Leading games, IP, and toy company Hasbro launched Sixth Wall, a new AI studio dedicated to bringing iconic characters into the AI era. Alongside the launch, the company announced a strategic partnership with ElevenLabs and introduced behavioural licensing, a new category of character licensing designed for dynamic interactions.
As AI-native experiences proliferate, millions of consumers are already encountering unauthorised versions of popular characters across chat, voice, gaming, and content creation platforms. Sixth Wall was created to give creators, rights holders, and partners a trusted framework for bringing characters into these new experiences while preserving authenticity, safety, and commercial rights.
Sixth Wall is introducing behaviorual licensing, a new category of IP licensing focused on how characters think, speak, and interact in dynamic experiences – not just how they appear in traditional media. Behavioural Licensing is powered by CharacterOS, Sixth Wall’s proprietary system for preserving a character’s personality, canon, voice, and safety guardrails across interactive experiences.
Each Sixth Wall character is built using authorised source material and powerful human voice performances. The studio has established a talent participation model that compensates performers and uses only authorised recordings.
The partnership will also bring select Hasbro characters to the company’s rapidly growing iconic marketplace. Twelve iconic Hasbro characters, including Optimus Prime, Megatron, Cobra Commander, Mr. Potato Head, and the cast of Clue – all powered by distinguished voice actors – will be available to request at launch, with more following later this year.
“CharacterOS is compelling because it unlocks a bigger creative canvas while addressing a real challenge in AI: the unauthorised use of content. It is built around a creator-first model that gives voice talent and creatives a meaningful seat at the table. It gives brands a trusted way to bring characters into new AI-enabled platforms without losing what makes them authentic,” said Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks.
“One of the most meaningful parts of building Sixth Wall has been sitting in the recording studio witnessing legendary voice actors capture the essence of Hasbro’s most iconic characters,” said Sixth Wall CEO Roberta Thomson. “AI introduces a new dimension: preserving a character’s personality, not just their voice. That’s what led us to create behavioral licensing – so these characters remain true to their creators, their brands, and the fans who love them.”
“It’s often the voice that gives a character their personality and texture,” said ElevenLabs cofounder Mati Staniszewski. “We’ve developed the AI voice models and marketplace infrastructure to make it possible to deliver authentic character voices at scale, and we’ve had great fun working with Hasbro to bring their iconic characters to life.”
Sixth Wall’s initial focus is on 13+ experiences and enterprise use cases. The company is not currently developing AI products targeted at young children and is actively contributing to broader industry discussions around safety standards and voluntary guardrails for AI-enabled play experiences.
Sixth Wall is now accepting requests for authorised character access through the ElevenLabs iconic marketplace and through official website of Sixth Wall studio. Partners will be considered for time- bound behavioural licensing pilots across a range of use cases, including:
- Interactive storytelling experiences
- Conversational games and digital companions
- Connected physical products and robotics
- AI-powered brand ambassadors
- Location-based entertainment experiences
- Dynamic customer engagement agents
Additional characters, products, and pilot experiences will be announced later this year.
