Electronic Arts has announced it has entered into a publishing agreement with Hothead Games to publish Ron Gilbert’s forthcoming DeathSpank on both Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network later this year. For folks who don’t know Rob Gilbert’s name, he’s the LucasArts veteran who brought Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island to the gaming world: DeathSpank is widely described as combining the combat frenzy of games like Diablo with humor, over-the-top animations, and massive heaps of loot.
“The team at Hothead Games is [..] a great example of how the EA Partners program continues to emphasize the importance of building strong relationships with the world’s top indie developers,” said EA Partners’ outreach director Jamil Moledina, in a statement. “DeathSpank is an engrossingly fun and hysterically funny experience, and we are all excited to have the opportunity to help introduce DeathSpank to gamers across the world.”
The game casts players in the role of—you guessed it—DeathSpank, Hero to the Downtrodden, Vanquisher of Evil, and Defender of Justice. DeathSpank is out wandering around the world looking for “The Artifact”—never mind he’s been looking his whole life without a lot of success. Players will guide DeathSpank through battling a tyrant, rescuing some Orphans, and solve the mystery of the legendary Thongs of Virtue…and along the way collect heaps of loot, wield a lot of weapons, wreak a lot of havoc, and collect a lot of loot. DeathSpank features accessible combat, challenging-but-“completely fair” puzzles, witty dialog, and “a real story…not a crappy video game story!”
EA expects to bring DeathSpank to Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network in 2010—the company hasn’t announced any firmer dates, but we bet it will be in time for the end-of-year holiday buying season. No word either on pricing or ratings…but with the Thongs of Virtue we’re thinking it wont’ be E for “Everyone.”
