In what has to be the first move in a trend that is sure to grow, Nvinium Games and Strategy First have announced a partnership that will bring Space Empires and Jagged Alliance to various social network platforms. The initial plans have these games being deployed as Facebook Applications.

“We are delighted to team up with Nvinium to bring our flagship franchises into the new and exciting world of social network games.  There has been a dramatic shift in the industry toward the online free to play micro transaction model and we believe that with this alliance we will be at the forefront of this new movement.  Nvinium’s success in the space makes them an ideal partner to bring our award winning games to a much broader international audience,” said Emanuel Wall, President of Strategy First.

For more information, go to www.strategyfirst.com or check out information on Space Empires and Jagged Alliance after the jump.

From the press release:

The original Space Empires released in 1993, has become one of the top 4X strategy games and has spawned four sequels.  The award winning series most recent iteration, Space Empires V, with completely updated UI takes the player into a real-time rendered 3D universe.  Space battles play out with incredible detail and realistic effects in a huge living and breathing galaxy.  The series has received countless recognition for its creativity, originality, and mod-friendly environment.  This series has maintained a very strong fan base of supporters and young developers who anxiously await each new game.

The original Jagged Alliance game was released in 1994 and has spawned five sequels.  The franchise title, Jagged Alliance, describes the cutthroat relationships between members of a lethal mercenary team whose only true allegiance is to the highest bidder.  Each a specialist in his or her own discipline, these operatives know that in order to survive their missions they must rely on but never dare trust each other.  The team is assembled from the best of the best by the Alliance of International Mercenaries, an apolitical private organization with its own covert agenda.  Jagged Alliance has a cult following with 1.5 million units sold since inception.