Before this year's E3 back in July, we kind of, sort of, in a way predicted that Ubisoft would be releasing a line of plush animals with special game codes on them that would allow purchasers to access special items in the popular Petz series of games. Sure we got the game series wrong, but we were pretty damn close, and anyway that's not the point. The point is that UbiSoft and Commonwealth Toy have just announced the release of the first wave of these monstrosities are now hitting stores. Fear them.
“We’re excited to introduce our young fans to a new way to interact with their favorite Petz games,” said Andy Swanson, senior director of strategic sales & partnerships at Ubisoft. “The partnership with Commonwealth Toy provides users with a unique opportunity to play with their toys in both an online and offline environment.”
The first wave is made up solely of catz and dogz, which feature codes for the DS titles Petz Dogz Pack and Petz Catz Clan, with monkeyz on the way in the spring. Bad move Ubisoft...you always lead with monkeyz. Always.Ubisoft® Expands PETZ® Franchise with Innovation Licensed Toy Line SAN FRANCISCO — November 3, 2008 — Today Ubisoft and Commonwealth Toy announced the release of a new series of UbiPetz™ plush toys in North America for Ubisoft’s Petz Dogz® Pack, Petz Catz® Clan and Petz Monkeyz™ House games for the Nintendo DS™ system. Ubisoft’s Petz games allow young players to create and care for cute, furry pets chosen from many different breeds of dogs, cats, horses and monkeys. The initial series of furry plush toys includes a variety of dog and cat characters, with a line of monkeys debuting in Spring 2009. Each animal has a unique code on the bottom of the toy that the consumer can scratch off and enter on Petz.com to unlock exclusive UbiPetz items, including activity games and coloring pages. After entering the code online, users will receive a secret password to enter on Petz Dogz Pack, Petz Catz Clan or Petz Monkeyz House games to bring their plush toy to life as a character in their Nintendo DS game. “We’re excited to introduce our young fans to a new way to interact with their favorite Petz games,” said Andy Swanson, senior director of strategic sales & partnerships at Ubisoft. “The partnership with Commonwealth Toy provides users with a unique opportunity to play with their toys in both an online and offline environment.” The UbiPetz plush toy series features over nine assorted breeds of cats and dogs, available in the toy section at major retail locations including Target and Toys ‘R Us in the U.S. and Canada, and they will also be sold at Limited Too in November. Target stores will feature additional, exclusive cat and dog characters. Petz Dogz Pack is available at retailers nationwide on November 4, 2008, and both Petz Catz Clan and Petz Monkeyz House will be released on November 18, 2008. For more information on UbiPetz plush toys and Petz games, visit www.petz.com.