Head of licensing Naz Cuevas on the Scandinavian gaming and licensing scene.
As licensing assumes an increasingly global footprint, the UK undoubtedly remains a major market for international companies.
The Source chatted to some of those which are based overseas but are making waves here in the UK, asking about their successes, plans going forward and how things might differ from licensing in their home territory.
Today: SYBO Games – based in Scandinavia
Naz Cuevas, head of licensing, SYBO Games
“Essentially, SYBO was the first to develop the ‘World Tour’ concept that is now widely used within the industry. It is truly amazing to think that all runner apps on the market today follow our digital script. We are proud to be the leader of this mobile genre and are continuing to make next generation products for the future.
Subway Surfers became the world’s most downloaded game from word of mouth and after five years, was still the number one most downloaded game in three consecutive quarters in 2017.
In the UK, BLE was a fantastic experience for us. We introduced the Subsurf brand and are already in some very promising negotiations with top level potential partners. We believe that undoubtedly the UK will be one of our biggest markets for this programme. We were the only stand that incorporated AR technology into our space and it was ultra-cool. It really helped us stand out for sure, and we got so many accolades for our creativity.
The new Subsurf brand masterfully embraces society’s focus on the globalised ‘Worldhood’ megatrend; weaving together authentic street art culture, edgy youth fashion, regional global styles, skate culture, music and dance, in a way that we think will resonate with Subway Surfers’ 1.6 billion dedicated and extremely connected GEN-Y & GEN-Z fans, many of whom are located in the UK.
The Scandinavian gaming scene and licensing scene is really thriving. It is an environment where creativity and the best ideas flourish. From a licensing perspective, we think that the Scandinavian and the UK share a lot of similarities. It’s about lifestyle and working hand in hand with retail partners to drive traffic in-store.
While our products are not out yet, we know that our home market is open to collaborations big and small, to new and emerging properties as well as classic brands. Retailers are open-minded and look to find inspiration from emerging trends which can many times lead to great gains which can easily be lost in the midst of entertainment giants.
We have the tech, we have the entertainment and we have the fans.”
This feature originally appeared in the spring 2018 edition of Licensing Source Book. Click here to read the full publication.
