Free Doctor Who games get international release, price tag

Gamers clamoring for a global release of Doctor Who: The Adventure Games today received answers.

The series' first installment, City of the Daleks, will arrive in markets outside the UK in July, according to Digital Spy. The news stems from BBC Interactive editor Iain Tweedale, who said BBC Worldwide plans to release the series' four episodes, one per month, through unspecified third-party game sites.

The franchise's first episode was released in the United Kingdom in early June, where it was available digitally for free, but international markets will have to pay. When the series comes to the United States in July, it will cost what Tweedale said will be a "small fee."

The discrepancy in release windows between the United States and the UK was a result of the show's scheduling differences. These differences, according to Tweedale, were rather serendipitous, as the game will be released in the new market around some "key events" in the United States.

"It was always intended to be a bit later. So in the US the series is running a few weeks behind the UK, so that kind of fits nicely," Tweedale said. "But there are some key events happening in the US that we will probably launch it around, big gaming events, and so that's sort of the thinking there."

Doctor Who is a British science-fiction TV series that has been running since 1963. The star of the series is the mysterious character The Doctor, a member of an alien race called the Time Lords. UK-based Sumo Digital (Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, Virtua Tennis 3) is developing the series.