Skylanders Battlecast launches on iOS, Android in $1.2B digital card market

Skylanders established the $4 billion toys-to-life business, and parent company Activision Blizzard leads the $1.2 billion digital card game market with Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. So it’s natural that it’s mixing the two together.

Today, Activision launches Skylanders Battlecast, a free-to-play card game for iOS, Android, and Amazon’s Fire line. This one works a little differently than Hearthstone, Hex, and a host of other games on the market — along with buying booster packs online, you can also purchase card packs in retail stores. This is a twist for the $34.6 billion mobile gaming market, and it shows Activision still has confidence in business models that mix physical and digital goods despite Disney shutting down its Infinity toys-to-life franchise last week.