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Posted by Jason on November 12th, 2008 in the Games, Movies and TV, Red Eagle, Video Games (Red Eagle) category

Red Eagle has announced the launch of Red Eagle Games, a video game studio intending to produce several Wheel of Time based games. Here’s the press release we received:

New Publisher Red Eagle Games Announces
Plans for Wheel of Time Games
Complete Console Line-Up and MMORPG
Based on Robert Jordan’s Fantasy Series in the Works

Los Angeles, Calif.—Nov. 12, 2008— Red Eagle Games is bursting on to the digital-entertainment scene, launching its new Los Angeles based videogame publishing studio with the rights to one of the most popular and beloved fantasy epics of all times—Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series.

A Wheel of Time feature-film production is planned with Red Eagle Entertainment’s executives Rick Selvage and Larry Mondragon as producers, and now Red Eagle is unveiling plans to bring Jordan’s fantasy universe to life via two distinct lines of interactive entertainment.

A line of stand-alone Wheel of Time games is planned for release on all major videogame platforms, including consoles, personal computers, handheld systems and wireless devices. In addition, Red Eagle will launch and operate a massively multiplayer online role-playing game encompassing the themes, characters and world of the Wheel of Time novels.

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.

“I am confident in Red Eagle Games’ ability to capture the timeless appeal of The Wheel of Time story as they adapt its characters and themes into this new electronic medium,” Rigney said. “I expect fans of the series will be delighted by these new interactive additions to the Wheel of Time universe.”

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.

“There are few properties as well-loved and influential as Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series,” said Rick Selvage, chairman and president of Red Eagle Entertainment. “The Wheel of Time books have captured the imagination of millions of readers around the world, and we expect our interactive recreations of Jordan’s complex universe to garner a similar level of devotion and enthusiasm.”

About Red Eagle Entertainment
Red Eagle Entertainment is a Malibu production company with a focus on adapting Robert Jordan’s celebrated fantasy epic “The Wheel of Time” into high-quality filmed entertainment and interactive video games. Founded in 2003 by Rick Selvage and Larry Mondragon, Red Eagle Entertainment is producing a live-action motion picture based upon the “The Eye of the World,” the first novel in The Wheel of Time series. In addition, Red Eagle Entertainment is the driving force behind the recent launch of Red Eagle Games, a new video game studio undertaking the transformation of Jordan’s literary masterpiece into video games for the personal computer, game consoles, mobile and wireless devices, and online play.

Also, in case you missed it, here’s the recent interview we conducted with Red Eagle about the announced feature film.

Update:

In addition to the press release above, a number of other websites have reported on the news.

Gamasutra has some more information related to the gaming studio and the WoT films. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

“We’ve got a huge running start with this property,” says Selvage, according to a report from VC news weblog VentureBeat. “We expect to have a game based on every movie, and we expect no less than three movies, though that depends on how well each does.”

Though Red Eagle Entertainment expects to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the films and games, the company has not yet started raising money for Red Eagle Games. Selvage, however, believes that investors will see the rights to the series as valuable.

Another article on the VentureBeat Digital Media website has an exclusive report surrounding an interview with Rick Selvage, Red Eagle’s president. Here’s an excerpt:

Between the films and the games, the companies are expecting to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the entertainment property. While the movie financing is in place, Selvage said he is just beginning the process of raising money for the game studio. That could prove difficult, but he said he has already received an enthusiastic reaction, largely because the rights to the series are considered so valuable.

As more info becomes available, we’ll post it here in our News section.

In order to facilitate better discussion of all topics related to Red Eagle and their various projects, the Dragonmount staff has setup a dedicated set of message boards on our forums for you to use. Comments for this topic have been locked, but you are still welcome to discuss this news, and other Red Eagle topics here.

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40 Responses to “Red Eagle announces video game studio”

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40
Wheel of Time Video Game Series and MMORPG to Come | Fantasy Folder Says:
December 10th, 2008 at 6:36 am
[...] Dragonmount has the full press release up. [...]
39
forozan Says:
December 4th, 2008 at 4:51 am
sory za up staroy temu, no virazhayu svoyu blagodarnost’, material ochen’ prigodilsya
38
Sam Says:
November 30th, 2008 at 9:45 am
I hope Red Eagle decides to let someone else do an MMO. It will take several years just to get the game studio up and running, plus several more years to get the MMO going! I’d like to see this before I’m 40! (I’m 34 now)
37
Pablo Says:
November 26th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
When they say “we expect no less than three movies” I sincerely hope that they mean “at least 3 books adapted – 1 movie for 1 book” and not 3 movies for all books. I really do.
36
Betrayer of Hope Says:
November 26th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
As a long-time fan of The Wheel of Time(since 1991), I’m scared to death that the upcoming movie and games will be handled poorly and wind up being a HUGE dissappointment to fans all around the world. That being said, I have to hope that the film and subsequent games DO end up capturing the essence of Mr. Jordan’s vision. Perhaps the powers that be will avoid the classic mistakes so often made when translating to games. Again, we the fans can only hope. This IP, in particular, should be handled with EXTREME care.

Before I go, I must end this post with a plea to all WOT fans: PLEASE, for the love of the Light, stop using that abominable term “randland”. It sounds ridiculous, and is clearly uninspired.
35
tkdtiger Says:
November 25th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
I would love to see movies and mmorpg but i agree if not doe right they will totaly butcher WOT world. and surely they dont plan on cramming 12 books into 3 movies as it says above “we expect no less than three movies, though that depends on how well each does.” lol that would be desaster. besides REE needs to get the ball rolling and quit talking because its been what 10 years since they first announced a live action adaptaion of the books to film. Come on lets see some work no just talk!!
34
Cuedy Says:
November 23rd, 2008 at 3:06 pm
In all honesty I still think the movie is going to be the biggest waste of money i’ll ever spend on a movie. So lets not even start on that! However a MMO if done right might be a good thing and might even actually rival some of the big ones but iy’ll have to be done exactally right. If I was Mondragon I would set some rpg gamers on to it (must have a love of WOT) by having them play all other MMO’s. Someone metioned about Asha’men and Aes Sedai running around I think maybe they should take a leaf out Star Wars Galaxies book and have it that you must fufil requirements (Convosation answer, quests, etc). Speaking of Aes Sedai I would love to hear REE thoughts on how they’re going to solve the Warder situation (Are they going to be NPCs or other players meaning you’ll see alot of Aes sedai without warders). as for story maybe they should work from book one (or a few months before) and keep it on a day to day basis till the reach the end.

Note I’m not flaming them however they really need to think of what they are doing because with all their ideas they’ve got they need alot of capital and alot of time and thought to make this work.

REE I honestly think your walking a tightrope here, your going to need a to play this carefully and really think about what your doing.

But good luck as much as I hate the idea of a movie I know I’ll be in that line for a ticket.
As for the MMo, keep us updated and please ask us for ideas as well.
33
Telzen Says:
November 20th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
I could see a WoT MMORPG being great if it was done in a certain way. But its likely not going to be handled correctly and will end up a disappointment. Especially if they are forming their own gaming company to handle the work, it should really be done by a company that already has experience with MMOs. I’m thinking it might be better if they released a game/or games more like Neverwinter Nights and you could play through the entire story of The Wheel of Time in a single player enviroment.
32
Minerva146 Says:
November 17th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I agree with the several other posters who think an MMORPG would be a bad idea. It would be pointless without a story. I think a better idea would be an RPG along the lines of KOTOR. You could place it anywhere in the Randland timeline from age of legends til “present” It could develop its own story arc but wouldn’t have to depend on working in existing characters. I’d also hate to see a Hack N Slash like the LOTR games. I don’t enjoy button mashing as I’d prefer to do more thinking while I play in a world as deep as this one is.

I also am afraid about the cash in factor on the film(s). I’d hate to see them patched together like the Eragon one was. I just don’t know that they’ll have a budget high enough to do it any better. Miramax won’t be paying Peter Jackson to do it. If done well, it could bring in a lot of new reader, but if poorly it will doom the franchise before it gets much off the ground, just like the Eragon debacle.
31
Jerm Says:
November 17th, 2008 at 5:33 am
Hmmm, suddenly REE is going to do a lot of things. At this moment I’ve only read about two people working there.
Good gameprogrammers are not waiting around for REE to recruit. So I’m not believing that their own game studio will create the game. They’ll most probably will work via another, established, company for this.

I would love to see a MMORPG, but I’d doubt it will be there in the next 3 years. In 3 years there might be a beta-version.

Together with the announcement of the movie-deal and the interview here at DM I have to take everything with some salt.
So I’ll wait and see. Cause no matter what REE says and promises, they’ll need to ACT and DO instead of TALK and PROMISE in order to gain my respect.

One good (and easy) ACT should be to start shipping the missing New Spring comics at latest in January 2009. I mean, if the say that they’re close to be able to do that they should be able to proof it by shipping them.

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