Guru Studio got its start in computer-generated animation for commercials and TV shows, and now has diversified with Guru Arcade to develop original digital IP and brand extensions for TV series.

As the Toronto-based studio gets deeper into original content, the Guru Arcade initiative will start with developing original game IPs.

Guru Studio will continue to use subsidy pools to help underwrite the costly business of original content development, with Guru Arcade using funding from the Canada Media Fund’s experimental stream. A prototype for an original digital game IP is in development and targeted for release on mobile and tablet platforms. The game has an anticipated launch in late 2015.

The brand extensions Guru Arcade will work on include 3D games for Dinopaws, a preschool series on Treehouse and CBeebies in the U.K.

Guru Arcade will partner with Treehouse on the exploration-based game, which follows three dinosaurs on a mission that encourages preschoolers to explore and experience the world around them.

Guru Arcade is headed by ex-Ganz exec and now design director Ben Stirling, and producer Gareth Elliott, who previously worked at Ubisoft.

– Image courtesy of Shutterstock