Paramount moves into video games

Venture Beat — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:22:49 -0700

It’s a little late from the point of view of its rivals, but Paramount Pictures has finally decided to take a plunge into video games.

The Hollywood studio is expanding its video game division with a slate of games that will start coming out later this year, according to Variety.

Most movie studios have seen why this makes financial sense. A movie might cost $90 million to make and gross $100 million. But a video game costs $30 million at the most and can still generate $100 million. For a few years now, video game console hardware and software sales have trumped movie box office receipts. (Yes, we know that games cost $50 or $60, and movies about $10).

Warner Bros. has expanded its presence in games under well-known developer Jason Hall and Disney is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on its own video game expansion. Sony, of course, has had both a motion picture and video game business for years.

Variety says that Paramount wants to invest in all types of games but is particularly interested in casual, handheld and mobile games. As we’ve reported, these are some of the hottest areas for start-ups these days. The rest of Viacom, which owns Paramount, is also active in video games. The MTV division owns Harmonix, creator of the hit game Rock Band. MTV also has a deal with famous Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer to make a series of video games. Viacom chief Sumner Redstone has also had an investment in Midway Games, which recently named a new CEO, for some time.

What else could Paramount be working on? Well, this reminds me of Star Trek Online, a massively multiplayer online game that has been in the works for a while. (more…)