How Activision took its toy-game smash hit Skylanders to the tablet market (interview)

Activision Publishing is one of the world’s largest video game companies (and a division of Activision Blizzard), and it’s been printing money for years with its $2 billion Skylanders franchise, which brings toys to life through a clever combination of toys and video games. To date, it’s sold more than 200 million Skylanders toys, and it is one of the top-20 video game series of all time.

In continuation of its dominance in the genre, the company launched Skylanders Trap Team, the fourth installment of the series, on Oct. 5, and it received decent reviews. But the company continued its streak of innovation by adding a new tablet version to chase after the kids and young adults who are starting to play games exclusively on mobile devices. That’s what it will take to hold off challengers in the toy-game market like Nintendo’s Amiibo and Disney’s Infinity.