SIMBIN Signs Exclusive WTCC Game License

SIMBIN have announced an exclusive four year license beginning 2005, which means they are likely to produce a 2005 carset for whatever title they build. Check out the press release below.

Press release:

SimBin further strengthens its position in the motor sport game genre. The latest achievement is to acquire the game license for the highly prestigious WTCC – the World Touring Car Championship, one of only three existing FIA* world championships.

SimBin and the two organisations behind WTCC, Eurosport and KSO, have agreed on a cooperation lasting over four seasons, 2005-2008, involving several gaming platforms.

– We are very proud to have been given this prestigious assignment – having in mind that the FIA Organisation only has three world championships, Formula One, WRC and WTCC. This is an agreement that the team and myself have worked hard to achieve, actually since 2004, and it is most inspiring to finally have reached the goal. WTCC gives us the opportunity to use our combined experience within motor sports and game development to the fullest. It will be very exciting to work closely with the 25 teams, car manufacturers and Eurosport/KSO, says Henrik Roos, SimBin CEO and former professional race driver.

– We have looked for a game developer with the experience and knowledge to take the intense and adrenaline pumping experience of WTCC racing into the world of video gaming. SimBin with its motor sport background and excellent track record from it´s previous game titles will secure that our racing fans as well as gamers can expect a WTCC game of top quality. The results are expected to be enjoyed on PC and Next gen consoles, Jaques Behar, KSO Chairman and Eurosport executive comments.

– WTCC is a completely new challenge with its own positioning: bumper to bumper, action packed, hard hitting. WTCC features race cars of similar power, road holding and aerodynamics that are based on real street cars which people can recognize. This will allow us to create intense games that attract a wide audience – just like the real life WTCC races, Tomas Karlsson, SimBin COO, explains.

*FIA – Federation International de L’Automobile, the International Automobile Association.

About WTCC
FIA World Touring Car Championship is one of only three world championships alongside Formula One and World Rally Championship. Eight car manufacturers are represented with large scale series production cars, modified by the same strict regulation, which are driven by 27 teams inscribed in the 2006 championship, competing in 20 sprint races during the series.

At the end of the season, two FIA WTCC titles will be awarded: Drivers’ Champion and Manufacturers’ Champion. Besides these FIA titles, WTCC promoter KSO and official tyre supplier Yokohama will award the Yokohama Independents’ Trophy. www.fiawtcc.com

About SimBin
SimBin Development Team AB is a Swedish game developing company making interactive entertainment with focus on the highest simulated gaming realism for all leading gaming platforms. The company possesses a global distribution network with its main markets in Europe and the US.
SimBin was founded in 2003 and occupy a total staff of 70 people, consisting of 40 employees at the headquarters in Vara and the development studio in Gothenburg, and 30 distributed consultants world wide.
In the SimBin portfolio you will find award winning titles like “GTR – FIA GT Racing Game” and “GT Legends”. www.simbin.com

About KSO/Eurosport
KSO ltd. (Kigema Sport Organisation) was established in 2001, and was appointed by the FIA as promoter of the FIA European Touring Car Championship (ETCC), which was upgradet do the world status in 2005. Working in close cooperation with the FIA and Eurosport, KSO contributed to the championship’s success and expansion. KSO has also played a significant role in the launch of the new FIA Super 2000 technical regulations and their diffusion in a number of national championships wordwide. Since 2005 Eurosport controls 100% of KSO.

The Eurosport Group is today the leading multimedia platform in Europe with Eurosport, Eurosport 2, Eurosportnews, Sportitalia, eurosport.com and Eurosport Mobile. The pan-European channel Eurosport is available in 19 different languages, reaching over 105 million homes and 240 million viewers across 54 countries.

Eurosport is the official Host Broadcaster of the FIA WTCC and will produce all FIA WTCC European rounds. This will be the first time ever that a car racing World Championship will be produced in High Definition TV Standard. Around 450 millions of viewers are forecasted to follow the WTCC action during 2006.