RUG Aims For Games Based On Lloyd-Webber Musicals

Really Useful Group, a publishing and production company setup by musical theatre composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber, is speaking with several video game publishers about possibly developing games that let players sing as characters in Lloyd-Webber's shows. The composer's musicals include West End and Broadway staples like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and many more. Webber's company approached half-a-dozen international game publishers about creating games across consoles, PCs, and mobile platforms over several years, according to a report from digital content business site PaidContent. The first planned games will involve "audition" elements and enable players to sing as characters from Lloyd-Webber's productions, presumably similar to the premise in his BBC television show How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? (or last season's Lloyd-Webber-themed American Idol episode). "With the video gaming audience having moved from its male-dominated roots towards a more family-oriented demographic, now is the perfect time for us to take some of the best-known names in musical entertainment in a more interactive direction," says Really Useful Group's digital director Douglas Glen. Really Useful Group says it decided to pursue this expansion of its media business after seeing a trend of more females playing video games, and noting the popularity of singing and music games, such as Sony Computer Entertainment's SingStar karaoke titles. "With the video gaming audience having moved from its male-dominated roots towards a more family-oriented demographic, now is the perfect time for us to take some of the best-known names in musical entertainment in a more interactive direction," says Really Useful Group's digital director Douglas Glen.