Codemasters joins forces with Spark Unlimited for 'Fall of Liberty'
1950s America as an invaded and Nazi-occupied territory to make for explosive and original FPS from the studio responsible for Call of Duty: Finest Hour.
Codemasters today announces a publishing agreement with Spark Unlimited, the U.S. studio responsible for Call of Duty: Finest Hour, for ' Fall of Liberty' (working title) an intense and cinematic next-gen first-person shooter epic set in an unnerving World War II alternate reality.
Codemasters will publish Fall of Liberty as a major Q4 2007 title for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PC.
Fall of Liberty will take players to new battlegrounds in World War II - ones born from a changed moment in history that led to the Nazi invasion of 1950s America. Presenting this scenario as a powerful and realistically crafted alternate history, Fall of Liberty will deliver an explosive action experience in a world where famous real-world locations appear startlingly different under Nazi occupation.
"Spark is very excited to be working with Codemasters to bring to life an event gaming experience that will dramatise what might have happened if history had taken a different course," says Craig Allen, CEO of Spark Unlimited.
"We share a desire to immerse players in an incredible and intensely realistic vision of an alternative world history that will uniquely define Fall of Liberty in the FPS genre. Codemasters is providing Spark the opportunity to present something radically different than typical WWII scenarios as the player is not cast as a liberator of Europe but as a defender of freedom in enemy-occupied America."
Fall of Liberty changes reality by twisting one historical fact: In 1931, Winston Churchill was hit by a taxi on 5th Avenue in New York. In reality, he survived the accident but walked with a cane for the rest of his life. But what might have followed if Winston Churchill had been killed in the accident? Without his voice to lead a country to war, the events of WWII change dramatically; the Normandy invasion never happens and the UK and all of Europe come under Nazi rule by 1945.
Building on the successful conquest of Europe, Nazi intelligence develops superior weapons and vehicles so that on December 7, 1951 they are able to launch an all out surprise attack on America - beginning with a mass invasion of New York.
Unprepared, the invasion stuns America and plunges much of the country into fearsome Nazi occupation. In Washington, the Swastika flies from The White House, and in a show of force to end rebellion, a nuclear attack on Manhattan is being planned. The odds are overwhelming, the reality of the situation shocking, but for players, it's time to join the resistance and fight a guerrilla war in the newly occupied territories.
Comments James Sheahan, Codemasters' Director of Brand:
"The team at Spark has a tremendous track record for successfully adapting history into authentic and compelling gaming experiences. Fall of Liberty will allow them to extend that knowledge base and create a world that thankfully never existed. This key concept brings originality to a genre where real-world WWII events have been covered and played through to exhaustion in other titles."
Fall of Liberty is now in development at Spark Unlimited's studios based in Sherman Oaks, California. The game will launch in Q4 2007 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. Sign up for future briefings online at www.codemasters.com/fallofliberty
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Notes:
Fall of Liberty is a working title.
An additional image is available to registered print media outlets at www.codemasters.com/mediabank
ABOUT SPARK UNLIMITED
Spark Unlimited is a developer of high-quality video games for consumer game systems and originators of creative franchises for cross-media development. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Sherman Oaks, California, Spark Unlimited is an employee-owned company that uses artistry through technology to create entertainment for a global audience. For more information about Spark Unlimited, please visit our website at www.sparkunlimited.com.
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