Activision has made a major step in bringing its Skylanders franchise to the masses. They have made billions of dollars so far, but all of their games have been limited to the console market. I had never looked at this as a “limitation,” but apparently they disagreed. As a result Skylanders will be coming to tablets this fall.
The “why” is simple to explain. Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing said in the press release that they “always want to be wherever gamers want to play.” This is a pretty straightforward answer. The tablet market is HUGE. Go ahead and think on this. When was the last time you went somewhere and didn’t see someone using one? Probably a long time. How many families do you know that don’t have one in the house? Probably not many. The reality is that the tablet market is a massive and companies that CAN take advantage of it should do so.
The Skylanders Trap Team Tablet Starter Pack is going to release on the same day as the traditional console versions. It will include a Bluetooth Traptanium Portal; a Bluetooth controller; a built-in tablet stand; two Skylanders characters; two Traps and a display tray.
The most interesting feature of this package is the Bluetooth controller. Players have been struggling to find a controller that works with their tablets for years and it has not gone very well so far. If Activision likes it enough to package it with one of their premier franchises, then this has to be at least “’alright.” A lot of people will be looking at the performance of this new controller as the game is released. What do you think? Do you know anyone who will be picking this up?