2008 has been a spectacular year in terms of action movies.  From Cloverfield to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, to The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, and last but certainly not least, Wanted, action movies have repeatedly been box office success stories this year.  Comic book conversions have been even more successful.  Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, and of course, Batman: The Dark Knight have grossed billions of dollars world wide, with The Dark Knight alone threatening to become one of the highest grossing films of all time.  It has been only natural for online gaming companies to try to use these successes to their advantage, as groups like Microgaming and Cryptologic have already translated such distinguished and well-known franchises as The Hulk, Blade, and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider into wildly popular slot games.  Virtual gaming provider Playtech has recently agreed on a partnership with media giant Paramount to create games based on classics Gladiator and The Untouchables.  

Following suit now is PartyGaming, who have just announced the establishment of a new licensing agreement with French-based film production and distribution company, Studio Canal.  The deal, to last for four years, gives PartyGaming the rights to use Studio Canal’s most popular action franchises like Rambo and Terminator as concepts for future games.  As Rambo and Terminator brands are two of the biggest franchises in movie history, PartyGaming expects an immediate payoff, while Studio Canal expects the online casino to be a big help with viral marketing and promotional campaigns for new and upcoming movies, pointing PartyGaming’s customers to Studio Canal web sites by way of advertisements.  Gaming providers and studios alike realize that there lies an inherent appeal in movie-based games because of player familiarity with characters, themes, and music.  The chance for a customer to role play as John Rambo, John Connor, or one of the Terminator android models is undeniably anticipated.

Already established movie spin-off slots like PartyGaming’s Mission: Impossible and Saturday Night Fever have proven to be popular amongst players so this seems like the logical next step to Jim Ryan, Chief Executive Officer at PartyGaming: “Creating unique and exclusive themed content is a key element to our strategy because the power of popular international brands and their ability to add substantial value to our game portfolio is clear.” “We plan to license more brands over the next coming months to improve further the quality and range of our games and keep ahead of our competitors.  Terminator and Rambo will be an exciting addition to our expanding suite of games providing PartyCasino.com’s customers with more great fun and entertainment.”

The CEO added that PartyGaming has plans for the near future to also include old-school blockbusters and favorites like The Godfather and Top Gun to their ever-growing stable of games, and predicts that other virtual gaming services will soon endeavor to duplicate their success.