Moshi merchandise revenue to hit $100m in 2011
Forecast comes as Mind Candy announces new partnership deals for toys, books and cards
The popularity of Moshi Monsters is expected to continue to grow, with developer Mind Candy revealing that it is forecasting $100 million in merchandising revenue alone in 2011.
The children's online game has grown to a player base of 30 million, and already has partnerships in place with Penguin Books and Vivid Imaginations - but has now added more companies to that list.
Spin Master and Hunter will cover North America and Australia respectively for toys, while Scholastic will look after North America with books - and Topps will take care of trading cards on a global business.
"Moshimonsters.com is the heartbeat of the brand but we're looking forward to developing many new physical products that connect back to the virtual world and enhance the experience for our players," said Michael Action Smith, CEO of Mind Candy. "Toys, trading cards and books should help make the virtual world even more fun for millions of children around the world."
The popularity of the brand has been such that the company recently claimed to be acquiring new users at a rate of one per second, spanning 150 countries around the world.
The game itself is free-to-play, but users can buy items for use in-game, and around 1 million of these are purchased daily.