In a move that borrows from the Angry Birds playbook, quite literally, Fight My Monster – the so-called ‘Moshi for boys’ – has appointed licensing heavy-weights Russell Binder and Dimensional Branding Group to represent the brand globally and, presumably, to begin exploring merchandising options.
Binder’s Striker Entertainment actually claims Angry Birds as a client, while DBG works with the likes of Sony, Miniclip and Temple Run — so this appears to be quite an ambitious appointment for the young company and points to the potential of Fight My Monster’s brand amongst its much coveted and hard to reach audience of 8-14 year old boys.
Interestingly, Fight My Monster’s brand ambitions don’t stop there. The San Francisco and London-based startup also recently announced a joint TV production deal with Oscar-nominated BrownBag Films, the animation studio behind the recent ‘Doc McStuffins’ series for Disney, to work on an undisclosed project.
So what exactly is going on here?
“If you look at where the company is heading, we’re building out a games platform for 8-12 boys which can generate revenue from both virtual and physical lines”, says Executive Chairman and Fight My Monster investor Dylan Collins, citing the example of Moshi Monsters and Angry Birds maker Rovio who are each generating $100M+ annually through a combination of online and off-line.
“Obviously, if it was that simple a lot of people would be doing it – success comes down to having the right combination of game, brand, technology and team”, he says. “Kids are much smarter than people give them credit for — they can smell something which isn’t genuine.”
To that end, Fight My Monster, which was founded just 18 months ago by CEO Dominic Williams, thinks it’s hit the sweet spot with its target audience of boys and who average 10 and a half years old, and spend around 40 mins per-session playing the online trading card game. In total, the company claims 1.4 million players across the U.K. and North America.
Furthermore, the under-13 segment is “one of the toughest in the world”, says Collins, since it is a demographic that is largely absent from social media or email and the “lack of social channels makes marketing extremely challenging”.
But it’s a challenge that investors haven’t shied away from, and neither has the competition.
In March this year, Fight My Monster closed a $2.1m round from Greycroft Partners, eVentures and several well-known angel investors including Jarl Mohn (Chairman of Riot Games), Chris Deering (former Playstation Europe), Jeff Lapin (Take Two), Josh Resnick (Playdemic) and Kevin Donahue (YouTube).
Meanwhile, its competitors include the titles Skylanders (Activision), Monkey Quest (Nickelodeon), and “anything on the Nintendo DS platform”.
So what’s the recipe required to reach this elusive online audience? It appears that there isn’t one.
“Success in this market requires you to forget a lot of what has driven the most recent wave of gaming — it’s quite counter-intuitive”, warns Collins.
Counter-intuitive it may be. But merchandise and movies may well be part of the mix.
Fight My Monster is the fastest growing online game for 8-12 boys in the UK. With over 1.3M players across the UK and North America, the company is quickly becoming the online destination for schoolboys everywhere. Described by some as “Pixar meets Pokemon”, it has exploded in schoolyards with the average player spending almost 40mins per session. The game is a free-to-play trading card game which can be accessed from any browser at http://www.fightmymonster.com. We recommend that adults be...
Dylan Collins is one of Europe’s most experienced digital media entrepreneurs, specialising in games, kids entertainment and the technology which underpins them. Collins has been responsible for growing well-known video games and technology companies including Fight My Monster (the fastest growing online game for 9-10 boys), Jolt Online (acquired by GameStop) and DemonWare (acquired by Activision Blizzard). His latest company, Box of Awesome, is a rapidly growing physical-digital discovery platform for 8-14yr olds. Collins advises a small number of companies and...
London based tech entrepreneur. Recently sold cloud and consulting company providing platform for digital publishing and now focused on MMO game called Fight My Monster (www.FightMyMonster.com).
Angry Birds is a puzzle video game developed by Rovio, a developer based in Finland. Since its release for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch devices, over 6.5 million copies of the game have been purchased, and versions have appeared for other touchscreen-based smartphones. In Angry Birds, players take control of a flock of birds that are attempting to retrieve eggs that have been stolen by a group of evil pigs. The pigs have taken refuge on or within structures made...
Rovio is an industry-changing entertainment media company based in Finland, and the creator of the globally successful Angry Birds franchise. Angry Birds, a casual puzzle game, became an international phenomenon within a year of release, and is now the number one paid app of all time. Following this success in mobile gaming, Angry Birds has expanded rapidly in entertainment, publishing, and licensing to become a beloved international brand.
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