Activision rolls out deal for Transformers license

Robots battling other robots is a plain and simple winning formula. The rights to the latest bot-on-bot action property making its way to movie theaters was landed by Activision, and it's not Battlebots. Confirming rumors that first percolated last month, Activision announced that it has reached a deal with the Hasbro Properties Group and will be publishing games based on the upcoming Transformers movie, in production by Dreamworks.

The handheld, console, and PC games are scheduled to be released concurrently with the film, which hits theaters July 4, 2007. No details have been announced about the game's platforms or genre. However, to no one's surprise, it's apparent that the most famous Autobot will be included in the game.

"We are thrilled to work with Activision to bring the widely popular Transformers brand to the world of digital entertainment and introduce millions of consumers to our best-known Transformer and biggest hero of all time--Optimus Prime," said Jane Ritson-Parsons, president of the Hasbro Properties Group.

The Transformers toys were a big hit with kids during the 1980s and spawned an animated television series and movie. Transformers lore saw shape-shifting robots that could transform into cars, guns, robotic dinosaurs, and even metal insects. Two factions, the benevolent Autobots and the maniacal Decepticons, battled each other across the galaxy as their civil war spilled onto Earth.

The Transformers film is under the direction of Michael Bay, the action specialist who helmed The Island and Bad Boys II, and will combine live-action and computer-generated images. Alex Kutzman and Robert Orci (Mission: Impossible III) penned the screenplay, and Steven Spielberg and Hasbro's Brian Goldner are executive producing. Though the plot has not yet been disclosed, it will presumably see the Autobots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of...the Decepticons.