Revolutionary Massively Multiplayer Online Game First Ever to be Available as Both Fully Immersive 3D Environment and Flash-Based 2D Game CENTURY CITY, Calif., Sept. 3
CENTURY CITY, Calif., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Twentieth Century Fox
Licensing & Merchandising and The Multiverse Network, Inc., a leading provider
of virtual world development technology for Massively Multiplayer Online Games
(MMOGs), educational and social worlds, and business collaboration
environments, today announced the development of an original "Buffy the
Vampire Slayer" MMOG. The virtual world will be based on the mythology and
iconography made popular by the Emmy(R) Award-winning series. The announcement
was made by Academy Award(R) winning producer and member of the Multiverse
Advisory Board, Jon Landau, during his keynote speech today at the Virtual
Worlds Conference and Expo.
The ground-breaking MMOG will offer a new experience for gamers, allowing
them to play it either as a fully immersive 3D environment or as a Flash-based
2D game, where both types of players can interact. The game will be launched
within "Multiverse Places," a new social virtual world from Multiverse.
Currently under development, "Buffy" will go into "beta" testing later this
year.
Landau, a Multiverse Advisory Board member, who is in production on
Avatar -- the widely anticipated Fox film from fellow Multiverse Advisor James
Cameron -- commented, "Multiverse has the vision and expertise to create the
type of rich environment needed for the best possible game based on the
'Buffy' series. The resources are in place to develop a great MMOG."
Created by sci-fi and comic book legend, Joss Whedon, "Buffy the Vampire
Slayer" racked up critical and popular acclaim during its seven seasons on
television. The series also inspired a line of top-selling comic books and
successful merchandising lines with an avid fan base at retail. Fox Licensing
& Merchandising (Fox L&M) continues to develop the brand for a number of
targeted programs that reach its core market.
"Every once in a while a show comes along that lives long after its run on
television, and 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' is that kind of show," commented
Elie Dekel, Executive Vice President Licensing and Merchandising for Fox L&M.
"We think that creating this virtual 'Buffy' world is the perfect extension of
the brand and will attract both fans of the show and newcomers interested in a
great experience online."
"As a brilliant storyteller and world-maker, Joss Whedon crafts stories
that expand perfectly into the new medium of virtual worlds," said Corey
Bridges, co-founder and Executive Producer, Multiverse. "Not to give away too
much, but when the 'Buffy' team finished the television series, they created
the perfect launching point for an MMOG where everyone will feel like they're
an important character in the ongoing story."
In related news, Fox's plans for the development of the previously
announced Firefly MMOG have been delayed, but Fox looks forward to continuing
its collaboration with Multiverse on this endeavor.
Since Multiverse's launch over four years ago, more than 25,000
development teams -- ranging from garage developers to Fortune 100 companies
to Hollywood legends -- have registered to use the company's platform
technology. In addition, several hundred pre-qualified customers have already
begun building MMOGs and non-game virtual worlds with the Multiverse Platform.
ABOUT TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX LICENSING & MERCHANDISING
A recognized industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and
Merchandising licenses and markets properties worldwide on behalf of Twentieth
Century Fox Film Corporation, Twentieth Television and Fox Broadcasting
Company, as well as third party lines. The division is aligned with Twentieth
Century Fox Television, one of the top suppliers of primetime entertainment
programming to the broadcast networks.
ABOUT MULTIVERSE
Multiverse is a leading provider of virtual world development technology.
The company's technology platform has changed the economics of this medium by
empowering development teams to create high-quality virtual
worlds -- including Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs), social and
educational worlds, and business collaboration environments -- for less money
and in less time than ever before. Multiverse solves the industry's
prohibitive challenges by providing development teams with the Multiverse
Platform, a comprehensive, pre-coded client-server infrastructure and tools, a
wide range of free content -- including sample worlds for modification -- and
a built-in market of consumers. The company gives consumers a single
program -- the Multiverse World Browser -- that lets them enter all of the
worlds built on the company's platform and available in the company's network.
For more information about the company, please visit http://www.multiverse.net
and http://www.mv-places.com.
SOURCE The Multiverse Network, Inc.
