Brief:

• The Garbage Pail Kids, a "revolting" parody of Cabbage Patch Kid dolls that were a sensation in the 1980s, are coming to mobile screens in a new augmented reality (AR) game. Startup Jago Studios licensed the Topps brand of collectible trading cards for the smartphone era to develop a role-playing mobile game, according to a company news release.
• Jago will feature characters from the original Garbage Pail Kids and let players virtually battle, similar to "Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes," a popular mobile game from Electronic Arts, VentureBeat reported. Jago was founded by Stuart Drexler, a former Disney executive who oversaw the development of its Club Penguin, a large multiplayer online gaming platform that let kids create a penguin avatar to interact with others.
• Depicting kids in foul and comical scenarios, such as Fryin' Brian sizzling in the electric chair or Tee-Vee Stevie, who is mesmerized by multiple screens, Garbage Pail Kids created more than 600 collectible characters between 1985 and 1988, and even more when it relaunched. The mobile game will be available worldwide on the App Store and Google Play on an unannounced date.

Insight:

AR continues to revive former icons of generations past as entertainment brands leverage the technology to add a new, immersive dimension to popular characters from movies, TV, comic books and trading cards like Pokémon.

As the once-ubiquitous Garbage Pail Kids celebrates its 30th anniversary, independent game developer Jago plans to bring the classic cards back with an immersive role-playing mobile game. The company brings more than 20 years of experience creating interactive games, toys and content for global brands including Moshi Monsters, Habbo, Barbie, Elmo, Harry Potter and Lego.

Garbage Pail Kids became a massive hit in the 1980s through word-of-mouth advertising and Jago hopes to put a modern twist on the card to create another viral product. The trading cards join Ghostbusters, another '80s pop culture icon, that's taking advantage of the growing demand for AR by releasing a new game this year. According to a 2017 Infoholic Research report, AR gaming is forecasted to reach $284.93 billion by 2023.

Pokémon became an international sensation with its brand of trading cards that were developed into the Go mobile game and is credited with popularizing AR in 2016, as a number of brands took a page out of Pokemon's book and launched mobile games that leverage immersive elements and smartphone technology.