Lego IPs interview pt. 2
Mark: How many play themes there have been? There's been over a couple of thousand. But they're all very different, right, because there are some that are underwater, there are some that are in space. We have a couple of 'evergreen' sets that have been with us forever. Lego City was one of those themes, Racers, the car set, that's been with us forever, Castle has always been very popular. You're going to see them and those different universes come alive. That's why we work so closely with NetDevil.
We want to get that Lego passion and Lego understanding of our products across. If it was as easy as saying, "Here's Lego Castle, let's make it into an MMO", we wouldn't need to do that. It's not that easy. It's how we tie every set together. It's for every kid out there that loves Lego. It's a community of 3 million people, that we have. Each have different interests, you can see if you go online. There are Trains, there have City, they have Space, everything. They're trying to fit a little bit of each in to start with. What we're trying to do with the game is put enough content out there, to see that this is a creative game. You can create what you want, so how far are you going to take it?
In the end, it's all about the kids. The kids aspire to be bigger and better, and so there needs to be a lot of inspiration in the game. A desert doesn't work, when you want to inspire people to build. You have to be able to add onto something that's already there.
Ryan: If you think about it, it's similar psychology to buying a box. Lego gives you a picture and a set of bricks, and you can build the thing that's on the side of the box. Maybe there are some alternate instructions as well, ideas that you can use in there as well. But really, you can take those bricks and combine them with anything else you already have to make your own stuff. It's the same idea expressed in a virtual way.
Mark: A box has a very short narrative. When we develop a product, we have to go through and really think about it just the same. Bionicle had a very deep story, probably books worth of stuff. If you look at Lego City or our other sets, that's probably a two-page description. Now, we are starting to make a much deeper story in order for Lego to make this game work. We're looking at how to tie everything together.
That's another thing we think prospective players are very interested in. Are you interested in bringing some of the more story rich play themes into Lego Universe? Star Wars, Indiana Jones?
Mark: I think that IPs would be great to see in the game. It's not for the first launch.
It's not something you're discounting, or isn't possible, though.
Mark: No, not at all. I think you will ... yeah. (laughs)
Ryan: From my perspective, they're just another culture, right? They're another kind of Lego people that can live in the Lego Universe.
Mark: It's all timing, right? We know that kids love these different IP properties that we have. How do you serve that up in way that fits just right? We don't have any contracts right now, and it'll take that and some time before we get there.
