Archer Maclean signs with Bethesda

Archer Maclean’s studio Awesome Play has signed its new futuristic Wii racer Wheelspin to publisher Bethesda.

Wheelspin is described as a ‘a high-energy racing, high-impact game spread across a wide range of inter-planetary tracks’.

The game will be released in Europe this autumn. It’s the third major signing Bethesda has made in the UK development scene – it has nabbed the publishing rights to Splash Damage’s Brink and is also working with Rebellion on Rogue Warrior.

The game features solo, multiplayer and battle modes and supports up to eight players through split-screen play and a variety of controllers, including the Wii Remote plus Classic Controllers and racing wheels.

“Wheelspin is a frantically fast-paced game which pushes the Wii to its maximum capabilities. With nothing but your own reactions and the tilt of the Wii Remote between you and victory, this game is a truly thrilling experience," explained Sean Brennan, MD of Bethesda parent ZeniMax Europe.

“Archer Maclean and Awesome Play have delivered a great game which we believe gamers will relish the chance to get to grips with. Wheelspin makes great use of the controllers supported by the Wii and players will find that there’s the perfect control set up for their individual gaming styles”.

Maclean himself describes the game as a cutting edge racer that pushes the console to its limits: "Wheelspin was designed exclusively for the Wii – with the intention of pushing the hardware further than any other Wii racing game to date. You have to see the graphics moving to believe its coming out of a Wii – the visuals rush past smoothly at 60 FPS all in widescreen 480P mode

"We are very pleased to be working with Sean and his team at Bethesda, many of whom have been involved with my previous titles going back 20 years".