Yu-Gi-Oh! Accelerates European Expansion
At this year’s Festival of Licensing, Konami Cross Media NY, Inc. has signed a number of new licensing agreements to expand the Yu-Gi-Oh! brand throughout Europe, the EMEA and globally. The announcement was made by Jennifer Coleman, Vice President of Licensing and Marketing at Konami Cross Media NY.
More specifically, Konami Cross Media NY has solidified new merchandising agreements with France’s Abysse Corp., UK-based Pyramid International, Germany’s butterfly-effected GmbH and French publishing house Editions Larousse for Yu-Gi-Oh!, with new consumer products targeted to hit retail beginning in the 4th quarter of 2020 and throughout 2021.
Coleman will be representing Konami Cross Media NY at the Festival of Licensing, the month-long large-scale digital gathering that aims to bring together the global licensing industry to connect, learn, strike deals and do business on an international stage. It begins on October 6th with a focus on brands in Europe.
“We are thrilled to announce these key partnerships and look forward to having a dialogue with more potential partners participating in the Festival of Licensing,” said Coleman. “It is disappointing not to be able to travel to London for Brand Licensing Europe, but we are confident this digital effort will provide a good alternative to discuss strategy and further growth and expansion for our licensing business with new licensees as well as our established partners.”
Abysse, which already serves as Konami’s Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game distribution partner for France, is making a further investment in the brand by licensing the Anime franchise for other categories in the ABYstyle range. Focusing on popular fan collectible items such as: mousepads, notebooks, pillows, wallets, glassware and backpacks, Abysse will launch the new merchandise line in France, initially, and then expand to other key territories.
Pyramid International, a leading manufacturer for wall art and decorative accessories, has signed on to make Yu-Gi-Oh! licensed products such as: wall art, drinkware, doormats, stationery and decorative accessories. With a focus on the EMEA marketplace, Pyramid will look to maximize its strong distribution network with stores such as HMV, ASDA, Auchan, Media Markt, Micro Mania and Forbidden Planet as well as internationally with: Walmart, Gamestop, Amazon, WHSmith and Barnes & Noble for sales and placement of their new Yu-Gi-Oh! line of goods.
As a top designer for Samsung Theme stores with over 3 million downloads of their products monthly, butterfly-effected GmbH will introduce a number of Yu-Gi-Oh! digitally licensed accessories including: digital themes, wallpaper, watch faces, icon packs and stickers for download on mobile devices worldwide (excluding Asia).
Editions Larousse, the French publishing house founded in 1852 and best known for producing encyclopedias and dictionaries, has expanded into licensing. Editions Larousse will publish the Yu-Gi-Oh! Guidebook (first published in English by Scholastic) for their French audience.
