Disney confirmed today it will launch its Toy Story in Space Play Set for the Disney Infinity toy-game platform debuting on Aug. 18.
At the Disney fan event D23 Expo in Anaheim, Calif., Disney revealed that the new play set will feature Toy Story characters Buzz, Jessie, and Woody. If you haven’t been following Disney Infinity, it’s Disney’s big bet on the melding of its toy business with video games. Players can purchase a Disney Infinity starter pack with a base platform that can transport toys that are placed on it into a video game. A new play set effectively means Disney will add a brand new video game on top of the platform.
Disney Infinity is Mickey Mouse’s big attempt to deal with competition in toys from Activision’s Skylanders toy-game hybrid platform. Activision has seen more than $1 billion in revenues from its Skylanders toy-game hybrid products. Disney’s offering is similar, but it is pouring a lot of its game- and toy-design chops into making sure that Infinity will be unique and valuable, considering that fans could pour a lot of money into this new platform over time.
Disney had originally targeted a June launch, but it delayed until August to make sure the game is polished. Disney is position Infinity as a platform to transform it into a huge game company, for once and for all.
The Toy Story in Space Play Set will be the sixth play set for the platform, and it will be released in October. Disney also said that its next set of playable characters for the Disney Infinity Toy Box mode, where you can mix and match Disney characters in a video game world as you wish, will include Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey, Rapunzel from Tangled, and characters from Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Phineas and Ferb. Those figures will be rolled out from October onward.
New game play for the play set includes hoverpacks, jetpacks, laser blasters, goo blasters, and new mounts. Other play sets are based on Monsters University, the Incredibles, Cars, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Lone Ranger.