INTERVIEW: DAVID TYLER, ACTIVISION Artistic licence
James Batchelor speaks to Activision’s general manager of licensed properties David Tyler on how the publisher is putting its own stamp on licensed games
Activision has a number of licences, such as Transformers and Bond. What is your recipe for creating a successful licensed title? The licensed business is a complex one and there’s really no simple way in which to guarantee the success of a title. It really boils down to picking the right licences to work with and then leaving no stone unturned to maximise game quality, and working closely with our licensing partners to ‘activate’ the property. Movie studios are continually trying to innovate and push the boundaries for their brands. This constant evolution creates a huge number of opportunities for us to put great games in front of a very excited and broad base of consumers.
Can licensed games stand up as true entries in the canon or will they always be seen as merchandise?
Licensed games offer players a range of opportunities to jump into the shoes of their favourite characters. Licensed video games frequently break free of the confines of a story that has to be told in 120 minutes for movie fans, often allowing characters to develop and back stories to be told. Licensed games will continue to play a vital role here and it will be exciting to explore how new technologies such as 3D can help further enhance how fans of such well-known properties as Spider-Man, Marvel, Bond
and Transformers can enjoy these characters through games.
RULE BRITANNIA
ACTIVISION UK has played a major role in Activision's licensing strategy. The UK team was central to the unveiling of James Bond: Blood Stone, which was shown to the media in London in July. And the UK is key to that title’s marketing strategy, too. David Tyler, Activision Europe’s general manager for the Licensed Business Unit explains: “Following
34 October 22nd 2010
Activision’s organisational changes earlier this year, we moved to a Business Unit structure in Europe and this has strengthened our ability to ensure our programmes are optimised for all European territories. “Within the European region, the UK is obviously extremely important and we have reflected this in various ways within our marketing approach.
“For example, we deliberately chose London – the home of Bond – as the base for making the global Blood Stone announcement, with the support of Joss Stone, our new Bond girl in the game. “Another UK-based programme
we’re implementing is a partnership with MSN to deliver enormous online exposure for both Blood Stone and GoldenEye around launch.”
www.mcvuk.com
The games market has declined over the course of the year but we’ve started to see it grow again. What part can licensed games play in this recovery? We have got several major titles launching in Q4. Our expectation is that GoldenEyewill be one of the best selling games for the year on
“
Our retail partners are counting on us to drive significant footfall into their stores.
David Tyler, Activision
Wii, while Blood Stoneis going to offer gamers a more brutal and gritty Bond experience than ever before. Additionally, our Licensed Business Unit is set to offer the latest game instalments for a great range of kids titles, such as Bakugan, Zhu Zhu Petsand iCarly. Our business also offers a very strong catalogue of other well- known brands such as Shrek, Spider-Manand Transformers, which have obvious appeal during the gift-oriented Christmas season. We are very aware that we have a critical role to play. Our retail partners are counting on us to help drive significant footfall into their stores, and our consumers are expecting us to deliver fantastic entertainment experiences, along with great value for money.
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