Under the terms of the agreement, Universal Pictures acquired the motion picture rights to Spycraft: The Great Game for Lawrence Gordon Productions -- which is helmed by Lawrence Gordon who has produced such films as "Die Hard" and "Field of Dreams."
Additionally, Universal Pictures has acquired the rights to Spycraft for television and related ancillary activities. Activision will work closely with Universal Pictures and Lawrence Gordon Productions to select a writer and develop a script for the feature film.
"Spycraft: The Great Game was the first interactive entertainment title to be set within the intriguing world of international espionage," states Kotick. "Due to the contributions of William Colby and Oleg Kalugin, the game offers an unparalleled level of authenticity in the spy genre. Our collaboration with Universal Pictures and Lawrence Gordon Productions reinforces Activision's role as a premier content provider for both linear and interactive entertainment."
A true-to-life espionage CD-ROM thriller, Spycraft: The Great Game marks a historic collaboration between William Colby, former director of the CIA and Oleg Kalugin, former major general of the KGB, both of whom consulted on the project and portray themselves in the game. The game was written by James Adams, a leading news correspondent and renowned author specializing in international intelligence and terrorism operations.
In Spycraft: The Great Game, the player assumes the role of a CIA operative who must attempt to unravel an assassination plot that could topple the fragile peace established by the Cold War. Blending fact and fiction to create a contemporary story tied to real-world events, the game thrusts the player into a dangerous world of intrigue where he must make significant moral choices and face the consequences of those actions. As the player begins his investigation, he discovers that a Russian presidential candidate has been assassinated and the CIA has received a tip that the life of the US president could be in serous jeopardy. The assassination may involve the Russian Mafia and a network of rogue ex- spies called Pro-cat. If the information is correct, global security could be destabilized and the stakes to maintain world peace would be higher than ever before.
Spycraft: The Great Game is one of the first interactive
entertainment titles to blend 35mn film, digital video footage, still
photography and actual stock footage from the CIA with intricate 3-D
puzzles based on real-life covert tactics and operations. Additionally,
Spycraft was the first game ever to allow the player to take his
investigation online through a unique component that enables him to travel
the Internet to investigate leads and gather news reports from a dedicated
Spycraft World Wide Web site.
