In a surprise announcement, Funko has said they're branching into video games (not making new game franchise Pops, mind you) with a new "action platformer."
funko freddy
The announcement was made recently at San Diego Comic Con. As reported by GameRant, the AAA action-platforming title will be the renowned toy company's first ever, and it will be helmed by the studio 10:10 Games. 10:10 is a newly opened studio featuring a bunch of former devs from TT Games, the people behind the popular LEGO series of games.
Here is the announcement trailer for the Funko video game, as shared by the company during a Hall H Funko panel at SDCC:
TT Games veterans Arthur Parsons, Jon Burton, and Paul Flanagan are headlining the development of the triple-A Funko video game. Aside from that, the title has been announced to have "significant" third-party content integration, and it will be available on all major consoles. That includes both current-gen and last-gen consoles, as well as PC.
But other than those details, the upcoming Funko video game is still being kept under lock and key. Though perhaps the trailer itself could offer a look at how the visuals for the game will be like, as it is one of the first times a Pop figure was 3D-animated. It looks a lot like the animations and visuals will not look too different from that of LEGO Games. And judging by the industry experience of 10:10, the action-platforming title will likely handle like LEGO games as well.
The game has been announced for a 2023 release. This could mean that development has been well underway for a while now, because no triple-A quality video game is going to be made from the ground up in less than two years. That's a fact.
Here is a video from YouTuber JayShockblast talking about the game:
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What This New Funko Game Could Look (And Play) Like
Prior to this announcement, Funko has never made a video game before, obviously. Their only foray into gaming is their line of game franchise-inspired Pops from so many licensed IPs. But if they're partnering with former LEGO game developers, then perhaps we already have a good idea of what the game will be like.
Alongside the "third-party integration," expect the game to have multiple platforming sequences filled with collectibles and a whimsical, easy-to-digest narrative (if it will even feature one). It might lack the signature "breaking things into little pieces" action of the LEGO games, but it could also have its own version of the iconic LEGO humor that has made numerous titles (like the recently released Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga) massively popular.
As for the third-party content, maybe they could easily bring in a few of their licensed Pop lines. This can turn the game into a massive "crossover of the century" type games where numerous licensed IPs co-exist in some form. That could very well be the draw for this kind of game. But all of this is speculation until new details are revealed closer to the title's launch next year.
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