Blending third-person action with humor and relevant pop culture,Funko Fusionis a bold project that is looking to bring the popular collectible vinyl characters to life in a brand-new way. The game is developed by 10:10 Games, a British studio founded in 2021. Working with numerous IPs from the expected to theunexpected like KFC,Funko Fusionis a game made for the love of fandom.
In a recent interview, Game Rant sat down with developer 10:10 Games co-founder Arthur Parsons, lead designer Wil Evans, lead character artist Sean Dudley, and animation director Andy Dolan to discussFunko Fusionin more detail. The team talked about the initial concept behind the game, and how it evolved throughout the development journey. They also gave a little insight into their own Funko collections.This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Funko Fusion’s Development Journey
Q: Let’s start at the beginning. How did the idea of creating a Funko game come about, and what were the earliest discussions with Funko like? Who approached who first?
Parsons:Way back in the early stages of 2021, our CEO Jon Burton reached out to Funko to ask if they’d be interested in partnering up for an adventure. Given our core team’s heritage, Funko was up for the challenge and the adventure began. The great thing about Funko is that the aesthetic allows us to bring together franchises in a cohesive fashion, so it is the ideal style for creating a video game. Early conversations with Funko were like they are now, which is fantastic, and 100 percent creative. We connect to Funko on so many different levels, and they are completely supportive of what we as a creative team do, and their energy is boundless.
Q: Can you talk a little about the initial concepts forFunko Fusionand how the game changed throughout development?
Parsons:Duringour journey onFunko Fusion, we definitely made a few pivots. Back in the very early days, before we had partnered with our friends at NBC Universal, we spent a good deal of time playing with the anatomy of a Funko Pop! character: experimenting with their movement, how a character jumps, runs, lands, dies, etc. A huge amount of tests were done to make sure we really nailed this first expression of a Funko Pop!. We also experimented with their faces and how to get expressions; do they have mouths or do they not? It was great to just play around with them. In terms of the actual game itself, the gameplay has generally stayed true to the original concept, which was to create a real playground for fandom, ensuring that we could mash up different worlds, but also deliver an authentic interpretation of big movie and TV franchises.
The actual game structure has gone through many evolutions, but our vision was always to unite a variety of different intellectual properties with a Funko narrative. I’d love to be able to tell a story of how the game started life as one genre, pivoted to be something else, andspent time as free-to-play, etc. However, given the games we’ve worked on in the past, we had a very clear vision of what we wanted to create, and the changes were far more subtle – mainly around mechanics, character unlocks, collectibles, and size and scope of the content in the game.
Q: A lot of games describe themselves as “story-first” or “gameplay-first.” Where doesFunko Fusionfall in this development approach?
Parsons:Funko Fusionis easy to describe: We have definitely adopted a fun-first approach. We want the game to be something that is entertaining and funny, true to the source material, a festival of fandom that can both satisfy those gamers that want a quick hit or for those that want that hidden depth and challenge, with a huge amount of content for gamers who love a collectathon.
Funko Fusion’s Maturity Level
Q: Funko characters range from cartoons to R-rated horror movies. How did you approach the game’s “maturity level” when drawing from such a wide range of franchises?
Parsons:We did an amount of research early on to try and figure out who our target audience was likely to be. We figured that fans of Funko would definitely be in there, but also gamers who had maybe grown upplayingLEGOgamesor games of that ilk. That definitely moved the needle up so that our target audience was likely more mature, but after much research, we ended up with a really broad spectrum. Given our thought process, it was only natural then to pick a variety of franchises both from across the decades, but also from different genres and maturity levels. What we want to do is surprise people and deliver something that nobody else can: a game that embraces pop culture and fandom, and couldn’t be possible unless through that Funko lens.
Q: How did you approachFunko Fusion’s “irreverent style of humor” and how would you say it compares to LEGO?
Parsons:I’ve always found it important to add humor into games, andFunko Fusionis no different. What we try and do is really dig into the individual franchises and think up ideas as though we were super fans (which isn’t too hard, as generally across the development team we have super fans of all the franchises), but when you think as a fan, you can come up with fun interactions, running jokes, or just subtle asides that are funny because they are working within the IP. Much of the humor may pass some players by because it is entrenched within the franchises, but that is what makes it so good, those little nods, one-liners, even down to the animations and weapons that characters have, it’s all aboutmaximizing the IP integration intoFunko Fusionand also giving the game its own unique voice. At the end of the day, the entire team just wants to surprise and delight players.
Dolan:Adding humor is one of the most rewarding parts of the job. We are fans of the IP first and foremost, so we look at each one and see where we can poke fun. It could be iconic moments or certain things that characters do in the source material, little Easter eggs for the fans. LikeRick scaring mummies with a cat inThe Mummyor the boy vomiting in the fountain inHot Fuzz. Where we differ from LEGO is we’re aiming at a slightly older audience, which gives us more freedom to try certain things. For example, we have a stray helicopter propeller shoot right through someone’s head or we can rip out David’s guts inShaun of the Dead. We also poke fun at the Funkos themselves with their big heads and little arms. They get their heads jammed in doors or they headbutt each other instead of chest-bumping.
Q: In general, how have you leveraged your experience working with LEGO properties for so long inFunko Fusion?
Parsons:Personally speaking, I’ve been very lucky in my career to have worked across a vast array of huge franchises, and from that you are always learning. The most important thing though is that, when working with movie and TV franchises, it is essential to have the creators of that content trust you, trust that you know and love their properties, but also trust that you will give it the care and attention that they have. Gaining their trust means that any conversations then can focus on the creative, and that is how we can get the most from what we are making. We like to think that we are experts in working with third-party IP, and as such, as a team, we’ve used all of our experience to make sure we really deliver an amazing fun experience. Thankfully, all of our partners bought into the journey from the start and have helped to make sure we’ve delivered on our original North Star.
Q: One ofFunko Fusion’s strengths is that it mixes different characters from many different properties. What are some interactions between different characters/settings that were particularly fun to create?
Parsons:The joy ofFunko Fusionis that we’ve created a game that we are likely yet to see the best crossover interactions. We do have lots of fun there, mainly due to references that already exist. For example,there is aHe-Manreference already inHot Fuzz, so being able to add that layer to the game is always enjoyable. Likewise, being able to do fun stuff like having sand castles on the Amity beach inJawsthat are miniature Castle Grayskulls. There are so many hidden nods, Easter eggs, and surprises; we can’t wait to watch people play and see their reactions to everything we’ve snuck in.
Dolan:Having the Hoff be a lifeguard on the beach inJawsis a particular favorite of mine. I also really enjoy theChuckycameo quest: chasing Chucky aroundHot Fuzz’s sleepy village of Sandford is a lot of fun.
Evans:With me, it has been seeing the old and the new together. Seeing younger playersrunning aroundBattlestar Galacticaas Freddy Fazbearis just a mind-melter. Introducing new generations to franchises I loved as a kid, via their favorite ones, is amazing. I can imagine a parent seeing their kid playing the game as they’re walking past and going, “Hang on, is thatHe-man!? No way!” and getting sucked into watching and telling them all about it.
Communicating Character Expression Was a Challenge in Funko Fusion
Q: How do you communicate character expression and emotion inFunko Fusionwhile sticking to the standard Funko POP facial anatomy - “blank” eyes, small facial features, etc.?
Dolan:It is difficult to get expressions into the Funkos without a mouth, etc. We try to do as much with the eyebrows and the eyelids as we can and really push the expressions in those. We cheat by rotating eyelids, for example, which you wouldn’t do on a more traditional character. But the main source of expression comes from the body itself and kind of overacting the emotion with a slumped body shape or a bouncy walk etc.
Q: When it comes to recreating Funkos in the game, is there anything you’re most proud of?
Dolan:The sheer number and variety of characters that we have across the game. There is a lot of work that goes into making them all come to life and stay true to the many different IPs that we have.
Dudley:A great achievement for the character team was making all of these beloved licenses and franchises all come together in the same universe, there’s so much variety in different styles from animation, TV, games, and Films. But a standout for me was helping to create an iconic mascot and villain in the form of Eddy Funko.
Evans:I’m really proud that, while we have stuck towhat makes Funko Pop!s iconic, we’ve also added our own gameplay twists to them such as giving them skeletons that get revealed when they melt or squishing inside their own heads when they fall from a great height. Each Funko feels unique and like they have their own life to them when you play as them. We’ve also created our own lore for the game that has now become canon within Funko, like Eddy, Freddy’s evil brother. It makes us all proud that Funko loved our ideas so much that we have now had an impact on the world of Funko outside of our game.
Parsons:For me, I am actually proud of the entire development team. Most people don’t really know that we’ve created an incredible game, but we’ve done that as an independent studio. While building a great game, we’ve been building a great studio, a studio that has from day one had a strong emphasis on the health and well-being of our team. So we’ve done everything we can as a senior leadership team to make sure that everyone has a say, to make sure that we are open and transparent at all times, and to ensure that we are making a great game the right way, by putting our people first. In addition, almost half of our team are new to the industry, so we’ve done all this while also opening pathways into the industry for the stars of tomorrow. So I’m quite proud of the team for going on this adventure and embracing it.
The Importance of Funko Boxes in Funko Fusion
Q: Because Funko boxes and packaging are almost as iconic as the POPs themselves, could you talk a little bit about the importance of incorporating them as well?
Parsons:From the earliest stages of development, we knew that fans of Funko would be super important to us. Those Funko Fanatics will want everything they love about Funko expressed within the game, so for us, we treated Funko as an IP in its own right, and as such embraced everything that Funko is.The Funko Pop! box is iconicand instantly recognizable, so it had to be a key feature in the game – both from the “Funko Collector” vibe of the character select, through to it being the method of travel between worlds, and also how you change characters. But it doesn’t stop there.
We have included pretty much every ounce of Funko within the game, from Easter egg appearances from some of Funko’s own characters, through to the soda cans and bottles, the general look and aesthetic are all inspired by Funko, and for those that know, they’ll also get to see and find many hidden secrets. For example, you’ll see NPCs wearing to-scale Loungefly bags, there are Mondo references in the game. Ultimately, the game is a Funko fan’s dream video game, so it’ll come as no surprise that many of us are Funko Fanatics ourselves.
Evans:Funko Pop!s wouldn’t be anything without their iconic boxes, so the boxes are a central theme in the game. The first thing you see on starting the game is our character select screen showing all of the characters in their Pop! boxes, almost as if you’ve walked up to a store shelf in real life. The boxes then permeate the rest of the game too. You change characters in our game, by running up to a Pop! box and interacting with it and boss fights end by calling in something really cool to help, and that arrives in a giant Pop! box itself. If you die, you respawn by heading back to one of the Pop! boxes and using them. We’ve also taken great care to ensure if the Funko Pop! exists in the real world, it’s the correct box for it too.
Q: Similarly, Funko has also attracted a lot of collectors. What can you say about the “collection” component of the game? Does it scratch the same itch as picking up real Funko POPs?
Parsons:Funko Fusionis a collector’s dream. We are all huge Funko fans, so we know the joy of finding that chase character, or eventually getting that flocked variant to go alongside the standard version of a character. So we have poured in a variety of hidden content in the game to appeal to the Funko collectors out there. Not only can you unlock characters from all of the amazing IP in the game, but you can also unlock secret hidden variants, as well as super-secret variants, like zombie versions. There are also a variety of hidden weapons that players can collect and then use across their collection. Some of the character variations are mind-blowing, and seeing the character select when all unlocked in the game is an absolute delight.
Q: Even though the fad has been over for years,Funko Fusionseems like a perfect candidate for a toys-to-life game like Skylanders. Was that possibility ever considered during development?
Parsons:Toys-to-life games had their time, and I was lucky enough towork on LEGO Dimensions, but forFunko Fusionwe didn’t ever consider itas an option. We did want to have some crossover between physical and digital, so that players can extend their love of the game to physical or vice versa, but we didn’t want to go any further than that.Funko Fusionis a game that is amazing for Funko fans, but is also a game that will appeal to fans of pop culture, TV shows, and movies generally, so we want to appeal to as many gamers as possible.
Q: Many developers are going down the live service route with their games, and on the surface, Funko as a brand that collaborates with so many huge IPs would seemingly fit that model pretty well. Was a live-service model ever a consideration, and either way, what do you consider to be the biggest strengths of its current content model?
Parsons:Our strength as a team is in developing games that really celebrate fandom, deep-cut Easter eggs, and a wholesome experience out of the box, and as such we never considered making the game a live-service offering. We want players to be able to go out and buy a game and enjoy everything that is in it. The biggest strength of the game is the amount of content that is within it. There is so much to find and enjoy, and to keep playing, so much to unlock, and some fantastic hidden characters and content.
All of that is in the game that players will buy. We set out to develop the game this way, and stuck to that throughout the time we were making it. That said, we do believe that gamers may well want to add to their in-game experience with some DLC, whether that is new characters from IP in the game or whether that is completely new franchises. However, any of that will be offered as an extra for players if they want to get it, and none of it is essential to the play experience.
Q: What was it like bringing the iconic Freddy Funko to life in the game?
Parsons:This was a huge honor; ultimately, we were establishing rules, and setting out how Freddy should be seen, should react, ultimately creating a blueprint for Funko’s mascot character for perpetuity. This was done hand in hand with Funko’s creative team, and they were an absolute joy to work with. So an honor, and also great fun.
Dolan:We couldn’t really find any examples of Freddy animating outside of his 2D cartoon, which has a very different style. So, we had to try and come up with a personality that fit our Funko world. We tried to make him wholesome and optimistic, and a complete opposite to our villain Eddy.
Q: In arecent interview with Game Rant, Funko CEO Cynthia Williams expressed her excitement over getting Scare-Mare added to Masters of the Universe’s Canon. In turn, what’s it like working with and expanding the Funko “canon” withFunko Fusion?
Parsons:It is always incredible to be able to add to a story or to add to a franchise, to be able to put something into the mixer that is then there forevermore. I am a hugeMasters of the Universefan, and if I could go back to 1983 and tell 8-year-old me that one day I’d be part of a team adding toMOTUhistory, I can only imagine the grin on my face! So we are fortunate to be able to do that, but also to be able to be a part of creating stories that will always be there. We’ve been integral in creating Eddy Funko, who is now an adopted part of the Funko world and a real Funko Pop! It’s awesome to be part of that story.
Q: Did you face any unexpected challenges related to making a Funko game?
Parsons:There are always unexpected challenges when developing a game, no matter how much preparation and planning you do.Funko Fusionwas no exception to that rule. However, most of the unexpected challenges have actually been our own doing. By wanting to add in additional franchises as partners came to the table we ended up having to juggle things around a little here and there, but largely we have managed to stay on track and stay on our plan, so kudos to our wonderful team. Our one main unexpected challenge was that we made the decision to self-publishFunko Fusiondigitally, so that was an extra layer of fun for the team, but we do love to keep ourselves on our toes!
Dolan:As animators, one of the biggest challenges was getting the Funko characters to hold their weapons with their tiny, under-proportioned arms. Especially as our weapons are all oversized. They look great though. Our props team did a great job of making some really cool and fun weapons.
Dudley:One of the challenges we had at the start of the game was working out what scale everything would be. A lot of Funko are all the same standard 4” Pop! size or come in multiple different sizes in their physical form but that doesn’t work when they’re all in the same game world. With a huge range of characters, creatures, and dinosaurs, we had to start putting together a scale chart to work out how big or small everything should be in relation to other characters. Ranging from something as tiny as a fly to something as massive as Jean Jacket from Nope.
Q: Are you Funko POP collector yourselves? Do you have any particular favorites?
Parsons:I am most definitely a Funko Pop! collector. I have a huge variety both at home and in my office at work. I have over 100 Master of the Universe Pop!s, which I love, and I have a real diverse mix from all of my favorite shows, movies, comics, and more. That said, my favorite Funko Pop! is most definitely my flocked Tony the Tiger. I love that guy – he’s Grrrrrrrreat!
ANDY:I am. I really like my Jubilee andGambit Pops from theX-Men. Nightcrawler is awesome as well.
Dudley:I’ve got around 40/50 pops ranging from ’80s action films and cartoons to TV, football, and video games. My personal favorite at the moment, though, is the supersized Mandalorian and Grogu that I have on my desk at work.
Evans:It’s safe to say that, after a few years, I own quite a few now. Many people tend to go in one of two directions: anything and everything or a theme. All of mine are in a theme, which isice-hockey players from the NHLrange because it’s a sport I play.
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