Officials from major book publisher Penguin have announced that video game strategy guide label BradyGames is to move within the internal company structure, from Pearson Education to become an imprint within Dorling Kindersley, particularly known for its illustrated explanatory guides.
BradyGames, based in Indianapolis, is the largest publisher of strategy guides in the U.S. and has secured exclusive book licenses to best-selling games such as
Grand Theft Auto,
Final Fantasy and
World of WarCraft, many of which are published worldwide. In the UK, BradyGames sales will now be handled by the Penguin key account team, and in the U.S. by the Dorling Kindersley key account group and the Penguin field sales representatives. The Penguin Group sales team will handle English language export territories and the DK International Sales team will deal with rights sales.
Gary June, CEO of Dorling Kindersley, said, "The companies are a perfect strategic fit for each other. Both are experienced in publishing licensed, highly illustrated titles, with BradyGames extending DK's traditional customer base into the teen and young adult market. Most of Brady's current sales are in the U.S. so the consolidation allows DK's global reach to secure new licenses and to extend foreign language sales."
David Waybright, the publisher of BradyGames, will report directly to Gary. He said, "Our new home at DK offers a great deal of opportunity for both companies. DK's renowned quality and creativity in publishing only strengthens BradyGames' reputation for creating the highest quality video game strategy guides worldwide. Now more than ever, BradyGames can surge ahead and extend our strategy guides to our customers, retailers and licensors. There are several ripe publishing opportunities with video game properties where BradyGames will provide solid inroads to a rapidly growing market for DK to explore."
