SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Feb. 14, 2014 – Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), announced today an impressive roster of global licensees for its award-winning Skylanders franchise. Landmark new relationships with Crayola® and General Mills underscores the popularity of the Skylanders property and drives the expansion of merchandising program into new categories. Activision’s robust licensing portfolio, featuring more than 175 licensees, is set to deliver meaningful brand extensions for the #1 kids’ video game franchise in the world.
“The relationships we have formed with Crayola and General Mills showcase how strong Skylanders has become in just 27 months,” said Ashley Maidy, vice president of global licensing and partnerships for Activision Publishing. “The brand association that comes along with these category giants expands the property’s reach outside of our traditional channels worldwide and fosters a deeper connection with our fans.”
As a result of these collaborations, a number of exciting new products and promotions will come to market this year, including:
Activision and Crayola will introduce unique Skylanders-branded color and activity formats. The specialty line will include Crayola’s signature formats including Color Wonder, Giant Coloring Pages and Xtreme Coloring, among other new platforms and will be available this holiday at top retail channels worldwide.
Starting in June, a new promotion with General Mills will release Skylanders-shaped Fruit Flavored Snacks to fans all over North America. This relationship marks Activision’s first entry into the category and will bring six character favorites, including Chompy, Gill Grunt, Jet Vac, Kaos, Stealth Elf and Eruptor to grocery stores, supermarkets, drug stores and mass market retailers.
New and returning licensees will launch product assortments in 2014 including: POWER A (Carrying Cases & Game Accessories), Mad Dog Concepts (Sleepwear), ABG Accessories (Headwear & Cold Weather), Thermos (Lunch Kits & FUNtainers™), FAB (Backpacks & School Supplies), PTI (Easter), American Greetings (Party Goods & Supplies) and Rubie’s Costumes (Halloween).
Activision’s rich licensing and promotional announcement comes on the heels of a successful 2013 for the Skylanders brand. Skylanders figures outsold all action figure lines worldwide in 2013 for the second consecutive year, beating out the top three action figure lines combined. Having surpassed the $2 billon mark in sales, including 175 million toys sold worldwide in just 27 months, Skylanders is now in the top 20 video game franchises of all time and continues to set benchmarks for the toys-to-life category.
Skylanders expands its universe with Crayola and General Mills
