I’ve previously expressed a strange excitement for Activision’s toy crossover Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures due to its nineties-flavored gimmickry. The publisher is pumping big marketing dollars into the franchise, but analyst Michael “Don’t Put It In There” Pachter sees only disappointment.
“Although we expect Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to perform very well due to Infinity Ward’s prior successes and the network effect, the success of many other 2H titles (including two Cabela’s games, a Spider-Man game, an X-Men game, a James Bond game, and Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure, among others) remains uncertain,” he said. “In our view, the 2H game discussed most often by management, Skylanders, is the most likely to underperform expectations due to its studio and target age group.”
Sterne Agee’s Arvind Bhatia is a bit more hopeful, remarking that Activision is “pioneering a relatively new genre” with Skylanders, and that, due to marketing, it has a chance of success despite modest expectations.
As I’ve said before, I definitely want to check it out due to my nostalgic love of the idea, and I do kind of hope it takes off. Despite what some say, I think this is the best thing Activision could have done with Spyro as a character. He lost his dignity long ago, and if this thing takes off, at least he’ll be successful again.
Activision’s Skylanders ‘Most Likely to Underperform’ [Industry Gamers]
