Felicia Day

Microsoft orders third season of ’Guild’

12 new episodes slated for late summer

Microsoft has ordered another season of Internet sensation "The Guild."

The misadventures of a motley group of massively multiplayer online gamers returns to XBox 360’s Live Marketplace, MSN and Zune in late summer. Felicia Day, creator and star of "The Guild," is penning scripts for this third batch of 12 episodes in anticipation of a June production start.

Having also starred in another online hit this year, "Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog," Day is gratified to be continuing with "Guild." "It’s exciting, after doing ’Dr. Horrible,’ to produce my own show and being able to hold out for the deal with Microsoft. It’s starting to pay off for me."

Microsoft declined comment.

After reaching 9 million views with a 10-episode season financed from viewer contributions via PayPal, "Guild" emerged in 2007 as a breakthrough in Internet programming. Microsoft secured the second season of "Guild" last year and brought in Sprint, which also will return as sponsor for the third season.

Day is looking to promote the third season of "Guild" with a sneak peek at Comic-Con International in July. She wouldn’t tip her hat on plot details for the third season, but added, "I would say that the cliffhanger in Season 2 is pretty dramatic, and the repercussions of that will be felt by the guild. Expect a lot of real-life distractions for the characters and some hurt feelings from the last season."

Day is repped by ICM.