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HiDef, a game studio founded with diversity in mind, has teamed up with Snap to develop a Bitmoji-based dance and music social game.
The game will leverage Snap’s augmented reality tech for a first-of-its-kind digital experience as well as Bitmoji, the avatar of the internet developed by the maker of Snapchat. Bitmoji joined the Snap family more than five years ago, and today over a billion Bitmoji avatars have been created.
“We’re partnering with Snap to build a Bitmoji social mobile game that will be based on dance and expression,” said Chip Lange, CEO of HiDef, in an interview with GamesBeat. “With our cultural delivery platform and the product that we’re working on our flagship game, we are going out to all of the intellectual property holders and all of the social networks and talking about what we’re doing. Snap is a trailblazer that already has gotten into gaming on their platform. They took one look at what we were building, and felt there was something really powerful here.”
Snap is support both of HiDef’s games, the Bitmoji-based dance expression games as well as HiDef’s flagship game. Snap and HiDef share a focus on the next generation of digital experiences and are partnering to create a game that connects and entertains people at scale. To further support this like-minded outlook, Snap will support HiDef’s upcoming flagship dance party game IP.
“We’re working with HiDef as a marquee partner because of their leadership in the gaming and entertainment space, as well as our shared goal of engaging audiences through creative expression,” said Pany Haritatos, head of Snap Games, in a statement. “Games have already captured the interest of 320 million Snapchatters and we are excited to team up with HiDef on this exciting new music and dance game.”
HiDef was co-founded in 2019 by interactive entertainment veterans Anthony Castoro, Jace Hall, and Rick Fox and social impact expert David Washington to build breakthrough interactive experiences, via a proprietary technology platform with the hope of transcending traditional gaming boundaries and demographics.
HiDef’s games are designed to give unimagined creative expression to the universe of gamers and will contribute to the ongoing effort of social good and transformation. HiDef has partnerships with Unity and an advisory board made up of talented change-makers and notable leaders in the games, social good, and entertainment spaces helping HiDef to shape the future of gaming.
The Bitmoji-based game will be a standalone title. Meanwhile, HiDef continues to work on its own music and dance game in addition to the Bitmoji-based title. Snap has 320 million daily active users.
That, combined with the HiDef platform, makes for a nice marriage, Lange said.
“They are looking to get into off-platform gaming. And with our ability to create products, it was a really nice partnership that went from where it started, which was obviously having their IP and their Bitmojis come to our flagship title, to something much bigger than that,” Lange said.
Lange said the game will be a dance expression title. San Diego, California-based HiDef has about 20 people working full-time. The Bitmoji title is expected to launch in 2023.
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