This past weekend, Yacht Club Games and Nintendo announced during Nindies@Night that Shovel Knight is getting an amiibo, making it the first third party licensed amiibo to be produced and displayed alongside Nintendo’s own amiibo at retail.
Yacht Club Games will be selling the figure on its own and it will be compatible with all future titles the company releases on Nintendo systems.
You can watch the announcement video below:
Sean Velasco from Yacht Club Games and Nintendo’s Damon Baker were interviewed by Game Informer about the origins and evaluation process behind the Shovel Knight amiibo, where they discuss how important this support was for Yacht Club Games and how Nintendo is open to more colaborations like this in the future if they prove worthwhile. You can check out the interview here, if you are interested in learning a little bit about that.
When it comes to production, it seems like Yacht Club Games will be handling it all on its own, and in a different specialized factory from the one that produces Nintendo’s NFC toys. According to what Sean Velasco told Destructoid at PAX Prime 2015, the Shovel Knight amiibo will be produced in the same factory as Disney Infinity figures. He also said this about the process:
“We’re basically licensing the amiibo technology from Nintendo, and they’ve been overseeing it every step of the way. From the design, to how the amiibo functions in the game, to making sure that it was all just perfect in every way.”
“But we’re the ones that are dealing with the manufacturing and distribution, we’re the ones that are talking with the toy and sculpture people. Even things like the packaging.”
You can also watch the video interview with Destructoid below:
Additionally, here’s the official functionality overview of the figure:
Cooperative Multiplayer (exclusive to Wii U)!
Join a friend’s Shovel Knight campaign and shovel together!
Use new cooperative moves to help each other out along the way!Deep Customization!
Level up by defeating enemies and finding treasure!
Earn all-new relics, abilities, and powers you never thought possible!
Customize the look of your Shovel Knight with cool and crazy cosmetic options!
Use your custom amiibo seamlessly between 3DS and Wii U!
Exclusive Challenge Stages!Battle your way through amiibo exclusive challenge stages that take advantage of the new amiibo relics and abilities!
One amiibo, multiple games
We plan to continue support of the Shovel Knight amiibo in future Yacht Club Games and Nintendo products! Stay tuned to amiibo.com for compatibility details in new games.
Finally, you can find some photos of the Shovel Knight amiibo and its concept art taken at the Nindies@Night show floor, below:
