EA Signs Michelle Kwan for a PC Figure Skating Game

Electronic Arts signed a three-year deal today locking up exclusive game rights to figure skating champion Michelle Kwan, and Michelle Kwan Championship Figure Skating (working title) is coming to PC in time for the 1999 holidays. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The game targets girls eight to thirteen, and EA says it is the first time the company has built a game specifically for that group. Players choreograph their own routines, design costumes, pick the music, and select arenas from around the world, then print out a scrapbook of the skating career and send the best performances to family and friends over email. You can skate as Kwan or as yourself: snap a digital photo or scan one, pull the file onto the PC, and the game builds a skater with your face.

EA aiming a game at an audience the rest of the industry ignores is the real story here. Whether the game is any good is a question for the holidays.