By Mike Hayes, Mercia Technologies PLC

National investment group Mercia Technologies PLC is pleased to announce that its direct investment, VirtTrade, is partnering with Valiant Entertainment to create Valiant Heroes, a comprehensive digital collectible card game based on the comic book publisher’s characters and titles.

VirtTrade, a developer and publisher of digital trading cards, will create a series of collections focused on Valiant’s back catalogue of over 2,000 individual characters. The fun, social app will provide fans with a mix of original sketches, covers, panels and recreated pages, which includes mini-games and VirtTrade’s proprietary trade and collect functions.

The partnership with Valiant Entertainment is the third of a number of high-profile announcements made by VirtTrade as it continues to build out its portfolio.

As it does for all IP, VirtTrade will tailor its apps for Valiant fans to ensure they meet the expectations of the Valiant brand. In addition, VirtTrade will drive community engagement around the core product. Valiant Heroes is set for release on both iOS and Android by the end of 2018.

Ross Walker, Chief Commercial Officer of VirtTrade, said: “When I first came into the VirtTrade business, I anticipated comic heroes and mixed universes being central to our success, so I’m delighted we are now working with Valiant. Their archive is rich and deep and will reimagine how comic fans consume and engage with content that has previously only been available on the page.”

Mike Hayes, Head of Digital & Digital Entertainment at Mercia, said: “We are pleased to watch VirtTrade continue to grow and make commercial progress as it establishes an exciting new partnership with Valiant Entertainment, following its recent agreement with Formula 1. We are looking forward to seeing the business develop its digital collecting experience for Valiant’s comic universe as it continues to innovate in this space.”

Russell Brown, Valiant President of Consumer Products, Promotions and Ad Sales, said: “We see in VirtTrade the same enthusiasm we have for our own product and an opportunity to drive revenue and engagement in ways we’ve not been able to do before. Our team has been impressed by its innovative ideas and we will be jointly developing a few industry firsts specifically for our loyal Valiant fans.”