Ubisoft announces Beowulf movie tie-in

The conference which kicked off Ubisoft's Ubidays event in Paris tonight ended with the announcement that the publisher is to produce a game based on new movie Beowulf.

EMEA executive director Alain Corre took to the stage to tell the audience, "We are releasing a game based on the new Hollywood blockbuster from Paramount, Beowulf." The film is being directed by Robert Zemeckis of Back to the Future and Forrest Gump fame.

Corre said further details of the game were being kept under wraps for now, but he did offer, "This game should re-invent the hack-and-slash genre."

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot then joined Corre on stage to reveal that the studio behind Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter is working on Beowulf. "We think it will be an amazing game," he added.

There were few surprises during the rest of the conference. Games on show included EndWar, which marks the beginning of a new Tom Clancy series and the first Ubisoft has created since Splinter Cell. Gamers will be able to play the whole storyline using voice commands to control their character, although there will also be the option to use a joypad.

Then came Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, which was presented by a real-life Colonel who told the crowd, "Our theme is simply this: to be a good commander, you must love your soldiers. But to win in combat you must risk the thing you love."

It was followed by new title Haze, which - as Free Radical's Dave Doak explained - is "not just about war itself, it's about your perception of war".

He pledged that the title will look at subjects "not normally addresed in videogames", describing Haze as being "truly a bit more mature without being gory". Doak also revealed that a four-player co-op option will be available for both the story and online modes of the game.

Next it was time to focus on Ubisoft's new casual games division; there was a brief discussion of new titles My Word Coach, My Life Coach and Jam Sessions plus a short trailer.

After a trailer for Xbox 360 exclusive Naruto, Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond addressed the crowd. "We're keeping things pretty secret for a little bit longer because we're going to come out big this summer with the first hands-on demo - that's going to be this July," she said, before a teaser trailer was shown.

Following the inevitable video montage showcasing Ubisoft's forthcoming products, Alain Corre made the Beowulf announcement. Then there was time for just one more surprise: confirmation that a sequel to Rayman Raving Rabbids is due "this year".

Ubidays will continue tomorrow with a series of game demos and a round table on casual gaming.