Roland Rat sniffs out games deal

Publishers are being urged to take a chance on a Roland Rat game, after a US IP agency snapped up the rights to the classic 1980s television character.

The Sharpe Company announced it had acquired the licence for the fluffy presenter last month, with a review to relaunching him as a ‘Noughties’ star.

Now the firm is calling on developers and publishers to contact them about creating a Roland Rat title to take advantage of this ‘rebirth’.

Sharpe president Charlie Day told MCV: Back in the day Ocean Software had Roland’s Rat Race for Commodore and ZX Spectrum and it became somewhat of a cult classic.

We will be reaching out to video game developers and publishers to recreate some of that magic for today’s formats. Casual gaming with Roland will be a lot of fun and as Roland gains popularity with younger kids all manner of other opportunities will arise.”

Roland Rat made his TV debut in 1983, becoming a household name thanks to his appearances on breakfast TV show TV-am. Within a few months, he took the audience from 100,000 to 1.8 million.

During the past two decades, he has starred in
over 400 TV programmes and made numerous guest appearances in shows such as The Weakest Link, Big Brother and Ashes to Ashes.

Day added: We see an initial merchandise programme being geared towards nostalgic adults but as he Roland appeal grows, we will see a whole new wave of Roland Rat fans emerging.”