Cartoon Network powers up a connected world of original heroes across the TV and gaming landscape with the greenlight of animated series OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes followed by an integrated console game jointly developed with the indie video game studio Capybara Games.
Created by Ian Jones-Quartey, and produced by Cartoon Network Studios, the action-packed show follows the heroic feats of K.O., an endlessly optimistic kid attempting to level up to be the best he can in a dynamic universe of friends and challenging foes. The console and PC game is an action brawler with RPG elements and is expected to arrive in Asia Pacific this September.
To help build this highly-developed world, Cartoon Network opened the door to the gaming and creative communities to produce custom multiplatform content. At a Game Jam last year, independent game developers created their own original games based on the characters. Following the Game Jam, college undergraduates were invited to craft 15-second animation shorts using the IP at an Animation Jam. A standalone original mobile game, titled OK K.O.! Lakewood Plaza Turbo, also launched last year based on Jones-Quartey’s short, of the same name, from Cartoon Network’s Emmy-winning artist program.
“This combined launch marks the culmination of a unique multi-media development process,” Cartoon Network, chief content officer, Rob Sorcher said. “The result is an entirely connected world which provides deeper satisfaction as fans get further into the property from every access point.”
OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes is set in Lakewood Plaza, a mall for heroes, where K.O. and his cool crew of friends are constantly trying to impress each other in their efforts to level up and overcome the obstacles that evil foe Lord Boxman sends their way on his quest to destroy the plaza. The show is slated to premiere this summer in USA and will also roll out across Asia Pacific later this year and early 2018.
Jones-Quartey expressed, “For me, video games and animation have a lot in common and having fun is the main goal. OK K.O.! is a video game-inspired world expressed through the language of animation, but mostly an adventurous playground with heart-warming heroes who battle against robots.”
Jones-Quartey first joined the Cartoon Network family in 2010 as a storyboard artist on Secret Mountain Fort Awesome. Most recently, he served as the co-executive producer on the Emmy-nominated series Steven Universe. He is an alumnus of the School of Visual Arts in New York City.