Pirates of the Caribbean to plunder MMORPG market

Just weeks after Buena Vista Games announced it was establishing a game series based on the Pirates of the Caribbean films, one of its corporate siblings is getting onboard the Disneyland-ride-inspired franchise. This morning, Disney Online, part of the Walt Disney Internet Group, said it is developing a new massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Pirates of the Caribbean Online.

The MMORPG will launch in summer 2006 alongside the next film in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. The game will be developed internally by the "Walt Disney Internet Group's acclaimed VR Studio," the same shop responsible for Disney Online's other MMORPG, Toontown Online. No specific platforms for the game were announced, nor was a pricing structure laid out.

Disney Online describes Pirates of the Caribbean Online as "a world of high seas action and adventure where players will personalize their own pirate character and organize with other players to form a pirate crew." Unlike most other pirate games, Disney's MMORPG will incorporate the supernatural elements of the films, allowing players to "embark on swashbuckling missions to battle both each other and the evil, undead pirates of the high seas."

"We've learned through our experience with Toontown that the market for massively multiplayer online role-playing games can indeed reach beyond traditional gamers," stated Disney Online's EVP and managing director Ken Goldstein. "Fans of the movies and theme park attraction will be able to live their own unfolding pirate adventure through the game, including searching for lost treasures and battling numerous enemies on land and at sea."

Disney also launched www.pirateslegend.com, a teaser site where gamers can register to receive updates about Pirates of the Caribbean.