Apple Corps Ltd. announced the Beatles’ first foray into video games in a deal which will allow fans to play along to the Fab Four’s entire canon from Meet The Beatles to Abbey Road.
The new game, said to be developed with input from surviving Beatles Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, is due to be released sometime next year.
“The project is a fun idea which broadens the appeal of The Beatles and their music,” McCartney said in a statement released by Apple Corps LTD. and MTV Networks, who are partners in the deal.
The game is being made by the creators of Rock Band, the best-selling video game that lets players live out their fantasies of rock stardom, playing guitar or drums to tracks by performers like the Grateful Dead, The Who and Jimmy Buffet.
Unlike previous editions of Rock Band, however, this one will exist as a Beatles game, rather than simply as a branded version of Rock Band. It was being described by executives as a “journey” through the band’s career, from its first album to its last.
“Every member of the Apple team - Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono Lennon have been part of the conversation, have seen demonstrations of the game, understand how it’s going to roll out, what you’re going to see on your screen, how the interactivity and the immersive experience will unfold and they will be involved along every step of the way creatively and musically, ” Apple Corps’ CEO Jeff Jones said in the statement.
Until now, McCartney and the other stakeholders in Apple Corps, the company established by the Beatles to oversee the band’s business interests, have not allowed the sale of their songs on digital music sites such as iTunes.
MTV Networks, which owns Harmonix, the developer of Rock Band, has been in negotiations on this deal for 17 months. Rock Band was released two years ago and has sold about 3.5 million copies since.
“The Beatles continue to evolve with the passing of time and how wonderful that the Beatles’ legacy will find its natural progression into the 21st century through the computerized world we live in. Let the games commence,” Ringo Starr said.
Activision, the owner of Guitar Hero, Rock Bands chief competitor, was also believed to have been wooing Apple.
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