DJs FEEL THE FORCE

Digital Jesters has secured the UK publishing rights to the long-awaited and hugely anticipated Freedom Force Vs The Third Reich.

The firm has also signed a co-publishing agreement with Focus Home Interactive to release the title throughout Europe. Focus Home Interactive will publish the title in France.

Freedom Force Vs The Third Reich is the sequel to the critically acclaimed Freedom Force, developed by Irrational Games. Its brilliant mix of strategy, action and superb humour guaranteed 'Game Of The Year' awards across numerous publications during 2002.

The sequel promises to be bigger and better than ever. It begins in the 1960s and tells the story of Freedom Force's mission to thwart a plan hatched by the evil Nuclear Winter. Of course, Freedom Force is victorious but there is a twist... the team never makes it back to its home town to celebrate its success and winds up travelling through time to the 1940s where it must fight the Germans in World War II.

Freedom Force Vs The Third Reich is a fast-paced tactical role-playing game and will be available to play in both single- and multi-player modes. The graphics are radically enhanced by the introduction of a brand new 3D graphics engine (Gamebryo) which has allowed each character to be tweaked to perfection and has given just the right look for each superhero.

The game is characterised by its 1960s comic book style and will feature an abundance of new characters to choose from. Six new heroes will be introduced from the two distinct eras of comic books. From the silver age we meet Tombstone, Green Genie and Quetzacoatl who will step up to help Freedom Force beat Nuclear Winter. And for the first time ever in gaming, players can take a trip to the golden age of comics and meet three news heroes who will be on hand to help: Sky King, Black Jack and Tricolour.

"We are delighted that the DJ team have secured the UK publishing rights to Freedom Force Vs The Third Reich," says Ken Levine, Irrational Games, CEO "We believe that they have the determination, skills and enthusiasm to make the sequel as much as a success as the original - if not more. We look forward to working with them in the coming months."

"Freedom Force Vs The Third Reich is a highly anticipated game and we are tremendously pleased to have fought off the competition to become the UK publishers," says Terry Malham, financial director, Digital Jesters, "We are all huge fans of the original game and are positive that this game will prove even more popular than the original."

Freedom Force Vs The Third Reich will be released Q1 2005 on the PC CD-ROM

Note to editors: Founded in Sept 2003, Digital Jesters is a new publisher with a fresh attitude. Signing only quality titles, Digital Jesters portfolio consists of Trackmania, Virtual Skipper 3, Savage, Pro Rugby Manager, Desert Rats vs Afrika Korps, and Beyond Divinity. The team has over 30 years experience, and prior to this were responsible for setting up CDV Software's UK division, generating over £2.5 million in the first 12 months, and breaking in new brands such as Cossacks, Sudden Strike, Divine Divinity and Breed.