NDA Productions to publish Rebellion's Judge Dredd vs. Judge Death on PC

NDA Productions, the international development business unit of Vivendi Universal Publishing's games division (VU Games), is proud to announce that it has signed a publishing deal with Oxford-based super-developer Rebellion, to release the much-anticipated Judge Dredd vs. Judge Death game.

The PC game is based on the legendary comic strip Judge Dredd, published in 2000AD every week since 1977. It will be a first-person shooter seen through the eyes of Judge Dredd as he patrols the mean streets of the stunningly realised future metropolis, Mega-City One. Dredd will find himself having to deal with the full spectrum of criminal behaviour, from littering and caffeine abuse to saving the city from the utterly evil Judge Death. The game will also have extensive multiplayer modes, enabling ferocious splitscreen or online play and will use Rebellion's versatile new Asura engine.

Judge Dredd vs. Judge Death will feature a unique new storyline, but one that fits in perfectly with the continuity of the comic with a full cast of characters from the Judge Dredd stories, including Judge Anderson and the Dark Judges, and many of the famous Mega-City One locations. The history and character of the Judge Dredd stories will be absolutely central to gameplay. For instance, because Dredd must obey the law he upholds and react according to the severity of all crimes, gamers won't be able to just blast their way through the game, shooting petty criminals at will (not unless they fancy spending the rest of their life breaking rocks on Titan).

Jason Kingsley, CEO and Creative Director of Rebellion, says, "Judge Dredd has always been an obvious choice as a videogame licence, but no one has ever managed to put across the atmosphere and awesome visual scale of the comics in a game before. Now a combination of our powerful Asura engine, and our love for the character will enable us to put out the Judge Dredd game that gamers and comics fans have been demanding for so many years. In VU Games we have a partner with a great deal of experience in publishing and marketing cutting edge games, and we look forward to a long and successful relationship for Dredd and other future titles."

"Judge Dredd vs. Judge Death will benefit from the rich universe of the comics that have been published for 25 years now," commented Dominique Cor, CEO of NDA Productions. "We are proud to work with Rebellion, who have achieved great games in the past, with a strong experience in FPS"

Judge Dredd was recently voted 'Best Character' at the British National Comics Awards, beating off competition from Spiderman, Batman and Dennis the Menace.

Judge Dredd vs. Judge Death, developed on PC, is planned for release in 2003.

About Vivendi Universal Publishing

Vivendi Universal Publishing, the publishing division of the world's second largest communications group (Vivendi Universal), is an international leader in multi-platform publishing and content distribution. As one of the top three players in the global publishing market and the only publisher with an international reach, the Company's key content areas include literature, reference, school, college, kids, games and consumer press. VU Publishing publishes content in four major languages, including English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, and has strong local publishing brands. Its Games division, Vivendi Universal Games, is a worldwide leader in multi-platform interactive entertainment. A leading publisher of online, PC and console-based interactive content, the Company's portfolio of studios includes Blizzard Entertainment, Sierra Entertainment and Universal Interactive. Through its Partner Publishing Group, VU Games co-publishes and/or distributes interactive products for a number of strategic partners and through NDA Productions,it concludes co-development agreements designed to serve primarily the regional European and Asian markets. VUP's digitization policy provides its content with a doorway to multi-platform international distribution giving the group a competitive edge in a changing market.

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