Capcom today confirmed that it has secured exclusive worldwide rights to publish official videogames and create peripherals based on the World’s premier motorcycling championship, MotoGP across all hardware platforms.

This agreement will run for five years and supersedes the existing rights granted to publish titles on the PlayStation platforms which saw last year’s successful release of MotoGP 07 for the PlayStation 2.

As part of this new agreement Capcom intends to initially publish titles based on the 2008 MotoGP season for the Xbox 360, PS3, the Wii, PC and the PlayStation 2 , not to mention versions for mobile handsets.

MotoGP is the world’s premier motorcycling championship consisting of 18 Grands Prix hosted around the globe. It features the world’s top motorcycle manufacturers such as Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Ducati, Kawasaki, KTM and Aprilia, who provide machinery for the world’s best riders, including reigning World Champion Casey Stoner, Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa.

The 2008 grid also includes Japan’s Shinya Nakano, plus newcomers for the new season, such as 250cc World Champion Jorge Lorenzo and last year’s World Superbike Champion, James Toseland, from the UK.

Commenting on the announcement Mark Beaumont, executive vice president, officer and head of Capcom consumer software publishing in the Americas and Europe said: “We are very excited to have signed this long term agreement with Dorna Sports, which for the first time grants one publisher worldwide multi-platform rights to the adrenaline fuelled world of MotoGP. We feel this move to a single publisher will greatly benefit our ability to develop titles that deliver more authenticity and excitement to the consumer”.

Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports, the exclusive holder of all commercial and TV rights to MotoGP commented: “Capcom has already shown its ability to deliver a title that captures the essence of MotoGP and we look forward to working with them over the next five years”.