YARS News - 26/08/2008

License deal with book publisher Scholastic will see release of Horrible HistoriesTM branded titles

Slitherine is pleased to announce that it has signed a worldwide licensing agreement with The Copyrights Group to develop Horrible Histories™ games, for platforms such as PC, DS and Wii. The deal, brokered by Chorion's new media consultants, AT Brands (a division of AT New Media), will see the games ready for release in time for Spring 2009.

With international book sales of over 20 million copies since 1993, Horrible Histories™ is one of the world's bestselling history book series for children. By focusing on the bits kids don't get taught at school, author Terry Deary and illustrator Martin Brown have made history entertaining and accessible for generations of children. Used within a computer game, that ethos is set to provide families with the ideal entertainment – and learning – experience.

“The Horrible Histories books offer a wealth of written and illustrative material for Slitherine Strategies to work with and bring the brand to life off the page,” commented Zoe Upcraft, Licensing Manager at Chorion. “This interactive deal complements the TV deal agreed last year between Scholastic Entertainment and Lion TV. Lion TV will produce 13 live action episodes broadcast by the BBC next Spring.”

Lisa Edwards, Editorial Director, Non-Fiction and Licensed Properties, at Scholastic said: “Slitherine are experts in historical computer gaming and we are delighted to have found the right home for our brand. Die-hard Horrible Histories fans have been waiting for an exciting gaming extension of the brand – and if we can attract children who are primarily gamers to the books then that will indeed be a bonus.”

Marco Minoli, Director of Marketing at Slitherine said: “Extending our line-up of interactive games based on History to new frontiers is our main objective. Exploring this very specific sector, to bring a different type of fun and entertainment to this great brand through videogames is one of our most exciting ventures for next year. This is a great opportunity to show how we are able to work with such a powerful property.”

Simon Kay Business Development Director at AT New Media added, "Once again the AT Brands division has been able to be creative in its thinking in bringing together two like-minded companies who can fully exploit the interactive games potential of the Horrible Histories brand. It has been a pleasure working on this initiative and bringing Slitherine and Scholastic together on what we hope will be a tremendously successful project”.

Copyright Slitherine® 2008

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