THQ announces Pride

THQ has announced that it has reached an agreement with Dream Stage Entertainment to release games based on the Japanese shoot-fighting league Pride in North America and Europe. Although similar to the UFC, Pride features fights that are much more free-form and fierce than the US league. The first game scheduled to be released under the agreement is aptly titled Pride, and it is being developed for the Sony PlayStation 2 by Anchor. The Japanese developer also worked on the first UFC game for Crave and is developing WWF Raw is War for the Xbox.

"THQ has a long and storied history of partnering with the best wrestling and fighting developers in the world to deliver the most authentic and entertaining games possible,'' said Brian Farrell, president and chief executive officer of THQ. "Working with a world-class developer such as Anchor will ensure that Pride for PlayStation 2 is one of the most painstakingly accurate and dramatic fighting games ever created."

As part of the five-year agreement, THQ will also release Pride games for the Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, and PC platforms. The PlayStation 2 game will be out in the latter half of 2002.