Kabam has opted to officially launch The Godfather: Five Families exclusively on Google+ Games. Based on intellectual property licensed from Paramount Digital Entertainment, the title also represents the first time a major movie franchise has expanded into a hardcore social game.
Although this launch strategy obviously is a competitive bonus for Google+, Facebook should keep it in perspective. Google may tacitly have made an offer Kabam couldn’t refuse when Google Ventures and Pinnacle Ventures led an $85 million funding round in May. As Tom Hagen told Sonny Corleone, “This is business, not personal.”
Kabam worked with Paramount, home of the Academy Award-winning films in The Godfather series, in developing the storyline and game. The massively multiplayer social game features the infamous Five Families of that crime fighting saga set in an open-ended storyline that allows players to create their own destinies. Players also will be able to tap into their Circles to enrich and improve the game experience, reinforcing individual play as well as group collaboration and support.
“The Godfather: Five Families has enjoyed the best ever beta period for a Kabam game,” said Chris Carvalho, chief operating officer of Kabam. “To support the exclusive launch on The Godfather: Five Families on Google+, Google will provide promotional support to maximize the game’s visibility to Google+ users. This is our fourth title to launch on Google+ and they have repeatedly exceeded our expectations.”
The game is set in New York City, ten years before the first events of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather movie in 1945. Players affiliate themselves with one of the Five Families, and then let ruthless ambition take over as they climb to the top, propelled by cunning, criminality and covetousness.
“The Family faction group has proven particularly strong in The Godfather: Five Families, giving players a larger social entity to belong to alongside their Crew of allied players,” said Larry Koh, general manager of The Godfather: Five Families. “It’s fascinating to see the different Families battle for supremacy, and also interesting to see how other players treat the Don of their Family, even waiting for orders from him before taking action, just as they would a real Mafia Don.”
Related links:
http://www.kabam.com/the-godfather
Paramount Pictures – http://www.thegodfather.com
Image shows concept art from The Godfather: Five Families, courtesy of Kabam Games
Hope G+ let’s you block these games as easily as Facebook does. Love social media, but Farmville and the like don’t float my boat!