The series was meant to cater to a younger crowd than its prequel series Transformers Prime (2010), since network reports have shown that Transformers cartoons aimed at smaller children produce better ratings and since the older part of the fan community isn't large enough of a consumer base for Hasbro to aim an entire cartoon series at. It is essentially meant for kids who have become familiar with the franchise through Transformers: Rescue Bots (2011) but have since grown out of that show and are now ready to discover the larger universe of the Transformers brand.
This is Peter Cullen's 22nd time portraying Optimus Prime in a "Transformers" series, film, and video game.
This series marks the animated debut of Windblade, the first Transformers character officially created by fans. Fans could cast their votes to decide her name, faction, gender, vehicle form, colors, weapon of choice, place of origin and her specialty on official polls from April to May in 2013, and she was officially revealed to the public on the San Diego Comic-Con of that year. She first appeared in the IDW comics in 2014, and her original design was only slightly retouched for her cartoon appearance.
Originally, Grimlock was supposed to have his classic color scheme of grey-yellow-black, but executive producer Jeff Kline thought this made him look too similar to the yellow-black Bumblebee, so Grimlock became green to give the cast more visual variety.
The roars Grimlock make in his T-rex mode are provided by "Transformers" veteran voice actor Frank Welker.