Tech Shout!

Game publisher Ubisoft has signed a deal with VIZ Media, the North American license holder for the popular Naruto manga franchise, to develop a Naruto Xbox 360 game based on the series which is slated to be released in 2007.

“Naruto will broaden our portfolio and contribute to achieving our strategic goal of earning 25% of our turnover through licences,” said Christian Salomon, Director of Worldwide Licensing at Ubisoft.

“Naruto is part of a wave of Japanese manga and anime that appeals to kids and adolescents alike, and we plan to give them every bit of the excitement they have experienced in Naruto’s books, movies and TV shows.” “I’m sure Ubisoft will manage to create an exciting Naruto game while respecting the anime’s spirit of passing on positive values and a lof of fun” said Hayato Date, the Japanese director of the Naruto anime series.

The license for the Naruto will see Ubisoft developing an Xbox 360 Naruto game based on a popular Japanese property, but not for the Japanese market - Ubisoft’s doesn’t have the rights to launch Naruto game titles within Japan, where Namco Bandai holds them.

Ubisoft’s plans to develop the Naruto game using its own significant internal development resources, and will launch it across the western hemisphere in 2007 - by then the anime series should be well into its run on TV networks in most major territories.