Post by: LassePalle on June 09, 2005, 04:52:22 AM
Hasbro Reacquires Digital Gaming Rights from Infogrames for $65 Million; Infogrames Granted Licenses to 10 Hasbro Franchises
PAWTUCKET, R.I. & LYON, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 9, 2005--Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS) and Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext 5257) jointly announced today that Hasbro has reacquired the digital gaming rights for its properties for $65 million. These rights were previously held by Infogrames on an exclusive basis as a result of a license agreement entered into concurrently with their purchase of Hasbro Interactive and Games.com from Hasbro in December of 2000. As part of the transaction announced today, Hasbro and Infogrames have entered into a new licensing arrangement that provides Infogrames with the rights for 10 Hasbro franchises, including DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS and MONOPOLY.
Under the new agreement:
-- Infogrames is granted exclusive rights to DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS in all interactive formats for the next ten years. Three new games are planned to release in 2005 and 2006 by Atari: D&D Online, NeverWinter Nights 2 and Dragonshard.
-- Infogrames has also secured an exclusive, 7-year license on nine major Hasbro properties, covering wireless, Internet (online games) and interactive television formats. The games are MONOPOLY, SCRABBLE, GAME OF LIFE, BATTLESHIP, CLUE, YATZHEE, SIMON, RISK and BOGGLE.
-- Hasbro reacquires the digital gaming rights to all of its properties including TRANSFORMERS, MY LITTLE PONY, TONKA, MAGIC: THE GATHERING, CONNECT FOUR, CANDYLAND and PLAYSKOOL, as well as hundreds more of its worldwide brands for maximizing across all platforms.
-- Infogrames will keep the right to sell and distribute certain currently sold Hasbro titles during a transition period.
"We think this is a great move for both companies," said Alfred J. Verrecchia, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hasbro, Inc. "This new agreement allows Hasbro to fully exploit its brands in a wide variety of growth platforms including next generation consoles, around the world, while at the same time giving Infogrames the rights to 10 popular Hasbro brands."
"This agreement is consistent with our objective of providing more resources for the Group's growth, while concentrating on brands with a significant potential, and investing in Atari's new products. By securing a ten-year license to DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS and obtaining seven-year rights to nine major properties for wireless, Internet (online games) and interactive television formats, we have strengthened our relationship with Hasbro and taken steps in anticipation of technological developments in our industry," commented Bruno Bonnell, Infogrames Chairman and Chief Creative Officer.
"We are delighted to further continue our partnership with Infogrames," said Jane Ritson-Parsons, President of the Hasbro Properties Group. "With a built in revenue stream from this new licensing arrangement with Infogrames and the potential to further develop some of our marquis brands like TRANSFORMERS, MY LITTLE PONY and MAGIC: THE GATHERING on all digital gaming formats around the world, we are very excited about the possibilities."
Post by: UncleBob on June 09, 2005, 06:16:12 AM
Damnit... Why couldn't Stratego be somewhere on that list? The DS was *MADE* for a wireless version of Stratego...
Post by: KDR_11k on June 09, 2005, 08:21:17 AM
Doing the EA, eh, Bushnell? Time for those gamers to get out their pen and paper again.
Post by: Shin Gallon on June 09, 2005, 10:22:42 AM
Post by: Arbok on June 09, 2005, 01:07:52 PM
Post by: ruby_onix on June 09, 2005, 08:27:52 PM
So basically, Hasbro is paying Infogrames/Atari $65 million to get them to stop destroying the Transformers reputation. Good deal all around.
Post by: KDR_11k on June 09, 2005, 10:29:22 PM
