Quebec, November 2, 2009 – After having successfully obtained rights in Quebec to make board games featuring characters from animated movies and the most popular children’s shows aired on television, Éditions Gladius International, the largest manufacturer of board games in Canada, has now acquired rights to the licenses for two boys’ and girls’ favourites, Spider-Man and the Disney Princesses.
 

Spider-Man and Friends
It is quite true that with a portfolio of characters such as Dora the Explorer and her cousin, Diego, Caillou, the Looney Tunes and the very popular Flash McQueen, it was much easier for the Quebec-based company to negotiate licenses normally attributed to multinational corporations. “For Spider-Man, we introduced ourselves at the Marvel stand in 2008 during the International Licenses Salon in New York and were surprised to learn that they had already heard of our work. In addition to being very flattering for us, negotiations were considerably shortened,” indicated Marc Fournier, Research and Development Director at Éditions Gladius International.

“The visuals of Spider-Man and Friends were easier to adapt to children’s games, contrary to those of the original Spider-Man, directed at an older audience. We also developed a memory game and a bean toss game for little boys, often overlooked in the field of educational games,” stated Marc Fournier.

Disney Princesses
In 2008, Éditions Gladius impressed the people at Disney, resulting in the right to market games featuring the ever popular Flash McQueen and friends from the animated movie, Cars. This year, the company will launch a new game starring little girls’ favourite princesses that have fuelled the imagination of an entire generation.  

Marc Fournier raised the fact that it may seem easy to develop games with the visuals of popular themes: “One must not forget that that the game must be interesting and fun for children to play. A game is not simply a great design: children must want to play it. This is the thought behind every game developed at Gladius.”

Come to the Ball combines chance and memory and is designed for girls aged 5 to 10 years. It is already on sale in toy and games stores.

Additional Information
For an interview with Marc Fournier, Research and Development Director at Éditions Gladius International, or for a free sample game, please contact the undersigned.

-30-

Jinny Sanschagrin
418-681-2555 Ext. 223
(Toll free 1-800-804-5998 Ext. 223)