Mattel Launches Self-Publishing Initiative For Mobile Games

American toy manufacturer Mattel announced a new initiative: the company will begin self-publishing gaming releases starting later this year. Mattel's Global Head of Digital Gaming, Mike DeLaet, revealed this in an interview with GamesBeat, stating that this initiative aims to expand the company into video games.

According to DeLaet, audiences can expect to hear more announcements from Mattel regarding these self-publishing titles this year as the company looks towards growing its system of partnering studios. Furthermore, DeLaet stated that the company will be moving and looking to publish at least "one self-published game per year," which will likely give developers as much time as possible.

"We'll be very selective about our partners. We're launching a self-publishing initiative where we do co-development. We'll fund the development. We'll fund the marketing, and we'll do the publishing ourselves. This will be in addition to our joint venture with NetEase, Mattel 163, and our licensing business," DeLaet commented.

Right now, Mattel will focus on self-publishing games for mobile platforms as it begins to put together a team while partnering with third-party developers to bring these games to the growing market. DeLaet added that the company will concentrate on mobile games for the time being but may extend to bringing their IPs and games to other platforms like Roblox and the Unreal Editor For Fortnite (UEFN).

Furthermore, this new direction for Mattel allows them to have more control of the games they intend to publish, as opposed to previously licensing their IPs to other studios. This allows the company to be more involved with the game, from handling its publishing and marketing plans to developing its creative vision, which DeLaet cited that Mattel "can't do everything ourselves."

Mattel's new strategy and focus aim to branch out its sizeable portfolio of iconic IPs and characters, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Uno, into new gaming experiences for players. In a comment by Mattel's Chief Franchise Officer, Josh Silverman, "This is an exciting time for us as we take our iconic IP beyond licensing partnerships to self-publishing of Mattel mobile games."

"Complementary to our existing licensing and joint venture M163 with Netease, we will directly engage with our fans and deliver unrivaled gaming experiences. We expect this to significantly increase the revenue and profit potential at low investment for the company and to be a catalyst that drives the business forward."