Bethesda picks up Wet from Activision

Fallout and Elder Scrolls publisher Bethesda Softworks is set to publish A2M's shooter Wet this autumn.

Developer Artificial Mind & Movement bought the rights to the game back from Activision, after the publisher acquired the title when it merged with Vivendi last year.

The stylised action title features a female lead character - voiced by Buffy and Doll House actress Eliza Dushku - but Bethesda wants to be clear that this isn't a game it intends to sell off the back of cheap marketing.

"One of the things that we're been completely emphatic and in complete agreement with the A2M guys is we don't view this as a T&A game," said Bethesda's Pete Hines.

"We didn't want to pick a game with a female protagonist because we thought sex could sell and we'd get the camera to do a tight pan on her butt. That's actually a disservice to the game.

"Really, we want the game to be taken seriously for what it is. The game is cool and her personality adds to it, but we're against the whole trying to go overboard by using her sexuality and putting her in ridiculous outfits – that's a huge mistake. We talked about this a lot, we're not going to do that at all, the game stands on its own merits."

Bethesda played down any changes to gameplay since picking up Wet from rival Activision, with Hines joking "anything really cool, we totally had a hand in. Anything 'meh' was already there."

The action game boasts impressive production credits - a story by 24 writer Duppy Demetrius, and other voice work from Malcolm McDowell and Alan Cummings. The game will be playable at E3 this June.

Other titles off-loaded following the Activision/Vivendi merger include Ghostbusters and The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, both picked up by Atari, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand which has been published by THQ, and Brutal Legend, to be released by Electronic Arts.