More than 25 years after reinventing battle toys with Beyblade, TOMY International wants to do it again with a new collectible brand called Dōteki.

At its core, Dōteki is a multiplayer experience that combines collecting action figures with the gameplay mechanics of pinball. Up to four players start by assembling a custom arena and choosing a leader figure to represent their health in battle. The goal of the game is to eliminate the opponent’s leader by using the controller’s pinball paddles to shoot balls into the target zone until the enemy figure pops out. 

An initial drop of Dōteki products will roll out globally to specialty retailers on August 4, including a mix of Multiplayer Battle Packs for two players to learn the game, as well as solo-focused Battle Training Sets so kids can expand their collections of leader characters and arena accessories. Each package will also feature a QR code that links to how-to-play videos designed to teach the various game modes. 

TOMY International’s VP of toys Julie Gwaltney is positioning this launch as a way for the company to attract a new audience of younger consumers to the battle toy category. The toyco already has a rich history in this space, having reinvented the classic Japanese spinning top as a multi-billion-dollar franchise in 1999 with Beyblade, a toy line and anime series that’s still airing today in its fourth-generation iteration Beyblade X. 

While TOMY has yet to announce any content plans for Dōteki at launch, the toyco has laid the groundwork to expand the lore of the IP by placing the leader characters into one of four warring factions: Arctos (ice), Heatoru (fire), Organika (earth) and Spiritek (tech).