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Snoopy goes social with Beeline as Capcom picks up Peanuts licence

Series of social games on the way

Snoopy goes social with Beeline as Capcom picks up Peanuts licence
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Following on from the 'unimaginable' success it enjoyed with Smurfs' Village, Capcom has acquired the rights for Snoopy, courtesy of an agreement signed with Peanuts Worldwide.

The deal will see Capcom develop a series of social games based around Snoopy and associated characters under its newly launched Beeline mobile business.

The first title will hit iPhone and iPad this autumn, with Beeline launching three other social releases - Smurfs' Grabber, Dream Park and Monster Pet Shop – in August and September.

Social storm

The Snoopy deal marks another chapter in Capcom's efforts to gain a greater hand in the social gaming market, following the 10 million downloads the publisher amassed on the App Store across both Smurfs' Village and Zombie Cafe.

Combined, both titles boasted 6.5 million monthly active users back in February – a userbase Beeline was pitched with expanding upon.

The firm has suffered controversy in the field, however, with claims that it was far too easy to mistakenly buy virtual currency in Smurfs' Village resulting in Capcom restricting in-app purchases to five items per 15 minutes, before Apple changed the set up for all freemium games.

Playing with Peanuts

For Peanuts Worldwide, however, the agreement represents the first step in its bid to take the IP to multiple new formats in the coming months.

"Since taking over ownership of Peanuts, our overall strategic goal has been to continue to make the brand relevant to younger generations," said Neil Cole, chairman and CEO of parent company Iconix Brand Group.

"In order to accomplish this, we had to substantially expand our efforts for Peanuts into the digital, web and social categories of our business, which is demonstrated in the initiatives outlined in this first phase announcement."

[source: PR Newswire]

Keith Andrew
Keith Andrew
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font. He's also Pocket Gamer's resident football gaming expert and, thanks to his work on PG.biz, monitors the market share of all mobile OSes on a daily basis.