Making video games using intellectual properties outside of the medium often involves complicated licensing procedures — and using multiple intellectual properties can make things even more messy. How do game developers manage to make it work while working on large crossover titles? 10:10 Games recently launched its own such title, Funko Fusion, which uses animated versions of Funko POP figurines to bring together a menagerie of different titles. The selection seems random — but as they told GamesBeat, it wasn’t.
10:10 Games is a relatively young studio, having been founded in 2021 — Funko Fusion is its debut title. The studio first revealed the title in 2023 with a trailer showing the ludicrous crossover shenanigans of having Funkos from several different universes crossing paths. The studio has since augmented its original lineup with additional Funkos from The Office, as well as Bob Ross and Sun Wukong.
GamesBeat spoke with Arthur Parsons, 10:10’s co-founder, about the work that went into creating a crossover title like Funko Fusion. Parsons told GamesBeat that one of the criteria for selecting the franchises that are part of the title was trying to cover several decades. “Obviously, licensing is a whole kettle of fish where certain licensors don’t play together nicely. It’s a minefield. When we started the project, we thought, ‘Where can we go for a one-stop shop for the first game where’s there a real breadth of IP that spans the ages? We talked to all the big studios and we ended up working with Universal. They had a real breadth of everything from the 70s with Jaws, the 80s with Back to the Future, through the 90s with Jurassic Park.”
Parsons added that the 00s was covered by titles like Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. “Obviously, we couldn’t put the entire IP catalog of NBC Universal in the game. We had to be quite selective.” He added that other franchises from more recent decades, such as Five Nights at Freddy’s and Invincible, came along later in development and completed the lineup of decades. “We can appeal to Boomers and Gen Z and everything in between.”
How to make licensing work
Parsons said the initial idea behind Funko Fusion was to emulate a collector’s eclectic mix of POPs. “A Funko fan usually has a collector’s shelf like like this, and it’s very usually an expression of them. We were trying to create a virtual version of a fan’s collector shelf, because that’s what what Funko is. It’s about celebrating fandom and things like that.” He added that making a full-game crossover can be thornier, in terms of licensing, than using multiple IPs for things like skins or cosmetics.
Games created from licensed IP can include anything from shovelware created to coincide with the release of a film to critically acclaimed standalone titles. In recent years, non-gaming IP has also crossed over in to the gaming world by way of licensed experiences in Roblox, or the aforementioned skins in a title like Fortnite. So-called “branded content” in games is also a way for an IP’s owner to keep it in the public eye — a recent study from Livewire showed that younger gamers (Gen Z or Gen Alpha) find particular gratification in branded content.
However, seeking out IP in order to make a game from it is quite different. Parsons added that, “It’s a challenge getting one license, let alone 20+ and keeping the license source challenged in a creative fashion so you get the best of the IP.” It’s also crucial to understand what fans want when they play a game created from or including their favorite story. “In order to make a great licensed game, you have to think as a super fan of whatever it is that you’re making, and you have to know the IP inside and out.”
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