Dear Reader:

You are viewing a story from GN Version 4.0. Time may not have been kind to formatting, integrity of links, images, information, etc.

LEGO on brand oversaturation, 'plenty of opportunity' for new games, LEGO City Undercover partnership

by rawmeatcowboy
04 October 2012
GN Version 4.0
A portion of a GameSpot interview with Lego Group senior development manager Darryl Kelley...

GS: We've seen a new Lego game every year for the past decade or so. Is the Lego Group worried about brand saturation or oversaturation?

DK: Always. Yes. Of course. Any developer, or any publisher, or toy manufacturer would always look at [brand saturation] from an acute, strategic, and competitive point of view. And it's important that we're adding novelty to each and every game. There's always something new; there's always something different. We're always looking to add different layers, whether it's a feature or a function or it's new hardware, which we'll have the luxury of having over the next few years. So it's definitely always been a concern, and it's just important to maintain a healthy balance. We design every game as a support of a core product. We've learned from the past that we need support to make sure that every game is supported from a core theme that we have physically available to our consumers.

GS: The Lego brand has tapped into a number of huge franchises already. Harry Potter, Batman, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and more. Where else can you go from here?

DK: We're obviously constantly evaluating the portfolio and like I had mentioned before, we are very tied to our core playthings. Depending on what our portfolio looks like in the coming years will always dictate how we want to approach the digital side of it from a strong strategic and integrated point of view. There's still plenty of opportunity and ways for us to expand the digital portfolio for our consumers. As our toy business evolves, we will evolve with it.

GS: Shifting gears a bit, Lego City Undercover stole a lot of hearts this year at E3. How early on did Lego know it wanted to have a game for the Wii U?

DK: This game has been in development for some time. As with a lot of our games, the opportunity to work with a partner like Nintendo is one that you just don't make a decision irrationally on. They are an amazing partner and we're really fortunate to have been able to work with them to develop Lego City Undercover. It has been a project that we have been working on for some time, and that's the best I can say.

GS: What is it about the Wii U that makes it a good fit for Lego?

DK: Nintendo and Lego's core and fans are very tightly matched. We've seen that throughout our process and development here. The loyal fans of Nintendo, in many ways, are very equal fans to the loyal fans of Lego. And the quality standards that Nintendo has is very reflective of the high quality standards that we have. It's very much one-to-one. So we felt that the opportunity to be exclusive on this platform and to take advantage of the new features and functions, especially with the GamePad, was definitely an opportunity that we all felt was best for both parties.

Full interview here