darkSpyro

Skylanders 7 from VV was cancelled, straight up, all sources and leaks say. Unless they were allowed to keep their current progress, even if by some miracle they come back, they'll pretty much need their entire extra year again to catch up.

Quote: omer1698

How the hell infinity seals more then skylanders? Its dead!
And as for the chart i am not so sure it its good or bad...

I'm more shocked Amiibos sold even better.
I admit I have't cared enough about them to know if they somehow got better recently, but except for a few games where they actually let you play as some of the characters their toys represent they basically unlock items and costumes.
It's like Jolly Bumble Blast simply let you use his hat instead of allowing you to play with him.

I know they are valuable collectables but really, can they still be considered in the same Toys to Life Market Dimensions, Infinity and Skylanders are or were in...?

Quote: Bifrost

Skylanders 7 from VV was cancelled, straight up, all sources and leaks say. Unless they were allowed to keep their current progress, even if by some miracle they come back, they'll pretty much need their entire extra year again to catch up.

Must have missed that, somehow, thanks for clarifying it.
Still, maybe they cancelled it because they understood they couldn't work on it and N-Sanity Trilogy and Destiny 2 as well, which are clearly their priorities.

Maybe they simply understimated the amount of work.

So no sky7 atalll...
The year break is not for develping sky7...

Why does the last chart skip all the months where Skylanders had new games/figures to buy?

Quote: omer1698

So no sky7 atalll...
The year break is not for develping sky7...

I didn't say exactly that. I meant the Skylanders game VV was developing was cancelled. If the series has a future, Beenox/TFB/whoever could be developing their own Sky7.

Quote: Bifrost

Quote: omer1698

So no sky7 atalll...
The year break is not for develping sky7...

I didn't say exactly that. I meant the Skylanders game VV was developing was cancelled. If the series has a future, Beenox/TFB/whoever could be developing their own Sky7.

Oh,well aslong as sky7 can still happen i am good. Mabey vv will join for sky8 (if there will be sky8 but thats way to early to talk about it).

Skylanders is done..... It's not coming back. Except it and move on. I'm relieved though, my wallet can love me again.

Quote: Pokelander

Skylanders is done..... It's not coming back. Except it and move on. I'm relieved though, my wallet can love me again.

Not sure how you can be relieved of losing something you genuinely liked. Unless of course you never did like it that much.

That last graph is a weird one, showing percentage of the combined market value of TTL. It's not really a helpful graph, since it only shows comparisons between the franchises, rather than their individual values.

Also, market value is very different from sales. Look back at the previous graph.

• Amiibo is consistently being outsold by its closest (active) competitors.
  
• Infinity also consistently sold less than Skylanders.
  

Despite that, Infinity dwarfed the competition in market price, simply because it's a Disney franchise. Amiibo also has a similar market price to its closest competitors despite its very small sales, due to being a Nintendo franchise. And the main reason Amiibo and Dimensions are comparatively rising, is that Infinity is rapidly dropping due to the franchise's death.

As for Skylanders, its market value is comparatively declining due to the rumor mill and general attitude of impending doom going on since the release of Imaginators. TFB being downsized, VV moving away from the franchise, and the announcement of no new main game in 2017 can't have helped either.

I noticed somthing: this entire news reaction thing around thja forum is like an elevator.

Quote: Drek95

(oh and, by the way, I don't think the 2017 game was cancelled, I think it was never meant to happen in the first place)

I think it's still highly likely that either VV or another developer was asked to put together a proof of concept for the 2017 game--an extreme alpha version, if you will--and Activision decided it wasn't good enough for whatever reason. Maybe they didn't like the gimmick or thought it was too bland in comparison to Imaginators, or maybe Acti just wanted to hold out to see how the numbers looked in 2017 given the... unpleasant... climate in their offices right now.

But I still think that something was being worked on, and elements of it will either be folded in to the next full release or into future DLC for Imaginators.


*****
Quote: omer1698

I noticed somthing: this entire news reaction thing around thja forum is like an elevator.

... You do realize that like half the up-down attitude on this thread is you, right? Go back and re-read your own posts. They vary wildly from optimistic to pessimistic, sometimes multiple times in the course of a single day.

(I'm not trying to pick on you here... this is actually pretty normal behavior for dealing with grief, and I'm assuming you're still pretty young. But you won't hurt anything by taking a step back and taking a more objective viewpoint than shooting straight from the heart.)

Drek i get what you are saying and i understand you dont try to pick on me but i am not that young, i am just a an emotional person, really confused from the situation and i hate not knowing what will happen in the future. Basicly the combination of those three turn me to an emotional trainwerk everytime i see any piece of information that can determine the future of the franchise, i will try to contol it next time.

Quote: omer1698

McMurderpaws i get what you are saying and i understand you dont try to pick on me but i am not that young, i am just a an emotional person, really confused from the situation and i hate not knowing what will happen in the future. Basicly the combination of those three turn me to an emotional trainwerk everytime i see any piece of information that can determine the future of the franchise, i will try to contol it next time.

Fixed it for you.

Also thanks for clarifying the second graphic, Nightmoon, I tend to misunderstand that kind of data easily.
Should have understood it though, it's almost the complete opposite in certain parts compared to the previous one.

Quote: Drek95

Quote: omer1698

McMurderpaws i get what you are saying and i understand you dont try to pick on me but i am not that young, i am just a an emotional person, really confused from the situation and i hate not knowing what will happen in the future. Basicly the combination of those three turn me to an emotional trainwerk everytime i see any piece of information that can determine the future of the franchise, i will try to contol it next time.

Fixed it for you.

Also thanks for clarifying the second graphic, Nightmoon, I tend to misunderstand that kind of data easily.
Should have understood it though, it's almost the compkete opposite in certain parts compared to the previous one.

oops, sorry about that.

so... i guess it's done?

Could be

well that was a day full of new staff, i wonder if they will add more in the future.

Not to sound rude or anything but why is this chat still up? We already know what's going on with the franchise do the whole series is ending rumour is out the window yeah there isn't a sky 7 this year but still is this chat really still necessary?

Quote: SkyFan91

Not to sound rude or anything but why is this chat still up? We already know what's going on with the franchise do the whole series is ending rumour is out the window yeah there isn't a sky 7 this year but still is this chat really still necessary?

Read the posts and find out! Turns out updating the released game and announcing a mobile game that might even get cancelled too affects nothing in the bleak outlook now that it's known TFB did indeed get layoffs.

Quote: SkyFan91

Not to sound rude or anything but why is this chat still up? We already know what's going on with the franchise do the whole series is ending rumour is out the window yeah there isn't a sky 7 this year but still is this chat really still necessary?

we need this chat more than you need your forum account, that's for sure.

Quote: ZapNorris

Quote: SkyFan91

Not to sound rude or anything but why is this chat still up? We already know what's going on with the franchise do the whole series is ending rumour is out the window yeah there isn't a sky 7 this year but still is this chat really still necessary?

we need this chat more than you need your forum account, that's for sure.

No need to get salty here

If Skylanders DOES die, maybe the forum will too. UNLESS they go back to making proper Spyro games. If not...

Quote: Gengar Guy

If Skylanders DOES die, maybe the forum will too. UNLESS they go back to making proper Spyro games. If not...

S&N will probably stay active.

S&N will always have at least two people memeing at each other. It survives by absorbing the anthitesis of the rest of the forum.

I've just thought of something. If there were new characters, where would they put the soul gems for them? I can't imagine they would put new soul gems in existing levels. The new adventure packs don't have any new soul gems in them, so this isn't a good sign. It would be hard for them to find places to hide new soul gems in levels, so I don't think we're getting new characters.

Quote: Spyro557

I've just thought of something. If there were new characters, where would they put the soul gems for them? I can't imagine they would put new soul gems in existing levels. The new adventure packs don't have any new soul gems in them, so this isn't a good sign. It would be hard for them to find places to hide new soul gems in levels, so I don't think we're getting new characters.

Or they could just made the Soul Gems available from the start.

Quote: Crash10

Quote: Spyro557

I've just thought of something. If there were new characters, where would they put the soul gems for them? I can't imagine they would put new soul gems in existing levels. The new adventure packs don't have any new soul gems in them, so this isn't a good sign. It would be hard for them to find places to hide new soul gems in levels, so I don't think we're getting new characters.

Or they could just made the Soul Gems available from the start.

Maybe they could do that, but I don't think that would feel right and I'm not sure if Toys For Bob would do that, but I guess we'll see.
There's something special about collecting the Soul Gems, so it would feel strange if we didn't have to collect them for new characters.

Quote: Spyro557

I've just thought of something. If there were new characters, where would they put the soul gems for them? I can't imagine they would put new soul gems in existing levels. The new adventure packs don't have any new soul gems in them, so this isn't a good sign. It would be hard for them to find places to hide new soul gems in levels, so I don't think we're getting new characters.

Do we know that for sure?
Because maybe, and I say maybe, they could have two Soul Gems as a teaser for the new characters; sure, it wouldn't be that fair but could be an interesting choice to generate hype.

Or they could be released along with two new Adventure Packs.
Or they could place them in the Rat Kingdom.
Or they could drop them randomly in the M.A.P., for example in one of the caves.
Or they could come with their Soul Gems already on them, as other have suggested.

Or, and this is my best guess... there won't be new Skylanders at all.
At least until the seventh game.
It would be AMAZING, but unfortunately I don't think it would be as easy as repackaging already created figures with levels which might or might not be cut-content of either Imaginators or the defunct Skylanders 7.

I think you can see level goals from the MAP. I have yet to update so dunno.

Quote: Bifrost

I think you can see level goals from the MAP. I have yet to update so dunno.

Yeah, it's in the preview level goals. No Soul Gems, but interestingly there's a Troll Radio for both new AP's.

Quote: Crash10

Quote: Spyro557

I've just thought of something. If there were new characters, where would they put the soul gems for them? I can't imagine they would put new soul gems in existing levels. The new adventure packs don't have any new soul gems in them, so this isn't a good sign. It would be hard for them to find places to hide new soul gems in levels, so I don't think we're getting new characters.

Or they could just made the Soul Gems available from the start.

OR, they could add new story levels when they're ready and put the soul gems there. Just because the two AP levels we know about now don't have any doesn't mean they can't put them in future levels.

This is kind of an absurd argument against something. "They didn't do it this time, so they definitely won't do it next time because... no reasons."

Quote: Drek95

Or, and this is my best guess... there won't be new Skylanders at all.

... Yes, or that too. Party pooper.

I hate being realistic, but sometimes you have to :/

On brighter news, Troll Radios inside the new levels are something I was wishing for!
Here's hoping they will provide new voices as well, definitely need more variety even if the basic ones are a good start.

They don't provide new voices, but one has music and the other has a VERY useful voice effect, as to not spoiler.

New voices would be pretty taxing at this time of year, even more so with the VA strike. Alex Ness not working there also means no more backup voice acting for them to use.

Sorry I didn't realise that people couldn't read the entire article that I linked to from Seeking Alpha.

In relation to the sales graph, the 2017 numbers reflect the expectations for 2017, not the actual sales. These are the expectations of the national buyers for the retailers that the author (Lutz Muller) surveys. Now whilst that might sound dodgy from what I can tell these national buyers are the people that purchase for Wal-Mart, Target, ToysRUs, Amazon, Best Buy and Gamestop etc in the US and ASDA, ToysRUs, Gamestop, Carrefour, Karstadt, Migros etc in Europe. So the people who are apparently making these predictions are no mugs. But there is a possibility that they were surveyed prior to the official announcement that there would be no Skylanders 7 released this year.

In the article he points out that various indicators suggest that the TTL industry is still growing and viable. For example retailers are still giving up large amounts of shelf space for TTL etc. And as Lutz points out these are not the type or retailers who tend to be sentimental.

In relation to Activision he goes on to say that "Activision is not about to give up on one of their top money spinners even though the company has hit a rough spot of late". He points to the appointment of Tim Kilpin to lead their newly formed Consumer Products Division as a positive sign. In Lutz's opinion Tim - formally of Disney and Mattel - would likely see Skylanders as the core of any retail product development.

Some of you may be wondering who Lutz Muller is. Well according to the long blurb about him on Seeking Alpha: "Lutz is an acknowledged expert on the toy, consumer electronics, video game and craft space. His clients include one of the top three U.S. banks and about 30 leading hedge funds. Having lived on five Continents and speaking six languages, Lutz Muller managed as CEO five manufacturing companies, catering to U.S. and international mass retailers, between 1984 and 2002. He started his business intelligence consulting practice in 2003 ..."

So Lutz apparently knows his stuff, certainly the companies he gets his information from are all the biggest and most relevant. The graphs and examples he gives mean little to me. The one thing that I believe gives some hope for the future is the fact that the TTL industry is not dead and may in fact still be growing, albeit at a much reduced rate as you would expect. So would Activision really step away from the industry that they created leaving it for the Legos and Nintendos of this world to keep raking in the dollars? Or would they look to keep their hand in and maybe tweak the way the do business in this market? Doesn't sound like Activision have been having a lot of wins lately. It would seem to make sense that they would look at ways to stay in the game but perhaps look at more spaced out game releases, more DLC and smaller character rosters to maximise their profits and reduce their risks. At least that's what I hope they will do. It does seem to make sense.

This looks like it might be the mobile game?

https://twitter.com/ZhugeEX/status/832172209405886464

Com2us is like the poster child for mobile gaming. At least outsourcing means that they can't be too mistreated like in the other mobile games.

Keep in mind though, they make Summoners War. That game is RIFE with ****ty microtransactions and bull**** recoloring that they can clearly afford to do something new.

Finaly a skylanders rpg and its an app? Happy and dissapointing at the same time.

If it's anything like Summoners War, it's an RPG in the dumbest sense of the world. You get monsters with stats, you put gear that changes a biiit? Then throw them on super boosted monsters that someone paid money for and you get bodied.

but anthor intresting thing here is that they will relese it in 2018...
well academy might be completly depended only on netflix but what about this game?.

Quote: McMurderpaws

Quote: Crash10

Quote: Spyro557

I've just thought of something. If there were new characters, where would they put the soul gems for them? I can't imagine they would put new soul gems in existing levels. The new adventure packs don't have any new soul gems in them, so this isn't a good sign. It would be hard for them to find places to hide new soul gems in levels, so I don't think we're getting new characters.

Or they could just made the Soul Gems available from the start.

OR, they could add new story levels when they're ready and put the soul gems there. Just because the two AP levels we know about now don't have any doesn't mean they can't put them in future levels.

This is kind of an absurd argument against something. "They didn't do it this time, so they definitely won't do it next time because... no reasons."

I would love to be proven wrong, but I don't think they'll add new story levels for free via another update. If they do add more levels, knowing Activision, they would want to do it by having even more adventure packs and not by paid downloadable levels. Also, I feel there's only so much they can add to the new area in the M.A.P. with the Cursed Tiki Temple and the Lost Imaginite Mines. Not sure where they could put new levels beyond those because it might get confusing for some people. Again, I would love to be proven wrong, but as of now, it's not looking good for having more levels. But I guess we'll find out.

They can expand the map indefinitely if they want. They can add more islands, just like they did with the two new APs. They can even have a completely separate year two map that you just... hop Flynn's airship over to, and isn't visibly connected in any way to the map we see now.

Don't get hung up on on "there isn't room" as an argument against expansion. It's still an "if" that we're getting some sort of season two release at all, but you're getting too hung up on limitations based on what you can see.

What McMurderpaws said. It's most likely not going to happen, but if it DID, the MAP is made of modular assets. It's stuff they can copy from one side to paste to the next spare space and add some flair on top and you'll never notice, bam, entire new area.

I completely agreem the M.A.P. is potentially the perfect hub to be expanded without feeling too much that something has changed.

Cannons and Dragon Wings could work as a way to reach the new islands, they could even use the already exsisting ones.
I'm only going to say I'd wish more variety about their actual locations and the islands themselves: I'm totally fine with having 5 Adventure Packs on a single "archipelago" but more in the same place could be too much.

Not to mention the fact the new island will probably look quite empty even with both levels on it (you can already tell from the invisible models), compared to the one housing Gryphon Park Observatory and Enchanted Elven Forest.
A couple more trees, rocks or other structures would have been appreciated.

The only thing that is holding them back is the difference between console gens. I know they can scale it, but as someone who plays on PS3, soon Switch, I do wonder if they are going to do a Rockstar and someday stop expanding on last gen consoles and only focus on PS4, XBone and Switch.

Quote: Eizons

The only thing that is holding them back is the difference between console gens. I know they can scale it, but as someone who plays on PS3, soon Switch, I do wonder if they are going to do a Rockstar and someday stop expanding on last gen consoles and only focus on PS4, XBone and Switch.

Highly possible.

Are they really updating the game with new story levels?

Quote: XSparxX

Are they really updating the game with new story levels?

no, only adventure packs.

Quote: omer1698

Quote: XSparxX

Are they really updating the game with new story levels?

no, only adventure packs.

Oh ... They are always too expensive for their short content ...
They should make more as one level for a 30€/$ level DLC. :/
Is the enchanted elven forest worth the money? Gryphon Park Observatory was little bit disappointing, but I think Thumpin Wumpa Island was worth the money.

Quote: XSparxX

Is the enchanted elven forest worth the money? Gryphon Park Observatory was little bit disappointing, but I think Thumpin Wumpa Island was worth the money.

I recently watched a Let's Play of Gryphon Park Observatory, which I found to be much longer and more involved than Enchanted Elven Forest (which I bought primarily because I needed a Life sensei and I didn't like Chompy Mage or Ambush).

I hope that the Cursed Tiki Temple and Lost Imaginite Mines levels will be lengthier, but I must admit I'm not optimistic about them.

Enchanted Elven Forest was a huge disappointment as far as I've seen. Pretty level, not much done with it and its theme. The new NPC on it is funny, but I couldn't even watch it for too long since it was just meh for the most part. Not much of a gimmick either apparently, so it feels like a regular filler level.