Mattel and NetEase have announced the continued success and growth of Mattel163, the studio formed as a result of their partnership. Formed as a joint venture in 2017, the studio now boasts over 300 million players across their various titles, including UNO! Mobile, Phase 10 Mobile and Skip-Bo Mobile. They especially note in their statement that this is in spite of a relative fall in the gaming industry across the board going into 2023 as a result of the Post-Covid slump.
CEO of Mattel 163, Amy Huang, notes the positive year the developer had in her statement “It has been another stellar year for Mattel163! Continuous innovations have helped us transform iconic IPs into products suitable for the digital era. There are tremendous opportunities on the horizon with our live-ops support of current products, growing esports tournaments, cross-platform play, and launch of new titles in 2023. We are excited to begin the new year with strong growth in our existing titles and the unveiling of our new titles in new genres.”
Net-Easy does it
The success of this partnership will be positive for NetEase. Given the recent ending of their partnership with Blizzard to manage their online games in China. It means that the company will maintain strong ties with another Western corporation that will allow them to continue bringing well-known properties into China and strengthen their development power abroad. Although Mattel163 is a joint venture it shows that NetEase remains strong in the face of ongoing issues domestically, and suggests that their hope to expand into the international market further is extremely feasible.
Mattel are, of course, the owners of many lucrative board game IP’s, including the card game Uno. As well as the famous Barbie franchise. NetEase should be familiar by now, but are one of China’s largest gaming corporations, alongside fellow heavy-hitter Tencent they have a major hand in the country’s lucrative mobile gaming scene. Recently, they’ve aimed to expand outside the country, including into their own AAA, PC and console ventures.
Despite the good news, NetEase has still taken some blows going into 2023. Recently announcing the closing of their Shanghai team in the wake of their Blizzard deal ending.
