Theale, UK – 11 March, 2023 — Bringing the fun of the iconic Hot Wheels™ brand to all main gaming platforms, Hot Wheels Unleashed™ has been the most successful title in Milestone history. A year and a half since its launch, Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) and Milestone, a leading global racing game developer, reveal data showcasing the game’s success.
Hot Wheels Unleashed has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide and boasts more than 8 million players registered across different platforms including Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation™ Plus collection. Users have collectively spent the equivalent of nearly 929 years playing the game.
Highly accessible yet full of advanced techniques, the action-packed arcade-style racing game allows Hot Wheels fans the opportunity to drift, boost, jump, and crash while choosing among 60+ vehicles and six different environments. Across all vehicle categories, the Hot Wheels® Twin Mill™ 2021 emerges as the most used car, being selected for over 20% of total races played.
“We are always excited to find great partners that help us bring Mattel’s brands to fans in all-new ways”, said Mike DeLaet, Global Head of Digital Gaming at Mattel. “Milestone has done a phenomenal job with Hot Wheels Unleashed, and we’re thrilled that the Hot Wheels community has loved the game as much as we loved creating it”.
“Hot Wheels boasts one of the most engaged and passionate fan bases of any brand in the world”, said Luisa Bixio, Milestone CEO. “We’re proud that Mattel trusted us to bring the brand to life in Hot Wheels Unleashed, and so pleased with how consumers have responded.”
Hot Wheels Unleashed includes two features that allow players to express their creativity. With the Livery Editor, fans can customise the look of their beloved vehicles and make them unique by applying colors and shapes to Hot Wheels Originals™ and Real Manufacturer cars. To date, more than 1 million liveries have been created with a peak of more than 20 thousand submissions in a single day. The Track Builder is dedicated to players who want to take full control of the iconic orange track and build their dream circuits; so far, more than 350,000 original tracks have been designed to unleash maximum fun. These impressive figures demonstrate he passion of the Hot Wheels fan base and their desire to feel part of the historic brand that marked the childhood of many of today’s gamers.
Founded in Milan in 1996, Milestone S.r.l. is one of the leading and longest established racing game developer in the world. The 200+ people team is responsible for hit series like MotoGP™, MXGP and Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame, as well as own IPs Ride and Gravel. For more information please visit www.milestone.it
PLAION runs a multi-label strategy, with fully owned publishing units, such as Deep Silver, Prime Matter, Milestone, Vertigo Games and Ravenscourt, publishing games for consoles, PC and VR platforms across all physical and digital channels.
Additionally - as a global publishing partner - PLAION has formed long-term multinational publishing collaborations with numerous game publishers including Activision Blizzard, Bethesda, Capcom, Focus Multimedia, Giants Software, Koei Tecmo, Paradox, Sega, SNK, Square Enix, Techland, THQ Nordic, Tripwire, Warner Bros and many others.
With its parent company in Höfen, Austria - and the HQ in Munich, Germany - PLAION owns local publishing companies in Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Australia, the United States as well as Japan and Hong Kong.
PLAION owns nine game development studios: Deep Silver Dambuster Studios (Nottingham, UK), Fishlabs (Hamburg, DE), Warhorse Studios (Prague, CZ), Milestone (Milan, IT), Voxler (Paris, FR) , DigixArt (Montpellier, FR), Flying Wild Hog (Warsaw, Kraków, Rzeszów, PL), Free Radical Design (Nottingham, UK) and Vertigo Games (Rotterdam, Amsterdam, NL). Additionally, PLAION collaborates with numerous independent development studios around the world.
Part of PLAION is also PLAION PICTURES, a leading independent film distributor in Europe with a library of more than 1.400 titles. Further business operations include Sola Media, a sales agency and production company for family entertainment, Spotfilm Networx, a multi-channel streaming network, and a sub-label dedicated to Japanese animation.
PLAION also owns the leading video game merchandise company DPI Merchandising (Denver, Roseburg, USA and Munich, DE) and a Quality Assurance Facility in Olomouc, CZ.
PLAION is an Embracer Group company.