SYBO Games hires licensing expert Naz Amarchi-Cuevas

Mobile game developer SYBO Games is branching out from gaming and into the merchandising market.

The Danish-based mobile games developer is currently developing and supports Subway Surfers, one of the most downloaded mobile games in 2017. Now, it is launching the SUBSURF merchandising brand at this week’s Brand Licensing Europe conference in London.

The ‘rebellious entertainment’ brand is going to be headed up by Naz Amarchi-Cuevad, whose previous work includes Rovio’s Angry Birds franchise. The new brand is one of several new avenues SYBO is exploring in licencing, with a new animated series based on Subway Surfers launching in 2018. The move isn’t exactly an unknown quantity for QYBO as Subway Surfers, released as a game in 2012, was originally an animated short film.

"SYBO has been mindfully building this entertainment franchise since the company’s founders, Bodie Jahn-Mulliner and Sylvester Rishøj, launched their award-winning Subway Surfers animated short film on YouTube eight years ago, and it’s about to get real,” said SYBO Games CEO, Mathias Gredal Norvig. “We have carefully built a massive fan base for our universe since introducing the game in 2012, and now we’re ready to delight them with our edgy, and captivating entertainment, with a lifestyle product portfolio and Naz is the licensing linchpin to do just that.”

“The industry is constantly changing, and having billions of eyeballs on a game is simply not enough,” said Naz Amarchi-Cuevas. “I absolutely love the way the new SUBSURF franchise authentically embraces society’s focus on the globalized Worldhood megatrend, weaving together an array of the strong global influences, including authentic street art, edgy youth fashion, regional global styles, skate culture, music and dance in immersive ways. The edgy, expressive and nostalgic attributes are not only HOT, they also should resonate with SUBSURF’s massive and active worldwide user base.”