The Starz Original series, ‘Camelot,’ gets its own social media game from Starz Digital Media, the digital and on-demand licensing arm of Starz, with today’s worldwide Beta launch of the new Camelot: The Game on Facebook. Presented in association with international distributor GK-tv, Camelot: The Game is Starz Digital Media’s second global social media game launch to leverage a new Starz Originals series, following this past January’s successful Spartacus: Gods of the Arena social game. The Spartacus: Gods of the Arena social game on Facebook surpassed one million monthly users last month according to appdata.com.
The Camelot: The Game social media game is free to play and brings players a unique gaming challenge that combines resource management and turn-based battle/combat game mechanics. The game immerses you into King Arthur’s Camelot as lord of your own hamlet.
‘Camelot’ fans who register on Facebook (apps.facebook.com/camelotgame) and enter the password ‘Merlin’ will be eligible to play the sneak preview. Starz Digital Media has partnered again with social media gaming publisher 6waves to launch the Rise of Camelot social game. With more than 55 million monthly active users, 6waves is one of the largest social gaming publishers worldwide. Its published games include Spartacus: Gods of the Arena with Starz Digital Media, Mystery Manor, Big Business and Ravenwood Fair.
‘Fans of social gaming, the ‘Camelot’ original series, and the successful ‘Spartacus’ Facebook game, are sure to love ‘Camelot: The Game,’ said Marc DeBevoise, senior vice president, digital media, business development and strategy for Starz Media. ‘The action, adventure, and challenge of this game is unmatched in the marketplace today and is a beautiful complement and extension of the Starz Original series.’
The Facebook-based Rise of Camelot social game is free to play and allows you to build out your own hamlet and contribute to the glory of Camelot through various quests. Players decide how to get the most from their hamlet’s natural resources, including gold, ore, and wood, which they use to upgrade their hamlet or equip their army. Different building types, soldier types, and special items will allow players to pursue different strategies in the game.
Quests are a key component and provide players with an opportunity to test their soldiers’ mettle. The turn-based battle mechanic allows players to have a high degree of control over the movement and attacks of their soldiers, bringing the epic battles of Camelot to life within the game. The game quests will borrow liberally from series plot points. Players can use special items to give soldiers different abilities, such as enhanced movement, vision, or attacks. New quests, soldier types, and special items will be introduced on an ongoing basis.
Building, soldier, and special upgrades are available for purchase from within the game using gold. Players may purchase Facebook Credits to speed their progress by collecting more resources, adding premium upgrades, or deploying additional soldiers.
As with other successful social media games on Facebook, there will be several ways to recruit friends and assist each other to contribute to the glory of Camelot. Each player will begin with a special bonus based on a randomly assigned leader trait (for example, enhanced gold production or a defensive bonus in battle). Players may add their friends to their council table and get the benefit of pooling special bonuses. Players may also swap friends out of the council table at any time, providing another element of strategy to the game.
Special events and game content tied to the Ten-episode airing of ‘Camelot’ will be rolled out during the series run.
Starz Digital Media’s Camelot: The Game social media game was co-developed and co-published with Sarbakan and Large Animal Games in association with GK-tv, and is the latest digital extension of a Starz Original series. Starz Digital Media, the digital and on-demand distribution arm of Starz, has produced several innovative games and apps based on Starz Originals for PCs, iPhones, iPads and other devices.
‘Camelot’ is the latest event television series from STARZ. the first two episodes debuted on Friday, April 1, 2011 at 10pm et/pt, following a successful sneak preview on STARZ on Feb. 25, after the conclusion of ‘Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.’ ‘Camelot’ premiered on STARZ to strong reviews and large audiences.
The 10-episodes of ‘Camelot’ is a fresh telling of one of the western world’s most revered tales.
In the wake of King Uther’s sudden death, chaos threatens to engulf Britain. When the sorcerer Merlin has visions of a dark future, he installs the young and impetuous Arthur, Uther’s unknown son and heir, who has been raised from birth as a commoner. But Arthur’s cold and ambitious half sister Morgan will fight him to the bitter end, summoning unnatural forces to claim the crown in this epic battle for control. These are dark times indeed for the new king, with Guinevere being the only shining light in Arthur’s harsh world. Faced with profound moral decisions, and the challenge of uniting a kingdom broken by war and steeped in deception, Arthur will be tested beyond imagination.
Forget everything you think you know…this is the story of ‘Camelot’ that has never been told before.
‘Camelot’s’ fresh approach to telling the Arthur story extends to the casting of Joseph Fiennes as the wizard Merlin and Eva Green, in her first television role, as the powerful sorceress Morgan. The essential roles of Arthur and Guinevere are played by Jamie Campbell Bower and Tamsin Egerton, respectively.
Fiennes was most recently lead in the ABC series ‘Flash Forward’ but is probably best known for playing the title role in the Best Picture Oscar®-winner Shakespeare in Love and as Robert Dudley in the acclaimed Elizabeth. Green is best known for her role as the mysterious Bond girl Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, Sybilla in Ridley Scott’s saga Kingdom of Heaven and as Serafina Pekkala the beautiful, good witch in The Golden Compass.
Bower gained notice playing Anthony in Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, as well as his performance as Caius Volturi in Twilight: New Moon, and is generating buzz for his role in the two-part conclusion of the Harry Potter saga, when he plays Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Parts I and II. Egerton has had notable roles in such features as Keeping Mum and St. Trinian’s and got her first taste of the Arthurian legend playing the young Morgaine in the mini-series ‘The Mists of Avalon.’
Shot on-location in Ireland, ‘Camelot’ is an Irish-Canadian co-production from KA Television Productions Limited and T5 Camelot Productions, Inc. Starz is the U.S. distributor and GK-tv is the international distributor of the series excluding Canada where the series is distributed by Take 5 Distribution, Inc.
