D’oh! “The Simpsons” Got Game
America’s favorite four-fingered family is coming to a videogame console near you.
Twentieth Century Fox Television and Gracie Films have sealed a long-term licensing agreement with Electronics Arts that will give the world’s biggest videogame maker exclusive rights to develop multiple games based on The Simpsons.
Financial details of the pact were not disclosed. But it calls for EA to closely collaborate with show producers and writers for original content featuring Bart and the gang. The games will also feature vocal contributions from The Simpsons cast.
“This is a great opportunity for our talented development team to collaborate with the brilliant minds of The Simpsons to bring original Simpsons material to videogame fans,” Nick Earl, vice president and general manager of EA’s Redwood Shores Studio, said in a statement. “This is something EA’s been interested in for years and now game development and technology is at a place where The Simpsons characters and world will really come alive in these games.”
Simpsons’ executive producer James L. Brooks had more pressing reasons for going forward with the arrangement.
“I think this is a great opportunity for us, primarily because it brings with it the possibility of free EA games,” he said, tongue firmly in cheek.
The joint venture is the first between Fox and EA. Simpsons videogame rights were previously held by Vivendi Universal which scored a couple of commercial hits with such titles as The Simpsons: Hit & Run and The Simpsons: Road Rage.
It’s expected that EA will bring the same eye-popping CGI-wizardry to Springfield as it’s currently doing with titles inspired by other popular entertainment properties, including: the just-released James Bond game From Russia with Love; The Lord of the Rings: Tactics, hitting stores Nov. 8; The Godather, due out in the first quarter of 2006; and longtime favorites like Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’06 and The Sims.
The company also recently announced it is joining forces with Steven Spielberg to develop three original games the Oscar-winning filmmaker may eventually turn into movies.
As for The Simpsons, the Fox staple is now in the middle of its 17th season and continues to post solid ratings, consistently ranking number one in its Sunday time slot for the adverister-coveted 18-49 demo.
The show has also become the longest running comedy in TV history and an economic juggernaut for the studio, earning more than $1 billion in licensing and merchandising-related deals. Production is now underway on The Simpsons’ 18th season and the long-awaited movie version.
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