N3twork is taking over development and publishing of NBCUniversal’s free-to-play Funko Pop Blitz after the company made moves to wind down its game business, and support for some current properties, earlier this year.
While the deal sees N3twork acquiring the game as a whole from its previous publisher, a press release notes it will still work collaboratively alongside Funko and NBCUniversal’s Universal Games and Digital Platforms branch as brands and characters from both companies play are an integral part of the game.
Alongside the acquisition, N3twork is hiring “key talent” from Universal Games and Digital Platforms to work on the game in N3twork’s Los Angeles office.
The company notes that the acquisition also gives it an opportunity to leverage its automated UA tech and expertise similarly to how it has in its own Legendary: Game of Heroes and an upcoming Tetris game.
The Tic Toc Games-developed Funko Pop Blitz was originally one of the games in the game publishing branch NBCUniversal announced it was winding down a few months back. After roughly two years in the mobile game space, NBCUniversal said the “increasingly competitive nature of the mobile games landscape” led to the decision and would instead focus on licensing its properties to other teams.
According to PocketGamer, those refocused game publishing plans originally included Funko Pop Blitz (among other titles) going dark for good this week, though N3twork stepping into the deal seems to have the fortunes for this particular game.