Vivendi signs with McDonalds for Hobbit promotion

Publisher Vivendi Universal Games is to partner with giant fast food chain McDonalds in the USA in order to promote its forthcoming Tolkien-licensed title, The Hobbit.

The promotion will allow McDonalds customers the chance to play three exclusive demos of the PC version of the game by entering codes found on trayliners and carry-out bags into the game's website. A different demo will be available each week.

A mail-in sweepstake offering entrants the chance to win Xbox and GameCube consoles and copies of the game and its strategy guide will also run alongside this element of the promotion, while a mail-in rebate of $5.00 against the value of the game will also be featured on McDonalds packaging.

Although Vivendi's Tolkien-licensed titles have so far been underperforming compared to the offerings from Electronic Arts (which owns the rights to produce titles based on the movie, while Vivendi owns the rights to the original literary works), the company continues to persevere with the franchise - with The Hobbit being only one of several Tolkien titles in the pipeline for Vivendi.