Highly anticipated video game secures licensing agent ahead of its summer release.

Indie game publisher tinyBuild Games has tapped Evolution to develop and manage a worldwide licensing program for its upcoming video game franchise “Hello Neighbor.”

Evolution will now work to secure licensing partners for the brand in key product categories such as toys, apparel, accessories, back-to-school and novelty.

“Hello Neighbor” is a PC stealth horror game that utilizes artificial intelligence as an opponent. In the game, players will move into a new suburban neighborhood; however, the main character fears his neighbor might be hiding something sinister in his basement. After the player breaks into the neighbor’s house, they’ll need to use stealth and cunning to escape the neighbor’s fury. With adaptive AI that learns from the player’s choices, the neighbor develops counter-actions and traps that make each subsequent attempt to break in more challenging.

Furthermore, the game has already garnered more than 600 million combined views on YouTube with pre-alpha game builds.

“We have literally been inundated with inquiries from industry leading manufacturers for ‘Hello Neighbor’ given the engagement we already have on YouTube and positive reviews from prominent bloggers, and it was clear that we needed to partner with a best in class licensing and brand management agency,” says Luke Burtis, managing partner, tinyBuild Games. “The entire Evolution team has been very excited about licensed product opportunities and we are thrilled that they are on board.”

“Hello Neighbor” is slated to debut this summer.

“When we first saw ‘Hello Neighbor’ from Dynamic Pixels and tinyBuild Games, we knew this was going to be a massive commercial success,” says Travis Rutherford, partner and chief revenue officer, Evolution. “With Pixar-style visuals, and tense gameplay, demand for the game is already evident from its YouTube hits and will appeal to a broad demographic audience of males and females.  The full game will release on multiple platforms beginning summer 2017, and we already have industry leading licensees and major retailers clamoring for rights and products based on the eccentric ‘Hello Neighbor’ characters.”