Set in the year 2050, the Iridium Championship is a series of athletic on-foot races sponsored by futuristic mega corporations, where pure speed isn’t necessarily the only route to winning on the game’s wildly inventive tracks. Combinations of collectable power-ups and weapons add to the frenetic pace, opening up a wide range of options for securing victory over the other contestants.

Iridium Runners will feature several game modes, from full championship to single race, with the highlight being split-screen multiplayer. Split into traditional free-for-all racing and a tactically rich team mode, Iridium Runners’ multiplayer allows for CPU players to fill space where human adversaries aren’t available. The team mode features two teams with two players each, with each team having to balance racing for the finish line with hampering the efforts of their opponents by making good use of all the available collectables. Rendered in a delightful cartoony style, Iridium Runners’ unique visuals underline the freshness of the overall concept, which promises to re-invigorate the PS2’s racing catalogue.

“Iridium Runners is a racing game from the future with crazy twists and turns that all gamers can get into,” Melanie Mroz, executive vice president at SouthPeak Games. “Playstos developed a captivating game that SouthPeak is really happy to bring to market because we know there are a ton of PlayStation 2 system fans looking for fun, new titles.”

“We created an imaginative racing game experience with Iridium Runners,” said Luca Da Rios, CEO and executive producer, Playstos Entertainment. “It’s an ideal addition to the PlayStation 2 system’s catalog of racing games and now SouthPeak gives us the opportunity to bring it to consumers across the globe.”

Iridium Runners, rated E for Everyone, is developed by Italian game studio Playstos Entertainment, and will be released for PS2 in February 2008.