Slitherine to Develop Horrible Histories Games

LONDON, August 15: Chorion
has signed a worldwide licensing agreement with Slitherine Strategies to
develop games based on Scholastic’s Horrible Histories for platforms such as PCs and Nintendo’s DS and
Wii.

The deal, brokered by
Chorion’s new-media consultants, AT Brands, a division of AT New Media, will
see the games launched in spring 2009, coinciding with the launch of the TV
series.

Horrible Histories, written by Terry Deary and illustrated by Martin
Brown, has sold more than 20
million copies internationally since 1993, making it one of the world’s bestselling
history book series for children. The books focus on bits of information
children aren’t taught in school.

“The Horrible Histories books offer a wealth of written and illustrative
material for Slitherine Strategies to work with and bring the brand to life off
the page,” said Zoe Upcraft, the licensing manager for Chorion. “This
interactive deal complements the TV deal agreed last year between Scholastic
Entertainment and Lion TV. Lion TV will produce 13 live-action episodes
broadcast by the BBC next spring.”

Marco Minoli, the director
of marketing at Slitherine, said: “Extending our lineup of interactive games
based on history to new frontiers is our main objective. Exploring this very
specific sector, to bring a different type of fun and entertainment to this
great brand through video games is one of our most exciting ventures for next
year. This is a great opportunity to show how we are able to work with such a
powerful property.”

—By Jackie Stewart