MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Star Trek’s George Takei has, at the age of 80, entered the world of games development.
Takai has been named as creative director at Hong Kong mobile games studio Fifth Journey, the South China Morning Post reports.
Fifth Journey already works with partners such as Universal, MGM and Lionsgate. Its first game is based on last year’s stop motion animation Kubo and the Two Strings (which starred Takei).
Fifth Journey offered me this opportunity to participate in this new medium, and as they say in Star Trek, I’m going boldly where no one has gone before,” Takei said. This is a new medium for me, just like social media was. I was a pioneer in Facebook and once I got into it, I loved it and explored all the possibilities, for entertainment and informing my followers about social justice issues.
I love Kubo and the Two Strings so much that I want to show my passion for it through the game. My character Hosato is not fully developed in the film, so there is a lot of back story potential.”
Fifth Journey founder and CEO Eric Tan added: George is an amazing storyteller and one of the first in Hollywood to bridge East and West.”
The company specialises in mobile games based on Hollywood properties, while also offering a streaming and video on demand platforms. Foudner Eric Tan has previously worked at Universal and Gameloft. Its head office is based in Hong Kong and its creative headquarters in San Francisco.
Asia is an enormous opportunity and challenge for Hollywood,” Tan previously said. So is building a great film franchise in this on demand world. We built a company to solve some of Hollywood’s most pressing needs and these partnerships are a huge step forward.”
