So You Want to Play Ender’s Game?

Undertow developer Chair Entertainment has announced it has acquired video game rights to Orson Scott Card's famous sci-fi novel Ender's Game.

Orson Scott Card’s novel Ender’s Game was published in 1985, and follows the story of a young boy (Andrew “Ender” Wiggin) who somewhat unwittingly leads humanity’s war against the alien “Buggers” by playing what appear to be nothing but very elaborate video games in a military academy called the “Battle School.” It turns out, of course, that the games are really an interface with humanity’s real-life military forces; Ender eventually defeats the Buggers by destroying the alien homeworld and, effectively, committing xecocide.

Ender’s Game has long been considere ripe material for video game adaption, and now Undertow developers Chair Entertainment have announced plans to create video games based on the Battle Room featured in Ender’s Game.

“I have been a huge fan of Ender’s Game since I was ten years old, so it is a true honor for our team to be entrusted with creating the first video game inspired by this classic story,” said Donald Mustard, creative director at Chair Entertainment Group, in a release. “Our goal is to create an authentic Ender’s Game experience that delivers awesome gameplay and can be enjoyed by both longtime fans and gamers new to the series.”

The license grants Chair Entertainment the right to develop Battle Room games across all next-generation video game consoles, handheld platforms, and the PC. The games will be developed in collaboration with author Orson Scott Card; development should begin later in 2008, with the first release expected to be available via downloadable platforms.