Nintendo Might Expand amiibo Functionality to Third-Party Devs

Could the Big N start letting its third-party partners and indie developers incorporate its amiibo technology into future games?

IGN reports that Nintendo's amiibo figures could be integrated into third-party and indie games on the Wii U and 3DS in the future. As of now, Nintendo's amiibo figures are only being compatible for small uses with the company's first-party titles, such as Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros.

“We’re having those conversations and we’re still early on because amiibo isn’t even going to launch until later this month,” said Damon Baker, a licensing manager at Nintendo. “We’re excited to see how that pans out but there’s a ton of interest from our third-party partners and we’re looking at what makes sense in terms of business models and levels of integration. There are really creative ideas that are coming through and we are working towards some opportunities for next year."

Nintendo recently announced that its amiibo figures would unlock weapons and bonuses in Hyrule Warriors, which was developed by Omega Force and Team Ninja.

“Think about our implementation for our products, it’s really developer-centric,” said David Wharton, a marketing director at Nintendo. “It’s really about opening up new capabilities and new ways of extending the value of games and bringing the functionality into games. As a company we’re interested in as many different creative explorations of that functionality."

The first series of amiibo figures will launch alongside Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U on Nov. 21.