Toca Boca

Toca Boca is a Swedish children's mobile video game developer.[3][4] The company is owned by Spin Master and is based in Stockholm, Sweden.[5]

Toca Boca
TypeSubsidiary
FoundedJuly 18, 2010 (2010-07-18)
Founder
  • Björn Jeffery[1]
  • Emil Ovemar[2]
Headquarters
Stockholm
,
Sweden
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Fredrik Löving
  • (Chief Executive Officer)
  • Emil Ovemar
  • (co-founder and Head of Toca Boca Studio)
ProductsGames
digital toys
OwnerSpin Master
Number of employees
100-150
Websitewww.tocaboca.com

Toca Boca was founded in September 2010 by Emil Ovemar and Björn Jeffery, both of whom worked for the Bonnier Group.[6] They released their first application in March 2011.[7][8] Toca Boca's apps has been downloaded more than 400 million times by users in over 238 markets ever since the first launch.[3]

In 2016, Bonnier sold Toca Boca to the Canadian toy and entertainment company Spin Master for SEK 263 million.[9][10] In 2020, Fredrik Löving took over as Toca Boca's new CEO.[11] Toca Boca saw significant growth in 2021, and Spin Master stated in its annual report that Digital Games, of which Toca Boca is a significant part, had a revenue of over US$ 174.8 million. Their monthly active users increased by 64% to over 70 million globally during the same period.[12]

Naming

Toca Boca means "Touch the mouth" in Spanish and comes from the logo design of a face with its mouth open.[13]

Toca Life series

Toca Life is a series of games that encourage the player to imagine stories for characters in the game. The player can drag the character around the screen with their finger and make him or her eat, sit, etc. In the series, there are different locations the character could go to based on the game's theme. (Town, Farm, Office, etc.) There are groups such as Kids, Elders, Babies, and Creatures. The player can add more than one character to a scene. Dressing up the characters was introduced in Toca Life: City.

Toca Life: World

Toca Life: World was released in November 21, 2018. Unlike the rest of the games in the series, the app is free to download. Players are invited to play the free version (which comes with Bop City, a free house, as well as the free version of a character creator), or to customize the app with whatever options they find the most interesting. A player can buy more characters and places.

An example of characters in Toca Life World

A web series based on the game, under the title Toca Life Stories, was released on February 21, 2020 on Toca Boca's official YouTube channel. It focused on four close friends with mismatched personalities, Rita, Zeke, Nari, and Leon (the main characters in the Toca Life app series), on a quest to vanquish boredom in their neighborhood of OK Street (based on one of the towns found in Toca Life: World).[14] The series is animated by Canada-based Pipeline Studios, with voices recorded in America-based Studiopolis, despite it being a web series, it aired on some television stations such as Pop in the United Kingdom, and Cartoon Network in the United States.

Digital toys
Toca Pet Doctor on iPad

The term digital toy is sometimes used to differentiate certain apps from more typical virtual games.[15] While most aspects between the two are the same, Toca Boca distinguishes digital toys as more "open-ended" with fewer rules. However, neither are thought nor proven to have a more or less harmful or beneficial impact on players. While these "digital toys" are aimed towards children, it does not mean they are just for children.

Awards and honors

Toca Boca has won:

2022

  • Kidscreen Award Winner, Best Game App—Original: Toca Life World[16]

2021

  • App Store Awards Winner: iPhone App of the Year: Toca Life World[17]

2020

  • Webby Award Winner in the Apps and Software category, Family & Kids 2020: Toca Life World [18]

2019

  • Kidscreen Award Nominee, Best Game App—Original: Toca Mystery House[19]
  • Parent's Choice, Silver Award: Toca Life: World[20]

2018

  • Fas Company, Innovation by Design: Toca Lab: Plants[21]
  • KAPi Best Children's App (older kids): Toca Life: Hospital [22]
  • Parent's Choice, Silver Award: Toca Life: World[23]
  • Kidscreen Award Nominee, Best Game App—Original: Toca Life: Hospital[24]

2017

  • Kidscreen Award in Best Video Streaming Platform for TocaTV[25]

2015

  • Webby Award Finalist in the Mobile Sites & Apps category for Toca Nature[26]
  • 2015 BolognaRagazzi Digital Award Mention for Toca Nature[27]
  • iKids Award 2015: Best Learning App - Tablet for Toca Lab[28]

2014

  • Cinekid App of the Year for Toca Pet Doctor[29]
  • The National Parenting Publications Award (NAPPA) for Toca Town (Silver)[30]
  • The Lovie Award Silver Winner in the Mobile & Applications category for Toca Lab[31]
  • Junior Design Awards 2014, Shortlisted for Best Children's App[32]
  • App Store Best iPhone Apps of 2014 for Toca Lab[33]
  • App Store Best iPad Apps of 2014 for Toca Nature[33]

2013

  • The KAPI Award for Most Pioneering Team in Children's Technology[34]
  • Bestekinderapps.de Best Innovative Apps & Games for Kids 2013 for Toca Tailor and Toca Hair Salon Me[35]
  • TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) Kids Audience Choice Favourite digiPlaySpace App Award for Toca Kitchen[36]
  • iKids Award 2013: Best Game App - 6 and Up for Toca Tailor[37]
  • Parents Choice Award for Toca Tailor (Gold),[38] Toca Hair Salon 2 (Silver),[39] Toca Band (Gold),[40] Toca Builders (Gold),[41] Toca Train (Silver)[42]

2012

  • The Lovie Awards for Toca Kitchen (bronze) and Toca Hair Salon (shortlist entertainment)[43]
  • The National Parenting Publications Award (NAPPA) in the Virtual category for Toca Kitchen (gold) and Toca Train (honors)[44]
  • The Parents' Choice Awards for Toca Tea Party (gold), Toca Kitchen (gold), Toca Robot Lab (gold), and Toca Hair Salon (silver).[45] Toca Boca was the only development studio in the mobile category to win three gold awards.

2011

  • The Telenor Digital Prize[46]
  • The National Parenting Publications Award (NAPPA) for Toca Hair Salon (gold) in Children's Media / Virtual Category[47]

References
  1. "Bonnier: Toca Boca a Hit at the App Store". Bonnier News Press. December 4, 2012. Archived from the original on 31 March 2015. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
  2. "Spelvärldens udda fågel". ICON Magazine. January 30, 2023. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
  3. Spin Master Corp. (2021). Annual Report 2021. https://downloads.ctfassets.net/r3qu44etwf9a/7lHqzwNfqelBxQbUx6X8JV/e80e4e773f7962ff0dca82cfd7263fcd/TOY_2021_Annual_Report.pdf
  4. "Toca Boca makes the kind of games kids can't possibly beat - so why have their apps been downloaded 67 million times? (video interview)". Tech.eu. 2014-05-20. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  5. Corp, Spin Master. "Spin Master announces the purchase of Toca Boca and Sago Mini, leading global kids mobile digital app brands". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  6. Newnham, Danielle (2015-12-13). "The Toca Boca Story". The Startup. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  7. Sterling, Bruce. "Augmented Reality: Toca Boca Helicopter Taxi". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  8. Williams, Jenny. "Toca Boca Continues to Deliver Great Apps". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  9. "Bonnier - Bonnier's App Hit Toca Boca to Get New Owner". Bonnier. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  10. AB, Breaking Media. "Dokument avslöjar: Så mycket fick Bonnier för Toca Boca". www.breakit.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  11. "Spin Master ramps its game business as toys go digital". VentureBeat. 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  12. Spin Master Corp. (2021). Annual Report 2021. https://downloads.ctfassets.net/r3qu44etwf9a/7lHqzwNfqelBxQbUx6X8JV/e80e4e773f7962ff0dca82cfd7263fcd/TOY_2021_Annual_Report.pdf
  13. Rosoff, Matt. "An 8-year-old interviews the cofounder of the company who makes her favorite app". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  14. Whyte, Alexandra. "Toca Boca launches first animated series". Kidscreen. Alexandra Whyte. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  15. FLETCHER-WATSON, Ben (June 2014). "From stage to screen: adapting a children's theatre production into a digital toy" (PDF).
  16. "Kidscreen Awards".
  17. "iPhone App of the Year: Toca Life World".
  18. "NEW Webby Gallery + Index".
  19. "Nickelodeon leads Kidscreen Awards 2019 noms". Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  20. "Parent's Choice: Toca Life: World". Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  21. "These are the 397 most inspiring, innovative designs of 2018". Fast Company. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  22. "Toca Life: Hospital | Kapi Awards". kapiawards.com. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  23. "Toca Life: World – Parents' Choice". Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  24. "Kidscreen Reveals Summit Nominees". License Global. 2017-12-13. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  25. "2017 Kidscreen Awards". Kidscreen.
  26. "Webby Awards". WebbyAwards.
  27. "Children's Tech". Children's Tech Review.
  28. "iKids Award". Kidscreen.
  29. "Cinekid". Cinekid.
  30. "NAPPA". NAPPA Awards.
  31. "The Lovie Awards". Lovie Awards. 21 February 2023.
  32. "Junior Design Awards". Junior Magazine.
  33. Spencer, Graham (8 December 2014). "Macstories". Mac Stories. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  34. "Children's Tech". Children's Technology Review. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  35. "Bestekinderapps". Best Kinder Apps. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  36. "Toronto 4 Kids". Toronto 4 Kids. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  37. "Kidscreen". Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  38. "Parents Choice". Parents' Choice. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  39. "Parents Choice". Parents' Choice. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  40. "Parents Choice". Parents' Choice. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  41. "Parents Choice". Parents' Choice. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  42. "Parents Choice". Parents' Choice. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  43. "Toca Boca Website: Press: Awards Page". Tocaboca.com. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
  44. "NAPPA Website". Nappaawards.com. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
  45. "Parents' Choice Award: Toca Boca Page". Parents-choice.org. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
  46. "Telenor Awards Press Release". Telenor.com. Retrieved 2014-02-05.
  47. "Business Wire: Toca Hair Salon Named 2011..." Businesswire.com. Retrieved Oct 25, 2011.
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