Beyblade

is a line of spinning-top toys originally developed by Takara, first released in Japan in July 1999, along with its debut series. Following Takara's merger with Tomy in 2006, Beyblades are now developed by Takara Tomy. Various toy companies around the world have licensed Beyblade toys for their own regions, including Hasbro in Western countries, Sonokong in Korea, and Takara Tomy for Eastern countries. Both the toys and their names were inspired by , a traditional Japanese spinning top. The concept is similar to Battling Tops, a board game developed by Ideal Toy Company in 1968. The toy line was introduced with an accompanying manga series of the same name in 1999. In 2002, Hasbro began to sell Beyblade toys internationally (under license from Takara) along with a coordinated country-by-country release of localized versions of the TV series. On July 12, 2008, Takara Tomy released Metal Fight: Beyblade, the second incarnation of the toy. The third incarnation, titled Beyblade Burst, was released by Takara Tomy on July 18, 2015. The fourth incarnation of the toyline, Beyblade X, was released on July 15, 2023. Game and rules Aside from informal play, a game with specific rules was published for the initial toy line. The formal game is played with two or more players. Each player is allowed up to three Beyblades, but may not switch parts once a match has started. Players may choose from any of the three Beyblades they have with them for any battle in a match. In Metal Fight Beyblade, a points system was introduced.