RE Entertainment signs deal with EA

[TMan]

EA Partners Signs on as Distribution Partner for
Games Based on Robert Jordan’s Fantasy Series The Wheel of Time

Malibu, Calif. – January 15, 2009 – Red Eagle Games today announced they have signed a strategic distribution agreement with Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) for games based on Robert Jordan’s beloved fantasy series, The Wheel of Time.

Red Eagle Games will develop and publish a line of stand-alone games on all major videogame platforms, including consoles, personal computers, handheld systems and wireless devices. The games will be distributed by EA. In addition, Red Eagle will launch and operate a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that encompasses the themes, characters and world of The Wheel of Time, which will be distributed at retail by EA.

“The Wheel of Time is a blockbuster global brand and our relationship with EA Partners will ensure that Red Eagle Games’ products are made available to consumers around the world through familiar retail channels,” said Rick Selvage, Chairman and President of Red Eagle Games.

“EA Partners is excited to team up with Red Eagle as their global distribution partner for games based on The Wheel of Time series,” said David DeMartini, senior vice president and general manager of EA Partners. “The Wheel of Time series has a massive worldwide following and we’re excited to help give Red Eagle Games’ interactive products a blockbuster launch on the global stage.”

The rich details of Jordan’s meticulously crafted series have captivated readers since 1990, when The Eye of the World, the first book in the series, was published. Eleven additional books, including one prequel, have since been added to the series and have consistently appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List with the last four of his novels in the series debuting at No. 1. Jordan passed away in 2007 at the age of 58, but a final book, A Memory of Light, will be finished by fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson using notes and a partial draft left with Jordan’s wife and editor, Harriet Rigney, and is expected to be published in fall 2009 by Tor Books.

Jordan’s wildly popular books have been translated into 24 languages, and have sold about 44 million copies worldwide. In addition, the series has a vast global on-line community of tens of thousands of dedicated fan Web sites.

Good news for EA, now they can bring out a sequel for every book as they already do with all their games 

[jjb]

Really? Ten of thousands of fan web sites?

[TMan]

That probably includes all pages of the wotfaq and the wiki 

[Reaves]

Good news for EA, now they can bring out a sequel for every book as they already do with all their games 

I was about to say something like this. Looks like you already beat me to it  Lets only hope that it(they) aren't crap, like most of EA's games are. That really depends on how much freedom they give Red Eagle, though. Anybody heard of them before?

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Really? Ten of thousands of fan web sites?

A certain company I know of would type something into Google, look at how many results popped up, and use that as the number of fan websites in its marketing materials.

[Reaves]

I just typed in Wheel of time and got slightly more than 9 million...so I don't think thats what they did.

[Omelethead]

I was about to say something like this. Looks like you already beat me to it  Lets only hope that it(they) aren't crap, like most of EA's games are. That really depends on how much freedom they give Red Eagle, though. Anybody heard of them before?

Yeah, Red Eagle and Robert Jordan have a bit of history. They've had deals before, on comic books and what not.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

The history has not been good in the past. Jim Rigney was not happy with how they treated the series. Due to this, not many fans are very hopeful about how these deals will turn out.

[bhthomas]

well even though EA is more of a money maker then a quality game maker at least it has the resources to make it into a better game then a tiny corporation like red eagle. Maybe if  it does a good job EA will look into Mistborn.

[RedMars11]

I would love to play a huge sandbox game set in Mistborn.  The possibilities for city sprawling adventure are huge.  And of course the powerset is different from any which I've seen before.  Something like a super powered Mirror's Edge.  I can't decide if playing as Vin during the first book would make the best game, or some house Mistborn during a House War would be better.

.....  I have to admit I had a dream where I was playing Mirror's Edge and I kept on dying because I couldn't Ironpull on some piping.  Don't read and play games before bed when you're way to tired.

[SirZelig]

Mmm.. I can see some good stand alone games coming from WoT, but what worries me is a MMORPG.... As a MMO player myself you come to find out most MMO's are crap. Dont get me wrong I will the WoT MMO when/if it comes out(and the other games). Im just not gonna set my hopes to high on these. Since WoT isnt a sport or a sim(would that be cool a WoT Sims expanion pack)game. They'll more and likely fails and fail hard :/

[mccullough]

I was about to say something like this. Looks like you already beat me to it  Lets only hope that it(they) aren't crap, like most of EA's games are. That really depends on how much freedom they give Red Eagle, though. Anybody heard of them before?

As bad as most of EA's games are, I love Battle for Middle Earth 2. BfME2 is probably my second favorite RTS, behind Rise of Nations.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

well even though EA is more of a money maker then a quality game maker at least it has the resources to make it into a better game then a tiny corporation like red eagle. Maybe if it does a good job EA will look into Mistborn.

EA isn't making the games. They're just distributing them. Red Eagle is doing all the development.

[IngtarWhoStoleChristmas]

As Ookla pointed out EA is just distributing. Many of the games out there that EA distributes are not very good, however, much of their in-house development is fantastic. EA does best with Sports titles, (NCAA, Madden, NBA Live, MLB, FIFA) I personally also enjoyed the Medal of Honor series quite a bit. What I'd like to know now is are there any other games Red Eagle has previously done that might be worth a look?

[Inquisitor]

Isn't Red Eagle the company that was going to make a WoT movie?