Thu, Jan 21, 2010 | 23:07 GMT
BBC looking to make games out of its popular series
The BBC’s looking into creating DS, Facebook, iPhone and Wii games for some of its popular television series.
BBC Worldwide has revealed to MCV that its looking to get back into games by chatting with developers and publishers to turn Doctor Who, In The Night Garden, Top Gear, and others into gaming titles.
“We are open to conversations with anybody in games about all kinds of business models to see how we can extract more value,” said Neil Ross Russell, MD of children’s and licensing. “Outside of Disney we have the most well-known line-up of children’s characters around the world.”
In 2005, BBC closed its Multimedia division due to faltering sales.
“We’ve been reactive to the market in the last few years,” explained Dave Anderson, head of multimedia development at BBC Worldwide. “There were a few opportunistic licensing deals, but we were largely aggregating and holding on to our properties to wait and see how the market developed.”
To get things moving along, it has hired former EA and Yahoo exec Robert Nashak as EVP of digital entertainment.
More is expected to be revealed next week.
As long as no games are based around Derek Acorah, we’ll be able to sleep at night.
21 
Posted in: DS, Development, Internet, PC, iPhone, iPod
Tags: bbc, bbc gamnes, bbc worldwide, doctor who, facebook, In The Night Garden, Top Gear
21 comments
#1
Aimless
21/01/10, 11:08 pm
Wiiking The Dead? Silent Wiitness?
#2
El_Paolo
21/01/10, 11:20 pm
Dr. Who!
#3
Aimless
21/01/10, 11:53 pm
I can’t help but notice you’re upsetting my attempts to get a string of terrible puns going.
Unwiiversity Challenge?
#4
El_Paolo
22/01/10, 12:12 am
I hadn’t noticed xD. my bad:L
#5
McLovin85
22/01/10, 12:17 am
I c where ur going with this Aimless:
Mock the Wiik
#6
DarkElfa
22/01/10, 4:38 am
Bioware could make a Doctor Who RPG.
#7
Hunam
22/01/10, 4:39 am
I’d rather they didn’t if it’s all the same.
#8
Dannybuoy
22/01/10, 7:39 am
Eastenders would be a good DS/iPhone game. Dig up the deadbody from the square. Pull some pints. Punch Phil. Wash your clothes at the laundrette. Top end stuff
#9
unacomn
22/01/10, 8:13 am
A Top Gear racing game would be awesome!
#10
Suikoden Fan
22/01/10, 8:49 am
I personally would love a next gen doctor who game with exclusive storyline, with tenant as the doctor not the new guy.
#11
Blerk
22/01/10, 9:03 am
I’m thinking it’s going to be nigh-on impossible to make a Doctor Who game. Running, shrieking and occasionally using a screwdriver aren’t exactly the building blocks for an all-time classic.
#12
rainer
22/01/10, 9:29 am
Their have been rumours surrounding Telltale and Dr Who for a while now, might just be fan wishes but it on paper seems a good fit.
Telltale has a Wii/PC/360 engine and can do family friendly games plus experience with licensing others properties.
#13
Blerk
22/01/10, 9:42 am
Hmm… yeah, I guess a point n’ click adventure could work. And Telltale have history with the Beeb too, Wallace and Gromit et al.
#14
Bulk Slash
22/01/10, 9:54 am
@unacomn
I’ve always thought it would be nice if Gran Turismo or Forza would do some DLC with the Top Gear test track along with the Liana and the Lacetti cars. It could include the celebrity and F1 lap times too so people could try beating them.
I bet if anyone made a Top Gear game it would just be a bog-standard racer with the Top Gear slapped name on it. But a proper Top Gear game should have challenges, caravan conkers and the ability to drop pianos on Morris Marinas.
#15
PolyGoneWithTheWind
22/01/10, 10:57 am
The Top Gear Test Track is officially in GT5
#16
McLovin85
22/01/10, 10:57 am
@Bulk Slash
The new GT5 will include the Top Gear test track. So u’ll be able to go around it using whatever cars come with GT5. They will probably throw in the Liana but i’m not sure about that.
#17
Gheritt White
22/01/10, 11:52 am
@ 6: DarkElfa has it. A Doctor Who RPG has the potential to be outstanding, so long as the IP was treated with respect and credibility.
#18
The Hindle
22/01/10, 11:53 am
A Gears of War style action game with the Eastenders cast is what i want maybe with Pat Butcher as the main character and co op so maybe youre mate can play as Peggy
#19
Psychotext
22/01/10, 11:57 am
GTA with Phil and Grant.
#20
PolyGoneWithTheWind
22/01/10, 1:06 pm
One franchise not noted that I think would make a fantastic game is Spooks… Has all the necessary factors to be something that can be turned really nicely into a video game.
BUT… the issue always is investing in a franchise that only has UK appeal. How many Doctor Who games would you sell out of the UK? With it only being set to make UK sales, the production budget would have to be sliced very thin that the end product will be pretty poor.
That’s why I like Spooks, in the UK you would get the obvious reference but lends itself to a good game style that if you didn’t get the reference (a la Germany, France, US for example) the game experience would still be good..
#21
Stephany Nunneley
22/01/10, 2:20 pm
Actually, thanks to the SyFy (still not used to that) Channel, there are loads of Dr. Who fans in the US. Plus, anyone who has a decent cable package or uses DishNet or DirectTV gets BBC America – which shows all kinds of stuff – not just documentaries on women marrying the Effiel Tower or men who love “dolls”.