Trine

19th May 2009

Trine is an absorbing fantasy action game to be released on PC in July 2009 by Nobilis and Ascaron Entertainment. The game's publisher Nobilis recently met up with developer Frozenbyte to offer an insight into the game's distinctive and harmonious soundtrack.

Below, Ari Pulkkinen, Sound Designer and Music Composer at Frozenbyte talks to David Costarigot, Project Manager at Nobilis to find out more about the music featured in Trine.

David: Trine's music sounds excellent. What instruments are used on the soundtrack? Are they electronic or real instruments?

Ari: Trine's soundtrack is purely acoustic meaning that there are no synthesizers involved. It is a mix of real and virtual instruments and played and recorded instruments. These include celesta, piano, harp, guitar, harpsichord, violin, cello, French horn, pizzicato strings and contrabass.

David: Have you composed all the songs on your own? What software do you use and do you play all the instruments yourself?

Ari: I composed and performed all the songs myself and I am using Logic Studio for the compositions. I played all the original instruments on a midi keyboard and some of the other instruments were played by other musicians.

David: How many songs are there in Trine?

Ari: There are 19 tracks including the main theme and the trailer version of it. All in all there is over an hour of original music in Trine and each level has its own unique theme.

David: What are your influences?

Ari: I draw a lot of inspiration from Finnish & Slavic folk music. On the entertainment side, I have recently listened to the Tudors, Conan the Barbarian and Danny Elfman's Corpse Bride original soundtracks.

David: How would you describe the Trine soundtrack?

Ari: The Trine soundtrack captures the offbeat spirit of the magical fantasy adventure that the characters embark on in their quest to save the kingdom from evil. Each score of the soundtrack is like a chapter from a story book, a little piece of the fairy tale. The telling is strengthened by combining folk and chamber music with different orchestral instruments. My objective with the soundtrack was to make something different and unique that would really capture the game's story, with its little twisted and humorous turns.

David: Is the soundtrack going to be available for purchase?

Ari: Yes. It will be on sale on my new website www.aritunes.com as a downloadable album at the same time as the game is released.

David: What does the future hold for you?

Ari: I have set up my own company AriTunes and am working on a couple of very interesting projects. Frozenbyte has got some exciting stuff coming in 2010 and there are also a couple of other Finnish companies working on some really great projects. I can't reveal much yet but stay tuned.

Trine is scheduled for a PC and PlayStation Network release across the UK in July this year.

Fast facts:

Publisher: Nobilis

UK Distributor: Ascaron Entertainment

Web: www.trine-thegame.com

Developer: Frozenbyte

Release date: July 2009

PEGI: 12+

Format: PC / PSN

Genre: Action / Adventure

About Ascaron Entertainment

Ascaron Entertainment (UK) is highly regarded on a domestic and global scale. With a professional reputation, full-service product management, and a wealth of experience in the games industry, the UK operation provides a bespoke multi-format publishing, sales, PR and marketing function to selected affiliate label partners. Ascaron Entertainment (UK) continues to be responsible for successfully launching titles into the UK market from developers and publishers worldwide. Amongst other titles, the Ascaron portfolio includes the popular UFO, Panzers, Cossacks, Blitzkrieg, Sherlock Holmes, Hearts of Iron and Europa Universalis series of games, as well as critically acclaimed hits such as Call of Juarez (PC), Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle (PC, NDS), TrackMania (PC, NDS), City Life (PC), King's Bounty (PC) and Moto Racer (NDS).

www.ascaron.com

About Nobilis

Nobilis, a Lyon based producer, publisher, and distributor of video games (PC, Xbox360TM, PlayStation ^® 2, PlayStation ^® 3, PSPTM, Nintendo Wii ^TM , Nintendo DS ^TM , and Interactive DVDs) and video game accessories, was founded in 2001.

Nobilis Publishing has developed successful games such as: "My Baby Boy ^® " and "My baby Girl ^® " (Nintendo DS ^TM ), " Mountain Bike Adrenaline featuring Salomon"(PlayStation ^® 2), "The Secrets of Da Vinci ^TM "(PC), "Cleopatra ^TM " (PC), and the famous franchises: "Hotel Giant" and "Moto Racer" with over 8 million units sold to date.

Nobilis has several distribution subsidiaries in France (Lyon), Spain (Madrid), Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg (Bruxelles), and an office in Italy (Rome). Nobilis Publishing games are already sold in over 40 different countries with the most prominent partners.

Nobilis is also a producer/distributor of accessories thanks to its own brand: Subsonic, a symbol of quality and innovation. These accessories are available for the following platforms: Xbox 360 ^TM , PSP ^TM , PlayStation ^® 2, PlayStation ^® 3, Nintendo DS ^TM , and Nintendo Wii ^TM .

Official website: www.group-nobilis.com www.nobilis-games.com

About Frozenbyte

Frozenbyte is an independent game developer focused on games based on original IP for consoles and PC. Frozenbyte's current original IP titles include the highly acclaimed Shadowgrounds ^TM series. The company's next new title, Trine ^TM , will be released on PlayStation ^® Network and PC in 2009, followed by another completely new title in 2009. In addition to the company's own games, Frozenbyte helps its partners and clients create new concepts and IPs. Frozenbyte was founded in 2001 and is based in Helsinki, Finland.

Official website: www.frozenbyte.com

Trine ^TM © 2008-2009 Frozenbyte, Inc. Developed by Frozenbyte, Inc. Published by Nobilis. Nobilis and its logo are registered trademarks of Nobilis Group. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

"PlayStation" and "PLAYSTATION" are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

For further press information please contact:

James Meredith / Matt King

Media Safari

T: +44 (0)1225 731388

E: jamesm@mediasafari.co.uk / mattk@mediasafari.co.uk