HCG Signs Licensing Agreement with conceptcard to Publish Bella Sara,
A Horse-Themed Game for Girls Combining Physical Cards and Virtual
Horses
Hidden City Games(TM), LLC, a privately held game publisher
headquartered in Seattle, Washington, announced today that it has
signed a five-year licensing agreement with conceptcard, a pioneering
game publisher based in Denmark, for the worldwide rights (with the
exception of Scandinavia) to publish and market Bella Sara, an
innovative horse-themed game for girls, ages 5-12.
Bella Sara will be an updated version of conceptcard's extremely
successful existing game, which debuted in Denmark under the brand
name Bella. Bella Sara combines whimsical, fantasy images of horses
printed on cards, which can be collected or used in easy-to-learn game
play, with an online environment that enables girls to activate, care
for and play with a virtual horse. In addition to imagination-building
game play, Bella Sara features positive messages designed to uplift
girls and reinforces the principle that "Beauty Comes from Within."
"Conceptcard is excited to work with a game veteran like Peter
Adkison, and his Hidden City Games team, to bring our Bella Sara
concept to the world," noted Gitte Braendgaard, co-director of
conceptcard. "Peter's experience with successful properties such as
Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering and Hidden City Games' Clout game makes
him a great partner for us, and we look forward to a mutually
rewarding relationship."
"This agreement presents an incredible opportunity for Hidden City
Games to launch Bella Sara as a major mainstream girls' brand
internationally," said Peter D. Adkison, CEO of Hidden City Games. "In
the six months since conceptcard launched it, Bella has sold an
astounding four million-plus cards in Denmark, a country with a
population of five million people. This initial success, and the
universal love of girls for horses, makes us very confident in the
prospects Bella Sara will have around the globe."
Hidden City Games will release Bella Sara in the United States
late in 2006. In North America, sales and marketing will be conducted
by Hidden City Games; in all other territories, the game will be
marketed and distributed through partnerships with experienced, local
game companies.
About Hidden City Games, LLC
Hidden City Games, LLC, is a privately held company headquartered
in Seattle, Washington. Its mission is to bring to market games
designed to interactively engage players of all ages. Hidden City
Games brings together a highly experienced team of industry
management, including founders Peter D. Adkison, CEO and formerly
founder of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Jesper Myrfors, Chief Creative
Officer and original art director for Wizards of the Coast's game
Magic: The Gathering; and Paul Peterson, currently HCG's Vice
President of Research and Development, previously on the R&D team for
Magic: The Gathering. Under Adkison's leadership, Wizards of the Coast
created an entirely new genre of games with the release of the world's
first trading card game, Magic: The Gathering, which was published in
13 languages and is loved by millions of players worldwide. Adkison
grew Wizards to a multimillion-dollar company before selling it to
Hasbro in 1999 for nearly $500 million. HCG's first product, Clout --
the chip-throwing game, was launched in September 2005. Clout, which
combines strategy, dexterity and imagination, features fantastic
creatures printed onto poker-size chips that players toss onto any
flat surface during head-to-head competition. Players must merge
strategy and tactics with physical skill to score points and edge out
their opponents. Clout appeals to kids and adults the world over, age
eight and up.
About Conceptcard
Conceptcard was founded in September of 2005 in Svendborg,
Denmark. The company launched its first product, a game called Bella,
also in September of 2005. Bella, a horse-themed game for girls 5 to
12, combines physical cards, featuring whimsical images of horses and
easy-to-learn game play, with an online component that involves care
of and play with virtual horses. Initially sold through mass-market
distributors in Denmark and then in Norway and Sweden, Bella has sold
over 4 million cards since its debut. Conceptcard was founded by
principals Gitte Braendgaard, Poul Villadsen and Peter Andersen, each
of whom hold the title of director. Gitte, who developed the Bella
product vision, was inspired to create Bella during her tenure as a
social worker, caring for the mentally handicapped. In line with the
focus of her former career, Bella features socially conscious,
positive messages and imagination-building game play, designed to
uplift girls. Bella is named for Gitte's daughter's real-world horse.
