Activision has yet to release a public statement regarding the status of the "Skylanders" franchise. According to speculations on the internet, the toys-to-life franchise might get axed due to poor number in sales and viewership.
A few years back, the toys-to-life genre caught a spot in the limelight - "Skylanders" practically created the genre. It earned tons of Benjamins. Although, this past couple of years, the franchise as a whole is in bad shape.
Lately, "Skylanders" had tepid sales and reception. According to Liam Robertson, a gaming journalist, the latest title, "Skylanders Imaginators" has sold only 66,000 copies in the United States. This is a 41% decrease from 2015's "Skylanders" entry. Also, the "Skylanders Academy", a Netflix series, is performing beneath Activision's expectations. Though Netflix has already commissioned a second season before the first season was aired. Activision has also seen a trending drop of video game sales and "Skylanders" merchandise. These are signs that suggest the franchise is not doing great. Will this be the pioneer's end?
There are several factors affecting the decrease of these sales figures, but it is mainly due to competition in the toys-to-life genre. The "Skylanders" in 2015 was beaten by "Lego Dimensions". Another reason for the sinking merchandise sales is that, the toys-to-life genre waned. Not only "Skylanders" but also "Disney Infinity" and "Amiibo" had incurred declining projected sales.
According to sources, Activision has canceled the 2017 entry. This confirms that the "Skylanders" franchise is placed on thin ice. This is truly unexpected given that the series outlasted "Disney Infinity" and was valued over $3 billion.
The culprit of the "Skylanders" franchise's icing is pointing to the sinking sales and viewership of the series. The "Imaginators" was a letdown from "Supercharged", which itself was a flop from the previous game. Although there is no official word out yet, we can already see the future and faith of this franchise is sealed.