“Poppy Playtime Forever” on RobloxMob Entertainment
Horror fans or video game fans have undoubtedly heard of “Poppy Playtime.” Mob Entertainment is the mastermind behind the game. The company recently made waves as a new entry on the Top Global Licensors report. Now Mob Entertainment is preparing to go to the next level. Shelly Gayner, global counsel and head, global licensing, Mob Entertainment, speaks with License Global about how it has molded its success and what it has coming up next.
License Global: This year, you are a new entry on the Top Licensors report. What do you attribute to your success as a licensor?
Shelly Gayner: Our success can be attributed to our commitment as a transmedia company to engage our fans across various platforms and mediums and on a global scale. We’ve made sure, as we’ve progressed beyond releases on Steam to all the major consoles, that we have support for multiple languages. As a licensor, it has been especially important to work with licensees who have strong global capabilities or are specialists in specific markets and can make sure we are delivering what our fans and retail partners want to see from “Poppy Playtime” around the world. The core of our success is an intriguing story, captivating characters, the connection with fans and a dedicated, talented team that makes this all possible.
Scholastic recently announced you will release a book with it for “Poppy Playtime.”
Earlier this year, we released the “Poppy Playtime: Orientation Notebook,” and we’re thrilled to have this multiyear partnership with Scholastic. “Poppy Playtime” is widely known for its rich lore, and this partnership allows us to further develop the storyline that our audience loves. Our Scholastic partnership will include additional books, such as young adult and graphic novels. We are also excited about how Scholastic is working to have the books translated and released around the world. In addition to Scholastic, we've also enjoyed collaborating with publishers in Japan to create “Poppy Playtime” manga.
What other deals do you have upcoming for this property?
A few new launches you can expect to see later this year include collaborations with G FUEL and Insert Coin; both known for their connection with fans of popular video games. Additionally, fans have been sharing on social media for a long time now how they bring “Poppy Playtime” characters to life using bricks from various construction brands, so we are excited to be officially entering the construction category and getting ready to introduce buildable and posable figures with Brickcraft.
What licensees are you working with?
One thing that has been great this year is working with licensees that can get products to market quickly as we see fans excited about new characters like CatNap and the Smiling Critters. Trends International had some great posters drop with “Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3.” We worked with Phat Mojo to feature CatNap in Walmart’s Collector Con event, Monogram had CatNap in a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive and Jazwares Game Studio continues to add characters into the Roblox experience and marketplace. CultureFly will be introducing a new character from “Poppy Playtime: Chapter 4” at New York Comic-Con. It’s been great to have a combination of global licensees and licensees that specialize in specific markets to help us bring great merchandise to our fans around the world.
We are working with other licensees, including Jazwares, CultureFly, Spirit Halloween and PhatMojo. These partnerships have enabled us to offer our fans plushes, clothing, costumes, toys and a brand-new experience in Roblox called “Poppy Playtime Forever.”
What do you attribute to the success of “Poppy Playtime” as a property? What do people love about this IP?
The success of “Poppy Playtime” can be attributed to the quality of work the team consistently produces. We focus on creating compelling storylines, interesting characters and high-quality graphics with purpose and precision, which our fans continuously praise. We love to see the fan engagement with the story and characters. YouTube reported last year there were over 7 billion views of Huggy Wuggy content from hundreds of thousands of videos. After we introduced the new Smiling Critters on YouTube, the fan-generated content and art started immediately with over 4 billion views to date. Our fans inspire us, and we're always thinking about how we can continue to bring them characters they will love and bring these characters to life in different ways, like the song and music video we released in collaboration with music artist, CG5.
It seems like there is a lot of interest globally in properties that have elements of mystery and monsters; what you’ve described as “mascot horror” – do you have thoughts about why this is?
The franchise combines the nostalgia and familiarity of childlike themes with the thrill of horror, delivering a unique experience that resonates with and captivates our audience. We’ve been fans of movies and games with these elements, including Stephen King’s “IT” and Willy Wonka. We love tapping into nostalgia and thinking of toys Playtime Co. would have released over the years, and we love making monsters with unique characteristics. The combination of this, rooted in a great story, resonates with our fans. We also think about how we can deliver this in a thrilling way for older teen and adult fans. We are also mindful of developing ways younger audiences can experience the characters in different ways, such as through Roblox and more experiences to come.
What’s next for Mob Entertainment?
We have licensed “Poppy Playtime” to Legendary Entertainment, with whom we are developing movie and television series adaptations. We’ve always been inspired by movies, so it has been especially exciting to be part of the producing team for the “Poppy Playtime” live-action movie alongside Legendary and Angry Films. We are also deep in the development of some new IP. As a transmedia company, it’s exciting to think about how we introduce new IP to our fans – whether it’s in video games, movies, music video, publishing, merchandise and more. We’ve gained experience across all these areas and are excited to work across these spaces and more in the future for “Poppy Playtime” and new IP.
Source: License Global
