ComingSoon spoke to Outright Games producer Ester Zanón about the latest Barbie video game, Barbie Project Friendship. While there are plenty of fun mini-games that kids and parents can play together, it also has a crucial message about making a difference in their community. It is now available on consoles and PC.
“It’s a Barbie game like no other! Try new things with friends and family, like caring for pets with Barbie’s sisters, making ice cream with Ken, renovating the arcade with Teresa, customizing scooters with Nikki, or performing a new song with Daisy as your DJ… and what Barbie adventure would be complete without an epic musical finale? Everyone will want to help Barbie and Barbie restore the community center and have a lot of fun along the way,” says the official description for Barbie Project Friendship.
Barbie has a long history of video games, ranging back to the Commodore 64. These games have grown alongside the technology, and we haven’t had a Barbie console game in a while. What would you say is the biggest leap from the last time we saw Barbie on consoles?
Ester Zanón: Variety! Setting aside the technical improvement in consoles since the last title from 2015, in Barbie Project Friendship we tried to balance narrative with minigames and activities, giving our players plenty of material to interact with Malibu Waves while getting fully immersed in Malibu and Brooklyn’s summer adventure.
There’s such a rich history of Barbie as we saw with all the deep-cut references in the recent movie. How was it drawing upon the past for some of the activities and outfits in Barbie Project Friendship?
Developing a videogame is always a team effort, and in this case it was no different: from Outright Games, we always get immersed in the lore of the IP we are working with alongside our development teams, which made an astonishing work this time. But we also teamed up with Mattel to ensure we portrayed such important characters faithfully for all fans’ enjoyment.
Barbie Project Friendship features split-screen co-op play. How important was it to make sure that families could play together?
For us it is very important to give our players experiences that they truly enjoy. We know that young players really appreciate playing in co-op with their families and friends, thus it was crucial for us to have this option available in the minigames, where the gameplay experience benefits the most from the co-op feature.
The game is centered around saving the Malibu Waves Community Center. How important was it to have a message that kids can take away from and to encourage them to be active in their community?
It was crucial. Barbie has a long tradition as an inspiring figure and we wanted to be loyal with it, as we completely share her values. In my opinion, Barbie and Barbie’s collaborative spirit, working together and with their friends on restoring a cultural place for the surrounding community -and succeeding!- is the kind of story we all need these days, not just children.
Barbie can skateboard and rock out on guitar. Barbie can do anything, so how was it determining the mini-games and making sure they captured a variety of interests?
Precisely because of Barbie’s long history we knew both Malibu and Brooklyn were up for anything! We tried to have minigames and activities that make sense within the current canon and the characters portrayed in the game, but always keeping in mind what could also work in the Malibu Waves Community Center. Mattel’s input was also key on this aspect, helping us and the development teams to get the best Barbie video game experience for consoles.
