Acclaimed action film star Danny Glover has joined UAE-based Colourblind Entertainment’s board of directors and will play an  integral role in the future development of ‘Sharq Warriors’ a videogame franchise featuring ‘Sami’ the first modern Arab action hero.

Colourblind has formed a partnership with Louverture Films which was co-founded by Danny Glover and producer/writer Joslyn Barnes.

“I first heard about this project during a visit to Dubai and could see the huge potential of developing the ‘Sami’ franchise,” said Glover.

“My production company Louverture is venturing into 3-D animation films as well as other new media and ‘Sami and ‘Sharq Warriors are a perfect fit for us. I am also excited to be involved in creating heroes for other regions like South Asia and Africa that have been ignored or handled insensitively by the existing game developers.”

Danny Glover’s career spans more than 30 years in the entertainment business including the action film franchise that started them all, ‘Lethal Weapon.’ He joins internationally renowned journalist Riz Khan, a show host at Al Jazeera English and formerly with the BBC and CNN, as part of an acclaimed international team that is launching the video game.

Khan said the experience that Louverture brings will be invaluable in achieving the full potential of ’Sami’ and other franchises being developed by the company. 

“Danny Glover has succeeded in Hollywood, which is the toughest entertainment market in the world,” said Khan.

Colourblind has spent two years developing the ‘Sharq Warriors’ and will launch the full game across the Middle East and around the world later this year. This comes as industry analysts are predicting very strong growth for the sector.

According to analyst Daniel Ernst of consulting firm Hudson Square Research (HSR), from March 2007 to March 2008, global videogame (software) revenues grew 38 per cent. Global software sales reached $26.5 billion, only slightly behind the film industry’s $26.7 billion.

For the rest of the year he anticipates global software revenues to climb another 31 per cent to $34.6 billion.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) in a study of the global entertainment industries expects videogame sales to continue growing through to 2011. Its ‘Global Entertainment and Media Outlook’ report predicts the worldwide gaming market will be worth $48.9 billion by 2011.

Colourblind Entertainment has created Sami and the Sharq Warriors specifically for video gamers from the Middle East region, looking for a hero they can directly relate to, in a dynamic story featuring the latest 3-D graphics.

Sami uses shooting, driving and parkour (free running) skills as he navigates tricky desert settings and comes under rapid fire from the robotic defense systems operated by the Shamal Force. Sami is fighting to save his homeland – a modern fictional Middle Eastern country and to free his sister who has been captured by the GEG militia.

The PC (Windows) game will be available soon, as a free download, in English and Arabic. – TradeArabia News Service