The games publisher joins an growing list of increasingly high-profile brands wishing to associate itself with free running (also known as parkour).
Foucan - who appeared in the music video for Madonna's Hung Up and the last James Bond movie, Casino Royale - has a deal with K-Swiss, and helped the brand to develop its first free-running specialist shoe, the Ariake.
But K-Swiss isn't the only footwear brand with a stake in the sport. The movement's official website, www.urbanfreeflow.com, which originally had a tie-up with Merrell, now has Adidas as its principle sponsor. Since Adidas came on board in 2004, it has worked with Urban Freeflow to create a branded video game available on the Sony PSP. Adidas, whose deal with Urban Freeflow runs until next year, also developed the first parkour trainers, the Traceurs.
Urban Freeflow is also involved with Nokia, with which it developed the world's first 'Parkour Village' for the Urban Music Festival at London's Earls Court in 2005. The relationship has also seen the Urban Freeflow athletes perform on TV spots to support Nokia's sponsorship of ITV's The X Factor.
An apparently natural fit is Urban Freeflow's association with Red Bull, which has a strong pedigree in extreme and urban sports. Perhaps more surprisingly, it linked up with Vauxhall to support the car brand's 'Vauxhall Tribe' campaign and now has a deal with Renault for a series of live free-running performances.
Boost Mobile and clothing company White Stuff have also been among Urban Freeflow's sponsors over the years.
A trend for brands to use free runners in their ad campaigns has also developed in recent months, with a Heineken Cup spot on Sky Sports a case in point. Sony Ericsson has also used free runners for promotional work managed by iris Experience.
Foucan sees Parkour as an art form, but many enthusiasts wish to train and compete as professional athletes. Barclaycard is now the title sponsor of the World Free Run Championships on Sky Sports. The event also attracted sponsorship from HP and Sony Ericsson.
However, brands need to proceed with caution and take care to be seen as authentic. According to reports, Don Mathieson, head of sponsorship at Barclaycard, was roundly booed by the audience as he took the stage at the event.
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