King of the toy store: Skylanders is now a $2 billion franchise (infographic)

Activision isn’t just one of the biggest gaming companies in the world — it’s also one of the biggest toy companies.

Earlier today, the publisher revealed that its Skylanders franchise has racked up more than $2 billion in revenue since it debuted in 2011. While a significant portion of that cash came from game sales, the company announced that it has also sold more than 175 million Skylanders action figures as well.

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Skylanders is a children’s game that combines physical toys with a digital world. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, Skylanders: Giants, and Skylanders: Swap Force all work with a USB peripheral called a “Portal of Power.” Players can place one of the compatible Skylanders toys on this portal and instantly take control of it within the game. The toys even save their data so players can rank them up and get new weapons and then take it over to a friend’s house and keep playing.

This model has helped Skylanders toys outsell perennial favorites among kids like Star Wars and Transformers. Since its inception, Activision has sold more than 175 million Skylanders toys.

Activision confirmed that it will have another new Skylanders game that will debut later this year. Developer Toys For Bob, which created the franchise, is working on the upcoming 2014 version.

The publisher also released an infographic that details the Skylanders’ property’s journey over the last few years. Check it out:

The success of Skylanders inspired the creation of a whole new market of interactive gaming toys. In 2013, Disney debuted its Infinity game and line of toys. This enables fans to connect physical figures based on popular properties like Cars and Pirates of the Caribbean with an interactive onscreen world.

Disney Infinity’s debut was a success. The game ended 2013 as the 10th best-selling game across all platforms — although, Skylanders made more money as a whole.

 

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