Chronicle Books acquires Wild + Wolf’s Petit Collage, Ridley’s Games and Games Room brands

Chronicle Books has detailed the acquisition of Wild + Wolf’s three signature games and toy brand: Petit Collage, Ridley’s Games, and Games Room in a deal that spans around 350 active skus and more than 10,000 retail partners across 60 countries.

New products will continue to be produced under the Petit Collage, Ridley’s Games, and Games Room brand names.

With consumer demand for games, activities, and all-ages entertainment continuing to increase, the acquisition is a major step in Chronicle Books’ strategic growth strategy. This move greatly extends Chronicle’s already substantial reach in the gift, game, and entertainment categories around the world.

Petit Collage, Ridley’s Games, and Games Room have won numerous industry accolades and awards over the past few years and have achieved significant sales growth across a wide range of retail environments. They bring with them a loyal and diverse international fan base.

“The Ridley’s, Petit Collage, and Games Room brands align seamlessly with our mission to spark the passions of adults and children worldwide and will complement Chronicle’s distinctive publishing program, as well as those of our distribution clients,” said Tyrrell Mahoney, president of Chronicle Books.

“The integration of these three much-loved and admired brands, and the addition of extremely talented members of their creative teams, supports our strategy to serve even wider consumer interests in all types of retail stores and environments.”

Chronicle Books is distributed in the UK by Abrams & Chronicle Books. The move now hands the firm greater leverage in the toys and games sector. Petit Collage is recognised for its range of eco-friendly toys and gifts, Ridley’s Games is known for imaginative and original trend-led games for all ages including Avocado Smash, and Games Room is a leader in trivia decks and games.

Paul Taylor, CEO of Wild + Wolf, said: “We are very excited to have Ridley’s, Petit Collage, and Games Room become a part of the Chronicle Books publishing universe. We have long admired Chronicle for their inventive and diverse range of books, games, and gift product. Their creative ingenuity and sales acumen will propel these popular game and toy brands to new heights in the marketplace.”

As result of this transaction, Chronicle will establish a subsidiary, Chronicle Books Limited, in the United Kingdom and will bring on board a number of Wild + Wolf creative staff to lead and develop the future program out of Bath, England, and in San Francisco, California.

For the remainder of 2020, sales and distribution will remain unchanged. Beginning January 2021, all distribution and sales representation will move to Chronicle Books in San Francisco and to its partners Abrams & Chronicle Books in the United Kingdom and Europe and Raincoast Books in Canada.

Wild + Wolf signs major Disney deal for its growing Ridley’s Games brand

The design-led gifting company, Wild + Wolf has signed a new partnership with Disney to bring a cast of popular Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars properties to its Ridley’s Games portfolio this year.

Marking the first licensed range for the growing games brand, the product collection will consist of games and puzzles featuring gameplay that remains true to and captures the detail of the licensed characters and properties.

Ridley’s’ bestselling games like Think Fast! and Selfish will be adapted into editions, popular formats such as reaction games will be developed with unique themes, and original games will also be launched across the Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars franchises.

The contract will include rights across the UK, France, Iberia, GAS, Benelux, Nordics, Italy, CEE, the Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The initial collection will be launching in AW20 will include: Think Fast: Disney Edition, Drawsome: Disney Edition, Disney Villains Selfish, Disney Quiz Trivia, Star Wars Force Battle, Star Wars Selfish, Star Wars Jigsaw Puzzle, Star Wars: Mandalorian Game (Name TBC), Star Wars Quiz Trivia, Star Wars: Don’t Upset The Wookie, Marvel Hulk Smash, Marvel Spidey Sense, and Marvel Quiz Trivia.

“We couldn’t be happier to work with Disney,” said Emma Puzey, licensing manager of Wild + Wolf. “Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars are global household brands that are loved by millions of people around the world. Our licensed range strengthens our mission to create innovative, giftable, and entertaining games for all ages.”

The license comes at a time of significant growth for the games brand, as Ridley’s Games was just exhibited at its first London Toy Fair, celebrated a bumper year of award wins, received a dedicated UK account manager, as well as seeing great success in expanded international distribution with translations into multiple languages.