The popular Horrible Histories books and TV series have been brought to life in a new virtual world, created for Scholastic by social media agency, Yomego.
Horrible Histories World – the first virtual world launched on the new platform from Yomego’s sister company, HuzuTech – opened on 1 August, with a full launch planned in September.
Yomego has been working with Scholastic on the design of the virtual world over the last 18 months, devising the gameplay, designing and developing features, recruiting commercial partners and preparing for launch.
The Horrible Histories World brings to life the hugely successful books and CBBC TV series, and lets children explore some of the most gory periods in history, including ‘Ruthless Romans’, ‘Awful Egyptians’, ‘Terrible Tudors’, ‘Measly Middle Ages’, and ‘Perilous Pirates’.
Children can dress as a gladiator, tour ancient Egypt, play battleships with Blackbeard, enjoy quizzes and quests and make new friends in a safe and educational online environment.
Children under 13 must be supervised by an adult and a roadmap of enhancements is planned in time for the full launch next month.
The virtual world is created on a new virtual world and social gaming engine built by Yomego’s sister company, HuzuTech, making it possible to bring a brand to life in a bespoke virtual world for a fraction of the cost previously.
Lisa Edwards, Publishing and Commercial Director, Scholastic Children’s Books, said: “Yomego’s specialist expertise has helped us to define the concept, bring it to life and explore the full marketing and commercial potential. We are very excited by this innovative new chapter for the Horrible Histories brand.”
Steve Richards, MD of Yomego, added: “Horrible Histories was absolutely made to be turned into a virtual world. Children love the goriness of history. Being able to explore different periods in history is a much more fun way to learn about our past than being taught by rote. It makes history fun. Yomego’s creative adaption of HuzuTech’s software means that players can also have all the functionality of a social network built in to the virtual world.”
www.horriblehistoriesworld.co.uk
www.scholastic.co.uk
www.yomego.com
www.huzutech.com