Egmont to publish “Temple Run” title

By John Freeman on March 20, 2014

Temple Run – available on iTunes and for Android – and, soon, as a Magazine. Image: Imangi Studios

Lisle International Licensing has announced it has signed a new deal with Egmont UK for a publishing programme for the addictive adventure game app Temple Run which will include new fiction, ebooks, activity books and a magazine.

Within its first year of original release, Temple Run , published by Imangi Studios, was downloaded over 100 million times, with over 68 million on iOS and 32 million on Android devices. Free to download, Temple Run challenges players to test their reflexes as they race down ancient temple walls and along sheer cliffs to collect coins, all while jumping, running and sliding to escape the grasps of the temple dwellers and avoiding obstacles.

LicensingBiz reports Egmont’s Temple Run range will span fiction, ebooks, activity books and a magazine, and annuals and non-fiction magazines have also been licensed to complete a global publishing offering.

A major ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Temple Run fiction series will launch in 2014 and readers will be able to choose their own twists within the story, just as they would when playing the game. The

Temple Run will also be a flagship title in Egmont’s upcoming ‘Downloaded’ activity book series featuring app games, due to launch this summer.

“Temple Run is a hugely exciting acquisition for Egmont,” said Emma Cairns Smith, license acquisition director, Egmont UK. “The game is dynamic and exciting, has cliff hangers, wrong turns, disappointment and triumph – a publisher’s dream.”

“The partnership with Egmont is perfect for the license as it will allow for deeper involvement by fans into this epic endless runner story<” added Gayle Tarrant from Lisle International Licensing, “and provides a new way for them to experience the excitement that the game creates.

“This next chapter for the Temple Run Licensing Programme will mark the start of an exciting year for the property, with Temple Run Annuals going in to market this month.”

Four Temple Run games have been published to date, which all offer opportunity for plenty of fictional tie-ins.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.