While “Shadow Complex,” set in the “Empire” universe, is Orson Scott Card’s gaming focus these days, he hasn’t given up hope on seeing a video game adaptation of his most popular book “Ender’s Game”.

Chair Entertainment, the developer of “Shadow Complex,” acquired the gaming rights to the book in January 2008, but has since been purchased by Epic Games, which put plans for an “Ender’s” game on ice, at least temporarily. Both Card and Chair’s Donald Mustard say they’re still extremely interested in building the game.

Bad news for fans, though: It might be a while, especially if “Shadow Complex” turns into a hit.

“Ender is so precious to so many people,” says Mustard. “To me, ‘Ender’s Game’ was one of the defining moments of my youth. So the responsibility of making that series of games perfect is a lot of responsibility.”

Perhaps because Card and Mustard have worked together before, the author says he’s willing to wait.

“I could have had an ‘Ender’s Game’ game out there 15 years ago,” he says. “I’ve been approached by several companies where it was clear to me that they didn’t have an idea of what they were doing. However, it was clear with Chair that they knew exactly what they were doing and they were at least as good in their area as I am in mine. … Once we get the game going, I think its going to be a great franchise, but it needs to be done right.”

Orson Scott Card has some serious geek credentials.

He’s not only an award winning author and the writer of “Ender’s Game,” he’s also a hardcore and old school gamer. So old school, in fact, that he regularly challenges his wife to competitions on the “Millipede” arcade game in his house.

“I’m a game lover,” he says. “I’m a game addict. I progress from game to game to game like the progression of opium to heroin to morphine. When I am not playing ‘Civilization,’ I have this nagging feeling that there are cities waiting for me -- which is pathological, I realize.”

As a child he was a regular fixture at his local 7-11, found in front of the “Super Breakout” machine. So it’s really not all that surprising that as an adult, he has worked regularly in the video game industry.

These days, he’s collaborating with Chair Entertainment on “Shadow Complex,” a platform shooter that will be available exclusively on Xbox Live starting Aug. 19.

The game is set in the universe of “Empire,” which debuted as a New York Times Best-Seller in November 2006. But this is hardly a case of developers seeing a property with potential and acquiring the game rights. From the beginning, Card and Chair collaborated to bring the game and book to life.

Chair developed the initial concept for the universe: A modern civil war occurs in the U.S.  There were other details, of course, but the idea was a broad one.

Hollywood screenwriter Chris Morgan has signed on with Red Eagle Games as story director for the upcoming video games based on Robert Jordan’s “The Wheel of Time” books.

Morgan, whose credits include “Cellular,” “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,” “Wanted” and “Fast and Furious,” is a 10-year Hollywood veteran. He’s currently working on the cinematic adaptation of “Gears of War” and his films have grossed nearly $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

Morgan will also join the advisory board Red Eagle has formed to help it ensure the quality of the games.

Others on the board include Tom Frisina (VP and General Manager of EA Partners); entertainment lawyer Barry Hirsch; Peter Dang, a specialist in entertainment consumer products marketing and branding; Keith Boesky, founder and principal of video game consultancy Boesky & Company; and IBM Serious Games program manager Phaedra Boinodiris.

Electronic Arts will publish the games on all major gaming platforms (including PC). Red Eagle also plans to create a massively multiplayer online game set in the world of “The Wheel of Time” series.

Executives at Red Eagle are also producing a feature film of the books, which will be separate from the games. Universal won the rights in a seven-figure deal last year.