Tintin and the Video Game

Ubisoft, the French video game company, has announced a deal with Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg to produce video game tie-ins for The Secret of the Unicorn (and presumably, Red Rackham’s Treasure).

Despite being one of the top ten game companies in the world, Ubisoft are not known for their film related games. Though they do produce a number of franchise related games such as Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, Formula 1 racing games and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Probably their biggest, original title of recent years has been Assassin Creed, a free roaming adventure game in a rich graphical environment.

Film tie-ins do not generally make good games through there have been a few exceptions. It all depends on intent. Will the game makers just try cash-in and reproduce the movie or will they use the movie as a starting point but try to create something new? Hopefully they will do better than previous attempts at a Tintin video game.

Ubisoft Press release:

PARAMOUNT DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT AND UBISOFT® ANNOUNCE DEVELOPMENT OF “TINTIN” MOVIE VIDEO GAME

Ubisoft® Acquires License to Create Video Game for Groundbreaking Film Adaptation of Hergé’s Beloved Hero Tintin

SAN FRANCISCO – June 1, 2009 – Today Paramount Digital Entertainment and Ubisoft announced the development of a video game based on the upcoming film “Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.” The video game is expected to launch simultaneously with the highly anticipated film adaptation of one of the world’s most well-known and beloved literary series. “Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn” will be released in the U.S. on December 23, 2011 and internationally in late October and early November 2011.

The film, distributed by Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment, utilizes state-of-the-art, next-generation performance capture. Ubisoft’s Montpellier studio will work with director and producer Steven Spielberg, producers Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy, to develop a unique and thrilling game that is closely tied to the upcoming motion picture.

“We look forward to working with Ubisoft and the filmmakers to create exciting new interactive adventures for Tintin,” said Thomas Lesinski, President, Paramount Digital Entertainment. “The upcoming video game will reintroduce Tintin to a whole new generation of gamers.”

“We’re incredibly excited to have the opportunity to work on the Tintin game,” said Christian Salomon, Vice President of Worldwide Licensing at Ubisoft. “We’re honored to bring one of the world’s most iconic comic characters to life in this new title.”