UTV goes global

In this age of new media, content convergence and the like, it’s only natural that the marriage between gaming and a leading media brand seems to be a match made in heaven. Accordingly, for the last two years, UTV has been steadily nurturing a global gaming powerhouse — with over 400 world class visualisers, gamers, technology experts working at their own studios in London, Florida, Austin, Tokyo, Shanghai and Mumbai — working on games for consoles, cellphones and the Internet.
“Our focus is the 15-34 age group worldwide. We create, build and franchise content and IPs in all media — movies, broadcasting, TV, mobile and now, games — for a worldwide audience. That’s our focus at UTV,” says Ronnie Screwvala, CEO, UTV Software Communications Ltd.
Three new top-flight games are in the offing. The first game scheduled for launch is Wardevil, an action-and-adventure-packed third-person shooter game. Based in a richly-rendered alternative universe with many possible stories and characters showcasing a universe ravaged by war, the protagonist is a one-man army known as the Wardevil. The game comes alive with fantastic weapons, action, breath-taking visuals and film-quality CGI visuals in-game.
The second, El Sheddai, being created in Japan, is also a single player third-person shooter game set in the Biblical pre-history era where the Earth has been enslaved by fallen angels. The wrath of God takes human form in your character and is sent to earth to purge the land of evil. Think of the film Legion. A unique, visually-stunning experience with engaging game-play designed to satisfy the casual and hardcore gamer alike.
The third — Reich — is set in a future gone wrong. A first person shooter game that is both single player and online-multiplayer possible, the protagonist is armed with a dazzling array of weapons and telekinetic powers. An engaging plotline, smooth visuals and a good soundtrack make this a rocking combination.
Says Hassan Sadiq, from the Ealing Studios London HQ, of UTV’s console division, “We already have 45 minutes per game of movie-like footage, and a great story. El Sheddai has visual art not seen before by global audiences, just like Avatar, and Reich is our hardcore ‘destroy all’ Terminator and Transformer genre whereas Wardevil to us is a more evolved, darker and violent, Star Wars sci-fi of today. So far less than $5-6 million per title, we would have three movies that looked like USD 50 million movies.”
Interestingly, games have a life much longer than movies as the format for releasing the same game is increasing every year. Every game that’s released on console thus can see a digital release a year later adding three times the audience.
So, are you ready to play?
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