Since its debut in 2011, the Skylanders franchise has seen a new release every year. This one won’t be any different. Activision confirmed during the company’s recent earnings call that a new Skylanders is on the way later this year.
No details on the game were given, so we don’t know the title or the number of new figures that will be sold as part of the new entry. Activison did say that last year’s game, Skylanders SuperChargers, actually missed its sales target. The toys-to-life space has grown more crowded in the last few years, particularly in the cross platform games. The Disney Infinity games and the introduction of LEGO Dimensions last year could have been a factor in the lower sales. Nintendo’s amiibos could have had a less direct impact as well.
It’s very likely that we’ll see a new Disney Infinity this year, but Warner Bros. has already said there won’t be a new LEGO Dimensions this year. Which is probably a good thing considering the massive quantity of add-ons to the current game.
The battle in this space is really heating up. The yearly releases of games tied to real life objects sounds a bit like the music games of the last 10 years. They’re back now, but gamers totally got sick of the plastic peripheral space and both of the front runners, one of which was Activision, tanked. The toys-to-life games are aimed directly at a much younger audience than the music games were, but I’m interested to see if parents get sick of it all and call it a day.
