“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” one of the summer’s most highly anticipated movie releases, premieres July 7. But for one Rockville-based software company, Piratemania starts today.
Local video game publisher Bethesda Softworks releases “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow” today, a companion game to the successful Walt Disney Co.-owned “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie franchise.
The second in a series of three planned “Pirates” games, “The Legend of Jack Sparrow” features the voice of Johnny Depp, who plays the title character in the movie. Depp did not make an appearance in Maryland to record his lines, opting instead to voice the character at 7 Studios in Los Angeles, co-developer of the game.
Bethesda Softworks — which owns the publishing rights to “Pirates” games for Playstation 2 and the PC — approached Disney during production of the first “Pirates of the Caribbean” film with a pitch for a “Pirates”-based video game, said Pete Hines, a spokesman for Bethesda Softworks.
The second game was indevelopment for a year and Bethesda Softworks is already discussing ideas for the third — to be released in conjunction with the third movie — with 7 Studios and Disney.
Bethesda Softworks, which employs about 100 people, is a privately held company that also has developed several successful award-winning games in-house.
For example, the company’s “Elder Scrolls” series has sold in the millions. The publisher also owns the rights to the Star Trek video game franchise.
Double Depp
» Johnny Depp voices the title character for Bethesda Softworks’ second “Pirates”-inspired video game.
» Unlike the first video game, this one features the main characters from the movie.
