SI adds Out of the Park Developments

Sports Interactive announced that it has added baseball to its roster of sports management games through a deal with the Germany-based Out of the Park Developments. The deal will see the independent developer amalgamated into Sports Interactive; its leader, Markus Heinsohn, has already moved to the UK to work at Sports Interactive's office.

"Over the past couple of years we have carefully monitored and nurtured the best independent game development talent working on sports management simulations--a process which has already led to the successful integration of the Eastside Hockey team into our own," said Miles Jacobson, managing director of Sports Interactive. "We have been in discussion with Markus and his team for quite a while, and we feel that now is the perfect time for us to begin working together. We believe that our management simulation expertise will help the Out of the Park team to achieve its undoubted potential, while their knowledge and experience of baseball will allow us to expand our reach into one of the world's largest and most important markets."

"While Sports Interactive has traditionally concentrated on football, its games have always represented the state of the art to those of us trying to simulate management of other sports," added Markus Heinsohn. "We are delighted to join forces, and we look forward to working with some of the best in the business to produce the most realistic, entertaining, and compelling baseball management game possible."

Out of the Park Developments' latest title, Out of the Park Baseball 6, allows players to create and manage their own baseball dynasty in a league populated by past, present, or fictional players. The game features both single-player and online multiplayer modes of play, and it is available to download from the developer's official Web site for $34.95. Previous titles from Out of the Park Developments include, Title Bout Championship Boxing, Title Bout Boxing Quiz, and a baseball-themed role-playing game titled Inside The Park Baseball.

Sports Interactive and the Out of the Park team plan to release their first jointly produced baseball management title toward the end of next year. We'll bring you more information as soon as it becomes available.