Starhawk has been rumored for ages now, with several E3s having come and gone without nary a mention of its existence. No longer. Unlike Modern Warfare 3, Sony was able to officially announce their project, basically a sci-fi Warhawk, and being developed at LightBox Interactive for next year.

Unlike Warhawk, Starhawk is not a multiplayer-only experience, with Sony and LightBox promising a "full-fledged" single-player mode. At one point, Warhawk was going to have a campaign (remember the teaser?) but development stumbles found that on the wayside, in favor of emphasizing multiplayer.

Some of the original rumors about Starhawk suggested players would be quickly transitioning between land and space-based battles, but the press release points towards more grounded confrontations, while calling in reinforcements from a drop ship in the sky. The battle environment itself is dynamic, with the ability to drop buildings, vehicles and weapons in real-time. LightBox is calling this Build & Battle.

There are plenty of options, both offline and online, too. Up to 32 players can fight simultaneously, with up to four-player online and offline co-op, and even though most games have ditched the feature, Starhawk will include split-screen. As one of the few still using split-screen, thank you, LightBox.

I wonder when we might learn more about Starhawk? Oh yeah, that E3 thing.