New studio creates ‘games-to-life’ toys for mobile

Jumo, a new firm founded by veterans of the video game and toy worlds, has outlined its ‘games-to-life’ concept, Infinite Arms.

The studio’s team includes Elite Beat Agents developer Keiichi Yano, former BioWare and Epic dev Chris Esaki, Bandai Namco’s Akio Fujii, and ex-League of Legends developer Tom Abernathy. They are joined by toy veteran Yasuo Takaham, who has worked on the Transformers and Tamagotchi brands.

Infinite Arms is a connected, free-to-play gaming experience that merges mobile gameplay with physical toys.

The action figures sync with the game thanks to built-in electronics. When in proximity of the toy, the app is alerted and the toy will transfer into the game.

As players buy upgraded armour and weaponry in the game, it connects via bluetooth to register those enhancements to each specific toy. This means that consumers can own several of the same toy, but give each one different in-game abilities and skills.

Jumo will also be episodically updating in-game content while simultaneously releasing real-life toys that pair with those updates over time.

Develop’s sister publication Toy News has all the details.