HBO has issued a press release announcing yet another Game of Thrones game entering development. For those counting at home, there is already the real-time strategy game
The game is being developed by social gaming start-up Disruptor Beam and promises to allow players to “lead the life of a noble during the time of upheaval as portrayed in the books and the series thus experiencing a new type of game that unites both story and strategy”. No release date has been set, although Disruptor Beam has announced that there will be an open beta at some point. To be considered for the beta, you must Like the game’s Facebook fan page. The full press release is after the break.
Winter Is Coming: I don’t know about you, but I have never gotten into Facebook gaming. It’s all a bit too shallow for me and typically revolves around pestering your friends into helping you. Hopefully this game will be a bit different. I can definitely see where making alliances with friends (and then breaking them!) could be fun. Time will tell.
DISRUPTOR BEAM PARTNERS WITH HBO® & GEORGE R.R. MARTIN ON UPCOMING GAME OF THRONES SOCIAL GAME
Game of Thrones Ascent to Bring the Story of the Hugely Popular HBO Series to Fans on Facebook for the First Time!
May 21, 2012 (Boston, MA) – Disruptor Beam, a game company that brings together fan communities and online games, has today announced a license from HBO Global Licensing to produce a new social game based on the Emmy® and Golden Globe®-winning series Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones Ascent, a story-driven game that will bring the fantasy world to life for millions of people, is currently in development by Disruptor Beam for future release on Facebook. Fans can follow the progress of the game and receive updates related to its development, including learning how to participate in the upcoming beta program, by visiting Disruptor Beam’s website at http://www.disruptorbeam.com.
Game of Thrones, based on George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series A Song Of Ice and Fire, mixes political and sexual intrigue as seven noble families fight for control of the mythical land of Westeros.
In Game of Thrones Ascent players will lead the life of a noble during the time of upheaval as portrayed in the books and the series thus experiencing a new type of game that unites both story and strategy. Players will claim their birthright by choosing which of the great houses they’ll swear allegiance to, securing their holdings, developing their lands and personal reputation, and assigning sworn swords to quests—while forging alliances with new friends and much more!
“Everyone at Disruptor Beam was a huge fan of Game of Thrones long before we began working on the game, so we recognize that other fans expect character-driven conflict and intrigue to take center stage in our new game. Westeros is the perfect setting to deliver on our vision of weaving stories through decisions and social interactions,” said Jon Radoff, CEO of Disruptor Beam. “Game of Thrones Ascent will bring the world of Westeros to the over 500 million social game players in the market today, featuring original artwork in a highly engaging game experience that is, most importantly, fun for fans and their friends!”
“We recognize that one of the reasons Game of Thrones has been so successful is because of its large and ever-supportive fan community,” said James Costos, VP of HBO Global Licensing. “For this reason, we are delighted to give our fans the opportunity to dive even further into the world of Westeros and live out tales of intrigue, sacrifice and deception inspired by the stories they love.”
Additional details about Game of Thrones Ascent will be announced in the coming months. Visit http://www.disruptorbeam.com for more information.
About Disruptor Beam
Disruptor Beam is a Boston-based game company that transports the fans of beloved literary and television series into the worlds they love. By linking game content to episodes and books, players become a living member of the world as stories continue to evolve around them. The company’s games are accessed through social networks such as Facebook and next-generation mobile devices. The company, founded and led by game industry veteran and serial entrepreneur Jon Radoff, is backed by a group of technology and gaming entrepreneurs from the Boston area. For more information, visit http://www.DisruptorBeam.com.
About HBO Global Licensing
HBO Global Licensing officially licenses the HBO® brand for the development and merchandising of innovative product lines inspired by the network’s award-winning programming. With products created around classic series like the The Sopranos® and Sex and the City® to current hits like True Blood® and Entourage®, items include fashion apparel, jewelry, digital and CD soundtracks, games, books as well as exclusive, premium collections in partnership with upscale, designer brands. Merchandise can be purchased in retail stores nationwide, at http://store.hbo.com, and at the groundbreaking HBO retail hub, the HBO Shop®, located at 42nd and 6th Avenue in New York City. HBO Licensing & Retail products are also sold internationally across Europe, Asia and Australia.
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23 Comments
Thank you for the story! Please sign up for beta by Liking our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GameOfThronesAscent
Katie PostmaQuote Reply
Unrelated comment: I did a bit of research on press releases (in terms of their structure) and I always like to see them, it usually confirms what I wrote in my studies :-)
So thanks for posting the full thing
Renaud Besse-BourdierQuote Reply
Oh a Facebook game based on a TV show based on a book! How could it possibly be bad? ;)
Ser CerseiQuote Reply
Honestly, I think social platforms are perfect for getting the human motivations that could drive a GoT-style political game. Will they pull it off? Enh, probably not, but I can totally envision an amazing game filled with alliances and betrayals and policy-making. I can also imagine a great MMO, but it’s probably not going to pan out that way either. Ultimately, I want a rich multiplayer fantasy politics game, and I don’t care what platform or genre it comes from.
Morgan KingQuote Reply
I look forward to your review of the RPG from a fan perspective. It has not gotten very good reviews. Apparently it has a lot of frustrating bugs and gameplay but there seems to be some praise of the story. I will be interested to hear what a long time aSoIaF fan thinks.
HexonxQuote Reply
That would be amazing, and if this Facebook game turns out to be that, I will gladly eat crow (so to speak). Also, you should check out Crusader Kings II. It’s a single-player medieval politics/strategy game, heavy on the politics.
Darth ValyriaQuote Reply
I hate the ‘you can’t progress unless you get 10 more people to send you crap’ nature of the Zynga model. I’ll sign up for this, try it, and delete it if it looks to be that way.
ConnieQuote Reply
Oh please no :( freaking social networks :/ ugh.
Dr.GordonQuote Reply
In a way it’s disappointing, that it isn’t developed by Zynga the masters of Facebook games, but that’s probably a good thing so I don’t waste my time playing a GOT Facebook game.
The Winds of WinterQuote Reply
Anything to save the IPO, I suppose.
BlourdQuote Reply
As an avid fan of all things ASOIAF (including the books, show, card game, and board game), the video games are beyond disappointing.
Cyanide Studios (a company known for “shovelware”) brought us two games: a completely awful real-time strategy, and the RPG that just came out which is bad in every aspect except the story (probably because GRRM had a heavy hand in it).
Bigpoint (from the makers of the failure that was Battlestar Galactica Online) is making a browser-based MMO. First of all, any MMO whose name isn’t “World of Warcraft” or perhaps “The Old Republic” is going to be struggling to compete, resulting in low player counts, further amplified by the fact that it’s made by a company that doesn’t know what it’s doing. Secondly, browser-based MMOs are awful by default.
Lastly, there’s Disrupter Beam. Admittedly, I know nothing about them, but I do know that I have never been a fan of Facebook game apps. As WiC said, they are often about pestering your friends to do something. Even if this is the most amazing Facebook game ever, it’ll still be a Facebook game, and thus it will not be taken seriously as a real, worthwhile video game. (hint: such games need to be installed)
It saddens me that GRRM and HBO can’t get a real, first-rate video game company. Expecting quality from known crap developers like Cyanide and Bigpoint is like trying to squeeze blood out of a stone. Bethesda, Bioware, Ubisoft, Blizzard, Epic Games, 2K Boston (aka Irrational Games) would be among my choices.
I know that a big part of the reason that Cyanide was in charge is because they approached a GRRM a long time ago, long before a show was announced and only a relatively small number of people knew about ASOIAF, and pretty much begged him for the rights. Now, years later, I’m sure people are feeling regrets about that decision.
I’m gonna go back to Diablo 3 now.
TolgerosQuote Reply
Tolgeros,
A few days ago, Adam Whitehead published an article about what could have been: http://thewertzone.blogspot.de/2012/05/who-else-could-have-made-song-of-ice.html
LVQuote Reply
Most of this agrees with what I said. At the time when they were shopping for devs, nobody really cared about ASOIAF. The other half being that it was too big or the company already had a similar IP (Elder Scrolls for Bethesda and Dragon Age for Bioware).
If they had held off until after GoT aired, I’m sure they would’ve gotten a bite from a bigger fish. But as it stands, Cyanide is what we got. :(
TolgerosQuote Reply
I’ve never been able to get into Facebook games… mostly because I don’t have a Facebook account (I’m far too paranoid for that sort of thing).
Varamyr FourskinsQuote Reply
If it can provide me with 20-30 minutes of gaming per session on my Iphone while I am on the Train, then I am all for it.
SuperdeluxeQuote Reply
Tolgeros,
I’m not much of a gamer myself, and don’t really know the lingo (whether it’s an RPG, or MMO, or what have you), but they should make a Grand Theft Auto set in Westeros. Instead of depicting gang activity, you would play as the Brotherhood Without Banners, and Lannister men would be a stand-in for the cops (or play as the Faceless Men, or Bloody Mummers, or Night’s Watch, or some kind of organization aside from regular society).
And, granted, it’s probably considered old by now (even though I have yet to play it), but Skyrim looks amazing. That’s what an ASOIAF game should look like in my mind. It’s really a shame, too, because the writing for ASOIAF is (obviously) so much better than the Elder Scrolls. But that just shows you right there… Why would a video game developer pay GRRM all that money when they could just write a half-ass bullshit story like Elder Scrolls and sell millions of copies? They wouldn’t.
Varamyr FourskinsQuote Reply
The only company I can imagine able to adapt ASOIAF into a game(series) and do it justice is FunCom. Anyone who’s played Dreamfall knows that when it comes to interactive storytelling they’re the very best.
WinterdarkQuote Reply
Yep. Exactly. You have to pester people for stuff, they pester you, and your news feed is filled up with tons of oh so exciting achievements from people’s farm, mafia or whatever they’re currently playing. Either that, or you have to play it every day because otherwise you lose points or similar. I ended up deleting all those bloody spammy apps on my FB account because it got on my nerves so much.
I doubt I’ll even sign up for it.
Bad DogQuote Reply
THREE Game of Thrones games and not a single one made by a decent developer. SERIOUSLY dissapointing.
DaveQuote Reply
Hey Winter is coming people!
I was thinking – you should so do a poll for the new viewers, of who they want to win at the battle of blackwater.
Stannis or the Lannisters?
Thanks,
Tom.
Tom Hedwyn SavageQuote Reply
Oh great, more crack for Bloodraven. Just what I need *sighs, knowing that this means more time her FB -app-addicted husband will be spending online when he should be helping her clean the apartment*
Though I guess I can’t lie, I might check it out too if it looks good. I have been trying to avoid all manner of FB apps though.
The Winter RoseQuote Reply
Tolgeros,
agree with you there completely
Dr.GordonQuote Reply
Tolgeros,
No offense but the AAA gaming companies are just as bad as social gaming companies these days.
And of course the game will use the Zynga or Sims Social model. Social games exists solely to try and grab that $1.70 average per person.
Jordan HealeyQuote Reply