Iron Maiden has a free-to-play mobile RPG now

Iconic metal band Iron Maiden is making another foray into video games.

Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast is a free-to-play mobile RPG expected in northern summer this year.

Players take on the role of Iron Maiden mascot Eddie, who appears in various incarnations as he travels "across worlds inspired by the rich lore and music of Iron Maiden" in search of pieces of his shattered soul, encountering various characters along the way.

Marketing copy promises a good soundtrack, as you'd expect, including "previously unheard live recordings adapted for the game by engineer Tony Newton under the close scrutiny of Steve Harris". Nice.

It seems to be the product of Warhammer 40,000: Carnage developer Roadhouse Interactive, via its Nodding Frog team, and 50cc Games, which has apparently created products for The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Coldplay, Universal Music Group, Def Jam Enterprises, Live Nation, London 2012 Olympics and the BBC, although I can't find out what any of them are.

Many of us are justifiably wary of free-to-play mobile games but it is after all one of the few cost effective ways to get a game made these days. If you're keen, check out the website and sign up for the beta.

This isn't Iron Maiden's first foray into video games; the 1999 compilation album Ed Hunter was bundled with a pretty bare-bones rail shooter of the same name. It looks like ass today, and according to this retrospective piece was pretty much ass at the time, too. Let's hope this venture turns out to be more popular.