Rhianna Pratchett returns to write script for Overlord II

Codemasters announced today that Rhianna Pratchett has been signed as scriptwriter for Overlord II, the sequel to the hit twisted fantasy adventure from Triumph Studios, and both series extensions – Overlord Dark Legend and Overlord Minions – coming 2009.

The announcement sees Pratchett continuing her role as writer and narrative designer for the delightfully despotic series and follows her nomination for Best Videogame Script for her work on the original Overlord game in the Writers’ Guild Awards 2008. In addition to videogames, the prestigious Writers’ Guild Awards recognises the best in British writing talent across TV and radio drama, soap, comedy, theatre and movie screenplay categories. The awards will be held at BAFTA (The British Academy of Film and Television Arts) on Sunday 23rd November 2008 in London.

“For a relatively new entertainment medium, it’s a sign of great progress that the industry is being recognised by the Writers’ Guild in this way. Writing for games is part alchemy, part narrative woodwork and part swimming in shark infested waters wearing ham pants, so it’s a real honour to be nominated for Overlord. The Overlord titles are fantastic creative projects and Triumph and Codemasters make a talented and supportive team who keep some of those sharks at bay,” said Rhianna Pratchett. “It’s a real pleasure to be back in the evil writing seat and taking the Overlord and the Minions to new lands and new adventures for the 2009 titles.”

“Congratulations to Rhianna on her well-deserved nomination for Best Videogame Script,” said Lennart Sas, director and Overlord lead at Triumph Studios. “A huge part of Overlord’s popularity stems from its tongue-in-cheek, often dark humour and Rhianna’s dialogue provides the perfect fit to the gameplay. Rhianna understands that writing for games is different than writing for movies, which puts her above some of the Hollywood writing talent that have lent their names to games previously. We’re delighted to have her on board again to work across on the next instalment of the Overlord’s adventures.”

Coming 2009, all new titles in the Overlord series include Overlord II for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Games For Windows, Overlord Dark Legend for Wii and Overlord Minions for Nintendo DS. Prepare to face the Glorious Empire in Overlord II and the rather grim fairy tales of Overlord Dark Legend and Overlord Minions when the manic horde and awesome authoritarian returns in 2009.