Midway gets rights for Ant Bully games

Midway and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today announced a deal that gives Midway the rights to publish games based on Warner Bros. Picture's upcoming computer-animated family film, The Ant Bully. The agreement covers the rights for interactive console, handheld, and PC games, and both Midway and Warner Bros. executives stressed that the games would be aimed at younger gamers.

The Ant Bully tells the story of Lucas Nickle, a boy who floods an ant colony with a water gun and then is shrunken down to insect size to be punished for his misdeed. The computer-generated characters will be voiced by a star-laden cast, including actors Nicolas Cage, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Alan Cumming, Paul Giamatti, and Lily Tomlin.

The cast also includes a few voices that will be familiar to gamers. David Kaye has made a healthy career out of game voice acting, most notably as the voice of Clank in Sony's Ratchet and Clank games, while Larry Cedar has provided voices for more than a dozen characters in EverQuest II, as well as appearing in Shadow of Rome, the last few Tony Hawk games, and Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain. Midway has not yet announced whether the games based on The Ant Bully will feature any of these actors' vocal talents.

The Ant Bully is scheduled for release next year and has not yet been rated. Midway has yet to announce any platforms for the game.