THQ Announces Master Mind DreamWorks Animation Game Deal

Author: by Christian Nutt, Brandon Boyer

Alongside its just-debuted financial results, THQ also announced that it has signed an agreement with DreamWorks Animation to create games based on the studio's fall 2010 animated feature, tentatively referred to as Master Mind. The film is said to be "a satirical send-up of the superhero genre, built around the story of a super villain who must find a new motivation after accidentally killing his archrival, Uberman, in the opening scene of the movie." The announcement covers Master Mind games for all console and handheld platforms, as well as Windows PC. DreamWorks Animation has primarily worked with Activision in the past, with that company responsible for the games derived from Shrek, Shark Tale, Madagascar and Over the Hedge. Activision and DreamWorks signed a deal in 2005 that carried the relationship through the upcoming Kung Fu Panda, due in North American theaters on June 6, with the game released a few days prior. Since Disney Interactive recently began to ramp up its development and publishing operations, its unclear whether THQ's current multi-game deal with Pixar, which includes games based on Ratatouille, Wall-E, and two as-yet unannounced films, will be renewed with the same terms. The DreamWorks deal, which encompasses only Master Mind, may be an effort to strengthen the company's relations with an alternative source of licensing opportunities for family-centric CG movies.