Frontier acquires the mobile games rights for Aardman's Oscar®-winning vox-pop series
October 18, 2005
[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Game Developer and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press]
Author: Frontier Developments
CAMBRIDGE, UK - 18th October 2005. Frontier Developments Ltd. ('Frontier'), the leading independent games developer, announced today that it has acquired the worldwide rights to publish mobile games based on Aardman Animations Ltd.'s ('Aardman') popular 'Creature Comforts' TV shows.
"Creature Comforts' vox-pop style sets genuine takes on everyday life in the persona of some great animal characters, and has a huge popular appeal," said Frontier Chairman and games industry legend David Braben. "We are proud to to extend our creative partnership with Aardman on Creature Comforts - the superbly observed, family-friendly characters embody a very British, clever, quirky humour and our games will of course emphasise their appeal."
The second series of Aardman's critically acclaimed Creature Comforts will be broadcast on ITV1 from 30th October, once again occupying a prime-time early evening slot between soaps, and will include an unprecedented 30 minute Christmas special. Internationally, Aardman have placed the series with BBC America and ABC Australia and working with Granada International for TV and video distribution for the rest of the international market. The first series of Creature Comforts drew an average audience of 8 million Britons (9.35 million peak) when it was aired on the ITV1 terrestrial channel in the UK. It was watched by 49% of the country's population, and was ITV1's top entertainment show outside the established soap operas. Its characters have become spokespeople for various campaigns including the Countryside Code and Guidedogs for the Blind. During the show's run the Creature Comforts website averaged 10,000 visitors per day.
Frontier recently announced that its first mobile phone game featuring Aardman's Wallace & Gromit characters, which is based on the Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit movie and launches simultaneously, has already been licensed to mobile operators covering over 300 million customers across the globe. Frontier also developed the console game of "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" movie, which was Frontier's second collaboration with Aardman on a Wallace and Gromit videogame, following 2003's BAFTA-nominated "Project Zoo" console title.
Details of Frontier's first Creature Comforts game, to be launched to coincide with the ITV1 showing of the 2005 series in the UK, will be released shortly. Frontier's Creature Comforts mobile games web-page is at www.frontier.co.uk/creaturecomforts.
All media enquiries please contact: Alison Beasley, Lincoln Beasley PR
T: 01608 645756 M: 07966 449130 E: [email protected]
About Frontier
Frontier is based in Cambridge, UK and is one of the games industry's leading independent developers, having built upon the innovative creations of founder David Braben, co-author of the seminal 'Elite'. Frontier works with a number of top publishers and is currently developing for PlayStation2, GameCube, Xbox, PC, and develops and publishes mobile phone games. Additionally, Frontier is developing leading-edge proprietary technology for the next generation of games consoles.
Frontier has a proven reputation for original game design and commercial success, and aims to revolutionise perceptions of what gaming is all about by using innovative technical and artistic approaches on all leading-edge gaming platforms. It received three BAFTA nominations and several awards for its recent console games "Dog's Life" and "Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo", and scored a Christmas 2004 No.1 position in the USA with its RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 PC, which has also been the recipient of various awards and a prestigious Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences nomination.
Further information on Frontier including details of current vacancies and how to apply directly can be found on Frontier's web site, www.frontier.co.uk.
The Frontier logo is a trademark of Frontier Developments Ltd. Creature Comforts and the Creature Comforts logo are registered trademarks of Aardman Animations Ltd. All other trademarks and Copyright are acknowledged as the property of their respective owners.
About Aardman
Aardman produces films, television series and television commercials for both the domestic and international market, their debut feature film, Chicken Run, grossed over $225M worldwide ($104M in the US) and the series of Wallace and Gromit short films have won countless awards including 2 Oscars. In the UK Aardman's output can be seen on television 365 days a year, whether it is a tv commercial, a station ident, a TV series or one of their many short films, the studio's work is constantly in demand. The studio has been nominated for an Academy Award seven times, and has won three.
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