With today’s advancements in technology, toys are way more interactive than they were when I was bringing my orange Tamagotchi to elementary school. One of the most successful examples are toys-to-life games like Skylanders and Disney Infinity. They’re parents’ worst nightmare because they combine both video games and toys (which add new characters to the game) into one costly experience.
Disney seems very keen on capitalizing on that trend. While the company already has a strong competitor with Infinity (this year’s version has the long-awaited Star Wars figures), it’s expanding its interactive toys category in a slightly different way.
That’s where Playmation comes in. Unlike toys-to-life games, Playmation doesn’t have a video game component. It uses wearable devices, action figures, and motion-tracking sensors to let kids become the hero in stories based on Disney’s most famous franchises. Audio narration guides them through a variety of game modes and missions. Additional “smart” figurines brings new characters and dialogue into the story. The first sets revolve around Marvel’s Avengers brand, with a starter box coming in October for $120. Players use a battery-powered version of Iron Man’s repulsor weapon to shoot at imaginary villains via wireless bases called power activators.
Since Playmation’s concept is so similar to Disney Infinity, I wondered if they share any of the same technologies. According to a Disney employee who was demonstrating the repulsor at a recent preview event, that isn’t the case. But he also wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Playmation and Infinity somehow crossing over in the future.
After trying on the repulsor myself, I spoke with Kareem Daniel, senior VP of strategy and business development at Disney Consumer Products, and Afsoun Yazdian, director of user experience and product management. Below, you’ll find an excerpt from our interview about how Playmation can coexist with toys-to-life video games.
Above: The first Playmation sets will focus on the Avengers.
GamesBeat: Was Disney Infinity an inspiration at all for Playmation, or was it developed separately from the game?
Kareem Daniel: The inspiration for Playmation, just like anything we do, all starts with the consumer. We’re always paying attention to the key trends that are happening and changes in the consumer marketplace — what those dynamics really are. One thing we observed was that the way that kids play is evolving. And their desires and expectations are changing accordingly. If you look at a spectrum of play from a very high level, you can see it as kind of an evolution of traditional toys. [For many decades at Disney, we’ve made] very high-quality, innovative toys that allow families to bring the magic of Disney into their homes.
So of course there are digital play options today such as video games and toys-to-life, as you mentioned, [with] Disney Infinity taking a leadership role in that space. The way we see all of these different play options is not replacing one another, but adding to kids’ options. They’re all unique in themselves. And so, too, will be Playmation. We look at it as a great time to be a kid. Playmation, unlike other play options, is unique in the way that it uses digital technology to make active physical play even more exciting.
GamesBeat: Disney obviously has a lot of brands to choose from. So why did you go with Avengers first rather than something like Star Wars, which also has a movie coming out this year?
Daniel: The fun part about working at Disney is that we have so many franchises, so many stories and characters that families love. It’s a fantastic luxury that we have, and that’s why we’re able to make Playmation in a way that we don’t believe anyone else can. Avengers, [with the first movie being] the highest grossing film in the history of The Walt Disney Company, demonstrates how compelling our storytelling can be, particularly for Marvel.
But we’re extremely excited about a lot of other franchises we have, in particular Star Wars and Frozen, which are going to come out in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Each of them [will be] very unique, and they’re going to have experiences that are tailored to the individual mythologies of each of those stories. What they all share is that fundamental aspect of Playmation: highly immersive, innovative play using technology to bring our stories and characters to life.
Above: Afsoun Yazdian (left) and Kareem Daniel at the Playmation announcement event.
GamesBeat: Will the Star Wars and Frozen toys follow the same formula as the Marvel packs? With a companion app, wearable gear, and power activators?
Daniel: We’re not — It isn’t formulaic the way we’re coming up with [toys] for each of those franchises. It’s going to be, ‘What is the best way to tell the story of that particular franchise by using technology and driving active physical play?’ It’s early days, of course, for Star Wars and Frozen. We’re thinking through a lot of those concepts. We’re not ready to show them right now.
GamesBeat: Is there any data on the smart figures? Or is most of that in the power activators?
Afsoun Yazdian: The smart figures also have a little bit of technology. All of the content and the missions that come with [buying them] are within the smart figures themselves. It’s when you put them on the power activators that they come to life. But [Playmation is] really the combination of what’s in the smart figures with what’s in the power activator interacting with the repulsor gear. It is really about this connected system that brings the entire experience to life.
GamesBeat: Marvel is big on connecting their universes, whether its comic books, films, or video games. Do you have plans for Playmation tie-ins with future Marvel movies like Ant-Man?
Daniel: At the end of the day, it goes back to the plethora of franchises that resonate with families, whether it’s from film, television, what have you. We have so many options to choose from. You can just imagine some of the things we’ll be able to do. But obviously, the focus today is on this compelling Avengers experience that we certainly plan to make even more compelling over time.