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| Hamburg, Germany – December 1st, 2014 |
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Daedalic develops Ken Follett game – New book being written simultaneously
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| The video game developer Daedalic Entertainment, and Bastei Lübbe AG, shareholder of Daedalic and publisher of Ken Follett’s novels in German-speaking markets, are teaming up to create a multimedia experience of one of Follett’s masterpieces: Daedalic Entertainment, member of the Bastei Lübbe AG group of companies, will develop and publish a game based on Follett’s best-selling novel “The Pillars of the Earth”.
The project – an adventure game – is scheduled to be published in 2017 on all leading platforms. Amongst others, releases are planned for PC, Mac, Xbox One™, PlayStation®4 and iOS.
This is the first official Ken Follett videogame to be developed. It will revolve around the story of Follett’s best-selling novel “The Pillars of the Earth”. At the same time, Ken Follett is also working on a new novel, which is scheduled to be published in fall 2017, and will be taking readers back to the fictitious medieval town of Kingsbridge in South England.
“Simultaneously to the release of the third Kingsbridge novel in fall 2017, the video game based on ‘The Pillars of the Earth’ will be published on all consoles, PC and mobile devices. We are very proud to not only prolong our long lasting and successful partnership with the exceptional, best-selling author Ken Follett, but to also extend it to new media channels”, explains Thomas Schierack, CEO of Bastei Lübbe AG.
“I’m delighted that Bastei Lübbe will publish my next book, a new story about Kingsbridge, the fictional town in which I set ‘The Pillars of the Earth’ and ‘World Without End’. I’m hoping to finish it in time for publication in 2017. I’m thrilled that ‘The Pillars of the Earth’ – which is probably my most famous book – is going to be turned into a computer game by Daedalic, now part of the Lübbe organisation. I believe this will bring my work to the attention of a new generation of readers. I’ve been working with Bastei Lübbe, and with the Lübbe-family, for 35 years now. It has been a most congenial partnership, and a very successful one. So I’m very happy that our association is being continued in these exciting ways”, says Ken Follett.
“We are very aware of and feeling the responsibility that comes along with this project: ‘The Pillars of the Earth’ is one of world literature’s most-read and best-selling books, and comes with a large and long-lasting base of millions of fans. To meet their high expectations of our game will be a tremendous challenge – but one we are very eager to face”, explains Carsten Fichtelmann, founder and CEO of Daedalic Entertainment. “Together with Bastei Lübbe and Ken Follett we determined that the genre of adventure games is the best and most suitable way to adapt and express the substantial depth of such a historical novel. Adventure games are interactive literature, and we at Daedalic dedicated ourselves to the perfection of this genre’s playing experience. We are very happy and feel extremely honored that our work is being acknowledged by one of the world’s best-selling authors, and to be allowed to take his work into interactivity”, Carsten Fichtelmann adds.
“To our knowledge, this will be the first time for a computer game of this scale to be published simultaneously with the new book of an international best-selling author“, adds Felix Rudloff, chief executive of programme and PR at Bastei Lübbe AG. “There will not only be a positive marketing effect by the novel on the game. Vice-versa, we believe the game will also increase the interest in the new book”, Rudloff predicts further.
“The Pillars of the Earth“, published in 1989, takes place in medieval England, in the fictitious town of Kingsbridge. Setting around the building of a cathedral, the historical novel traces the development and disputes between clergy, nobility and the simple people, suffering from exploitation.
Bastei Lübbe and Daedalic Entertainment will publish the game in 2017 in several countries as a retail version, as well as digitally worldwide on consoles, PC and mobile platforms. The game will be translated in up to ten languages.
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About Daedalic Entertainment
Headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, Daedalic Entertainment is a developer of multiplatform narrative-driven games.
The company employs a staff of approximately 100 people, and its famed Writer’s Room, with its cadre of authors, is a unique feature in Germany’s media industry.
Since May 2014, Daedalic Entertainment has been part of the Bastei Lübbe group of companies, and in August 2014, Daedalic opened another development studio in Düsseldorf — dubbed Daedalic Entertainment Studio West.
Over the last few years, Daedalic has earned 21 German Game Developer Awards (incl. “Studio of the Year 2009, 2013”), five German Computer Game Awards (incl. “Best Game 2011”), and more.
Upcoming Daedalic titles such as “Silence – The Whispered World 2” and “The Devil’s Men” will raise the bar for the adventure genre. With “Blackguards” and “Blackguards 2” the company has also set itself up as a key RPG developer.
As a publisher, Daedalic entertainment publishes uncommon and remarkable games like “Divinity: Original Sin“, “Oh my Gore” and “Randal’s Monday.”
http://www.daedalic.de
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http://www.twitter.com/daedalic
http://www.google.com/+daedalic
About Bastei Lübbe AG
Bastei Lübbe AG is a German publishing and media group long renowned for bringing popular fiction and non-fiction to the mass market. Its business activities include not only paperback and hardback books in print form, but also audiobooks, e-books, and other digital publications. Its catalogue includes a wide range of fiction, non-fiction and entertainment products intended for a wide readership, including not only the various highly successful paperback fiction series for which Bastei Lübbe has long been famed, but also puzzle books and magazines. The group’s business activities also include the licensing of book rights and the creation, production and marketing of gift, decorative and merchandising articles.
About The Pillars of the Earth
England 1123 – 1173: It is the time of brutal conflicts between nobility, clergy and the simple people, suffering from exploitation and famine. Philip, the young prior of Kingsbridge dreams of building a cathedral. He, Tom, the master builder, his stepson Jack and the smart Aliena, daughter of the earl, will have to fight for live and death against their enemies, before their dream can become true and the pillars of the earth will start to grow towards heaven…
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