The iconic yellow-border logo of National Geographic magazine will soon be seen on videogames.
The nonprofit institution, which started in 1888 as a society of explorers and geographers, announced the opening of its games division today, with former Take-Two and Bethesda Softworks executive Chris Mate as its vice president and general manager.
The new division, called National Geographic Games, will publish and develop games based on the kinds of historical, ecological and cultural themes tackled by the society’s famous magazine. Its first game will be Herod’s Lost Tomb, a PC and mobile Flash game based on the historical figure King Herod of Judea.
NGG has partnered with Namco Bandai and Sony to distribute National Geographic-branded games for consoles, handhelds, PC and mobile devices. This month, National Geographic: Panda will be released for the Nintendo DS and National Geographic: Africa will be published by Sony for an unannounced platform.
The National Geographic Society’s motto is “To increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world’s cultural, historical, and natural resources.”
