Pre-Alpha Game Builds Garner 600 Million Combined Views on YouTube Prior to Summer 2017 Launch Creating Demand from Licensees and Retailers.
Indie game publisher tinyBuild Games has appointed global licensing and brand management agency Evolution to develop and manage a worldwide licensing and merchandising program for its highly anticipated video game franchise Hello Neighbor, that has garnered over 600 million combined views on YouTube with pre-alpha game builds alone prior to its summer 2017 launch. The announcement was made today by Luke Burtis, Managing Partner, tinyBuild Games and Travis J. Rutherford, Partner/Chief Revenue Officer, Evolution.
Hello Neighbor is a PC stealth horror game with Artificial Intelligence as an opponent. In the game, a player moves into a brand new suburban neighborhood and fears his neighbor might be hiding something sinister in his basement. The only logical thing to do is break into his house and figure out what horror he may be hiding, but he needs stealth and cunning to escape his neighbor’s fury. With adaptive AI that learns from the player’s choices, the neighbor develops counter-actions and traps creating an atmosphere of tension and menace and making each subsequent attempt to break in more challenging.
“When we first saw Hello Neighbor from Dynamic Pixels and tinyBuild Games, we knew this was going to be a massive commercial success,” commented Rutherford. “With Pixar-style visuals, and tense gameplay, demand for the game is already evident from its YouTube hits and will appeal to a broad demographic audience of males and females. The full game will release on multiple platforms beginning summer 2017, and we already have industry leading licensees and major retailers clamoring for rights and products based on the eccentric Hello Neighbor characters.”
“We have literally been inundated with inquiries from industry leading manufacturers for Hello Neighbor given the engagement we already have on YouTube and positive reviews from prominent bloggers, and it was clear that we needed to partner with a best in class licensing and brand management agency,” says Burtis. “The entire Evolution team has been very excited about licensed product opportunities and we are thrilled that they are on board.”
