Developers of Left Behind Games Inc. in Murrieta hope to spin off a hit video game this year from the best-selling novels about the Second Coming.
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| Cariño Casas / The Business Press |
| CEO Troy Lyndon of Left Behind Games fights a battle on the streets of virtual New York in the company's Murrieta office. |
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President Jeff Frichner and Chief Executive Officer Troy Lyndon believe the game, called Left Behind: Eternal Forces, incorporates the right elements with its "Apocalyptic" themes to appeal to mainstream audiences, not just Christian consumers who have made the 'Left Behind' book series popular.
" 'Left Behind' is a true stand-alone brand," Frichner said. "It just made sense to translate 'Left Behind' into video games because of the Apocalyptic nature of the series."
The series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins is published by Tyndale House in Carol Stream, Ill. "Left Behind" has sold more than 62 million copies since its initial release in 1995. The series has reached 12 titles, including "Tribulation Force," "Nicolae" and "The Remnant." A new title, "The Rapture" is set for release in June. The books spawned two films intended for DVD distribution.
Frichner and Lyndon hope the video game will gross at least $15 million by selling 500,000 units after the game is released in the early summer.
The Left Behind video game is a multiplayer action game that takes place during what Christians prophesy as the Rapture. The game is centered in New York, where society is in disarray and people are panicking at the return of Christ. Game players must find 40 clues throughout the game to win.
The game will be available on PC only since Sony's Playstation 3 may not be released and X Box 360 will be aged by the time the Left Behind game is released, Frichner said.
Frichner and Lyndon thought up the Left Behind game almost four years ago after attending various Christian forums discussing the harm popular video games, such as Grand Theft Auto, inflict on youth.
Lyndon has produced more than 50 video games since 1988 as president of Park Place Productions, including Madden Football, Street Fighter and Batman Returns.
Frichner has worked as a financial planner and business development specialist since 1992 with Dean Witter, now known as Morgan Stanley, and Enable Inc.
Left Behind Games became a publicly traded company in February as a subsidiary of Bonanza Gold.
Bonanza Gold is a now-defunct gold mining company that was looking for a business to assist in a reverse merger of the company, said Terry Dunne, a former director. Dunne was also the largest shareholder of Bonanza Gold.
Bonanza Gold connected with Lyndon and Frichner in August through an investment consultant who is friends with Dunne, he said.
"When we look for a company we're interested in the product and the people," Dunne said. "We had already reviewed the basics of their business plan and we were impressed with their marketing plans," he said.
Left Behind Games will hold a shareholder meeting April 18 to discuss changing Bonanza Gold's trading name to Left Behind.
"Most of the games in this [religious] genre or segment in the past have fallen short of being successful in the marketplace, primarily because of the quality of the effort," Frichner said. "Typically, you are dealing with multimillion-dollar budgets that are required for video games and generally speaking, the efforts that have gone forth in the past have not had those kinds of budgets," Frichner said.
Frichner and Lyndon had a pre-existing relationship with Tyndale House before they decided to develop the video games, Lyndon said. Left Behind Games purchased licensing rights, Lyndon said.
Frichner and Lyndon refused to provide details of the licensing agreement with Tyndale House, including the costs.
Frichner and Lyndon worked with Tyndale House in 2001 as project managers of an interactive bible.
A key to Left Behind's success in the video game market will be escaping its label as a "Christian" video game.
