First Arab racing celebrity to debut in videogame• Regional virtual racing competition kicks off in September; Winner to drive off with a iconic Nissan Z sports car
Codemasters® today announced that rally racing champion Mohammed Ben Sulayem has been signed on as one of the key motorsport athletes who will be featured in Colin McRae: DiRT™ 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the popular off-road racing game. Ben Sulayem, a 14-time FIA Middle East rally championship winner, will be the first Arab racing celebrity to debut in a racing videogame. Codemasters revealed the announcement at Virgin Megastore in Mall of Emirates.
“As motorsports is my ultimate passion, I am honored to be featured in Colin McRae: DIRT™ 2, one of the most anticipated racing games of the year,” said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, Middle East Rally Champion. “Working closely with Codemasters’ team to develop a digital version of myself was a surreal experience. I look forward to the worldwide success of the game and I am confident that motorsports fans will have a great gaming experience.”
Colin McRae: DiRT 2 will feature a roster of contemporary off-road racing events, taking players to the most diverse and challenging real-world environments. This World Tour will have players competing in aggressive multi-car and intense solo races at extraordinary new locations, from canyon racing and jungle trails to city stadium-based events.
“Codemasters is delighted to have entered into this partnership with Mohammed, Nissan and PlayStation for the launch of Colin McRae: Dirt 2 in the Middle East. Codemasters has a reputation of producing the world’s leading racing games and Colin McRae: Dirt 2 is the epitome of our development technology”, commented Hal Bame, Director Distributor Territories Codemasters. “We believe the entire GCC region is at a tipping point in the video game industry and plan on investing heavily in product, on-line and overall marketing activity, in order to maximise what we feel is a market tailor-made for Codemasters’ portfolio of products, including our official Formula 1 game lineup in 2009 and 2010.”
A Colin McRae: Dirt 2 regional virtual racing competition on PlayStation3 will kick off across the region in September 2009. The winner will drive off with a brand new Nissan Z sports car, a version of which is featured in the game. A localized website, www.dirt2arabia.com, will be launched in July and will include all information related to the competition.
“We are delighted Codemasters chose to use the famous Nissan Z sportscar in the latest version of its renowned rallying game” said Monal Zeidan, General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Communications Nissan Middle East.
The ‘Z’ as it’s affectionately known to thousands of car enthusiasts around the world - was officially introduced into Nissan’s Middle East product range in 2003. Through four previous generations Nissan’s affordable sportscar has achieved iconic status with performance car fans achieving over 1.5 million global sales since the first Datsun 240Z model was introduced in selected global markets in 1969.
“Pluto is proud to be the official distributor of the widely popular DiRT racing series of games in the Middle East. As the regional gaming market continues to grow, Pluto together with Codemasters aim to bring the latest and most popular games to customers here which in turn, reflects our commitment to the Middle East,” said Rami El Hussein, Managing Director Pluto. “We are sure that Colin McRae: DiRT 2 will be a huge success in the region where gaming enthusiasts and racing fans can choose to play with or compete against UAE champion rally driver Ben Sulayem.”
Colin McRae: Dirt 2 is scheduled to be released in September 2009 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Games For Windows® LIVE, Wii™, Nintendo DS™ and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system. The game will distributed regionally by Pluto Games.
