PowerCore founder: ‘Toys-to-life’ isn’t dead yet

Disney pulled the plug on its toys-to-life product Disney Infinity last month. That knocked the wind out of the toys-to-life market, where toys are integrated into video games. Activision started the market with the launch of Skylanders in 2011. It grew to become a multibillion-dollar category, but then it got too crowded last year.

But Jia Shen, CEO and founder of PowerCore, thinks that the toys-to-life space is just getting started. Shen, the cofounder of social-gaming firm RockYou, has started creating toys-to-life products with the makers of games that are already popular, such as Mino Monsters. Many of these titles have hordes of loyal followers, so it makes sense to create toys and other merchandise that can integrate with the games, Shen said in an interview with me. He thinks that players will be happy to pay to get a souvenir, collectible, or something that can activate an item that affects gameplay.