With brands like Barbie, Hot Wheels, American Girl, Monster High and Fisher-Price, toymaker Mattel is full to bursting with IP.

It's been under pressure recently, however, by the shift from traditional toys to the hybrid model of combined virtual-and-real experiences characterised by Skylanders.

So now it's looking to better exploit those brands in mobile gaming, announcing a major agreement with Australian/Hong Kong-outfit Animoca Brands (ASX:AB1).

Better together

As part of the deal, the two companies will jointly invest in the making and marketing of games, with Animoca in charge of the actual development process.

One reason for Mattel's choice of company is that Animoca has experience of working with similar IP holders. It's previously released games based on the Garfield, Ultraman and Doraemon licenses.