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Tag: Candy Crush

  • Candy Crush Saga is a match three-puzzle game that was launched in 2012 for Facebook, and later as a mobile app for smart phones

    Dream Theatre bags licensing deal for Candy Crush in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dream Theatre Pvt. Ltd. has secured licensing and merchandising rights for Candy Crush Saga in India, the cross-platform game created by King Digital Entertainment, a leading interactive entertainment company for the mobile world.

     

    Candy Crush Saga is a match three-puzzle game that was launched in 2012 for Facebook, and later as a mobile app for smart phones. While it has remained one of the top grossing games in the chart, it’s recently launched sister title Candy Crush Soda Saga is also hugely popular. Together, they draw around 91 million players every day. In order to leverage its unmatched following; Dream Theatre will help King to build its licensing programme for the emerging market of South Asia. It will build a varied portfolio of designer apparel, accessories, handbags, shoes and home furnishings.

     

    Jiggy George

    Talking about the partnership, Jiggy George, Founder & CEO, Dream Theatre Pvt. Ltd., said, “The Candy Crush phenomenon has captured the imagination of people worldwide, and has a significant audience in India. As licensing content from the digital world is an expanding trend, we are very excited to work with King to help it to build its licensing business for Candy Crush in India. Our rollout will aim to leverage the infectious energy of this brand as we take it out of the gaming arena into homes of fans.”

     

    Claes Kalborg, Licensing Guru, King Digital Entertainment, added, “We continue to grow our licensing network across the globe and are pleased to announce we’ll be working alongside top licensing agents like Dream Theatre. We’re confident that their strong relationships within India, combined with the fun and colourful design elements of the Candy Crush brand, will translate into an offering of consumer products that our players will love.”

     

    Dream Theatre is collaborating with and seeking licensees across categories likeyoung adult apparel, gadget accessories, fashion accessories, candy, gifts & novelties. The products will be rolled out in 2015.

     

  • Candy Crush to launch designer clothes, handbags; inks licensing deal with Dream Theatre

    Now get Candy Crush Saga clothes, bags, shoes and even candies

    By Ratna Bhushan

     

    Developers of Candy Crush Saga, perhaps the world’s most popular online and mobile game, plans to cash in on its popularity in India by launching high-street designer clothes, handbags, shoes and, of course, candies under the Candy Crush brand.

     

    King Digital Entertainment Plc, the London-based owner of Candy Crush, has signed an exclusive licensing deal with Mumbai-based Dream Theatre, to license and sell Candy Crush branded products across South Asia.

     

    “Since women between 18-25 years have been identified as the primary consumers of Candy Crush, our core focus for extending the game to products is women’s fashion clothing, accessories, handbags, footwear and even home furnishing,” said Jiggy George, founder and CEO of Dream Theatre, an entertainment, sports, fashion licensing and brand management firm.

     

    Dream Theatre is close to signing a contract with a top Indian fashion designer, he said, but refused to name the person.

     

    In July, fashion designer Manish Arora had showcased a fall/winter collection for Amprapali jewellery inspired by Candy Crush.

     

    Mr George said Dream Theatre will also partner a confectionery player to leverage the obvious synergy between Candy Crush and confectionery by launching Candy Crush candies and confectionery.

     

    Candy Crush Saga, a match three-puzzle video game developed by King Digital in 2012 on Facebook, and later as a mobile app for smartphones, surpassed Farmville 2 as the most popular game on Facebook last year, with over 46 million average monthly users. Candy Crush has been installed over 600 million times on Facebook and iOS/Android devices, and was the most downloaded iOS app last year.

     

    It enjoys huge popularity in India too. “The Candy Crush is like a new-age virus – whatever its pros or cons may be,” said Shailendra Singh, joint MD of entertainment and sports marketing firm Percept.

     

    He said recently at a function in Meerut he saw one of the people manning a sweets stall playing Candy Crush on his mobile.

     

    The brand licensing market in India is estimated at $450 million, or about Rs 2,780 crore, at retail sales. It’s not even 1% of the global market estimated at $200 billion, but is growing about 20% a year, helped by online retail and organised retail.

     

    Licensing content and characters emanating from digital games and applications is a fast accelerating trend, replacing television and cartoon characters.

     

    Angry Birds, the first such success, has so far been the biggest hit with two billion downloaded games worldwide. Angry Birds has followed the original game with multiple extensions, animation shorts and an upcoming movie in 2016.

     

    For the Indian market, Dream Theatre, which also has licensing rights for Angry Birds, has launched products across 14 categories, including toys, board games, apparel and stationery.

     

    Angry Birds’ branded products are now available across 1,500 stores besides multiple online platforms.

     

    Mr George said with rights to licences for three digital properties – Candy Crush, Angry Birds and Talking Tom app – Dream Theatre was targeting Rs 150 crore of retail sales within three years.

     

    Globally, the gaming market is forecast to grow to $103 billion by 2017 with mobile gaming doubling its share to 34%.

     

    King Digital’s latest results showed profits down by 20% in the July-September quarter compared to last year, and it has been trying to increase market share in an intensely competitive mobile game industry.

     

    King Digital’s stockmarket debut in March this year was among the worst in the US. The company said it was diversifying beyond its core Candy Crush game and that its ‘non-Candy Crush’ game portfolio is now contributing 49% of its revenues.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

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