John Coyne is the chief marketing officer at Osmo.
Categories

Why ex-Activision Skylanders executive is marketing Osmo’s educational games

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 6 min

Skylanders inaugurated the “toys to life” industry that combined physical toys and digital games. It became a billion-dollar business for Activision, and John Coyne was one of the marketers who got to ride its wild rise — and fall. Last year, Activision decided to give the product line a year off after falling sales.

Coyne, meanwhile, hopes to ply his knowledge as a marketer of toys and games at Osmo, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company that combines physical toys with digital iPad games that are aimed at young kids. Among Osmo’s products is Mattel’s Mind Racers, which combines Hot Wheels cars with an iPad gaming experience.

Unlock premium content and VIP community perks with GB M A X! Join now to enjoy our free and premium perks. 

Join now →

Sign in to your account.

Next page
Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.