Sonic the Hedgehog races to set new video game adaptation record at global Box Office

Paramount and SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog movie has set a new record for a video game-big screen adaptation, ringing in a three-day domestic opening of $58 million in the US.

The film’s projected four-day gross of $70 million is among the best showings for a Presidents Day long weekend opening.

The record previously belonged to 2019’s Pokémon Detective Pikachu which boasted the top North American debut for a video game adaptation with a three-day start of $54.3 million. The Blue Blur has now sped past the former top performer.

On an international level, Sonic the Hedgehog launched to a strong $43 million from its first 40 markets for a global total of $101 million through Sunday, and $113 million through Monday. The UK is ranked among the top markets for the film where it has so far brought in $6.2 million.

Sonic the Hedgehog is based on the popular SEGA video game franchise, and sees Sonic – voiced by Ben Schwartz – team up with a small town sheriff – James Marsden – to battle Jim Carrey’s evil genius Dr. Robotnik.

The film has launched with better than expected results following a rocky start for the film that underwent a re-design of its titular character, following an outcry from fans unhappy with the CG animated Sonic’s look in the first look trailer. The revision meant pushing back back the film’s release date, but has not damaged its Box Office appeal.

To the victor: Warhammer and it’s march upon the global hobby, retail, and licensing scene

Games Workshop’s Warhammer is massively successful. Seriously. Over the past three years – since the onset of Brexit fell upon us – Warhammer has doubled the size of its business. Last year, it ended £81million in profit. Robert Hutchins talks to senior licensing manager, Zoe Smith about how the franchise is building on this success for 2020

If ever there was a Great British success story, Games Workshop is it. A company that can’t seem to keep out of the press year in year out, the Nottingham-based unit has truly bucked the trend of the UK’s retail narrative over the last few years.

At the end of 2019, Games Workshop – yes, the retailer-come-licensor of the world spanning and vastly popular Warhammer franchise – broke all of its own records when it closed the year by announcing its £257 million in sales, marking an £81 million profit for the organisation that has built its business on fantasy miniatures and orc warfare. And they tell you playing games won’t get you anywhere…

In fact, Zoe Smith, senior licensing manager at Warhammer Licensing, the consumer product licensing unit of the Games Workshop enterprise, tells ToyNews that its business has doubled
in the last three years.

Let’s put that into some context – that’s a business that has seen continual growth and profit since the on-set of Brexit. Perhaps there really is more than a hint of magic to the fantastical franchise that has the world so gripped.

ToyNews catches up with Zoe Smith to talk about the ongoing success of the retailer, its brand portfolio, and its franchise model.

Hi Zoe, so wow, not a bad few years for you. What’s business been like for Games Workshop and Warhammer over the year?

We had a really, really successful 2019 for Games Workshop, in fact it was a record breaking year. Year on year we have been seeing record-breaking results and really strong growth. Our full year results for 2019 came in at £257m in sales, marking an £81m profit. Our business has doubled in just three years, which is amazing, especially in a climate where retail is particularly challenging at the moment.

We are currently one of the top five best performing investments on the London stock exchange over the last decade (+2630 per cent).

It’s also been our biggest ever year for Warhammer Licensed products with Retail Sales of £104m. We signed 21 new partners bringing our number of licensees to 94.

A big part of our business at the moment is video gaming, from a licensed product point of view, but there is a massive focus from us – from since I started in May last year – on growing our presence at retail. We are really focusing on our retail relationships, meeting with lots of them, to get that face to face relationship.

We had some really exciting announcements, including that we are in development with a live action TV series. Then we secured our partnership with Marvel for Warhammer Comics, which will be coming later this year. Talking about Marvel and Warhammer in the same sentence is really cool, and I think – talking to retailers – it’s a great hook and breaks a few barriers.

What have been some of the biggest successes for the brand in the licensing space?

We had some great launches with our first range of Warhammer Funko Pops, which actually went on to win the Community Choice Award at the International Licensing Awards in Las Vegas, and we launched our first ever action figure from Bandai, which sold out in just 48 hours. It goes to show that when we get the product right, and it’s something that the customers want, they really invest. We are looking at how we can now broaden this out for the future.

We also had our first ever nomination in the Licensing Awards for Best Licensed Gaming property, up against some very tough competition like Fortnite or Minecraft. The nomination went to demonstrate how we are engaging with the licensing industry now more than ever.

We continue to develop stronger relationships at retail. Barnes & Noble are a good example where we have seen strong success, having launched three boardgames with them. Very soon after, these games appeared in their best sellers list for that category. For the following season B&N increased their buy significantly and we have been able to recognise their support of the brand by directing our fans to B&N via our marketing channels.

We saw reports at the end of the year of another successful run for Games Workshop – why do you think it is resonating so well with audiences at the moment – be that through its retail operations, Warhammer gaming, or overall licensing business?

One of the great things behind our success is that the core business is still a vertically integrated business, meaning that everything still happens here in our Nottingham HQ. We manage every stage apart from the actual printing of the packaging.

Over the past three years we have established incredibly strong marketing channels including a Warhammer Community site. We have an extremely dedicated fan base and they are highly engaged via these channels. We see much engagement and response from our fans. We are not just about sales, we host videos on how to paint your miniatures, gaming demonstration videos; it’s a real community that focuses on the hobby.

We are not driven by the next big film or TV series release, but we are driven by our own product release cycle and therefore our customers keep coming back for the products they want and love. It means that we can be an evergreen brand, and our customers are never restricted – there’s always something new for them to sink their teeth into.

Even though the gaming space is getting crowded with a lot of successful gaming properties, there is still nothing quite like Warhammer. People love the uniqueness of this franchise, and look at it, it is unique.

We are now seeing growth coming from international markets, with America being our biggest single market, while Japan and China are our two fastest-growing territories with still lots of untapped potential out there for us.

Warhammer caters for different types of audience with our core pillars of collect, build, paint, play. We also have an extremely successful publishing division (the Black Library) where we have over 2000 individual titles including multiple NY Times Best sellers, an extensive video game portfolio and various other consumer products such as board games, card games and so on. The thing is, however you like to indulge in the hobby of Warhammer, there is something for everyone.

The IP has a real strength and depth and it is all so cohesive, so whether you are playing the video games or reading one of the books, it is all connected.

How does Games Workshop tap into a current consumer demand for hobby gaming and pop culture?

We have really benefited from the growth in gaming and pop culture globally, which is a really growing trend at the moment. As a brand with more than 40 years in the gaming space, we are seeing fans introduce their children and grandchildren to Warhammer.

We have managed to remain really relevant, and we are seeing new generations getting into Warhammer now – this is a brand that still resonates as something cool, edgy, and timeless with audiences.

How has the success of the last year set you up for 2020? What will be some of the biggest moves to come from you guys this year?

A big thing for us will be to keep building on the successful partnerships that we
have in place, those with Funko, Bandai, the upcoming Marvel partnership that will introduce Marvel Warhammer comics in Q4 this year.

At the same time, we will continue to develop and release all new examples of the finest plastic model kits in the world and the accessories used to build/paint and play games with them.

With all of this behind us, we hope that 2020 will see us doing even more with retailers. We have had some really good conversations with retail at various shows, and I would like to see some of that coming through this year and increasing our presence within retail for the brand.

How are you adapting to the changing demands of the licensing space today, and how is this helping you maintain your position as leaders in the field?

We are one of the most prolific video game licensors at the moment, and you will definitely see us building on the success of some of the recent AAA releases such as Warhammer Total War 2 and Vermintide 2 with some more big budget, high quality titles on the way in the next couple of years.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned, Warhammer fans are driven by quality rather than price. This applies across the whole licensing space. As we’ve already mentioned Funko, Bandai, Marvel, we will be focussing on working with best in class category leaders across a broad range of consumer products.

SEGA joins forces with Puma to launch latest Sonic sports style collection

SEGA is once again joining forces with the sports brand Puma to bring Sonic, the world’s fastest hedgehog and the video game maker’s flagship character to the world of sports style fashion.

Launching ahead of the release of the upcoming blockbuster Sonic the Hedgehog movie, SEGA’s famous character will feature in a new collection that plays with the designs and graphics that appear in both the game series and film.

The Puma x Sonic collection consists of the RS-X³ Sonic sneaker in two new colourways with a semi-transparent white or black grid look, bright colour pops and gold accents, available in adult and kids sizes.

The collection is supplemented with the Puma x Sonic hoodie in bright blue or sleek black, and the Puma x Sonic tees with graphics on the front and back as well as a tee with AOP print.

Completing this Puma x Sonic drop, the new collection also offers matching apparel, footwear and accessories for kids, adorned with cool prints and hints of the Sonic universe.

Disrupting the speed of sound with style, the collection hits the shelves globally on Puma.com, at Puma stores and selected retailers on February 7th, while the kids’ collection arrives on February 15th.

Cyber Group Studios partners with Outright Games for first Gigantosaurus video game

The animation entertainment company, Cyber ​​Group Studios has partnered with the games publisher Outright Games to launch the first video game based on the animated Gigantosaurus series.

The hugely-popular CGI-animated program, which is currently airing its first season on Disney Junior worldwide has just been commissioned by The Walt Disney Company and France Télévisions for seasons two and three, and by Super RTL for season two.

The first season will also air on Netflix and on major international networks throughout 2020, such as CCTV in China, Rai in Italy, SVT in Sweden, SRC in Canada or Tiny Pop in the UK.

Capitalising on this, Gigantosaurus: The Game will launch on March 27th 2020 on Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PC digital for £34.99. 

 In Gigantosaurus: The Game, players can explore and race across the vast, prehistoric world of Gigantosaurus in a one-of-a-kind dinosaur adventure – part saving the world, part rally racing.

Kids can play as one of their favourite dino buddies from the show – Rocky, Tiny, Mazu, and Bill – as they discover secrets, solve puzzles and save the day. 

Gigantosaurus is based on Jonny Duddle’s bestselling book of the same name. Directed by award-winning director Olivier Lelardoux, the series takes preschoolers on exciting, comedy-filled adventures as they dare to be themselves and explore the world beyond their nests.

In every episode, the curious young dinosaurs explore the mystery of Gigantosaurus – the biggest, fiercest dinosaur of all. They embark on a quest, facing their individual fears and working together to solve a problem.

“This new game represents a big step for us and the creation of high-quality kids’ interactive entertainment,” said Terry Malham, CEO of Outright Games. “Working closely with Cyber Group Studios and the full gamut of original assets from the hit show, allowed us to develop a game that truly feels like playing through an episode of the series.” 

“Gigantosaurus The Game is our first video game with Outright Games. All along the development process, we have been thrilled by the talent and expertise of  the production team,” added Thierry Braille, vice president, Interactive and Videogame Division and Dominique Bourse COO Cyber Group Studios

“The result is a great and innovative game for the whole family mixing action adventure and racing and offering two multi-player modes (cooperative and competitive). This feature will allow families to play together with the key characters of the TV series.” 

The Royal Mail celebrates the best of British video games of the ’80s and ’90s

The Royal Mail is celebrating the best of British video games from the 1980s and ‘90s with a new set of 12 stamps depicting some of gaming’s most iconic titles.

Among them, Lara Croft can be found swinging from the Tomb Raider video game franchise, alongside the likes of the 1995 title Worms, the space trading title Elite, 1989’s Populous, and Sensible Soccer.

The Royal Mail’s Philip Parker, said: “The UK has been at the forefront of the video games industry for decades. In the 1980s and ‘90s, young designers grappled with coding on the new microcomputers and set the template for the industry with iconic games.

“We celebrate some of their landmark creations on stamps.”

The Royal Mail selected the games to include in the set of 12 with the help of the gaming trade body UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE).

“This collection celebrates a selection of the great British video games that have helped define both the national and global development scene over decades,” said UKIE chief executive, Dr Jo Twist.

“Video games are a key part of our cultural footprint and we’re pleased to see their contribution recognised in such memorable style.”