Friday, August 23, 2019

Mattel Launches Digital Racing Game

El Segundo-based toy maker Mattel is continuing to expand its extension of products into the digital realm, saying this week that it has launched a new, digital racing game called Hot Wheels Infinite Loop. The new game--which runs on iOS--combines the Hot Wheels brand with a digital racing game. The free-to-play digital game lets users compete against other people around the world, and lets users digital collect Hot Wheels cars. According to Mattel, part of the fun of its Hot Wheels has "always been collecting coveted cars", which the new game lets users do by racing against others. The company said the Hot Wheel Infinite Loop game was developed in a partnership with videogame maker Creative Mobile, which is known for its Drag Racing and Nitro Nation titles. Mattel said the game will also be available for Android soon through the Google Play Store. Moving the idea of collecting virtual items--instead of physical items--has been a recent trend by established brands and companies, seeking to bring the appeal of collecting into the digital age. For example, the MLB and LA startup Lucidsight recently launched a similar concept called "MLB Champions" for collecting digital baseball cards.