The first-ever MeteoHeroes video game is ready to hit the market! The unprecedentedly popular environmentally themed animated kids’ show MeteoHeroes, already seen in 144 countries and 22 languages, co-produced by Mondo TV and the leading weather forecasting centre Meteo Operations Italia (MOPI), in partnership with Kenn Viselman’s itsy bitsy Entertainment, has inspired a videogame for PlayStation.
The series, which debuted on Earth Day 2020, is now coming to North America as result of a new partnership involving family entertainment maverick Kenn Viselman (Teletubbies, Thomas the Tank Engine) and his itsy bitsy Entertainment Company (TibECo), along with the show’s co-producers Mondo TV and leading weather forecasting centre Meteo Operations Italia (MOPI). Their first collaboration is related to the MeteoHeroes video game for PlayStation.
The game – MeteoHeroes: Saving Planet Earth – is available on PlayStation® and PC (STEAM platform) as of 28 February. It is expected to start launching in retail stores later in fall 2022. Release dates and territories will be confirmed later this year. The game is a co-production between Sony Interactive Entertainment España (SIE España), development partner Gammera Nest and Mondo TV Studios.
The MeteoHeroes’ video game can also boast the support of PlayStation®Talents in its area of PlayStation Alliances. Worldwide publishing will be managed by PlayStation®Talents. PlayStation®Talents will also carry out communication, promotion and launch activities for the video game. North American distribution and marketing for the game will be managed in partnership with The itsy bitsy Entertainment Company.
The MeteoHeroes are a group of six pint-sized superheroes, each of whom represents a different continent and a different natural element. Working in tandem to fight climate change disasters, our fearless heroes go to battle to save our planet, using their own unique superhuman abilities that can control weather phenomena. With humor and respect for its audience, the series sends the important message to children that you don’t need superpowers to save the world. MeteoHeroes is the only children’s series dedicated entirely to climate and environmental issues. Each episode focuses on issues related to ecology and respect for nature.
MeteoHeroes: Saving Planet Earth invites children of all ages to join in the adventure with a fun action platform game as they help save the Earth. With enemies to escape from, fast-moving adventures and multiple locations on all the world’s continents, players find hidden items on the screen as they help rid the world of pollution and decay. The game is available in six languages: Italian, Spanish, English, French, German and Portuguese.
Sales of the video game will be directly linked to the planting of trees in several parts of the world, through Tree-Nation. Tree-Nation is a non-profit organisation that allows citizens and companies to plant trees all around the world and offset their CO2 emissions. One of the first projects supported by the video game will be the planting of trees in Cameroon for the Cocoa Farmer Agroforestry project, which helps local farmers grow higher-quality cocoa while improving their land and living conditions.
The series is among the most successful Cartoonito children’s series of all time in Italy and in Spain, where it shows on Clan. On 22 April 2022 the MeteoHeroes will make their broadcast debut on America’s PBS with an Earth Day Special. A companion series, executive produced by Kenn Viselman, is planned to premiere in late summer 2022. The second season of MeteoHeroes (52 episodes x 13′) will have its world premiere on Cartoonito in Italy in April 2022.
This is a significant deal for Mondo TV Studios, as part of the ongoing expansion of its animation services into new segments that will include video games. This agreement both builds on the company’s strength as an animation partner and is a timely move into a fast-growing market.
Mondo TV Studios CEO Maria Bonaria Fois says, “With its strong characters, engaging storylines and highly original premise, MeteoHeroes is ideally suited to the video game market. Add the best-known names in entertainment, development and platforms and we are sure that MeteoHeroes – Saving Planet Earth will be a massive hit with the show’s fast-growing fanbase.”
MeteoHeroes executive producer in North America Kenn Viselman adds, “Only once in a lifetime does a project as impactful as MeteoHeroes come along. The brilliance of the creative team at Mondo TV and Luigi Latini is evidenced by the fact that the MeteoHeroes have already achieved “platinum status” by having a PlayStation game before the series even airs in the US. MeteoHeroes: Saving Planet Earth gives children the ability to extend the action off the television and become the hero in the game. The mission of the series is to give children hope and to help them see that you don’t need a cape to be a superhero. I think this game does a brilliant job of extending the values and ideals of this extraordinary series.”
PLAYSTATION IBERIA head of PR – communication and esports – partnerships / new business development director Roberto Yeste adds, “MeteoHeroes – Saving Planet Earth is an example of how video games are a powerful transmission tool for values, something that PlayStation and its PlayStation Talents program take into account in their developments. We hope and expect that little ones, along with their families, will love this video game, just as they do the television series.”
