The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that Random House has established an in-house team to develop stories for videogames and act as advisers for game development. In fact, WSJ says the book publisher is already raring to go:
The book publisher, a unit of Germany's Bertelsmann AG, has started looking for a buyer for two original projects, one a fantasy adventure and the other a horror thriller. Each of the proposed games has a cast of characters, suggested stories, and an analysis of the type of gamer in mind.According to Gamasutra, Random House has already found a buyer for its fantasy adventure, signing a deal with PC software developer Stardock on its game Elemental: War of Magic. As part of the deal, Random House will publish the Elemental novel, "Destiny's Embers," this summer.
"There is increasing emphasis on storytelling in the videogame business, on building new worlds from the ground up," Random House's director of creative development Keith Clayton said in a statement.
Random House President Gina Centrello added, "We are providing a valuable service to other media companies in a competitive entertainment market, where success increasingly depends on the quality of your story."
Sharkey says: BioShock is a great example of how a strong, original story can take videogames to another level. Here's to hoping Random House's stable of writers have a positive impact on the stories games tell.
