Ubisoft making "Avengers" videogame

SAN FRANCISCO - Agence France-Presse

The Avengers. AP Photo

Fresh from smashing weekend movie box office records in North America, "The Avengers" are taking their moves to the world of videogames.

French videogame titan Ubisoft on Thursday announced a deal with Marvel Entertainment to create a title based on the fictional heroes as well as villains from their comic book realm.

"We are excited to team up with Marvel Entertainment to bring some of the most iconic comic book characters from the Marvel line-up to life in motion-gaming," said Ubisoft US senior vice president of marketing Tony Key.

"Fans of the Marvel universe and superhero games are going to love the extensive combinations of characters, motion-controlled moves and competitive gameplay." Ubisoft's studio in Quebec is designing the "Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth" game for play using motion-sensing control features of Xbox 360 consoles with Kinect and Nintendo's coming Wii U systems.

The videogame is slated for release later this year.

"We are confident that Ubisoft's talent matches Marvel's own commitment to making the 'Avengers: Battle for Earth' the best in the motion-controlled gaming category," said Marvel senior vice president of games Andreea Enache-Thune.

The game will feature 20 different characters including Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America, according to Ubisoft.
 More information about the title was available online at AvengersBattleForEarth.com.

"The Avengers" film pummeled the competition to haul in $207.4 million on its opening weekend, box office figures showed Monday.

Directed by cult favorite Joss Whedon, the Walt Disney high-thrills action adventure made in collaboration with Marvel Comics scored the highest grossing US debut of all time.

Walt Disney said the film, which was released first abroad before hitting US shores, had already raked in some $641.8 million and reports said it was on target to join the elite club of the world's few billion-dollar movies.