Nurtured in the mind since the 90’s and born into reality in early 2005, Reef Entertainment is based in new offices near the city of Milton Keynes. Established as a UK based computer games publishing company, Reef has been set up as a UK based independent studio-style organization, not owned by or connected to any other major entertainment group, to provide developers and content owners with a distinct and alternate route to markets worldwide. We had the opportunity to speak with Craig Lewis, Reef Entertainment’s Commercial Director (UK) and discuss the development and release of the new Rambo video game.
Kevin: What inspired your company to get involved with a project like Rambo? Was it inspired by the release of the recent Rambo film in 2008 or was it inspired by the overall nostalgia for the franchise as a whole?
Craig Lewis: There are many people here at Reef including Peter and myself who love the Rambo movies. The power of the brand was clear when we gave our first press release on this title, it simply went mad. Since new investment has been placed in Reef, we have been keen to grow both the company and also the size of the projects we are doing, and Rambo will clearly put us on the map!
K: Will the plot in the game feature already established plots from the films? Or are you hoping to take Rambo into new territory with the game series?
CL: Although we will not stick super closely with the story lines, it is our intention to follow the theme of the films certainly for the first game. We may decide to deviate from this with future releases in the franchise, but for now we think it is important to stick with the true nature of the Rambo story.
K: Will any actors from the Rambo films be involved in the new video game project?
CL: This is something I cannot confirm at the moment, we have had a lot of interest in the game since we first announced it but are not at a stage where we could specify who is going to be involved in the project.
K: At this point is there any idea what type of game you will be making (ie. First Person Shooter / Third Person Shooter / etc.)?
CL: We will have a full press release on this very point, all I can say at the moment is of course it will be a shooter with lots of guns, explosions and everything that is Rambo! More specific information on the game will be released on the build up to Christmas.
K: The original press release stated you’re going to be developing multiple titles, can you expand on that at all? Any idea how many projects you are planning to develop?
CL: We are focusing on the first game at the moment, it is very important to us that we do everything possible to ensure the game is great and also well received by the gamers themselves. We have spent a lot of time reading through forums and also studying different game ideas and concepts and so we are confident people will love RAMBO THE VIDEO GAME! Of course we will be looking into a second Rambo game, but at this stage nothing has been decided on this.
K: What else can we expect from Reef Entertainment in the future?
CL: Bigger and better things! As mentioned before, Reef has recently had some additional funding and so this has allowed the company to grow bigger than before. Although Reef is not a major publisher, we aim to release good quality games at a good price. There are several other exciting games in the pipeline of which we will let you know as soon as we have them confirmed.
Cool rambo is a good action movie.