Developer says it's planning to expand property to manga, novels, animation, and film, says game to launch on consoles, PC, digital devices.
Little has been seen of action game Devil's Third, but developer Valhalla Game Studios is already planning on it becoming a big-time franchise. In an update to the game's website, CEO Satoshi Kanematsu said the studio plans to expand the property into other forms of media, including manga, novels, animation, and film, in an effort to spin the fiction into a "blockbuster franchise."
Additionally, Kanematsu confirmed platform release plans for Devil's Third, saying that in addition to the already announced Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game, Valhalla is planning to ship the game for the PC and unspecified digital devices.
Elsewhere in the update, Valhalla confirmed that all copyright, sales, and distribution rights to Devil's Third had been returned to the studio from would-be publisher THQ. This was believed to be the case yesterday, when THQ told Eurogamer it would not be publishing the game.
"To all our fans and members of the industry, we greatly appreciate your support," reads a line from the update. "Valhalla Game Studios would like to announce that after negotiations with THQ Inc. and with their generous cooperation, both parties have reached an agreement whereupon all rights related to the Devil’s Third project, including development and distribution rights, have been transferred in full from THQ to Valhalla Game Studios."
For more on Devil's Third, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
ya know what would be really nice, instead? revealing more about the game. id like to see how the game plays in a non trailer format, but if they believe it will be able to hold an entire franchise maybe theyre onto something. after all, the first trailer looked like the game could be awesome :D
like he is gambling on oil or something , this game will be published on pc and on digital devices , like it or not pal
1 Like Don't you have to wait to see if the first game is a big hit before you start manga, movies and books.
After the game comes out, you can do this stuff. That being said, I'd love more news on a definite release date.
1 Like Already 2 Years Gone and we already watch a Little Slice of Devils Third. He Cannot Release This Game by the Next 3-4 Years.
In Ninja Gaiden (X-Box) also he does the same thing. He Tooks 7 Years for the Development.
Looks like Wet and Yakuza. I guess Tomonobu Itagaki has a bad reputation nobody wants' to publish his game not even THQ...
1 Like What are you talking about? Itagaki has only ever worked on successful and highly rated games, DOA and ninja gaiden only stopped making money when he stopped working on them. THQ isn't publishing his game because THQ is 10 seconds from bankruptcy
Or maybe THQ doesn't want to deal with lawsuits and production issues? Don't worry Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden and Tecmo is still making money with out him. How well is Itagaki doing without Tecmo? Itagaki thought he was more important than the compnay that got him into the business.
Is it a digital only title for XBLA as some sites have mentioned or will it be released as a retail game for consoles?
Less "I am telling you this game will be great." More "I will show how great this game is."
This game looks interesting... it would be awesome if this was an open world, sandbox type game. With cool gameplay and a great storyline you cant go wrong... but so far I like what I see.. hope theres customization
2 Like That's some big talk....I just heard about this game, and judging by the little footage I've seen, it caught my attention. If Itagaki can deliver (which I'm fairly confident he will), he'll have my support and I'll definitely check out any other material they plan to make alongside it.
1 Like hope he goes with atlus for publishing , they always do just to bringing over japan titles
@Ladiesman17 i dont live in uzbeckstan or any 3rd world country so its not a issue, most games are region locked,atlus does it once and its a bigdeal
2 Like Itagaki has peroven himself to true hardcore gamers before. Both Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden series were successful and became franchises. despite his awful and bizarre interest in boobs and over exaggerated female body shapes, he is a great master of making video games. We just have to wait and see if the game flops or not, but judging based on his resume... it will be better than worse.
@mlcarter815 me too! and from my experiences, games from Japan are always a bit toooooo techno for me! i always switch off the music!
1 Like Woah there, don't count your chickens before they hatch!
Just release the game first, hell maybe even give us some more info and footage of it beforehand so we can actually see why its so worthy of being a blockbuster franchise.
1 Like Isn't this mentality exactly what caused the downfall of BIG Games, the ones who developed Kingdoms of Amalur? Bloated over priced development cost, because you think your game is special, how about you focus on making it GOOD, and after the first one IF it sales well worry about a blockbuster sequel?
2 Like @Zignoff Kingdoms of Amalur was a great game. The studio tanking had nothing to do with that game. It tanked because of mismanagement not because the game was bad. Selling 2 million copies of a new IP is considered selling very well.
2 Like @Zignoff I'm pretty sure they tanked because of the MMO they were working on, whereas Amalur was actually doing really well. But then I didn't follow it all that closely
2 Like I haven't seen nothing on this game yet other than early footage. I remain unconvinced about the how great it is. I think people give this guy too much credit. Specially since there is little to no info about the game.
This is just smoke to attract a publisher. "It's a shammy, it's a towel, it's a ...."
Anyway, all that other trash isn't interesting to me, but I'll gladly try the game. The Ninja Gaiden games were very satisfying.
5 Like I like Itagaki's work and hope he can get a publisher for it, I'll definitely play the game.
Lolno, Itagaki. We've had only snippets of information considering Devil's Turd. We're not really with you on that until you release some gameplay footage.
5 Like Get a publisher first, then think about branching out. From what I have read, THQ wasn't able to find any publisher interested in the property. Which isn't a good sign unless THQ was asking for too much in return for it.
Tomonobu Itagaki says project "going along really well" and Valhalla is in talks with publishers to bring game to market; "Valhalla Corner" opened at Roman game museum.
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