My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure

MLP A Maretime Bay Adventure vertical key art.jpg

My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure is a Hasbro-licensed video game developed by Melbot Studios and published by Outright Games. Based on My Little Pony: A New Generation, it is a 3D adventure game with optional multiplayer support in which the player plays as Sunny Starscout.

The game was released on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Steam on May 27, 2022,^[1]^[2] with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions as a free upgrade at a later date,^[3] and Stadia in summer.^[4] As with previous Outright Games titles, Bandai Namco Europe is the game's distributor in the EMEA region. This is the first My Little Pony video game to be released on consoles since the 2008 Nintendo DS title My Little Pony: Pinkie Pie's Party.

Development

Prior to its official announcement, information about the game was leaked via its age classification with the rating General (G), as filed with the Australian Classification Board on January 31, 2022.^[5] On March 3, 2022, Target accidentally posted a listing of the game on their online store too soon, including low-resolution gameplay screenshots and a render of the Nintendo Switch box cover.^[1]

On March 8, 2022, publisher Outright Games officially announced the game on their website and social media and posted the official trailer for multiple regions on their YouTube channel.^[2] Hasbro, as well as PlayStation, Xbox, and Bandai Namco Europe, posted the English trailer on their respective YouTube channels on the same day.

On the day of the official announcement, 3D animator Derek "DJTHED" Gomen revealed he did animation and rigging for the main character models and "some other misc stuff" for the game since April 2021,^[6] having been reached out to by Melbot Studios COO Josema Roig on March 11 one month prior.^[7]

Gomen revealed additional behind-the-scenes information,^[7] such as Melbot Studios squeezing the game's development time to only eleven months, as delaying its release was not an option under Hasbro. Melbot Studios worked on the Nintendo Switch version as the primary platform, to prioritize optimization on said platform, before porting the game to more superior hardware, in addition to Outright Games forecasting the Switch version to be the best selling version based on the company's previous sales.^[7]

The game was build on the Unity engine, although Gomen largely worked with re-rigging and modifying the character models using Blender (which is not an industry standard software), as Hasbro provided incompatible Maya assets from the film's production. Gomen developed an animation system to make the character movements as faithful to the movie as possible, especially their facial features and hair. Albeit not involved with the film's production, Gomen admitted his work with Melbot Studios exposed him to most of the film's footage prior to its official release for reference to its animation and characters, and he was still active with the fandom around the same time period. Gomen originally expected Outright Games to officially announce the game on March 1, 2022, but marketing delayed the announcement by a week because of logistical difficulties in Europe due to unforeseen circumstances at the time. The announcement delay may have likely caused the aforementioned Target leak.^[7]

Official description

"Bring magic back to Equestria and play with the new generation of MY LITTLE PONY characters, in an adventure full of fun, fashion and good friends!

Earth Pony Sunny wants to make the world a better place by hosting Maretime Bay Day, a forgotten celebration of friendship and magic. But some pony is out to spoil the celebration - and they're stealing cakes, letting bunnies loose, and even spoiling Pipp's paintings!

Only you can help Sunny throw the most magical celebration Equestria has ever seen. Use your magic to put on fashion shows, find the cutest animals, fly with the Pegasi and more. Customize your ponies by unlocking new skills and accessories, including new hats and jewelry, rollerblades, and fashion magic. Your friends Hitch, Izzy, Zipp and Pipp are here to lend a helping hoof every step of the way. And you can invite another player for multiplayer minigames!

The ponies need you to make Maretime Bay Day unforgettable – can you find the mysterious party pooper and bring back the magic?

Features:

BE A PONY – Play as Sunny the adventurous Earth Pony and use her magic powers
LEARN NEW POWERS – Unlock pony skills and accessories including clothing, purses, and magic abilities
EXPLORE MARETIME BAY – Adventure across Maretime Bay and beyond to bring the magic back
MULTIPLAYER PARTY – Two players can put on a fashion show, herd bunnies and more!"