During Activision Blizzard’s fourth quarter 2016 earnings call the company confirmed that there will be no new console Skylanders game coming in 2017. This would be the first year since the series began in 2011 that we wouldn’t get a new Skylanders game.
It may be premature to claim doom and gloom over the entire franchise. But Disney Infinity faced a similar dilemma. In early 2016 Disney announced there would not be a fourth version released that year. A few months later, the entire franchise was closed down.
We won’t be getting an official Skylanders 7 any time soon, but that doesn’t mean we won’t see any new Skylanders content.
“In 2017, rather than releasing a new console title, we will be supporting the award-winning Skylanders Imaginators with multiple adventure packs, new characters and new in-game content,” stated the company. This is a model used by WB Games with LEGO Dimensions. LEGO Dimensions launched in Fall 2015 and has been sustained through multiple character and level packs. Given that Skylanders Imaginators is the best in the series, this may not be a bad angle.
Thus far Skylanders Imaginators has released three adventure packs and over two dozen figures. Imaginator Crystals are also available, and are used to create your own Skylanders in the game.
Skylanders Imaginators is also being ported to the upcoming Nintendo Switch as a launch title.
A second season of Netlflix series Skylanders Academy will be airing in 2017. Netflix has already ordered a third season, which should air next year.
Activision ended their Skylanders talk by teasing a new Sylanders mobile game that’s currently in development and should be launching in 2017. Skylanders has previously appeared in mobile versions, either through ports of the main games or spin-off free-to-play titles. Read our review of Hearthstone-like Skylanders Battlecast.
