It’s been a protracted wait, however Outfit7 has revealed My Speaking Tom Buddies 2, a brand new cell sport that can deliver the Speaking Tom & Buddies crew again in a brand new cell sport.
Outfit7 is launching the single-player sport this July as a sequel to My Speaking Tom Buddies, which debuted in 2020. Each video games are associated to Speaking Buddies, the unique hit title that launched Tom the speaking cat to the world in 2012. The sport will likely be coming in July, and it already has one million individuals who have pre-registered.
This sport gathers Tom’s buddies in a neighborhood group. Gamers can leap 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 specific 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 a success sport and certainly one of our flagship apps,” Odic mentioned. “It was a brand new idea as a result of it was a distinct 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 deliver much more character and appeal to each interplay. And to prime it off, early birds who be part of the enjoyable inside the first 14 days will unlock a particular present: Tom’s slick new Rizzler Outfit — as a option to kick issues off in model.
Welcome to the Neighborhood
On the coronary heart of My Speaking Tom Buddies 2 lies a energetic new neighborhood the place each character’s dwelling 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 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 Buddies 2 delivers with an enormous bunch of contemporary mini-games. You may have interaction 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 communicate with actual voices, including an entire new dimension to how they categorical themselves. Gamers can hear Tom, Angela, Hank, Ben, and Becca crack jokes, react to moments, and produce much more character to the display screen. 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 trip on the brand new bus system to the Water Park – a splashy, slide-packed vacation spot filled with surprises. And that’s just the start – extra bus journeys and new worlds are already on the best way.
Taking friendships to new heights
My Speaking Tom Buddies 2 builds on fan favorites like larger worlds, deeper bonds, and plenty of extra methods to attach. The characters are bursting with character and appeal, feeling extra relatable than ever. This sequel serves up a fair richer, extra heartfelt expertise, mixing enjoyable gameplay with real moments. It’s the following step within the Speaking Tom & Buddies journey, made to please 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 present: the fashionable Rizzler outfit for Tom. It’s the right option to begin your journey in model.
Throughout its lengthy journey, the corporate realized the best way to 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 numerous new sort of content material.”
Odic mentioned the brand new sport has extra variety of content material than the sport from 2020, and there are some capabilities that the sport can pull off higher now. The setting will likely be outdoors, because the characters will likely 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’ll have the ability to categorical their uniqueness, traits, hobbies, pursuits, and so they’re principally completely different personalities that they’ve as characters,” Odic mentioned.
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 will likely be new mini video games that join with the world in a extra intuitive approach, extra seamless, he mentioned.
“It’s going to be new sorts of mini video games and experiences for customers. Then the characters will likely 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 consumer and us,” Odic mentioned. “It was at all times tremendous essential that the characters aren’t just a few form of entity within the sport representing what the customers are doing. They’re precise characters with wants which are interacting with the setting and with the consumer itself. And now principally we’re including an entire new communication channel that may put that on an entire new stage, the place they will react to issues round them. They’ll react to one another in a humorous approach, and so they may react in yet one more extra approach with the consumer.”
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 might take characters to a set of shops the place you simply should purchase 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 will likely be new stuff to discover, and so they can work together with characters.
“We’re actually broadening the form of memorable experiences that we wish to give to our customers to discover along with these characters,” Odic mentioned.
A cautious method 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 objective. We did some checks up to now, and we discovered that it’s nonetheless form 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 hold them in character and management the way it all works collectively,” he mentioned.
A sport improvement journey
The sport will likely 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 staff labored on a wide range of prototypes, after which they feell in love with the concept 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 individuals engaged on the sport.
Through the improvement, the corporate began transforming particulars of the model and the completely different characters. What are their particulars and traits?
“My Speaking Tom Buddies 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 most important 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 Buddies 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 top quality content material in an informal approach. It’s gentle hearted. It’s simply enjoyable, one thing to calm down with.”
The altering business
Odic acknowledged that the entire sport business is far more complicated. There may be numerous complexity with the addition of publishing companions, distribution companions — not simply improvement studios. There are promoting companions, exterior improvement corporations and extra. It’s additionally a saturated market with extra mature competitors.
“It’s a a lot tougher market and business for now to achieve the identical stage of success as earlier than, however it’s not the primary time this has occurred in gaming, and likewise it occurs on occasion in numerous industries,” Odic mentioned.
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 tougher instances is that individuals form 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 revolutionary concepts, are going to have a tougher time to achieve audiences,” Odic mentioned.
Throughout this time, corporations can reevaluate what gamers actually need from the video games of the longer term, Odic mentioned. In that approach, the powerful instances may also help the business get up, assist it discover “blissful accidents,” and return to progress.
“It’s a tough scenario, positive. However it’s on all of us to do our greatest in order that these good issues occur. We’ve numerous issues which are occurring. We’ve extra issues that we have now recognized as enterprise alternatives, and we have now assets to do all of that. So for us, we are literally in scenario. We are able to see these developments from the business, in fact, as effectively, however we are literally conserving our ecosystem of customers fairly steady, and we’re worthwhile. We’ve nonetheless a really sturdy efficiency.”
Odic mentioned it isn’t clear but what the result of the antitrust case between Epic Video games and Apple will likely be. Epic Video games has been allowed to get Fortnite again on the app retailer after 4.5 years of authorized maneuvers, nevertheless it isn’t clear what it means for every developer within the business.
“To be sincere, we have to hold our eyes open and see the place it’ll go and in what approach. We positively must 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 world video games, Odic mentioned there are territories of the world which are additionally turning into extra essential. 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 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 in regards to the launch.”