Ubisoft Cancels Heroes Game, Rights Revert To NBC

According to a report on the MTV Multiplayer weblog, Ubisoft has cancelled its game based on the Heroes TV franchise and allowed the rights for the property to return to NBC Universal. Though Ubisoft announced the game (for unspecified platforms) in July 2007, no more substantive details about the project had been announced to the public by the time of the project's cancellation, which was confirmed to MTV by Ubisoft's Jaime Cottini. The official statement from Ubisoft on the matter reads: "The rights to the Heroes video game have reverted back to NBC Universal. Ubisoft will no longer produce a video game based on the TV series." In addition, according to a report by Variety this past Sunday, two of the executive producers of the show, including game aficionado and former GDC speaker Jesse Alexander, were fired by NBC Universal. However, any direct connection between these events and the cancellation of the game seems unlikely -- though divisive storylines have made the property significantly less buzzworthy after a much-hyped first season. The French-headquartered Ubisoft has already released games based on popular primetime J.J. Abrams-helmed show Lost. However, critics have not been kind to Ubisoft's Lost: Via Domus, and it anecdotally appears that sales were not particularly strong for the game, another possible contributor for Ubisoft's decision to axe the Heroes game.