It’s been an extended wait, however Outfit7 has revealed My Speaking Tom Associates 2, a brand new cell sport that may carry the Speaking Tom & Associates crew again in a brand new cell sport.
Outfit7 is launching the single-player sport this July as a sequel to My Speaking Tom Associates, which debuted in 2020. Each video games are associated to Speaking Associates, the unique hit title that launched Tom the speaking cat to the world in 2012. The sport can be coming in July, and it already has one million individuals who have pre-registered.
This sport gathers Tom’s pals in a neighborhood group. Gamers can bounce into a completely reimagined world and hang around with Speaking Tom, Angela, Hank, Becca and Ben. This extremely anticipated sequel ramps up the friendship vibes with customized homes for every character, recent new methods for them to precise themselves, and a ton of mini-games and hangouts to discover, mentioned Ante Odic, CEO of Outfit7, in an unique interview with GamesBeat.
“The unique was a extremely successful sport and considered one of our flagship apps,” Odic mentioned. “It was a brand new idea as a result of it was a special sport from what we had been doing till then. It’s a idea we actually believed in and the response from the viewers and market was actually, actually good.”
Plus, the characters are totally voiced – talking, joking, and expressing themselves with actual voices that carry much more character and attraction to each interplay. And to prime it off, early birds who be part of the enjoyable throughout the first 14 days will unlock a particular present: Tom’s slick new Rizzler Outfit — as a technique to kick issues off in fashion.
Welcome to the Neighborhood
On the coronary heart of My Speaking Tom Associates 2 lies a energetic new neighborhood the place each character’s residence displays their distinctive character – from Tom’s rockstar loft to Angela’s artsy studio, and from Hank’s cozy critter hideout to Becca’s tech hub and Ben’s inventor’s storage.
Gamers can discover the neighborhood and go to native spots just like the meals retailer, boutique, well being clinic, and greenhouse – every bursting with enjoyable and artistic actions. A dynamic day-night cycle provides recent moods and magical moments to find, making the neighborhood really feel actually alive.
Mini-Video games, Max Enjoyable
Whether or not gamers are within the temper for motion, creativity, or simply one thing quirky, My Speaking Tom Associates 2 delivers with a giant bunch of recent mini-games. You’ll be able to have interaction in street-style spray portray and paper aircraft flights, or play soccer shootouts, kite crafting, high-speed races, and even mowing mayhem. It’s all seamlessly woven into the sport world.
Speaking characters with a humorousness
For the primary time within the sequence, the characters converse with actual voices, including a complete new dimension to how they categorical themselves. Gamers can hear Tom, Angela, Hank, Ben, and Becca crack jokes, react to moments, and convey much more character to the display. This characteristic provides a recent layer of attraction and humor, making the world really feel extra alive and each interplay extra private.
Bus journeys to new worlds
Past the neighborhood, gamers can catch a experience on the brand new bus system to the Water Park – a splashy, slide-packed vacation spot stuffed with surprises. And that’s only the start – extra bus journeys and new worlds are already on the way in which.
Taking friendships to new heights
My Speaking Tom Associates 2 builds on fan favorites like greater worlds, deeper bonds, and plenty of extra methods to attach. The characters are bursting with character and attraction, feeling extra relatable than ever. This sequel serves up a fair richer, extra heartfelt expertise, mixing enjoyable gameplay with real moments. It’s the subsequent step within the Speaking Tom & Associates journey, made to please gamers of all ages.
To have a good time the worldwide launch, gamers who be part of the sport throughout the first 14 days will obtain an unique present: the fashionable Rizzler outfit for Tom. It’s the proper technique to begin your journey in fashion.
Throughout its lengthy journey, the corporate realized how you can do reside ops and updates and realized how customers work together with these sorts of video games and new applied sciences, he mentioned.
“With our ardour for these nice characters and model, we’re placing power into this sequel,” he mentioned. “So we’re very excited to see the way it’s going to go. It’s plenty of new kind of content material.”
Odic mentioned the brand new sport has extra range of content material than the sport from 2020, and there are some features that the sport can pull off higher now. The setting can be exterior, because the characters can be dwelling in a neighborhood moderately than only a single home.
“We could have particular person homes for every of them. They are going to be particular person locations the place they’ll be capable to categorical their uniqueness, traits, hobbies, pursuits, they usually’re mainly totally different personalities that they’ve as characters,” Odic mentioned.
In these homes, customers will be capable to work together with them. All of the characters can take part a home and do stuff collectively. And there can be new mini video games that join with the world in a extra intuitive manner, extra seamless, he mentioned.
“It’s going to be new sorts of mini video games and experiences for customers. Then the characters can be speaking for the primary time, not simply textual content speech. They’re going to have their very own voices, and they’re going to be capable to react and remark and and have enjoyable with one another and in addition with the person and us,” Odic mentioned. “It was at all times tremendous vital that the characters usually are not just a few sort of entity within the sport representing what the customers are doing. They’re precise characters with wants which are interacting with the atmosphere and with the person itself. And now mainly we’re including a complete new communication channel that may put that on a complete new degree, the place they’ll react to issues round them. They will react to one another in a humorous manner, they usually may react in another extra manner with the person.”
That enhances the connection that gamers could have with the characters and convey them to life.
A brand new route for the sequel
Within the first sport, gamers may take characters to a set of shops the place you simply should buy objects for these characters. However now they are going to be taking characters to the entire new extra components of the world the place there can be new stuff to discover, they usually can work together with characters.
“We’re actually broadening the sort of memorable experiences that we wish to give to our customers to discover along with these characters,” Odic mentioned.
A cautious strategy on AI
Whereas the characters are deeper and extra enjoyable, they’re not but going to have generative AI constructed into them.
“They’ll be extra lifelike and be enjoyable, however we’re exploring utilizing AI for this function. We did some checks up to now, and we discovered that it’s nonetheless sort of clunky,” Odic mentioned.
Given the dangers of characters going sideways, the corporate determined to skip full AI for the characters, he mentioned. That’s not so nice for a youngsters’ sport.
“We preserve them in character and management the way it all works collectively,” he mentioned.
A sport growth journey
The sport can be cell on the iOS App Retailer and the Google Play retailer. Odic mentioned the sport took about 18 months to 2 years to make. A small group labored on quite a lot of prototypes, after which they feell in love with the thought of making particular person homes for every character. After that, the group went into full manufacturing. At varied groups, there have been 20, 30 and even 50 individuals engaged on the sport.
Throughout the growth, the corporate began transforming particulars of the model and the totally different characters. What are their particulars and traits?
“My Speaking Tom Associates 2 is the primary product that, on this scale, goes to point out and signify all of those new issues and this rework,” Odic mentioned. “We’re constructing a extra cohesive technique of all of those merchandise collectively, how they’re going collectively, how they’re working collectively, how they’re supporting one another.”
At Outfit7, there are a complete of 400 individuals working on the firm. Many are a part of the reside operations groups engaged on current video games, primarily six of the largest hits thus far. There are a few different groups engaged on different unannounced titles which are coming, Odic mentioned. Some will proceed to work on My Speaking Tom Associates 2 as new updates get began.
Of the gameplay, Odic, mentioned, “We’re immersing you on this world with these characters so that you can simply discover this prime quality content material in an informal manner. It’s mild hearted. It’s simply enjoyable, one thing to loosen up with.”
The altering business
Odic acknowledged that the entire sport business is rather more complicated. There may be plenty of complexity with the addition of publishing companions, distribution companions — not simply growth studios. There are promoting companions, exterior growth corporations and extra. It’s additionally a saturated market with extra mature competitors.
“It’s a a lot more durable market and business for now to succeed in the identical degree of success as earlier than, however it isn’t the primary time this has occurred in gaming, and in addition it occurs once in a while in several industries,” Odic mentioned.
He acknowledged some dangerous can come out of it, like studio closings and layoffs. However there may be additionally some good that may come, with a resetting of prices and new alternatives for smaller corporations. Odic doesn’t assume this can be a time to retreat, or to “exploit” an outdated franchise moderately than “discover” a brand new one.
“What can occur in these more durable occasions is that individuals sort of shut up and squeeze they usually go extra into exploitation than into exploration, as a result of exploration is brief time period riskier. However for the long run, it’s higher to do exploration. My concern is that if everyone goes into exploitation and put much less efforts into exploring, then new concepts, new video games, new people, new builders, new revolutionary concepts, are going to have a more durable time to succeed in audiences,” Odic mentioned.
Throughout this time, corporations can reevaluate what gamers really need from the video games of the long run, Odic mentioned. In that manner, the robust occasions will help the business get up, assist it discover “pleased accidents,” and return to development.
“It’s a troublesome scenario, certain. However it’s on all of us to do our greatest in order that these good issues occur. Now we have plenty of issues which are occurring. Now we have extra issues that we now have recognized as enterprise alternatives, and we now have sources to do all of that. So for us, we are literally in scenario. We will see these traits from the business, in fact, as nicely, however we are literally maintaining our ecosystem of customers fairly steady, and we’re worthwhile. Now we have nonetheless a really robust efficiency.”
Odic mentioned it isn’t clear but what the end result of the antitrust case between Epic Video games and Apple can be. Epic Video games has been allowed to get Fortnite again on the app retailer after 4.5 years of authorized maneuvers, but it surely isn’t clear what it means for every developer within the business.
“To be trustworthy, we have to preserve our eyes open and see the place it’ll go and in what manner. We positively have to take alternatives as they arrive. But it surely’s exhausting for me simply to foretell,” he mentioned.
Whereas Outfit7 has at all times targeted on international video games, Odic mentioned there are territories of the world which are additionally turning into extra vital. He goals to have his firm able to serve content material to any area of the world the place the expansion is going on.
“We are attempting at all times to guarantee that we’re current in all markets, and it’s the identical now,” he mentioned. “It’s a brilliant thrilling time. We’re actually focusing now on these video games and different video games that we’re doing, and tremendous excited concerning the launch.”
