Earthworm Jim is one of the most unique and bizarre settings in videogames to have achieved mass popularity. Sadly, the worm has been firmly underground for about a decade by this point, and a revival planned last year involving a new game has yet to materialize.
Today, Gameloft and Interplay announced that the annelid in the super suit is on his way back with a game releasing on the download services of all three major consoles, with a one-month exclusivity agreement for the Xbox 360, and mobile phones. What is less clear is whether this is an entirely new game or simply a port of a previous Earthworm Jim title.
That it’s headed to WiiWare (the first two Earthworm Jim games are already available on Virtual Console) and the emergence of Gameloft a licensee of the property suggests that it’s all-new, which would be exciting, but the press release we received does not definitively state this. We’ll keep an eye out for more news as it develops. Hit the jump for a copy of the release.
Gameloft and Interplay to Bring Earthworm Jim to Mobile Platforms and Downloadable Consoles
PRNewswire, London, August 17. NEW YORK – Gameloft, leading international publisher and developer of video games for mobile phones and consoles. (PRNewsFoto/Gameloft)
NEW YORK, NY UNITED STATES
The Game Wiggles its Way on to Xbox Live Arcade, WiiWare(TM), PlayStation(R)Network and Mobile Devices
NEW YORK, August 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Gameloft, a leading developer and publisher of downloadable video games, today announced a multi-year licensing agreement with Interplay to develop, distribute and publish Earthworm Jim, a popular run and gun platform video game featuring an earthworm who dresses up in a Super Suit to fight evil. The game will make its way to mobile, WiiWare(TM), PlayStation Network, with an exclusive one month run on Xbox Live(R) Arcade.
“We are delighted to partner with Interplay to bring Earthworm Jim to multiple downloadable platforms,” said Gonzague de Vallois, senior vice president, Gameloft. “The game, with its humorous and edgy style, is a great fit for today’s gamer who craves a fully immersive experience that is fun and easily accessible. We look forward to delivering a fantastic game.”
“Earthworm Jim resonates with millions of people worldwide and we are excited to have one of the best developers in the industry create this game for a new audience,” said Herve Caen, CEO, Interplay. “Gameloft’s creativity coupled with its innate knack for innovative games, makes us 100% confident that the result will be nothing short of stellar.”
Initially released in 1994, Earthworm Jim’s games garnered such a cult following that the character’s popularity took him far beyond video games into an animated TV series, Toys and Comic books. Earthworm Jim centers around an ordinary earthworm who engages in normal worm activities- eating dirt, crawling and fleeing from hungry birds- that is until he comes across a high tech indestructible space suit. Jim takes refuge in the space suit while fleeing from hungry birds. The suit’s powerful atomic particles cause him to grow and obtain newfound powers.
The game will be available in the last quarter of 2009. For the latest information on the game, follow Gameloft on our Twitter feed: http://www.twitter.com/Gameloft
