EA, Spielberg to develop three new video games

Steven Spielberg

SAN FRANCISCO - Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg and Electronic Arts Inc., the world's biggest video game publisher, said on Friday they are teaming up to develop three original video games.

Spielberg, a video game enthusiast and co-founder of movie studio DreamWorks SKG, will work with EA's Los Angeles studio on the concept, story and design of the games.

EA did not disclose the terms of the multiyear, exclusive agreement.

Neil Young, vice president and studio head at EA Los Angeles, said Spielberg and EA developers aim to take advantage of new technology in upcoming gaming consoles and deliver more engaging and novel play and entertainment.

"Who is a better person to tackle that challenge with than Steven Spielberg?" Young said.

The pact comes as the video game industry - whose revenues rival those of the nation's box offices - continues to gain status, taming its maverick image and moving closer to Hollywood. The industry has worked with such hit film franchises as "Lord of the Rings" to bring out new games.

More recently, popular games, whose rich stories are ripe for leaping from computer monitor to the big screen, have been developed into feature films. They include Universal Pictures' monster-chase epic "Doom," which opens this month, and the alien battle adventure "Halo," the best-selling title for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox console, due in 2007.

Under their agreement, EA will own the intellectual property and the games, which it will develop, publish and distribute. Spielberg - who directed such films as "Schindler's List," "Saving Private Ryan" and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" - gets the first crack at turning the games into film or television productions.

While financial details were not disclosed, American Technology Research analyst Paul-Jon McNealy called the pact good news for EA.

"It strengthens its leadership position and broadens its portfolio heading into the next generation of video game console hardware," McNealy said in a client note.

For a time, DreamWorks produced video games under its DreamWorks Interactive division, but EA bought that property in 2000. The unit, which created the World War II "Medal of Honor" game series, is now known as EA Los Angeles.

- REUTERS