Mattel Launches Mattel Game Studios: Will Directly Develop and Publish Its Video Games
The company behind Barbie and Hot Wheels brings together nearly 300 professionals across Los Angeles and Hangzhou. The new structure will oversee the development, publishing, and management of proprietary games, while continuing to collaborate with extern
Mattel wants to play a more direct role in the production of video games based on its brands. The company has announced the formation of Mattel Game Studios, a new global organization that will be responsible for directly developing, publishing, and managing games and interactive experiences related to the group's catalog. The structure brings together nearly 300 artists, designers, engineers, producers, and live operations specialists, primarily distributed between Los Angeles and Hangzhou.
However, the new studio is not starting from scratch. It is built upon Mattel163, the company created in 2017 with NetEase and which became wholly owned by Mattel earlier this year. In February, the company had announced the acquisition of the remaining 50% owned by NetEase, paying $159 million and valuing the company at a total of $318 million.
Mattel163 primarily brings with it the experience gained in the mobile market. Since 2018, games like UNO!, UNO Wonder, Phase 10, and Skip-Bo have collectively surpassed 550 million downloads, with approximately 20 million active players each month. Mattel Game Studios now absorbs these competencies into a structure that can internally oversee not only development, but also publishing, marketing, and long-term management of new titles.
The division will take charge of the current mobile catalog, new free-to-play projects, and experiences created for user-generated content platforms like Roblox and Fortnite. Some of the first steps are already visible: in June, Mattel Digital Studios published Skeletor: Until Next Time!, a mobile game dedicated to Masters of the Universe and the company's first self-published mobile title. UNO Wild is currently in soft launch, while a new Hot Wheels game is already in development.
The creation of Mattel Game Studios does not, however, mean the end of licenses entrusted to external companies. The new studio is part of the broader Mattel Digital Studios, which will continue to include both internally developed and published projects and those created with other partners. Mattel is therefore adding a second model to the system used so far: not only granting brands like Hot Wheels, UNO, or Masters of the Universe to other developers, but building its own production capacity and directly maintaining control over games intended for long-term support.