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Liam Robertson: Skylanders franchise possibly cancelled due to large decline

H

Hero of Legend

Member
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZHtMOTd6_Q

Most famous for his work at Unseen64 (such as his behind the scenes story of Project H.A.M.M.E.R/Machinex), Liam's now made a short vid about the potential cancellation of the Skylanders franchise altogether, particularly after a large decline of Imaginators compared to previous entries (with Superchargers already a decline itself).

It also sounds like Toys For Bob is merely awaiting word of new projects since Skylanders 2017 is seemingly cancelled. Hope for the best, because Avalanche didn't survive Disney Infinity's cancellation. :(

This would mean Lego Dimensions will be the sole survivor in the Toys-to-Life game sector (not counting amiibo, just the same kind of games).

Edit: Also:

ShockingAlberto said:
Heard about this a few days ago. Wouldn't be surprised if the next game were the last one.

The TTL market shrunk fast and hard.
Click to expand...
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
Welp. Time to sell Spyro and Crash off!
 
F

fernoca

Member
Wonder about the Netflix show since a second season was confirmed a week or so after it debuted, but that was before the game was released.
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
Like every other peripheral based game, there was an inevitable drop point for it. Though, honestly I'm amazed it lived longer than Disney of all things.

But yeah, please give us a proper PSX style Spyro game.
 
D

DashReindeer

Lead Community Manager, Outpost Games
Is Toys-2-Life officially dead then? Does Lego Dimensions do well enough to keep running? There still isn't a valid reason for Amibos to exist unless there's a launch game for the Switch that justifies them. It's interesting seeing these trends come and go at such a rapid pace these days.
 
F

fernoca

Member
Though Lego Dimensions "surviving" is nothing big, cosnidering that they are barely on the second year (1 full year of release).

Skylanders was in game 6, 5 full years. Many doubted it would last 1 year, much less 5. :p



EDIT:
Should also be noted that Skylanders 2017 should be (or been?) from Vicarious Visions, since Toys for Bob made Imaginators. They became the second studio, as Toys for Bob is not as big to develope yearly games.
 
N

Nappuccino

Member
I bought a few Disney Infinity toys for cheap because I enjoyed the sculpture / character. I can't say I had any reason for Skylanders.

A shame though. A good friend of mine has a couple of kids and they loved Skylanders. His wallet may be thankful, but those kids are going to be sad.
 
T

Tavernacle12

Member
Imaginators seemed like an odd sell. The appeal of the game is making your own character... so why would you need to buy anyone but those crystals? I think a lot of people were turned off by Trap Team and Supercharged too. Trap Team's traps were really poorly implemented and difficult to come by, and the game seemed to be more 'you must collect all of these toys to win.' Supercharged changed genres completly and crewed over Wii and 3DS owners.

I think when it all comes down to it, Amiibo might be the smartest way of doing it anyways. Being able to buy your favorite characters and having them work on multiple games is much saner for a consumer than having to buy dozens of characters that can only work on one game and are less and less useful as the years go on.
 
K

Kade

Member
Wouldn't be surprised. I've seen the Imaginators stuff discounted like crazy at a few places here. Stores seem to be having trouble getting rid of Superchargers stuff as well.
 
N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
I think we'll get a statement out of Activision by the next fiscal report, whether it's a change in schedule or a full cancellation.
 
C

Chairman Yang

if he talks about books, you better damn well listen
If the studio closes, deep down I have the wild hope that Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III get a chance to make a reasonably-budgeted spiritual successor to Star Control 2. Or, more realistically, are attached to an existing project. I'm assuming both are pretty wealthy at this point and can do it as a passion project?
 
S

spyroflame0487

Member
As a long time fan of the series and Spyro in general, it's a bit sad to see the series die.

It seems doubtful for Activision to just flat out cancel it. Fans have been wanting the series to go to a "every other year" format for a while, which would allow for a longer and stronger dev cycle and rework figures into a longer drip cycle.
 
T

Tavernacle12

Member
DashReindeer said:
Is Toys-2-Life officially dead then? Does Lego Dimensions do well enough to keep running? There still isn't a valid reason for Amibos to exist unless there's a launch game for the Switch that justifies them. It's interesting seeing these trends come and go at such a rapid pace these days.
Click to expand...

Nintendo has already said Amiibo will continue working with the Switch. Zelda is confirmed to utilize them, Splatoon/Kart will presumably utilize them as they were used in the original versions, if Smash is really coming it will probably use them too. There's even a Breath Of The Wild Amiibo line coming next year (and I think it was how the March release got leaked?).
 
TissueBox

TissueBox

Member
So much for that t-shirt.

Ahem in seriousness, if that's the case, rest in peace..!! It did serve its purpose well enough when alive for a time.
 
T

Tavernacle12

Member
Chanser said:
I wonder if Toys for Bob will be assimilated into a CoD or Destiny support studio.

Only Lego Dimensions left?
Click to expand...

If Activision were smart they'd put them on a game focusing on the same age group. The games are supposedly pretty solid and the only non-Nintendo all ages fare if this is canceled are the Lego games. There's a market they have the skills for.
 
P

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
They screwed it up by releasing a game each year. Way, way too many new toys to buy.
 
Z

ZarKryn7

Member
Repeating this from the psx thread.
I really want an equivalent transition that Ratchet had from the original series to the future series applied. Retain the core elements of what it is, modernize and expand the lore and gameplay. Legend series was not that and Skylanders certainly isn't either.

But that sounds too hard for Activision annuallize so they won't do shit.

Hero_of_the_Day said:
If Star Wars, Marvel, and Disney couldn't do it, I don't know how Spyro the fucking Dragon lasted this long.
Click to expand...

Lol. Spyro didn't carry Skylanders. It was the other away around.
 
kunonabi

kunonabi

Member
My nephew seems to have moved onto Yo-Kai Watch so this isn't a surprise to me. I wonder how long Lego Dimensions has left since I never see them move off store shelves despite being on sale constantly.

At least we still have Amiibo to look forward. Those two Zelda waves and the last couple Smash characters are looking mighty fine.
 
G

Guy LeDouche

Banned
Atheerios said:
The amiibo effect?
Click to expand...

amiibo and other toys-to-life serve different purposes, despite their physical similarities.

amiibo seem most popular for add-on nostalgic reasons and provide mostly cosmetic bonuses to various games while toys-to-life from disney and activision have to carry the weight of a full game/series. A nintendo game can not meet sales goals and amiibo will still keep going; if skylanders sales fall off the table (for any number of potential reasons), they're done for sure.
 
N

Ninja Scooter

Member
Problem seems to be that you can't really scale these kinds of games down. Producing and getting retailers to agree to stock a bunch of plastic shit is costly, no matter which way you cut it. Would not at all be surprised if LEGO was next and TTL was completely dead within a year.
 
H

Hero_of_the_Day

Member
spyroflame0487 said:
As a long time fan of the series and Spyro in general, it's a bit sad to see the series die.

It seems doubtful for Activision to just flat out cancel it. Fans have been wanting the series to go to a "every other year" format for a while, which would allow for a longer and stronger dev cycle and rework figures into a longer drip cycle.
Click to expand...

Plinko said:
They screwed it up by releasing a game each year. Way, way too many new toys to buy.
Click to expand...

I wonder if there are any manufacturing reasons as to why they had to keep cranking out the toys?
 
F

fernoca

Member
N.Domixis said:
Excellent, the quicker this dies the faster we get Spyro 4
Click to expand...
Not sure how one means the other.
Skylanders existed as a side project Toys for Bob made, while trying to make a good Spyro game.

So either Toys for Bob will retain Spyro and make a reboot of it, remake or move onto something else.

Part of the other Skylanders team (Vicarious Visions) is working on the Crash remake after all. Though if 2017 was their Skylanders game, maybe they will be moved onto something else.

Or maybe they'll just use Spyro as a Skylander brand.
 
T

TheGreatDirector

Banned
Does this mean we can get a Spyro reboot/remaster like Crash?

AAAAAAAAAAA.gif
 
T

Teepo671

Member
Aw, that'd be too bad if true. I really enjoy the series. At the same time, I'd be kind of relieved. It's really expensive to keep up with especially for a series that comes out every year.
 
G

G0523

Member
Well damn. Sounds like market saturation and franchise fatigue to me. Typical Activision stuff really.

I still gotta get those Crash Bandicoot and Dr. Neo Cortex figures though. Those would look great next to my Donkey Kong and Bowser ones.
 
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