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97-470: Skylanders is a toys-to-life action-adventure video game franchise published by Activision . Skylanders games are played by placing a character's figure on the "Portal of Power", a device that reads its tag using NFC and "imports" them into the game as a playable character, leveling them up and saving its progress on the figure to potentially be used on a different game (or even console) with all its saved stats. Skylander figures are sold separately from

194-411: A 2.5D platform game for consoles . Their team expanded to nearly 30 people to complete the project, with substantial efforts to learn the mechanics of 3D game design. As the company grew, so did the mythology around their name. According to Reiche, since people frequently asked about the truth behind "Toys for Bob", he instructed his team to invent their own "Bob" and swear he is the only one, with

291-502: A 7.5 out of 10, praising its family-friendly gameplay and role-playing-style character progression, but criticized the lack of online multiplayer, the cost of buying a complete set of figures, the arbitrary inclusion of Spyro, and the unreliability of the Portal of Power peripheral. Nintendo World Report gave the game a 9 out of 10, praising the Wii version for its gameplay and production values, and

388-408: A Japanese license such as SD Gundam , and Crystal Dynamics helped them get in touch with Bandai , who promised them an "even bigger license". Bandai ultimately had them produce Majokko Daisakusen: Little Witching Mischiefs , a game based on magical girl characters from Japanese anime created in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Bandai's choice of license came as a surprise to Toys for Bob, and

485-620: A band of heroes known as the Skylanders have worked with the Portal Masters to defend Skylands from evil and protect the Core of Light. The player, who is considered to be a Portal Master, commands the Skylanders to stop Kaos and other evil threats. Each Skylander is associated with one of ten elements: Earth , Air , Fire , Water , Magic , Tech , Life , Undead , Light , and Dark . The console versions of each game follow identical storylines, while

582-614: A co-owner, Reiche and Ford incorporated the studio in 2002. Activision became their publisher soon after, and eventually acquired the studio in 2005. Toys for Bob created the Skylanders series when Activision merged with Vivendi Games and acquired the Spyro franchise. The developers at Toys for Bob had already been experimenting with using physical toys to interact with video games and believed that this technology would be ideal for Spyro ' s universe of characters. Credited with inventing

679-508: A digital representation of these figurines appeared in the game. The game took place in a small town called Sick City, which was under fire by a villain named Omega Overlord. Various heroes fought against him, and his goons would combine with each other to fight them off. There were various multi-packs and special blind bags containing the toys. While the game itself was free, the additional figures would cost money. There were only three waves of figures, all of which were released in 2015. Following

776-453: A direct continuation of the original Crash Bandicoot trilogy. Upon its release in 2020, the studio earned a reputation for leading a revival of properties from the original PlayStation as part of a recent trend. Founders Reiche and Ford left Toys for Bob at the end of 2020 to create an independent studio and commence development on a sequel to The Ur-Quan Masters . Paul Yan and Avery Lodato became Toys for Bob's studio heads , and

873-485: A few years working at graphics companies in Silicon Valley , Ford realized he missed working in the game industry. Meanwhile, Reiche had started his career working for Dungeons & Dragons publisher TSR before developing PC games for Free Fall Associates . Reiche's producer at Free Fall took a new job at Accolade and helped Reiche secure a three-game agreement with the publisher. At this point, Reiche needed

970-543: A film. Following the release of Imaginators , the franchise went into hiatus, with speculations surrounding a seventh console installment. Nevertheless, future projects within the Skylanders universe were limited to the recent mobile game titled Ring of Heroes until its closure in 2022. The studios worked on other unrelated games until Activision Blizzard was acquired by Microsoft in January 2022. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick stated that Microsoft had interest in reviving some of

1067-550: A game, with technical engineer Robert Leyland applying his hobby in building electronics. Coincidentally, Activision merged with Vivendi Games in 2008, and asked Toys for Bob to create a new game around Vivendi's Spyro franchise. The studio saw the potential for toy–game interaction and suggested to Activision that it would be ideal for Spyro ' s universe of characters. Their team also saw it as an opportunity to make use of their passion for and experience in creating monsters. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick responded well to

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1164-438: A later release). Through mutual friends, they acquired the talents of fantasy artist George Barr . The project eventually ran over schedule, and the budget from Accolade ran out. During the final months of development, Ford supported the team financially. Star Control II received even more acclaim than the first game, earning recognition as one of the best games of all time by numerous publications since its release. It

1261-425: A line of interactive figures made in partnership with Tomy to enhance their experience. Figures can be decked with various accessories which modify the corresponding character's in-game appearance and abilities. They also incorporate a speaker for various one-liners, and a motion sensor allowing them to be used as a controller during flying segments. A second Lightseekers video game was released in January 2019 for

1358-489: A new installment in the series, totaling six as of 2016. Each game (except the switch version) has its own portal device and a different take on the premise than past games. They star the Skylander heroes and the evil antagonist Kaos. All current figurines are compatible with its most recent installment, Skylanders: Imaginators (2016). While new games were since published, it has not seen a new main console release that would follow

1455-591: A new team of Skylanders called the Giants , who were canonically the first Skylanders assembled to stop the Arkeyans' reign and are strong enough to lift, throw, and destroy trees and rocks. They must stop Kaos after he reactivates the Arkeyan Conquertron and attempts to take over Skylands by resurrecting the Arkeyans. Swap Force is the third installment in the franchise and takes place in another part of Skylands called

1552-479: A pilot and ship body, but ship wings and weapons can be dynamically mixed, matched, and stacked using attachments on the ship bodies and wings. The game was developed by Ubisoft Toronto and released on October 16, 2018, for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. The Switch version features an exclusive pilot and ship (Nintendo's Fox McCloud and his Arwing) within the game's starter pack. An all-digital edition

1649-505: A plastic castle courtyard garden that connects to a USB port, players can interact with the PC game by placing figurines of a girl and several animals on various places, play skip rope, slide figurines from castle to forest to change the in-game environment. A Fisher-Price brand toy that connects to USB, figurines from Sesame Street and various kids shows can be placed to play games on their accompanying websites. Another predecessor to toys-to-life

1746-602: A plastic pirate ship that connects to the printer port, and players can interact with the game by placing the separate pirate figurines on various places in the ship, and moving or rotating them. Other precursors to these kinds of games include the Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future , Dennō Bōkenki Webdiver and Daigunder toylines, where children could plug Gladion and Daigunder into their TV screens to use as controls, and

1843-414: A prequel to Spyro's Adventure . Another series, Skylanders : Book of Elements, focuses on two elements in each installment, with Shubrik Bros. Creative writing the first and Barry Hutchson writing the second. Two art books, Strata: The Art of Skylanders: Swap Force and Clutch: The Art of Skylanders: Superchargers , were produced by Vicarious Visions. As employee exclusives, the only way to obtain them

1940-429: A programmer and Ford was seeking a designer /artist, so their mutual friends set up a board game night to introduce them. Those friends included fantasy artist Erol Otus , as well as game designer Greg Johnson , who hosted the meet-up. Soon after, Reiche and Ford formed their studio in 1989. Reiche and Ford's first collaboration was Star Control , released for MS-DOS in 1990. Originally called Starcon ,

2037-579: A race sponsored by Pandergast to win a snow globe which will grant one wish. SuperChargers was the last game to be released on tablets. Imaginators is the sixth installment in the series, which was developed by Toys for Bob . It was released on October 13, 2016, in Australia and New Zealand, on October 14, 2016, in Europe and on October 16, 2016, in North America. It was the only game in the series released for

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2134-539: A re-packaged Spyro Reignited Trilogy with updated sound and visuals, in consultation with developers from the original Spyro trilogy. Its 2018 release was considered one of the best video game remakes of all time. Having ported the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy to the Nintendo Switch , Toys for Bob sought to maintain the momentum of that title's success by developing Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time ,

2231-517: A reputation leading a revival of properties from the original PlayStation . After the release of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time in 2020, Reiche and Ford left the company to start an independent studio. Toys for Bob took on new leadership under Paul Yan and Avery Lodato while working on the Call of Duty series. After Activision's parent company , Activision Blizzard , faced lawsuits over workplace harassment and discrimination , Microsoft acquired

2328-418: A safe social network to talk on. Each figure unlocked new mini games and customization options. Due to the game only being available for download online no known copies of the game still exist, making F.A.M.P.S. lost media. Skylanders (2011) is a toys-to-life video game series by American publisher Activision. It is one of the most successful early games of this genre. Since its first release, each year has seen

2425-460: A special USB port to plug into the user's computer. The characters were the Funkeys, which each unlocked new in-game areas. F.A.M.P.S. was the second game ever made in the toys-to-life genre. It was made by Girl Tech and produced by Mattel, the same people who produced U.B. Funkeys. It was less like a traditional game and more like an application giving players customization options for their desktop and

2522-866: Is Mattel 's short-lived 2006 game console the HyperScan . It focused on the same concept that Toy-to-life products implemented, but instead of using figurines, they opted to use collectible trading cards instead. Due to poor sales and reception, only 5 games were produced. Amiibo (2014) is a toys-to-life platform by Japanese company Nintendo that is available on the Wii U , 3DS and Switch consoles. It primarily features characters from Nintendo franchises, as well some third-party franchises from Super Smash Bros. , Shovel Knight , and Mega Man . Launching in 2014 with figurines, Nintendo has since also deployed Amiibo-compatible playing cards, plush yarn toys, and even promotional cereal boxes. Unlike most other toys-to-life series, Amiibo does not have games dedicated exclusively to

2619-411: Is Ubisoft's first step into the toys-to-life video game genre. The game doesn't require the use of the toys to be played, but the gameplay is enriched by using them. The interactive toys consist of three categories: ships (which consist of a body and two wings), weapons, and pilots. Pilots and ships are attached to controller mounts, which load the attached toy into the game instantly. Each loadout requires

2716-499: Is also ranked among the best games in several specific areas, including writing, world design, character design, and music. Star Control II has also inspired the design of numerous games, including the open-ended gameplay of Fallout , the world design of Mass Effect , and the story events of Stellaris . After finishing a Star Control II port to the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (with additional voice acting and game improvements), Accolade offered Ford and Reiche

2813-529: Is best known for creating Star Control and the Skylanders franchise, as well as for working on the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro franchises. The studio began as a partnership between Reiche and Ford. The two had separately attended the University of California, Berkeley in the late 1970s before entering the video game industry in the early 1980s. They later met through mutual friends in 1988, when Reiche

2910-490: Is featured on several "best of" lists for music, writing, world design, and character design. The studio adopted the name Toys for Bob to stimulate curiosity and differentiate themselves from other studios. With Crystal Dynamics as their publisher , they developed several games, including The Horde , Pandemonium! , and The Unholy War . In the early 2000s, the studio transitioned to working on licensed games before being laid off by Crystal Dynamics. With Terry Falls as

3007-512: Is probably aimed at kids, but whatever. I am a legal adult...and I think it's still pretty cool." Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure was nominated for two Toy Industry Association awards: "Game of the Year" and "Innovative Toy of the Year." Skylanders: Giants received "generally favorable" reviews on most platforms according to Metacritic; the Nintendo 3DS version received "mixed or average" reviews. However,

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3104-434: Is that Skylanders: Giants is age-appropriate fun that harkens back to the delight you had collecting Pokémon cards or mashing your way through a dungeon crawler. If you've got little ones, then you already know the verdict here." Skylanders: Swap Force received "generally favorable" reviews for most platforms according to Metacritic; the Nintendo 3DS version received "mixed or average" reviews. The Metacritic scores for

3201-468: Is through online sellers or charity events. IDW Publishing created a comic series associated with the Skylanders franchise which takes place in between games. The series was reportedly cancelled to avoid conflicting with Skylanders Academy , which used a different canon. In 2016, it was announced that Activision Blizzard Studios would produce an animated television series based on Skylanders . The first season debuted on Netflix on October 28, 2016,

3298-489: The Nintendo 3DS version for its accessibility to younger gamers and overall design. Destructoid gave the game an 8 out of 10 saying, "It's not the most complex game on the market, but the innovative gadgetry and authentic thoughtfulness on the part of the developer stands out in a market so used to churning out the same old crap." Giant Bomb reviewer Jeff Gerstmann gave the game four out of five stars, stating " Skylanders

3395-482: The Nintendo 3DS versions have different stories. Spyro's Adventure is the first game in the series and features 32 Skylanders, four for each of the eight elements. The Skylanders seek to restore the Core of Light, which Kaos destroyed, by collecting the Eternal Sources of each element and other components. Giants is the second installment in the series and a direct sequel to Spyro's Adventure . It introduces

3492-525: The Nintendo Switch . It allows players to create and customize their own Skylanders called Imaginators and train them under the Senseis. The Skylanders must stop Kaos, who is using mind magic to create Doomlanders with help from an ancient Brain. Crash Bandicoot and Doctor Neo Cortex make guest appearances as playable characters, marking their first appearance in a video game since Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2 in 2010. Their figures were initially exclusive to

3589-634: The Nintendo Wii in mind, with the HD versions being ports with slightly enhanced graphics. In contrast, starting with Swap Force , the games were developed for the HD consoles, with the Wii version having heavily downgraded graphics. In addition, Superchargers on Wii and 3DS was a distinct game titled Superchargers Racing , which only included the racing portions. Imaginators skipped these two consoles entirely. While portals are typically interchangeable between platforms,

3686-525: The PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 starter packs, but were later released as a stand-alone double pack. In 2011, Activision released Skylanders Universe , an online browser-based multiplayer game that allowed players to interact in Skylands, play minigames, customize their own island, and log their Skylanders collection. Players could connect their portals to their computer to summon their Skylanders, like in

3783-414: The Skylanders franchise has been released on numerous platforms, with various versions developed by different developers, there are significant differences between them. The most notable differences are found in the Nintendo 3DS versions, which have unique stories and gameplay more focused on platforming. Additionally, they use a separate, smaller portal that communicates via the console's infrared . In

3880-448: The Skylanders series. Still, the Skylanders series became one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time. In late 2018, Toys for Bob donated hundreds of Skylanders toys to The Strong National Museum of Play , which planned to use them as an exhibit to document "one of the most significant game franchises of the last decade". Toys for Bob continued their development for important licenses under Activision. They worked on

3977-585: The Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions of the game require their own portal respectively due to restrictions imposed by Microsoft. The Nintendo Switch version of Imaginators does not use the Portal of Power; instead, the figures are scanned using the NFC on the game controller . Similar to the 3DS versions of the previous games, scanned figures are saved and can be switched through a menu. Traps are not supported, and Vehicles only unlock Imaginite Chests. Lorne Balfe composed

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4074-486: The conglomerate . Kotick also expressed his long-term desire to revive the Skylanders series, believing this was now possible thanks to Microsoft's hardware manufacturing and supply chain . As part of 1,900 job cuts instituted by Microsoft in January 2024, 89 people were laid off from Toys for Bob and the studio's offices in Novato were closed down. The remaining staffers transitioned to work from home . In February 2024,

4171-413: The iOS version received "universal acclaim". However, the scores from Metacritic were slightly lower than that of the previous game on most platforms with the iOS version receiving the highest Metacritic score in the series. Skylanders: SuperChargers received "generally favorable" reviews according to Metacritic. The scores from Metacritic had some scores that were higher than the previous game, such as

4268-543: The source code for the 3DO version of Star Control II as open-source software under the GNU General Public Licence (GPL) and enlisted the fan community to port it to modern operating systems. The result was the 2002 open source game The Ur-Quan Masters , released under a new title since the Star Control trademark was owned by Atari , who had acquired Accolade. An intern at Toys for Bob began porting

4365-465: The toys-to-life genre, the 2011 release of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure was considered a technological and commercial breakthrough. This led to a spinoff series with several successful games, generating a billion dollars in revenue for Activision in the first 15 months and winning several awards. In 2018, Toys for Bob assisted with the development of the remaster compilations Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Spyro Reignited Trilogy , earning

4462-505: The "toys to life" genre since then, due to Activision’s desire to take an extended break  [citation needed] from the main series. A mobile RPG spin-off, Skylanders: Ring of Heroes, was released worldwide on December 12, 2018, and developed by Com2Us. Ring of Heroes was revamped in December 2020; services for the game were terminated in early 2022. Following their acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft has expressed interest in continuing

4559-503: The 2011 release of Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure , which became a breakthrough success. They followed this with Skylanders: Giants in 2012, allowing the series to earn a billion dollars in sales just 15 months after the release of the first game. These successes led Gamasutra to list Toys for Bob among their top developers for 2012, stating, "we're not just impressed that Toys for Bob successfully pulled Skylanders off—it sold massively, after all—we're impressed by how ballsy it

4656-519: The Barrel Blaster and Clown Cruiser. These figures and vehicles can only be scanned and used in-game on Skylanders: SuperChargers (Racing) and Skylanders: Imaginators on Nintendo hardware. The characters, but not their vehicles, also functioned as amiibo figures. The Wii and 3DS versions of the game, titled Skylanders: SuperChargers Racing, focus on racing and feature the SuperChargers competing in

4753-581: The Cloudbreak Islands. It introduces a new group of Skylanders called the Swap Force, who have the ability to swap their top and bottom halves and abilities. Together, the Swap Force and the Skylanders fight to prevent Kaos and his mother from ruining the performance on Mount Cloudbreak. Trap Team is the fourth installment in the franchise. It introduces two new elements, the Light and Dark elements, as well as

4850-553: The Future and Sonic the Hedgehog . Players must physically assemble some figurines by unlocking the levels in-game, which showed them the building instructions on-screen. Almost all of the figurines, and the base portal, have to be built by the player. No sequels were released, with the base game supporting all available figures. On October 23, 2017, Warner Bros. officially announced that they would not be developing further content for Lego Dimensions . Starlink: Battle for Atlas (2018)

4947-514: The NFC reader, they can be utilized in-game. In addition, if anything else with NFC technology is scanned into the game, the player will receive a random effect. Disney Infinity (2013) was a toys-to-life series based on Disney characters and franchises. Since the initial game's release in 2013, there had been three installments. Disney Infinity was the first game, focusing on Disney and Pixar characters. In 2014, Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes

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5044-525: The Nintendo Switch version received "mixed or average" reviews. Compared to the previous game, the game received lower scores on most platforms except the Xbox One version. Despite the generally positive reception, the game sold only 66,000 copies during its launch month. As of February 2015, the Skylanders series has crossed the threshold of $ 3 billion in sales, with 175 million toys sold since 2011, making

5141-430: The Nintendo Switch, but it is a virtual adaptation of the trading card game rather than a port of the toys-to-life RPG. U.B. Funkeys (2007) was the first game of this genre. It was discontinued in 2010 and was worked on by Mattel, Arkadium, and Radica. It had multiple updates before it was discontinued. Almost every update had a portal, also referred to as a 'Hub', with the same mold but a different pattern. The Hubs were

5238-579: The Rescue , another major license that was considered of a higher quality than other licensed games. Soon after the release, Crystal Dynamics decided to fire the entire Toys for Bob team. After operating as a partnership for more than a decade, Reiche, Ford, and Terry Falls incorporated Toys for Bob in 2002, and announced that they were seeking a new publisher after parting ways with Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Interactive. Soon after re-establishing their studio as an independent company, Reiche and Ford released

5335-464: The Skylanders series. [citation needed] Other than that, there is no official information about the continuation of the "toys to life" aspect of the franchise. Pokémon Rumble U was Nintendo's first foray into the toys-to-life genre, released in 2013 for the Wii U . It is the first game that utilized the built-in NFC reader on the Wii U gamepad. In the game, players control Pokémon and engage in battle with other Pokémon. When figures are scanned with

5432-501: The TV series, a light gun type games with a VHS tape and a space ship toy that interacts with TV through infrared. Released for the Playstation by Bandai , this game came in a suitcase-sized cardboard box (complete with carrying handle) that contained 4 plastic robot model kits, similar to Bandai's Gunpla models. The game is a fighting game, in which two of the four models can be plugged in to

5529-573: The Trap Masters and the Trap mechanic. This mechanic allows players to trap special in-game enemies in element-specific Elemental Traps, which are shards of Traptanium. The trapped enemies can then be summoned as playable characters for a limited time, but can be used freely in the main hub. The Skylanders and the Trap Masters fight to stop Kaos and the Doom Raiders. SuperChargers is the fifth installment in

5626-550: The Wii U and PlayStation 4 versions, but some were lower than the previous game, such as the iOS and Xbox One versions. The game was also nominated for two awards: Best Family Game at The Game Awards 2015 and Favorite Video Game at the 2016 Kids' Choice Awards . Despite its positive reception, Activision reported in February 2016 that the game did not meet sales expectations. Skylanders: Imaginators received "generally favorable" reviews for most platforms according to Metacritic;

5723-437: The company was operating with 27 employees, and needed a game that was successful enough to justify their growing team. Activision asked the studio to generate a new idea, and the company felt pressure to find the right opportunity. One idea came from Toys for Bob character designer I-Wei Huang, who had been creating toys and robots in his spare time. The company saw the potential to adapt these toys and character designs into

5820-428: The core series. The service has since been discontinued. Activision released spin-off games on mobile devices, including Cloud Patrol , Battlegrounds , Lost Islands , Collection Vault , mobile ports of Trap Team and SuperChargers , Battlecast, and Ring of Heroes . Launching Skylanders cost Activision $ 100 million or more, roughly as much as making, manufacturing and marketing a title such as Call of Duty. As

5917-502: The development process was fraught with translation challenges. As the project dragged on, the studio continued to receive bug reports in Japanese until they simply unplugged their fax machine , thus ending development. Majokko Daisakusen was released exclusively in Japan, and Toys for Bob never learned how well the game performed. Their next release was Disney's 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to

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6014-478: The first game's combat system with deeper storytelling. Their goal of creating a dynamic space adventure was largely inspired by Starflight , designed by Greg Johnson in 1986. While developing Starflight , Johnson had shared office space with Reiche, who became so fascinated with the project that he helped Johnson build the game's communication system . Years later, this friendship led Reiche to ask Johnson to work on Star Control II , and Johnson became one of

6111-438: The first two games, players had to "load" two figures, and were able to swap between them at any time using the touch screen until a new Skylander is loaded to replace them. Beginning with Swap Force , every figure scanned is permanently saved into the game. In Trap Team , villains are captured using the touch screen instead of using real-life traps, which the 3DS portal does not support. The first two games were developed with

6208-506: The game began as an evolution of the concepts that Reiche first created in Archon: The Light and the Dark . Archon ' s strategic elements were adapted for Star Control into a space setting, with one-on-one ship combat inspired by the classic 1962 game Spacewar! . During production, Reiche and Ford spent time working on their collaborative process, and this was partly why the game

6305-415: The game console. The models have easily detachable limbs, and swapping the limbs on the models allows players to customize the limbs and abilities of the in-game robots. This PC game came with a plastic pirate ship that connects to the printer port, and players can interact with the game by placing the separate pirate figurines on various places in the ship, and moving or rotating them. A PC game came with

6402-436: The game itself unless you buy the starter pack. Typically, the starter pack for each game contains two or more Skylanders, a Portal of Power, the game disc and sometimes something else to show off the game's newest feature. The games take place in Skylands, a realm of floating islands located at the center of the universe that is often threatened by evil forces who seek to rule it and gain access to all worlds. For generations,

6499-588: The game to various modern operating systems, and the fan community continued the project with further support and modifications. Reiche and Ford retained the original copyrighted content within the first two Star Control games, and granted the fan-operated project a free, perpetual license to the Star Control II content and the "Ur-Quan Masters" trademark. Toys for Bob secured Activision as their new publisher, thanks to an introduction from former staff who had founded Shaba Games and sold it to Activision. As

6596-574: The game were the highest and most positive of the series on most platforms. Gaming website Quarter to Three gave both the Wii U and Xbox 360 a perfect score of 5/5. Video game website Gaming Age gave the PlayStation 3 version the highest grade of an "A" and further commented that "whether you’re a Skylanders fan or a gamer who’s looking for a charming and unique family-friendly game series to get into, Skylanders Swap Force comes highly recommended." Skylanders: Trap Team received "generally favorable" reviews for most platforms according to Metacritic;

6693-427: The game's most significant contributors. Star Control ' s story and characters were vastly expanded from those of the first game. As Reiche and Ford worked on the first version of the game's dialog, they recognized they needed help with the writing and art and decided to enlist the help of close friends. In addition to Johnson, they recruited Otus, who contributed art, music, and text (as well as voice acting, in

6790-454: The goal of "further confusing people". As the studio prepared to release The Unholy War in 1998, Crystal Dynamics was acquired by Eidos Interactive . Unholy War was a fighting game with a strategic meta-game, similar to the combination of game modes seen in Reiche's game Archon , and the original Star Control . Reiche and Ford thought the gameplay could be used for an adaptation of

6887-588: The holding in October 2023 . Following layoffs at the studio, Toys for Bob spun off from Activision in May 2024. Toys for Bob began as a partnership between Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford . The two founders separately attended the University of California, Berkeley , around the same time, and both entered the video game industry in the early 1980s. Ford started his career creating games for Japanese personal computers before transitioning to more corporate work, but after

6984-403: The idea and gave them an additional year of development to better refine the gameplay, technology, and manufacturing process. Activision believed that the technology would be ideal for Nintendo 's properties: they asked Toys for Bob to present the concept to Nintendo early in its development cycle, but Nintendo decided to limit their role to marketing the title for the Wii . This culminated in

7081-456: The included stand onto their device's camera and putting the figure onto the stand. The QR code below the figure would get scanned and the figure would "teleport" to the app as an unlockable or costume. Disney Playmation was a longer range (~10m) networked interactive role-playing game with wearable toys that supported BLE communications with phone apps. The product was sold in collaboration with Hasbro . The single-product story line delivered

7178-527: The industry found a thriving market for licensed game adaptations, Activision asked Toys for Bob to work on Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure , which combined the publisher's game engine from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 with the studio's experience working on Disney properties. The game was released in 2003 and gave the studio more experience creating games for a younger audience. Working with Activision, Toys for Bob continued to focus on licensed games, such as Madagascar . Their growing relationship with

7275-761: The name "Toys for Bob", which was chosen to stimulate curiosity and allude to Reiche and Ford's appreciation for toys. The studio's first game under Crystal Dynamics was The Horde (1994), a full-motion video action and strategy game. Aiming to take advantage of Crystal Dynamics's Hollywood connections and the increased storage size of CD-ROMs for the video scenes, they hired a cast of professional actors including Martin Short and Kirk Cameron . The game received two awards from Computer Gaming World : "Best Musical Score" for Burke Trieschmann 's music and "Best On Screen Performance" for Michael Gregory 's role as Kronus Maelor. In 1996, Toys for Bob released Pandemonium! ,

7372-403: The old studios' hit franchises, including Guitar Hero and Skylanders . Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic , with many praising the technological use of the "Portal of Power". Although some reviewers criticized the absence of online multiplayer, the toys for the Skylanders were widely praised. GameSpot gave it

7469-456: The other toys could interact with the game through infrared sensors. Toys-to-life games generally use a third-person camera view, and have in-game power-up figurines. Toys-to-life games generally have an accompanying portal device that is used to "transport" the figurine's character and associated player data into the game. The figurines can be transferred from each game in the franchise, possibly resetting with every different installment. Based on

7566-483: The physical toys. Beyblade Burst is a multimedia franchise created by Takara Tomy and Hasbro. These are mostly toys but Hasbro's version has QR codes on the back. The Beyblade Burst app uses image recognition to transfer the toys into the video games. Toys for Bob Toys for Bob, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Novato, California . It was founded in 1989 by Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford and

7663-422: The publisher led them to be acquired in 2005: the studio became a wholly owned subsidiary under Activision, and the management team and employees signed long-term contracts under the new corporate structure. However, the release of Madagascar showed that the market for licensed games was beginning to dry up, in part due to the negative reputation created by a flood of low quality licensed games. By this time,

7760-552: The resignation of Kotick. Reiche agreed with the need for a change in leadership at Activision Blizzard. On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced that it intended to acquire Activision Blizzard for $ 68.7 billion. Microsoft promised to strive towards safer and more inclusive working conditions among Activision's studios, including Toys for Bob. As the CEO of Microsoft's gaming division, Phil Spencer expressed interest in having Toys for Bob revive older game properties now owned by

7857-402: The reviews in general were slightly lower than that of the previous game, especially for the Nintendo 3DS version, which received the lowest Metacritic score in the series. IGN gave the game an 8 out of 10 score, calling it a "...a more polished but by-the-numbers sequel that’s really fun to play". PlayStation Lifestyle , however, gave the game a lower score with a 70/100, saying, "The reality

7954-441: The same budget to produce a third game, which they turned down to pursue other projects. As the pair had retained the rights to their characters and stories from the first two games, they licensed their content to Accolade so that the publisher could produce Star Control 3 without their involvement. The studio pitched their next game to Sega , but their contacts at the company had already left for Crystal Dynamics , which led

8051-487: The second season on October 6, 2017, and the third and final season premiered on September 28, 2018. On April 30, 2019, it was announced that Skylanders Academy was cancelled. Activision has commented on the possibility of a movie based on Skylanders . On May 6, 2014, Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg announced that the Activision team had an interest in "jumping on the film adaptation bandwagon" and adapting Skylanders into

8148-454: The series one of the top 20 highest-selling video game franchises of all time. As of June 2015, over 250 million toys were sold. As of 2016, over 300 million toys have been sold and the franchise has become the 11th biggest console franchise of all time. Toys-to-life Although modern versions use NFC technology, an early example of such a game is Redbeard's Pirate Quest: Interactive Toy created by Zowie in 1999. This PC game came with

8245-707: The series. It introduces a new group of Skylanders called the SuperChargers, who pilot special vehicles of the Land, Sky and Sea. The Skylanders must stop Kaos, who has used The Darkness's power to create The Sky Eater, and The Darkness, which has its own plans. SuperChargers also featured a multiplayer racing game mode, very similar to the Mario Kart games. This racing game mode, however, is near impossible to play with other players (in 2024) The Nintendo console versions feature Donkey Kong and Bowser as Turbo Charge Donkey Kong and Hammer Slam Bowser, along with their respective vehicles,

8342-490: The soundtracks for the games, while Hans Zimmer composed part of Spyro’s Adventure’s main theme. Imaginators does not use an original soundtrack, instead using music from previous games. Cavan Scott wrote a series of books, beginning with Skylanders: The Machine of Doom, which takes place before the events of Spyro's Adventure . He would later write the Skylanders: The Mask of Power series, which also serves as

8439-675: The studio continues to operate with an estimated 180 employees. In April 2021, it was announced that Toys for Bob would be working on Call of Duty: Warzone as a support studio alongside Raven Software , Infinity Ward , and Treyarch . This led to the release of Call of Duty: Vanguard in December ;2021, with some of the game contents also included in Warzone . Throughout 2021, allegations of workplace harassment surfaced at Activision's parent company , Activision Blizzard , and Toys for Bob employees were among 500 employees calling for

8536-470: The studio to pursue a publishing agreement with them instead. Around this time, the studio was operating with Reiche, Ford, and Ford's brother Ken, with additional freelancers hired for key tasks. Whereas their previous games were released as a partnership under their legal names, their subsequent games began to refer to their studio as Toys for Bob. They initially wanted a name that would distinguish them from their competitors. Reiche's wife Laurie suggested

8633-401: The third wave's release, no additional information about the series was released, so it was assumed to be discontinued. The line was based on a 2015 cartoon series of the same. Lego Dimensions (2015) was a toys-to-life game that used physical Lego figures, featuring characters from various Warner Brothers and Lego franchises and other third-party intellectual properties such as Back to

8730-400: The use of the toys, but the characters are used throughout various games. Amiibo can save players' progress data and information per game, however many games only offer read-only functionality. Lightseekers: Awakening is a multimedia franchise created by PlayFusion, an independent British studio co-founded by Mark Gerhard, the former CEO of RuneScape publisher Jagex . Its early development

8827-535: Was also released for all three consoles that contain most of the released physical toys in-game. On April 3, 2019, it was announced that due to sales that fell below expectations, there would be no further releases of physical Starlink toys. Digital expansions, however, would continue to be released. In total, 8 ships, 16 weapons, and 11 pilots were released physically across 3 starter packs, 6 ship packs, 4 weapon packs, and 5 pilot packs. Controller mount packs were also released for each console that enabled co-op play with

8924-798: Was based on the Marvel Iron Man universe . Other universes were announced before the product was terminated including Star Wars and Frozen . A toys-to-life game made by Jakks Pacific. It was a console connected to a portal connected to plugs which the player connect to their TV. They placed the figures on the portal and they went to the player's game. It was short-lived. Due to poor sales, there were four themes released: DC Super Heroes , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , Power Rangers , and DreamWorks Dragons . A game by Spin Master with Lego -compatible figurines and builds. When players used their smartphones or tablets to scan their physical figurines,

9021-444: Was limited in scope compared to its sequel. Upon its release, Star Control was voted the "Best Science Fiction Game" by Video Games and Computer Entertainment , and decades later, it is remembered as one of the greatest games of all time , with numerous game developers citing it as an influence on their work. The success of Star Control led to a more ambitious sequel, Star Control II . Reiche and Ford aimed to expand on

9118-474: Was partly financed via a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, which had raised $ 227,660 by November 2016. The Lightseekers brand consists of a toys-to-life role-playing video game (commonly referred to as Lightseekers RPG ) and a trading card game. The toys-to-life video game was released for iOS and Android mobile platforms in May 2017. The Lightseekers RPG video game is free-to-play and does not require accessories to function, but players can purchase

9215-641: Was released as the second game, which focused on Marvel characters and properties. The third game, 2015's Disney Infinity 3.0 , centered on the Star Wars franchise. All Disney Infinity figurines could interact with various games in the series. The line concluded in 2016, when Disney announced that production of the series had officially ceased, and that there would be no more future titles. These figurines were used in Angry Birds mobile apps such as Angry Birds Star Wars II and Angry Birds Go! . Players put

9312-401: Was seeking a programmer to develop Star Control for Accolade . This led to the creation of their partnership in 1989 and the debut of Star Control in 1990. The release was considered a landmark science fiction game and led to the 1992 sequel Star Control II , which greatly expanded the series' story and scale. Star Control II is celebrated as one of the greatest games of all time and

9409-665: Was to begin with". Multiple publications have credited Skylanders with creating the toys-to-life genre, attracting competitors such as Nintendo, Disney, and the Lego Group to the multi-billion-dollar market sector. In the years that followed, Toys for Bob created several successful Skylanders video games, including Skylanders: Trap Team . Their last game in this series was Skylanders: Imaginators in 2016, which won several awards. However, slower sales and increased competition suggested that toys-to-life games might have hit their peak, and Activision decided to discontinue

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