Sanrio, the creator of Hello Kitty, is launching a new gaming brand as it seeks to monetize its popular cast of characters and tap into the fast-growing global games market. Sanrio Games will integrate its characters into a party game for the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 platforms, the company announced on Tuesday. It will launch about 10 games in the next three years, the first of which will be released as a console game this fall.
Sanrio's entry into the gaming field reflects a general trend: Japanese intellectual property (IP) owners increase revenue generation channels by extending popular IP into the field of interactive entertainment. Domestic peers such as Bandai Namco and Nintendo have already implemented similar strategies to extract IP value from games and other media platforms.
"The game will provide the opportunity to promote a series of characters to the North American market," said CEO Tomohiro Tsuji. “This will be of significant value to our licensing business going forward.”
The company says the game will feature a "very wide variety" of Sanrio characters. The setting is a town populated by Sanrio characters, and players will be able to create their own avatars. The company also said the games help raise Sanrio's profile in areas not covered by merchandise distribution or theme parks.