Licensing company Erve Europe has signed a deal with Blizzard Entertainment adding the wildly popular Overwatch and World of Warcraft games to its product portfolio.
Erve Europe is a leader in character licenses and brands for the continent, producing branded fashion and apparel featuring TV, film, cartoon and video game heroes. As part of Erve Group, the company has six offices across three continents, and has been in the industry for more than 35 years. The company will now serve the European market with a wide range of branded products for both game franchises, including t-shirts, sweatshirts, pyjamas, shorts, socks, underwear and hoodies, among others. The first collections will launch in spring/summer 2021, the company says.
“We couldn’t be happier with these two games in our portfolio,” said Tom Fabes, gaming licence manager at Erve Europe. “As I’m a fan myself, I know how dedicated the players are to these games. I know people who’ve been playing World of Warcraft for 10 years or more.
“We know our customers are open for these two games, whilst we always keep the target audience in mind. Together with Blizzard, we have set some targets and things are looking promising. Knowing what’s coming up with both games, we are very confident that this is a huge deal for us.”
Phillippe Bost, Activision Blizzard’s vp of international consumer products, added: “Erve has a great understanding of our DNA and Blizzard fans’ expectation. We are so proud to work with Erve to bring the magic of Blizzard to our community in Europe.”
The World of Warcraft franchise is one of the most successful and long-lasting franchises in the industry. Over 25 years it has spawned five games, a theatrical release and a community which continues to grow. Blizzard also scored a huge success with first-person shooter Overwatch, a highly innovative game that launched in 2016 and is now one of the world’s most popular games, with its own highly successful esports league.