LONDON, May 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

- 80m registered users worldwide -

- $250m Total gross retail sales to date across all Moshi products -

Global kid's phenomenon Moshi Monsters™ celebrates its fifth birthday with a special party in London this week.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130501/612899-a )

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130501/612899-b )

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130501/612899-c )

Parent company Mind Candy will be celebrating the five year success of its hero brand, which has reached milestones including, 80 million registered users and a quarter of a billion (USD) total gross retail sales on all Moshi Monsters products sold globally to date*.

The popular brand started out as an online world of adoptable pet monsters for boys and girls aged 6-12 back in 2008. It slowly crept to 1 million users before taking off in the summer of 2009 and growing by 1 new registered user per second.

Moshi is biggest in the UK but has a global fan base. The top five territories are English speaking (UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand). There are registered users across 150 territories and plans to internationalise in various languages as the brand rolls out on tablet devices in 2013.

In 2011 Moshi Monsters expanded offline into physical products, launching books, toys, membership cards and a variety of other product lines that have pulled in over $250m in total gross retail sales to date*. Highlights include the number one selling monthly kids' magazine in the UK - Moshi Monsters Magazine, and a top five UK music album - Moshi Monsters: Music Rox!, (which toppedMadonna and went gold). Moshi also made videogame history with the longest ever number one in the Nintendo DS chart - Moshi Monsters: Moshlings Zoo - with 23 consecutive weeks at number 1!

View further stats on our 5yr infographic here  - http://mindcandy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Moshi_info_graphic_10.png

It hasn't always been smooth sailing for the Monsters. Mind Candy almost closed its doors back in late 2008 when the business ran out of money and teetered on the brink of bankruptcy.

Michael Acton Smith, CEO of Mind Candy and creator of Moshi Monsters said: "Many people assume Moshi is a Japanese or American success story, but we're very proud to say it's a homegrown British phenomenon. The last five years have been an extraordinary journey. We'd like to say a huge thank you to the millions of children and parents that have adopted a monster and played within the weird and wonderful Moshi world."

There's still more to come from Moshi Monsters this year including the launch of its first movie and new experiences on touchscreen devices.

Mind Candy was founded by Michael Acton Smith in 2004. The company launched alternate reality game Perplex City before hitting on the idea of Moshi Monsters.Based in London's Tech City, the company continues to grow rapidly, with a team of over 200 now working on Moshi Monsters and other exciting products for launch throughout 2013. Mind Candy recently moved to a new office near Old Street to accommodate growth and create a fun office space including a treehouse and a slide.  

Notes to editors

This is $250m (USD) total gross retail sales across all Moshi Monsters products - including partners. This is not Mind Candy's revenue.

#Moshi5yrs

About Mind Candy^[TM]

Mind Candy is a global entertainment companyand the creator of the successful Moshi Monsters franchise. Formed in 2004 by Internet entrepreneur Michael Acton Smith, Mind Candy is considered a pioneer for digitally based brands in the family entertainment space.

For more information visit http://www.MindCandy.com

About Moshi Monsters™

With 80 million registered users in 150 territories worldwide, Moshi Monsters - the online world of adoptable pet monsters for boys and girls aged 6-12 - has become a global phenomenon. In the UK alone half of all kids have adopted a pet monster!

Children choose from one of six virtual pet monsters that they can create, name and nurture. Once their pet has been customised, players can navigate their way around Monstro City, taking the daily puzzle challenge to earn 'Rox' (virtual currency), playing games, solving Super Moshi Missions, personalising their room, showing off their artwork, reading stories and communicating with friends in a safe environment.

For more information visit http://www.moshimonsters.com

For further information contact:

77PR
mindcandy@77pr.co.uk
+44(0)20-7492-0977

Nicola Duarte
Head of PR, Mind Candy
T: +44(0)7803-874-927
E: Nicola@mindcandy.com

Annem Rehman
PR Executive, Mind Candy
T: +44(0)20-7501-1915
E: annem@mindcandy.com

SOURCE Mind Candy