Moshi Monsters

Toy range to arrive in January courtesy of Vivid Imaginations.

News by GamesIndustry International Contributor

Published on June 24, 2010

LONDON, UK – June 24th 2010, 2:00pm BST – Mind Candy, the global developer and publisher of the popular children’s online game, Moshi Monsters ( www.moshimonsters.com), has signed a master toy licensing deal with Vivid Imaginations, the UK's number one independent toy and gift product developer.

Vivid, which also works with such brands as Crayola, Timmy Time and Disney’s Toy Story and Winnie The Pooh, will launch the Moshi Monster-branded toys across the UK, North America, Australia and New Zealand from January 2011. The initial toy line will comprise of miniature collectables and plush soft toys, with other lines in development. Vivid will support the brand with extensive TV advertising, online marketing, PR and a fully integrated promotional plan leveraging the loyal Moshi Monsters fan-base.

Moshi Monsters has become an online phenomenon in the past 12 months attracting over 20 million players across 150 countries. The game is free-to-play and allows children of all ages around the world to adopt their own pet monster, customise their homes, play games, explore the virtual world and solve educational style puzzles. With the site currently adding over 2 million new registered users each month, Moshi Monsters has become one of the world’s fastest growing children’s entertainment properties.

“Vivid is very excited to be launching Moshi Monsters into toy retailers in the coming months,” stated Paul Weston, CEO, at Vivid. “This is clearly one of the hottest emerging kids properties in the world and it lends itself perfectly to toys and games. We clearly believe Moshi Monsters has many key traits for toy success - collectability, customisation and emotional appeal. Any brand that has a 20 million player-base has a phenomenal head-start in today’s crowded toy market.”

Michael Acton Smith, CEO, at Mind Candy commented: “This partnership represents a huge next step for Moshi Monsters in the global growth of the brand.”

In Moshi Monsters, players navigate the immersive online world by solving puzzles that test a variety of skills including basic math, spatial awareness, logic and vocabulary. As players solve puzzles, they earn Rox, the in-game currency that can be used to purchase food, furniture and seeds to attract Moshlings for their monsters.

Moshi Monsters is one of the world’s fastest growing social online games for children. To create your free Moshi Monster and enter a world of fun and puzzles, visit www.moshimonsters.com.

For artwork and press materials relating to this press release visit: http://tiny.cc/moshipress.

ABOUT MIND CANDY

Mind Candy is one of the world’s fastest growing social online gaming companies and the global developer, operator and publisher of Moshi Monsters. The company was founded in 2004 by Michael Smith, a UK-based entrepreneur who previously founded Firebox.com.

ABOUT MOSHI MONSTERS

Moshi Monsters is the world of adoptable monsters, combining adorable virtual pets with social online gameplay and educational puzzles for children. The puzzles test a variety of skills including basic maths, spatial awareness, logic, counting, anagrams and vocabulary. 20 million monsters have been created to date and over two million new players joining each month making Moshi Monsters one of the world’s fastest growing children’s sites. To date, more than 120 million educational puzzles have been played and over one million virtual items are sold each day! For more information on Moshi Monsters visit www.moshimonsters.com

ABOUT VIVID

Vivid Group are the UK’s largest designers and marketers of toys and games.

Other licenses include Timmy Time, Roary The Racing Car, Crayola, Fifi & The Flowertots, Animagic and Disney’s Toy Story and Winnie The Pooh. The company is independently owned and sells its products in over 44 countries worldwide.

More info at info@vividimag.co.uk or phone 01483 449944.

MIND CANDY / MOSHI MONSTERS GLOBAL PR

Edward Relf

Chief Marketing Officer

Mind Candy

ed@mindcandy.com

UK PR

Jade Wilkinson

LEWIS PR

moshi@lewispr.com

0207 802 2626

AUSTRALIA PR