darkSpyro

Well no new 2017 console game, but a new mobile game, expansions to Imaginations, and new Skylander figures?

I don't know how to feel, but I'm relieved that there's at least something new. Whatever we do get this year, I'm hoping it makes up for no new console game. Still have hopes for one in 2018.

Welp. That happened. Still stand by my original video. I just don't know what's going on with TFB now. Activision definitely wanted to axe it before the FreeStyle acquisition though.

It's looking like two difference sources? Liam first heard TFB packing up and Activision trying to burn bridges, and the newest update is TFB has one last chance with their "new project"(another person on twitter straight up said it's the Adventure Packs) or they'll be laid off.

Also Dark brought up the darker possibility because DI also announced new content and then just killed everything in one fell swoop, in the news post.

edit: ninja'd by the man himself whoops

I guess they were right about skylanders being cancelled, just not exactly right on the details! No new game for 2017......doesn't mean the 2016 game won't get better like fine wine!

Quote: LiamR

Welp. That happened. Still stand by my original video. I just don't know what's going on with TFB now. Activision definitely wanted to axe it before the FreeStyle acquisition though.

Or they are just taking a break for a year so they can make a much better one next year... :/
Seems more logical to me considering they're still adding to Imaginators.

Quote: Luminous35

Quote: LiamR

Welp. That happened. Still stand by my original video. I just don't know what's going on with TFB now. Activision definitely wanted to axe it before the FreeStyle acquisition though.

Or they are just taking a break for a year so they can make a much better one next year... :/
Seems more logical to me considering they're still adding to Imaginators.

Remember Activision doesn't follow logic based on game quality, they follow logic based on short-term financial success.

But I agree that the franchise might be running a bit more.

My advice would be just to support everything if you want more Skylanders. It's obviously still possible that Imaginators will have legs and they'll do another one some time if matters improve. Again, I still stand by that your 2017 game was cancelled last year when I said it was.

I still believe Activision was absolutely considering axing Toys For Bob in early January or so. At one point, I was contacted by other writers, including one involved with a fairly big gaming media outlet, who had heard the same thing. It was a poorly kept secret. The acquisition of FreeStyle seemingly turned that around and Activision gave them some more time. Originally, they were just supposed to be doing some last updates for Imaginators before closing.

I do think TFB still isn't on very safe ground. It wouldn't surprise me terribly if they closed in the event of their current work not panning out. Activision has no problem with cutting off subsidiaries like that if they're trailing behind. It almost happened with FreeStyle Games after Guitar Hero Live wasn't as successful as they had hoped, but they were fortunately rescued by Ubisoft.

Quote: Taronyx

Question is "new content" or already announced content...

Ro-Bow AP is not already announced, there was a leak, so it can be considered new content.

My hope is that they can finish everything with Imaginators and then... Do something else, inside or outside Activision.

I do hope these guys go to a better company by then. They had two IPs taken from them(Star Control was given to other devs and they never had another chance) and only had these 6 years to shine but given very few tools to go beyond. I'd love to see more D&D-y games from Reiche and more of I-Wei and Jeff Murchie's simplistic styles.

I want the new content to gave at least new songs from imaginers most songs don't even fit mine
Like add a spooky theme like hood sikle or eye scream

We will not see any new characters or expansions. They will nix that. They're just breaking you in with the inevitable slowly. If, and I do mean IF, they do release content, it's to keep it alive during Skylanders Season 3 of the show and keep it going on life support while they rethink what they should do.

Quote:

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.

We are also excited to bring Skylanders Imaginators to Nintendo Switch as a launch title next month and we have a new Skylanders mobile game in development.

-----

We´re getting new characters but this time no more guest characters this... Well there´s goes my dreams...

Quote: Luminous35

Quote:

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.

We are also excited to bring Skylanders Imaginators to Nintendo Switch as a launch title next month and we have a new Skylanders mobile game in development.

-----

It *could* mean actual new stuff, but taken entirely as PR speak, what you have quoted refers to the Wild Storm and Ro-Bow Adventure Packs, those two and our remaining three represent the "new characters," "new" meaning not yet available/on shelves, and the "new in-game content" refers to the new levels contained within said Adventure Packs and the new Imaginator parts. Please, I beg of everyone, temper your hopes and expectations with reality. That block of text *could* mean characters and Adventure Packs not yet announced, but it is also very easily interpretted as the stuff *we* already know about, but the general public does not. More than anything else, this announcement is simply a stay of execution.

I thinking new characters means the other sensis that we knew were coming already along with more imaginator parts. I agree with TakeYourLemons I don't see them releasing a bunch of new characters and patched in content.

I wonder what the mobile game will look like ?

So we finaly got our answer, no skylanders in 2017. BUT what about 2018? They did not said there is no sky7 at all...
This could mean they took the hitus option. And this new content make me wonder that mabey skylanders will be saved after all...

and there is allso this new mobile game, not sure if it will srvive much time but i am still curious about it...

Quote: omer1698

So we finaly got our answer, no skylanders in 2017. BUT what about 2018? They did not said there is no sky7 at all...
This could mean they took the hitus option. And this new content make me wonder that mabey skylanders will be saved after all...

and there is allso this new mobile game, not sure if it will srvive much time but i am still curious about it...

They may be doing a break thing since they worked on a new game each year I mean they deserve a rest too

The new content might be to keep players busy with more fun

i was wondring, now that we know what "canceled" stands for do we still need this topic?.

we bsaicly know now that there will not be a game in 2017 so i think that this topic has ended his duty.

The way I see it, there is currently no console game in development. To me it feels like the announcement of the end of the series, and it happened the way we knew it would...no full confirmation of it, but rather focusing in the new and secondary stuff (mobile game, etc)

Disney also adopted that strategy, they said they would release new content for 3.0 instead of a new game, and we all know what happened.

As for the "new" stuff for imaginators, imo these are the things we already know: the adventure packs and the senseis which remain to be released, I'm not expecting surprises or big expansions at all.

If more skylanders game for consoles are ever released (if any) I do not expect them in the short/middle term.

P.D: The only thing that confuses me a bit is the renewal of the third SA season. Not sure why they are still "investing" in this if they do not plan to make more games. But maybe these are two separate business with their own separate profits forecasts and features.

well mabey it will end differently. i belive that there is still somesort of hope for the series, sky 7 can still happen.

Maybe T4B is working on Skylanders 7 to release in 2018? It usually takes 2 years for T4B and VV to make a new game. But since VV is busy with Crash Bandicoot and Destiny now, there wasn't a developer for T4B to play tag team with this year. Again, Skylanders Academy was just renewed for a third season in 2018.

Well, even if the new expansions and characters they announced turned out to be just the two Adventure Packs we already know about and the remaining Senseis, I would still not complain.

I'm honestly not expecting anything besides that, but it's still new content we haven't managed to try yet.
And considering they are also going to add more parts, and maaaaybe sneak in some new requested features, I'm more than happy with that.

The picture itself states that Season 3 was entirely Netflix's decision.

Quote: Drek95

Well, even if the new expansions and characters they announced turned out to be just the two Adventure Packs we already know about and the remaining Senseis, I would still not complain.

I'm honestly not expecting anything besides that, but it's still new content we haven't managed to try yet.
And considering they are also going to add more parts, and maaaaybe sneak in some new requested features, I'm more than happy with that.

it will be a good end to the skylanders games, and not as rough as the disney infinity shutdown. so i will accept this and say thanks for the games tfb. all good things ends, nothing last forever.

Quote: TakeYourLemons

We will not see any new characters or expansions. They will nix that. They're just breaking you in with the inevitable slowly. If, and I do mean IF, they do release content, it's to keep it alive during Skylanders Season 3 of the show and keep it going on life support while they rethink what they should do.

We will absolutely see the ones coming on March 12th, Wildstorm/Level and Grave Clobber. That's content they are going to try and move with Switch sales by riding on the launch coat tails. The remaining, well that will depend on how much the Switch pumps into the franchise. I am almost completely certain that people are deluding themselves if they think "new" figures will be created beyond the known figures. Imaginators on Switch would have to pull off miracle sales.

The call sounded like damage control. Activision had a highly profitable franchise that is now in the gutter, investors don't like that - particularly since it happens repeatedly with them. They even had to explain a big dip in Call of Duty last year. They bought some time since the Switch is coming out to help make some more money off Imaginators, and they definitely did not want to give the impression they were killing a franchise right before the Switch comes out. A "new mobile game" instead of a console entry is where franchises go to die.

To be fair, plenty of franchises survive the mobile jump and backpedal hard when it fails, but it's usually franchises that know how to take risks and from companies that are ok with giving them a little time to go back to full entries. Acti is neither.

Heck you don't need to take two steps in today's news for proof. Acti is also doing some fun things with Bungie and Destiny 2, even if it's partially the dev team's fault.

the way i see it we are still stuck in the same place we were before the news: pure uncertainty about the franchise future. even now that we know there will be no new game this year we still dont know for sure what will be activision next step.

Quote: Bifrost

To be fair, plenty of franchises survive the mobile jump and backpedal hard when it fails, but it's usually franchises that know how to take risks and from companies that are ok with giving them a little time to go back to full entries. Acti is neither.

Heck you don't need to take two steps in today's news for proof. Acti is also doing some fun things with Bungie and Destiny 2, even if it's partially the dev team's fault.

Yes, when they ALSO go mobile, not go mobile instead of console. That is getting put out to pasture.

They need sales to stay up for Imaginators Switch and the rest of the figures they need to move (which are certainly already made and paid for). They also don't want investors to see them dropping a previously profitable franchise abruptly. The ONLY thing that can pull this out of the fire is if the Switch version sells gangbusters and the new figures fly off shelves. Those are unlikely, the Switch version will sell from people looking for games for their new console but probably not in the number needed, particularly since it isn't a new game.

At least they can take the time on a new game now instead of rushing it

Quote: angelg

Disney also adopted that strategy, they said they would release new content for 3.0 instead of a new game, and we all know what happened.

Disney Infinity case was just a bit different. They were already producing a fourth game, but at the same time, giving extra content to 3.0. Maybe as a way to give them extra time. Some producers even released footage of the new game.

Quote: Crash10

Quote: angelg

Disney also adopted that strategy, they said they would release new content for 3.0 instead of a new game, and we all know what happened.

Disney Infinity case was just a bit different. They were already producing a fourth game, but at the same time, giving extra content to 3.0. Maybe as a way to give them extra time. Some producers even released footage of the new game.

but what if skylanders do the same?.

Quote: omer1698

Quote: Crash10

Quote: angelg

Disney also adopted that strategy, they said they would release new content for 3.0 instead of a new game, and we all know what happened.

Disney Infinity case was just a bit different. They were already producing a fourth game, but at the same time, giving extra content to 3.0. Maybe as a way to give them extra time. Some producers even released footage of the new game.

but what if skylanders do the same?.

Eh... Let's wait to know...

For now, I just want to see more about future releases.

you are right, right now the far future is unclear so lets focus on what we know that will come, like i am wonder waht this new mobile game will be.

Quote: Buuzer

Mmmmh so my theory about "More sensei in Imaginators and Skylander 7 in 2018 for Spyro 20th Anniversary" might be true after all.

Yeah, this has been my working theory since we found out that VV was working on Destiny 2 for 2017.

*****

So, more content and digital releases for Imaginators instead of a new game this year, you say?


(Note: Video contains bleeped out profanity.)

Quote: angelg

The way I see it, there is currently no console game in development. To me it feels like the announcement of the end of the series, and it happened the way we knew it would...no full confirmation of it, but rather focusing in the new and secondary stuff (mobile game, etc)

Disney also adopted that strategy, they said they would release new content for 3.0 instead of a new game, and we all know what happened.

As for the "new" stuff for imaginators, imo these are the things we already know: the adventure packs and the senseis which remain to be released, I'm not expecting surprises or big expansions at all.

If more skylanders game for consoles are ever released (if any) I do not expect them in the short/middle term.

100% agree. That's what I think.

As concerning Skylanders Academy, as Bifrost says, it's related to Netflix, not to Activision.

Quote: Crash10

Remember Activision doesn't follow logic based on game quality, they follow logic based on short-term financial success.

Truest words I've ever seen printed on this site.

why activision dasent just tell us what up with the series? i am sick and tierd from the twsits and confusions they couse us for long time, for once just once they can just answer us one simple quastion. in the words of the bon jovi song does skylanders is: Quote:

dead or alive?

They aren't saying anything because they don't know yet. As Crash10 said in the post I just quoted, they don't make very good business decisions.

But in a capitalist environment, admitting that you don't know something is a sign of weakness that other capitalists will pounce on, so they string on everyone including their internal people until the very last minute that a decision has to be made.

And honestly, things don't look great in Activision as a whole. Despite the fact that they surpassed their profitability goals for 2016, they're still doing a ton of layoffs.

Quote: omer1698

why activision dasent just tell us what up with the series? i am sick and tierd from the twsits and confusions they couse us for long time, for once just once they can just answer us one simple quastion. in the words of the bon jovi song does skylanders is: Quote:

dead or alive?

Because we don't matter, investors do. We SHOULD matter, being the consumer and "at fault' for supporting the series or not, but naaah it's a bunch of kids, we can discard and go for the newest bunch of 6 year olds, that'll work right?

Quote: Bifrost

Because we don't matter, investors do. We SHOULD matter, being the consumer and "at fault' for supporting the series or not, but naaah it's a bunch of kids, we can discard and go for the newest bunch of 6 year olds, that'll work right?

Seriously... Activision execs are the kind of people wonder why grown adults go nuts when a new Mario or Zelda game gets announced.

Wish that was just a joke, but just go back a few years to the X1 announcement when we have people at the top of a company going 'lol people live in places without stable internet and but afford videogames? No way'.

Funny how we have more questions now than we did before the quarterly report. Now we're wondering if "new expansions" means stuff we know about or new stuff, what the mobile title is, is the franchise over, when should we expect the remaining stock to be buried in new mexico, ect.

They Didren´t said this franchise would last 10 years or something like that?

Quote: omer1698

why activision dasent just tell us what up with the series? i am sick and tierd from the twsits and confusions they couse us for long time, for once just once they can just answer us one simple quastion. in the words of the bon jovi song does skylanders is: "dead or alive"?

Even if the Skylanders console series is dead-and-buried as far as Activision is concerned, they're not going to say that to the public. Activision has lots of existing toy stock that it needs to sell, and people will be less likely to buy if they know the series is dead.

Instead, Activision is using PR spin to present its existing strategy as an 'exciting new direction' - to make it seem as if Skylanders is alive and well, that everything is going according to plan, and that players should be excited about all the upcoming Imaginators content - when even Activision itself probably isn't sure at the moment if they're ever going to make another Skylanders console game.

As for the mobile game, I'd imagine it'll be a Skylanders Academy tie-in. Activision knows there'll be an audience for that for at least the next couple of years.

To anyone holding out hope that Switch sales are going to be some sort of saving grace for the franchise, that isn't realistic. Realistically, anyone buying a Switch already owns a console, and anyone that already owns a console has access to the Skylanders games. If you wanted to buy Imaginators, you would have no reason to wait for the Switch to buy it. On top of that, Switch is only shipping two million at launch, worldwide, with only five million being shipped by end of 2017. That isn't a lot. We are not looking at any huge or significant sales of Imaginators with the Switch, not if we are being realistic.

I am not expecting the switch to save the day, i see it that we are still stuck in the same place we were in before the "no game in 2017" announcement: no idea what will be the future of the series.

Quote: LordElohim

To anyone holding out hope that Switch sales are going to be some sort of saving grace for the franchise, that isn't realistic. Realistically, anyone buying a Switch already owns a console, and anyone that already owns a console has access to the Skylanders games. If you wanted to buy Imaginators, you would have no reason to wait for the Switch to buy it. On top of that, Switch is only shipping two million at launch, worldwide, with only five million being shipped by end of 2017. That isn't a lot. We are not looking at any huge or significant sales of Imaginators with the Switch, not if we are being realistic.

but the switch version let you take your skylanders and the whole game on the go, i see that appealing to at least some, even if they have bought the game before for another system.

Quote: omer1698

I am not expecting the switch to save the day, i see it that we are still stuck in the same place we were in before the "no game in 2017" announcement: no idea what will be the future of the series.

we can be 99% certain, that activision have ended the game by now. they will sell of the rest that is left while doing one last push for the switch release. then it will be on the mobile for the kids that watch the netflix skylanders. after that there will be a 5 year hiatus or something. then activision will make a new skylanders game to test the marked. if it take off again there will be a new run of yearly skylanders game for a while. thats pretty much how activision work. milk it to death, then take a few years of, then release a new one and start milking again.

Quote: LordElohim

To anyone holding out hope that Switch sales are going to be some sort of saving grace for the franchise, that isn't realistic. Realistically, anyone buying a Switch already owns a console, and anyone that already owns a console has access to the Skylanders games. If you wanted to buy Imaginators, you would have no reason to wait for the Switch to buy it. On top of that, Switch is only shipping two million at launch, worldwide, with only five million being shipped by end of 2017. That isn't a lot. We are not looking at any huge or significant sales of Imaginators with the Switch, not if we are being realistic.

The other thing to consider, how many units will actually reach the hands of children early on? They are the ideal target audience and buyers for Skylanders. The early adapters of any console are going to be the gaming geeks that must have the newest systems at any cost. They probably already have Skylanders for their other consoles if they were already interested in the brand. It would be probably a year or longer before Switches are on the shelves long enough for the average buyer to buy. Then again, I remember the Wii U being incredibly easy to find a month later at any store, so I could be wrong about their desirability and availability.

Logically thinking, the Switch could be in enough homes in 2018 to actually justify a new Skylanders game, although 2019 is probably more realistic. Taking a break in 2017 would be smart to let the Switch enter enough homes, as I don't think kids are actually buying these on the PS4 or Xbone, those are considered more adult systems. Two years would be enough time for a franchise reboot as well. I still don't really see the franchise dying out, but just adapting to whatever is happening. I've seen way too many toy lines hang around forever to know that it's super rare for it to just stop dead like that, they always come back in some form or other eventually.

There is a post on reddit, with a dead link, suggesting that Activision is doing widespread layoffs, and that they are only releasing two games in 2017, Call of Duty and Destiny 2. For a company as big as Activision, if that is true, Skylanders is very probably dead, but also, they have much bigger problems than Skylanders.