Creating Video Game Merchandise with Symbiote Studios - Interview Q&A

At Forever Classic Games, we get a lot of insight into the various games we love whether that be through extremely talented players, passionate fans, excited publisher representatives, or gracious developers who share their time with us. Yet, there’s a lot of areas that we don’t get as much perspective in and one of those areas is merchandising. Merchandising has been an integral part of geek culture for decades, building in extreme momentum with toy deals like Kenner with Star Wars or Bandai America with Power Rangers. Scale is important to note when diving into nerdy merchandising and we mostly only hear the histories of toy production with major properties. Behind the scenes are several companies making items for smaller properties. This is where Symbiote Studios fits in.

Symbiote Studios started as a toy company in Tucson, Arizona in 2007 where they continue to create various items for lots of properties. Their mascot is a heroic cat named Catnip Bravo, who according to the website works diligently at the company. While plushies are some of their most prominent creations, they’ve also created detailed statues, pins, shirts, and more.

We did receive four plushies to ensure the quality of their products and we found the quality to be great. Tight stitching, fun designs like adding a magnet to Shovel Knight’s hands, or a place for Elliana from Rivals of Aether to sit in her mech, make for solid collectibles. Some of the plushies also came with digital codes and/or pins. Out of the ones we received, my favorite by far is the shark from Maneater. He’s just so dang happy!

Who knew that an apex predator could be so cute!

Q&A WITH JOSEPH REITER

We were able to chat with Joseph Reiter, the founder of Symbiote Studios, about several aspects of working with indie games and long-standing properties like Transformers or G.I. Joe. This interview was conducted over email with only minor editing for clarification.

WHAT WAS THE FIRST CREATION THAT REALLY GOT YOU ROLLING?

I think our “big break” is when we made the Monkey Island statue for Lucas Arts. This opened the door for us to work directly with the Lucas Star Wars Store to make Star Wars-based merchandise. After that, doors opened for us with other video game companies. This was back in 2010 when Lucas Arts still made games and before Disney.

WHY DOES SYMBIOTE STUDIOS PRIMARILY WORK WITH INDIE GAMES?

I wouldn’t exactly say Indie games are our main focus, but more of a passion project. Our company is broken up into two parts. The larger part we manufacture for other companies. Here we have a lot of video game clients that we make toys for such as Fangamer, NIS, and many more that we cannot mention due to NDA. The second part of our company is our direct-to-consumer website. Here we make merch such as plush, pins, and shirts for brands we love. That's why you will see we have everything from Shovel Knight, Transformers, and Overcooked. All of us at the office are big-time game players and we try to reach out and work with companies that excite us or that have games we like to play. A good example of this is Rivals of Aether. This was a cool little game that we like to play and it has blown up into an Esports phenomenon.

IS THERE A PARTICULAR PROPERTY YOU WOULD REALLY LIKE TO WORK WITH? 

Yes. Halo. Working with Microsoft to make Halo plushies would be a dream. Also high on that list is an old-school favorite, Joe & Mac. We have the Joe & Mac arcade cabinet at the office and we have become pretty good. I’m not saying we are going pro (laugh), but we love that game.

WHAT IS THE FAVORITE CREATION YOU HAVE MADE SO FAR? WHAT ABOUT ONE YOU ARE EXCITED TO FINISH OR GET A CHANCE TO MAKE?

Hmmm, that's a tough question. It’s easier to remember the ones that you didn’t love because I like most of our stuff. I guess I would say the Plump Prinny plush we made for NIS turned out really nice. I also have a soft spot for the Super Meat Boy figures we made ourselves and the ones we made for Fangamer. They are both very different, but both very cool. Finally, I have been a Transformers fan since I was a child. I played the terrible C64 Transformers game as a kid. So having the opportunity to make Transformers merch was a dream come true.

The Dino Chef of Overcooked is adorable in pin form.

WHAT STEPS DO YOU TAKE TO ENSURE A QUALITY PRODUCT AND HOW DOES THAT REFLECT WITH WORKING TO PROPERLY REPRESENT AN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY? 

This sounds like a question you hear during a licensing meeting. (laugh) All our plush are hand stitched which makes the quality much better than if they were just rushed through an assembly line. We also inspect each product three times in order to weed out any defects. All our defective products are reused, repaired, or donated in order to lower our impact on the Earth.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY SO FAR AS SYMBIOTE STUDIOS? 

There have been a lot, but I think the best times are conventions. Going to PAX, SDCC, or others has been such a great experience. I remember when we were just starting out, our entire booth blew off the U-Haul on our trip to San Diego. Now we have a much bigger setup, but the times when you are starting out are golden. It sounds silly, but I love talking to people who stop by our booth. I have had so many great discussions about video games, comic books, etc. Conventions are so great because when you are not working the booth you get to go around and look at all the cool toys and games on sale. It’s really cool to see all the stuff people create. 

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO SEE YOUR MASCOT, CATNIP BRAVO, IN OTHER GAMES? 

It is very satisfying. We work really hard to grow the Catnip Bravo brand and having him part of games we legit love is so amazing. I still think wow Catnip Bravo is a character in Cat Quest II. That game is amazing and he’s in it. Honestly, I'm just really lucky that we have gotten a chance to meet these great creators and that they let us work with them. Move or Die, Cat Quest, Rivals of Aether, and this November Transformers all will have Catnip Bravo. Very humbled to be a small part of them.

WHAT GAME WOULD YOU LOVE TO SEE CATNIP BRAVO IN NEXT? 

Super Lucky’s Tale would be my choice. It might sound silly but I've logged way too many hours into that game. We would also love to make plushies for that game. As for a second choice, I would say Rocket League. A Catnip Bravo-styled car would be nice. Another game that would be interesting is the classic game Rastan. Catnip wielding a sword would be very funny.

Shovel Knight continues to be an indie icon.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE GAMES AND WHY? 

Halo has been my love since the day it came out on the original Xbox. I also love a lot of classic games from Q*bert, Joe & Mac, Duck Tales. Currently, I’m playing a lot of Rocket League and Monster Hunter.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE STATE OF GAMES CURRENTLY? WHAT DO YOU ENJOY OR WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE CHANGED? 

I think gaming right now is the best it has ever been. The ability to have all the classic games we love in the palm of our hand on a Switch or even better when the new Steam Deck comes out is something I couldn't have dreamed of when I was playing the original Game Boy. PC gaming has grown to a tremendous level. Just think about how many games are on Steam. Not just PC but Nintendo, MS, and Sony each have very good console offerings. 

I guess the only trend I’m not a big fan of is all digital. I understand why the corporations do it, but not having a full game on cartridge or disk is really a loss. I feel like accepting not having physical media is accepting that we truly never own any of these games. It’s like an extended rental that the corporations can take away when the servers go down. I think we truly gave up something when companies started having day one patches and games that arrive incomplete. I appreciate that Nintendo continues to put out physical games. It’s a shame others do less.

The Elliana pin looks great next to this Extra Life pin.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

To learn more about Symbiote Studios or pick up a few items in their online shop, be sure to swing by their official website.

This was not a sponsored post, nor do we make any commission off of the sale of these items. If that changes, we will update this post. This particular Q&A, like most content featured on Forever Classic Games, was developed out of our sheer curiosity and love for geek culture.

We humbly thank Reiter and Symbiote Studios for their time and efforts.