Multiverse, maker of a free MMO-creation platform, has revealed to Wired that they have secured the rights to produce an MMOG based on the Firefly universe.
“We see virtual worlds as an extraordinarily promising new entertainment medium,” said Adam Kline, Fox Licensing’s vice president of media enterprises in an e-mail. “We believe Multiverse can deliver an experience that will remain true to the original series, while enabling a whole new level of personal involvement for fans.”
Although it only lasted 11 episodes, fan support for Firefly has been massive, with a popular DVD release of the series and an eventual movie made based on it. An MMOG would seem like a natural next step for the franchise.
“Television series can be really good properties to turn into MMOs, because when you make a TV series, not only do you need great characters, but you need to create a full, rich, compelling place,” said Corey Bridges, Multiverse co-founder and executive producer. “If you’re doing science fiction, you have to really think it out and create an incredibly rich environment that is compelling in its own right, and worth exploring and going back to week after week. That’s what Joss Whedon did with Firefly.”
The Multiverse platform, which is still in beta, is offered for free to any developer who would like to use it, provided they pay if they decide to take their game to the commercial space. In regards to Firefly, the company has the rights but they do not have any developers just yet. “We want to find someone who wants to do something unique and fun and interesting, not just a re-skin of World of Warcraft or Star Wars Galaxies,” said Bridges.
With an MMOG engine in beta and no developers signed on yet, Bridges is still optimistic that the game could come out in 2008.
Source: Wired
