Publisher Random House will partner up with video game producer THQ for a wide array of original works including social and mobile video games, digital books, and graphic novels, says the New York Post.

According to the Wall Street Journal, THQ views the collaboration as a great opportunity to test transmedia which is original storytelling that spills across many formats. “The Holy Grail here would be for Random House to produce a book that sells well, with us ultimately investing $35 million in a triple-A console game backed by a $12 million marketing campaign that draws a commitment from Hollywood for a movie or television event,” said Lenny Brown, THQ’s director of creative and business development.

While THQ and Random House don’t expect to start releasing products right away, adds the WSJ. Brown estimates that it will take about 18 months to develop a novel and a mobile device game.

Last month, it was announced that Random House established a team that would work on writing story content for “video games, social networks on the web, mobile platforms, in print and on film,” says 1Up, adding that it wanted to work with many media companies to create the content and sell it on multiple platforms.

“A good story doesn’t necessarily have to begin and end with a game; it can and should encompass as many creative mediums as possible in order to provide fans with the most complete rendering of a fictional place or time,” said Brad Wardell, who snagged the first project with Random House with his novel, Elemental: War of Magic according to 1Up.

While the collaboration between the two media powerhouses is ambitious, the president of EA Games thinks that this sort of partnership can be difficult in practice, “I think it can work in some instances, but not in a broad palette of hits,” said Frank Gibeau to the WSJ. “It’s rare that you get a lot of sparks and real creation.”