Warner Bros. unveils Lego Dimensions, a Skylanders-style toy-game mashup

Warner Bros. is joining the battle for modern kids who are growing up in the digital age. And it is doing so with Lego Dimensions, a Lego-based hybrid of toys and video games.

In Lego Dimensions, players buy Lego pieces that you can use to build characters, cars, and other “things” that appear in the game. If this all sounds familiar, you’ve been paying attention to one of the hottest trends in video games: combining the power of physical toys sold at retail with video games that can bring those toys to life. Activision has proudly noted that it created this “toys to life” genre with the Skylanders franchise in the fall of 2011. Since that time, Activision has sold through more than $3 billion of Skylanders toys and games at retail. It has sold more than 240 million toys, worldwide. In 2014, Activision claims that Skylanders was the No. 1 kids video game franchise, counting games, toys, and accessories in North America and Europe.