With the widespread spread and influence of ACG culture and the “cute thing effect” around the world, those cute animation/game characters or original images are driving the formation of a new consumption trend, even if the related products themselves are not practical.

In recent years, similar original products are mainly represented by the “Labubu”, “Jellycat” series, and “Chiikawa” series. But in fact, there is another IP that has created a similar trend as early as the end of the last century, that is, the “Sanrio” series from Japan.

Maybe you don’t know what Sanrio specifically refers to, but when it comes to Hello Kitty, Kuromi or Cinnamon Dog, you must be familiar with them! These cute images can be seen almost everywhere around you.

At first, they were just “Sanrio characters” without any representative meaning, but as the entire series expanded, not only the background stories of the characters were filled, but also related animations, movies and game products were derived.

Among the game products, the latest one is Hello Kitty Island Adventure, which was launched on iOS, macOS and Apple TV in 2023, and later released on Switch, PC, PS4 and PS5 in 2025.

So, in the current situation where the competition in the “cute economy” is becoming more and more fierce, can Sanrio, one of the classic IPs, gain new fans through HKIA and launch new physical products related to the game content? Let’s analyze it.

Introduction To Hello Kitty Island Adventure

The game creates a warm and lovely island, and the residents living on the island are all familiar Sanrio characters. The gameplay mainly includes adventure and puzzle solving, and you can also give the characters special Hello Kitty Island Adventure items to make friends with them.

How Are The Players’ Evaluations Of HKIA?

Due to the limitations of the game type, in fact, Hello Kitty series of games, including Hello Kitty Island Adventure, will appear relatively bland and boring in the later stages. From this point of view, HKIA’s performance is actually not outstanding.

But to be honest, most players who are willing to experience the game should actually understand this, so what really attracts you is actually interacting with your favorite characters in the game.

Therefore, it is difficult to be truly objective about the evaluation of HKIA, because although it is a game, it does not just represent a game - more importantly, it reflects the performance of this IP in the gaming field. If I must say, it is more suitable for children and Sanrio fans to play.

History Of Hello Kitty Physical Products

As the representative character of the entire Sanrio series, Hello Kitty was born in 1974. The initial image was a white kitten with a bow on her left ear. She not only has a complete “personal profile” setting, but also with the birth of related animations, her background story and “family” are constantly being enriched.

Later, with the popularity of Hello Kitty in the United States in the 1990s, this image began to drive the international popularity of the entire Sanrio series, and further promoted the development of Hello Kitty’s physical products economy.

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With this trend, Hello Kitty later became one of the marks of the millennial generation. Whether it was a genuinely licensed product or a pirated product, many items in life at that time would be printed with Hello Kitty patterns, and they were mainly loved by children and young women.

Today, the influence of Sanrio’s real economy represented by Hello Kitty has even gradually expanded to theme parks, theme cafes and restaurants, and even airline cooperation. Hello Kitty has become a veritable female star.

Will HKIA Launch Related Physical Products?

Other similar IPs that have been popular in recent years have focused more on continuously launching new doll products than enriching the connotation of the characters.

Therefore, in order to adapt to this popular trend, Sanrio has also launched more Hello Kitty dolls with different skin colors and dresses, or other cute but useless gadgets.

If you have played Hello Kitty Island Adventure, you will find that the game also designs new costumes and decorations for each character. So if you are a fan of both the game and Sanrio, you will definitely want the same doll as the game image.

From the current point of view, Sanrio does not seem to have officially launched a series of toys or other physical products purely for HKIA. But the popularity of the game is not bad, so you can definitely look forward to it.

Does Sanrio Need The Game To Provide Additional Popularity?

To be honest, even if the series no longer launches any new games or animations, Sanrio’s international influence is still enough to compete with other competitors with its popularity accumulated over decades.

But as the saying goes, standing still is actually a kind of regression. Even if the games represented by Hello Kitty Island Adventure do not attract many new fans, the entire series needs to occupy more markets in this way and attract the attention of different groups of people.

Therefore, it can be said that the popularity of the game is not the core. What is really important is to ensure that consumers can notice it in multiple fields. From this point of view, Sanrio is still very forward-looking in the industry.