Interactive studio Fuel Industries announced AllGirlArcade.com, a collection of casual games, last summer. From the very beginning, the goal was to move into the virtual world space, which it did with the beta of Spark City in January. Today the company announced the full launch of Spark City as well as a line of iPhone and iTouch games and its first sponsorship deal with JAKKS Pacific.
JAKKS has previously been on the other side of retail products and virtual worlds, partnering with Neopets to take the virtual world to the physical stores. In Spark City, JAKKS will be launching a special zone for the Girl Gourmet brand, including a cupcake shop, Cake Bakery, Sweets candy stand, and a new game allowing kids to play with the cupcake maker and design their own cakes.
"With the success of the JAKKS Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker, we wanted to give kids a new way to interact with our brand," said Gerhard Runken, Director of Marketing, JAKKS Pacific. "The virtual environment that Fuel built for Spark City truly captures the spirit and fun of Girl Gourmet, and gives kids and parents an introduction and play experience with the brand before even stepping foot into a store."
Fuel has previously discussed plans to moentize through virtual goods sales, but is also looking for more sponsors and tie-in sales of iPhone games. Along with the world, a Sushi Toss casual game is being released for $.99. Beyond the casual play, the hook is that gems earned on the mobile device can be tied to the virtual world account to add more customization options.
Without the mobile, it seems like Spark City may still be appealing to marketers looking to reach tween girls. Fuel didn't release any user numbers, but says that its users average 45 minutes in engagement time and 80% of users return multiple times.
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