Buena Vista Acquires Turok License

Officials from Buena Vista Games (BVG), the interactive entertainment arm of The Walt Disney Company, have announced that the company has acquired the video game publishing rights to comic book series Turok. Although not a top tier comic book, the franchise has previously proven very successful as a series of video games for now bankrupt publisher Acclaim. The rights for the property were held by Classic Media, Inc., who has subsequently licensed the video game rights to BVG. The company now plans to make a new video game title using the license, to be worked on by BVG’s Vancouver studio, Propaganda Games. The title will be published on multiple home and portable consoles, including next generation formats. The new game will be used to spearhead the company’s ambition to publish more games appeal to a wider range of age groups. This new policy was outlined in April, when the company first established Propaganda Games. "With the launch of the new console and handheld game platforms, we feel it is the perfect time to redefine Turok video games," said Graham Hopper, senior vice president and general manager, Buena Vista Games. "We expect Turok to lead our growth strategy of creating action-oriented game franchises for the core gamer market." The first two Turok titles were exclusive to the N64 and PC and proved to be Acclaim’s most successful series at the beginning of the 32-bit era. The third title came too late in the N64’s life cycle to make a significant impact and the fourth multiformat title, subtitled Evolution, was a notable critical and commercial flop – helping to hasten Acclaim’s subsequent demise.