MILAN, Italy – Nov. 2, 2012 – Atlantyca Lab, the division of Atlantyca Entertainment dedicated to the development of proprietary and third-party acquired brands for videogames, apps and content for the Internet, has partnered with Forge Reply to develop videogames based on award-winning fantasy author Joe Dever’s hugely popular “Lone Wolf” series of gamebooks. The announcement was made by Pierdomenico Baccalario, Managing Director of Atlantyca Lab, which is the rights holder of the Lone Wolf IP brand.
The deal with Forge Reply lays the foundation for the creation of a new mobile game set in the world of Lone Wolf. Forge Reply is developing a wholly new digitorial (digital plus editorial) story system able to set a true next-gen gamebook, that combines interactive text with stunning 3D combat scenes and intriguing puzzles, shifting the old reading activity of the books to a totally new digital life. The Lone Wolf game will be based on an exciting new story created by Joe Dever, which is sure to be enjoyed by Lone Wolf fans of all ages.
Lone Wolf is set in the fictional world of Magnamund, where forces of good and evil are locked in a bitter struggle for control of this precious planet. Lone Wolf is a cadet in a monastic order of warriors known as the Kai who defend their home of Sommerlund from the forces of evil, embodied by the Darklords of Helgedad.
The original “Lone Wolf” property consists of an integrated series of 28 adventure gamebooks. The first two books in the series were published simultaneously in July 1984 and sold in excess of 100,000 copies in the first week of release. It became one of the most popular gamebook series of all time, with international sales exceeding 10 million copies.
The official launch of the project and a presentation of the innovative digitorial storytelling system will be made at the Lucca Comics and Games Show, in Lucca, Italy. Author Joe Dever, Forge Reply, and Atlantyca Lab will also be presenting a first look at the artwork and story concepts of this exciting new games system.
Atlantyca LAB is a research and development company borne to discover and develop projects in the modern trans-media world. The company is a “creativity and talent laboratory” where finally authors, artists, developers can work together to create a new Italian “brand wave”: international products for imaginative kids and young adults that still are dreamers.
“Joe Dever is a world-class fantasy author. His ‘Lone Wolf’ series of gamebooks have long been an international success and have earned him a rightful place as one of Britain’s most imaginative fiction writers,” said Baccalario. “But he is also a wonderful game designer with several bestselling computer games to his credit. We are honored and excited to be working with him and Forge Reply on this new Lone Wolf story, especially as it will be told in a truly innovative way. We are confident that old and new fans of ‘Lone Wolf’ will be thrilled by what we are creating here.”
“The pre-production phase of Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf is now complete, and we’re very much looking forward to showing the public the fruits of our labours at the Lucca Comics and Games Show,” said Alessandro Mazzega of Forge Reply. “I’m confident that they will be impressed by our ‘Next Generation’ approach to interactive fantasy fiction.”
“I am very happy to be working with Forge Reply on this exciting new Lone Wolf project. The development team grew up reading my “Lone Wolf” adventure gamebooks. They are all devoted fans of the creatures, the characters, and the many stories I have written about Lone Wolf and the world of Magnamund,” said Joe Dever. “It is a genuine delight for me to be working with such a talented team that understand and share my original vision.”
About Atlantyca Entertainment
Atlantyca Entertainment was established in September 2006, by leading Italian publishing entrepreneur and creator Pietro Marietti who with Elisabetta Dami, produced one of today’s most successful junior publishing sensations, the celebrated kids’ book series “Geronimo Stilton”. A trans-media entertainment company with Production & Distribution, Licensing, Publishing and Foreign Rights Sales Department, Atlantyca Entertainment seeks co-production partners (and to acquire third party properties) to produce content for TV, movies, books, multi-media and consumer products. The company, along with co-production partner Moonscoop, produced the animated series “Geronimo Stilton”, which launched throughout Europe in fall of 2009. The two companies are currently in production on Season II. Atlantyca is a co-production partner and distributor (Italy only) for the animated series “Dive Olly Dive” (Season II).
Atlantyca’s Foreign Rights Sales Departments, the licensor of the “Geronimo Stilton” book series that is responsible for seeking new business opportunities for the books and all of its character spin-off franchises, has secured deals with more than 40 publishers such as Scholastic US, Random House US, Editorial Planeta in Spain and South America, Sun Ya in Hong Kong, 21st Century Publishing House in Mainland China and Gakken in Japan. The Publishing Department aims to create, develop and produce loosely based book series based on new and popular animated series, and is currently developing novels for Moonscoop’s “Code Lyoko”, “Dive Olly Dive” and “Hero 108”. Atlantyca Entertainment is responsible for the sales of foreign rights for Dreamfarm and Piemme children’s books and properties and through a dedicated Foreign Rights Sales Department has secured 2200 translation deals with over 80 leading publishers from around the world. On January 2010, the company opened an office in Bejing, China, and to date Atlantyca has secured over 300 translation contracts with leading Italian publishers that include Mondadori, Piemme, Edizioni EL.
The company’s licensing division manages the international licensing initiatives for all the “Geronimo Stilton” brands and all of its character spin-offs, key properties include: “Geronimo Stilton”, “Geronimo Stilton the Animated Series”, “Geronimo Stilton: Kingdom of Fantasy” and is the appointed Italian licensing agent for “Le Petit Prince”: for Moonscoop’s “Code Lyoko”, and “Dive Olly Dive”, and FitzRoy Media’s “Funny Face” icon animated fruit characters.
www.atlantyca.com | www.atlantycalab.com
About Forge Reply
Forge Reply, is a company of the Reply group network, specialized in the development of games for mobile devices and other platforms, for the consumer and business markets, to create new user experiences.
www.forgereply.com
About Joe Dever
Joe Dever is an award-winning fantasy author and game designer who began his career as a musician and recording engineer. In 1976, he created the fictional world of Magnamund as a setting for his early Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. In 1982, he became the first ever British winner of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Championships in the USA. In 1984, the original series of “Lone Wolf” adventure gamebooks were first published and became an international success. They have since sold over 10 million copies worldwide. From 1996 onwards, Joe has been involved in the design and production of several successful computer and console games, including Ground Control 2 (Ubisoft) and Killzone (Sony).
Media Contact
Alessandro Mazzega, Forge Reply
+39 3286 840 234
a.mazzega@reply.it
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