded in 2004 to manage and further develop Omerta. It now boasts a full-time staff of 18 people in four countries and a network of over 200 volunteers, spread out across the whole globe.

Omerta is free to play. The only requirements are a modest PC with an internet connection.

Omerta is available in 29 languages, all of which are updated for the forthcoming launch of Omerta 3. Regional (single-language) versions are available in Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Portuguese/Brazilian, Turkish and the 'Nordic' languages (Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish).

Apart from the International version, the Dutch, Turkish and Portuguese versions are the biggest versions.

Already more than 3.5 MILLION people have played Omerta!

Omerta players like to spend time chatting with their friends on Omerta's own IRC server. There are typically 4000 people or more logged into this.

Omerta boasts typically more than 70,000 players logging in every day to chat, race cars and kill each other, all in the name of fun!