Leisure Suit Larry Announced
November 2, 2003

It’s official. After years of rumors, fans of the classic Sierra adventure series Leisure Suit Larry are finally going to see a new game.

The game, titled Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, is scheduled for release on PC, PS2 and Xbox in late 2004.

Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude follows Larry Lovage, the nephew of the original Larry. As the name suggests, this game will take place at a college and will follow the title character’s pursuit of love...in some form or another.

Beginning in 1987, the Leisure Suit Larry series consisted of 7 games and sold more than 35 million copies.

"For years, gamers worldwide have begged us to create another Leisure Suit Larry game, so it gives me great pleasure to finally reveal the new installment in the series," said Luc Vanhal, VU Games' North American President & COO. "Thanks to the hard work of the game's designers at VU Games and High Voltage Software, Magna Cum Laude will build upon the popularity of the PC franchise and extend the Leisure Suit Larry experience to console gamers."

"Inspired by films like American Pie and There's Something About Mary, the game is packed full of outrageous humor and raucous game-play," said Philip O'Neil, SVP Sales & Marketing, Vivendi Universal Games. "We have captured the distinctive style and feel of the original series, while taking the humor and visuals to a level that hasn't been seen before. With all these ingredients combined we are sure it will please old and new fans alike."

The task of bringing Leisure Suit Larry back to the gaming world does not fall on the hands of the creator Al Lowe. On his website, Lowe reveals that he is not involved in this project, although he has known about it.

“Sierra has had a game under development for over a year, intended for a release date of late 2004. Magna Cum Laude is a working title.

I learned about the Computer Games article when I was interviewed for a "sidebar" (a small article that runs beside a larger article). Obviously, I won't share any of my comments until their issue hits the streets. Even though the CG article was written by Josh Mandel, a good friend and my co-designer on Freddy Pharkas, Frontier Pharmacist, I have not read it and do not expect to read it until its publish date, which I have heard is November 11th.

As to the many emails I've received stating, "They can't do this to you" and "It's your character" etc. I'd like to say this: my contract with Sierra was for "work for hire" and all rights to the characters and stories I created remained the property of Sierra. They have the right to do with those characters as they wish.

As of today, October 20, 2003, I have had nothing to do with the game, but, as always, I would still enjoy working on any Larry game, if Sierra feels I have something to contribute.”

Instead of Lowe, Vivendi Universal Games, now the owner of Sierra, has enlisted High Voltage, the makers of the Hunter: The Reckoning series, to handle development on this title.

“Our team has been having a lot of fun bringing Leisure Suit Larry back, but it's a daunting challenge because we know that - meeting the high expectations are going to be sky high associated with this license is an exciting challenge,” said Josh VanVeld, Producer, High Voltage Software, Inc. “We're confident that Larry will make a huge splash when he comes to consoles and the PC next Fall.”

Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude will be the cover story in Computer Games magazine. While this may seem irrelevant, it is indeed this cover that was leaked on the Internet last month. As the rumors flew, people weren’t really sure what to think. This announcement makes it official…Leisure Suit Larry, much to the dismay and joy of many people, is back.

Reported By: Nick Arvites