You are reading it here first. The approximately Rs 60 crore expensive futuristic love story starring newcomer Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra will be launching a PC game as well. While the concept of movie-based games isn’t new (although almost all have been huge critical failures, while some like Path of Neo, have been commercial successes inspite of it), its a first for a Bollywood film. Early screenshots (below) indicate it to be a fairly low poly engine, presumably based on Directx 9. Development on the game has been done by Rocking Pixels in co-ordination with various undisclosed US based firms. Not much on the developer besides a search synopsis stating they develop for the PC, 360 and the PS3. Currently, the website prides itself on its anonymity. Hyderabad based FX Labs is another developer currently developing a title for the now 2 year old, Dhoom 2. Its previous attempt at a PC game based on Malaika Arora Khan, titled Agni, sank without a trace. There doesn’t seem to be a mobile variant of the Love Story game .Is it more viable to create a low cost flash game, like Zapak did for Bhootnath, or walk down the green mile and hedge bets on platforms, development and retail releases? I wager putting all my earnings on the casual end of the ring.
Considering the various merchandising options available around the movie, there will be a huge thrust on the ancillary market. The movie features special effects executed by the likes of Weta and John Cox, so there is already a fair amount of data in terms of textures and models which could be used. While the movie is scheduled to be released on July 4, the game is expected to be launched sometime in June with a price point around the Rs 199 mark. As with any movie based game release, its fate rests on the popularity of the main franchise, one which remains to be seen.
