Mattel, Zynga Partner for New Barbie Mobile Game

Mattel has announced a new partnership with Rollic, a subsidiary of Zynga, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive, to introduce a mass-market Barbie mobile game. The game is slated to launch later this year. 

Mattel’s ongoing expansion of its licensed digital games portfolio is part of a strategic initiative to bolster its digital games business, aiming to provide entertainment experiences based on Mattel’s intellectual properties that will resonate with fans across generations. 

“Partnering with Rollic and Zynga enables us to bring a fresh and exciting mass-market Barbie mobile game to fans worldwide,” says Mike DeLaet, global head, digital gaming, Mattel. “This collaboration underscores Mattel’s dedication to leveraging our iconic brands in innovative ways and propels our digital games division’s ability to deliver best-in-class immersive entertainment experiences for fans of all ages.” 

The forthcoming Barbie mobile game will be published by Rollic, which recently surpassed 2.7 billion lifetime downloads worldwide. Rollic develops and publishes mobile titles in more than 175 countries and has had 22 titles reach the #1 and #2 spots in the U.S. Apple App Store. 

“Barbie is beloved by generations of players around the world, and we are delighted to partner with Mattel to bring the latest iteration of this icon to mobile gaming,” says Burak Vardal, chief executive officer, Rollic. “Our teams’ ability to translate cultural moments into lasting gameplay allows us to provide players with another place to engage with their favorite IP and we are excited to step into the world of Barbie with this new title.” 

This new Barbie game comes on the heels of the success of the “Barbie” movie, which has garnered critical acclaim, including Oscar nods. The film reached $1 billion at the global box office and director, Greta Gerwig, made history as the first woman to reach the milestone. 

License Global has extensively covered the meteoric rise of the Barbie property, starting when the “Barbie” movie was still in production. The consumer products program has seen a boost, with Circana naming it the toy industry’s top growth property for the week of the film’s release. It also saw growth in cookware, footwear, publishing and more. You can check out our analysis from last summer here. 

Details will be released at a later date.