April 6^th, 2006 (3:21pm) - Today Ubisoft announced that it has signed a strategic non exclusive licensing agreement with the TV Tokyo Corporation and SHUEISHA Inc., to develop games based on the hugely popular Naruto anime series for the Xbox 360. The new titles will be available in North and South America and European territories in 2007.

With Naruto, Ubisoft will develop for the first time a game based on a Japanese property. Naruto was first launched as part of SHUEISHA’s weekly manga magazine in 1999 and Naruto manga books have sold more than 50,000,000 copies in Japan alone. Manga books are published in the US and major territories of Europe as well. Naruto anime series debuted on TV TOKYO in 2002 and has already spawned several successful video game titles in Japan as well as multiple character merchandise and two movies. Now, Naruto anime is aired with tremendous success on Cartoon Network in the US

Naruto takes place in a world where ninja are the ultimate power. Uzumaki Naruto is a ninja-in-training who is learning the art of ninjutsu with his classmates Sakura and Sasuke. The trio studies under the instruction of their teacher, Kakashi, who helps the group face a series of dangerous and daunting tests and challenges. Through their adventures, the young ninjas learn the importance of friendship, teamwork, loyalty, hard work, creativity, ingenuity, and right versus wrong.

"Naruto will broaden our portfolio and contribute to achieving our strategic goal of earning 25% of our turnover through licences," said Christian Salomon, Director of Worldwide Licensing at Ubisoft. "Naruto is part of a wave of Japanese manga and anime that appeals to kids and adolescents alike, and we plan to deliver them every bit of the excitement they have experienced in Naruto’s books, movies and TV shows."

"I’m confident Ubisoft will manage to create an exciting Naruto game, while respecting the anime’s spirit of passing on positive values and a lot of fun" said Hayato Date, Naruto anime series director.