NewKidCo LLC was an American video game publisher of children's titles based on popular licensed characters, for Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft consoles. The company was a subsidiary of NewKidCo International Inc. (TSE:NKC; OTC BB: NKCIF)[1]
NewKidCo Holdings, LLC was formed as a start-up company in 1997 by Henry Kaplan and Jonathan D. Harber, the latter being the former CEO of fellow video game publisher Hi Tech Expressions, with Harber also having worked for the company. Shortly afterwards, the company secured a licensing deal with Children's Television Workshop to publish Sesame Street games for the PlayStation. This was done though Kaplan's long-time partnership with the organization.
On April 21, 1998, NewKidCo Holdings, LLC announced that they had entered into a joint venture with Alpha Software Corporation, a subsidiary of SoftQuad International Inc. to secure game publishing rights; of which Alpha Software would own a majority stake in the business.[4] On the same day, the venture announced that the Sesame Street titles would release in the Fall of 1998.[5] The joint-venture with Alpha Software was finalized on June 10 as NewKidCo LLC, with Alpha holding 75% in the combined company. SoftQuad International soon announced a possible diversion of its hardware assets to focus strictly on video games.[6][7] At E3 1998, the company secured its third license: Tiny Toon Adventures with the announcement of Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster and the Beanstalk.[8] SoftQuad International was delisted from the NASDAQ on October 9,[9] and on November 10, they had entirely sold SoftQuad Inc.'s assets to private investors and management, sending the company private. This completed the international division's move to children's video games and were renamed NewKidCo International Inc.[10] Prior to that, the company began releasing games for the Game Boy Color with Elmo' ABCs and Elmo's 123s.[11]
In March 1999, The Learning Company (later Mattel Interactive) secured North American distribution rights to NewKidCo's titles in North America. These rights expired in July 2000 when NewKidCo decided to open up their own distribution network.[12]
At E3 2000, the company secured the E.T. license from Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment[19] and Tom & Jerry from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. In July 2000, Ubi Soft signed a publishing deal with the company to allow them to release the company's titles in PAL region territories.[20] The partnership was extended in January 2001.[21]
