Industry Veterans Start New UK Budget Label

Noted UK industry veteran, and former Virgin Interactive director, Sean Brennan is to head a new console game publishing company named Blast Entertainment in the UK, after a deal between existing British budget publisher Mastertronic and Dutch firm Disky. The new company has signed a number of licensing deals with movie and TV companies including 20th Century Fox, Universal, Warner Bros., Paramount, Cartoon Network, Granada and Jetix. These deals will allow the company to produce titles based on properties such as The Flintstones, Wacky Races, Casper The Friendly Ghost, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Beverly Hills Cop - the firm is targeting the PlayStation 2 for these releases. The company’s first sixteen titles will launch in July in the UK, with a suggested retailed price of less than £10 ($18). A launch across continental Europe will follow shortly, with another twenty games scheduled for 2007. Brennan was instrumental in the creation of Virgin’s White Label budget range, and is joined by Graeme Boxall who will take on the role of senior vice president for product development. Boxall has worked as producer for over 14 years, overseeing titles including Speedball 2, Sensible Soccer, Duke Nukem and Driver. Speaking to UK trade paper MCV, Brennan commented: “This is a great opportunity to grow a business that can be a leader in its field. We’re convinced we have found a unique niche in the market and can set a new benchmark in the PS2 sector as Mastertronic has with PC.”