June 04, 2007 – Kuma Games, a leading game publisher and developer specializing in high-quality episodic games, and The History Channel today announced a partnership to develop an online video game companion to The History Channel series "Dogfights."
Beginning July 13 with the launch of the second season of the acclaimed aerial combat series, Kuma will release video game recreations of the historic battles online simultaneously with upcoming television episodes, allowing viewers to watch the show and then re-live the historical battles. Appealing to all levels of gamers - from the casual to hard-core enthusiasts - Kuma's game-isodes let viewers experience what it takes to dogfight and will be available for free download at www.History.com and www.KumaGames.com.
This marks the second collaboration between The History Channel and Kuma Games. Last year's "Kuma\War WWII\Vietnam" partnership was a trailblazing success, attracting close to one million gamers who have played more than 16 million total game-isodes, proving that Kuma's "view it, then do it" cross-medium entertainment model works. With "Dogfights," Kuma and The History Channel take their partnership to a new level, delivering a combined first person shooter/flight-simulation game with advanced gameplay and detailed landscapes. Built around a modified version of Valve's acclaimed Source game engine, Dogfights recreates dozens of detailed fighter planes of the era - including legends like the Zero and the Hellcat - for spectacular aerial battles in beautiful, photo-realistic environments.
"We are at the cutting edge of an entertainment revolution," says Keith Halper, CEO of Kuma Reality Games. "For the TV fan who wants more, we provide a free, high-quality, fully-immersive game experience that corresponds to the TV episode you just saw. We are very excited to be partnering with The History Channel's top-quality programming to produce what we believe to be the next wave in entertainment."
"With the amazing success of "Kuma\War WWII\Vietnam" we decided to expand our efforts and offer the interactive experience with 'Dogfights,' which is our highest-rated original series," said Paul Jelinek, Senior Vice President, Digital Media, A&E Television Networks. "We're excited to be working with Kuma Games to pioneer a new arena of cross-medium interaction and story telling, bringing TV and games together for a truly cohesive experience."
"Dogfights" is a popular series changing the face of television, returning this summer with 20 new episodes featuring stunning 3-D re-creations of classic battles and commentary from the pilots themselves. The series showcases the extraordinary courage and skill of men who flew the most sophisticated machines of their day, whether exchanging high-powered missiles in fierce aerial combat or using the planes themselves as weapons in desperate suicide attacks. And now, for the first time in history, viewers can step into the cockpit themselves.
Tune in to the premiere of "Dogfights" season two Friday, July 13 at 9:00pm ET/PT. Viewers can log onto www.History.com or www.KumaGames.com and download the game for free immediately after each episode airs.
About Kuma Games
KUMA, LLC.is the industry leader in the new market for Episodic Video Games intense and powerful, up-to-the-minute 3D game experiences delivered to PCs in weekly episodes. Using groundbreaking technology, Kuma´s free games are inspired by just-released TV shows or films, real world news events, and pop culture happenings. The episodic games are a thoroughly unique user experience and present distinct marketing advantages for TV partners, advertisers, content owners and distributors. Kuma has extensive experience in developing accurate re-creations of military events. For over two years, Kuma\War has expanded the boundaries of news reporting through accurate and timely re-creations of real-world military events through its episodic game series KUMA\WAR, now in its 79th episode. KUMA\WAR is widely recognized for its accuracy and immersiveness, and is used by the US ARMY for training purposes.
About The History Channel
The History Channel® is one of the leading cable television networks featuring compelling original, nonfiction specials and series that bring history to life in a powerful and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. The network provides an inviting place where people experience history in new and exciting ways enabling them to connect their lives today to the great lives and events of the past that provide a blueprint for the future. The History Channel has earned three Peabody Awards, three Primetime Emmy® Awards, ten News and Documentary Emmy® Awards and received the prestigious Governor´s Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for the network´s Save Our History® campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. The History Channel reaches more than 90 million Nielsen subscribers. The website is located at www.History.com. Press Only: For more information and photography please visit us on the web at www.historychannelpress.com