LOS ANGELES -- Seeking to reach the widest swath of gamers nationwide, FreePlay Labs has chosen 7-Eleven TV as the exclusive TV partner to promote its Cowboys & Aliens videogame, Cowboys & Aliens:Silver City Defense, said FreePlay CEO Greg Easley and Darren Mann and David Veckerelli of Digital Display Networks Inc. (DDN), creator and operator of the 7-Eleven TV network.
The deal comes three months after entertainment company Platinum Studios licensed its top-selling Cowboys & Aliens graphic novel to FreePlay to create an interactive game for [image-nocss] Apple's iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.
7-Eleven TV is currently expanding from approximately 3,000 convenience stores to more than 6,200 locations next year. At scale, 7-Eleven TV will become one of the largest digital out-of-home television networks in the United States, the company said, reaching 200 million shoppers monthly by June 2012.
7-Eleven TV programming is customized for demographics, locations and dayparts, with content that includes national and local weather, news and entertainment.
"While we are focused largely on reaching this audience through the internet, 7-Eleven TV offers enormous access to the demographics we are after, given that a significant percentage of 7-Eleven consumers comprise a vital consumer segment of active gamers and app purchasers," said FreePlay's Easley.
"While we continue to cultivate a broad base of advertisers, this deal with FreePlay opens the door to other game developers and publishers looking to impact this hard-to-reach audience," added Mann.
Cowboys & Aliens:Silver City Defense is a third-person shooter with the player as the cowboy hero defending a small western town from invading space aliens. The game, which is now available on Apple's iTunes and the App Store, is designed for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices running iOS 4.0 or higher.
FreePlay Labs develops and publishes video games and interactive applications that can be distributed directly via digital networks. The team, featuring veterans from the game industry's leading publishers, is currently developing titles for video-game consoles, mobile devices and tablets. FreePlay Labs is headquartered in Stamford, Conn.
Digital Display Networks is a digital network provider that creates and installs digital networks, produces and manages all content and administers advertising sales to provide a singular digital signage solution at point of purchase. DDN was formed by the principals of Explorer TV, the nation's largest in-hotel digital visitor information TV network servicing more than 150,000 hotel rooms in major cities in the United States and Europe, as well as cruise ships, visitor information centers and airports. Founded in 1992, Explorer TV was a pioneer in place-based media where advertisers are integrated into network content. All of Explorer TV's content is 100% advertiser supported.
Platinum Studios is an entertainment company that controls an international library of comic book characters from all over the world, which it adapts, produces and licenses for all forms of media including print, film, online, mobile/wireless, gaming and merchandising.
Dallas-based 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses more than 8,600 7-Eleven stores in North America. Globally, there are approximately 41,400 7-Eleven stores in 16 countries. During 2010, 7-Eleven stores worldwide generated total sales close to $63 billion.
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