La compañía desarrolladora Disruptor Beam, en colaboración con George R.R. Martin y la cadena HBO, ha sido la encargada de crear 'Game of Thrones Ascent', un juego social que verá la luz en Facebook y del que, actualmente, ya está disponible su versión beta.
'Game of Thrones Ascent' viene a ser la versión de tablero existente de 'Juego de Tronos' sólo que transportada al universo de las redes sociales de tal forma que, donde antes jugaban 6 participantes, ahora podrán hacerlo 500 millones de personas (según estimaciones, ya que los usuarios de Facebook son muchos más).
Otras diferencias con respecto a esta versión online, tienen que ver con el personaje que seleccionará cada jugador. Si en la edición de tablero cada jugador representaba un personaje conocido del universo de 'Juego de Tronos', en esta ocasión y por razones de masificación de jugadores, cada participante se meterá en el papel de un noble perteneciente a una de las grandes casas de la historia.
Con 'Game of Thrones Ascent', Disruptor Beam busca llevar fielmente la historia original a Facebook con detalles como alianzas o traiciones en un entorno donde primará la estrategia.
Disruptor Beam, es consciente de los fans que amparan esta conocida obra literaria y televisiva por lo que han puesto especial cuidado en el desarrollo del juego social, planteándonos el mapa de 'Westeros' como escenario donde se desenvolverán las historias e interacciones de los usuarios.
Por su parte, James Costos, vicepresidente de HBO Global Licensing, dijo: "Somos conscientes de que una de las razones por las que Game of Thrones ha tenido tanto éxito es debido a su gran, y siempre solidaria, comunidad de fans. Por esta razón, estamos encantados de dar a nuestros fans la oportunidad de sumergirse aún más en el mundo de Poniente y vivir los cuentos de intriga, sacrificio y engaño inspirados por las historias que les gustan. "
La beta de 'Game of Thrones Ascent' ya está disponible en Facebook (a través del botón 'me gusta' y aprobación posterior por parte de Disruptor Beam), por lo que el lanzamiento oficial podría estar a la vuelta de la esquina.
Tenéis más información en facebook.com/GameOfThronesAscent
Game of Thrones Ascent is the name of an upcoming social game developed by Disruptor Beam in cooperation with George R.R. Martin and HBO. At the moment, beta testing has begun on Facebook.
There already is a Game of Thrones board game, and that might be considered a kind of social game, too. Still, there is a huge difference between playing a game with up to 6 players, and doing approximately the same thing with 500 million other people. I’m saying “approximately the same thing” cause in the first scenario you are actually interacting with the other players, and you’re also seeing their faces, while in the second scenario, you are sitting in front of your computer clicking away, in a virtual world.
There are plenty of other differences between the board game and the social one. For example, in the board game, people have the major characters from the books and the series at their disposal. On the other hand, in the social game, they will lead the life of a noble pertaining to one of the great houses. Despite not playing a major character, people will be facing the same problems from the books and the HBO series: alliances, betrayal and what seems to be a never-ending war for the Iron Throne. The major goal of the developers of Game of Thrones Ascent was to bring story and strategy together. It remains to be seen if they have succeeded.
Jon Radoff, CEO of Disruptor Beam, stated: “Everyone at Disruptor Beam was a huge fan of Game of Thrones long before we began working on the game, so we recognize that other fans expect character-driven conflict and intrigue to take center stage in our new game. Westeros is the perfect setting to deliver on our vision of weaving stories through decisions and social interactions. Game of Thrones Ascent will bring the world of Westeros to the over 500 million social game players in the market today, featuring original artwork in a highly engaging game experience that is, most importantly, fun for fans and their friends!”
On the other hand, James Costos, VP of HBO Global Licensing, added: “We recognize that one of the reasons Game of Thrones has been so successful is because of its large and ever-supportive fan community. For this reason, we are delighted to give our fans the opportunity to dive even further into the world of Westeros and live out tales of intrigue, sacrifice and deception inspired by the stories they love.”
As of October 2012, Facebook has 1 billion active users. However, it is rather obvious that not all of these users will show interest in playing Game of Thrones Ascent. Some of these users use the social network strictly for keeping in touch with friends and family, others for professional reasons and not at last, despite the global popularity of the books/series/board games, there might be a great number of people who simply are not into Game of Thrones.
Beta invites are already given away on Facebook, which means that it won’t be long till the official launch of the social game. In order to be eligible for a beta invite, Facebook users must first Like the Game of Thrones Ascent page. Secondly, Facebook users who do not accept friend requests or who do not allow messaging from non-friends, cannot receive invites. More details are available on the Disruptor Beam website.
