SAN FRANCISCO, April 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Bigpoint– a global leader in online games – today announced its partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products to develop an online game based on Ice Age, the hit motion picture franchise. With access to the most popular characters and settings from the films, the free-to-play browser game – Ice Age Online – will give fans a new way to experience the entertaining prehistoric storylines.

“We’re excited to work with one of the most successful film franchises of all time,” said Heiko Hubertz, CEO and founder, Bigpoint. “We’re equally happy to begin working with Fox on this project and are eager to give Ice Age fans another way to enjoy the fun they’ve had at the movies.”

In Ice Age Online, players assume the role of a sloth that recently discovered the perfect place for animals from the herd to live. Along the way, the herd gets separated and lost. Players must rescue the lost animals and build up a camp for them to live. In the adventure mode, players collect precious acorns and construction materials – such as wood, flowers, coconuts, and mud – from locations based on the film franchise, including Ice Age: Continental Drift, the fourth animated film from the franchise releasing from Twentieth Century Fox in theaters in 3D July 2012. Acorns and materials are used to build camps for the rescued animals to live.

“Video games and film have an organic connection, and the online game space offers virtually limitless creative opportunities to extend the cinematic experience and the Ice Age brand,” said Jeffrey Godsick, President of Fox Consumer Products. “Bigpoint, the market-leading pioneer among online video game companies, is the natural choice for us to partner with in building the world of Ice Age Online.”

Customization & Socialization

At the beginning of the game, players have the opportunity to customize their sloth character. Options include gender selection, multiple color and fur combinations, special haircuts and headdresses, and a number of wardrobe choices. The game will also offer a number of socialization features, including friend lists and activity trackers, leaderboards, and the ability to challenge other players and friends. Friends can also visit each other’s camps to see which animals have been rescued and leave gifts of food and construction materials.

As players progress through the game they will unlock bonus levels. In these special levels, players will compete as other popular characters from Ice Age in specially-designed gameplay that puts each character’s unique strengths to the test.

Ice Age Online will be built atop the Unity development platform, which allows high-end graphics to be displayed in common web browsers, such as Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.

About the Ice Age Film Franchise

With over $4 billion in box office, home entertainment and consumer products sales, the Ice Age franchise is a perennial hit. This announcement of Ice Age Online comes during a booming time for the franchise with the fourth installment of the film series, Ice Age 4: Continental Drift, in theaters in 3D July 2012. In the new movie, Scrat’s nutty pursuit of the cursed acorn, which he’s been after since the dawn of time, has world-changing consequences – a continental cataclysm that triggers the greatest adventure of all for Manny, Diego and Sid. In the wake of these upheavals, Sid reunites with his cantankerous Granny and the herd encounters a ragtag menagerie of seafaring pirates determined to stop them from returning home. The film features a returning cast voiced by Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Sean William Scott, and Queen Latifah along with new characters voiced by Jennifer Lopez, Wanda Sykes, Keke Palmer, Aziz Ansari, Drake and Peter Dinklage among others.

For more information about the new movie, please visit: http://www.iceagemovie.com/

About Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products

A recognized industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products licenses and markets properties worldwide on behalf of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Twentieth Television and Fox Broadcasting Company, as well as third-party lines. The division is aligned with Twentieth Century Fox Television, one of the top suppliers of primetime entertainment programming to the broadcast networks.

About Fox Filmed Entertainment

One of the world’s largest producers and distributors of motion pictures, Fox Filmed Entertainment produces, acquires and distributes motion pictures throughout the world. These motion pictures are produced or acquired by the following units of FFE: Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox International Productions and Twentieth Century Fox Animation.

About Bigpoint

Bigpoint is an online-game developer, publisher and content provider for more than 1000 global distribution partners. Bigpoint’s free-to-play games are played by over 250 million registered users in over 25 languages. The company’s portfolio includes casual, core, and hardcore titles, including Battlestar Galactica Online, The Mummy Online, and Drakensang Online. Over 900 employees from more than 35 countries work together at Bigpoint offices in Hamburg, Berlin, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Pairs, London, and Malta.

For more information about the game, please visit: http://www.iceageonline.com/

SOURCE Bigpoint