Mobile Game, ‘Power Rangers: Legacy Wars’ Kicks Up Movie Promotion

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Power Rangers, the immensely popular martial arts kids’ TV franchise, will be hitting theaters on March 24 with an all-new movie, but its roots go back almost 24 years. It started in 1993 with the debut of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television show, featuring brightly-costumed heroes battling against threats from across galaxies and dimensions. Multiple spin-off shows have shown since then, with different Rangers, abilities and personalities. All of them, and the history they represent, will be captured in the upcoming mobile game, Power Rangers: Legacy Wars.

In essence, Legacy Wars is a brawler where players select from a roster of both Rangers and recognizable villains from the franchise to battle it out in short matches. To promote both the game and movie, Ludi Lin, who plays the Black Ranger in the Power Rangers movie and Jason David Frank (the Green and White Ranger from the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) took each other on at the Unity Keynote event from GDC 2017 in San Francisco, California. The short battle between the two represented a cross between generations, mediums and characters that fully embodies the spirit of the game. As an added promotion, attendees were treated to a free ticket to see the movie.

Steve Kuroki, creative director at nWay, talks to [a]listdaily about the upcoming brawling game for mobile devices, Power Rangers: Legacy Wars, which is being developed in partnership with Lionsgate and Power Rangers creator, Haim Saban (Saban Brand CEO) to coincide with the release of the upcoming movie.

“The gameplay is about collecting Rangers and villains, making teams of three to use against another player’s team,” explained Kuroki. nWay started with a Facebook game called ChronoBlade and moved to the Asian market when the social platform changed some of its gaming policies. ChronoBlade was turned into a mobile game and its competitive element was shown to Lionsgate and Saban, and they agreed to apply the Power Rangers brand on top of the fast-paced gameplay.

Steve Kuroki, creative director at nWay
Steve Kuroki, creative director at nWay

“The game is based around the movie,” said Kuroki, “but we have a special opportunity, working with Saban, to use every Ranger and villain from their universe. This is the first of its kind. They’ve never allowed Rangers and villains to team up, let alone have Rangers fight against each other.” However, Saban was impressed enough with the fighting engine and the multitude of Ranger mashup videos on YouTube to allow nWay this level of flexibility with the brand.

“Each one of those Rangers and villains have unique attacks,” said Kuroki while demonstrating the gameplay. “Nothing is shared except for their core animations.” This approach is sure to please fans of the show, who have favorite characters from specific shows. Players improve their characters by winning matches and earning in-game currency, and new characters are unlocked as they progress.

So, how do the new Rangers stack up against the classic ones? “We wanted to make sure the movie characters were strong, since the game is basically based on them,” said Kuroki. “But if we created Rangers and villains and put the strongest ones later, that would create an imbalance. We wanted it to be fair, so we think of them as being on equal footing as much as possible. When we think about rarity for fighters, we think about how technical those fighters become. We think about the mechanics to create value within some of the later warriors.”

Power Rangers: Legacy Wars will feature all the Rangers and characters from the movie in addition to having fighting locations inspired by the film. Kuroki also said that there is a way to feature certain warriors. “We’re hoping that the movie does well and that there will be many more to come,” he said. If so, then nWay can add them into Legacy Wars ahead of time to give fans a preview of what to expect. However, seeing the Rangers in full costume is just one part of the fun. The other half is in watching the actors play teenage students who are discovering their powers. So, do we ever see any of these Rangers without their helmets?

“We intentionally left all of the helmets on all of the movie Rangers,” said Kuroki. “Because there’s no facial animation, we didn’t want to have a lot of straight human faces on there. So, keeping the helmets eliminates that issue. Rita is based off the actress from the movie, and we’ve been going back-and-forth on how to design her. We decided to pull back a little bit so that it’s not really Elizabeth Banks’ likeness, but that could change closer to the movie release. When I was training Ludi on how to play the game, he wanted the helmets off–he wanted to see himself. So, that’s something that we’re considering and it could potentially be a feature later on.”

When asked for his thoughts about what kept the Power Rangers brand so strong after two decades, Kuroki said, “It’s a formula. You kind of get a sense of how the television show stories are going to unwind themselves. It’s also in the different Ranger costume upgrades, which keeps things fresh, and they’ve improved the visual effects along the way, and that gets folded in with the action. I think that as we get older, some of us will fall away from watching it, but there’s always that new generation.”

Perhaps the real power behind Power Rangers is that it spans generations, so watching the movie becomes a family event. “When I talk to my friends who have kids, they’re totally into the movie. I think it’s going to be good when the movie comes out because families are going to go and spark with that interest in Power Rangers again. Having the shows on Netflix is good timing, too. We’re watching them all to design some of these attacks.”

We asked Kuroki what type of audience the game was targeting. Was nWay playing up the nostalgia factor to attract old fans or was it focused on current and new ones? “It’s probably a cop-out to say, but we want to get as many players as possible. Our goal at nWay is to make a really good game first, so we’ve designed a fresh take on the fighting game. Mobile game players will be into Legacy Wars because it has some familiar mechanics, and competitive players will hopefully enjoy what we’ve created.”

nWay has been working with Lionsgate and Saban Brands to promote the game across their respective social channels. The company also plans to have streamers play the game to help further spread the word. “We’re slowly rolling out information, but the Unity Keynote was our big splash,” said Kuroki. Power Rangers: Legacy Wars launches on March 23, which is one day before the movie hits theaters.

Intel Celebrates Super Bowl Of ESports

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While eSports is still a new concept to many companies, especially mainstream brands, Intel is celebrating the culmination of its 11th season as lead sponsor of the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM). Through its partnership with ESL, Intel has turned the little city of Katowice, Poland, into the home of the Super Bowl of competitive gaming. This year, the event has been expanded to cover two successive weekends of eSports competition.

Top teams from around the globe will compete in League of Legends this weekend at the Spodek Arena, while the action will pivot to StarCraft II and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive next weekend. There will also be competition off the main stages with Heroes of the Storm and CrossFire tournaments in dedicated tournament areas. Additionally, there will be an all-female CS:GO IEM Challenger, which is part of Intel’s diversity initiative.

George Woo, worldwide event marketing manager at Intel, told [a]listdaily that IEM’s Katowice stop, which also serves as the Finals for the season, is different from a lot of eSports stops.

“Next weekend we open up the IEM Expo, which showcases the latest products for attendees to check out in 20 booths,” Woo said. “This year, we’re trying to push the envelope of this amazing experience by focusing on virtual reality, which is still a big industry focus and continues to carry a lot of buzz. Attendees will be able to check out VR by playing pre-release games on head-mounted displays that aren’t on the market yet.”

Sliver.tv has partnered with IEM and ESL to bring the CS:GO competition home in VR for the millions of fans who can’t travel to Poland. For those who are at the event, there will be viewing stations for people to check out the action in VR.

“There will also be a VR Festival Day on Sunday, March 5 in the auditorium showcasing three new Oculus Touch VR titles that are eSports friendly—The Unspoken, Lone Echo and Serious Sam,” Woo said. “We’ll have hosted tournaments with people coming up on stage to compete for some cool prizes, and it will all be streamed on Twitch.”

In addition to the public-facing IEM Expo, Spodek will host a business center with VIP suites for partners, interview rooms for media and Intel retail training and retail meetings with top accounts in the region. Inside this area, Intel will be showing its new VR headset called Project Alloy, which made its debut at CES last month in Las Vegas. VR games such as Ubisoft’s Star Trek: Bridge Commander will also be demonstrated there.

IEM Katowice is also the first event to attract non-endemic brand Gillette, which has partnered with League of Legends team owner xPeke in an activation that will allow fans this weekend to design custom IEM razors and then 3D print them at the booth. “Gillette joined our family this year and we’re slowly but surely getting more non-endemic brands interested in IEM,” Woo said.

Gillette will be reaching a lot of people on site, and even more via livestreams. “We project, with the two weekends and the sold out arena, we’ll have over 125,000 people here—on the conservative side,” Woo said. “There are people from all over the world that attend this event. There’s an influx of international people.”

While the Spodek Arena only holds 12,000 people, the IEM Expo has attendees coming in and out the entire time with long lines, according to Woo.

Last year’s Finals attracted 34 million unique viewers online, and Woo believes with two weekends of competition, this year’s numbers will be close to 40 million views. “Everything has been growing from each stop this season,” Woo said. “Our three titles (League of Legends, CS:GO and SC2) will have record numbers. There’s a lot more effort Intel is putting behind PR and social this year, and we’ll make history. Our overall program numbers are good and we’ve expanded to new markets like Korea, and the numbers there were fine. We’d like to find another market like Poland and emulate that.”

Woo said next season Intel is in discussion with ESL for potentially two new titles, although there are always discussions each season. Intel won’t go beyond the three premiere title slots, but there is room for additional content through smaller stages for publishers who want to promote their titles. Last year, Intel worked with Ubisoft to launch Rainbow Six Siege eSports, and this year the focus has been on CrossFire and Heroes of the Storm.

Livestreaming ESports In VR Gets Real

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After livestreaming both ESL One New York and the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Oakland tournaments last year in 360-degree virtual reality, Sliver.tv is ready to take things to the next level and continue its mission of transforming “the eSports spectator landscape forever.” The VR platform is partnered with ESL to broadcast the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice, which features one of the largest Counter-Strike tournaments in the world, from a virtual stadium. Audiences will be able to watch and interact with the event, which will be held in Katowice, Poland, on February 25-26 and March 3-5, like never before.

Mitch Liu, Sliver.tv CEO
Mitch Liu, Sliver.tv CEO

“At Sliver.tv we’ve been on a mission to transform the interactive eSports entertainment industry,” Sliver.tv CEO, Mitch Liu, told [a]listdaily, “recognizing that the player’s point-of-view is not necessarily the best spectator perspective, and on existing streaming platforms, you don’t feel the energy and excitement as when you’re in the physical stadium with 10,000 fans. Our virtual eSports stadium in a 360 VR experience is our first attempt at bringing this to millions of online and VR users.”

Liu describes the virtual stadium as “an immersive 360 VR space where you can see the two teams on stage in front of you with live stats and scores in real-time. An IMAX-style screen with the broadcast feed and dynamic lighting synchronized to the game mood adds to that feeling of presence—of being there.”

He continued by explaining that “online viewers can see their avatars and interact with other live viewers through emoji and view each other’s gamer profile via integration with Valve’s Steam API. Viewers can then jump into the live game by teleporting into the 360 VR stream, putting them in the middle of the action.”

Liu confirmed that, as with the ESL One New York and IEM Oakland livestreams, VR viewers will be able to spectate from within the game itself using computers, mobile devices or premium headsets such as the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. “The in-game POV is always there and available to users,” said Liu. “The live interactive stadium is a much more social way to watch the livestream.”

However, Liu admits that there will be a difference between the mobile and premium VR experiences. Although mobile users can access the 360 experience, the new virtual stadium will be limited to premium headsets. “The mobile VR app is limited to our in-game 360 video experience, which you can use with the mobile phone and gyroscope, without the need for a VR headset,” he stated. “The VR experience is far more immersive and puts the viewer in the virtual stadium, and inside the game in 360 VR rendered with our virtual camera array technology.”

IEM Katowice will take place at the Spodek Arena, but the initial interface won’t be based on the stadium. Instead, it will be using a default model for its debut. Liu confirmed that “in the future, we’ll be building models based on the actual stadiums.”

As the virtual stadiums continue to grow and develop, they will eventually include the sponsored branding and banners that audiences would normally see in the real-life stadium . . . and perhaps more. “That’s part of our future plans,” said Liu. “There are a lot of branding and sponsorship opportunities, given the expanse of a 360 VR space.”

Pop Culture Loves VR, But Are Consumers Ready?

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Remember when Marty McFly, Jr. wore virtual reality glasses in Back to the Future II? Or when Neo unplugged from his virtual existence for the first time in The Matrix?

VR has become a hot topic in pop culture from movies to TV and even commercials, but is it enough to drive consumer adoption? It seems that every day we read, watch—or in my case, write—about VR, but the technology isn’t catching on as quickly as developers would like.

It’s no secret that brands want to tap into this immersive entertainment as a new way to engage consumers, but studies vary on whether consumers are ready . . . or even willing to play along.

According to a new report by Forrester Research, 42 percent of US online adults have never heard about VR headsets and an additional 46 percent said they don’t see a use for VR in their lives. A report by Research and Markets revealed that 83 percent of consumers said they have a positive attitude toward VR, up from 72 percent last year.

Whether it’s watching the invasion of dreams in Inception or going on adventures with the Chick-fil-A cows, VR has firmly planted itself in the public’s eye as both works of fiction and an emerging reality. NBC is has even ordered Reverie, a new drama series about VR gone wrong that will star Jessica Lu (Awkward) and Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes).

ChickfilA_CowsVR17
Above: Restaurant chain, Chick-fil-A released its own VR footage during the 2017 Grammy Awards.

While very few (if anyone) is running out to buy VR after watching a movie about it, keeping this emerging tech on the minds of the public isn’t a bad thing.

“It not only increases VR’s visibility, it shows consumers that it is viable enough to warrant investment from large media companies and brands,” Stephanie Llamas, vice president of SuperData Research, told [a]listdaily.

Llamas doesn’t believe it’s possible just yet to produce a film or commercial so popular that consumers would rush out to buy headsets on a mass scale just to watch it.

“Feature-length content is few and far between mainly because consumers can’t sit in VR for that long,” she noted. “Even with episodic content like Invisible on Jaunt, it is not part of a recognizable franchise, so it really only appeals to people who are willing to give VR a shot in the first place.”

Right now, VR is where cell phones were just five-to-ten years ago, and although the potential is there, it may be a while before our dreams of all-out VR experiences becomes a reality.

Veteran investor Mitch Lasky has funded successful ventures such as Riot Games and Snapchat, but he expressed concerns about the technology’s readiness for consumption.

“When I look at it more structurally, I’d say something that may sound a little strange—perhaps the Facebook acquisition of Oculus wasn’t the greatest thing for the development of VR in the long run,” he said during Casual Connect USA last July. “It set such a high watermark, and it rung the bell so loudly for the industry, that it sort of forced the hand.”

Still, smart phone VR and inexpensive units like Google Cardboard are making the sci-fi tech accessible to just about anyone, which is helping consumer adoption.

Juniper Research predicts that hardware revenues from VR headsets, peripherals and 360-degree cameras will reach over $50 billion by 2021, up tenfold from an estimated $5 billion in sales in 2016.

This rapid growth, Juniper predicts, will arise from a widespread adoption of VR by smartphone users as well as high prices for VR headsets.

‘Futurama’ Set To Blast Off Again, This Time As A Mobile Game

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The animated sci-fi comedy show, Futurama, developed a huge following before it officially went off the air in 2013. But as the saying goes, at least (and especially) in Futurama’s case, cancellation can’t keep a good show down. Created and produced by Matt Groening (who also created The Simpsons) along with executive producer, David X. Cohen, Futurama was named as one of the 60 Greatest TV Cartoons of All Time. Now it’s making its long overdue entry into mobile gaming with Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow, which was announced today and is expected to launch later this year.

Groening, Cohen and much of the team behind the beloved series are involved with the game, and it is developed by TinyCo (a Jam City company), the company behind Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff—which is similarly based on the animated show, Family Guy. So, there is little doubt that the game will capture the same sense of style and humor that helped propel the TV series to greatness.

Andrew Green, head of business operations at TinyCo (Jam City), spoke with [a]listdaily about how the game came together and the inevitable future of Futurama.

Andrew Green, head of business operations at TinyCo, a Jam City company
Andrew Green, head of business operations at TinyCo, a Jam City company

What inspired the creation of a Futurama mobile game?

Our love of Futurama. Our executive team, and all of the team leadership on down have seen every episode of Futurama multiple times. Some people have some downright encyclopedic knowledge of the show. We had an existing relationship with Fox, and when we had enough creative ideas for a game to show, they made an introduction to the creative partners and it all went from there!

What will the game be like?

We knew that in order to make an authentic Futurama experience we needed to build out space adventure to be a big part of the game. We aren’t talking about this new gameplay in-depth yet, but I can confirm space adventure outside of New New York is going to be a big part of the game. One system that has performed really well for TinyCo is how we integrate narrative into our games. That narrative integration will be similar to some of our other games, but the rest of the gameplay is going to be very different and focused on adventure throughout the galaxy.

How are Matt Groening and David X. Cohen involved with the development of the game?

David and some of the show’s original writers work every day with our writers to make sure the dialogue, quests, conceit and world are as authentic to the show as possible. David has also directed a bunch of the VO sessions with the original cast. Matt works a lot with David and has been providing a lot of great ideas and feedback over the course of development and making sure the overall quality of the milestones are up to par.

How will the game enhance appreciation for the show?

Matt and David wanted to make sure the game had the ability to flesh out more of the worlds and characters you might have only gotten glimpses of on the show. You will be just as likely to end up on Amazonia in the perils of Snu-Snu as you might end up getting more backstory on a character like Scruffy.

Why do you think Futurama fandom remains so strong even though the show has been off the air for over three years?

This is just my opinion as a fan and someone who’s had the privilege of working with some of the team—but I think Futurama created its own unique world, humor, lore and style of parodying our real world, and the creators and writers did it their way. I think they didn’t bend to fit in too much to what they thought would work, or what the mainstream TV audience or network executives would expect, and that created a real authenticity to its voice and humor. I think it then created a deep connection with the people that understood and wanted more of that voice. I also think that as it proliferated on digital, more people were able to connect with the show.

How will you be letting fans know about the game?

Everyone can connect with the development team and other Futurama fans on Facebook and Twitter. They can also pre-register at youwillplayFuturama.com and on Google Play.

Futurama_Worlds_Of_Tomorrow_Key_Art_TinyCo

‘H1Z1: King Of The Kill’ Battles Its Way To CW Tournament

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CW and eSports fans should brace themselves because H1Z1: King of the Kill will soon be making its big network television debut. Developer, Daybreak Games announced a partnership today with the CW, Rick Fox’s eSports team, Echo Fox and Ben Silverman’s production company, Propagate to create a multi-platform docuseries.

The unscripted five-part series, called H1Z1: Fight for the Crown, will show digitally on the CW Seed and focuses on the members of Echo Fox and their lives as they train and prepare for the King of the Kill tournament. Echo Fox has a long relationship with King of the Kill, having won first place at last year’s invitational at TwitchCon (featuring the free-for-all mode), taking home $40,000. The stakes are significantly raised in the Fight for the Crown tournament, which is expected to be televised on the CW Network in April and will feature Echo Fox competing against 14 other teams of five (75 players in total) for their share of a $300,000 prize pool. Event sponsors include Asus, Republic of Gamers and Vertagear and the tournament.

Event sponsors include Asus, Republic of Gamers and Vertagear. The game itself pits combatants against each other as they seek out weapons, armor and supplies in order to survive and fight. Additionally, the Fight for the Crown tournament marks the debut of H1Z1: King of the Kill’s five-person team mode in an eSports tournament setting.

While cable channels such as TBS and ESPN have aired eSports tournaments on television, the CW is the first broadcast network to show an interest in eSports. The network, with a young viewership demographic, similarly aired Mortal Kombat: Chasing the Cup last year, featuring the fighting game, Mortal Kombat X.

Chris Wynn, executive producer of H1Z1: King of the Kill at Daybreak Games spoke to [a]listdaily about bringing the competitive free-for-all game to the CW, where viewers can enjoy the action and drama of competition.

Chris Wynn, executive producer of H1Z1: King of the Kill,Daybreak Studios
Chris Wynn, executive producer of H1Z1: King of the Kill, Daybreak Games

How did the partnership with Echo Fox and the CW come together?

We’ve had an ongoing relationship with Rick Fox and the Echo Fox team, as they were the first pro-team to get behind H1Z1. As we worked together on different ideas to continue pushing the game toward eSports, this partnership came up as a result of that. We have a unique opportunity to do something with King of the Kill that no one else can do—and that’s putting on a tournament with 15 teams of five players each all competing at the same time. It’s not a ladder-style knockout like in traditional sports. All these guys will get into one game, in one match, and all compete simultaneously. This unique experience is what appealed to the different partners.

For us, the ability to do something like this and work with great, established partners was a no-brainer. It was something we really had to jump into.

What makes King of the Kill the ideal game for a televised eSports tournament?

I think the unique element that makes King of the Kill successful is how easy it is to understand from a viewership point-of-view. It doesn’t require a ton of deep knowledge of game tactics and strategy to figure out if the player is skilled or not. Most times, the game breaks down to one person versus another, and it’s very easy to see at a glance how these opponents are trying to position themselves to gain the advantage and using particular weapons or items to succeed with. It doesn’t take a lot of explanation to see what’s going on and enjoy the experience.

How will the series be promoted?

We (Daybreak Games) and Echo Fox will have promotions going out on channels. Also, the CW has some social channel promotions and more slated as we get closer to the air date, similar to what they did with Mortal Kombat: Chasing the Cup. It’s a joint partnership.

With eSports tournaments being aired on cable channels such as TBS and ESPN, what are your thoughts on eSports growing as TV entertainment?

Yeah, TBS, ESPN and CW are all getting into this arena. It’s interesting because someone from the outside might look at it (eSports) and say, ‘I don’t know if I want to watch someone else play video games.’ But I remember people saying that when Twitch started to rise. Then you check it out and find that it’s actually thrilling and engaging. To see the skill that is applied by some of these top players can be kind of mind-blowing, especially when you play the game yourself. It’s no different than going to the backyard and trying to throw a football the way Tom Brady would.

The CW is a really cool and interesting partner, because both TBS and ESPN are cable channels. CW is the only over-the-air one that’s diving into eSports right now. If you look at their viewership and market, with how heavy they go into the superhero shows and the demographics they pull from that, there’s a ton of crossover with eSports fans and video game players in general. It’s the perfect broadcast network to take this on and expose it to more people.

H1Z1_FFTC_LOGO_FinalHave you been dropping hints about the series before the announcement?

Not really. I did an AMA on Reddit and tried to coyly suggest that we’d be doing more eSports content soon, but no one picked up on it. Maybe after they see the announcement, they’ll link it back.

How do you think fans will take to the news?

It’s going to be great. The invitationals were hugely popular, and people really got behind them. I think during both years of TwitchCon, they were the most viewed parts of the weekends. The prize pool is going to be bigger than anything we’ve raised in previous tournaments, which will be a draw. It’s also the first time we’re doing a big event with a prize pool for team games. Everything up to now has been a solo experience with one versus everyone else. This is the first time we’re doing it with teams of five, which is a very popular way to play the game. So, players are going to be really excited by that.

How has King of the Kill grown since it launched on Early Access last year?

It’s been growing like crazy. We spent last year working on the core experience and we launched a giant update in September. Then we had our invitational at TwitchCon at the beginning of October, and the game started to see a lot of popularity grow from that. We hit a tipping point in December, and the game has been on fire.

What would you say has been the key to growing King of the Kill as an eSport since splitting off from the single player experience?

It really speaks to why we split it to begin with. It’s all about focus at the high level—being able to focus on unique experiences. If we were constantly trying to balance between the two, I don’t think we would have ever been able to satisfy the needs of either one. By splitting the team and giving dedicated resources for each one, we get that dedicated focus that you need to drive the priorities correctly for what the community is expecting.

In terms of King of the Kill and how we continue to grow it, when you look at the success of eSports and how important skill and mastery is to players when progressing to being a skilled player—it’s all about depth. Instead of taking an approach where we’re adding new content all the time to add variety to try to keep people interested, for us, it’s about going deeper and deeper. That’s what adds more skill and things to master. I think that’s what’s key to growing eSports these days.

Do you have any advice for non-endemic brands that are looking to get into eSports sponsorship?

You have to be authentic. The eSports crowd and community don’t accept people coming in and trying to make eSports more than what it is. They really appreciate authentic voices that come in and speak their language and come from the same places they do. Those are the things they get behind. The ones that come in and are distant, at more of an arm’s reach, will have a tougher time breaking through to that audience.

Cartoon Network Magically Expands ‘Mighty Magiswords’ Engagement With Mobile Game

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Cartoon Network’s comedy series, Mighty Magiswords, has been renewed for a second season and it’s ready to engage its viewers both on screen and on mobile. The show is about a pair of siblings named Prohyas and Vambre who are “Warriors for Hire” and embark on quests using humorous weapons called magiswords. For example, the Lazer Pointer Magisword (as its name indicates) works as a giant laser pointer, which attracts a horde of cats to attack a target.

Created by Kyle A. Carrozza (The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water), Mighty Magiswords premiered last September and quickly became a number one hit among the 6-11-year-old key boy demographic. Its success may be credited in part to the MagiMobile companion app, which lets viewers collect magiswords of their own using automatic content recognition (ACR) technology to recognize content as they watch an episode. MagiMobile users can also play mini games, explore the land of Lyvsheria, win trophies, and meet characters from the show.

Now the show has stepped up its viewer engagement with Surely You Quest, a free-to-play role-playing game that launched for mobile devices last week. With it, players can use and upgrade their magisword collections to compete in challenges, collect new magiswords while watching the show, and even earn exclusive magiswords.

Chris Waldron, vice president for games and digital products at Cartoon Network talked to [a]listdaily about the launch of the new game, the first of several, and what it takes to engage with today’s young audience.

Chris Waldron, vice president for games and digital products at Cartoon Network
Chris Waldron, vice president for games and digital products at Cartoon Network

What inspired the development of a mobile game on top of having a companion app for the show?

From the beginning, we intended for MagiMobile to be a very entertaining utility app focused on collecting magiswords. The core features of this app were to be collecting via ACR and browsing your collection. We added other features to make it even more fun, but those were the two primary features.

However, we also knew that kids and fans would want more robust gaming experiences that allowed them to play with their magiswords. And, as with most of our shows, we plan to build several games in this universe—games that wouldn’t fit inside of the MagiMobile app. Surely You Quest is the first such game where fans can take the magiswords they’ve collected in their MagiMobile and play a much deeper game than can fit inside of MagiMobile.

What is the Surely You Quest game experience like?

Surely You Quest is an idle RPG where players use magiswords to help the series’ main characters, Vambre and Prohyas, defeat enemies and win Princess Zange’s adventuring tournament. Players can collect and upgrade magiswords in MagiMobile, then use a selection of those magiswords for gameplay in Surely You Quest. The gameplay uses a tap mechanic, and there is some strategy involved when selecting the right magisword for each battle.

Can you explain how the show, the MagiMobile app, and Surely You Quest are all connected?

Both the MagiMobile app and Surey You Quest use automatic content recognition. When watching an episode of Mighty Magiswords, viewers can open either app, tap the “collect” button, and the apps will “listen” to and identify the episode the viewers are watching. The users will then receive a magisword that appears in that episode and it will be added to their collection.

Additionally, in both MagiMobile and Surely You Quest, users will be able to collect other magiswords and upgrade them by completing quests, watching short cartoons, and other gameplay. Once the users have collected a magisword in either app, that magisword is automatically added to their collection.

If that’s not enough, users with the largest and most upgraded collection of magiswords will get bigger bonuses as they play Surely You Quest.

Each experience links together to form a fully engaged ecosystem.

MM_SurelyYouQuest_Screengrab_WitchWay

Will Surely You Quest features crossovers with events from the show?

Yes. There will be times in the game where players will benefit from having magiswords that are available to collect only during specific on-air events. Cartoon Network also hosts special programming like 12 Days of Magiswords, a block that aired last December. During that initiative, every show on-air, no matter the series, allowed viewers to collect a new magisword.

What is the key to keeping a 6-11-year-old demographic engaged with an animated show?

We have found that this generation of kids (Plurals; Generation Z) demand choice and control, so content creators need to develop immersive, interactive experiences that empower kids to access great entertainment wherever and whenever. Mighty Magiswords consists of more than 400 pieces of premier content housed on linear television, online, YouTube and in mobile apps, allowing kids to become fans at every touch point.

Facebook And Snapchat Shows Add New Meaning To Social ‘Media’

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The friendship between social media and television continues with a new deal between Discovery Communications and Snap Inc. to produce a number of shows for Snapchat. The deal will include an exclusive program created specially for Snapchat’s platform, as well as other shows based on Discovery’s flagship properties such as Shark Week and MythBusters.

Snap, Inc. began soliciting original programming from the entertainment industry last year and has already struck deals with NBC, A+E Networks, BBC Worldwide, The New York Times and Time, Inc. Discovery’s shows for Snapchat will be available in the US only, and will launch sometime in the next few months.

Saturday Night Live debuted its first, Snapchat-exclusive sketch last week. “Boycott” was edited for the app’s vertical video orientation and employed split screens as well as audio and video cues that let users tap or swipe to advance to the next “chapter.” The platform has been a source for other shows produced recently, including offshoots for ABC’s The Bachelor, NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Voice, as well as E!’s The Rundown and ESPN’s College GameDay.

"Boycott," the first chapter of SNL's Snapchat original series. (Source: Snapchat)
“Boycott,” the first chapter of SNL‘s Snapchat original series. (Source: Snapchat)

Why Snapchat? Well, it comes down to that young, engaged audience that media companies so desperately want to reach. It’s no secret that Snapchat is “what the kids are doing,” and the kiddies sure love their Snapchat Stories. In fact, a new report by Snaplytics revealed that 55 percent of brand followers will open brand-posted Stories and 88 percent will complete the full Story after opening.

With the rising popularity and accessibility to live video, Facebook has proven itself to be a major source of social entertainment, too. While social networks haven’t replaced traditional TV, they seem to go hand in hand. Eighty-four percent of Gen Z consumers browse an internet-connected device while watching TV, according to Deep Focus.

Facebook is also in talks to host original programming of its own. “Our goal is to kickstart an ecosystem of partner content for the tab, so we’re exploring funding some seed video content, including original and licensed scripted, unscripted, and sports content, that takes advantage of mobile and the social interaction unique to Facebook,” Ricky Van Veen, Facebook’s head of global strategy, told Recode. “Our goal is to show people what is possible on the platform and learn as we continue to work with video partners around the world.”

It appears that Snapchat and Facebook are following in the successful footsteps of Netflix and Amazon for creating its own series, although there’s no word as to when Facebook’s content will emerge into the ether.

For now, the social network has introduced a TV app that will be compatible with Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Samsung Smart TVs, with more devices to follow. The new app will let Facebook users watch videos from their friends and their “liked” pages on TV, as well as watching the top live videos.

There’s no doubt that once original content does finally make its way onto Facebook, those videos will be featured on the TV app, as well.

Matt Idema Heads To WhatsApp As COO; Ralph Lauren Hires Jonathan Bottomley As First CMO

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From virtual reality to consumer products and social media, here are some of the biggest job moves from the past week.

Ralph Lauren has a new chief marketing officer in Jonathan Bottomley and brand president for Men’s Polo, Purple Label and Double R in Tom Mendenhall.

Ralph Lauren said, “As we write our next chapter, we continue to add exceptionally strong leaders with the passion, energy, and talent to lead our Company into the future. Both Jonathan and Tom bring a fresh perspective and incredible depth of brand experience to Ralph Lauren. They each have impressive track records and we are looking forward to welcoming them into our leadership as our evolution continues.”

Former Marvel Entertainment CEO Peter Cuneo has joined Uncorporeal Systems as its chairman to accelerate market development for the virtual and augmented reality company.

“Peter is a gamechanger,” said Kul Wadhwa, Uncorporeal CEO. “With an esteemed career leading major companies working in everything from entertainment to consumer goods, Peter brings us an unparalleled understanding of what customers need to embrace VR and AR. When you add his shrewd operational acumen and extensive relationships at the highest levels of industry, Peter is an ideal partner to scale Uncorporeal’s technology.”

Caleres announced the appointment of two key leadership positions in their Famous Footwear division: Karlyn Mattson as chief merchandising officer and Chris Cavalline as senior vice president of eCommerce.

“We are continuing to fortify our leadership team in critical areas across the company,” said Diane Sullivan, CEO, president and chairman of Caleres. “Karlyn and Chris bring their expertise and talent to an already-strong team, allowing us to reinforce our ability to adjust to the constant and dynamic shifts in consumer buying patterns.”

Matt Idema, formerly Facebook’s vice president of product marketing, is headed to WhatsApp to expand their business as chief operating officer.

Amazon has hired Alex Luke as their global head of programming and content strategy for its music service. Luke formerly is an Apple and EMI Music executive.

Jill Easterbrook is joining clothing brand Boden as its chief executive. Easterbrook formerly worked as Tesco’s chief marketer and transformation officer.

Google Access—the Alphabet subsidiary that oversees Google Fiber—has a new leader in Gregory McCray.

Larry Jones, formerly the president for TV Land, is now the CEO for Blackthorn Media, a VR firm.

Tinder acquired start-up Wheel, which lets users share collaborative, video-based stories, and announced that Wheel CEO Paul Boukadakis will now be Tinder’s vice president of special initiatives, and CTO Chris Shaheen will serve in a senior role on the dating app’s engineering team.

Universal Brand Development has tapped Michelle Hagen as their new senior vice president of consumer products and retail development. Hagen previously was senior vice president of global partnership marketing for Universal Pictures.

262 Billion Minutes Of Video Were Watched On Twitch In 2016

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Here at [a]listdaily, you might say that we “nerd out” a little at the possibility of statistics, but for everyone else, Twitch has made its 2016 retrospective a bit more fun. A “freak sandstorm” has scattered the site’s year-end report across four video game worlds. To access them, users can traverse these worlds in a virtual car, learning tidbits of information along the way—like which games were the most popular and the trends that popped up throughout the year.

Pokémon GO, for example, became the first mobile game to top the Twitch charts. “It was a short but memorable stay,” notes the game. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) held its position as the most-viewed first-person shooter last year and the most-viewed new game was by far Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch.

TwitchCon entertained over 35,000 attendees last year, and 10,348 people downloaded the official TwitchCon app.

An amazing 262 billion minutes of video were watched on Twitch last year across 2.2 million unique streamers. The most popular clip? This one, of streamer Avaail playing Pokémon GO. The site saw more than a million free channel subscriptions through the year. Anyone who’s viewed a livestream on Twitch knows that the chat box is the major hub for audiences to provide feedback and talk among themselves. 2016 saw a total 14.2 billion chat messages sent and that includes chats that affect gameplay—Automod features are currently active in nearly 10 percent of all chats, Twitch reported. The most used emote (Twitch emoticon) at 413 million times was “Kappa”—the face of then Justin.tv employee, Josh DeSeno commonly used to infer sarcasm.

Beginning last summer, fans could “cheer” for their favorite streamers by purchasing Bits—special emoji used in the chat room that can also be used with hashtags to raise funds for various causes. Twitch reports that last year, 590 million total bits were cheered and generous viewers raised a total of $25.3 million through the site.

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