Leading U.S. toymaker JAKKS Pacific, announced it has entered into a multi-year, global toy licensing deal with Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) to create an exclusive toy line based on the popular, free-to-play battle royale game, Apex Legends™. JAKKS has secured the worldwide rights to manufacture, market, and distribute action figures and accessories, plush, role-play, toy weapons and blasters, with a first wave of collectibles launching at retail this October. The deal was brokered by licensing agent, Retail Monster.
Apex Legends, which achieved universal acclaim for reaching 50M downloads in its first month, is a squad-based game that aims to deliver a strategic, ever-evolving, high octane competitive experience to fans. Since its launch, the game has amassed over 70M players and has enjoyed continued success through regular seasonal updates with Season 5 earning its best start of any season to date. Additionally, Apex Legends has 1.6M+ Twitter followers, as well as 9M followers on Twitch with over 25B+ minutes watched to-date.
“Apex Legends has a huge and growing fan base, and the breadth and depth of characters and their stories makes it perfect for a collectibles line,” said Craig Drobis, SVP Marketing, JAKKS Pacific. “We are very excited to introduce a full range of premium products, allowing fans to extend and showcase their affinity for this massively popular game.”
Developed by Respawn Entertainment, Apex Legends delivers a squad-based battle royale experience where players select from a growing roster of Legends – each with their own unique abilities and playstyles – and the last team standing wins. Players can choose from unique characters like Bloodhound, the tracker who can see recent enemy activity on the map, or Lifeline, a battlefield medic who can shield teammates and bring them back from the brink of death. Balanced squads and teamwork are critical, as each Legend is easy to pick up and learn but challenging to master.
“JAKKS has a great history of bringing characters to life from a number of high-profile franchises and our game is loaded with great characters to choose from, with new characters coming every season. We’re excited to work with JAKKS to bring our Legends to life outside the game,” said Arturo Castro, Vice President of Brand Marketing for EA Respawn Entertainment.
The global launch of the first Apex Legends highly articulated and detailed six-inch collectible figures will be available at retail in October of 2020, with more to come in 2021.