14 DAY TRIAL // Cyanide, an independent development studio, and the well-known author George R. R. Martin have announced that they have entered into an agreement related to creating the first videogames based on his extremely popular series “A Song of Ice and Fire.” The two parties are saying that the development on the projects has already begun and that further details will be announced soon.
Patrick Pligersdorffer, who is the managing director of Cyanide, stated that “We are all huge fans of ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’, so it is a true honour for our teams to be entrusted with creating the first video games inspired by this masterpiece. The twists and turns of the plot will allow us to deliver an experience which can be enjoyed by both long-time fans as well as gamers new to the series.”
“A Song of Ice and Fire” has been pretty successful until now. There is a card game based on the series and a board game that you can play if you are a fan. HBO is also said to have acquired the rights to turn the fantasy books into a television series, which might be seen as early as next year. As far as the books go, they have been translated into more than 20 languages. In the United States, “A Song of Ice and Fire” has sold about 2 million copies.
Cyanide is already pretty busy. It has two projects that should be released shortly: Blood Bowl, a videogame adaptation of the football game variation played by characters from the Warhammer 40,000 fantasy violence, and Pro Cycling Manager – Tour de France 2009, which is set to arrive in June, just before the debut of the real world Tour. So, it's probably safe to say that the videogames based on “A Song of Ice and Fire” (role playing games or strategy titles?) will not be launched in the near future.