What’s Next for Funko Fusion? 10:10 Games Maps Out The Future at New York Comic Con

by
Evan Norris
, posted 20 hours ago / 1,414 Views

Funko always has a large, popular presence at New York Comic Con, but this year it was even bigger than normal. That’s because the company wasn’t just advertising the latest and most exclusive Pop figurines, but also the new action-adventure video game based on the Funko Pop! universe, Funko Fusion, which launched last month. At a Friday panel dedicated to the game, attendees were treated to a sneak peak of the robust post-launch roadmap for Funko Fusion, courtesy of 10:10 Games co-founder Arthur Parsons, along with Funko VP Jason Bischoff and Skybound Entertainment Chairman Robert Kirkman.

Parsons and team announced that online co-op is coming soon to Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series, and unveiled a suite of free DLC characters and skins, including Dr. Ian Malcolm, Sun Wukong, and four new outfits from Back to the Future and Back To the Future Part II. In addition, they revealed a Bob Ross DLC pack for $4.99, and teased Invincible and The Office DLC coming later this year.

The day after the panel, I was fortunate to demo Funko Fusion alongside Parsons, who talked about the game’s origins, what makes it special, and how fan feedback has shaped its future.

VGCHARTZ: Funko Fusion launched with over 20 intellectual properties, including Hot Fuzz, Back to the Future, and Jaws. And you’ve added a few since launch. Tell me about the effort to secure the rights to all those IPs.

PARSONS: We made our lives a little bit easier because, to begin with, we partnered with Universal. We know those guys from LEGO games. So we went to them to partner initially since a lot of the IP are theirs: Back to the Future, Xena, Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim, etc. And then we added a few others, because why not? Subsequent to that, our physical distributor is Skybound. Because of that, we managed to get Invincible in the game.

It was difficult to get all the IP, because initially people didn’t understand. Because there’s never been a Funko game. So we had to explain, well, imagine if LEGO games kind of grew up. Imagine a game that’s fun and whimsical, but it’s also a run-and-gun action-platformer. Then people understood.

VGCHARTZ: When you were developing Funko Fusion, how did you go about making it attractive to folks who collect and love the Funko brand, and also those who are indifferent to Funko? How did you thread that needle?

PARSONS: That was hard. Because obviously Funko is one of those things where some people love it and some people dislike the aesthetic. So from our standpoint, what we wanted to do is make a great fun video game that people are going to want to play because of the IP. If they do like Funko, they’ll find all the hidden Funko stuff in there. We have Bitty Pops in there. We have Funko’s own IP hidden in there. Everything is Funko-fied to some extent. But if you don’t like Funko, it doesn’t matter. Hopefully you’ll come and you’ll then maybe love Funko.

But for us, it’s about celebrating fandom and pop culture. And what Funko gives us is a unifying world. In no other world would you get a game where you can run around as He-Man, Starbuck, Knight Rider, and Xena, Warrior Princess.

VGCHARTZ: How much of the Funko Fusion roadmap is set in stone? And how much is dictated by audience requests?

PARSONS: That’s happening in real time, all the time. We’re always listening. As a developer, we’re trying to have a really open relationship with the community. Things that they don’t like about the game, we’ll fix. Things that they want us to change, we’ll look at trying to change. IP they want us to add, we’ll try. Obviously, there are licensing rules. Some people play with other people and some things are easy and some things are hard.

VGCHARTZ: As someone who’s been embedded in the video game community, I know that fans absolutely love when they’re listened to. It sounds like you’re on top of that?

PARSONS: So when the game first came out, we had, if I’m honest, a little bit of a bumpy launch. There were still a few bugs, still a few issues. So we didn’t shy away from that. I remember I did a vlog for the community just saying, look, sorry, we’re on this. We’ve done about double figures of rapid patches just to make sure we’re finding and fixing everything we can. Every time a player finds something and lets us know, we fix it straight away. We had a big quality of life update about three weeks ago. We rebalanced the whole game. We changed some of the bosses. We changed the entire structure of the game so that you can play any character anytime.

We’re a small independent studio. This is our studio and it’s our community. If we earn the players’ trust, they’ll want to play the game. They’ll tell their friends. And then when we make other games, they’ll think, “Yeah, we love those guys; they listen to us. They give us what we want.” So that’s the journey we’re on.

VGCHARTZ: I have one last question, which you’ve partially answered: how do you define success for Funko Fusion? Is it the fan response, critical response, sales numbers? All of the above?

PARSONS: Part of defining success is the fact that we made a game. We started a studio in 2021 — three of us and a cardboard box. We managed to grow the business to the point where we’ve got a dev team of about 85 people. For half of those, it’s their first ever job in the industry, because we believe in trying to open doorways for junior talent. So to be able to make a studio and self-publish, that’s a success in itself.

So the next stage of success is building a franchise. I was lucky to be involved in building the LEGO franchise back at TT Games. We would love to do that with Funko. Funko Fusion is the foundation. We’re going to keep giving this game the love it deserves, and keep growing it and adding to it. Success to us means keep going, to have another game and another game and another game, and build the next big blockbuster franchise. So, success will be defined in five years’ time.

In terms of critical success, I worry less about that. I worry more about what the players think. Ultimately they pay our bills. Success is people coming up and saying, “Hey, I love the game. I took a punt on it because I’d never heard of a Funko game. Can’t wait to see what you guys do next.”

I’d like to thank Arthur Parsons for his time and candid, thoughtful answers, and Jeff Cork of FIFTYcc for arranging the demo/interview. Funko Fusion is currently available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series. It launches on Switch and PS4 on November 15.