Good Shepherd partners with Rebellion to create games set in the iconic 2000 AD universe.
Good Shepherd, a Devolver Digital group, and Rebellion (Sniper Elite) have formed a groundbreaking partnership through the Good Shepherd video game adaptations of stories from the popular 2000 AD universe – home of Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, ABC Warrior and many more iconic ones Figures – will develop and publish. There are also other Rebellion comic IPs including Roy of the Rovers and Battle Action.
Good Shepherd has been publishing video games since 2011, including hits like Monster Train and the Transport Fever franchise. The label has experienced strong growth in the area of adaptations in recent years with strong brands such as John Wick Hex and Hellboy. This gave rise to a new direction: to combine world-class video game publishing with popular entertainment brands.
“We’re big fans of Rebellion and 2000 AD,” said Amanda Kruse, Head of Business Development and Publishing at Good Shepherd. “We’re still in the early stages, but building this with partners who understand the art of adaptation across media boundaries has been amazing. We’re excited to bring fans the hits they’ve come to expect. However, we are even more excited to play with the treasures from the depths of the comic box.”
Rebellion is the manager and rights holder for a large number of British comics. As well as the legendary Judge Dredd, Rebellion owns the rights to iconic British comics characters such as football legend Roy of the Rovers, action detective Sexton Blake, villain-turned-hero conceived by Superman co-creator Jerry Seigel – The Spider, the Romans-in-space epic The Trigan Empire, Alan Moore’s acclaimed heroine Halo Jones, and a collection of incredible oddities like Hewligan’s Haircut – a surreal graphic novel created in collaboration with Gorillaz artist Jamie Hewlett.
Featuring comics from every era of the medium’s long history, Rebellions Catalog features countless characters and comic strips from every genre: sci-fi, sports, western, war, spy stories, horror, mystery, adventure, humor and historical themes, superheroes and dozens more.
“We are honored to be stewards of the rich history of the British comics industry and we strive to preserve that legacy. Rebellion is proud to bring these stories to entirely new generations, who will experience them for the first time through our partnership with Good Shepherd,” said Jason Kingsley OBE, CEO and co-founder of Rebellion. “My brother Chris (Rebellion co-founder) and I have read 2000 AD since the first issue and we look forward to seeing some of those stories brought to life by Good Shepherd.”
The new deal includes video game adaptations of stories from 2000 AD – the popular comic book anthology acquired by Rebellion in 2000. Countless iconic comic book stories have appeared in 2000 AD, including Sláine, Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper – the series currently has 2,334 issues.
Judge Dredd first appeared in 1977 in the second edition of 2000 AD. Thus began a massive, world-renowned franchise that has spawned two films (Judge Dredd, 1995, and Dredd 2012), five video games, and countless novels.
Rogue Trooper first appeared in 1981 in 2000 AD as the story of a genetically enhanced infantryman named Rogue on a quest to find the Traitor General. These gory sci-fi adventures made Rogue Trooper a highly recognizable series that spawned three novels, two board games and three video games – including 2006’s Rogue Trooper, developed by Rebellion for PC, Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii .