Start pestering now

The special edition of Kinectimals comes with a plush toy, but gamers fond of cuddly cubs will soon be able to expand their collection starting next year.

JAKKS Pacific will manufacture five new animal breeds, all of which will be capable of interacting with the game through clever use of Microsoft's mtag technology, unlocking the creatures for use in-game by simply scanning a small tag. JAKKS is the same creative team behind the Maltese tiger and king cheetah bundled with the special edition games, and Microsoft's studio manager for Kinect games Jorg Neumann is thrilled with the new agreement:

Our goal with ‘Kinectimals’ was to create a game where players could form a strong emotional bond with animals, so we thought it would be a great extension to have a physical version of our adorable cubs that people could take home, play with and collect. JAKKS was the perfect partner to create the type of plush toys we felt contained the same high quality and emotional value we focused on in the game. We couldn’t be happier with the end product.

Expect five new fluffy friends to bound around shop shelves early next year.