It’s been a protracted wait, however Outfit7 has revealed My Speaking Tom Mates 2, a brand new cell sport that may carry the Speaking Tom & Mates crew again in a brand new cell sport.
Outfit7 is launching the single-player sport this July as a sequel to My Speaking Tom Mates, which debuted in 2020. Each video games are associated to Speaking Mates, 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 mates in a neighborhood group. Gamers can bounce into a very reimagined world and hang around with Speaking Tom, Angela, Hank, Becca and Ben. This extremely anticipated sequel ramps up the friendship vibes with personalised homes for every character, contemporary new methods for them to precise themselves, and a ton of mini-games and hangouts to discover, stated Ante Odic, CEO of Outfit7, in an unique interview with GamesBeat.
“The unique was a extremely a success sport and one in all our flagship apps,” Odic stated. “It was a brand new idea as a result of it was a unique 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 appeal to each interplay. And to high it off, early birds who be part of the enjoyable inside the first 14 days will unlock a particular reward: 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 Mates 2 lies a vigorous 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 contemporary moods and magical moments to find, making the neighborhood really feel really 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 Mates 2 delivers with an enormous bunch of contemporary mini-games. You possibly can interact in street-style spray portray and paper airplane 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 collection, the characters converse with actual voices, including a complete new dimension to how they specific themselves. Gamers can hear Tom, Angela, Hank, Ben, and Becca crack jokes, react to moments, and produce much more character to the display. This function provides a contemporary layer of appeal 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 journey on the brand new bus system to the Water Park – a splashy, slide-packed vacation spot stuffed with surprises. And that’s just the start – extra bus journeys and new worlds are already on the way in which.
Taking friendships to new heights
My Speaking Tom Mates 2 builds on fan favorites like greater worlds, deeper bonds, and lots of extra methods to attach. The characters are bursting with character and appeal, feeling extra relatable than ever. This sequel serves up an excellent richer, extra heartfelt expertise, mixing enjoyable gameplay with real moments. It’s the subsequent step within the Speaking Tom & Mates journey, made to thrill gamers of all ages.
To have fun the worldwide launch, gamers who be part of the sport inside the first 14 days will obtain an unique reward: the fashionable Rizzler outfit for Tom. It’s the proper technique to begin your journey in fashion.
Throughout its lengthy journey, the corporate realized the right way to do dwell ops and updates and realized how customers work together with these sorts of video games and new applied sciences, he stated.
“With our ardour for these nice characters and model, we’re placing vitality into this sequel,” he stated. “So we’re very excited to see the way it’s going to go. It’s a variety of new sort of content material.”
Odic stated 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 residing in a neighborhood fairly 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 are going to have the ability to specific their uniqueness, traits, hobbies, pursuits, and so they’re principally completely different personalities that they’ve as characters,” Odic stated.
In these homes, customers will have the ability 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 stated.
“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 have the ability to react and remark and and have enjoyable with one another and likewise with the person and us,” Odic stated. “It was at all times tremendous necessary that the characters usually are not just a few type of entity within the sport representing what the customers are doing. They’re precise characters with wants which are interacting with the surroundings and with the person itself. And now principally 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, and so they may also react in yet another extra manner with the person.”
That enhances the connection that gamers could have with the characters and produce 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 purchase gadgets 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, and so they can work together with characters.
“We’re actually broadening the type of memorable experiences that we wish to give to our customers to discover along with these characters,” Odic stated.
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 type of clunky,” Odic stated.
Given the dangers of characters going sideways, the corporate determined to skip full AI for the characters, he stated. That’s not so nice for a children’ sport.
“We maintain them in character and management the way it all works collectively,” he stated.
A sport growth journey
The sport can be cell on the iOS App Retailer and the Google Play retailer. Odic stated the sport took about 18 months to 2 years to make. A small staff labored on a wide range of prototypes, after which they feell in love with the thought of making particular person homes for every character. After that, the staff went into full manufacturing. At numerous groups, there have been 20, 30 and even 50 folks engaged on the sport.
Through the growth, the corporate began remodeling particulars of the model and the completely different characters. What are their particulars and traits?
“My Speaking Tom Mates 2 is the primary product that, on this scale, goes to indicate and characterize all of those new issues and this rework,” Odic stated. “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 folks working on the firm. Many are a part of the dwell operations groups engaged on current video games, primarily six of the largest hits to this point. There are a few different groups engaged on different unannounced titles which are coming, Odic stated. Some will proceed to work on My Speaking Tom Mates 2 as new updates get began.
Of the gameplay, Odic, stated, “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 trade
Odic acknowledged that the entire sport trade is way more complicated. There may be a variety 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 trade for now to achieve the identical degree of success as earlier than, however it isn’t the primary time this has occurred in gaming, and likewise it occurs on occasion in several industries,” Odic stated.
He acknowledged some unhealthy 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 fairly than “discover” a brand new one.
“What can occur in these more durable occasions is that folks type of shut up and squeeze and so they 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 modern concepts, are going to have a more durable time to achieve audiences,” Odic stated.
Throughout this time, corporations can reevaluate what gamers really need from the video games of the long run, Odic stated. In that manner, the powerful occasions may also help the trade get up, assist it discover “completely satisfied accidents,” and return to development.
“It’s a troublesome state of affairs, certain. However it’s on all of us to do our greatest in order that these good issues occur. We’ve got a variety of issues which are occurring. We’ve got extra issues that we have now recognized as enterprise alternatives, and we have now sources to do all of that. So for us, we are literally in a very good state of affairs. We will see these developments from the trade, in fact, as properly, however we are literally protecting our ecosystem of customers fairly steady, and we’re worthwhile. We’ve got nonetheless a really sturdy efficiency.”
Odic stated 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, however it isn’t clear what it means for every developer within the trade.
“To be sincere, we have to maintain our eyes open and see the place it’ll go and in what manner. We undoubtedly must take alternatives as they arrive. But it surely’s arduous for me simply to foretell,” he stated.
Whereas Outfit7 has at all times centered on international video games, Odic stated there are territories of the world which are additionally turning into extra necessary. 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 try at all times to be sure that we’re current in all markets, and it’s the identical now,” he stated. “It’s an excellent thrilling time. We’re actually focusing now on these video games and different video games that we’re doing, and tremendous excited in regards to the launch.”
