Bringing the iconic Funko Pops to life in video game form,Funko Fusionis a third-person action-adventure game from developer 10:10 Games. The ambitious project features a host of familiar IPs such asJurassic WorldandBack to the Future, and the detail that has gone into each world is impressive. The Funko Pops themselves have been recreated in painstaking detail, and 10:10 Games has made sure to stay as faithful to the source material as possible, ensuring Funko Fanatics everywhere will be able to fully appreciateFunko Fusion.
In an interview with Game Rant, 10:10 Games co-founder Arthur Parsons and animation director Andy Dolan discussed all things Funko and fandom inFunko Fusion. In particular, they talked about the process ofbringing the Funko Pops to life, the struggles with conveying facial animations, and the razor-sharp focus on ensuring that they were as identical to their vinyl counterparts as possible.
Funko Fusion is a Love Letter To Funko Pops
Whilebringing Funko Pops to video gamesmay seem like an obvious thing to do, the anatomical design of these vinyl collectibles means that it was never going to be easy. Their huge heads and tiny bodies present challenges, but it’s their lack of mouths that is probably the toughest hurdle to overcome. It means that nailing the game’s humor and how the characters convey emotion are much more crucial than they would otherwise be. Parsons explained the process behind making sure the Funkos were brought to life as faithfully as possible, which began from day one:
‘‘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, do they not?’’
The decision not to give the Funkos mouths inFunko Fusionis a testament to how faithful the development teamwanted to be to these vinyl collectibles. Next, the team had to decide how they would make up for the lack of a mouth by focusing on other aspects of the characters, and ensuring that the story or humor wouldn’t be weakened by this decision. Dolan explained this in a little more detail,
‘‘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. 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.’’
Funko Fusionfeels like a passion projectthat blends the iconic Funko Pops with numerous beloved IPs to create something memorable and unique. It promises to be filled to the brim with fan service, allowing players to experience crossovers they never thought would be possible, blending the likes of He-Man withHot FuzzandJawsin unexpected ways.
